quote

"oh wild West Wind, thou breath of autumn's being,

Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead

Are driven like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,

Yellow and black, and pale, and hectic red"

- Percy Bysshe shelley

Live Wreath Class At The Village Herb Shop!

We started with this!

And Ended With This!

And This!

My Herbal Companion, Bonnie and I went up to spend the day with Kathleen Gips at The Village Herb Shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio for a live wreath class.  I would say that it was intense and when it gets intense, I get chatty!  I apologize to everyone at my table!  I am also a Virgo--Perfectionist!  One of the teachers came up to me and said, "Nancy, it doesn't have to be perfect!"  She knew me right away.  I was able to let the perfection part go and I just got it done.  Everyone said walk around and see everyone else's, but I was so overwhelmed, I couldn't!  Everyone's was beautiful and different.  The bottom photo is Bonnie's wreath.  The Herbal Husband was impressed with the finished product!  It's bigger than our dining room table!  Will have to find a special place for it during the holidays.

Just want to send positive energy to Kathleen and her husband, Jack.  Kathleen was in the hospital with Jack and couldn't be with us.  She was there in spirit and we learned during the class that everything was fine with Jack!  If you are in the Chagrin Falls area, please stop by The Village Herb Shop.  It is chock full of Christmas cheer and items for your Christmas gift giving pleasure!  Hope you had a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later!

A Tangled Lemon Verbena Mess and A Note to Leslie!

Well, this is the mess on my worktable as of yesterday.  By this morning, I had the majority of dried material (Couldn't tell what some herbs were!) put in containers.  I labeled everything and dated it.  Sooo after I have a road trip tomorrow up to the Village Herb Shop, we'll get started on the artemisia tree.  Leslie from Comfrey Cottages I just wanted to tell you that I have dried some lemon balm and it worked!  I think I was drying lemon balm that had flowered so it had no flavor left, I think! Duh!!!  Off to see Morning Glory!  Talk to you later.

Pleasantly Surprised--Herbally Speaking!

Salvia clevelandii (Cleveland sage or blue sage)

Curry Plant and Sage

Apple Scented Pelargonium (P. odoratissimum)

The rain has rolled in and the clouds are back, but when it was beautiful out, I remembered to take some photos! The top photo is Cleveland sage or blue sage.  It is a new favorite sage of mine.  So many sages, so little time!  I always passed it up at the nursery until this year.  It was planted in a shadier spot than I would have liked, but it did flower early and was leaning out to reach the sun.  In normal sunny conditions, it grows to about three feet.

I always love the combination of gray leaves and green blue leaves and that's the middle photo of curry plant (Helichrysum petiolatum) and it is NOT used in the cooking of curry dishes, but it smells just like the curry spice and sage, (Salvia officinalis) the herb of Thanksgiving.

I thought I had lost all of my scented pelargoniums, but there are several that have survived for now.  In the photo above, an apple scented one, a low grower.  The leaves feel like velvet.  The others that have survived are also all low growers, coconut (P. grossularioides) and nutmeg (P. fragrans).  I have a coconut that has come back for several years now near the air conditioner.

Hopefully I will get my work table cleaned off tomorrow and we will start the artemisia tree.  Hope you had a wonderful day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Getting back to normal

Whew! Things are starting to settle back to our normal craziness around here as we finish shipping out the pre-release and begin on the Jan/Feb '11 issue of The Essential Herbal. It's been a wild ride, and a HUGE thanks goes out to everyone who helped us make the release go so well.
Yesterday I took a long anticipated walk around outside, just to see what I could see. Each season has so much beauty, even if sometimes it requires a closer look. Knowing it would rain today, I took quite a few pictures to share. Have a look and enjoy.
Several wild plants are putting out new growth. The catnip is one that always has an autumn push here.Cones on the trees are few and far between. It is quite noticeable considering that a conifer farm is my back yard.Dock seeds grew up through a tree.The very last remaining elderberries...Seedhead on the oregano...Passionflower vine is done for the year...Tips of the trees have a lot going on...Standing under the maple, looking out over the sleepy garden border...This witch hazel is nearly 5 years old. Every year until now the groundhogs have snapped it off at the base. The root system is intact and one day it will take off...We'll be starting a holiday gift series in a couple of days, so consider this "intermission".

The Wildlife Play a Game!

