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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radiance, synergy, and sword ferns

If you got faults, defects or shortcomings, You know, like arthritis, rheumatism or migraines, Whatever part of your body it is, I want you to lay it on your radio, let the vibes flow through. -P Funk This weekend, I attended a workshop led by a prominent aromatherapist. His background is as a hair stylist [...]

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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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It’s our NETTLEVERSARY!

This month’s gathering we returned to the season that first brought us together. A lot has transpired during the last year. We have all been gifted in profound ways and we have all continued to work with the herbs, learn from the planet and provide for each other. It is hard to believe the incredible [...]

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Lessons Learned ~ The Art Of Ethical Wildcrafting

I was listening to an interview with Paul Bergner the other day and in it he discussed briefly ethical harvesting.  He’s a very emotional speaker and I love how often he gets choked up when discussing various plant encounters. His words on the subject were touching and inspiring. However, there was one aspect of the subject that [...]

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Rattlesnake Plantain: The Dance of Gratitude

Rattlesnake Plantains energetic and healing properties are explored through its signature and the effects of ingesting it.

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Devil’s Club ~ November Gathering

This month our gathering fell on November 1st, the day after Halloween and the day before lunar Samhain.  Here, in the Pacific Northwest, there are still yellow leaves clinging to trees, the weather is cool but not yet cold, and the recent rains have made the water in the rivers run high and brown. Samhain [...]

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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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Nettle Seeds, Keep the Kidneys warm this winter!

This post is an excerpt from my latest post Fall Harvesting, the essential herbs of September. I am posting it separately to make the information more accessible to people scanning the site for individual herbs of interest. NETTLE SEEDS:Botanical Names- Urtica dioica L. Family: Urticaceae (nettles).Common Names-Stinging Nettle, NettleParts Used- Leaves, Stems, Seeds Preparations- Tea, Tincture, Seeds: [...]

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