Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Herbal Chai to warm things up

I admittedly have been horribly neglectful in the blogging realm. Besides the usual excuse of busyness, since September my husband and I have been living in a beautiful cabin in the woods that is pretty much off the grid. So all of my online time was carefully manged in email and www.herbmentor.com activities.
Link
However, I soon got tired of needing to go to town all the time, so we opted for a phone and dial up internet. Now I can stay home for a week if I want! And that's pretty much what I've done this holiday season - stayed at home. During the day we get out to go snowshoeing and all other times I am nestled up by the woodstove drinking my favorite herbal chai.

Herbal Chai Tea
With the cold months I love to brew up my own herbal chai. I prefer to use cut and sifted dried herbs for this as opposed to powders, only because I prefer the texture better. This tea blend is very warming and great for digestion.

dried burdock roots, two parts;
cinnamon, one part. (a cinnamon stick or two works great)
dried or fresh Ginger root, one part
cardamon, pods ½ part
cloves – 3 or 4 whole cloves

I am fairly bad at measuring, but to make a medium sized saucepan of chai, I may double the recipe above. I let this simmer (not boil) on the stove for 20 – 40 minutes. You can also put this in a crock-pot on low at night and enjoy it in the morning along with a lovely aromatic house. I sometimes add a tea bag of black tea to my cup and I always add cream/milk and a little honey.

Although I prefer to stick to local herbs I do make an exception for the chai. In these cold months, my cold disposition can be miserable without warming herbs. When I make the above chai for both my husband and I, it's the same as above. (He is constantly complaining of the heat while I am shivering in my woolies.) If I am making it for myself, I cut the burdock and double or triple the ginger. Nice and spicy!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Prehistoric Projects with Lynx

Part of the reason we moved to the Methow Valley was to be closer to Lynx Vilden. After years of studying with other outdoor living schools we were excited to find Lynx who, along with her partner Rico, were taking things to the next level. They truly live what they teach and are a daily inspiration to me and my husband.

If you are interested in reconnecting to the earth through primitive living skills consider taking classes with Lynx.

Copied from her flyer:

November 16 - 22 Basic Skills Intensive
In depth fire making and use, stone tools, cordage and gloves, primitive cooking, shelter building, and animal processing.
$550 with meals and camping or $400 with out meals and camping

December 7 - 13 Winter Skills
Winter travel and safety, shelter, clothing, fire, food and water procurement.

All prices have a 10% discount for early registration - inquire for details.

For information on classes or for the 2009 project Contact Lynx:
Four Seasons Prehistoric Projects
929B Twisp River Road
Twisp, WA 98856
509-997-0064

Friday, November 7, 2008

Free talk on Plants in the Methow Valley

For those of you local readers I'll be giving a free talk next Tuesday on Medicinal, Edible, and Poisonous Plants of the Methow Valley as part of the Methow Conservancy's First Tuesday programs. I've been working on the powerpoint presentation for weeks have humbly think it's going to be a fun entertaining evening. Hope to see you there!

For more info about the Conservancy go here.

Here's a blurb about the evening:

Monthly Program: Edible, Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of the Methow Valley
Tuesday, November 11th, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. at the Twisp River PubBitterroot, photo by Mary Kiesau
(on the 2nd Tuesday due to Election Day!)

Rosalee de la Foret will help us explore everything from beloved natives to disastrous weeds and look at how they have been used in the past as well as today for the health and well-being of humankind. We’ll also look to the villains of the valley to learn what poisonous plants have to teach us. This informative evening will be full of pictures and tasty recipes right from your back yard.

The pub will open at 6:00 p.m. for attendees who would like to purchase drinks or something from the light menu. The event is free and open to everyone. Questions? Contact Mary at 996-2870 or info@methowconservancy.org.

Out for the count

Earlier this week, while performing normal activities, I somehow threw out my back. "Throwing out my back" is not a technical term but stands for I-am-in-so-much-pain-I-can't-move-a-muscle.

Amazing what a few misplaced vertebrae can do.

Being an herbalist I, of course, grabbed the phone and called the neighbors to bring me some IB profen. I can't believe I am admitting this, but I truly did. I haven't taken IB profen in years, mostly because I love my liver, but somehow being in that much pain reduced my thinking abilities and I resorted to some habit of long ago.

I took the IB profen, but never found much relief. It wasn't until a few days later (after seeing a joint specialist and soft tissue specialist) that I finally thought to myself, "What the hell am I doing?" and reached for the herbs.

Taking a cue from Kiva, I had my husband apply rose liniment to my back followed by an aches and pain salve containing infused oils of rue, artemesia, and cottonwood. Relief was almost instantaneous.

Using herbs for back pain has been something I have pondered a lot this year. As a Structural Medicine Specialist I have the tools to diagnose and treat back pain without herbs. Unfortunately it's a lot harder to diagnose and treat myself and I am so relieved to have these helpful herbs in my medicine chest.

If you are interested in learning more about herbs and back pain, check out Jim McDonald's essay.

Winter is here, let's bring out the stew.

Winter may be officially lurking over a month a way, but yesterday we received our first snow. We celebrated by cooking up a delicious beef stew, letting it simmer all day on the woodstove. We kept it simple by only adding carmelized onions, garlic, burdock root, carrots, and locally raised grass fed organic beef in a base of bone broth soup.

Bone broth is a staple at our house. Here's a short exerpt I from my latest ebook on colds and the flu for www.herbmentor.com

Nourishing Bone Broth
Grandmothers knew best by spoon feeding us this incredibly rich immune system nourisher, and science has now validated this time-honored tradition by verifying this is high in many vitamins and minerals readily absorbable by the body. Bone broth soup is high in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur, trace minerals, chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine. Boiling the bones releases gelatin into the broth. (Which is why it hardens slightly when cooled.) Besides nourishing the immune system, gelatin has been found to be useful in the treatment of a long list of diseases including peptic ulcers, tuberculosis, diabetes, muscle diseases, infectious diseases, jaundice, and cancer. (Weston Price Foundation). The following recipe can be made without the use of burdock, dandelion, and astragalus, but I highly suggest including them. All help the body maintain health and overcome illness. Astragalus especially supports the immune system – using this in our broth is one of the main ways we support our immune system and stay healthy.

Several bones from poultry or beef (preferably bones that have marrow)
1 T apple cider vinegar (helps to draw out the calcium from the bones)
1 onion coarsely chopped
2 carrots coarsely chopped
2 big pieces of burdock coarsely chopped or a handful of dried root
Several dandelion roots coarsely chopped or a handful of dried root
5-7 slices of dried astragalus root
2 celery ribs coarsely chopped
Handful of herbs such as rosemary, thyme, or oregano

Place everything in a large pot except for the handful of herbs. Fill the pot with water and bring to a boil slowly. Once it is boiling, reduce to a simmer. After awhile you will see some foam forming at the top. Gently skim this off every couple of minutes until the broth runs clear. Add the handful of herbs and simmer for 8-12 hours. When ready, strain off all materials and discard. Store the broth in the fridge or freezer until ready to use for soups, roasts, chili, etc.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

American Herbalist Guild Symposium II

This has been a fabulous trip. I have equally enjoyed attending the American Herbalist Guild Symposium as well as spending time with friends. For the past two nights I've stayed up late talking to John and Kimberly, reconnecting with two people who have played such an integral part of my life. Because of John and Kimberly I moved out of Seattle to the countryside, my eyes were opened to the world of herbalism, and because of their daughter Hailey my husband and I fell in love. I am truly thankful and amazed at their creative contributions to the world.

I only took one class today at the American Herbalist Guild Symposium and it was stellar. Chanchal Cabrera has been my favorite part of the symposium. Today I took her demulcents class which I thoroughly enjoyed. Well, to be honest, the first part was a little too heavy in chemistry for my understanding, but the second part focusing more on the plants was very fascinating. She highlighted marshmallow root, comfrey, mullein, flax, violet, fenugreek and slippery elm.

