Fireweed HerbalTea

Fireweed grows as a weed in MyWorld. I let it grow because it is beautiful when it is flowering all over but also in its autumn shades (see the background of the pics). Commonly it is considered as a trash and in Finnish we have a nickname for it which literally means Bum's Rose.

Despite of its useless reputation Fireweed is very useful plant. Old times it was believed to make the cows to milk better. According to modern medical investigations it is diuretic antioxidant which also eases the pain. It is calming, cooling and drying. It makes good to your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels. It also prevents prostate troubles. Fireweed tea which is made of young leaves is used also to prevent, ease or heal head ache, asthma, cough, diarrhea and other problems in your digestive system. This tea also relaxes and eases insomnia.

I collect Fireweed from MyGarden and make bunch of 10 stems. If the weather is good I let them dry outside at first. Then I move them indoors to continue drying in MySauna.

When the leaves are dry I remove them from the stems. The stems include a lot of liquid and it only prevents drying. We don't use the stems so at this point you can just throw them away. (I compost them in MyGarden.) After removing the leaves from the stems I place the leaves over the trays and let them dry more.

The leaves are dry enough when you touch them and they start to break down easily. You can storage them like that. I shred them to make them to fit in a smaller space.

I don't have a lot of Tupperware but I do have Chop 'N' Prep Chef and Power Chef System I use here. They ease MyLife a lot because I cook so much at home. In MyWorld there is no other cheaper similar kitchenware available. Despite Tupperware is not MyHobby and I try to avoid its materialistic world quite much I must confess they have few practical and useful things for sale. Unfortunately Tupperware is quite expensive trademark and I am sure in the BigWorld you can find similar equipment much cheaper at supermarkets' kitchen department. You just need something with blade to shred it all to small pieces.

Alternative option is something to press it all against something. When the leaves are dry enough also that makes them to be shred. It becomes dust-like so be careful not to make it all to spread around like a blow of a dust and get lost. You need a bowl or something to keep it all safe in.

I use old kitchen glass jars I inherit from HisGranny to store MyHomeMadeTea. I have many of these glass jars in different sizes. They are very practical. Unfortunately the big ones are collectible and can cost a lot at SecondHandShops. But you can use anything that is clean and dry.

I use fabric as a lid to keep it all in and safe from the dust. This also lets them to dry out more during the time because moisture can evaporate through the fabric. If you live in more wet climate the original metallic / plastic lid could be more useful to keep the moisture out. When closing up a jar by impermeable lid you must be sure the leaves are dry, otherwise they start to mildew.