Best time to make it is now before the sap starts to rise in the early spring. It also suppose to have blood thinning propertys. I usely boil the whole root but I have heard of people skinning the bark off the roots.Its the org. root beer.

Got any pics of what a sassafrass looks like this time of year?

WTF is this? lol It must be a southern thing and i guess i ain't been down here long enuf to learn it yet.

Got any pics of what a sassafrass looks like this time of year?

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t309/fabfive2001/DSC00704.jpg This is what it looks like now with out the leaves in the winter its a little harder to tell until you get to know it . Basically it has smooth green bark on the ends of the twigs in the winter which acts like a leaf. I don't remember what they call that type of bark its chlorophillic or something like that photosynthesis occurs in the bark which gives its green color during the winter. Another way of IDing it is yanking it up and sniffin the root. The leaves can be used as a seasoning like you would use bay leaves in a soup or stew like gumbo.

WTF is this? lol It must be a southern thing and i guess i ain't been down here long enuf to learn it yet.

I grew up drinking sassafras tea when I was a kid. My grandparents had a good sized tree that we used to take a mattock to the root on to take off a section each year. It's good for what ails ya. Yeah, it may be kind of a southern thang, but that ain't bad y'hear? My grandparents lived near Salem, Indiana. Back then you grew up with a jackknife in your pocket, a cane pole in one hand, and a homemade slingshot in the other.:D

FunGus, filé powder used to thicken filé gumbo (as opposed to using okra) is made from dried sassafras leaves. Your making this old country boys mouth water bringing up stuff like that.

I've collected and kept a bag of sassafras root in my freezer every year since my grandmaw made it for me when I was knee high to a grasshopper. At age 98 while we were out campiing, she showed me how to make tea out of lambsear as well. I like it about as well as sassafras. That lady slept w/ me in a tent on the ground until she was 98. She made it 107 and I hope I can make it half that far..LOL

My wife used to have lamb's ear growing in her flower garden. How do you make tea from it?

Wash the leaves and boil it up for about 20 minutes. Makes a yellow tea that may mind ya of something else but tastes pretty good. Now that I'm looking at it, it may have just been Grandmaw calling it lambsear. It's true name is mullein. Here's a link for identifying what I'm talking about so ya don't get sick:
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Mullein.html

Just a note, we used to use it as TP when we ran out in ze woods. Velvety soft on yer hiney...LOL

Mullien is really good for earaches/infections as well, strip the blossoms off the flower heads...it's blooming now....and put them in a jar of almod or sweet oil. let them sit in dark place for a few days then strain out the plant matter. A few drops in your ear and poof all better in usually a day. Great for kids ear infections too.
That mullien tea is good for coughs and sore throats..and when you are really comngested in your chest...the leaves can be dried, crushed and smoked...about 15 minutes after smoking a few hits..you'll truthfully think you are going to die you caough so hard but all that gunk comes up and out...and you can also use it to stretch tobacco and make it a little smoother if you roll your own...no buzz from smoking it though..not that anyone here would wonder about that sort of thing....LOL

Wash the leaves and boil it up for about 20 minutes. Makes a yellow tea that may mind ya of something else but tastes pretty good. Now that I'm looking at it, it may have just been Grandmaw calling it lambsear. It's true name is mullein. Here's a link for identifying what I'm talking about so ya don't get sick:
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Mullein.html

Just a note, we used to use it as TP when we ran out in ze woods. Velvety soft on yer hiney...LOL

Yeah, that's what she had in her garden. It's not just your grandma calling it that. So what's that "something else" you're talking about. :rolleyes:

Lol....I figured the hiney wipin' woulda got ya thinking in the right vicinity:D

Yeah, I kinda thought you were getting at it having the same color as yellow snow.

Wash the leaves and boil it up for about 20 minutes. Makes a yellow tea that may mind ya of something else but tastes pretty good. Now that I'm looking at it, it may have just been Grandmaw calling it lambsear. It's true name is mullein. Here's a link for identifying what I'm talking about so ya don't get sick:
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Mullein.html

Just a note, we used to use it as TP when we ran out in ze woods. Velvety soft on yer hiney...LOL

I was looking for that on the "helpful Link" site but I couldn't find it there. When my grandfather was little he was kicked by a mule in the stomach. The Indian Doctor came and boiled mullin leaves and layed on his stomach It was suppose to work as some type of poultice to draw the hemorrhaged blood out of his tissue.

Did it work?

it probably did....I can remember Mom doing the same thing if we had deep bruises or spains...

I'm posting right now ain't I??????? If it wouldn't have I wouldn't be.........

Soooo, back to the sassafras. Where would someone who isn't fortunate enough to have a sassafras tree in their back yard find some root to make tea?

Becks Landing....But its kinda weak this time of year compared to what its like in the winter because the sap is up in the plant.

I love the Red Green Show... Is it still on? I just rent the DVD as of late...

You could find the plants now and mark them with ribbon, then go back late fall and dig em up. I found a few out on the back side of Pit 3.

somebody like me would just come along and pull the ribbon off.......

Hehe, I'm a ribbon puller too... I feel like you should know the way.

Its not my fault a bunch of armatures don't know their flora and fona. If I wanted to look at litter filled trees I would hang out at the local Wal-Mart parking lot.

I may have a small collection of little glow tacks too.:cool:

As long as you don't move the ribbons to something like poison oak, eh? Of course there's a big difference in the smell of sassafras root.

We've got a good bit in the fence row.. want me to look for some small ones that could be moved in the fall?