Edible Plants : Spicebush

[@Dyshof]

Thanks for this precious information.

[@thederb720]

Thanks for your positive feedback.

[@NS-pf2zc]

This was by far the most informative video on spicebush I've found! I just found a few spicebush plants on our property, and I'm so delighted!

[@thederb720]

I'm pleased you enjoyed my video. I like spicebush not only for its taste but for the butterflies (and caterpillars) it attracts.

[@pamrh14]

This is very helpful, we found spicebush berries in our backyard. Will give it a try. Thanks a lot.

[@thederb720]

Hope you like them. their tase can be strong.

[@janetr7022]

Wonderful video Blanche ~ very informative & put together well ~ the soft music in the beginning. You have a pleasant voice!

[@thederb720]

Thanks for your positive feedback!

[@Faith-dj7hs]

I really do like your channel I hope you get to keep this going for quite some time and lots of helpful information thank you. :-)

[@thederb720]

I'll try...Thank you for your encouragement.

[@willchick]

excellent video!

[@thederb720]

Thanks!!

[@lifescansdarkly]

I would be interested in making an alcohol tincture with the twigs and leaves to see if I could concentrate the flavor!

[@thederb720]

Hmmm... sounds interesting. Let me know how it works.

[@Humble-Daniel]

Yess!! More epic recipes!! You are the best!! So looking forward to trying these out!

[@thederb720]

Thanks for being such a loyal supporter...

[@Humble-Daniel]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and wisdom with me. I plan on buying your books soon also.

[@thederb720]

And thanks for your continued support...

[@yenee94]

yay! a new video!

[@thederb720]

Yes, finally!

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

Wonderful video. Thanks.

[@thederb720]

Thanks!

[@donavonmacallister3101]

What a nice video 😊

[@thederb720]

I appreciate your positive comment.

[@kennapennington3374]

This is an incredible resource! We just found spicebush on our property and I'm so excited to use these ideas to preserve/eat something foraged and delicious.

[@thederb720]

good luck...

[@shanecorning5222]

BEST spicebush video !!!!!! THANK You so much for This !!!!!! I think I need a Female bush to plant near me.

[@thederb720]

Thank you for your positive comments.

[@robrich8294]

Love your informative video!! I’m stoked about finding like 20 shrubs of this amazing bush at my cousins place in Little Mahanoy PA..!! Oh so fragrant the different aromas is so appealing. I’m making homemade black birch / spicebush issuing twigs in the soda. I’m using my fermented sweet potato kvass as a starter culture. I love my homemade root beer too and throwing in the berries , leaves, twigs on my 3rd batch of that !! I cannot wait. It seems the twigs smell citrusy.. Bark is like cinnamon. Berries like allspice. Yeah I will add the sassafras roots and the stems next time for the tea. Also will use a ginger bug as a starter culture to and see what tastes better.

[@thederb720]

I wish I lived closer to you so I could try some of your imaginative concoctions... Spicebush is in the same family as Sassafras and Cinnamon.I looked at your short about an easier way to crack Black walnuts--I'll have to try that next year.

[@robrich8294]

@@thederb720where do you live ? I ended up finding 50 spicebush bushes on my first cousins property. I bet steam distillation would make an amazing spicebush oil. Yeah cracking the black walnuts is easy the way I was doing it. I get my gooey black husk black walnuts in November. I made a 2’x2’x2’ cube with that 3/4” metal mesh. I left the top open to put the black walnut husks in there and use a high pressure washer. I do this for both butternuts and black walnuts. In my video though the butternut husks were too green and it was slower going. Definitely worth doing or maybe a local friend can wash those off. The syrups will work but I left out in my yellow Apple short video about the SIMMERING detail. It took me with both steam juicing first and then simmering 9 hours. The crabapples are well worth making a syrup with those. That took 7.5 hours. I just listed how to make syrups FB group. I mention steam juicing.

[@TheJohnFry]

Very informative. Thanks.

[@thederb720]

Glad it was helpful! I always appreciate positive feedback.

[@traceydurant817]

Good morning. Thank you for this lovely video. Funny how something you made 6 years ago can still impact someone today isn't it? I live in Mid-Missouri where spicebush is as prominent as dogwood. I have used the berries but did not know you could eat the flowers. Could you please explain how you do that?

[@thederb720]

You can take a few and sprinkle in salads or you could make a drink from them--either with fresh ones or dried. Put in a tea strainer, pour not- quite- boiling-water over them , and place a cover over the cup so the flavor stays in the water. The longer you let it steep the stronger it will be. It's fairly mild .

[@danielfegley2735]

The flowers are also edible and has the same flavor of the leaves and bark but a little sweet

[@thederb720]

Oops! You're right-- I forgot to mention that.

[@k.kessinger7408]

Hi Blanche, I have spicebush growing all over my wooded property. I was wondering if the twigs and leaves could be used for smoking fish or meat. I just built a smoker and have been using hickory and black cherry wood for smoking. The citrus scent of the leaves and twigs of the spicebush seem like they would give a wonderful flavor to fish, but I want to make sure it would be safe to use. Have you ever heard of people using this for smoking?

[@thederb720]

I have not but your hunch sounds worth researching. The twigs are used for tea & are not poisonous so I would imagine they would be ok in smoking. Perhaps experiment with a small batch & see how it comes out?

