ELDERBERRY COUGH SYRUP

Ingredients

¼ cup dried Elderberries 1 ½ cups of water ½ cinnamon stick 1 ½ whole cloves ½ teaspoon of ginger ¼ cup of honey or maple syrup

Method

1. Place berries, water and spices in a saucepan bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until a syrupy thickness
2. Smash the berries to release remaining juice and strain the mixture
3. Allow liquid to cool. Stir in raw honey only after it has cooled to preserve the enzymes and good living food in the honey
4. This will last for 2-3 months stored in the fridge

Note: honey shouldn’t be given to a child under 1 as there is a small risk that it can contain spores of the clostridium botulinum bacterium which could cause infant botulism. After a baby is a year old the intestine has matured, and the bacteria can’t grow.

Maple syrup can be used instead of honey as it comes directly from inside the maple tree. It is the sap of the maple tree that creates maple syrup and contamination with botulism is almost impossible.

I recently watched David Attenborough’s documentary called the ‘Private Life of Plants’. He leads you on a journey of how nature created the biosphere so that we can survive. Nature provides food, shelter and oxygen – it literally feeds the world. We should be thankful and love and protect it by reuniting with her.

We are made up of 5 elements: Air, Water, Fire, Earth and Spirit. Plants are also made up of these 5 elements: carbon dioxide, rain, sun, soil and now scientists have proven they have emotions. They communicate with each other through their root system, they nurture their young, help each other find nutrients, they will send out signals of distress when they are threatened and surprisingly will go to war if they have to against a predator. The world is thriving under our very feet and yet most of us are not conscious of this at all. 

When we consume botanicals we are consuming the intelligence of the plant...