Universal Guidelines for Herbal Medicine Collection

Imagine you are downsizing a 9,000 sq ft home; a home you have lived in for decades and that has had space for every imaginable souvenir or sentimental favor. Who would you think of when you come across the shockingly extensive and rare collection of Advanced Chinese Medical Texts that you picked up when traveling [...]

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Fair Trading with Nettles

There are a lot of cliches to inform us on the laws of nature. When it comes to Nettles two come to mind: “You don’t get something for nothing” and ” What you see is what you get.” Every spring in the Northwest, streams of people start coming in to the clinic complaining of hayfever [...]

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Plentitude ~ Recipes and Love for Stinging Nettle

Last year at this time my little piece of land was being hit by yet another snow flurry.  The many feet of snow that had fallen in December was slowly decreasing yet the whole ground was still blanketed in a thick covering of snow turned ice. Down the valley, towards the Sound the weather was [...]

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The Final Fruit ~ Apple,Hawthorn and Nootka Rosehip Butter ~ A Late Fall Heart Tonic

The leaves have changed.  My land is covered in a veil of fallen leaves, remnants of summers prime.  We are entering the darker time, the static withdrawal, the pause before the re-fruiting.  This is the transition time.  The apple trees still have a few ripe fruit clinging to their branches even though the leaves have turned yellow [...]

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My Essential Pregnacy Herbs

On September 17 2009,  I welcomed my first baby into the world.  I was either incredibly lucky that my labor lasted only nine hours or incredibly unlucky that my labor began at midnight with back to back contractions that didn’t let up for nine hours straight:)  Either way, it was an incredible experience that began [...]

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The Blue Elderberry, my fall obsession.

 I would consider my “culinary point of view” to be – one of a sneaky cook. My goal is to make dishes that my family will eat, AND that are good for them. As my children get older, at times that is hard to accomplish. Elderberries are an amazing healing food. They taste wonderful. First [...]

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Yard Soup!

  This week is Eat Local Week! in Skagit County. Sponsored by Slow Food Skagit and Skagit Valley Food Co-op. The event is designed to raise awareness and build community and on Sunday September 20th there will be a neighborhood potlucks all over the valley. So check out the calendar and get on some good eats! [...]

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Fall Harvesting, the essential herbs of September

  While some medicines are available to us throughout the year, every season brings a unique collection of  herbs into their prime and typically we have a finite window of time for harvesting. Pay attention! Nature is not confused about when and how to provide for us. What is growing wild in your backyard may [...]

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Berry Lands, the sweetness of summer recounted.

When you live in an area as verdant as I do, it’s easy to keep the calendar by when plants come into bloom and when it is time to harvest all the bounty that surrounds us. Since living here in the Pacific Northwest,  I’ve learned that dandelions flush in May, foxgloves bloom in mid June and [...]

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Peach Salal Berry Sorbet

This is the first summer that I have enjoyed the tangy taste of Salal Berries. As our August medicine gathering approached, I watched day by day as the berries came into their late summer fullness and waited for Kate (one of my favorite human versions of google)  to confirm for me that Salal is, in [...]

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