Beneficial Insects and Birds in the Herbal Garden

I just love to let vegetables go to flower. Like these leeks. They attract so many wasps and flies that are beneficial to the garden. My husband is growing purple corn from Peru and it had some kind of problem and he found two ladybugs that were cleaning things up and had come to the rescue. The goldfinches are loving the sunflowers! Hope you all enjoy the last of summer weather over the Labor Day weekend.

Almost September! Harvest! Quick!!!

This morning I feel determined to write *something*. One of my best friends (since Jr. High!) wrote last night and wondered if everything was alright since the there was nothing new on the blog for so long. Way to kick my butt, Patty :-).
This time of year gets so hectic. Besides all the things that go on inside the house, like getting the kid off for her first day as a senior today - sob! - the things going on outside are driving me to distraction. Suddenly I realize that if it isn't gathered and preserved now, it will be gone until sometime next year. Things like plantain and jewelweed are used for products that are needed before they are big enough to use next spring. The elderberries are are turning just about dark enough to pick --- when the birds eat them. We have a constant battle going on. If I pick them just at dusk, they will have had a whole day to deepen, and it seems that the birds feed in the morning.
All of the sudden, everything is ripe or just about to go to seed or drop seeds.
The garden is pathetic, but occasionally I go out and kick a clod of dirt and mutter to myself.

Right now I'm looking out the window at the roving band of banty chickens on the hillside. It is a good 100 - 150 yards away, but there is a optical illusion caused by the way the hills and valleys make things appear. The chickens are on the next rise over, so they appear closer. Anyhow, there are several generations of these cute little fowl. My sister calls them the kids, the teenagers, and the grown up. There is also a gang of babies, but they don't go up on the hill yet.
They wander among the rows of trees, and it is a funny sight. First thing this morning Molly and I were standing at the window watching and laughing. The funniest part is that the guineas have decided that they want to be chickens too. The pale guinea doesn't want to hang around the gray one anymore. They were 2 peas in a pod for years. But the pale one thinks she's a chicken and the poor gray one stands in my yard plaintively calling for her friend who pretends to be deaf to her call.

Below is a picture I took a couple of weeks ago of some of the tobacco in a farm field in the other end of the county. Tobacco seems to be coming back as a crop here. Locally, the tobacco grown is for cigar wrappers. As kids we tried it a time or two (I believe we used notebook paper - gag) and believe me, it is different. But the farmers "top" it when the blossoms begin to appear.
After seeing the price that tobacco absolute is going for, perhaps I should talk to one of these guys and ask them to save the flowers for me. Wouldn't THAT be fun to distill!?!

the McKenna bird house

Maybe it isn't to shelter Terance McKenna's next incarnation, but coming out of a labyrinth and seeing it, and the rainbow paint job makes me think otherwise.

I'll post more about the labyrinth later.

recalling a long path

It's more fun for me to play 'six degrees of separation' with the association of ideas instead of celebrities.
Can you tell I was a kid who spent summer afternoons reading the encyclopedia?

Google has made it easy to self educate by 'links ... but I suppose you need the inquiring mind as well. I thought it might be fun to journal my latest wanderings ... so here is a log of the trail of associations I followed yesterday, and what I found there:

Begin here:
Melinda's sunflower photo (yesterday's post)...

(What I love about the photo was) the spiral arrangement of seeds in the sunflower
(which is a ) Fibonacci sequence ...
Also called the Golden Spiral...
Coincidence: Blake's illustration of a golden spiral staircase going up to heaven...
(you can see it in the 'Ah Sunflower' video I just posted)

(The Golden Spiral makes me think of)labyrinths...
(Which made me recall) the second labyrinth I've walked.
Let me digress: It was earlier in the summer when I was in the Traverse City area to attend my nephew's, (yes, the sunflower planter) Melinda's son's wedding.
Earlier in the year I'd found a little newspaper article online with a mention of a private property on the Mission Peninsula where the owners had made a labyrinth and allowed the public to walk it.
I asked the owner of the bed and breakfast inn where I was staying if they knew of this labyrinth, and amazingly enough Bob had heard of it and directed me to where to find it. Just a few miles away.
I would have never found it on my own.

Good to ask for directions.
This must be one of those parts of the trail where it loops back before heading on again. I've been meaning to post some photos of that labyrinth. Which I still promise to do...
Photos including the charming, humorous, sly... rainbow painted 'McKenna' birdhouse positioned near the approach to the labyrinth.

Are we there yet?
No, just a turn on the trail.
Coincidence: Last night while I was making dinner and listening to the podcast of Thom Hartman's program, a caller mentioned... Terance McKenna ...
Spooky, huh? How many times do you think of Terance McKenna in one day? McKenna must be knocking on my door.

So I Googled videos of McKenna. You can too.
One video has him saying: "culture is not your friend." (How true.)
McKenna's answer? Make art.

Are we there yet?
Maybe this is near the 'center', where the trail turns back home.
Sit a minute and gather your thoughts.

There is mention of 'demi-urge' in McKenna's discussion.
Coincidence: I just saw that very word this morning and had meant to look it up.
Now, how many time do you run across the word demiurge? Where in the heck did I see it! That word is knocking at my door along with McKenna.

A Robert Frost poem. I saw the word in Frost.
I had been looking up Blake's 'Ah Sunflower' poem to post with Melinda's sunflower photos. So how did I get from Blake to Frost?
Through Wendell Berry.
Can you believe it.

This must be a side track, but sometimes detours can be fun.
When I was looking up Blake, I saw my copy of Berry's collection of poems, "Farming: a Handbook", and loving Berry, I stopped to read a little Berry before going on to Blake. Berry wrote 'Manifesto: The Mad Farmer's Liberation Front', one of my favorite charming, humorous, sly poems. You should look it up.

Anyway, on the front page of Chapter 2, Berry quotes lines from Robert Frost's 'Build Soil'

"I bid you to a one-man revolution__
The only revolution that is coming.
*
We're too unseparate.
and going home
From company means coming to our senses."

'One Man Revolution' is a track on one of my favorite albums of recent memory, The Night Watchman, by Tom Morello. I had no idea the phrase came from Robert Frost.

