If you’ve ever had a salad made from wild spring greens, you likely already know that they’re bursting with the vital, invigorating nutrients that have been accumulating in their roots all winter.

To concentrate, capture and preserve this trove of vitamins and minerals for use throughout the year, I reach for the apple cider vinegar. You can use any kind, including fancier culinary vinegars, but ACV is easy to find and easy to make at home or find at the grocery store. (Especially if you happen to live in the apple capital of the world.) It’s easy to use in salad dressings or add to honey and water for a shrub-type beverage. I also like to throw a splash in the chickens’ water to give them a mineral boost.

For this batch, I’ve chosen mugwort (Artemesia vulgaris), nettle and dandelion leaf–all perennials that reliably pop up in my yard each year.

  • Mugwort (middle) is high in vitamins A, E, K calcium, potassium and iron.

  • Stinging nettle (left) is high in amino acids, protein, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc.

  • Dandelion (right) greens contain high amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, calcium, potassium, iron, and manganese.

Other good plant allies for this project are chickweed, parsley, plantain and horsetail.

To make: Chop herbs roughly and put them in a jar, filling it to about half. Cover them with apple cider vinegar, making sure the plants are covered by at least a few inches. Let steep for a month, shaking occasionally. Strain and enjoy.

Note: If you’re using a metal lid on a mason jar, use a piece of waxed paper between the jar and the lid to prevent corrosion.

Happy infusing!

Maria

Strong Bones Vinegar is available in our shop. If you’d prefer to make your own but lack access to the plants, check out what’s available in the nursery and the farm fresh section! Visit our site.

***As always, we are here to share information, not medical advice. We are growers, not doctors. If you are ill, please see your physician.