The Herbal Husband has a game he plays with the birds.  The crows affectionately called "The Boys" are one of his favorites.  I do have to remind him that it usually is "The Boys and Girls" when he addresses them first thing in the morning!  The Herbal Husband has bags of peanuts in their shell and he loves to throw them on the driveway and the blue jays and now the crows swoop down to grab them.  Sometimes they try to grab more than one at a time!  That leads to comic relief.  Worked getting the tomatoes and sticks pulled out of the garden.  It's going to rain for a couple of days.  It's looking good to do the artemisia tree, but the herbs that are drying on the tabletop need to be put away in containers.  Hopefully, I can get it started tomorrow.  I clipped some small rose hips for decoration.  Hope you had a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later!

My Bed Bath & Beyond Goodies in Time for the Holidays!

I think you would classify my goodies as from the Beyond Department!  I have a small patch of 'Silver King' Artemisia and I haven't cut it for a few seasons.  It tends to come and go.  Some times it is run over by the mower and isn't enough to worry about.  This season was a good one and I thought I had better clip it and bring it inside.

I have also found the Artemisia Christmas tree directions from an old 1995 Yankee Magazine by Adelma Simmons and Caprilands.  So if you have artemisia, get it ready (I think you need at least 1/2 bushel.) and any kinds of small dried flowers such as bachelor button, delphinium, oregano, pearly everlasting, statice, tansy or yarrow, bitterweet, pepper berries or rose hips, pinecones and bells.  Of course, fine florist wire or a hot-glue gun and clippers.  You also will need a styrofoam cone.  The directions say 6 inch.  Also if you have a lazy Susan, pull that out.  It comes in handy to move the tree around and see how the decorations are evenly spread around the tree.  Once upon a time I grew a lot of dried flowers to make wreathes.  It just takes a lot of material and time!  It is a fun project and I think you will enjoy it. 

Check out an artemisia tree I made many years ago that was about two feet tall that I blogged about in 2008.  It was big.  I thought the magazine was buried up in the attic, but I was forward thinking and kept it in the computer/TV room!   Always thinking ahead, but never remember what I was thinking!  I know you know what I'm talking about!  I have to get my work table cleaned off.  I realized after I published this that next week is THANKSGIVING.  So hopefully I will have a post with step by step instructions by the end of THIS week for you.

It is a nice rainy day out.  We needed it after so many beautiful days!  I probably could get my act together and make the tree today, but The Herbal Husband sometimes makes my plans for me!  Going to see the last part of the Swedish triology, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest.  We saw the other two out of sequence, but we are caught up!  At least we won't be in a dark theater while there is beautiful weather outside!  That happens quite a bit!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Still Transplanting!

The Herbal Husband Ready to Get the 'Spice Island' Rosemary Out

Putting The 'Spice Island' In Its New Home

The Rosemarys in Their New Homes

You all do this.   I know you do. Just like me, you wait until the last minute to get some tender perennials in for the winter.  Well, we did a little more moving around.  Moved the prostrate rosemary into a bigger container and moved the rosemary called 'Spice Island' into the smaller container.  'Spice Island' is a more upright rosemary.  I think we did pretty well.  Never have enough room inside for herbs!  These two will be in the garage for the winter.  Southern exposure and unheated space will give the rosemarys the right mix to get through the winter.  We had a beautiful day here in the 'Burgh.  Worked out in the herb garden tidying things up.  More about that tomorrow.  Hope you had a great day wherever you may be!  Talk to you later.

An Anniversary Surprise When We Got Home!

These lovelies were sitting at our back door when we got home last Monday!  They were delivered on Friday afternoon once we left for the east!  I think they survived a couple of cold nights and warm days because they were up against the house.  No, there are not from The Herbal Husband!  We have friends in Montevideo, Uruguay who send us flowers on our anniversary most every year!  Thanks to Mario, Judith and Daniel for the lovely flowers and thoughts!  Jam packed with Asiatic lilies and roses!  Adds a festive touch to our dining experiences.  Hope you had a great day wherever you may be!  We were out with the leaves and getting that last transplant into a pot.  Will share the experience tomorrow!  Talk to you later!  Got to go start dinner!

The immune system

Seen within the context of ecology, both human and environmental, immunity is about HARMONY and not resistance, a dynamic dance with the environment and not simply a series of barriers to it. 

- David Hoffman

In the last Anatomy and Physiology section we looked at the lymph system. The lymphatic system is part of the greater immune system function, so please review that section before heading into this article on the immune system. 