Interesting! So I looked up Frost's 'Build Soil'.
Building soil is a good idea, the very key to gardening and healthy food. But I'm going down another path. Back on the path to rediscovering where I saw the word demiurge.

I had been looking for 'Build Soil' but ran across the poem I posted yesterday with the sunflower photos, 'A Prayer in Spring', from Robert Frost's collection of poems "A Boy's Will". In the same collection, I ran across 'The Demiurge's Laugh'...
now I had to look up the word.

Google: demiurge.

Wikipedia: The Demiurge of Neoplatonism is the Nous (mind of God), and is one of the three ordering principles:
arche (Gr. "beginning") - the source of all things,
logos (Gr. "word") - the underlying order that is hidden beneath appearances,
harmonia (Gr. "harmony") - numerical ratios in mathematics.
(... also related to concepts in... Judaism, gnosticism, Russian philosophy, a Phillip Dick novel, video games.)
And, of course, for me, beginning, words, and harmony relate to some ideas I love to dwell on, manifested in labyrinths and poetry.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
Gnosticism
SYLLABICATION: Gnos ti cism
PRONUNCIATION: nst-szm
NOUN: The doctrines of certain pre-Christian pagan, Jewish, and early Christian sects that valued the revealed knowledge of God and of the origin and end of the human race as a means to attain redemption for the spiritual element in humans and that distinguished the Demiurge from the unknowable Divine Being.

Pretty much, Demiurge is defined as the creative force of the physical universe, the spirit that is blocked by such structured thought process as organized religion. Is that why McKenna said, make art?
Knocking on the door ...

Now I'll go find that Terance McKenna birdhouse photo.

Ah, Sunflower

Here is an nice version of the Blake sunflower poem, set to music, illustration by William Blake. One of the original end of summer songs, one of Blake's Songs of Experience.

Update on rendering beeswax

The beeswax is rendering quite well, although the summer months aren't quite cooperating. Supposedly it's August when it's really hot - still in the peak of summer, but here in the Methow we are experiencing temps in the 70's - and lots of cloudy rainy days - none of which are conducive to melting wax. So far we have two gallons of wax, with a half barrel more to go.

What you see in the photo is the "slum gum" left behind with the wonderful wax in the bread pan in the bottom. I hear the slum gum works great as a fire starter so we'll be giving that a try.

Here's a close up of the wax. We'll melt it again on the wood stove this winter to clean it up even more. Then we'll be making candles and putting some aside for salves.

Here's a toast to bees and their incredible gifts.

The Year of Angelica

I'm always looking for a big herb to fill in spaces in my herb garden or elsewhere in the garden. This was the year of angelica in my herb garden. Angelica is a biennial, but if it likes its place, it goes CRAZY. It is a little hard to see in this picture, but it is in the back near the grape arbor. It was 7 feet tall! The seeds can be collected but have to be planted within 3 months of harvesting. It is a beautiful architectural plant in the garden. Does better with some shade. You can candy the stems for a treat.

Here is a recipe from Bertha Reppert's book, Growing and Using Herbs with Confidence.

CRYSTALLIZED ANGELICA

24 6-inch pieces of angelica (large hollow stalks, fresh)

2 cups water

2 cups granulated sugar

To prepare the angelica, soak it in cold water for several hours; plunge it into boiling hot water until, when pressed with your fingers, all stringy parts are easily removed. Do this under cold water. Boil a simple syrup of the water and sugar. Place the prepared angelica in the hot syrup (225 degrees F) for 24 hours; drain, reheat the syrup, and repeat three times. On the fourth day, boil the syrup and angelica at 245 degrees F. Remove from heat; cool. Drain; sprinkle with sugar. Dry thoroughly (this may take two weeks); store in a tin. Keeps indefinitely.

I will post a picture soon of a purple angelica. It has purple stems and flowers. It makes a real statement in a shady part of a garden.

Ah, Sunflower

...and bee.



I was looking for Blake's appropriate poem to post with Melinda's wonderful sunflower photos above, but ran across this one by Frost that I like as well. It's a spring poem but the message is just as timely right now at the end of another summer.
(Thanks for letting me post your photos, Melinda!)

A Prayer in Spring

by Robert Frost (1915)

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil.

A White House lawn that produces something

Well, a few days ago Herb and I were listening to the Across The Great Divide radio program on KPFA public radio (we listen online, as the local programming is many times so trite and boring). We ended up discussing, as senior citizens will do, the question of whether the younger generations will have any concept of who Woody Guthrie was and the relevance of his times to our own.
Then this week I opened up an e-mail from Kitchen Gardeners International, and there on the Youtube video that Roger Doiron produced as a part of his scheme to promote kitchen gardens in front yards, beginning with The White House (or, shall I say, OUR White House) was the voice from the past, Woody Guthrie singing his most well known folk song, This Land Is Your Land.



How populist.
How did we forget so many sustainable ways of living in such a short time?
But we live in an age when Newt Gingrich says his goal in life is to rescind the New Deal, and Rush Limbaugh says 'Roosevelt is dead and we're getting rid of his programs as well', and our twice "elected" president thinks he won a mandate to end Social Security while Congress guts New Deal financial regulations, and a candidate can run for office while voting against children's health and education programs without risking the slightest blow back from his self-described "moral voters".
The New Deal worked, and any politician worth his salt should look at what some of those programs were, and give We The People an updated new deal. We've been getting a raw deal under Reaganomics.

more caterpillar tale

... or, how dumb could I be?

So the little (but growing) green guy, after a week of feeding on three meals a day and a snack, was suddenly uninterested in his tomato leaf fare. I thought, oh good, he's going to do his metamorphosing thing soon, maybe hang himself from the netting of his cage and spin a cocoon or ooze himself a shiny pupa coat. It was time.
For hours into a day he roamed the walls of his small bug hotel making a distinct chewing noise, so loud that Herb even noticed it from his breakfast table. The cat stood on her hind paws, listening, watching.



I began to worry, thinking maybe his color wasn't looking so healthy green? maybe he was thirsty? Do caterpillars need water? I didn't know...
(duh) So as last resort, or as they say, when all else fails LOOK IT UP.



