Sumac Tea

Thinking of Lara and her nettle tea as I made for the first time what is called sumac lemonade or sumac-ade. A more accurate name would be sumac tea, unless you put sugar in it to sweeten it like lemonade. It is sharp and tangy - tastes better than water with lemon squeezed in it but is similar to that taste but not as sour. It is refreshing and thirst quenching drunk cold on a hot day.

(the recipe I used is from this guy and he calls sumac the "wild lemonade berry"  http://www.countrysidemag.com/87-4/sam_thayer/)

Alignment/Function: The sumac plants grow in the woods behind our yard. The berries are full of vitamin C (which is what gives it the astringent, lemony flavor).

Range/Efficiency: The berries are best picked while bright red - they taste sour if you bite them and if it rains heavily on them the red washes out and they don't have much taste anymore. Berries are ripe and tastiest end of July into mid August. The plants grow wild all over Kansas (and other places, too.)
       To make the tea you just pour cold water over the berries, squeeze them and let it sit for a few hours. If you let it sit in the cold refrigerator, it is ready to drink after straining.
       Not so efficient is that my tea jug leaks :(

Vocabulary/Intention: Eating healthy, tasty food from my backyard! Vocab: Sumac Tea!

Very fun to discover that this plant I've seen by the roadside my whole life can provide a delicious summer drink. (Sam says you can dry the berries to make it in the winter but our two plants just produced enough for two jugs this year.) We are looking at zoning our yard, taking out grass and making sections that are wilder, native plants or garden perennials so that there would be more food and less mowing. Sumac plants would make a nice hedge in the summer - they are kind of raggedy looking in the winter but in the fall the leaves turn bright red and golden yellow!