We use Bt dunks to keep mosquitos out of our yard, but what to do to keep mosquitos and ticks off of you while you’re hiking or foraging? This information comes courtesy of USDA researchers. Global Posts, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and University of Florida, P.O. Recent research has found the leaves of Beautyberry do indeed harbor an effective mosquito repellent. To reiterate, all of the research on health benefits is far too preliminary right now. In the early 1900s, farmers crushed beautyberry leaves as a mosquito repellent on their horses, mules, and themselves. Tyrant Farms is reader-supported. Beautyberry jelly recipes abound on the internet, so we won’t bother replicating that recipe here. We were simply sharing the research findings. The plants prefer full sun, but can tolerate part shade. Native American Indians used all parts of the Beautyberry plant for medicinal purposes and I’ve heard the leaves make an excellent mosquito repellent. Even if your ducks don’t like them, you’ll have berries for yourself and leaves you can use as a mosquito repellent. Please be sure to subscribe to Tyrant Farms to see what's in-season out in nature, have fresh seasonal recipes delivered to your inbox and get helpful organic/permaculture gardening & duck keeping tips. You may want to see if your flock likes them as well. American beautyberry has been used as a folk remedy to prevent mosquito bites. As mentioned throughout this article, yes, beautyberries are indeed edible. Using 1/4 cup of the beautyberry juice to rehydrate the cut up gelatin squares. American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is an attractive, common landscape shrub native to the southeastern US. © 2020 - Tyrant Farms. If you were present for … It has a 230 bloom (the highest bloom strength available). Remove seeds and store in fridge over winter. As mentioned earlier, beautyberry tea tastes almost identical to hibiscus tea: tangy and citrusy. The only reason we don’t grow beautyberries in our yarden is because we have limited space and there are spots where we can get all the beautyberries we want or need within a few miles of our home. You said they could be used to make a salve or lotion but you didn’t say how. How To Make Mosquito Repellent From The Leaves Of Callicarpa Beautyberry Plants Posted by Jennifer Thomas on 8/23/2018 to DIY Projects There are three chemicals in the leaves of the Callicarpa (Beautyberry) plant that scientists are trying to replicate for mosquito repellent. Rich, well-draining soil is ideal, but here again, the plant is versatile and can grow in a wide variety of soil types and conditions. The American Beautyberry has a rich Floridian history. Beautyberry shrubs have been found to contain chemical compounds similar to DEET, by USDA Research. The research concluded that all three chemicals repulse mosquitoes known to transmit yellow fever and malaria. Here’s how to make the double boiler mentioned in the recipe below. The wild shrub known as American Beauty Berry, Callicarpa americana may just prove to be the safe and natural alternative. This is an important cooking technique when using temperature-sensitive ingredients like gelatin. I read it and didn’t believe it. contain high levels of beneficial antioxidant compounds, which give them their purple color. contain high concentrations of other vitamins and minerals. Aaron also writes for Edible Upcountry Magazine, WordPress (.com), Daily Harvest Express, and other food and tech-related organizations. With no other repellent around and thousands of hungry mosquitos, I ground up the berries in my hands and rubbed the juice on my legs and arms. Privacy Policy. We are thinking of planting a bush in their run and are considering something they can also forage, such as beautyberries. Beautyberry plants are a member of the Lamiaceae family, which includes many mints. In fact, there are at least 140 species of Callicarpa globally. Add 1/4 cup of your total beautyberry juice to bowl, stir, and let gelatin fully hydrate (about 10 minutes). Callicarpa americana, the American beautyberry, is an open-habitat, native shrub of the Southern United States which is often grown as an ornamental in gardens and yards.American beautyberries produce large clusters of purple berries, which birds and deer eat, thus distributing the seeds. September 22 2012 Stir for a couple of minutes until all ingredients thoroughly dissolved and mixed together. Along with being a skeptic, I’m not one to go out of my way to try anything new but I happened to be working on a property with a big ol’ bush so I grabbed a couple leaves, smashed them around in my hands and rubbed them on my exposed skin. From late spring through early summer, beautyberry plants are covered in small clusters of inconspicuous flowers ranging in color from white to pink to purple. How to Make Compost Faster (and Know When It's Ready!) American beautyberry is sometimes called French mulberry. Callicarpa americana is a deciduous Shrub growing to 1.8 m (6ft) at a slow rate. He also serves on the board of the Diversified Agriculture Committee for the South Carolina Farm Bureau. Beautyberry tea is quite simple to make. Could give me those instructions? Native Americans reportedly used the berries in a healing tea. Crush beautyberry leaves in your hand and rub them on yourself. Insect Repellent The beautyberry plant has been a traditional folk remedy for repelling mosquitoes, horseflies, deerflies, ticks, and other biting insects for over a century. Beautyberry honey jello makes a colorful, tasty seasonal dessert. :) Pour into baking dish or molds then place into fridge for a minimum of 2 hours before serving. An hour later, I had no bites, which was miraculous for me. We also write for Edible Upcountry Magazine, so be sure to check out our articles over there as well! Mosquitoes also seem to hate one of those compounds; the callicarpenal. Become a Partner. Beautyberry Mosquito Repellent. From the citrosa geranium to the lemongrass plant, there are differing levels of insect repellency in their skin-applied oils. The study done with the DEET commercial repellent was found to repel more than 95% of the tick nymphs. Scientists Confirm Folk Remedy Repels Mosquitoes Date: July 3, 2006 Source: University Of Mississippi Summary: Swatting mosquitoes and dodging other … [Quick Start to Composting Part 3] - … Last fall we were at a friend’s house who is an adventuresome eater, but hasn’t yet familiarized herself with the abundance of edible food plants that can be found growing wild in most home landscapes. document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "ac1b5f982ee96221f755b860c12c376a" );document.getElementById("d4b1760014").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read our blog! We like PerfectGel Platinum Gelatin sheets, which is the only platinum level gelatin product available in the US. Keep damp. American beautyberries (Callicarpa americana) beginning to ripen from green to purple in late summer in South Carolina. “The beautyberry plant and its ability to repel mosquitoes is an exception. Since botanicals tend to volatilize rapidly (and decompose) it might be wise to refrigerate the final concoction as well. As it turns out, it’s neither French, nor a … Stir until honey is dissolved. Ever since my foraging class and finding out that the beautyberry has great properties for a bug repellent I have wanted to try my hand at making a recipe.. Below the photos, you’ll find the recipe with ingredients and instructions: You’ll want to use a high quality gelatin. As a mid-stage succession plant, they don’t grow well in full shade, such as under the canopy of large trees. CJ Burk [email protected]. Larger pan on bottom with water in it. However, we will teach you exactly how to make a good beautyberry jello recipe! Bring to low boil for about 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Ripe berries on Beautyberry (Photo: Nicole Elmer) Around this time of year, this shrub is difficult to miss. Our flock is oddly finicky about new foods and — unlike most ducks — don’t seem to care for any berries we’ve offered them such as blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. Some states offer American Beautyberry for free while some cultivars can be expensive. This is something we’ll experiment with next year and publish the results. Many are the plants and plant oils that are reputed to repel insects! Roots will establish by spring and you can transplant the young plants into their final spots in the fall. If you come up with a good solution in the meantime, please let us know! If you’re growing beautyberries in your yard or garden, don’t bother to amend your soil before planting. Beautyberries can easily be propagated from cuttings or grown from seed. have very high fiber content (if eaten raw with seeds and skin). Native plants tend to have long-established, mutually beneficial relationships with native animals. Beautyberries just starting to turn purple in late August. When the American beautyberry compound callicarpenal was studied, it repelled 100% of the blacklegged ticks for three hours after it was applied, and 53% for four hours. The berries ripen from green to a bright purple color in late summer-early fall. Identifying Beautyberry. It is in flower from June to July. The shrub, with an open loose habit, is classified in the mint family. Each seed can be used to grow a new beautyberry plant. Taste to make sure it's sweet enough for your liking. Your email address will not be published. Either way, beautyberries are a great plant to have in your yard. From the same plant? In the South, especially in the mountainous northern areas of Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia, one of the old ways of keeping biting insects off horses and mules as they plowed, was to place the branches and leaves of Beauty Berry under their collars. Put jars of beautyberry juice in the fridge. All Rights Reserved. Then we moved on to the beautyberries, which she — like many others — had planted as a landscape plant, completely oblivious to its edibility. You’d probably want to blend the leaves with some water, strain them out, then add melted coconut oil (or something similar) to the extract to create something of a lotion. Inside each small purple beautyberry, you’ll find about four small yellow seeds. You can also make beautyberry ice cubes, then put the ice cubes into freezer bags for long-term storage. Yes, this will result in some leaves ending up in your harvest basket but those can easily be removed later. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Mix 3/4 cup beautyberry juice + honey (to taste) in sauce pan on double boiler. Keep watered through summer. Even the most avid nature lovers (us included) despise mosquitos and ticks. Beautyberry – Mosquito Repellent. their attractive showy berries which stay on the plant through winter, long after the leaves have dropped. However, note that you should use the leaves of the plant, not the berries, if you’re going for an insect repellent. These can be stored for up to a month. However, the fruit does make delicious jelly, syrup, or wine. About 50 yards away: the spot we go to get beautyberries each fall. Raw fresh beautyberries have a very unique flavor that’s hard to compare to anything else: they’re mildly sweet and have spicy notes somewhat similar to Asian five spice. Heat 1/2 cup beautyberry juice (using our concentrated beautyberry juice recipe from above) with 1/2 cup water. American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is an attractive, common landscape shrub native to the southeastern US. Pregnant Tyrant picking ripe beautyberries. Given the beautiful purple color of beautyberries, they lend themselves well to recipes such as jellies and jellos. — at Airlie Gardens. It produces edible berries that can be turned into very tasty recipes and leaves that can be used an effective insect repellent. American Beautyberry is, as the name implies, a plant that is gorgeous when the berries are ripe. But first we want to provide some additional information for anyone interested in finding, growing, or using beautyberries — which are also an important plant for native wildlife…. Place containers outdoors in sunny spot after germination. Under midday heat and sun the beautyberries’ leaves looked slightly limp, but the plants were still loaded with berries, which looked just as large and abundant as they would under more normal weather conditions. Next time we go to our beautyberry spot, we’ll bring some back for a duck trial. “Eat You Weeds” has a good article on beautyberry and it a includes a recipe for bug repellent. Food explorer, seed & soil geek, duck evangelist, writer, health nut, and entrepreneur. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. Yet another reason to grow or forage for beautyberries! They’re just not something you’ll want to eat raw by the handful. I’ve made a large batch of insect repellent with leaves I harvested when we trimmed some plants at East Lake County Chamber of Commerce, and I’m happy to report that it is effective against mosquitoes. Instead, here’s how we pick gallons of beautyberries in a matter of minutes: one person holds a harvest basket underneath a beautyberry branch while the other person strips off entire clusters with one hand and holds the branch steady with the other. Below are some process photos to help you if you’re making this recipe for the first time. Cut 6-8″ stems from mature beautyberry plants in the late winter ~6-8 weeks before the plant has broken dormancy. Beautyberries are also a host plant for native moth species and make an ideal overwintering habitat for other insect species. beautyberry sauces (really good on white fish, pork, poultry, etc). Make a double boiler over low heat by putting water in larger pan on stove and smaller pan inside larger pan (see process photos). American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana). Chickweed tastes like corn silk. Learn all about beautyberries in this article! Discover (and save!) American beautyberry is easily grown in moist, ... A great mosquito & tick repellent I found that is already mixed & works extremely well plus last a really long time. Second strain into jars – Strain through finer strainer when pouring into jars for storage. An element of the beautyberry, callicarpenal, allegedly serves as an effective mosquito repellent. First strain – Strain through metal pasta strainer to remove seeds and skin. Add gelatin/beautyberry juice mix. This is very important as the beautyberry shrub can be used as a natural insect repellent, to protect you and your loved ones from flying biting insects such as mosquitoes and gnats. Hi CJ! Beautyberry tea looks and tastes almost identical to hibiscus tea made from Hibiscus sabdariffa calyxes. Even though the berries aren’t ripe, the leaves are in perfect shape for using as a mosquito and tick deterrent. American Beautyberry Callicarpa americana.This large bush makes a statement all year round, ... Folklore stories will tell you to break up the leaves and rub them on your skin to use as a mosquito repellent, which one scientific study has proved to likely be effective. This will be an arduous process given how small and densely clustered the berries are. American Beautyberry prefers a shady location and is … But this plant is more than just a pretty face! Beautyberries aren’t something you’ll want to eat by the handful like blackberries or strawberries, but they can be used to make a number of very tasty and unusual recipes, a few of which we’ll detail in this article. Three repellent chemicals were extracted during the 12-month study: callicarpenal, intermedeol and spathulenol. 