The photo above is of my very handy Peterson First Guides Caterpillars (by Amy Bartlett Wright) field guide. See the little brown pupa case? Now where have I seen those little brown pupa cases before? Yes, while digging in the garden. The light bulb above my head when on.
I looked in the section on rearing caterpillars, and there was the answer to my caterpillar's unhappy wandering ... if you are rearing a caterpillar that pupates in the soil, you must keep him in something with an inch or so of soil for him to dig down into! Who knew.

My new dilemma: not wanting to be the one responsible for bringing a tomato pest into Herb's garden, I couldn't let the little guy loose in the backyard, could I? So I plopped him out of the bug hotel onto the bedding of my worm bin.



Oh Happy Day! As soon as he hit soil, he started digging and within three minutes he was buried in the worm bedding. You can just see in the photo his green little horned tail sticking up as he worms his way down to finish his transformation in the dark privacy of the underground.
I dug down the next day to see what shape he was in, but I haven't found him yet. I don't know what the timing is for this part of his life cycle and the book didn't say. If he succeeds in pupating to a moth I'll let you know.

Call me Bugs

At the organic gardening class at Pat's CSA farm last Friday I found a tomato hornworm (caterpillar) and brought it home to learn more about. Someone said it would pupate into a "hummingbird moth" (one of the clearwing moths), but she's wrong. The tomato hornworm pupates into one of the Sphinx moths. You can tell the difference by the way the stripes are arranged on the caterpillar.
I put him in Kayla's dollar store bug cage and fed him fresh tomato leaves three or four times a day.
... and he grew like Topsy!





Boy do hornworms poop!


Tony says he detests tomato hornworms, but I think they're kinda cute ... doesn't he look like the hookah smoking caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland?

enough about wasps already

Okay, enough, but one more photo in the wasp saga...

Last week, after treating the yellow jackets' nest in the ground for the third time, and going out to scout it one more time, Herb found what looked like a real mess that only (who else?) I could have made and left in the yard.
The photo above shows what wild animals, skunks and raccoons and so on who apparently don't fear wasp swarms as we humans do, what these animals do when they come upon a nest of killed wasps - dinner!
Sometime during the night some animal had come along and found the nest and eaten all of the dead wasp bodies, and pulled the layered sheets of the nest out of the hole to eat whatever protein was there. Interesting, huh?
(Sorry, not a very good photo, but maybe you can see the mess, and make out the layers of nest.)

the predatory wasp coincidence

Sufjan Stevens performing on a youtube video... I'm posting more of his work on my cranky blog.
I fell asleep on the couch last night watching a lame edition of Michigan 'capital correspondent' Tim Skubik's talking heads news commentary program that I can never recall the name of until three minutes after I need it, and woke up to the ear worm music of Sufjan Stevens and his flock of butterflies playing on Austin City Limits.
I listened and went to bed but this morning woke up with Sufjan's Detroit song repeating in my brain. Now this group played my favorite Christmas song of 2007, and I may have posted it somewhere, so I thought it was time to Google Sufjan Stevens again.
First thing I saw on Youtube was this wasp story and song. The coincidence? I've been mulling whether to post a photo of the dead pile of yellow jackets is the hole we had to "treat". I felt so bad for all of that little community's sacrifice to my safety. I wish Geeorge and Dick had one tenth of a conscience in their destruction of communities, animal, vegetable, and human, here and abroad, in my name but without my permission.
But I digress, here's the music, suitable for a late summer morning in Michigan.
En joy.

Live performance, amateur video, but it must be a trip to be there in person for a Sufjan Stevens performance. More polished stuff is on the cranky michigan greenie blog, but you can link in and find more professional videos on Youtube by clicking on the video.

signs of the impending change of seasons

A day or so ago, on a walk it became obvious that autumn is breathing down summer's back. It seems a little early, being just the beginning of August, but these are just little glimmers among all the brilliant flowers and summer growth that is much more noticeable.
Along one row of trees, I've been noticing a couple of them are covered with cones. Way too many to be desirable for a Christmas tree I'd think. A few among the ornaments look pretty cool, but this is just ... well... odd! They probably draw a lot of energy from the plant. Isn't that absurd?Just to give you some idea of scale, this tree is about 7 feet tall, and the cones are anywhere from 3 to 4 inches long. I never noticed that this particular type of cones are sheathed (the green coating) and they open from the bottom. It's easier to see on the photo below. The one on the top right reminds me of a cicada or a butterfly chrysalis. Most open to resemble something like a bell shape until the sheath is completely gone.
Here we have a tiny pin-oak growing up through the branches of a fir tree. Of all the oaks, the leaves of the pin oak are the most appealing to me, and the young pinkish red leaves are almost difficult to resist picking. No explanation, just an observation. Besides, isn't this where Pinocchio came from?

Next I found a group of poke berries that give a very clear view of what they look like in the various stages. In particular, notice the magenta stems and the way they resemble Cinderella's pumpking right up until they turn black/purple, at which time they lose the scalloping and become smooth as old tires.
Last is a blown-up flower spike of sour dock. This is 3 to 4 times larger than the actual spike to show some detail of the flowers. Generally the flowers are so small that they are inconspicuous. The color dries to a deep red or maroon - sometimes other colors too - like greens, pinks, and rusts. They can be gathered to create a gorgeous wreath!
There are many other interesting things growing out there that give no inkling of the coming winter, but there is always a reminder, always the quiet tick tocking telling us that the world keeps moving. Everything keeps changing.

See? This hummingbird sage is just killing me with the stunning colors it produces. The leaves are a deep chartreuse. One of my favorite summer plants, simply because it is so pretty.

Rendering Beeswax

An incredibly generous friend gifted me with a 55 gallon drum of un-rendered beeswax.

Another generous friend made me a solar still to turn this gloppy mess into pure beeswax for candles and salve making.






If you've never seen un-rendered beeswax, you'll immediately notice it's resemblance to alien intestines.





This picture doesn't quite portray the sticky, gloppy mess that this stuff is, nor can it demonstrate the beautiful beeswaxy smell that surprisingly emanates from it. My friend assures me that with the sun's help this will turn into beautiful beeswax.

Here's the solar still:


How it works, is you place the beeswax mix into the upper portion, close the window top and let the sun melt the mixture. It's melt at different times and the beeswax drips into a container down below. We've only just put the beeswax in, so I'll keep updating on it's progress.