I especially appreciated that she passed around samples of these plants for us to feel and taste (nice to have a real plant while sitting in the Marriot Hotel). The biggest Ah Hah for me was learning how mucilaginous herbs can help a cough/congestion. I've heard this explained before but never quite understood it. (not that I fully understand now, but I can say I have a clearer picture.)

When you have mucous in the lungs that is hard and not coming up easily your body wants to keep coughing in an attempt to bring up this mucous. By eating mucilaginous herbs you coat the stomach. This coating of the stomach gives a vagus nerve response which translates to the lungs and then thins the mucous in the lungs making it easier to cough up. If you tried taking a stimulating herb in this instance you would create harmful, painful, incessant coughing with no results (e.g. lobelia). If you took an anti-tussive herb in this instance you would trap mucous in the lungs creating even more problems (e.g. wild cherry bark). Cabrera recommends always starting with mucilaginous herbs when it comes to congestion/coughs because these will do no harm, where as more stimulating herbs could.

During the afternoon I felt very full of information so John and I stayed at the booth and then later packed up Wildcraft! and came home.

Besides the herbal classes being offered another highlight at the American Herbalist Guild was meeting Annie Humphrey, herbalist and musician. I traded her a quart of pickled bull whip kelp for her CD, the Sound of Ribbons. You can learn more about Annie at www.anniehumphrey.com. I highly recommend her music.

After the American Herbalist Guild Symposium I got a five element acupuncture treatment from John which left me feeling like a breath of fresh air. Later, I got a phone call from my husband who's been busy braintanning deer hides. We actually haven't had our own phone for the past month. It's my experience that living without a fridge is challenging, but living without a phone is downright painful especially when I have two businesses to run and a husband who I love, miss, and expect to talk to every day while away. Tonight he reported that we should have a phone tomorrow!

I'll wake up tomorrow, spend some quality time with Kimberly, run errands in the big city, and then make it home before dark.

If an American Herbalist Guild Symposium is in your future budget I highly recommend attending.

American Herbalist Guild Symposium I

The last two days have been absolutely full of learning on so many different levels. The best thing about the American Herbalist Guild Symposium has been being surrounded by other herbalists. So often when I say I am an herbalist, those I am talking to give the impression that herbalism is so quaint, in a "that's nice dear" kind of way.

To me, herbalism is a way of life. Connecting me to the earth and to the divine. Yesterday, Jonathon Treasure addressed the American Herbalist Guild to say that there were no healers in that room and furthermore, plants were not the healers either. Instead it is the magic of interaction between the two of them that is the healer. For me herbalism is the evidence of the divine, the magic and ultimate fulfillment of love. Herbalism is a living entity. The use of plants outside my door for food and medicine is how I worship in this incredible church we call Earth.

Which is a rather strange thing to contemplate in the Marriot Hotel of Redmond WA. We sit there surrounded by concrete and shopping malls being served Lipton tea and Starbucks Coffee.

I have so enjoyed it though. My favorite class at the American Herbalist Guild Symposium so far has to be Chanchal Cabrera's on Humoural Medicine. I've been searching and searching for a clear explanation of a western constitutional analysis and finally found it in her class. I could have spent the whole weekend learning with her on this subject, and I am sure I'll spend a lifetime attempting to understand it. I wish I could summarize this here, but that's hard to do with a 90 min lecture - especially with material so new to me. As many of you know Kiva Rose and Matt Wood are both good resources for energetic diagnosis.

Today I have another class by Cabrera on Demulcents and I am still undecided for the afternoon class.

As much as I have loved the American Herbalist Guild Symposium I am, of course, already looking forward to returning home to my loving husband and to our little cabin in the woods far away from shopping malls and Lipton Tea.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

American Herbalist Guild Symposium (Pre-intensives)

Yesterday I traveled over the Cascadian Mountains to attend the American Herbalist Guild Symposium. I've been looking forward to this event all year, not only because of the event itself, but also to be able to spend time with my friends the Gallaghers.

The ride over was spectacularly colored with rich reds, yellows and oranges. The summit even had a good dusting of snow - a hint of what's to come.

As soon as I got to town however, everything seemed to go disastrously wrong. I made it to Redmond and was here about all of 30 secs. before I was pulled over for speeding. I have never ever ever in my life been pulled over because I am so meticulous about speeding. It was just a crazy moment where I was lost and trying to follow directions, and having just been in a 40 mph speed zone that had switched to a 25. The cop (and I have good friends who are cops) was a complete $%#&$, with no consideration for me as a person. But I guess that's his life and his problem. Of course the $160 ticket is my problem.

Then, immediately following this incident I spilled gas all over me while trying to fill up. So, you can imagine my relief at finally making it to the Gallagher's house, safe and sound. (although smelling horribly)

The drama wasn't over for the day however. All the stress had me breaking out in cold sores and then to top it off, my alarm clock was dysfunctioning, waking me up at 5:30 am (instead of 6:30 am) and then later not going off at all.

Of course in the grand scheme of things, life was still filled with so many blessings, especially safe travel and time with friends. (I would think that one moment, and then remember the ticket tarnishing my record the next moment, and then get a good whiff of myself the next moment.)

After everything that went wrong yesterday I woke this morning trying to be positive while also holding my breath.

John and I arrived at the American Herbalist Guild Symposium to attend the first day of pre-intensives. My first intensive was an indepth class on Fibromyaglia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrom.

I have to give a full round of applause to this wonderful class. Khalsa was very clear, organized, witty, and engaging in this very informative talk. Obviously I am not going to type out all that was discussed in those three hours, but I'd love to give highlights.

First and foremost I thought it was incredibly interesting to hear his perspective that the list of symptoms that people diagnosed with Fibromyalgia experience could quite possibly be caused by chronic sleep deprivation. It would be too simplified to say that he primarily works with people to get restful sleep, but this did seem to be a big part of his treatment plan. I also appreciated his outlook on vitamin D and the role this important vitamin plays in chronic pain issues. His basic protocol for fibromyalgia was:
T -touch (massage twice a week can be helpful if possible for the patient)
H - herbs (for pain, restful sleep, depression)
R - Rest (12 - 14 restful hours of sleep per day is ideal)
I - Immune Support (Could be caused by underlying chronic infections)
V - Vitamins and Nutrition (Besides vitamin D, he also spoke highly of magnesium)
E - Exercise (Very light exercise - not overdoing it)

Having works with hundreds of "fibromites", he had very practical assessments of the reality of what people can and can't do when faced with this debilitating "syndrome." He also spent considerable time discussing the importance of treating a person and not the "Fibromyalgia" - which of course is always appreciated.

So that was three hours of my morning.

The afternoon John and I took a class from Michael Tierra entitled, "the many external uses of herbs." This fascinating class that gave me a whole new perspective on herbal usage. Countless times Tierra discussed the importance of working with herbs outside your front door. Something I didn't think I would hear from Tierra, the "Chinese Herbs Herbalist."

In this class he gave a short history of naturopathic medicine, and then discussed the work of Massague, a French herbalist who used herbal foot and hand baths as a primary means of treatment. In these baths he used a variety of common herbs - several of them poisonous when taken internally. (Scotch broom and Ivy for example.)

I found this to be an interesting method of dispensing herbs to complicated cases that are on multiple prescription drugs, and may be sensitive to taking things internally.

Today were the pre-intensives for the American Herbalist Guild Symposium, with the actual symposium starting tomorrow. It was a full day and I'll be processing all that I've learned for weeks if not years to come. I can hardly believe that there are still three more days to go!

