How to collect and dry ivan tea to maintain beneficial properties?

Ivan tea (narrow-leaved fireweed) is an amazing plant that has many useful properties. Therefore, it has been appreciated since ancient times. A drink from it will help to cope with a headache and a cold, will contribute to the normalization of digestion, charge with vigor and strength. All parts are used: leaves, root, flowers. But in order to preserve the healing qualities, it is necessary to collect and dry it correctly.

Useful properties and contraindications

Our ancestors did not in vain make tinctures and decoctions from this plant. It contains a large number of vitamins and minerals. But this is not all; it is distinguished by several more features.

• Anti-inflammatory effect, so healing ointments are made from it.
• Enveloping effect due to which Ivan-tea fights with manifestations of peptic ulcer and other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
• Stops the spread of the herpes virus.
• Antitumor effect.
• Calming effect, enhancing the properties of sedative drugs. It shows itself well in the fight against insomnia.
• Helps to cope with skin diseases: eczema, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis.
• It has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system.

Despite all the wonderful properties of fireweed, it should not be abused. It is better to take it in courses so that the work of the stomach, liver, intestines is not disturbed. Young children are not recommended to drink decoctions and infusions from it, because the plant contains caffeine. Women during pregnancy and lactation should be careful, consult with doctors before use and adhere to their advice. Also, a contraindication may be any disease associated with blood coagulation. There are no other restrictions, although in rare cases individual intolerance is possible.

This plant is valued as a wonderful honey plant. Honey from it turns out to be of high quality, pleasant to the taste and, of course, useful.

Where grows and how to collect?

Ivan tea is a narrow-leaved fireweed. When collecting it is not necessary to confuse it with other types of fireweed, as they do not have such exceptional qualities. The desired plant is quite high, usually not less than 50 cm in height, has narrow leaves and lilac-pink flowers. It occupies considerable territories, during the flowering period resembling a carpet.

The plant is ubiquitous. You need to look for it where it is dry and a lot of light. This can be a forest glade or edge, a cut site, a place near a railway embankment, ditch, or sown field. Especially love firewood coniferous forests. Choose a collection point away from cities, busy highways and other sources of pollution. It is then that the plant will be environmentally friendly and healthy.

It is necessary to collect Ivan tea at a time when it is blooming. Flowers, like other parts, have valuable qualities. In addition, they will help not to confuse it with other plants. It is difficult to say exactly when the fireweed will bloom, it depends on the climate zone. In warmer regions, this happens earlier, in the northern regions - later, from June to August or even to September.

In the procurement process, it is necessary to separate the color and the sheet. You can not mix them. The plant is carefully cut at a distance of 10 cm from the ground. It is best to collect in dry weather, not after rain. You can collect the leaves separately. Some practice this method: they squeeze the stem in the palm of their hand and raise their hand up, breaking off the leaves.But they can lose their taste, so it’s better to crop them. When collecting color, only the top should be taken. If a pod has already formed on the brush, then make sure that it does not get into the flowers or leaves. When drying, it can ripen, the fluff from it will make the workpiece unusable.

How to harvest ivan tea?

So, Ivan-tea is collected. But to make the drink from it really tasty and healthy, the plant needs to be prepared for this. Begin by wilting. To do this, tear off the leaves and wash them thoroughly. Then spread on clean paper, the layer should not exceed 5 cm. So it is necessary to leave for a day, stirring from time to time, so that the leaves fade evenly. Direct sunlight should not fall on them. The result is slightly soft parts of the plant. It is important not to dry them.

The next step is fermentation. It begins with the fact that the leaves rub between the palms so that they form tubes. When they darken from the juice, they are stacked in an enameled pan or other container. The layer should not be too thick. Then cover the bowl with a cloth moistened with water and leave in a warm place for up to 20 hours. The time required for fermentation depends on how high the temperature is. Optimal - from 24 to 27 degrees. You can determine that the process is completed by the noticeable floral-fruity odor that has appeared.

Next, the fermented leaves must be dried. Do this either in the sun or in the oven at low power. Previously, they are finely cut and folded in a thin layer on baking sheets covered with parchment. They keep the fireweed in the oven for about an hour, while drying in the fresh air - until done.

Workpieces are stored in tightly closed containers, for example, in glass jars with well-screwed lids. He retains his taste and healthy qualities for up to two years. It will ripen within a month, then you can prepare a fragrant drink.

Other drying methods

Drying Ivan tea can be done differently. For this method, they take linen cloth, moisten it and lay the leaves on it with a layer of no more than 3 cm. The cut of fabric should correspond to the volume of the plant intended for harvesting. From time to time, the fabric must be sprayed from the spray bottle so that it does not absorb the juice.

The fabric is rolled up into a tight roll and pulled together with a rope or rubber cord. Next, the plant is ground, bending and unbending the resulting twist for half an hour. It is convenient to do this together. During the process, the structure of the leaves is disturbed and juice is secreted. As a result, primary fermentation begins, it lasts about three hours. When the palm feels that the curl has become warm, we can conclude that the initial fermentation has ended. The raw material gets a light fruity smell.

For further fermentation, the raw materials are transferred to a container, compacted well and tightly closed with a lid. In a warm place, the workpiece must be kept for 36 hours. You can additionally put it in a cool place for a while. This will help give tea a more refined taste. If the raw materials were collected late in August, then additional fermentation is needed. The mass is removed from the container, rubbed between the palms to stand out juice.

Tip

To speed up the process, you can use a meat grinder without knives. But the quality of the workpiece will be worse than if done manually.

The processed raw materials are left for 6-8 hours. Readiness is determined by pressing on the mass: it should feel like rubber to the touch. When this is achieved, Ivan-tea can be dried in the oven. It is kept slightly ajar, stirring the mixture regularly. Red brick is placed in the oven, it will help not to dry the workpiece. Annealing will give the tea a wonderful taste.

For another method of fermentation, the collection is divided into two parts. Juice is extracted from one using a press juicer. It will turn out a very small amount, but this will be enough.The resulting juice is poured to the remaining raw materials and crushed with a load of 20 kg on a wooden circle. After 3 days, the process will be completed, the raw materials can be dried.

How to make an infusion?

Preparing a drink from a fireweed is not difficult. You can brew it in almost the same way as the usual black or green tea. To do this, rinse the teapot with boiling water. Then put in it a little Ivan tea at the rate of 2-3 tablespoons per half liter of water. A small amount of dried color can be added to the fermented and dried leaves. First, pour hot water only one third, only after 5 minutes add to full. The proportions of water and tea leaves are allowed to be changed to your liking. Pour boiling water several times, without compromising on quality.

If the drink is intended for one person, then it is easier to insist it in a glass - to fill up an incomplete tablespoon and pour boiling water. After 20 minutes you can drink.

You can prepare the infusion in a different way. At the bottom of the enameled pan, pour the tea leaves with a layer of up to 5 cm. Pour twice a large amount of water. Heated on low heat, not bringing to a boil, allowed to stand for a quarter of an hour - and the drink is ready to drink.

To prepare an unusual and healthy drink with excellent tastes is within the power of everyone. Collecting ivan tea is simple, and fermentation and drying will give it the desired taste.

We advise you to read the article: how to make ice