Thanks to Dave and Gabe for making this project possible!

Braintanning Deer Hides

My husband has been busy this week scraping, soaking, and drying deer hides. These are actually hides from last fall that have been preserved until now. I can't wait until I have my full braintanned outfit.

If you've never seen this process or never felt the incredible end product you would be amazed. It's unbelievable to watch this bloody hairy hide turn into to some of the softest more durable fabric ever made - all with the help of bacteria, hard labor and you guessed it, brains.

What's even more amazing to me is that our ancestors figured out this complicated multi-step process all around the world.

Having braintanned clothing is one of our next steps in taking responsibility for our impact on the earth. 100% natural, local, and sustainable - these clothes shine in comparison with clothing shipped from overseas, made in sweatshops with deplorable conditions with fabrics grown with a multitude of pesticides. Plus, they are absolutely beautiful. I'll be sure to model my clothes as they become available.

Elderberry Capers

Elderberries are coming into season here in the Methow, but you can still find an abundance of unripe elderberries for this fabulous recipe. I first made this with my mentor, Karen Sherwood of Earthwalk Northwest.

This following recipe straight from Billy Joe Tatum's Wild Foods Cookbook, but I omit the sugar when making it for our family.

We enjoy these elderberries as we would regular capers - on fish, salads, and tuna fish sandwiches.



Elderberry capers:

2 cups unripe elderberries stems removed
¼ cup salt
1 cup water
¼ cup sugar
1 cup cider vinegar

1. Wash the green elderberries, drain well, and place in a sterile crock or jar.
2. Dissolve salt in water and pour over berries. Cover with a cloth and let stand for 2 days.
3. Drain elderberries or buds and pour into sterile half pint canning jars.
4. Boil sugar and vinegar together for 2 or 3 minute s and pour into jars (jars should fill to top) and seal at once.

Preserving the Herbal Harvest-Making Jelly

With the weather turning a little cooler this week, I thought I would write about preserving your herbs for the fall and winter seasons. Several weeks ago, I made some herbal jelly, lemon basil and cinnamon basil. My kitchen was filled with the wonderful smell of basil at its best. Once you steep the herbs in water or other liquids and add the sugar and Certo, your jelly is finished. I'm simplifying the process, but it is very satisfying. People who receive them as gifts have the idea that it is lemon with basil and cinnamon with basil, but it is the plants in both cases. I use Renee Shepherd's recipe for Scented Basil Jellies. You can find it at Renee's Garden and under Renee's Recipes, you will find a recipe for herb jellies. Many people are intimidated by jelly making, but I really enjoy it. I also will be making raspberry jam and grape jelly later this year. Jelly makes a great gift any time of the year and it is one way to preserve your herbal harvest. The picture is my front gate this summer. It has been glorious.

Herbal Containers

Every year our herbal containers get better. Above you can see two scented geraniums 'Logee's Snowflake', a rose scented and variegated leaf. This is their third year in these pots. We may have to change plants out next spring. We have a diversity of herbs in containers. Lavenders, scented geraniums, lemon verbena, an allspice tree, a bay rum tree, three figs, two bay laurels, a couple of rosemaries, a kaffir lime to name a few. They all come inside for the winter. It can be a little hectic! I remember one of the first years we were in this house and the first hard frost was announced! We were digging up plants and putting them in pots like crazy! Some made it and some didn't. If you are really interested in keeping herbs indoors over the winter, I would begin to get plants in pots now to get them ready for the change. We are also lucky in this house to have a south facing garage that has windows in the door. That is a big plus for the rosemaries and scented geraniums to keep their leaves and limit the powdery mildew that affects rosemaries in the winter. It's because the garage is unheated so it is not too warm or hot from the forced air of the furnace. The lavender to the right is a green fringed lavender that is tender in our region. Lavender is the herb of devotion. That's what is says on and side of the container.

I hope you will take some of your herbs that might not make it if you have snow in winter or very cold temperatures. We both love herbs in containers on the coldest days of winter. I know you will also. If you bring in your lemon verbena, it is likely that it will drop all of its leaves and you will think it has died. Make sure to water it about every 10 days or so. If by chance it keeps some of its leaves, cut the whole plant back to about 6 inches in December. In mid February or so, it should start to leaf out. It is a very exciting process. Until next time.

The Essential Herbal ~ September/October 2008

The next issue is in the mail, and it is such a great fall issue! We have articles on various herb crafts - from making tinctures to harvest soaps, several great recipes, gardening information, book reviews, and enough projects and ideas to make us almost look forward to the waning sun. Take a look at the table of contents below! TABLE OF CONTENTS

Crossword Puzzle - A little botanical nomenclature.

Field Notes from the Editor

Suburban Herbie, Obsessive Gardening - Geri Burgert

Dia de los Muertos - Betsy May

List Article - Winter Preparations

Simple Tincture Making at Home - Sarah Campbell

Down on the Farm, Seed Saving - Michele Brown and Pat Stewart

Book Review Unlikely Lavender Queen - Cindy Jones

Colours of Autumn, Mrs. S.J. Head

Book Review, The Priestess of the Forest - Sarah Campbell

SouthRidge Treasures, Horseradish - Mary Ellen Wilcox

Tealight Tutorial - Abbie Sewell

The Soap Pot, Harvest Soap - Alicia Grosso

Louisiana Lagniappe, Mushroom & Eggplant Pie - Sarah Liberta

Never Enough Thyme, Sunchokes - Susanna Reppert

Rebooting Your Brain - Susan Evans

Stuffed Shirts - Sue-Ryn Burns

The Twisted Sisters Tour~4 Days, 3 Cities! - Ym-health

Herbal First Aid

Dear friends of mine are getting married next week in Mexico where they've been living for the past year. They are traveling aficionados having met in Vietnam and traveled the world once over since. Always on the practical side I gave them a customized herbal first aid kit for their travels.