The western medical system has divided the body into different mechanical systems. We can learn the specifics of the digestive system or the specifics of the cardiovascular system using this model. 

However, in real life, it is impossible to truly separate the body into different mechanical parts because it is innately connected. One aspect of the body influences the other through an intricate web that results in our total body. 

The immune system is no exception and it is actually a rebel within the western model of understanding because it does not have a specific set of organs and, instead, is a variety of biological structures. 

Our immune system is the way we protect ourselves against pathogens and tumor cells.   It is a set of biological structures and processes that can detect a wide variety of invading microorganisms from viruses to bacteria to parasites. 

In order to do this, the organism must recognize the difference between self and non-self. This is a complex system that must continually evolve as pathogens are continually evolving as well. 

Disease can occur when the immune system is under-active or over-active. Immunodeficiency, or an under-active immune system, can result in frequent infections like seasonal colds or the flu. We are constantly in contact with a wide variety of bacteria and viruses that can cause infection. The strength of our immune system makes the difference in those people who are sick all the time and those who seldom become ill. 

A hyperactive immune system can also lead to ill-health. Auto-immune diseases such as  lupus and rheumatoid arthritis are the results of an immune system that no longer recognizes the difference between self and non-self. Sometimes this is seen as an overactive immune system. 

Types of immunity

One form of immunity is called nonspecific resistance. It protects the body from all pathogens and other foreign substances by using the following four methods:

Mechanical barriers

This includes the skin and the mucous membranes. 

The skin prevents pathogens from entering the body both because the pH of the skin can kill some bacteria and also because the epidermis of the skin has closely packed cells preventing entry. 

The mucous membranes do not have the advantage of the closely packed cells like the skin, but it does produce mucous that can engulf microorganisms. Most mucous produced in the upper respiratory system is swallowed and, upon entering the stomach, the acids present destroy the pathogens. 

Other mechanical barriers in the non-specific immunity response include fluids that flush the system. This involves saliva, tears, and urine. 

Chemical actions

Chemical actions in the body are another type of immunity that can disrupt pathogens from reproducing. 

Some examples of these include the enzyme lysozyme, which destroys bacteria. It is found in tears, saliva, mucous, and perspiration. Pepsin is a chemical found in the stomach that stops foreign microorganisms from replicating. The chemical interferon stimulates healthy cells to inhibit viral replication within cells. 

Phagocytosis

Phagocytosis is an immune response that includes the engulfing and destruction of micro organisms as well as damaged or old cells and other cellular debris. Phagocytosis is a process carried out by macrophage cells. 

Macrophage literally means “big eaters.” Besides phagocytosis, macrophage cells can also alert the immune system that pathogens have entered the body. 

Some herbs like Echinacea spp. and Boneset (Euporium perfoliatum) can stimulate phagocytosis. 

Inflammation

Inflammation is a localized immune response that inhibits infections and promotes healing. 

It is easy for us to think that inflammation is “bad” since it is characterized by pain, redness, heat, and swelling. However, inflammation is an important part of the immune system. 

At the beginning of the inflammatory process chemicals are released to dilate blood vessels, thus creating more blood flow to an area. Increased blood flow causes redness and heat. The inflammatory process also increases the permeability of the capillaries and this increase in fluid movement creates swelling. 

Pain can result if there is an infection present from the swelling or from irritation of nerve endings. 

Through the process of inflammation white blood cells become attracted to the area to inhibit infection. Macrophages come in to phagocytize bacteria. All of this extra cell activity - white blood cells, macrophages, and dead bacterial cells - may form a thick white to yellow liquid called pus. 

The inflammatory process inhibits infection and then promotes healing by stimulating cell division to repair any damage. 

Fever

A fever is another important immune system response that often gets a bad rap. Pathogens are killed at certain temperatures. A fever then raises the body’s temperature in order to make the environment less hospitable to the invading microorganism. Not only does this inhibit the growth of pathogens, it also increases immune system function. 

Mechanical barriers, chemical barriers, phagocytosis, inflammation, and fevers are all methods of the non-specific immune system response. Next we will discuss specific resistance. 

Specific resistance 

The immune system can also have a specific resistance to an organism. This is the production of specific cells to attack a specific invader. These cells create a memory of the specific pathogen and if it is encountered again the response is quicker and stronger. This is why people often only get chicken pox one time. After the initial infection the immune system is able to take care of the chicken pox virus before it can cause another systemic infection. 