[@morgaineclegg1695]

KEVIN, I LOVE SPICEBUSH LEAVES ON FISH. DON'T HAVE A SMOKER, SO FRY UP IN PAN, GRAPESEED OIL. LOTS OF CRUMPLED SPICEBUSH LEAVES, THYME, SALT AND PEPPRR, LEMON JUICE. DIPPID IN EGG, FLOURED, FRIED TO SUPER MOIST DELISCIOUS. WHEN I FLIP FISH, ADD MORE LEMON ON TOP, SAME INGREDIENTS FIRST SIDE. IT'S SO GOOD, MY FIRST FEW BITES ARE NOTHING BUT MMMMMMM! BUT BLANCH IS RIGHT USING FRESH! EXCEPTIONAL! HAVE FUN, AND I CAN'T SEE A REASON, IF YOU PUT HERBS IN FOR ANOTHER WAYO F COOKINGAND IT WORKS, GO GOT IT

[@silverfox2852]

great video

[@thederb720]

I appreciate your positive feedback.

[@heprovides5604]

I love3 your channel. Sorry I have not been by lately.

[@thederb720]

No problem--I haven't been making videos lately either. Come by again...my next video will probably be ready sometime in August.

[@heprovides5604]

I will, and I look forward to it.

[@joybickerstaff194]

Hello Blanche, hope this finds you well today, can you cook the leaves and how do you process the twigs to make all spice, I wonder is this bush grows here in Oklahoma, you have a good day Blanche And thank you for this video

[@thederb720]

i'm pretty sure in grows in Oklahoma. Perhaps you have an arboretum or garden nearby where it does grow (or a garden center) so you can see it in person & then (hopefully) find it growing in the wild. Besides the "sun tea" from the leaves that i showed in the video, can be made with them on the stove. What I do is pour almost (but not boiling), water over them , cover (so the volatile vitamin C won't escape) & let steep for several minutes. (The longer you do this, the stronger it will be.) Strain out the leaves & drink. For tea with the twigs, i break them into pieces & place in water following the same directions as the leaf tea. (Shown@ 2:39 on this video.)

[@joybickerstaff194]

Blanche Cybele Derby Hello Blanche, yes I saw you make tea with the twigs, that was not my question my question was how do you make allspice with the twigs which I did not see in this video, thank you and have a wonderful day and thank you for responding!!!

[@thederb720]

Sorry I misunderstood your question. I've made the spice from the berries of the female spicebush. (There are separate male & female trees. I've never made allspice with the twigs but you have an interesting idea --it might be worth a try! If i were to do that, most likely I'd strip the bark off the twigs, let it dry, then blend it into a powder... who knows? You may have come up with a new way to use the twigs!

[@joybickerstaff194]

Hello Blanche, I have to say ooops Lol! I thought the spice was made from the bark, OK so how do you make spice from the berries? Also I read in your message to me there are male and female spice bushes? Great, now I have to figure out which is which. Can you tell me the difference in the two? Thank you Blanche have a good day!

[@thederb720]

To make a spice from the berries: peel off the red covering into small bits; dispose of the seed inside. You can air dry & then powder them or put bits in the freezer as they can go rancid & then cut them into tinier bits to use. ( I think a lot of trouble to get a little) The way to tell female bushes from males is to watch for developing fruits. You can detect them when they're green (probably sometime in late July) & later when they turn red. Males do not have fruits. A more difficult way to distinguish their sex is to look at the bush's small flowers: female ones are small and yellow with six colored sepals and no petals: male ones have nine, reddish stamens.

[@valentia1752]

Oh dear I see wintercreeper at the base of your maple

[@thederb720]

Don't worry--I periodically pull it out to avoid it taking over. (For those of you who are not familiar with Wintercreeper ("Euonymus fortunei"), it's a plant that somewhat resembles ivy that likes to climb up trees. It can be highly invasive.)

[@ClareAndAlec]

I've only tried spicebush once - just nibbling a couple leaves - and I thought it tasted somewhat similar to basil (but milder). Can you make pesto with the leaves?

[@thederb720]

Yes. I combine the young leaves with other mild leaves. (You could try a small batch with just spicebush leaves to see how you like it.)

[@anthonyburdine1061]

Do you know how much fat is in the berries ? Do you know where I can find a chart showing the nutritional values of Spicebush and other wild flowers / plants ?

[@thederb720]

I don't know the fat content of the berries. As far as the nutritional value of Spicebush and other plants, i haven't seen a comprehensive list with that info that I can recall. I have many books on wild edibles and may have see a list in one of them but I can't remember which one! I have a short list from years ago from the (now defunct) Wild Foods Forum newsletter which lists as their sources: 2 of James Duke's books. I have one of them (the Green Pharmacy) but it doesn't have a list in the back--he talks about nutrition in each of his entries. Another book cited was the Nutrition Desk Reference by Robert Garrison and Elizabeth Somer but it's over 30 years old & I haven't read it. probably the scarcity of nutritional info on wild plants--especially the weedy or invasive ones--is that theymay be ignored by researchers as they're not considered important enough.:-( If you want a printout of that list from Wild Foods Forum, you can find my email on my Forage: Field & Forest Facebook page. Send me a note & I'll scan & send you the list.

[@penntexgarden4012]

when i drink this tea it make me feel high

[@thederb720]

Never heard that before..