Here's what's in it:

Tinctures:

Wormwood (Artemesia absinthium): This is an invaluable tincture while traveling. It can be used against parasites and food poisoning that manifests itself as cramping and diarrhea. I was unfortunately given the opportunity to use this tincture while traveling this year, although I am happy to report back how amazingly quick it helped to set my system right again. After eating some questionable food I had cramping and diarrhea for 24 hours. At first I decided to let it run its course, but after 24 hours I was facing a 6 hour bus ride that I wanted to be well for. I followed Susun Weed’s dosing suggestion of three drops of tincture in water once every hour for up to four hours. By the third dosage I was feeling fine.

Later in the trip I met up with a dear friend of mine from college. She was very ill and had been so for over a week with intestinal issues, mainly cramping and diarrhea as well as gas and bloating. She had gone to the doctor and been prescribed antibiotics which she had been taking for a week without any sign of improvement. I shared my wormwood experience with her and she decided to give it a try. Again, after three doses she felt great! That is after many days of turmoil. Needless to say we were both impressed and both very thankful for the powers of wormwood.

Herbalpedia reports that wormwood repels roundworms and threadworms probably due to its sesquiterpene lactones. Steven Harrod Buhner writes in his book, Herbal Antibiotics, that wormwood is effective against malaria and Staphlycoccus aureus, as well as intestinal worms. I used it externally this summer to stop poison ivy in it’s tracks.

To use for diarrhea: take three drops in water once an hour for up to four hours.




Echinacea (Echinacea angustifolia): Echinacea, the darling of many herbalists is a powerful preventive for colds and flus. Taken at the first sign of a cold or flu it helps to boost our immune system. To be effective it should be taken in large doses and frequently. Buhner suggest the following:
Strep Throat: Full dropper (30 drops) of the tincture as often as desired, not less than once each hour until symptoms cease. Mix with saliva and dribble slowly over affected area down back of throat.
Onset of colds and flus: Not less than one dropper full (30 drops) of tincture each hour until symptoms cease.

It can also be used externally for burns, wounds, skin infections and as a wash for poisonous stings and bites. To do so mix the tincture with equal amount of water and wash affected area liberally every 30 minutes.


Yarrow (Achillea millefolium): Counters bacteria internally and externally, and repels insects. It can be used as prevention for colds and flus, for sore throats, or for fevers. To use as an insect repellant I keep the full strength tincture in a spray bottle and spray liberally and frequently. Can also use it externally to clean wounds. Mix the tincture with equal parts water.

Peach: I use peach tincture to settle my nerves and anxiety especially when there is a headache present. Traveling doesn’t always go smoothly and it’s nice to have peach’s settling effects. Plus it’s absolutely delicious. Take five to fifteen drops as needed.

Valerian: Want to go to sleep? Try fifteen drops of this – also can combine with peach for added effect. Don’t go over the recommended dosage for this one as it can have the opposite effect. You can also use valerian for muscle cramping. (Menstrual cramps, leg cramps, back spasms, etc.)



Ginger: Ginger is unparalled in it’s ability to help with motion sickness. Take before you get on that sketchy bus that is traveling along a tiny road up the mountain, as well as when the nausea hits. I also put in some ginger candy (but try to leave this for nauseus moments, not just when you want something sweet!) ☺

Oils:
Tea Tree Oil: Tea tree oil can be used externally for a whole range of issues including fungal infections and herpes virus. I don’t leave home without it for its fast acting effect on cold sores. I apply it with a Q-tip at the first tingle of a cold sore.

Salves:

I always carry a healing salve with me wherever I go. My favorite mixture is comfrey, calendula, and plantain. I also always bring along some cottonwood lip balm.

Tea:
Peppermint: For upset stomachs, flatulence, and heartburn.

Chamomile: For nausea, anxiety, or used as a steam for clearing up congestion.

Cold and Flu Tea: I make this tea myself and seal in hot press tea bags. Take it at the onset and during a cold or flu. I would put five small tea bags or one big tea bag in a pint of water, let sit for at least a ½ hour before drinking. You can drink this liberally.

Cold & Flu Tea:
One Part Elder Flower
One Part Yarrow
½ Part Peppermint
½ Part Rose hips




MISC.

Bandaids of course. :) I also put in some store bought throat drops as I haven't made any yet with a good storage record. Have you? Let me know about it. :)


Acid indigestion: 5-10 drops of Dandelion root or Wormwood tincture every ten minutes until relieved. I use a dose of Dandelion before meals to prevent heartburn.

Bacterial Infections (including boils, carbuncles, insect bites, snake bite, spider bite, staph): 30-50 drops Echinacea or Yarrow tincture up to 5 times daily.

Colds: to prevent them I use Yarrow tincture 5-10 drops daily; to treat them, I rely on Yarrow, but in larger quantity, say a dropper full every 3-4 hours at the worst of the cold and tapering off.

Cramps in gut: 5-10 drops Wormwood, once.

Diarrhea: 3 drops Wormwood hourly for up to four hours.

Fever: 1 drop Echinacea for every 2 pounds of body weight; taken every two hours to begin, decreasing as symptoms remiss. Or a dropper full of Yarrow tincture every four hours.

Insect: prevent bites from black flies, mosquitoes, and ticks with a spray of Yarrow tincture; treat bites you do get with Yarrow tincture to prevent infection.

Sore throat: Gargle with Yarrow tincture. Or place Echinacea tincture on the throat.

Wounds: I wash with Yarrow tincture, then wet the dressing with Yarrow tincture, too.

Sweet Calendula

Aaahhh, Calendula. It’s easy to love this beautiful flower that offers us so many gifts.

Not having a garden this year I relied on Ancestree Herbals to provide me a pound of these sunny flowers.




I tinctured the fresh flowers in everclear. Call me silly, but I have a tough time cutting up flowers for tinctures. Don’t they look so beautiful whole?










The rest my husband laid out to dry.




I’ll be making a varicose vein spray, infused oil, and tea with these. Richo Cech recommends making a tincture with dried flowers, so I may try that as well.

The two main ways I use Calendula is for it’s affinity to the skin and it’s anti-fungal properties.

My favorite lip balm I make is with both calendula and dandelion flowers.

St. John's Wort

I was so happy to find a healthy stand of this golden gem this summer. I've gone somewhat over the top with making various extracts and enjoying a lot of experimentation.

