Linden Harvest

I read once that in parts of France they used to close schools when the lindens bloomed so that the whole families could get out there and harvest the sweet flowers, which could be made into tea, medicine and perfume. Well, it is not France and here in America school is already out, but a certain SR and I make it a habit to drop things and head to our special little grove of lindens (Tilia cordata) each June when the trees bloom. We have a ritual that involves meeting in the grove and listening to a certain soundtrack (which we play from the car stereo) and harvesting baskets of righteous blossoms for various potions and concoctions, and this year- mead. I went ahead and picked up a gallon of local wildflower honey Friday morning. Friday evening we had our big harvest. We had to wait through a couple of thunderstorms, and we didn't have our usual music, but we went with the flow and harvest a huge basket of perfectly ripe flowers.



SR and I decided to make a weekend of it. Saturday we enjoyed the Bluff Mountain Music festival here in Hot Springs, and caught angelic whiffs of basswood flowers (Tilia americana- our native linden) from the grandmother tree which is on the grounds of the Hot Springs spa, where the festival was held. Old time music and old time floral scents- a perfect summery combination. Saturday evening we collected 5 gallons of spring water from the Hot Springs themselves and let it cool off. We then cold infused our linden blossoms in the water overnight. During all this I enjoyed a new drink, named a Linden Twist by Donna Price, which is gin infused with fresh linden flowers and tonic with a twist of lime. So good. Oh, soooo good. Do it.

Sunday morning we strained the potent cold infused linden tea and heated the gallon of honey.


We then incorporated all the tea and honey, let it cool to a little warmer than lukewarm, siphoned it into 2- 3 gallon carboys, and added champagne yeast and airlocks. Gorgeous. I think this is gonna be a good batch. I haven't made a good home brew in a while, and I think this one is coming just on time. Come over and drink it with me in a few months. Or if you can't wait that long, come over and drink some of the (quite good) strawberry wine or peach wine that I emptied out of the carboys from several years ago to make room for the new batch.

Praises to the glories of summertime! If you haven't already, I suggest getting out there and finding some linden or basswood and getting in on some of that.