For those of us in the southern hemisphere who are experiencing winter, you might be feeling those bugs dancing around you, waiting for an opportunity to make you sick. I’ve gone for whole winters without getting sick but nothing wrong with a bit of a workout for the immune system every now and then. And when you do need a bit of extra help you may look no further than nature where all kinds of fruits abound.
I am feeling particularly grateful to the citrus fruits at the moment, lemon and orange juice brewed up with honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic and ginger. Add a good helping of some fine single malt whiskey once you have taken your slowly simmered medicine off the stove and the alchemy is complete! That’s my recipe for a hot toddy, I don’t remember who I got it from but I do know that it is wonderful for colds and flu. And the fine brew we made came from fruit on the trees here at our latest house sit, abundance comes in many forms and this is certainly bounteous nature at her best!
I’m not sure about some of the garlic but the ginger came from a lovely lady at my Sunday market who sells strawberries, avocados and other yummy things. The honey comes from my local co-op and is raw, so my medicine for my cough was made with very fine ingredients! And when I sent my Beloved out for the whiskey I was happy when he came back with a good bottle, nice and smooth. It’s a funny thing but the only time I ever really want whiskey is when I’m sick with a cold or bug of some description. For me it really is medicine, does a wonderful job of healing and in winter it’s nice to be so hot, but you wouldn’t want to be drinking it all the time.
So if you are in winter at the moment consider whether your immune system might need a boost, when there is a lot of fruit on the trees sometimes even organic can be quite cheap, certainly no more than the commercial fruit. In fact whatever season you are currently inhabiting may well be rich with all the nutrition you need. Nature does seem to balance supply and demand quite well if treated with respect, if you have the opportunity plant a food forest where you live!
I like the sound of that!
Through the Vortex 