For those of you not familiar with this sunny wonder, St. John's Wort has a number of uses from uplifting the spirit to combatting viruses. It has has fantastical flowers that bloom around the summer solstice, however the stand I found was several miles up Twisp River Road and didn't reach it's peak until mid July.

Although the flower itself is a bright yellow, if you rub the yellow flower between your fingertips you’ll find a lovely purple stain left behind. This is due to it's magical abilities as well as the constituent hypericin which studies show is a powerful anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-depressive, and anti-inflammatory substance. This has launched hypericin capsules and tablets – but I’ll take the whole fresh plant for my healing.

In the past I had mostly harvested the open flowers, but while I was rubbing the flowers between my fingers I noticed this year that more color was secreted in the flower buds.

I love St. John's Wort for it's ability to completely stop herpes virus in it's tracks. When I feel a cold sore coming on I reach for this herb first. I take the alcohol extract internally - 20 drops three times a day, as well as use external applications of the alcohol tincture and oil. This past weekend I made a very effective cold sore care lip balm with St. John's Wort, lemon balm, and tree tea oil. With frequent applications it stopped the cold sore I was getting in less than three hours.

I've been experimenting with using different alcohol strengths this year. Yet again, the 95% seems to be much more vibrant, while the 40% vodka seems to be a watered down version. However, for external application I prefer the 40% on my lips.

I also use St. John's Wort exclusively for nerve pain, either as an oil or liniment. I had a client two weeks ago complaining of chronic sciatic pain. Diagnostic testing revealed that her deep external rotators were completed restricted and her lumbar spine was under compression as well. I gave her some oil and extract which she used palliatively, until we could get the rest of her sorted out.

I've also used St. John's Wort Tincture externally for fungal infections. Again, it works great, although it can temporarily give skin a reddish hue.

A few weeks ago I made a trauma salve with equal parts:

Comfrey
Arnica
St. John's Wort
Cottonwood
Lavender EO

and last night I made up a bug bite salve with:

2 parts plantain
1 part St. John's Wort
1 part cottonwood
Lavender EO

Herbal Oils

I had a request to describe how I’ll be using the herbal oils I listed in this spring/summer’s herbal medicine making. I have to admit that while I have extensive experience with some of these oils, others I am making for the first time and can only tell you what I’ve read.

The first herbal class I ever took was Lip Balms and Healing Salves with Karen Sherwood of Earthwalk Northwest. I remember that class fondly as it firmly marked the beginning of a new path for me. That day I learned what a cedar tree was and asked Karen to point out plantain for me. (Not kidding!) Now it seems ludicrous to be that out of touch with a sense of place, but we all start someplace and that’s where it was for me, at the very beginning.

Karen taught me to use freshly dried herbal material for my oils, which I did with good results for years. This year however, I switched to using freshly wilted plant material and I really prefer the rich colors of the oils after infusing for six weeks.

Most of you probably know how to make herbal oils, but for those of you who aren’t herbalists and just read the blog because you love me (Hi Dad!) I’ll give a short run down of how I do it.

Simplest method for oils:
For most leafy plants I let them wilt overnight in order to lose most of their water content. The next day I chop them up very finely and place them in a mason jar. I want to fill the jar loosely. I then pour organic extra virgin olive oil over the plants, stir, and pour oil again until it goes to about a ¼” from the top. I then cover this with a paper towel, and a mason jar ring. I let it sit in a dark warm place, and stir it every day for at least two weeks. However, I stirred my comfrey, plantain, and arnica oils every day until I strained them off 6 weeks later.

There are variations to this of course. St. John’s Wort Flowers and Dandelion Flowers get put in the sun and as a rule I don’t chop them. For any herb I feel needs a little prodding, or I want things to move a little more quickly I warm the oil first, or place them in boxes or paper bags and then put them outside in the sun. I like infusing my cottonwood buds for at least six months, preferably a year.

Currently I mainly use olive oil and coconut oil for my infusions. This fall, however, I’ll be experimenting with using rendered lard. Every year my husband and I try to take large steps to gathering all of our needs locally. Olive oil and coconut oil are one of the only things we still depend on from far away. Luckily lard is available abundantly and I have rendered fat several times to make pemmican (yum!).

So how am I using those herbal oils?

St. John’s Wort: I have a much longer blog post waiting for pictures all about St. John’s, so I won’t go into much detail here. This has to be the most dramatic oil to make as the yellow flowers give way to a blood red oil indicating the presence of hypericin, an anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, and anti-fungal substance. To make this oil I gather the tops of the plant just before flowering, cover in oil, and let sit in the sun. This year the oil was a deep dark red in about four days, but I’ve left the flowers in for a couple of weeks now. I use this oil in a cold sore lip balm (along with lemon balm), and for topical use on nerve pain for clients. Many people report using St. John’s Wort oil as a sunscreen of sorts, but I can’t handle oils on my skin, so I haven’t tried this myself. (Maybe infused in jojoba oil…)

Cottonwood: If St. John’s Wort oil wins a prize for its brilliant color, cottonwood wins it for its intoxicating smell. I made up well over a gallon of cottonwood oil this year as I add it to all of my salves as a preservative. A wonderful all around healing salve, I use it on clean cuts, scrapes, as well as superficial muscle pain.

Arnica: A friend gathered me a whole paper bag full of fresh arnica this spring, so instead of letting it go to waste, I made oil with all of it. arnica is well known for its use on unbroken skin strains, pains, and bruises.

Comfrey: No matter which side of the comfrey controversy you stand in, we can all agree that comfrey is strong medicine. Used as a base in healing salves it works magic on diaper rash and healing clean superficial cuts and scrapes. This herb is so powerful you would never want to use it on deep broken skin, or on an infection as its cell proliferant capabilities will seal the skin shut, trapping the infection inside. Besides using it for healing skin, I use it on clients with tendinous and ligamentous strains and sprains.

Calendula: Bright and beautiful, calendula blossoms take special care of our skin. Herbalist Kimberly Gallagher not only makes calendula oil each year, but also freezes a good supply of blossoms for poultices. Last year was the first time I was able to grow calendula myself. Each day we harvested the open buds and dried them on the counter until I had enough to fill a jar. I let the flowers infuse for the winter, straining after six months. The beautifully golden oil that I strained off has been used in all my lip balms and vulnary healing salves.

