Late Summer Sweetness

It was surprising how fast it happened. Though the days are still warm, hot even, the nights are cooler now, and after a wetter than usual summer there is dew on the grass some mornings. But it was how fast the leaves began to change that surprised me. I have several comfort places where I walk amid trees and fields to renew my spirit. One of them is a park filled with juniper, oak, elm and soap berry trees, and now the soap berry leaves are turning.

The saponin rich berries have been going translucent through late summer, and four days ago, between one day and the next, there was a promise of yellow in the green leaves — only a hint.  I think of soap berry as a “signal tree”, one of the first that heralds the coming of autumn, so that was no surprise. But in just two days the green was nearly gone; and yesterday when I walked there, some of the trees were full golden in a part of the grove.

The sumac are turning too, leaves bright red, promising cooler air to come. The deer have withdrawn deeper into the trees, and life in the little wood slows, softening in the dappled sun as the heat eases. The stifling hot of summer has shifted to a bright clarity, and the goldenrod, unobtrusive for so long, is just now bursting into tall stands of beauty.  This is one of my busiest time of the year for medicine making…. the time of the late summer flowers and seeds.

There are other medicines too — the dance of myriad bugs above the still pond and the snowy egret in its shallows beyond them — that call to us to stop and breathe; the towers of clouds, grey and bright white against a blue sky; and most of all the medicines of softness and ease, as the world seems to slow in this week before the wheel turns, anticipating the pause where day and night stand in balance.

The shorter days herald the seed time, but the days are still oh so warm, and I look for ways to match that energy with drinks that nourish.  I still want cooling afternoon infusions, but something a little more neutral for evenings, as I watch the sun set earlier each day.

Here are my favorites:

Late Afternoon Cool Down

Per 1-cup serving:
1 Tbs sumac berries
1 tsp peppermint
1 tsp coarse chopped orange peel
rose honey

Place the peppermint and orange peel for the number of cups you are making in a jar.
Lightly simmer the Sumac berries in water for the amount you are making on lowest heat for 30 minutes, adding water at the end to bring your serving back up to the starting level if you need to.
Pour the whole pan (water and berries) into the jar with the peppermint and orange peel. (Example: For 4 cups, simmer 4 tablespoons sumac, and have 4 teaspoons each peppermint and orange peel in the jar.)
Steep for at least 2 hours.
Decant, add honey, and enjoy!

The sumac, peppermint and rose are cooling, and the orange adds a stimulating, fragrant note.

Moon Connection Tea

3 parts mugwort
2 parts linden
1 part spearmint
lavender honey

Use 1 to 1.5 tablespoons herb mix to 1 cup of water. Steep covered for at least 30 minutes. Decant and add honey to taste.

I love this slightly bitter, slightly sweet, aromatic mix for an evening wind-down. Mugwort is the star, facilitating lunar connection; linden offers heart’s ease, spearmint relaxes, and lavender gently sedates. The mint and lavender offset the coolness of the other two herbs, in a tea that is more energetically neutral to match the evenings of the days near second harvest.

Here’s hoping that you can slow the pace, and enjoy these or your personal favorites, as the days shorten.