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Getting to Know an Herb

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 …

Managing Stress with Herbs & Lifestyle

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 …

Botanical Names

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, …

Yarrow: What’s in the Name?

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 = …

Cooking with Herbs & Spices

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

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 …

Harvesting Aerial Parts

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 …

Herbal Infusion Part 2

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 …