Plantain: For diaper rash, bug bites, and healing cuts and scrapes, herbalist Kiva Rose suggests you “kiss your plantain” and I would heartily agree.

Hyssop: Hyssop is most used for its affinity to help the respiratory system. Gail Faith Edwards describes using hyssop oil externally for arthritic pain, rubbing it into any sore and inflamed areas of the body.

Lemon Balm: A wonderful herbalist in the valley gave me some lemon balm from her garden this summer to infuse in oil for my cold sore care lip balm. I’ve been placing this one in a paper bag in the sun each day and it should be ready soon.

Mullein Flowers: Mullein is flowering now in the valley, gracing our highways and pastures with long spikes of yellow flowers. Heather, from the Village Herbalist on Herbmentor.com says instead of individually plucking each yellow flower for infusing in oil, you can just chop up the whole flower head. I mention this for those of you who may be lacking in mullein, or for some reason don’t like plucking those waxy flowers. As for me, we’ve got plenty of mullein and harvesting is one of my favorite ways to pass the time. And, as you all probably know, mullein oil is used in conjunction with garlic oil and possibly St. John’s Wort oil for ear infections.

Red Clover: I did this on a whim as it was the Herb of the Month on Herbmentor.com in July. Red Clover is known for its anti-tumor activities and this will make a lovely breast massage oil – adding a little spice to those monthly exams.

Rue: I looked to Gail Faith Edwards for wisdom with Rue. She says, “Externally, rue is stimulating, anti-spasmodic, and a rubifacient” and reportedly uses it warmed on nerve pain, strained muscles, nervous spasms, and neuralgia.

Artemesia spp.: Kiva says it best here.

Yarrow: Yarrow has been an important herbal ally for me for years as I’ve witnessed it stop severe bleeding in an emergency situation, as well as cure many UTIs. Its pain relieving and antiseptic properties make it a great addition to vulnary healing salves.

An Unfortunate Evening - Or why I am glad I am an herbalist

(I wrote this awhile ago...)

My dad is in town for the next three weeks. It's a special treat as he lives in Mexico and I usually only get to see him once or twice a year. We've been out and about showing him our incredibly beautiful and supportive community.

The first night in town we came straight from the airport (1 1/2 hours away) to a benefit party at the local pub. Several weeks ago someone lost control of their car and went over a cliff. He's recovering, but the hospital bills are stacking up. So, there was a great benefit party to raise money at the local pub. The music started at 6:00 and featured wonderful local musicians like Terry Hunt, Brad Pinkerton, Leah Larsen, and even Laura Love. Later in the evening there was great jazz, and my favorite was Eva Ashford - what a voice! Besides getting donations for dinner and music, there was a raffle for so many wonderful things by local businesses and artists. We not only had a great time, but even won a $50 gift certificate to the local health food store in the raffle. It seemed like there was a lot of people there with their checkbook in hand, so I hope they raised a lot of money and best wishes to the whole family in this healing process.

Last night, however, was not so great. Our plan was to go to the Winthrop Brewery, however, when we showed up it was closed. We wandered around town and finally settled for another restaurant... It's been years since I have eaten in a restaurant like this. All the appetizers were fried breads and cheeses, the "butter" came in plastic tubes as well as all the dressings. The vegetables served with dinner were frozen, and I don't want to think of the trans fats that were probably present in the food. As I was trying to eat the meal I thought, "If I was into telling people what not to eat, I would send them here as a great example."

The reason we had gone all the way to Winthrop (It's about ten miles from us and we try not to drive that far), is because a friend had told us of a short little hike to see some beavers. Of course, about ten minutes into the hike my stomach/guts seize up. After it lets up I realize I have to go... NOW. So, I grabbed some mullein leaves and headed for the bushes without a moment to spare. After several trips I felt pretty cleaned out, weak, but not longer cramping.

It's been a long time since food has made me that sick. I am not sure if it was due to something in the food or due to the fact I am not used to eating that kind of food. Whatever it is, I will definitely not be returning to that place.

As we walked back to the car I became aware that my arm was itchy. I looked down to see a rash quickly developing...hmmm was there poison ivy in those bushes? I frantically looked around my purse and pulled out a wormwood tincture. I always carry wormwood with me - ironically for food poisoning (it became a must after traveling in Mexico). My protocol is to preferably to let my system run it's course, and I only use it if things become unbearable. Since my body had taken care of itself in the intestinal arena, I was grabbing the wormwood for my possible poison ivy rash. The whole ride home I kept dropping more of the tincture on my arm.

So, I have to tell you this was not my favorite evening, although it did have it's ups. It's great to have my dad around, great to see Beavers in action and I do love going to dinner. However, between having to duck in the bushes to relieve my bowls, and dealing with nasty rashes - it was not my favorite.

So, I kept putting the wormwood on my arm and by the time I got home the rash was disappearing visibly and the itch was going away. I am not sure that poison ivy would retreat that quickly, but whatever it was the wormwood helped.

By coincidence I had several bags of plants at home from ancestreeherbals.com waiting to be processed. So the rest of the night I made alcohol and oil extracts of wormwood, mugwort, and bee balm with a renewed sense of gratitude for all the many gifts plants give us.

Besides being friends with plants, I love being an herbalist because there is a security in being able to take care of yourself. Whether it's knowing which plant can help you out as toilet paper, or take care of your rash, it feels good to know there is so much support in the community around me.

GTS - setting the painted lady free

Part two of my painted lady butterfly saga began this morning. It had hatched overnight. In one of these photos you can see the spent chrysalis hanging on the netting.



I thought about keeping it for Kayla and Aubrey to see late this afternoon, but would it be weakened by the wait? I don't know.... so I let it go.


I opened the door of my little hatching box and placed it near the African Blue Basil, wouldn't you think a butterfly would be attracted to that fragrance? I turned my back for a minute and it was gone! I caught a flash of orange in the corner of my eye. Must not have wanted to stick around for the rest of the photo shoot.






