Gathering Herbs for 'Baby, Come!' Tea

The other day my friend Gerit sent me the photo you see above. She told me she had found these flowers in her garden, and that the light pink blossoms, called Robert Geranium or Geranium robertianum, were an important part of an old recipe for tea called 'Kindlein-komm!' Translated to english, 'Baby, come!" As the name states, it's meant for women who are hoping to have a visit from the stork as soon as possible. Women have claimed to have gotten pregnant within weeks or days of drinking this tea three times a day! Well, naturally I needed the recipe.

Baby, Come! Tea Recipe:

Lady's Mantle 50 g

St. John's Wort 50 g

Lady's Bedstraw 50 g

Robert Geranium 50 g

Yarrow 50 g

Yellow Sweet Clover 50 g

White or Yellow Dead Nettle blossoms 5 – 10 g

Instructions: 

Gather and dry these herbs, preferably during the waxing moon and before noon for the highest potency.  Grind into a tea. Drink 3 cups a day, beginning on the day after your period has ended or if your period is late. During your period, abstain from drinking this tea, and substitute with another, such as raspberry leaf, or mugwort, which supports ovulation.

I began gathering this morning, although it is very wet out (it's been raining on and off for over a week now), and most of the ingredients haven't yet blossomed (herbs tend to be more potent when they are in bloom). But I knew where I could find lady's mantle and yellow dead nettles and thought I would get a head start on making my Baby, Come! tea. 

When it's wet like this, you rarely see a single soul while out in the woods or fields. Which I admit, is how I like it best. It's very quiet...

...just the sound of the creek running, the birds singing, water dripping from leaves, my footsteps through tall damp grass, and Kiki behind me, sniffing and sometimes digging.

I came to the field where I had found lady's mantle once before and began treading slowly, parting the high blades of grass carefully; my sneakers were soaked through by now. I finally spotted some leaves of lady's smock, glistening with rain drops.

There is something about gathering your own herbs...you feel connected to all the women before you who did the same, picking leaves from stems on still mornings, with intentions of healing, or a heart filled with hope. And there is that closeness with God, with nature...that gratitude for the miraculous fact that every growing thing has it's own unique properties, some of which hold the power for healing, or nourishment. And there is this feeling I get when I see an herb I was looking for...the feeling that it is there, growing and existing only for me to come and discover it.

I ended up finding a whole handfull of lady's mantle, and then moved on to yellow dead nettles, which are a favorite of bumble bees and ants for their sweet and plentiful nectar. I had to shake a few insects off of the ones I picked. Yellow dead nettles have a mild and pleasant fragrance. I kept breathing it in while I gathered.

I also found some wild strawberry, and decided to harvest some of their leaves, which, when dried, make a lovely tea. Strawberry leaf tea is good-tasting tea which helps to ease an upset stomach.

On my way back home, with my hand full of herbs and Kiki with a muddy snout from poking it into mouse holes, I stopped to admire this woodpile.

Yes....I admired a woodpile. And I was glad that a neat, tawny stack of wood could bring joy to my heart.

My herbs are drying now. And I am taking time to notice the small, simple things that make me happy...

...like a wild rose in an egg cup.



xoxo country girl 

p.s. thank you, gerit, for the herblore and wisdom you share with me!