Meadowsweet is a perennial herb that grows on damp meadows in Europe and Western Asia. It’s also known as Queen of the Meadow, Pride of the Meadow, Meadow-Wort and Bride wort. It’s an excellent plant for attracting bees, as it’s delicate and creamy-white flowers have a strong, sweet smell. And … meadowsweet is considered to be a sacred herb by Celtic Druids, who used Meadowsweet to enhance their love spells!
Meadowsweet has also been used in herbal medicine – apparently it relieves headaches and reduces fever and cures acidic stomach.
And since it’s growing in our garden, I made juice and tea of it. This winter my mother tried the tea while she had a cold. It really helped. I drank the juice when I had an headache, and believe it or not: it worked. But the juice is foremost a nice cool refreshing drink during a warm summer like this one.
Makes 2 liters:
15-20 Meadowsweet blossoms
2 l water
2 dl sugar
2 lemon
Check your flower heads for bugs. After doing this, strip the flower heads from the stems. Pour the water into a large saucepan and add Meadowsweet flowers. Bring to the boil, then add sugar and stir, until the sugar has dissolved. Turn off the heat, add the juice of one lemon and let the flavours infuse. Drain through a fine sieve and pour into sterilized bottles and seal while hot. To sterilize glass bottles, simply put in the oven at about 100oC for 10/15 minutes or so.
This cordial should last 4-6 weeks in the fridge.
Tea:
Pick Meadowsweet flowers and let dry. When they are dried, put the leaves and dried blossoms in a jar.
Thanks to: Nádia Palma Fotografia