After the classes today, John and I came home to a lovely meal prepared by Kimberly. There was a delicious souffle, salmon, a yummy squash soup, and cooked greens. It was so nice to sit with friends and enjoy such a good meal.

I am so thankful that things not only didn't go wrong today, but that it actually went quite well. Tomorrow I have two classes at the American Herbalist Guild Symposium, and if I get home early enough I'll post about those tomorrow night.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Herbal Lip Balm for Cold Sores

This has been one of those months for me - just insanely busy and a little stressful. Luckily my body lets me know when it starts to get run down by this little tingly red spot on my bottom lip - the dreaded cold sore.

I am currently assistant teaching at the Institute of Structural Medicine. Trainings here run 16 days and each day is a 12 hour day. I've got four more days to go and I'd rather do it without this big blob on my lip. When I was younger I had no problem taking prescription medication to control cold sore outbreaks. (Oh the power of Acyclovir.) I have a few problems with acyclovir - namely the side effects which include:

nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or headache, hair loss, dizziness, fatigue, skin rash, anorexia, leg pain, medication taste and sore throat


I'll take a cold sore over hair loss thank you very much!

I've experimented with several more herbal remedies, but lately my favorite is a Cold Sore Care Herbal Lip Balm I made up this summer. To make it I infused St. John's Wort flowers in coconut oil, lemon balm in olive oil, and added alcohol extracts of both of these and some drops of tea tree oil for good measure.

As reported I started getting a cold sore two days ago and at the first sign I repeatedly applied the lip balm. My cold sore didn't entirely go away, but it never came "out" of my lip. It's been very little trouble to me and isn't visible unless I get right up to the mirror.

Besides being unsightly, cold sores can be incredibly painful. A couple of months ago I got a cold sore and didn't get too it soon enough, so it did become quite big, but the Cold Sore Care Herbal Lip Balm relieved the pain. I love being an herbalist!

Some herbalists have reported a photo-sensitivity when using St. John's Wort. This isn't something I've had a problem with.

I used to be ashamed of getting cold sores. Now I just realize it's one way my body lets me know I've gone too far. Besides applying Cold Sore Care Herbal Lip Balm, I've been taking more breaks, deeper breaths, and drinking some nourishing bone broth soup and infusions. It's nice to get this little warning sign before a cold or flu makes it's way in.

I sell my lip balms (Cold Sore Care, Soothing Lip Balm, and Cottonwood 'N Coconut) at the Saturday Market in Twisp - $3 for one or two for $5. If you are interested in trying some out, drop me an email and I'd love to send some your way.

I've also written about cold sores here.

Friday, September 19, 2008

What's Chemistry Got to do With It?

I originally wrote the following article for www.herbmentor.com.

I've really enjoyed being a part of that community and helping out in the forums. Earlier this summer I got the idea of doing some more ebooks for the site and videoing Lexi and Chris at Ancestree Herbals about growing and harvesting tips for a variety of medicinal herbs. All of those projects along with another round of moving has kept me pretty busy. Currently I am busy being the Director of Student Affairs at the Institute of Structural Medicine, and once that is done I will be heading back to the woods for more herbal adventures. (I have several gallons each of elderberries and chokecherries which I will be attempting to turn into delicious wine - not to mention the frozen dandelion flowers hiding out in my freezer with the same fate.)




In this article we'll be delving into the chemistry involved with herbal medicine. Herb
alists, and others who work daily with plants understand the complexity inherent in each green friend. Please keep in mind while reading this article that while knowing a plant's constituents can be very helpful, it gives us only a small piece of the puzzle to a plant's inner workings.

As a top-notch Herbmentor student you most likely go to the herb of the month entry in Herbalpedia as the first of the month rolls around. You read the botanical description, historical uses, and so far so good. Then comes the constituents section. Let's see, according to Herbalpedia dandelion's constituents are:

Root: taraxacin, triterpenes (taraxerol, taraxasterol), lactupicrine, inulin, sugars, glycosides, phenolic and citric acid, asparagine, vitamins A, C, B, potassium.

Leaves: contain carotenoids, vitamins A, B, C, D, minerals (potassium and iron).

If you know all of those strange words, the effects they have on our bodies, and how we can use different mediums to extract them (water, alcohol, vinegar, oil, etc) then you can skip this article.

If you maybe know a few of these but are interested in reaching for the next step as an herbalist then please read on.

Knowing the constituents of a plant helps us as herbalists to explain the action of what is going on. When first learning about plants we may learn that hawthorn is useful for the heart. Later we may refer to it as a cardiac tonic. The next step is learning that hawthorn is high in flavonoids, which protect our capillaries and slow down the rate of oxidation.

Knowing the basic constituents of a plant is useful in the herbalist's world. That burdock or dandelion root is high in inulin or that hawthorn berries are high in flavonoids gives us a deeper understanding of how that plant can be used to help us.

Also knowing which medium to extract these plants in is invaluable. If you are searching for the soothing (mucilaginous) effects of marshmallow root for example, you do not want to extract this plant in alcohol. Likewise, if you wanted to use the expectorant qualities of cottonwood buds, you wouldn't be very successful with a small glass of tea. Just as you would use water only for some herbs, or alcohol only for other herbs, a complex mixture of water, glycerin, vinegar and alcohol is optimal for others. Richo Cech's book, Making Plant Medicine, is a great reference for formulas.

The following is a very basic list of constituents and the mediums they are soluble in. To synthesize this information, I relied heavily on previously published materials. To delve into the chemistry behind plant constituents please refer to the reading list at the end of the article.

Common Chemical Compounds

Alkaloids:

Soluble: alcohol, water, vinegar

Alkaloids posess a huge variety of effects ranging from benign to extremely poisonous. They are extracted extremely well by alcohol and much less so by water (Cech, Nic en Fleishdier). Plants high in alkaloids are goldenseal, lobelia, and motherwort. Alkaloids can be sometimes dissipated with heat or tannins, or magnified with vinegar (Cech).

Glycosides:

Soluble in: water, alcohol

A glycoside is chemically described as a compound that contains a sugar as part of the molecule. There are several different types of glycosides with a variety of effects including beneficial and toxic effects on the heart (cardiac glycosides found in Digitalis and Hawthorn), laxatives (anthraquinone glycosides found in senna, rhubarb), and antiseptic qualities (arbutin found in Uva ursi). Stevia, rebaudiana bertoni, another glycoside, has 40-300 times the sweetness of sucrose.

Saponins
Soluble in: water, alcohol

Saponins are a special type of glycoside. We use saponins (hopefully) daily in our soaps. Saponins break up fat molecules (think of the Dawn commercials and the big piles of dirty dishes). They also have a variety of other effects including adaptogenic, diuretic, anti-spasmodic, and expectorant (Cech). Horse chestnut, licorice, and chickweed all have saponins.

Flavonoids:

Soluble in: water, alcohol

Flavonoids are another type of glycoside. Among the important effects of flavonoids is their antioxidant effect. An antioxidant is a molecule capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation of other molecules. They are also known to decrease capillary fragility.

Tannins:

Soluble: glycerin, water, alcohol

Oak, tea, witch hazel, and red clover all contain tannins. Herbs with high tannin content are generally used as an antiseptic, a styptic, and to shrink tissues. Tannins are rendered inactive with the presence of milk and may have the ability to render some alkaloids inactive (Kress, Cech).

Mucilage:

Soluble: Water (Cold preferred)

Soothing to the gut and urinary system, herbs high in mucilage also tend to be nutritive and nourishing to the immune system (Cech). Herbs with high mucilage content include marshmallow, mullein, comfrey, and slippery elm.

Polysaccharides:

Soluble: water

Generally immune stimulating and nutritive, herbs high in polysaccharides are burdock, astragalus, and boneset (Cech).

