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Mandarins!
Seem to be a focus lately. Harvested a small portion of one tree and multiple more waiting. Distilling the peels in a spent sweet potato mash and collecting a substantial amount of oil. The crazy thing is, the left overs, the hydrosol, is a slight spirit….a mandarin flavor elixir. Also making wine that is bubbling boastfully that I will alchemize with rose hips as both season are in season at the same time and both have the mark of the big Vitamin C.
Apparently it unlocks pent up creativity, allowing those who are too serious to relax and enjoy life. It is said it is good for new projects. I have plenty. Marmalade perhaps and drying for incense. The house is full of the scent. Invigorating and yet, calming. A clean scent for those obsessed with clean. A cleaner for the windows and mirrors! Perhaps a vinaigrette! Maybe the orange oil to buff the wood floors! Let’s make a salad with it! Thai! Let’s just make medicine and let it be natural nourishment
Oh clementine! I can smell the fortune of another worth! Oh, Clementine, my love, why did you leave? It takes much work and effort and that is not for the faint of heart. The gift explodes when you put in the effort…and stay focussed. Mandarin is the color of the sunset and the sun moves from our view revealing a truth that many do not know.
What I enjoyed about Jim was he was responsive to my nature muses. When I went down the corridors of investigation, he always asked “how can I help?”. You don’t know what you got till it is gone! We didn’t get to fully express this together. There were too many distractions and interactions including his illness and suffering. What I realize is, if he was not ill, things would have been different. He loved me and saw me! I loved him and saw him.
The bold plants of the land are now in focus because they hold the energy of Jim. There is another distill of the red hibiscus, a tropical known, interestingly, as red sorrel. It is being alchemized in the copper still…smaller but still! The oil is blue! I have completed a “flower” batch and will now try the leaves. Sorrel, as I know it as plant from the north, is sour. Here, in Ecuador, it is a red hibiscus. It seems to have the same medicine/energy. The hydrosol is soothing to the skin (antioxidant) and a toner. To take internally you must be careful with this plant for it will acidify the acids and create crystals. But, it helps calm the heart (high blood pressure) and cleans the blood (of course it is a red plant) But, it’s sourness (like the mandarin orange) also purifies personalities. Not for the weak, for sure! It is zanny, cidificerate (is that a word?) and sanity curating. So, I do it and enjoy the process.
Perhaps both this orange and red colors are combining to create the sunset in my life right now. Perfect plants for this moment in time. Will share more about the red hibiscus…the red sorrel…later. I am just getting to know this plant whose essence smells like sweet grass. The mandarin oil is a good harvest. I have 100ml of pure oil from one batch (3 runs).
UPDATE – Finished the Mandarin Run and have a substantial amount of pure mandarine oil and hydrosol. Very, very pleased
