Here’s my Suki. She’s a long-coated Akita. Isn’t she a cutie? I know she looks gigantic, but she is only 65 pounds, and lots of fur!
Monthly Archives: March 2006
canine hip dysplasia
Have any of you worked supportively with hip dysplasia? Suki is probably ~6 years old and seems to be a little tender to the touch in her hips. She still moves around like a puppy, but if I would like to nip this thing in the bud and give her some good joint support in case she is developing dysplasia. I am thinking… similar herbs to those I would use with arthritis… anti inflammatoris, anti oxidents, fish oils, glucosamine chondroitin… what else?
Weekly Herb Review #16-Saw Palmetto
Common Names: Saw Palmetto (Sabal Palm, a?the plant cathetera )
Scientific Name: Serenoa repens (syn. Serenoa serulata, Sabal serrulata)
Family: Arecacea (Palmaceae)
Weekly Herb Review #15-Pumpkin Seed
Common Names: Pumpkin, Pepitas
Scientific Name: Curcubita pepo, C. maxima, C. mixta (Cucurbita comes from the Latin word meaning a?gourda )
Family: Cucurbitaceae a the gourd family, which includes cantaloupe, cucumber, and squash.
Weekly Herb Review #14-Yellow Dock
Common Names: Yellow Dock (AKA Curly Dock, Narrow Dock, Sour Dock)
Scientific Name: Rumex crispus (Rumex meaning a?lancea and Crispus meaning a?curleda or a?crispa )
Ooops
I had a little glitch in my blog and lots the last post and a few others from mid-Feb. Sorry about that. All the more reason I should keep my journal on paper!
I think I am going to print out a bunch of K’s pictures and make a physical photo album just incase we have another glitch and lose those! That would be tragic!!
Yay for spring!
Ok, so it may be lightly snowing outside, but it is the first day of Spring today! So, Happy Spring!
K and I spent the morning coloring eggs, eating eggs, and talking egg talk 
I am impressed with the colors that we got. We used Turmeric for the yellow, grape juice concentrate for the purples and blues, spinach and parsley for the really light greens and a mix of other things for the inbetween colors.
Yesterday I harvested a bunch of Chickweed from my bro-in-laws land and made some chickweed pesto and yummy green drinks. Tonight, we will have pesto and pasta and probably some eggs! I also picked up some chocolate eggs this morning, so when T gets home we will hide some for K to find. Our own little tribute to the rebirth of Spring!
Here is the recipe for the absolutely, splendidly, scrumptiously, yummy Chickweed Pesto:
- Place 4 cloves garlic and a handful of walnuts in a blender and chop ‘em up
- Add some olive oil (~1/4 cup), feta or parmasean (~1/2 cup) and lots of chickweed(~3 cups), and blend until mixed well.
- Taste and see if there is anything missing and adjust to taste
You can use this as you would any other pesto, and it freezes well.
For the green drink, I put ~4 cups of apple juice in a blender and added a~1 cup of chickweed, 1/4cup of parsley and a handfull of blueberries and blended well. MMmmmmm. Yummy!!
Happy weekend!
Graduation was this past week and we had sooo much fun! All the students and some of the teachers had a camp out at this great house in the boonies. We stayed up until 3am, had a lazy morning cooking and playing (I brought my hoops and got almost everyone hooked, and there was a trampoline there too) and had a wonderful ceremony. One of our teachers (she specialized in energetic herbalism) conducted a hand-fasting for each student and a chosen plant. For the next year, we are to learn more about the plant we were hand-fasted to, in every way we can. She said that when she meditated on me, Rock Rose (Cistus ladaniferus) came to her. So, for the next year I will make this plant my ally. I’m excited, first because this is so cool, and second because I know nothing about this plant except that it is one of the main ingredients in the flower essence “Rescue Remedy“. I ordered the essential oil so that I can work with that too.
Here’s a picture of my class and some of the teachers. All of us but one are going on to level three (and that’s only because one student just had a baby and is taking some time off).
Some of you have asked about the school I go to…
There are three official herb schools, and many others that hold classes, in Western North Carolina. This area really attracts healers, so there are all kinds of alternative education programs around here. The school that I go to, and teach for, is the Mountain Spirit School of Herbalism (MSSH) (We just changed our name from the Southeast Center for Herbal Healing, so don’t get confused by the web page). I took my first classes in 1999 at the North Carolina School of Natural Healing, which was being run by another herbalist at the time. I went on to open Full Circle Herbs, but kept it very small. This past September, I met up with Mimi Middleton, who is the director at MSSH. She was one of the first graduating classes from Tai Sophia with her Masters in Herbal Medicine. (Tai Sophia is the only school in the US that is approved to give Master’s degrees in Herbal Medicine). Anyway, she is an amazing woman to talk with and a fantastic teacher. She asked me if I would be interested in teaching some basic classes for the school, but I didn’t feel confident or competent enough to teach. So, instead, I decided to take the Level 2 class that was about to start, and I am so glad I did. Though some of the stuff was review, most of it was absolutely amazing and educational and stimulating! So, now, I have decided to go on to level 3. This is the final level and I will begin seeing clients in the clinical setting as an herbalist. I’m really excited about this! I have seen clients before, but I have never had a course like this and I think it will be extremely helpful. My plan, when I am done, is to see clients part-time out on the land. I will have a small apothacary out there and a great big herb garden. I am also about to begin teaching for the school. The next level one course is beginning next week and I will be teaching a few classes. All of this is really amazing, especially since I never thought I would find a place as an herbalist when we moved back to Asheville.
