Want to learn how to make fir buds syrup and what to use fir buds syrup for? Continue reading this article and find out.
Fir buds (Abies alba) are one of the most amazing medicine in the month of May. This is the time of the year when pine and fir buds contain everything your body needs to maintain health and heal. In addition, a foray into the forest is a real therapy for the lungs, which are healed from the aromas scattered by the conifers. Fir buds make some amazing natural medicines, and one of the most popular medicines you can make with fir buds is fir buds syrup. Want to learn how to make fir buds syrup and what to use it for? Continue reading.
In This Article You Will Find:
How to Harvest Fir Buds
Fir buds grow on the tip of the fir branches and have a raw green color, which cheers up the coniferous forests on the mountain slopes, looking like holiday decorations. Fir buds are tender and, if you crush them between your teeth, they have a sour taste and spread an extraordinary aroma. When the fir buds are two fingers long, they are ready for harvesting to prepare all kinds of healing syrups and liquors from them. That is, every year in the month of May.
Stored in paper bags, the fresh fir buds can be kept in the refrigerator for 7-10 days, during which time they can be consumed as such, to regulate the appetite, disinfect the mouth, and freshen the breath. You can eat 5-6 buds, on an empty stomach, a quarter of an hour before the meal.
In most forests, fir (Abies alba) grows together with spruce (Picea abies). Both these threes are very similar and and have almost identical therapeutic properties, and both can be used in the recipes and remedies described here.
Health Uses of Fir Buds
In official medicine, fir buds are used as a remedy for respiratory infections (bronchitis, tracheitis, laryngitis), and urinary infections, for their disinfectant, diuretic, expectorant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties. Due to their expectorant, bactericidal, revulsive, anti-inflammatory, and fluidizing action of bronchial secretions, fir forests constitute an excellent healing environment for lung ailments.
How to Make Fir Buds Syrup
Fir buds syrup is such a popular remedy in the Balkan area, that there are not just one, but two ways to make it at home. The first fir buds syrup recipe involves simmering, while the other one makes raw fir buds syrup without any heat. But both of these recipes are effective when it comes to cough, fever, and other mild respiratory tract conditions. Let’s start with the first one.
Fir Buds Syrup Recipe 1
Ingredients:
- 100 g fresh fir buds (200 g dried fir buds)
- 500 ml of water (2 cups)
- 500 g of sugar (2 1/2 cups) or 500 ml of honey
Preparation
Wash the freshly picked fir buds under a stream of cold water, and then crushed them slightly. If you only have dried fir buds, you will need to use double the amount of fresh fir buds. Boil the fir buds in two cups of water for fifteen minutes, then leave to infuse for 30 minutes, until the infusion cools a little.
After it cools, add 1/2 kilogram of sugar or honey and bring to a boil. When it starts boiling, turn the heat off, and leave it aside for a few minutes. Strain the fir buds syrup before it cools completely, and then pour it into small, amber bottles. Seal the bottles and keep them in the fridge, or somewhere cold.
Fir Buds Syrup Recipe 2
In a glass jar or, better, in a clay pot with a lid, alternately put a layer of fresh fir buds, followed by a layer of raw honey (about two fingers thick each), until you reach the top of the container. The last layer is honey. Seal the jar or pot hermetically and put it somewhere dark and cool, or bury it in the ground for four to eight weeks. The syrup will turn to color brown, and this is how you know it is ready. Strain the raw syrup and pour it into amber bottles, that you keep in the refrigerator.
To enjoy its healing properties, have two tablespoons on an empty stomach (for children one tablespoon), but you can use the raw fir buds syrup just like the one above. In addition, this syrup strengthens the blood vessels, the kidneys, and the body as a whole. It has also traditionally been used in the treatment of tuberculosis, asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, and tracheitis.
How to Use Fir Buds Syrup
- The undiluted fir buds syrup can be taken to alleviate a whopping or dry cough, and when diluted in spring water, it has a cooling and antipyretic (fever-lowering) action.
- You can take 2-3 spoons a day, possibly diluted in water or hot tea, in case of any respiratory conditions.
- To strengthen the immunity of your respiratory system, you can have 2 teaspoons of fir buds syrup a day, after meals, at least 20 days a month; you can resume for three consecutive months.
But there are other less-known health benefits of fir buds syrup, that we want to share with you.
7 Health Benefits of Fir Buds Syrup with Instructions
- Lumbar Pain – You can have one teaspoon, three times a day, for two to three weeks of the raw fir buds syrup (recipe 2).
- Cough & Chronic Bronchitis – You can take 6-10 teaspoons of the raw fir buds syrup (recipe 2). This syrup has disinfectant, and calming effects, and helps to regenerate tissues damaged by viral infections. Additionally, gargle with two teaspoons of fir buds tincture in a quarter cup of water. You can make your own fir buds tincture, by following the recipe here.
- Cold & Asthma – For cold and asthma, you can have a tablespoon of fir buds syrup three times a day, diluted in lukewarm water, or in fir needle tea.
- Anemia, Demineralization & Body Weakness – Ideally, you can follow a two-week cure, during which time you take 2-3 teaspoons of raw fir bud syrup (recipe 2), a quarter of an hour before each meal. Fir buds have vitaminizing and miraculous regenerating properties. This treatment is especially recommended for children, who respond especially well to preparations obtained from young plant parts, such as fir buds.
- Anorexia & Lack of Appetite – You can drink half a cup of raw fir buds syrup diluted in a little natural mineral water, 10-15 minutes before each meal. This remedy has excellent effects in stimulating digestion.
- Mental Fatigue – You can take a few spoonfuls of fir buds syrup on an empty stomach. This natural preparation quickly restores blood sugar levels and regulates nervous activity, having a very intense tonic and comforting effect.
- Laryngitis & Hoarseness – In Romanian folk medicine, this remedy has been passed from generation to generation. They used to call the raw fir buds syrup (recipe 2) fir honey and used it to fix throat and vocal fold inflammations. When your vocal cords are affected, have a tablespoon of fir buds syrup that you swallow slowly, allowing it to linger in your throat area for as long as possible.
Why Make Fir Buds Syrup at Home
Vlach shepherds in the Balkans still pick fir buds and chew on them during their long pilgrimages through the mountains in May. They did this to crunch their thirst, but also to protect them from lung ailments and even evil spirits, according to their beliefs. After eating 5-6 fir buds on an empty stomach the shepherds enjoyed a fresh breath and build up an appetite. When arriving in the sheepfold, they made a fir buds decoction to give to their weakened animals to help them get back on their feet.
This was common knowledge decades ago, but today the modern world is rediscovering what our ancestors already knew centuries ago. Fir buds are some of the most amazing medicine that you can use in the month of May, and fir buds syrup is the most healing remedy you can make with these small, yet healing buds that bring about new life, and regeneration.
More Recipes with Fir Buds:
Fir Buds Tincture
Fir Buds Tea
If you’ve enjoyed learning how to make fir buds syrup at home, please share this article so more people can use this free information. Let us know in the comments below how your fir buds syrup turned out and if it was effective for you. Stay healthy, naturally!
Share on Pinterest ❤️
