Category Archives: Holistic Medicine

Chai Elixer

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Since I have been remiss (is that how you spell it?) in my Herb Review duties, I have decided to publish a recipe for a Hot Chai Elixer! I am lovin’ this stuff! (It’s from Teresa Boardwine’s Cordially Yours:
2 cups of fresh ginger root
1/2 cup of cinnamon chips
1/4 cup of cloves
2 Tbsp. Cardamom pods
Place all of this in 20 oz. of Rum (I like Spiced Rum), and let sit for 2 weeks, shaking daily.

After 2 weeks, strain out the herbs and add 4 oz of Honey and 4 oz of Maple Syrup. Mix well, bottle it and add a couple of Almonds to the bottle to scent it.

You can drink it straight, heated up like a hot totty, put in in tea, or coffee, or how I like it is to heat up a cup of milk (rice, soy, cow, whatever) and put in a tsp. or two of the chai elixer. MMMMmmmm, Yummy!! It’s great for bitter, cold winter days!

Ideas please!

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OK, guys and gals! I have to come up with an idea for a 1000 word (minimum) paper by next week. It has to be related to herbs. I am having a mental block. I can’t think of anything to write about. The paper has the chance of being published, too, so I want it to be a good, interesting topic. Please, feel free to throw out any ideas that pop into your head!!!

Me… a professor… kind of…

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Well, after this weekend at the herb conference, so much has happened. First, I brought some of my products to one of the natural food stores here, Greenlife, and they are interested in some of my stuff. Yay! After my meeting at Greenlife, I went to another meeting with some other area herbalists. The North Carolina Chapter of the American Herbalist Guild has just been started here and I am now an official member. It’s very exciting! The conference this weekend really helped me see what an amazing area this is for herbalism. I am very lucky to be here in the middle of this ‘herbal revolution’! Then, just today, I got a call from the directer of the Southeast School for Herbal Healing and was asked to become a teacher with them!! I am extremely excited!!! Of course, being me, I am also very intimidated, it gives me heart palpitations 🙂 Well, my first classes will be on herb/drug interactions and running an herb business (this will be for the 2nd year students). Then in the spring, I will be teaching some basic courses (materia medica, medicine making…) to the first year students. Cool eh!! She (the director) and I met this weekend at the conference, but I am going out to the school next week for an official tour and stuff. AND, as if that weren’t enough. I just found out about this fantastic course (distance ed.) that Aviva Romm (very well known herbalist!) is teaching in which I could get certified as a Women’s Herbal Educator. I emailed her about it and she said I would “make a wonderful student”. So, I will probably start the course this fall (if I can find the funds!)! It will be a great refresher of basics, as well as lots of advanced herbalism that I need. The only thing that is lacking is actual clinical experience, which I hope to get with one of the local school this coming spring! WOW! I am feeling very blessed and a little overwhelmed. Now… when am I supposed to start homeschooling???

SE

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I just spent the past three days at the first annual South East Women’s Herbal Conference and I had a blast!! There were classes Friday, Saturday and Sunday about anything you can think of related to herbs! It was held at Camp Merri-mac, which is a beautiful camp set in woods ~15 minutes from Asheville. Susun Weed was the Keynote speaker, but I wasn’t as impressed with her as I was some of the other herbalist/speakers. I mean, she is very vibrant and fun to watch, but I could see all these people just drinking in what she was saying without even questioning it, just because she is Susun Weed, Goddess Herbalist. Like, ok, she talked about being a Wise Woman herbalist, and claims to have ‘discovered’ this tradition. Um, no, there have been shaman and granny herbalists for thousands of years! I am truly happy that she is helping to give herbalists a name and all, but she is not the founder of the wise-woman tradition. She says that being a wise woman is all about being flexible, being able to adapt to the situation, use your intuition and that there is no set of hard and fast rules. Yet, then she totally contradicted herself by saying that flower essences and essential oils are crap and should never be used by a good herbalist. (wait… isn’t that a rule??) Anyway, her talk was enjoyable for the most part. She is known for being a very wise herbalist but also a hard ass, and I could see both of those as she spoke. But, I did enjoy the talk.

I also went to talks by a local herbalist friend of mine, Lauren Connell, about Flower Essences, and a local midwife who discussed homeopathics. Then I heard talks on Menopause, the Endocrine System, and Winter Immune Strenthening given by Kathleen Maier, who is a very knowledgable herbalist and fantastic speaker! The highlight of the weekend, though, had to be the talks given by Sheri Winston, a reknowned “Certified Pussy Professional” and “Pelvic Priestess”. I took the class on Vaginal Ecology and the one called “Maps of the Clitoris” and I have to say they were awesome! Not only is she a very vibrant speaker, but it was just in-your-face stuff that we all should have been taught about ourselves when we got our first periods!

