Collecting and drying various things from the garden at the moment:
- calendula for bathtime
- chamomile for tea
- lemon balm for tea
- tulsi/holy basil for tea, also used fresh in thai dishes
- dandelion for tea in the winter
Discussion
I’m curious, if I don’t have a garden (because I travel full time), where’s the best place to get dried flowers like this? Would love to make my own tea when I am somewhere or even a recipe I saw for a hair rinse.
Probably best to get some literature and learn your area and expand from there
I’m in a lot of different areas all the time so this will be a lot of learning :) Thank you!
Pick a few local favourites at a time. Have some fun with it 🤙
Maybe the app https://floraincognita.com/ is something for you. It recognizes any plant for you and give you all information about it: edible, medical effect, ... best part it is free because it is a university research project. That way you can collect wild herbs where you are.
I was amazed at how many plants you can eat and what positive effects they have.
Yeah, I often use https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app for help with identification.
If you're planning on consuming something though, its best to not100% rely on these apps but also foraging books/knowledge covering that particular region. Regional knowledge is important because, for example, I'm pretty good at identifying edible mushrooms in the UK but that knowledge doesn't translate to any other region. This is because some of the rules of thumb I use may no longer apply, such as certain deadly lookalikes not being present in the UK, meaning they are not considered in identification heuristics.