Wortcunning, Baking, and Connecting with the Natural World

My family has always had a garden. Even if the beds were confined on a porch shaded by tall conifers, it was essential that something is constantly growing in our backyard. In our current house, we’re lucky enough to have ample space for multiple garden beds, and a mound that, (when given permission by our heavy-footed dogs) boasts a plethora of herbs and flowers. However, it wasn’t until the pandemic began that I fully began to appreciate the importance of growing and making my own food. Limited to our yard, my curiosity towards the plants I shared it with grew and blossomed, and I began actively trying to learn everything I could about them. 

Thanks to my research and documentation, I’m now able to harvest fresh chickweed and hairy bittercress from what I would have once considered a clump of weeds, and add them to my sandwiches every day. I can strip the dying lavender of its flowers and dry them to be added to the batter of buttery scones. And I can make sure I keep our dogs away from the beautiful but toxic flowers of bittersweet nightshade.

Wortcunning: The knowledge of healing and magickal properties of plants combined with the practical skills required to make use of this knowledge.

Witchipedia

By taking it upon myself to identify and research the uses of the plants growing all around me, I’ve fostered a sense of independence within myself. I have the ability to know what I can eat and use to help my body and mind feel good, and I can find these things growing and flowering all around me.

One of my biggest concerns about moving to the temperate rainforest of Olympia is its ecological differences from the High Desert. My heart may feel so full surrounded by the rain and lush green forests, but it’s also filled with anxiety and stress of not knowing the name and use of whatever plant I may find. Luckily my parents also value the ability to nourish one’s self in the woods and have given me books about Wortcunning and herbal medicine in the Olympics. On top of that, I will also begin an apprenticeship with an herbalist this coming October, and I’m so excited. I have hope that I can turn the anxiety around my lack of knowledge of the edible and medicinal plants around Evergreen’s campus into motivation to learn more. 

Until I leave for college, I’ve begun taking advantage of the weeks of replenishing rain we had in late spring and early summer this year and harvesting, foraging, and preserving what I can to bring with me to college. Below I’ve included two recipes I made this week which turned out far better than I expected! If any fellow Oregonians are reading this, I heavily suggest you give them a try!

Oregon Grape Jam

I had been anticipating the ripening of Oregon Grapes in our front yard for months. Luckily the heavy rains this year, and then sweltering heatwaves resulted in a massive harvest which I could put to use in the kitchen, while still leaving the majority for the wildlife. 

Oregon Grapes are a digestive stimulant, have anti-microbial properties, are immune boosting, anti-inflammatory, and may also boost mood. It’s so amazing to me that we have the opportunity to find such versatile plants right outside our front doors. 

Oregon Grape Jam Recipe

2 quarts of washed and stemmed oregon grapes (ripe ones will be a blueish purple)

3 cups water

5 cups sugar

1 package liquid pectin 

1. Crush grapes and add water, using a hand blender on low- do NOT over mix.
2. Boil for 10 minutes, crushing berries as you go.
3. Place mixture in cheese-cloth lined colander, let drain for around 3-6 hours, until approximately 4 cups of juice remains. Discard debris.
4. Mix juice with sugar and bring to a rapid boil. 
5. Add pectin. Return to full boil for one minute. 
6. Place into warm sterilized jars, place the lids on and put jars into a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
7. Remove jars from water and let set overnight. 

I ended up reducing this recipe by ¾ which resulted in around 3 jars of jam.

Jam Filled Scones

With about one jar of this jam, I decided to make jam filled lavender scones, with lavender harvested from my own backyard!

Jam Filled Scones Recipe

2 cups flower

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup cold unsalted butter (cubed)

⅔ cup oat milk

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 tablespoons dried lavender flowers

½ cup jam

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar. 
3. Cut in butter and mix with hands until the misfire resembles coarse crumbs. Add oat milk. 
4. Transfer to lightly floured surface and knead, incorporating dried lavender flowers as you go. 
5. Flatten into an approximately ¾ inch thick sheet, cut dough into circles (I use the edge of a half cup measuring cup to do this). 
6. Place onto a baking sheet and use thumb to make an indent in the center. Fill with around 1 tablespoon of jam.
7. Bake for around 20 minutes or until golden brown.

These scones turned out much better than I expected as this was one of the first recipes I constructed instead of following a premade recipe exactly. They were very light and fluffy, and the flavor of the lavender and the Oregon grape jam were balanced. 

These are just a few of the recipes I’ve experimented with this summer, and I hope to be able to continue my passion of both foraging and baking in college. Thank you for reading, and feel free to try out these recipes on your own!