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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »