by Colleen Cody
Editor’s note: This piece is taken from Colleen's plant preparation homework assignment in the 2023-2024 school year.
Therapeutic & Herbal Food Preparation #3
What did you prepare?
An exploration of astragalus: 1) a decoction and 2) My Best Herby Bone Broth Medicine Yet
Astragalus Root slices, dried
Latin name — Astragalus membranaceus
Common name — astragalus, Huang qi “Yellow Leader,” milk vetch
Plant family — fabaceae (of the legumes, peas, beans fam)
Source — Frontiers Cooperative, bulk section
12/5/23, 9:30 am. This is my first encounter with Astragalus. I resisted any research until I concluded having the raw experience.
Visuals — Tiny planks, tongue depressors. Slightly bone shaped, shouldered edges that are deckled. Fibrous, layered in a linear structure. The planks self-organize like books on the shelves in the midnight library. Approximately 5.25” in length.
The color is warm and golden. Naples Yellow to Ochre. A scrappy dune, flecked with things not sand.
Shredding the Root by Hand — It feels so dry and rigid. Reluctant to yield. It gives but not easily. The torn bits surrender relieved to be unburdened from its board-like form.
Olefactory-world Impressions of Dry Root — Warm. Organized. Tinge of acidity. Back notes of dark cherry. I think of amchur powder. The words “I told you so.” pop into my head. Weird.
1) Decoction
Ingredients: 8 root cuts, dried + 9 quarts of water
Process: Boiled approximately 2-3 hours—I lost track. The decoction boiling rapidly. It was covered most of the time with the last 45 mins uncovered. Maybe I over-boiled? Maybe not. Astragalus says, that’s okay.
Olefactory-world Impressions of Boiling/Steam/Decoction — Peanuts? Goober Peas — I remember exactly the first time I smelled these in Georgia. Warm, sweet, gentle, comforting even though foreign to a Northeasterner’s palate.
“I love it” loud in my mind. Astragalus is a kindness, the hug of a favorite sweater. The
just-right. It is capacious and sturdy — “I got you.”
I be buggin’! Astragalus is causing a nostalgia fire in my brain!
Olefactory-world Impressions/Another Nosing after the Decocting — Smells like the spent husks of a tamale. I keep thinking about Pastina — a best breakfast when I was a kid, ate with milk and sugar, and the biggest spoons in the house. It was a nice time in life. My sister and I sitting together, the cosmos in our bowls, stars upon stars scooped up and swallowed! The idea of it — a bellyful of stars. I think isn’t it there, in the ether before we were born, where my sister and I agreed to find each other as earthly sisters?
What was your experience preparing it? Was it complicated?
Not in the least.
Describe the taste.
“Oh My God” It is so delicious, and sweet. After taking the koji workshop at ArborVitae, I am reminded of amazake which readily rhymes with amazing.
Any reactions from others you may have shared it with?
My kids thought it was sweet and tasty.
Describe the "temperature" of the preparation.
Warming. Expansive. Activating of nostalgia and connective thinking.
2) My Best Herby Bone Broth Medicine Yet
Ingredients: Always changes with what is on hand. I typically store odd ends and bits in the freezer — stems, skins, and trimmings of vegetables and herbs.
Process: Easy-peasy lemon-squeezy. I am comfortable in the kitchen. 1 bird roasted —meat goes to other food prep — carcass used for broth. I disinter those freezer veggies/bits, add carcass and spring water. To the big pot, add mugwort vinegar, calendula, astragalus, and a small handful of juniper berries. Cook on stovetop until done.
How did you or others use/consume it? For what conditions/situations do you think it would be useful for?
I brought this broth to an elder friend. She is vegetarian but accepted my offer to bring her the broth. Her health is in acute decline: muscular weakness and low energy most likely caused by low mobility and body oxygenation. She understood the broth to be medicine. Her home aids have been using it to prepare other foods too.
I fed myself, kids — especially good to create a more expanded soup for late night return home, after sports. Soup and toast is just the thing at 8:30/9 p.m. Easy on the stomach, lulling to bed.
Astragalus as an ally
Herbal Actions: Adaptogen, antibacterial, antiviral, diuretic, immune-stimulant, vasodilator.
Constituents: Saponins, polysaccharides, triterpenoids, isoflavones, glycosides.
Energetics and Taste: Sweet, warm.
Meridians/Organs Affected: Spleen, lungs.
Used for centuries in Chinese medicine, Huang qi, means “yellow leader” named for the colored interior of the root and the plant’s position of prestige. A spleen tonic helpful for lack of appetite, organ prolapse, and fatigue. It also strengthens lung qi, creating a protective energy that helps prevent illness due to external influences.
Protects and supports the immune system, prevents colds and upper respiratory infections, lowers blood pressure, treats diabetes, protects the liver. People sometimes use it on the skin for wound care—I wonder how so?
End of Assignment.
Mugwort vinegar — In a 375ml bottle, repurposed booze bottle with nice cork.
First batch (10/29/23): harvested mugwort from the trailhead at Joppenburgh Mountain under a full moon. Used leaf parts, stuffed a goodly amount into bottle. Covered with ACV, organic with Mom. Waited 4 or so weeks.
Refill (5/17/24): Same plant matter, more ACV, more time. Just as tasty.
Colleen Cody is an enthusiastic year-two student at ArborVitae.