Minerals, trace elements:

Soluble: water, vinegar

Vitamins:

Soluble: water,

Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, with the rest being water soluble (Kress).


Resins:

Soluble: alcohol, oil

Resins are typically expectorant and bitter. Herbs containing high amounts of resins include cottonwood buds, calendula, and gumweed.


Solvents

Alcohol:
Almost everything is extracted by alcohol with the exception of minerals and trace elements. Mucilage is extracted by alcohol and then broken down by it, so it's best to use a cold water infusion and then add just enough alcohol if wanting to preserve it.

Glycerin:
Glycerin is a sweet substance made from plant or animal sources and is chemically related to alcohol. It's made by the breaking down of fat and oils with the use of high pressure steam (Cech). Herbalists use glycerin to extract medicinal properties from plants when wanting to avoid alcohol. Glycerin does poorly at extracting properties with dried plant material so fresh plants are highly recommended. According to Henriette Kress, some minerals and trace elements, some alkaloids, some acids, and some mucilage are extractable with glycerite. Richo Cech reports that tannins are extracted very well by glycerin.

Oil:
Oils have the ability to extract oils and resins.

Vinegar:
Vinegar has the ability to extract minerals, trace elements, and alkaloids. Most herbalists use apple cider vinegar, balsalmic vinegar, or other high quality vinegars. (Distilled white vinegar is not reccomended for internal use.) Besides extracting a variety of constituents, vinegar can also add other benefits to the end product as well.

Water:
Water extracts almost everything with the exception of resins. Different temperatures may effect the extraction (simmering for barks and roots, just boiled for leaves, cold for mucilaginous plants). Some herbalists prefer to use distilled water.

Further Reading


Making Plant Medicine
, Richo Cech

Henriette Kress' website:http://www.henriettesherbal.com/

Medical Herbalism, David Hoffman

Village Herbalist Series on Herbmentor with Heather Nic an Fhleishdeir

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Homemade presents galore and Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday I celebrated my 28th birthday and it was a great day! My husband had been busy working on lots of surprises for me - which is exactly how I like my birthday - filled with lots of surprises.

Each gift he gave me was homemade including four gourd bowls, and beautiful painting of a butterfly and a fun game called Kubb.

If you've never heard of Kubb I'd highly recommend checking it at at Wikipedia and giving it a go. It's a fun outdoor game that is a cross between bowling and horseshoe tossing. Some friends of ours brought the game when visiting and we loved it so much that Xavier decided to make it himself. You could buy a set, but it's so simple and easy to make, just requires some wood and an ax. Check it out and have a blast.

I also received some beautiful gifts from friends and family including gorgeous homemade earrings, beeswax candles, flowers, lots of birthday wishes, and a beautiful wooden backed mirror for our new home. Thanks for the special birthday!

Monday, August 25, 2008

Update on rendering beeswax



The beeswax is rendering quite well, although the summer months aren't quite cooperating. Supposedly it's August when it's really hot - still in the peak of summer, but here in the Methow we are experiencing temps in the 70's - and lots of cloudy rainy days - none of which are conducive to melting wax. So far we have two gallons of wax, with a half barrel more to go.

What you see in the photo is the "slum gum" left behind with the wonderful wax in the bread pan in the bottom. I hear the slum gum works great as a fire starter so we'll be giving that a try.

Here's a close up of the wax. We'll melt it again on the wood stove this winter to clean it up even more. Then we'll be making candles and putting some aside for salves.

Here's a toast to bees and their incredible gifts.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Rendering Beeswax


An incredibly generous friend gifted me with a 55 gallon drum of un-rendered beeswax.

Another generous friend made me a solar still to turn this gloppy mess into pure beeswax for candles and salve making.






If you've never seen un-rendered beeswax, you'll immediately notice it's resemblance to alien intestines.





This picture doesn't quite portray the sticky, gloppy mess that this stuff is, nor can it demonstrate the beautiful beeswaxy smell that surprisingly emanates from it. My friend assures me that with the sun's help this will turn into beautiful beeswax.

Here's the solar still:


How it works, is you place the beeswax mix into the upper portion, close the window top and let the sun melt the mixture. It's melt at different times and the beeswax drips into a container down below. We've only just put the beeswax in, so I'll keep updating on it's progress.

Thanks to Dave and Gabe for making this project possible!

Braintanning Deer Hides


My husband has been busy this week scraping, soaking, and drying deer hides. These are actually hides from last fall that have been preserved until now. I can't wait until I have my full braintanned outfit.

If you've never seen this process or never felt the incredible end product you would be amazed. It's unbelievable to watch this bloody hairy hide turn into to some of the softest more durable fabric ever made - all with the help of bacteria, hard labor and you guessed it, brains.

What's even more amazing to me is that our ancestors figured out this complicated multi-step process all around the world.

Having braintanned clothing is one of our next steps in taking responsibility for our impact on the earth. 100% natural, local, and sustainable - these clothes shine in comparison with clothing shipped from overseas, made in sweatshops with deplorable conditions with fabrics grown with a multitude of pesticides. Plus, they are absolutely beautiful. I'll be sure to model my clothes as they become available.

Elderberry Capers


Elderberries are coming into season here in the Methow, but you can still find an abundance of unripe elderberries for this fabulous recipe. I first made this with my mentor, Karen Sherwood of Earthwalk Northwest.

This following recipe straight from Billy Joe Tatum's Wild Foods Cookbook, but I omit the sugar when making it for our family.

We enjoy these elderberries as we would regular capers - on fish, salads, and tuna fish sandwiches.



Elderberry capers:

2 cups unripe elderberries stems removed
¼ cup salt
1 cup water
¼ cup sugar
1 cup cider vinegar

1. Wash the green elderberries, drain well, and place in a sterile crock or jar.
2. Dissolve salt in water and pour over berries. Cover with a cloth and let stand for 2 days.
3. Drain elderberries or buds and pour into sterile half pint canning jars.
4. Boil sugar and vinegar together for 2 or 3 minute s and pour into jars (jars should fill to top) and seal at once.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Herbal First Aid

Dear friends of mine are getting married next week in Mexico where they've been living for the past year. They are traveling aficionados having met in Vietnam and traveled the world once over since. Always on the practical side I gave them a customized herbal first aid kit for their travels.

Here's what's in it:

Tinctures:

Wormwood (Artemesia absinthium): This is an invaluable tincture while traveling. It can be used against parasites and food poisoning that manifests itself as cramping and diarrhea. I was unfortunately given the opportunity to use this tincture while traveling this year, although I am happy to report back how amazingly quick it helped to set my system right again. After eating some questionable food I had cramping and diarrhea for 24 hours. At first I decided to let it run its course, but after 24 hours I was facing a 6 hour bus ride that I wanted to be well for. I followed Susun Weed’s dosing suggestion of three drops of tincture in water once every hour for up to four hours. By the third dosage I was feeling fine.

Later in the trip I met up with a dear friend of mine from college. She was very ill and had been so for over a week with intestinal issues, mainly cramping and diarrhea as well as gas and bloating. She had gone to the doctor and been prescribed antibiotics which she had been taking for a week without any sign of improvement. I shared my wormwood experience with her and she decided to give it a try. Again, after three doses she felt great! That is after many days of turmoil. Needless to say we were both impressed and both very thankful for the powers of wormwood.

Herbalpedia reports that wormwood repels roundworms and threadworms probably due to its sesquiterpene lactones. Steven Harrod Buhner writes in his book, Herbal Antibiotics, that wormwood is effective against malaria and Staphlycoccus aureus, as well as intestinal worms. I used it externally this summer to stop poison ivy in it’s tracks.

To use for diarrhea: take three drops in water once an hour for up to four hours.