Lymphocytes are an important part of specific immunity response. Lymphocytes are white blood cells. Larger lymphocytes are called Natural Killer cells while smaller ones are T Cells and B cells. They are created in the bone marrow but must mature and become specialized before they are a part of the immune system function. T cells go to the thymus gland to become specialized. It is currently unknown where B cells become specialized. 

All cells have antigens that are surface recognition molecules. After a lymphocyte goes through the specialization process it is able to recognize “self” cells from foreign cells. So it knows to attack cancer cells or viral cells and to not attack self cells. 

Organ transplants have to inhibit lymphocyte activity; otherwise the body will attack the new organ. This is why people with organ transplants will take pills to inhibit their immune system for the rest of their life. 

There are two types of specific resistance: cell-mediated immunity and antibody mediated immunity. 

Cell-mediated immunity

T lymphocytes target specific foreign cells to attack. They remember the antigens of these cells in case they should appear again. When specific T cells (Th cells) bind to antigens they release cytokine chemicals. These chemicals attract immune system cells to the site and increase phagocytosis. Further, they stimulate cell division and the immune response from activated B and T cells.

As T cells increase and the pathogen in the body decreases the immune system slows down. 

A cytokine storm is an exaggerated immune system response that can be fatal. 

Antibody-mediated immunity

In antibody mediated immunity B and helper T cells bind to pathogen cells in order to tag them for other cells to destroy. This process inhibits extracellular pathogens. 

This works because cells in the body recognize foreign antigens. Once recognized B cells bind to the antigen, starting the antibody mediated immunity. Plasma cells in the body produce specific antibodies to the antigens. They then circulate throughout the body looking for these antigens. Once they find them they bind to the non-self antigens, which are then destroyed by phagocytosis. If the same antigen re-enters the body at some time in the future then B memory cells act more quickly and more strongly to stop the antigen. 

For an unknown reason people can generate antibodies to foods such as gluten, dairy, soy, seafood, corn, and more. When someone has these antibodies they can no longer eat these foods without creating an immune system response. Overtime, these responses can lead to excessive inflammation and are suspected as a key culprit in many autoimmune disorders. 

Immune responses

The first time an antigen is encountered the immune system launches its primary immune response. B and T cells are stimulated to produce clones that attack and destroy the non-self antigens. This particular antigen is filed away in memory B cells. 

If that same antigen should enter the body again a secondary immune response is activated. This time the attack on the antigen is fiercer to more quickly eliminate it. The concentration of antibody in the secondary immune system response is much higher than in the primary immune response. A secondary immune response is stimulated every time that antigen enters the body. 

Again, this is why people tend to only get chicken pox once. When the body comes into contact with it again, it launches a secondary immune system response that quickly inhibits the virus before it becomes a full blown illness. 

Immunity Types

Here is an overview and explanation of different immunity types. 

Immunity Type	Mechanism	How it works
Naturally acquired active immunity	Infection like the chicken pox	A person becomes ill as a result of the pathogens. The immune system is activated into a primary system response and the memory of the infection is stored away. If the pathogen ever enters the body again, the immune system launches a secondary response that is stronger than the first and prevents infection.
Artificially  acquired active immunity	Vaccinations	An injection of a weakened pathogen or some variation of their pathogens are given to a person and an immune response happens without the person becoming overtly ill.
Artificially acquired passive immunity	An injection of antibodies or antitoxins against an antigen	Immunity is acquired in the short term. Booster shots are needed. Tetanus is a common example.
Naturally acquired passive immunity	Antibodies the child receives from the mother either through breast milk or in utero	Short term immunity is passed onto the baby without creating an overt illness.

Ways to Support Your Immune System

Maintain healthy digestion

Research is now showing that the majority of our immune system lies within our gut! Having chronic digestive problems such as constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, and dyspepsia could all lead to immune system dysfunction. 

One manifestation of this is what is called Leaky Gut Syndrome. The intestinal walls not only absorb nutrients from food but also act as a barrier to keep food particles out of the blood stream. If the intestinal villi become damaged (through food intolerance, excessive alcohol, NSAIDs, antibiotics, etc) then food particles can move into the blood stream. This can set off an immune response and is thought by many to be the cause of  some auto-immune diseases. 

