Chaga

[Kezzie]

Does anyone here interact with Chaga? It is enormously popular up here - as well as being plentiful. A bit of work to harvest and to make into small enough bits for use - but truly beneficial. Soooooo.... I am wondering - does anyone other than myself, here, work with this wonderful fungi?

[ItalianBee]

I don't have much experience with Chaga but I have a chunk of it in my possession, that I harvested last September. I bang off a small piece of it and add it when making soup stock.

I have read that it doesn't give up its goodies to alcohol, so not good to tincture that way - can anyone speak to that?

I too would love to learn more.

[bluebirdmama]

I love Chaga! I drink it every day, several times a day. My kids absolutely love it too. It is pretty plentiful here too. I usually reuse the same chunk over and over again all winter long, adding a bit more if it becomes too weak. I serve it with a splash of maple syrup and milk.

[Kezzie]

Thank you both. I have not tried re-using it. Interesting.
Chaga does give up her goodies to alcohol though. Not completely, but more than enough to be very useful!

[ItalianBee]

Thank you both. I have not tried re-using it. Interesting.
Chaga does give up her goodies to alcohol though. Not completely, but more than enough to be very useful!

Well, then, I will try a tincture. I came across one piece online (quite a while ago and I don't know that I could find it again) that said you basically have to simmer it for a day and then do some other things and the whole infusing process took three days. I couldn't believe that - it wouldn't be as popular as it's becoming if that were the case.

[Kezzie]

Mmhmm - the people I have talked with, online and off seem to infuse it longer and hotter with some expectation that there should be more "visually" than they are getting. But then, I am not talking about wise women using simples and making daily infusions of so many good things a part of daily life. Does that make sense? I think that a lot of people are over-cooking to increase perceived results.

[ItalianBee]

Kezzie, I think that's part of the whole mindset of our culture, which is too bad. True health is slow and subtle.

Oh, and I think I'm going to do my first double extract with chaga. Exciting!

[Kezzie]

Kezzie, I think that's part of the whole mindset of our culture, which is too bad. True health is slow and subtle.

Oh, and I think I'm going to do my first double extract with chaga. Exciting! [/[color=#BF0000]cYAY!!! Let us know how it turns out, please!olor]