Echinacea (Echinacea angustifolia): Echinacea, the darling of many herbalists is a powerful preventive for colds and flus. Taken at the first sign of a cold or flu it helps to boost our immune system. To be effective it should be taken in large doses and frequently. Buhner suggest the following:
Strep Throat: Full dropper (30 drops) of the tincture as often as desired, not less than once each hour until symptoms cease. Mix with saliva and dribble slowly over affected area down back of throat.
Onset of colds and flus: Not less than one dropper full (30 drops) of tincture each hour until symptoms cease.

It can also be used externally for burns, wounds, skin infections and as a wash for poisonous stings and bites. To do so mix the tincture with equal amount of water and wash affected area liberally every 30 minutes.


Yarrow (Achillea millefolium): Counters bacteria internally and externally, and repels insects. It can be used as prevention for colds and flus, for sore throats, or for fevers. To use as an insect repellant I keep the full strength tincture in a spray bottle and spray liberally and frequently. Can also use it externally to clean wounds. Mix the tincture with equal parts water.

Peach: I use peach tincture to settle my nerves and anxiety especially when there is a headache present. Traveling doesn’t always go smoothly and it’s nice to have peach’s settling effects. Plus it’s absolutely delicious. Take five to fifteen drops as needed.

Valerian: Want to go to sleep? Try fifteen drops of this – also can combine with peach for added effect. Don’t go over the recommended dosage for this one as it can have the opposite effect. You can also use valerian for muscle cramping. (Menstrual cramps, leg cramps, back spasms, etc.)



Ginger: Ginger is unparalled in it’s ability to help with motion sickness. Take before you get on that sketchy bus that is traveling along a tiny road up the mountain, as well as when the nausea hits. I also put in some ginger candy (but try to leave this for nauseus moments, not just when you want something sweet!) ☺

Oils:
Tea Tree Oil: Tea tree oil can be used externally for a whole range of issues including fungal infections and herpes virus. I don’t leave home without it for its fast acting effect on cold sores. I apply it with a Q-tip at the first tingle of a cold sore.

Salves:

I always carry a healing salve with me wherever I go. My favorite mixture is comfrey, calendula, and plantain. I also always bring along some cottonwood lip balm.

Tea:
Peppermint: For upset stomachs, flatulence, and heartburn.

Chamomile: For nausea, anxiety, or used as a steam for clearing up congestion.

Cold and Flu Tea: I make this tea myself and seal in hot press tea bags. Take it at the onset and during a cold or flu. I would put five small tea bags or one big tea bag in a pint of water, let sit for at least a ½ hour before drinking. You can drink this liberally.

Cold & Flu Tea:
One Part Elder Flower
One Part Yarrow
½ Part Peppermint
½ Part Rose hips




MISC.

Bandaids of course. :) I also put in some store bought throat drops as I haven't made any yet with a good storage record. Have you? Let me know about it. :)


Acid indigestion: 5-10 drops of Dandelion root or Wormwood tincture every ten minutes until relieved. I use a dose of Dandelion before meals to prevent heartburn.

Bacterial Infections (including boils, carbuncles, insect bites, snake bite, spider bite, staph): 30-50 drops Echinacea or Yarrow tincture up to 5 times daily.

Colds: to prevent them I use Yarrow tincture 5-10 drops daily; to treat them, I rely on Yarrow, but in larger quantity, say a dropper full every 3-4 hours at the worst of the cold and tapering off.

Cramps in gut: 5-10 drops Wormwood, once.

Diarrhea: 3 drops Wormwood hourly for up to four hours.

Fever: 1 drop Echinacea for every 2 pounds of body weight; taken every two hours to begin, decreasing as symptoms remiss. Or a dropper full of Yarrow tincture every four hours.

Insect: prevent bites from black flies, mosquitoes, and ticks with a spray of Yarrow tincture; treat bites you do get with Yarrow tincture to prevent infection.

Sore throat: Gargle with Yarrow tincture. Or place Echinacea tincture on the throat.

Wounds: I wash with Yarrow tincture, then wet the dressing with Yarrow tincture, too.

Sweet Calendula


Aaahhh, Calendula. It’s easy to love this beautiful flower that offers us so many gifts.

Not having a garden this year I relied on Ancestree Herbals to provide me a pound of these sunny flowers.




I tinctured the fresh flowers in everclear. Call me silly, but I have a tough time cutting up flowers for tinctures. Don’t they look so beautiful whole?










The rest my husband laid out to dry.




I’ll be making a varicose vein spray, infused oil, and tea with these. Richo Cech recommends making a tincture with dried flowers, so I may try that as well.

The two main ways I use Calendula is for it’s affinity to the skin and it’s anti-fungal properties.

My favorite lip balm I make is with both calendula and dandelion flowers.

Monday, August 4, 2008

St. John's Wort


I was so happy to find a healthy stand of this golden gem this summer. I've gone somewhat over the top with making various extracts and enjoying a lot of experimentation.

For those of you not familiar with this sunny wonder, St. John's Wort has a number of uses from uplifting the spirit to combatting viruses. It has has fantastical flowers that bloom around the summer solstice, however the stand I found was several miles up Twisp River Road and didn't reach it's peak until mid July.

Although the flower itself is a bright yellow, if you rub the yellow flower between your fingertips you’ll find a lovely purple stain left behind. This is due to it's magical abilities as well as the constituent hypericin which studies show is a powerful anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-depressive, and anti-inflammatory substance. This has launched hypericin capsules and tablets – but I’ll take the whole fresh plant for my healing.

In the past I had mostly harvested the open flowers, but while I was rubbing the flowers between my fingers I noticed this year that more color was secreted in the flower buds.

I love St. John's Wort for it's ability to completely stop herpes virus in it's tracks. When I feel a cold sore coming on I reach for this herb first. I take the alcohol extract internally - 20 drops three times a day, as well as use external applications of the alcohol tincture and oil. This past weekend I made a very effective cold sore care lip balm with St. John's Wort, lemon balm, and tree tea oil. With frequent applications it stopped the cold sore I was getting in less than three hours.

I've been experimenting with using different alcohol strengths this year. Yet again, the 95% seems to be much more vibrant, while the 40% vodka seems to be a watered down version. However, for external application I prefer the 40% on my lips.

I also use St. John's Wort exclusively for nerve pain, either as an oil or liniment. I had a client two weeks ago complaining of chronic sciatic pain. Diagnostic testing revealed that her deep external rotators were completed restricted and her lumbar spine was under compression as well. I gave her some oil and extract which she used palliatively, until we could get the rest of her sorted out.

I've also used St. John's Wort Tincture externally for fungal infections. Again, it works great, although it can temporarily give skin a reddish hue.

A few weeks ago I made a trauma salve with equal parts:

Comfrey
Arnica
St. John's Wort
Cottonwood
Lavender EO

and last night I made up a bug bite salve with:

2 parts plantain
1 part St. John's Wort
1 part cottonwood
Lavender EO

Herbal Oils




I had a request to describe how I’ll be using the herbal oils I listed in this spring/summer’s herbal medicine making. I have to admit that while I have extensive experience with some of these oils, others I am making for the first time and can only tell you what I’ve read.

The first herbal class I ever took was Lip Balms and Healing Salves with Karen Sherwood of Earthwalk Northwest. I remember that class fondly as it firmly marked the beginning of a new path for me. That day I learned what a cedar tree was and asked Karen to point out plantain for me. (Not kidding!) Now it seems ludicrous to be that out of touch with a sense of place, but we all start someplace and that’s where it was for me, at the very beginning.

Karen taught me to use freshly dried herbal material for my oils, which I did with good results for years. This year however, I switched to using freshly wilted plant material and I really prefer the rich colors of the oils after infusing for six weeks.

Most of you probably know how to make herbal oils, but for those of you who aren’t herbalists and just read the blog because you love me (Hi Dad!) I’ll give a short run down of how I do it.