The food was fabulous (I think I gained a few pounds!). Friday night, there was a girls band called the Buckarettes, and Sat. night was Baraka Mundi a belly dancing troupe. I camped out and spent the whole weekend there, which was wonderful! It was also very hard, cause I missed K a lot! But, she and Toby did just fine and had some good bonding time!

Wild ride!

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I have to say, I am kind of glad that this weekend is almost over and maybe we can start fresh tomorrow. Aside from the house coming out of contract (they just decided they didn’t want it anymore!!) Toby started having trouble breathing and had to go to the ER. Turns out he has costochondritis, inflammation of the joints in between the ribs and the sternum. It’s usually caused by stressing that area too much. (We think this may have happened in the move). It’s like throwing out your back, except it’s your front. I’ve got him on all kinds of herbs for inflammation and pain, and he is taking prescriptions if needed. Poor thing! In the middle of it all, K and I are full of snot with a nice cool weather change cold. But, on the bright side of it all, K has decided (at barely 27 months of age) that she will no longer wear diapers. She has been in her “big girl panties” for the past week, including at night, and hasn’t had an accident! I am floored! I thought she would be at least 3 before this happened!! She’s so awesome! Today, when I was putting her to sleep she said “mama, K has a little butt, and mommy and daddy have big butts”. How true!

OK, I’m off to bed to recuperate!

Oh, here are a few pictures of our evening play. We are taking all the kernels off of the indian corn and are going to make them into necklaces in celebration of the equinox next week. You just soak them in water for a few hours and then thread a string through them. Then, when you have the right length necklace, you lay them out to dry. and Voila!



Full Circle Herbs T-Shirts

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So, I am working on getting some t-shirts printed up and I think they are going to be really cool. The front pocket will have my logo:

And the back will have the “History of Medicine” on it:

I am working with TS Designs, an environmentally friendly printer. They use a process called Rehance, that uses water based chemistry to dye the shirts instead of plastisols and phthalates. They will also print the shirts on organic cotton (natural color probably). The left sleeve will also have this logo on it to show that there was no sweatshop labor, plastics, pesticides or resins used in making the shirt, and that they are made with organic cotton. Cool, eh??

So, who wants one?? I’m not sure on the final price, ’cause I haven’t gotten final pricing from them yet. But, they will definitely be no more that $20. So, if you are interested, let me know what size you want so I can make sure to get enough printed. I will probably just start with the basic short sleeved t-shirt style, but I am going to have to get a few for kids and infants too!!

Oh, and the design isn’t set in stone. So, if you have any suggestions, let me know.

Class and Bees

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Well, I gave my 20 minute herb talk for 26 eight to ten year olds today and it went fantastic! (I painted a big flower on my face and put glitter on the flower and on my eyes and cheeks.) These kids were so much more interested than the little kids. I think it made a big difference that they are of reading age! I also changed the format so we talked about Harry Potter and Mandrake (although the plant we actually looked at was the American Mandrake, which is a totally different species, but talking about Harry Potter got their attention), we also talked about plantain for beestings, horsetail, chamomile, using plants to make paper and soaps (with lots of examples to touch and smell). Before I knew it, our time was up. Kids these days are so into buying things that they all brought money so that they could buy stuff from the “farm gift shop” 🙂 !!! Do you know of any working farms with gift shops?? Well, maybe next time I will cut up some soap for them to take home.

As far as the bees, I have been doing mite counts every week to make sure that my hive is carrying along ok. Their last treatment of Sucrocide was in April and since then, the only other thing I have been doing is adding “Honey B Healthy” and Bergamot Essential oil to their sugar syrup (and their last feeding was 2 weeks ago). The mite count has remained stable at ~20-25 mites falling off the bees in a 24 hour period. This is still fairly high. But this morning, the mite count was 7!! YAY!! Looks like the little ladies are doing well!

Kids herb class

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So, I am going to be helping my farm friend with another kids class on herbs. This one will be for 8 to 10 year olds. As many of them have probably read Harry Potter, I am going to mention Mandrake/American Mayapple (and Professor Sprout and stuff) to try to get them excited about herbs. I will also talk about Chamomile and how Peter Rabbit drinks some Chamomile tea to calm down after being chased around the garden. Any other thoughts on ways to relate herbs to pre-teens??

