Whispering Earth

When I wrote my last post on Linden, the blossoms were yet to open. I finally managed to collect my harvest about 10 days ago, when I accompanied the lovely Sarah and Therri on their rounds of the local Tilia trees.

I only collected one bagful but that was plenty for me to make a small quantity of tincture, some infused oil and a lovely linden Elixir. Linden, also known as Lime or Tilia, has a beautiful sweet honey/ floral smell which can make a gentle, subtle infused oil that will help with nervous tension and calm anxiety when massaged into the skin. It’s also antioxidant so lovely in face creams which I’ll be making a batch of soon. I used Jojoba oil to make mine, partly because Jojoba is one of the plant oils that is best absorbed by the skin and partly because it’s the only oil I had sufficient quantity of left! You could use any light, unscented oil however such as sweet almond, apricot kernel or a light sunflower. See here for my post on how to make an infused oil.

Infused Oil and Elixir

I’m particularly excited by the elixir as it’s the first time I’ve made it. I was inspired by the wonderful taste of lime blossom honey (said to be one of the best in the world) and wanted to incorporate it into a medicine which would capture the different properties of Tilia in something delicious and sweet tasting. To make it I filled a jar with Tilia blossom, the flowers and bracts, and covered it to the top with one third Lime blossom honey and two thirds brandy. I then added 7 drops of Linden flower remedy to increase the subtle healing properties of the elixir. I love Tilia as a flower essence, my experience being that it lightens my mood, opens the heart, increases perception and brings a sense of sweetness and calm to my day.
I’ll leave it to infuse for six weeks, giving it a little shake once a day, and then strain out the plant material and take it liberally, either in a little warm water or straight off the spoon! Yum.