Simplest method for oils:
For most leafy plants I let them wilt overnight in order to lose most of their water content. The next day I chop them up very finely and place them in a mason jar. I want to fill the jar loosely. I then pour organic extra virgin olive oil over the plants, stir, and pour oil again until it goes to about a ¼” from the top. I then cover this with a paper towel, and a mason jar ring. I let it sit in a dark warm place, and stir it every day for at least two weeks. However, I stirred my comfrey, plantain, and arnica oils every day until I strained them off 6 weeks later.

There are variations to this of course. St. John’s Wort Flowers and Dandelion Flowers get put in the sun and as a rule I don’t chop them. For any herb I feel needs a little prodding, or I want things to move a little more quickly I warm the oil first, or place them in boxes or paper bags and then put them outside in the sun. I like infusing my cottonwood buds for at least six months, preferably a year.

Currently I mainly use olive oil and coconut oil for my infusions. This fall, however, I’ll be experimenting with using rendered lard. Every year my husband and I try to take large steps to gathering all of our needs locally. Olive oil and coconut oil are one of the only things we still depend on from far away. Luckily lard is available abundantly and I have rendered fat several times to make pemmican (yum!).

So how am I using those herbal oils?

St. John’s Wort: I have a much longer blog post waiting for pictures all about St. John’s, so I won’t go into much detail here. This has to be the most dramatic oil to make as the yellow flowers give way to a blood red oil indicating the presence of hypericin, an anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, and anti-fungal substance. To make this oil I gather the tops of the plant just before flowering, cover in oil, and let sit in the sun. This year the oil was a deep dark red in about four days, but I’ve left the flowers in for a couple of weeks now. I use this oil in a cold sore lip balm (along with lemon balm), and for topical use on nerve pain for clients. Many people report using St. John’s Wort oil as a sunscreen of sorts, but I can’t handle oils on my skin, so I haven’t tried this myself. (Maybe infused in jojoba oil…)

Cottonwood: If St. John’s Wort oil wins a prize for its brilliant color, cottonwood wins it for its intoxicating smell. I made up well over a gallon of cottonwood oil this year as I add it to all of my salves as a preservative. A wonderful all around healing salve, I use it on clean cuts, scrapes, as well as superficial muscle pain.

Arnica: A friend gathered me a whole paper bag full of fresh arnica this spring, so instead of letting it go to waste, I made oil with all of it. arnica is well known for its use on unbroken skin strains, pains, and bruises.

Comfrey: No matter which side of the comfrey controversy you stand in, we can all agree that comfrey is strong medicine. Used as a base in healing salves it works magic on diaper rash and healing clean superficial cuts and scrapes. This herb is so powerful you would never want to use it on deep broken skin, or on an infection as its cell proliferant capabilities will seal the skin shut, trapping the infection inside. Besides using it for healing skin, I use it on clients with tendinous and ligamentous strains and sprains.

Calendula: Bright and beautiful, calendula blossoms take special care of our skin. Herbalist Kimberly Gallagher not only makes calendula oil each year, but also freezes a good supply of blossoms for poultices. Last year was the first time I was able to grow calendula myself. Each day we harvested the open buds and dried them on the counter until I had enough to fill a jar. I let the flowers infuse for the winter, straining after six months. The beautifully golden oil that I strained off has been used in all my lip balms and vulnary healing salves.

Plantain: For diaper rash, bug bites, and healing cuts and scrapes, herbalist Kiva Rose suggests you “kiss your plantain” and I would heartily agree.

Hyssop: Hyssop is most used for its affinity to help the respiratory system. Gail Faith Edwards describes using hyssop oil externally for arthritic pain, rubbing it into any sore and inflamed areas of the body.

Lemon Balm: A wonderful herbalist in the valley gave me some lemon balm from her garden this summer to infuse in oil for my cold sore care lip balm. I’ve been placing this one in a paper bag in the sun each day and it should be ready soon.

Mullein Flowers: Mullein is flowering now in the valley, gracing our highways and pastures with long spikes of yellow flowers. Heather, from the Village Herbalist on Herbmentor.com says instead of individually plucking each yellow flower for infusing in oil, you can just chop up the whole flower head. I mention this for those of you who may be lacking in mullein, or for some reason don’t like plucking those waxy flowers. As for me, we’ve got plenty of mullein and harvesting is one of my favorite ways to pass the time. And, as you all probably know, mullein oil is used in conjunction with garlic oil and possibly St. John’s Wort oil for ear infections.

Red Clover: I did this on a whim as it was the Herb of the Month on Herbmentor.com in July. Red Clover is known for its anti-tumor activities and this will make a lovely breast massage oil – adding a little spice to those monthly exams.

Rue: I looked to Gail Faith Edwards for wisdom with Rue. She says, “Externally, rue is stimulating, anti-spasmodic, and a rubifacient” and reportedly uses it warmed on nerve pain, strained muscles, nervous spasms, and neuralgia.

Artemesia spp.: Kiva says it best here.

Yarrow: Yarrow has been an important herbal ally for me for years as I’ve witnessed it stop severe bleeding in an emergency situation, as well as cure many UTIs. Its pain relieving and antiseptic properties make it a great addition to vulnary healing salves.

An Unfortunate Evening - Or why I am glad I am an herbalist

(I wrote this awhile ago...)

My dad is in town for the next three weeks. It's a special treat as he lives in Mexico and I usually only get to see him once or twice a year. We've been out and about showing him our incredibly beautiful and supportive community.

The first night in town we came straight from the airport (1 1/2 hours away) to a benefit party at the local pub. Several weeks ago someone lost control of their car and went over a cliff. He's recovering, but the hospital bills are stacking up. So, there was a great benefit party to raise money at the local pub. The music started at 6:00 and featured wonderful local musicians like Terry Hunt, Brad Pinkerton, Leah Larsen, and even Laura Love. Later in the evening there was great jazz, and my favorite was Eva Ashford - what a voice! Besides getting donations for dinner and music, there was a raffle for so many wonderful things by local businesses and artists. We not only had a great time, but even won a $50 gift certificate to the local health food store in the raffle. It seemed like there was a lot of people there with their checkbook in hand, so I hope they raised a lot of money and best wishes to the whole family in this healing process.

Last night, however, was not so great. Our plan was to go to the Winthrop Brewery, however, when we showed up it was closed. We wandered around town and finally settled for another restaurant... It's been years since I have eaten in a restaurant like this. All the appetizers were fried breads and cheeses, the "butter" came in plastic tubes as well as all the dressings. The vegetables served with dinner were frozen, and I don't want to think of the trans fats that were probably present in the food. As I was trying to eat the meal I thought, "If I was into telling people what not to eat, I would send them here as a great example."

The reason we had gone all the way to Winthrop (It's about ten miles from us and we try not to drive that far), is because a friend had told us of a short little hike to see some beavers. Of course, about ten minutes into the hike my stomach/guts seize up. After it lets up I realize I have to go... NOW. So, I grabbed some mullein leaves and headed for the bushes without a moment to spare. After several trips I felt pretty cleaned out, weak, but not longer cramping.

It's been a long time since food has made me that sick. I am not sure if it was due to something in the food or due to the fact I am not used to eating that kind of food. Whatever it is, I will definitely not be returning to that place.

As we walked back to the car I became aware that my arm was itchy. I looked down to see a rash quickly developing...hmmm was there poison ivy in those bushes? I frantically looked around my purse and pulled out a wormwood tincture. I always carry wormwood with me - ironically for food poisoning (it became a must after traveling in Mexico). My protocol is to preferably to let my system run it's course, and I only use it if things become unbearable. Since my body had taken care of itself in the intestinal arena, I was grabbing the wormwood for my possible poison ivy rash. The whole ride home I kept dropping more of the tincture on my arm.