Happy

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Just a little tidbit that I thought you might like to know… According to the May 2 Newsweek, if stay-at-home moms were compensated for all the hours they work, their net would be $131,471/year!! It’s nice to know I’m worth 6 figures… now where are my benefits??

What did I get for mother’s day?? Breakfast in bed, time to garden, laundry done, litterbox emptied…!!! And, a sting on my head from one of our bees. To be fair, it was really my fault! I was watching the bees fly around the hives and had just gotten out of the shower, so my hair was loosley bunched up on my head. One of them landed on my head and got caught in my hair. Of course, the more she tried to get out the deeper stuck she got. So, she finally stung me on the head. Well, at least I know I’m not allergic to honey bees. After Toby sifted through my hair to get the stinger out, I headed to the back yard for some plantain. The Herb Of The Week! 🙂 I chewed some up to get it good and macerated and then put it on the sting. Soon, the pain was gone and there is no swelling at all! So, aside from imagining this stinger burrowing deeper and deeper into my head and poisoning my brain with stinger juice, it really wasn’t a bad experience!

Feeding the hungry

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I went to visit the Crazy Tomato Lady for our weekly toddler playdate and after looking at her lettuce, kale and greens I realized that mine are very stunted! They look pretty much the same as they did when I put them in the ground a little over a month ago. So, I went home and sprinkled on some cottonseed meal (for nitrogen) and some liquid mineral fertalizer. I hope that will do the trick. Does anyone know how long it will be before I see results, or what else I should add if I don’t see any results? The under leaves have started turning yellowish and there is very little growth. That’s why my initial reaction was to add nitrogen.

On another note, my business is picking up all of a sudden and it seems to have nothing to do with the Kiplinger’s article. I’ve gotten a emails from people I don’t know wanting to carry my products in their stores, Earthfare is thinking about carrying my products, and tomorrow I have a meeting at our local co-op to figure out which of my products they will carry. I decided that it will make the meeting more memorable if I bring something yummy to munch on while we talk. So, today I made “Cleopatra’s Love Nuggets”, an herbal recipe from Botanica Erotica. It is not my plan to get them horny just to give them a taste of a really yummy herbal treat 🙂 They are delicious!!

    Cleopatra’s Love Nuggets

  • 1 cup of raw sesame tahini
  • 3/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 tsp each of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and aniseed
  • 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1-2 tsp. damiana cordial, vanilla extract, Amaretto, anisette, or rose water (I used a cordial that I made a few years ago that I call “Love Potion #9”)
  • Some optional additions: 1 Tbsp finely chopped mint, 1 Tbsp powdered nettle leaves, 1 drop peppermint essential oil, 2 tsp grated orange peel, 5 drops orange essential oil

In a medium bowl, stir together the tahini and honey. Add powdered herbs and flavorings and combine. Roll mixture into balls and then roll to coat. I divided the batter into thirds and added 5 drops of orange oil to one batch and rolled this in seseme seeds. To the second batch I added 2 drops of peppermint essential oil and rolled it in shredded coconut. To the third batch I added 2 drops of rose geranium essential oil and rolled this in cocoa. They are SOOOO yummy!! You should try it. It’s really simple and quick.

Testimonials

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I was just sent a review of one of my herbal products (B’s Balm), but it is in French. Can anyone translate?

—

J’ADORE!!!!!!
Je m’en doutais avant d’essayer mais l. vraiment c’est le pied. Le baume tient bien toute la journ?e, la peau du ventre ne tire plus, la poitrine est bien hydrat?e! M^me ma Lola de 2 ans se fait des massages de ventre avec!
En plus l’odeur me rappelle celle du petit d?j’ aux Etats Unis… les flocons d’avoine…
Le pot m’a dur? . peu pr?s 3/4 semaines en l’utilisant chaque matin. Du coup, j’en ai recommand? 3 pour stocker… 😉
—

I tried using Google’s Language Tools for translation, but this is what I got 🙂

—

I ADORE!!!!!! I suspected it before testing but there really it is the foot. The balsam holds well all the day, the skin of the belly does not draw more, the chest is well hydrated! M^me my Lola 2 years is made massages of belly with! In more the odor that of small the d?j’ in the United States recalls me… the rolled oats… The pot lasted me about 3/4 weeks by using it each morning. Blow, I recommended 3 of them to store…;)
—

I don’t think that is what she meant 🙂 🙂

Lavender – The Ultimate Plant!