Gastrointestinal: Leaky gut, molecular mimicry, microchimerism, and autoimmunity, by Paul Bergner

Gut Health a Question of Balance a short article relating why gut health is an important part of immune system function

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is being heralded as the nutritional breakthrough of the 21st century. We now know that the majority of modern people are very deficient in vitamin D. We also know that vitamin D plays an extremely important role in many of our systemic functions and notably in our immune system. Vitamin D is made when our skin comes in contact with direct sunlight. For those of us in the norther latitudes this is only possible during late spring to early fall. Unless we are able to add extraordinary amounts of liver to our diets, supplementation is often necessary. 

I encourage all of my clients to get their vitamin D levels checked. Once you know your particular levels you can supplement accordingly. 

I also encourage people to get appropriate sun exposure. This is 15-20 minutes of noontime sun with a lot of skin showing. If you have fair skin you might need to work up to this amount. Burning from sun exposure is harmful, but regular short term sun exposure is not. 

The Vitamin D Council is a good source of information. 

Dr. Mercola has a great vitamin D resource list.  

Avoid Sugar

Even small amounts of sugar have detrimental effects on your immune system. Researchers say that as little as 8 teaspoons can decrease immune system function by 50% for five hours. 

Eat Well

It can’t be said enough that eating good food leads to good health. But what is good food? It is my belief that one person’s healthy food is another person’s poison. I really like the book Metabolic Typing by William Wolcott. Instead of giving a diet dogma about what is the right food to eat, it teaches people how to recognize when foods are working for them and when they aren’t. Do you feel hungry all the time? Do you often get bloated? Do you have chronic constipation or diarrhea? Then it’s quite possible that you aren’t eating the right foods for you. 

Get appropriate amounts of sleep

If you are consistently not getting enough sleep I would encourage you to examine your life to figure out how this can be changed. Sleep is crucial to our healing process. Long term sleep debt can lead to a host of serious diseases and even general unwellness. If you sleep many hours but wake up feeling unrested then seek help to get this issue figured out. If you have insomnia, then seek help to get this figured out. In my mind there is no excuse for chronic sleep depravations as this is one of the core needs of your body to function in a healthy manner. 

Maintain a healthy relationship to stress

We all have stress and it is a part of life. Stress doesn’t even have to be a bad part of life when it is experienced normally. If you have excessive stress in your life then you know it. Again, I encourage you to reexamine ways to reduce stress. If small things stress you out you may consider looking into a herbal regimen of adaptogens to help you create a better resiliency to stress. 

Be Joyful

Western medicine is proving over and over again that our happiness directly affects our immune system. But we didn’t need to be told that, did we? 

Immune System

 A Brief Overview Of The Biological Immune System by David Hoffman

The Immune System And Its Specific Problems by David Hoffman

Christopher Hobbs gives an Immune System Overview

A General Approach to Infection by David Hoffman

A Phyto-Therapeutic Approach To The Immune System by David Hoffman

Immunity, Holism And Phyto-Therapy by David Hoffman

Immuno-Stimulation, Immuno-Modulation Or What? by David Hoffman

Epigenetics: How We Influence Cell Signaling and Cell Health by Suzanne Sky

Immune Health, H1N1, and Cold and Flu Prevention by Suzanne Sky

Allergies

In-depth overview by Chanchal Cabrera

Angie Goodloe discusses Immediate food allergy reactions and food sensitivities

Quick overview of allergies by Henriette Kress

Allergic Reactions a pdf by 7song

An Herbalist’s View of Immunity and Lymph by 7song

Paul Bergner has an excerpt from his fabulous book, The Healing Power of Echinacea and Goldenseal, that discusses several lymphatic herbs. Besides reading this short excerpt I also highly recommend this book. Besides giving an incredible in-depth view on two very important western herbs, it is also has a really thorough description of the immune system and how it functions. 

Infections and Illnesses

There is also a long listing of articles specific to infection and illnesses that can be found on jim mcdonald’s fabulous website, Herbcraft.org 

Works Consulted

The anatomy and physiology in this article was extracted mainly from The Principles of Anatomy & Physiology, Tortora, Grabowski. I also used Anatomy and Physiology by Stanley E. Gunstream 4^th ed. 

The second half of this article giving us an herbal perspective on the nervous system would not have been possible without jim mcdonald’s Article Index. Thanks a thousand times to jim for putting this together.