So, I have to tell you this was not my favorite evening, although it did have it's ups. It's great to have my dad around, great to see Beavers in action and I do love going to dinner. However, between having to duck in the bushes to relieve my bowls, and dealing with nasty rashes - it was not my favorite.

So, I kept putting the wormwood on my arm and by the time I got home the rash was disappearing visibly and the itch was going away. I am not sure that poison ivy would retreat that quickly, but whatever it was the wormwood helped.

By coincidence I had several bags of plants at home from ancestreeherbals.com waiting to be processed. So the rest of the night I made alcohol and oil extracts of wormwood, mugwort, and bee balm with a renewed sense of gratitude for all the many gifts plants give us.

Besides being friends with plants, I love being an herbalist because there is a security in being able to take care of yourself. Whether it's knowing which plant can help you out as toilet paper, or take care of your rash, it feels good to know there is so much support in the community around me.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

The NW Herb Fest and Directions to the Gallagher's House


As previously reported I headed down to Eugene Oregon last weekend to attend Sharol Tilgner’s NW Herb Fest. I went not only for pleasure and my own learning experience but also to support Learningherbs.com and the Gallagher family by vending their fabulous herbal adventure game, Wildcraft!

The fest itself was very well organized with a large variety of herbalists attending as well as classes offered.

I think the highlight of my trip was meeting Robin DiPasquale, a naturopathic physician who worked at Bastyr for a number of years and now lives in Madison Wisconsin. Her classes on Oligomennorhea and Ammenorhea, The Liliaceae family and the female connection, as well as her plantwalk on trees contained just the right amount of botany, research, personal experience, herbal taste testing and sensitivity to emotional and spiritual aspects. Plus she is one of those people that glow with kind radiant energy.

I also really enjoyed two classes with Paul Bergner. One on insulin resistance and the other one treating pain with herbs. You can read more about insulin resistance here. The most interesting thing I took away from the pain lecture was how muskuloskeletel pain can be a symptom of food allergies. Paul reported that he had a big “Ah hah!” in his clinic when muscle aches and pains were inadvertently decreased when possible food allergies were taken out of the diet. So, of course, one student in the class asks what labs he uses to determine allergies. Paul’s reply is that he uses a very simple test that is over 80% accurate. He asks that client, “If there was a food that you might be sensitive to, what would that be?” For the most part people already know. He said if they needed further prompting he says, “You know the food that gives you heartburn, headaches, nausea, etc.” and they say, Oh, of course, when I eat (fill in the blank) I get … I appreciate that kind of testing. ☺

The other thing that I learned this weekend was the many different approaches to herbalism. I went to this conference looking forward to taking more intermediate to advanced workshops. I was ready to move on to that next level. However, in so doing I think I took a number of workshops not really suited to my own herbal approach. It seems like the more advanced classes were instructors disseminating clinical research for clinicians such as ND’s, MD’s, etc. As a result I took a class on Neurotransmitter Herbs that was a complete waste of my time. (Not that is was a bad class in general, just for me.) In Structural Medicine we spend a lot of time on the Nervous System as this is something we commonly need to effect for permenant change, so I was really looking forward to seeing an herbal role in this system, however, the whole hour and a half was spent describing the nervous system – something that is very complex, but can easily be read in any physiology textbook. I had gone to that workshop instead of one on moxibustion, so that was definitely disappointing.

Luckily my husband went to all the plant walks and brought back loads of practical useful information. If I go next year I will enjoy the plant walks instead of taking more advanced classes based on clinical research trials and textbook physiology.

It was overall a great weekend meeting so many other herbalists, getting a view into Chinese medicine, and seeing all the various places people take the amazing world of plants.

I think most importantly I confirmed for myself that learning to be an herbalist comes down to personal experience and focus with the plants themselves. Keeping it simple by learning from plants is my preferred herbalist path.

Now, you may be wondering how to find the Gallagher’s house (I hope you don’t mind me passing out directions, John.) So, head to Western Washington and stop at the largest patch of plantago major you see and there you will find the Gallagher’s house.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Spring/Summer List of Medicine Making

This year is the first year in many that I have been able to devote so much time to herbal studies. As a result I've made the most oils, vinegars, tinctures, and dried plants than ever before. Here's a list of this year's activities:


Oils:
Rue
Hyssop
Bee Balm
Wormwood
Mugwort
Lemon Balm
St. John’s Wort
Red Clover
Mullein Flower
Yarrow
Arnica
plantain
comfrey


Alcohol Extracts: (95% unless otherwise noted)
Rue
Hyssop
Bee Balm
Wormwood
Mugwort
Lemon Balm
St. John’s Wort
Red clover
Yarrow
Plantain
Motherwort
Rose
Wood Betony (Brandy)
Shepherd’s Purse
Nettle (40% vodka)
Elecampane
Feverfew
Meadowsweet
Peach
Plantain
Potentilla
Valerian


Vinegars:
Lady’s Mantle
Motherwort
Hyssop
Red Clover
Cleavers
Dandelion root

Salves:
Cottonwood Salve
Trauma and Pain Salve (arnica, st. John’s wort, Cottonwood, Comfrey)
Healing Salve (plantain, calendula, dandelion, cottonwood)

Lip Balm:
Cottonwood and Coconut
Soothing lip balm (calendula, dandelion, cottonwood)
Cold Sore Care (St. John’s Wort oil and tincture in a beeswax base)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Herb Fest in Oregon

We are at John Gallagher’s home getting ready to hit the road for Pleasant Hill, Oregon, home of Wise Acres Farm and the annual Herb Fest. (You should see the size of the plantain in his front yard - incredible!)

I’ll be vending Wildcraft! for John and Learningherbs.com while also attending classes by Christopher Hobbs, Jill Stansbury, Paul Bergner and Michael Tierra.

Will I be seeing any of you there?

I haven’t been to an herbal faire since the 2005 Northwest Herbal Faire where I met the Gallagher family and found out they were renting a room in their house…

Three years later I am thrilled to be a part of herbmentor.com and doing really rough work for John (like going to the NW Herb Fest while he is on vacation to visit family in the East Coast).

Besides enjoying the herbal fair I’ll also be heading over to Mountain Rose Herbs to check things out there as well as Heather’s Herb Shop in Eugene.

I know I have been a llttle sparse in my blogging. I had been hoping to do more, but summer is so incredibly busy. I’ll probably be doing a lot of back logging when things settle down – and I assure you notes from my classes this weekend will be included. ☺

Sunday, July 6, 2008

What's up in the Methow

July is already here! With such a busy spring I am constantly reminding myself to slow down and take time to enjoy the summer.

With that said here's a listing of what's up in the Methow (otherwise known as my to do list).

Elderflowers have been beckoning from the roadsides starting a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday while out picking a second round of flowers I noticed several bunches are making the turn to green berries. In a couple more weeks they'll be ready for making "capers". Hawthorne berries are a good size with a slight twinge of red to them.

Also in roadside bloom is fireweed and yarrow is blanketing the hillsides and forests. Mullein is starting to flower and plantain is well on it's way to seed. Even the dock's seed heads are already a rusty brown.

Saskatoons are ripe on the valley floor and I ate my first handful yesterday, followed by my second third and fourth today. (Does anyone use these shrubs medicinally?)

I finally found a small patch of St. John' Wort. I am not sure if it's big enough for all my St. John's Wort needs however. If you are in the valley and know of a good patch - please let me know!

Not only are the plants in this community rich and diverse the community of people is awesome as well. I spent the last three days harvesting many baskets of lavender from a neighbor's garden. She and her husband planted a long row, but seldom use it, so she offered it to me. As a result my husband and I spent the 4th of July making Lavender Faery Wands which we sold at the Farmer's Market the next day.

