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8 cups water or vegetable or grain or meat stock
16 cloves Garlic, peeled, whole
1½ teaspoons Black Peppercorn whole (or use Long Pepper, a Chinese herb called Bi Ba)
2 Bay Leaves whole
1/2 oz Rehmannia Root (Shou Di Huang)
1/4 oz Astragalus Root (comes either in little pieces or long slices which easily can be broken up with your fingers)
1/4 oz Nettle Leaf
Place all of the above in large pot and simmer covered for 2 hours. Strain or take out all herbs with slotted spoon and add the following items.
1 cup chopped Carrots (~2 carrots) 1 cup chopped Turnips (~1 turnip with skins) 1 cup chopped Green Beans ~16 dried Shitake Mushrooms chopped (need to soak in hot or cold water for around 15 minutes before cutting to smaller pieces; save broth for future soup stock) 1 teaspoon Sea Salt 1 teaspoon dried Basil 3/4 teaspoon dried Lavender Flowers 1/2 teaspoon dried Oregano 1/2 teaspoon Fennel Seed powder
Simmer in herb broth until desired tenderness
After all vegetables are cooked add the following: 4 cloves fresh Garlic, finely chopped or minced 16 oz Tomato Sauce 11/2 cups cooked Barley 1 cup cooked Black Beans Sea Salt adjust amount if necessary Black Pepper to taste
Gently heat to serving temperature. No need to cook soup further. Serving soup before garlic cooks is a better flavor.