Now, for those of you who could care less about herbs, and are only checking this blog to see how my Chia Heads are doing, well, here you go:
Check it out!!! The roots grew through the panty hose without a problem, but the little sprouts couldn’t. So, I had to do a little brain surgery and cut a hole in the top. I love how the hair style changes depending on the angle of the sun Kaia and I will probably plant them for the Equinox on Monday. We also plan to dye eggs and plant some flower seeds. What are you all planning for Ostara?
Purple, sparkly fairy dress
Last week, I promised K that I would make her a “purple, sparkly fairy dress” when she got over the chicken pox. So, yesterday, we went to the fabric store and she picked out what she wanted for her dress, and I spent the afternoon sewing. I have to say that I am very impressed with what resulted, ’cause I don’t know how to sew! I took the basic idea from another dress that K has and came up with this:
Isn’t that awesome!! If I thought I could even come close to repeating it, I would make one for myself too!! And K likes pockets, so I made two in the front for her:
And here are her wings in the back. They are held on by a button, so she can take them off if she doesn’t feel like flying:
This week is also graduation for my herb school! Then, in one month, I will start the clinical preceptorship and begin seeing clients. I have seen clients before, but taking an ‘official’ course makes me feel more confident in my skills and more qualified to teach other herb students. I will be teaching Male and Female Anatomy and Physiology, Respiratory A&P, and select herbs to go along with those to the first level students that are beginning school in two weeks!
Oh, and on the beekeeping front, both of our hives made it through the winter and seem to be holding strong! We hope to move them up to our new land soon so that they can take advantage of all the Tulip poplars out there during blooming season!
Oh (again), and the Chia heads are growing!!
pox and such
Well, I think we are over the rough part of chicken pox with K. She developed full blown symptoms last Thursday (fever and some small spots) and has had a rough weekend. But she is such a trooper! She loves taking her oatmeal baths and she helped me make a lotion to soothe her spots. She is even using visualization to help! (I told her to imagine a purple, sparkly sunshine just outside of her body and that when she takes a deep breath, the sunshine goes into her body and warms her up and helps her feel better. She was so cute… taking deep breaths and trying to concentrate on the purple sunshine.)
Here she is taking a little break on the couch:
Today, K helped me make some home-made chia pets. I don’t know how they will work, but it was fun anyway. We took old panty hose and put a layer of red clover seeds on the bottom. Then we stuffed it with seed starting soil and the end of a wick (I used some yarn since I didn’t have a real ‘wick’). Then, we tied up the ‘head’ and stiched on some buttons for eyes, nose and mouth. Then I dunked the whole thing in water and for a minute and placed it over a jar with water and am letting it sit in the window. I’ll let you know if it works. I think the hose may be to tightly woven and the seeds won’t be able to break through…
We also went up to the land this weekend. We had hoped to camp, but with K feeling under the weather, we decided against it. Still waiting on the Atty. to finish the paper work before we can close. Hopefully, next week.
Chicken Pox Stew
Well, in anticipation for K getting the Pox (no signs yet), I decided to make a ton of yummy, nutritious, immune supporting soup. I made ~ a gallon and put a bunch in the freezer. Here’s the recipe:
- Place 4 chicken legs (fat and skin removed) in ~ one gallon of water with 2 crushed garlic cloves and 2 green onions and simmer until the meat falls off the bones. (Crush the garlic 10 minutes before using it to activate the medicinal properites.)
- Take the bones out of the soup and leave the meat
- Add into the broth: 3 chopped red potatoes, one chopped burdock root, one shreaded turmeric root (~2 inches), and one cup of dry rice, and simmer for ~30 minutes
- Add ~10 sliced Shitake mushrooms, a handful of Wakame seaweed (dry), 2 handfuls of kale, 5 crushed cloves of garlic and 5 green onions, and simmer for another 15 minutes
- This soup is fairly bland, which is good if you are sick, but if you want more flavor, add Miso paste to taste. I add ~ 1 heaping Tbsp each time I heat up enough soup to feed the three of us. Once you heat the soup take it off the heat and strain off some liquid into a bowl. Add the Miso paste to this liquid and stir it well. Then add this miso fluid back to the main soup, mix and serve.
Yum Yum!!
SCORE!
A friend of ours clued us in to some free house stuff in a local warehouse. We just came back from there with our car loaded down with brand new tile and double paned windows (just the glass. We will still need to frame it, but still, it’s free!) There are ~50 more double paned glass panels left, we just didn’t have the room for them in the car. So, hopefully we can go back and get more!!
Oh, and this friend also has an almost new chicken coop to give us. It was at a house in the city limits and the neighbors complained about the chickens. So, now it’s ours. We just have to have a way to haul it to the land, and hope that JA’s (that stand for Jerk Asses! They are no longer Jerk Butts, I have upgraded them to official asses!) don’t destroy it. Maybe we will keep it off of the land until we get the steel gate up. I can’t wait to see them try to pull that thing down!