Gardeners, Plant and Nature Lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

We're back - and planning some winter tea

The ocean was beautiful, and the temps along the coast quite a bit cooler than our inland weather. It was so nice to go away and not be hauling the still or giving talks on various topics - just being away with my sweetie :-).
We got home to find that our blog was locked up. Fortunately Blogger figured out the problem quickly so that we can go on posting!
Last night Molly and I cleared the garden of weeds (again!). It has been a while, and it showed. Still, we have the best conversations while we are each working on a row, just talking companionably. I realized while we were out there that it is time to start working on the Winter Tea. This is a project that gives us pleasure all year long. The planting, planning, and gathering is a big part of the fun. Learning new plants and testing them out for flavor, making sure to find certain wild plants during the season, and finding surprises and volunteers is all part of the process.
As the season progresses, we'll gather and dry smallish amounts of many different herbs/weeds. They will all be mixed together into a large "batch" from which we will take portions to brew up pots of flavorful, healthful tea during the cold months.
Anyone can do it, and every potful comes out just a little differently than the last.
Some choices that we will be drying and mixing:
Echinacea, all parts of the plant
Dandelion root
Chicory root
Rosemary
Chamomile
Mints - Apple, Chocolate, Peppermint, Meadow Mint, Mountain Mint
Bee Balm
Thyme
Elderberries
Raspberry Leaf and Fruit
Basils - Purple, Cinnamon, Holy
Stevia
Blueberries
Comfrey (yes, we choose to use it in tea...don't tell anyone)
Red Clover
Sassafras
Vitex Berries
Nettle
Oat Seeds
Lavender
Fennel Seeds
Hyssop Flowers
Catnip
Rosa Rugosa petals and hips
As you can see, the list goes on and on. There are many more that we'll add, and some - like Nettle, Chickweed, Violet Leaves and Flowers, and St. John's Wort - that were gathered earlier in the year for this purpose. We'll add a few things that don't grow here... like Cinnamon Chips, Star Anise, and perhaps a few Cloves. Bits of Vanilla Bean and Cardamom Seeds are delicious too. Each person will choose to add or delete different ingredients, depending on what they like and what grows nearby.

You can use this same process to gather Bathing Herbs for the coming winter. Adding some Oatmeal and Sea Salt will help the skin stay hydrated and smooth in the cold weather.

The Sept/Oct issue will be delivered tomorrow or the next day, so today is a good day to get the decks cleared before we start the rigorous process of labeling, sorting, and sacking the mailing. I'll be out wandering in the woods and fields!

The NW Herb Fest and Directions to the Gallagher's House

As previously reported I headed down to Eugene Oregon last weekend to attend Sharol Tilgner’s NW Herb Fest. I went not only for pleasure and my own learning experience but also to support Learningherbs.com and the Gallagher family by vending their fabulous herbal adventure game, Wildcraft!

The fest itself was very well organized with a large variety of herbalists attending as well as classes offered.

I think the highlight of my trip was meeting Robin DiPasquale, a naturopathic physician who worked at Bastyr for a number of years and now lives in Madison Wisconsin. Her classes on Oligomennorhea and Ammenorhea, The Liliaceae family and the female connection, as well as her plantwalk on trees contained just the right amount of botany, research, personal experience, herbal taste testing and sensitivity to emotional and spiritual aspects. Plus she is one of those people that glow with kind radiant energy.

I also really enjoyed two classes with Paul Bergner. One on insulin resistance and the other one treating pain with herbs. You can read more about insulin resistance here. The most interesting thing I took away from the pain lecture was how muskuloskeletel pain can be a symptom of food allergies. Paul reported that he had a big “Ah hah!” in his clinic when muscle aches and pains were inadvertently decreased when possible food allergies were taken out of the diet. So, of course, one student in the class asks what labs he uses to determine allergies. Paul’s reply is that he uses a very simple test that is over 80% accurate. He asks that client, “If there was a food that you might be sensitive to, what would that be?” For the most part people already know. He said if they needed further prompting he says, “You know the food that gives you heartburn, headaches, nausea, etc.” and they say, Oh, of course, when I eat (fill in the blank) I get … I appreciate that kind of testing. ☺

The other thing that I learned this weekend was the many different approaches to herbalism. I went to this conference looking forward to taking more intermediate to advanced workshops. I was ready to move on to that next level. However, in so doing I think I took a number of workshops not really suited to my own herbal approach. It seems like the more advanced classes were instructors disseminating clinical research for clinicians such as ND’s, MD’s, etc. As a result I took a class on Neurotransmitter Herbs that was a complete waste of my time. (Not that is was a bad class in general, just for me.) In Structural Medicine we spend a lot of time on the Nervous System as this is something we commonly need to effect for permenant change, so I was really looking forward to seeing an herbal role in this system, however, the whole hour and a half was spent describing the nervous system – something that is very complex, but can easily be read in any physiology textbook. I had gone to that workshop instead of one on moxibustion, so that was definitely disappointing.

Luckily my husband went to all the plant walks and brought back loads of practical useful information. If I go next year I will enjoy the plant walks instead of taking more advanced classes based on clinical research trials and textbook physiology.

It was overall a great weekend meeting so many other herbalists, getting a view into Chinese medicine, and seeing all the various places people take the amazing world of plants.

I think most importantly I confirmed for myself that learning to be an herbalist comes down to personal experience and focus with the plants themselves. Keeping it simple by learning from plants is my preferred herbalist path.

Now, you may be wondering how to find the Gallagher’s house (I hope you don’t mind me passing out directions, John.) So, head to Western Washington and stop at the largest patch of plantago major you see and there you will find the Gallagher’s house.

Bald faced hornet nest

It really seemed to appear out of nowhere overnight no matter what Howard says! If you click to enlarge the photo, you can see a pretty good view of a bald faced hornet.



Very near the driveway, it has to go. I know, they're pollinators, but they chose the wrong spot for their nest. We also have a yellow jacket nest in the ground that looks exceedingly dangerous. Herb got stung by one, luckily only one, while mowing, and 2 year old Kayla almost ran into it while she was chasing the kitty. Sorry, its gotta go.

I almost hated to post this picture with that chlorotic maple. It is the bane of my gardening existence. I won it in a neighborhood yard and garden contest years ago, and it has never been right. Apparently it is one Maple cultivar that is particularly prone to chlorosis. It looks good in the winter, half the year here, but someday it's firewood.