Getting familiar with herbs should be fun and interactive. Herbalism isn’t all about memorizing facts — it’s a lifestyle. So today we’re going to talk about ways to increase your personal relationship with herbs! Here are the steps I want you to follow. Choose your herb — any herb, but preferably one you don’t know …
Though this post is about stress, this is really a series on building immunity. If you missed the one where I talked about how stress and immunity are related, go read that first. So what are some ways you can decrease stress? practice yoga practice deep breathing listen to music that relaxes you (You’ll know …
Daisy, dandelion, viola, mullein; these are names that many of us are familiar with and use in everyday language! So what’s the big deal with learning botanical names that sound unfamiliar and are difficult to remember? Common names can cause confusion when communicating with others, especially when discussing edibility and medicinal qualities of an herb, …
Achillea – representing a couple of different folklore stories that have been passed down: Achilles used it to treat his soldiers in the battlefield Achilles mother dipped him in protective water – a yarrow infusion – but she held his heel meaning that his entire body was safe from harm, except his heel. Mille = …
In many warmer countries, before refrigeration, preserving meat was challenging. The use of spices was a common way to cure and dry meats for extended storage. Why add spices to your food? Adding herbs and spices to food serves several purposes. It: enhances the absorption of nutrients improves digestion increases the nutritional value of food …
Borage is one of our favorite plants to grow throughout our homestead. But we get particularly beautiful, large ones growing in our hoop-house alongside our tomatoes, peppers, melons and cucumbers. They make incredible pollinator attractors, but did you know that borage is also a popular food choice employed in various recipes in the Mediterranean? The …
If your family is already experiencing colds or flu this season, it’s a good idea to clean your home to prevent further spreading of the virus. There are far greener alternatives to Lysol and bleach that are effective and less harmful to your health (not to mention the environment). This non-toxic antiseptic spray cleaner will …
When herbalists talk about herbs, they’ll usually use terms like energetics (I’ll talk about that in a later post), actions and organ affinities. What is meant by the term organ affinity? The affinity of an herb is the tendency of that herb to act upon or be drawn to a particular organ or organ system. …
When talking about aerial parts of a plant, we are referring to any part of an herbaceous plant that grows above the ground. This can include leaves, stems and flowers. This does not usually refer to the bark of a tree. Harvesting the aerial parts is not difficult and requires very simple tools. A sharp …
Let’s talk about cold infusions. Last week, we talked about hot water infusions, but there are some constituents that extract better in cold water (think polysaccharides and volatile oils). As long as you follow a few simple rules, you’ll have no problem making a cold infusion. Place your herbs in a small bag. This can …