Being the 4th with many people in town we sold a lot of salves, lip balms, and other herbal products at the market. A fabulous herbalist in the valley stopped by to say that my lib balm is the best she's had and ordered a wholesale lot to sell herself. (Truly flattered.) Also, one of the local proprieters of the health food store in town came by to buy more of my herbal all purpose cleaner and said if I made up a bunch she would carry it at the store as it is her favorite cleaner at home.

Which is all to say this week will be busy in the herbal apothecary. I have fresh arnica oil to make into salve as well as some fresh plantain, comfrey, cottonwood, calendula salve to make as well.

I picked my first calendula flower of the season today and last week from www.ancestreeherbals.com I received fresh red clover flowers, coltsfoot leaves, wood betony, and feverfew. This coming week I have meadowsweet, hyssop, and rue on the way.

Phew!

Monday, June 30, 2008

New house - new plants


We recently had the incredible opportunity to house sit for the summer. Friends of ours had just built a brand new home and were leaving for the summer so the dad could be a ranger in the back country of Yosemite. We've only been there three nights but have so thoroughly enjoyed this special place.

The home was built entirely with a "green" mindset as many of the materials were resourced locally and many were recycled. The house is run entirely on solar power which is being stored in recycled batteries from cell phone towers. They have both a cook stove as well as a gas stove for the hotter months.

One of the best features of the house is its ability to regulate the temperature. It should remain 60-70 degrees year round. Yesterday it was over a hundred degrees outside - but it still remained in the mid 60's inside. I am currently blogging from out old house where it's 87 degrees inside - I think we moved just in time!

They have a very simple heating system that collects the heat from the roofs and stores it under the house. The collected heat will then diffuse over the winter (where it often goes below 0 degrees) to maintain that 60 - 70 degrees temperature.

Being in a solar powered home has really raised our consciousness to the amount of energy we use. Lights are never left on, and the few electrical appliances we use are kept to a minimum and only during daylight hours.

In the fall we hope to have enough money saved to move into a geodesic dome. At that point we'll waive goodbye to electricity all together, so this is a nice way to transition ourselves.

(We do all of this in the effort to take responsibility for our actions. We've become tired of complaining about the dams destroying the salmon runs... for us it's important to live in a way that doesn't support the need to have the dams in the first place.)

For those of you unfamiliar with the Methow Valley we have moved from the Valley floor to the mountains. Instead of sagebrush we have pine trees and douglas firs. As you'll see below the flowers are still blooming as well.

The previous pictures are of Mariposa lilies and Indian paintbrush.

The following pictures are of our new home as well as some shots from a hike we took yesterday.



The living room

View from the front window


Tiger lilies are blooming in the mountains. I haven't found reference to medicinal uses of this beauty, but you can eat the bulbs.









Photo of Black Pine Lake - a short distance from our house.









Didn't see many columbines, but they were a welcome sight.








Native Dandelion...









One more view shot. I live in a beautiful place!

Pickled Bullwhip Kelp

Pickled kelp is one of my favorite treats. I learned about harvesting and processing kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana, from my mentor Karen Sherwood of Earthwalk Northwest. Her 5 day Coastal Foraging class is absolutely spectacular and this is just one of the many culinary delights students learn and prepare in class.

For our first wedding anniversary we planned a trip to Canada to see a friend as well as the famous anthropology museum in Vancouver, BC. From there we headed to Lopez Island off the coast of WA state for several days. Originally I had planned on harvesting some kelp fronds for drying and some bullwhip kelp stipes for pickling. One night before falling asleep I had a great idea. Let's can 50 jars of kelp! And thus our anniversary vacation turned into a working vacation. :)


Kelp is very mineral and vitamin rich. I think of eating even a small portion of kelp each day as a better alternative to taking a multi-vitamin. Kelp is especially important for those of us with a low thyroid function as the high iodine amounts help to nourish the thyroid. Often called the world's most perfect food herbalists from Susun Weed to Ryan Drum tout it's far reaching health benefits. We eat dried kelp daily in our gomasio, or in seaweed cookies another favorite treat. I also throw kelp into almost all the stews we make, and I put a small clipping in with dried beans while they are soaking.

The picture to the right is various seaweeds drying in the sun.

To harvest kelp in good amounts you want to go at a low tide. We celebrate our wedding anniversary on the full moon in June and since full moons also present the lowest tides it worked out great. Following the tide schedule we kayaked around a couple of bays looking for healthy stands of kelp. I have only harvested kelp about five times, but in my experience it likes to grow next to rocky outcroppings and sure enough we found a very healthy stand on the side of a bay. All in all we harvested about 60 stipes and fronds, but the stand was so large it didn't make a dent in the overall numbers.

For those of you unfamiliar with kelp, it grows in large stands with a long hollow tube attaching it to the bottom of the ocean floor. This tube floats on the surface with the kelp leaves or fronds trailing alongside it. If you have visited the ocean as a child you probably remember picking up those long hollow tubes and whipping them around as if you were a old time western bandit.

If you are only interested in harvesting fronds it's very easy to do so in a manner that illicits very minimal impact. Where the hollow tube (stipe) ends, you can see little attachments and then the fronds come out from there. By using scissors to cut the fronds a couple inches from the attachments you can be assured that the kelp will continue to grow.

To harvest the stipes is akin to harvesting the roots of a plant so great care needs to be taken to ensure you are harvesting from a strong stand. To harvest them my husband paddled around while I gathered healthy looking kelp into the kayak. I would heft the long heavy fronds into a bag, and then pull up the stipes. I quickly found a good balance in pulling hard enough to disengage the attachments, but not so hard that we capsized. I prefer harvesting the medium sized plants the best. I leave the young to continue growing and the older plants are very hard to pull up.



Once we have harvested what we need, we also fill up a bucket of salt water for rinsing the kelp later.

Back at camp we hung the incredible amount of fronds we had on a fence. Seaweed is one of the few herbs you actually want to dry in the sun. It's incredibly mucilaginous. If you don't mind being slimy placing the fresh fronds directly on the skin does wonders for sunburns. Cooling and moistening and draws out the heat - much in the same way fresh aloe does.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend pickling a large amount of jars of kelp while camping to anyone else. It was a lot of work, although I have to say, my husband and I had a lot of fun while doing it as well. Spending all that time outside, working side by side may not be the luxurious way to spend an anniversary, but it was meaningful and rewarding.

Here's a modified recipe I learned from Karen. Basically any basic pickling brine will do.

Pickled Kelp Recipe:
Kelp stipes
Cayenne Peppers
Garlic
Fresh Dill
Pickling spices
2 quarts of apple cider vinegar
3 quarts of water
1/4 cup of pickling salt
1/4 alum or grape leaves

To begin, if necessary rinse the kelp stipes off with seawater (not fresh!). Cut them into tubes that will fit into sanitized wide mouth quart or pint mason jars. OR you can slice the rounds into 1/4 thickness. They look very pretty using the latter method, but you get more in the jar with the former. We cut them into tubes filling the larger tubes with smaller ones - really trying to pack as much as we could in there.



Along with the kelp place one clove of garlic, one cayenne pepper, and one sprig of dill in the mason jar.

In a large pot warm the vinegar, water, pickling salt, pickling spices and alum or grape leaves. Bring to a boil and pour the boiling brine over the kelp. Wipe off the rim and the sanitized lid, and screw on the cap.



I like to eat a slice of kelp every day. We also like to serve it as an appetizer - filled with cream cheese and a sprinkle of paprika for flare.

You can use pickled kelp in the same ways you would use a pickle. On sandwiches, in tuna fish, or for making your own tartar sauce. If you are able to get to the coast I would heartily recommend making friends with this incredibly nutritious ally.


Thank you to Bob for the photos!