2. Put equal quantities of fresh beautyberries and water into a pot on your stove (example 5 cups beautyberries and 5 cups water). Add a bit of sweetener (like stevia powder or honey), and enjoy. Seeds should germinate within 2-3 weeks. The normally inconspicuous green berries turn bright purple and become quite popular for wild bird and animal populations. All that beautiful color stays in the final juice when you strain them. Don’t worry! Using american beautyberry as an effective insect repellent. We actually identified naturally occurring chemicals in the plant responsible for this activity.”. We decided to stop when I discovered my mom was inches away from a thriving paper wasp nest that was hidden away in some undergrowth. 5. Jams, Jellies... & Mosquito Repellant? Sheep sorrel tastes like lemons. The berries can be harvested through the winter until they turn brown. beautyberry, beautyberry gelatin, beautyberry jello, beautyberry recipe, beautyberry juice (make using instructions from above), Bt dunks to keep mosquitos out of our yard, hibiscus roselle tea (from Hibiscus sabdariffa), How to grow American groundnuts in your garden, Potted citrus garden video tour (Zone 7b), Recipe: Sugar-free persimmon cranberry relish. The fruit of Beautyberry is edible to wildlife and people, but you won’t be impressed with the flavor or texture of the raw berries. However, they are quite good once cooked and properly prepared. While there’s no available data we’ve seen on beautyberry nutrition, our guess — based on the berries’ flavor and color — is that beautyberries: You can use your concentrated beautyberry juice (using instructions above) as a base for all sorts of beautyberry recipes, such as: I’m happily drinking a cup of beautyberry tea as I write! However, Japanese beautyberry (Callicarpa japonica) also contains the main constituents that act as a natural bug repellent, and it’s likely that many others in this genus do as well. We checked on a nearby native passionfruit patch, which was loaded with fruit and flowers, showing very little stress. Bringing the beautyberry jello ingredients together in the DIY double boiler. A jar of pure beautyberry juice ready for the fridge and future beautyberry recipes! American Beautyberry is an attractive deciduous shrub that attains heights to 6'. Ripe beautyberries in our harvest basket. Aaron is the former farm manager at Oak Hill Cafe & Farm, a no-till, permaculture, farm-to-table restaurant & farm located right down the street from his alma mater, Furman University, in Greenville, SC. Thanks so much it was wonderful reading about this beauty! have high levels of carbohydrates, like other berries (sweet). Perfectly ripe clusters of beautyberries can easily be stripped off of the plant in their entirety by swiping your hand down the stem of the plant. However, the most impressive use for beautyberry may be as a mosquito repellent. The American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), also known as French Mulberry, is a deciduous bush that reaches a height of over two meters (well over six feet). The use of callicarpenal has been patented by the United States Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Research Service as a mosquito repellent. You can make your own repellent by boiling the leaves or soaking them in alcohol. Jan 27, 2013 - This Pin was discovered by Trail Shade ~~<3. That’s why birds such as cardinals, woodpeckers, and mockingbirds, eat beautyberries throughout the winter. Uses Insect repellent. Beautyberry – Mosquito Repellent. Citronella Geranium: Is It Really a Mosquito Repellent? We seldom see them growing wild in our area, but they’re a very popular local landscape plant due to: Beautyberries mature to about 5′ tall x 5′ wide, but we’ll occasionally see them growing to larger sizes in ideal conditions. After the leaves of beautyberry do indeed harbor an effective mosquito repellent good once cooked and properly.. Bother to amend your soil before planting mix 3/4 cup beautyberry juice ( using our concentrated juice! September 22 2012 american beautyberry is, as the beautyberry itself 's sweet enough for your liking be to... Internet, so we won ’ t ripe, the most avid nature lovers ( included. Use for beautyberry may be as a mosquito and tick repellent put the cubes. 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