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I love all my herbs, but I have to admit that lavender is probably my all time favorite. I first ‘met’ lavender when I was studying midwifery in Ireland 9 years ago. I was staying in the nurses quarters in a room about 5′ x 8′ and wanted something to liven up the room. So, I went to the corner store and got some Lavender Essential Oil (all the little stores had essential oil displays at the check out counter). It smelled nice, but I had never used it before. So, every evening I would light my infuser, put in a few drops of lavender, and relax into dreamland. Since then, I have learned so much more about lavender and it is rare that I ever go any where without it. The plant is in my garden, I use the flowers in so many herbal recipes, and I have a bottle of the essential oil in almost every room. So, what’s it good for? Everything! No, really!! It can be used for sore throats, gas, colic, restlessness, headaches, fever, acne, insomnia, healing sores and burns, antibacterial, massage, in food preparation, the list just goes on and on. Why do I mention lavender today? Well, I was cooking my first real meal off my fast, a delicious rice/bean/veggie stew and got what I thought was going to be a pretty bad steam burn across my hand and fingers. But, I grabbed my bottle of lavender essential oil, which I keep right over the stove, and rubbed some oil into my hand. Immediate relief! I can still see where the burn was, it’s a little red, but no blisters or swelling! It’s amazing! You should all get some! Especially if you have children in the house!

So, I’m back on regular foods. I’m having to really hold myself back and not eat everything in site, just for the taste! But, I feel great! I’ve noticed that the tendonitis in my wrists is gone! I don’t know yet about the allergies or asthma. We’ll see as time goes on. Mary asked me if I would do it again. Probably. Now that it is over, it’s easy to say that. But, really, I do feel good and doing this once a year for a spring cleanse would be a good way to get rid of the winter blahs and prepare my body for spring.

Cleanse Prep Day 1

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Ok, I’m not even fasting yet and I am starving! I keep walking in to the kitchen and looking at the bread and cheese and yogurt and thinking “just one little bite” 🙂 I love eating fruits and veggies, but my system is so use to more than that. This morning when I was fixing K’s breakfast, I kept wanting to toss pieces in my mouth. I’m so use to eating my food and part of her’s. It’s amazing how I have gotten into such a food routine! (With having a child and through my whole like, always munching) I’m surprised that I don’t actually have a more significant weight problem. Hmmm…

Off for the weekend, I’ll touch base soon. OH, and I may be able to pick up our bees on the way home from Earthaven!! Pictures coming soon…

Cleansing

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OK, well it looks like the weaning is official. K woke up this morning and didn’t even mention nursing. My little girl is all grown up! So, I decided to start the cleanse tomorrow. I will try to post each day how things are going and what I am doing. I will be gone this weekend to Earthaven for a little time away, and won’t have a computer. But, I will post when I get back.

Why am I doing a cleanse? A bunch of reasons: all the daily pollutants I encounter that my liver has had to deal with processing over the years, feeling sluggish after being indoors all winter, desire to lose those last pregnancy pounds, decrease my allergies and asthma, break the cycle of overeating due to needing more calories while nursing (and really enjoying food), and I’m sure there are more reasons I am just not thinking of right now.

So, here is the schedule:

Preparation Days

  • for three days before beginning the cleanse, drop all spicy foods, cheese/dairy, fatty/greasy foods, all meat, sugar, caffeine, alcohol and salt. (Basially you are eating fresh fruits and veggies, raw salads, boiled/steamed veggies, and whole foods)
  • Drink at least 10 glasses of water/herb teas per day
  • Make a pact with yourself to see it through the cleanse
  • Confirm why you are doing it
    Cleansing Days

  • Begin every morning and end every day with a 10 oz cup of laxative tea. I am using Get Regular by Yogi Tea. It’s a good formula. Since you won’t have any fiber in your diet, this will help your bowels move the toxins out of your body.
  • Throughout the day drink 6-12 10oz cups of cleansing lemon/limeade. (If you are trying to take off a little weight, drink 6-8 cups.)
  • Lemon/Limeade Recipe (Here is the recipe per cup and per 6 cups or half gallon)
    Organic Lemon or Lime Juice – 2 Tbsps(/cup) 3/4 cup (for a half gallon)
    Grade B Organic Mapple Syrup – 2 Tbsps(/cup) 3/4 cup (for a half gallon)
    Cayenne – 1/10 tsp(/cup) 1/2 tsp (or a little more for a half gallon)
    Water – 10 oz or 1/2 gallon (or 6- 10oz cups)

Lemons and limes are very rich in minerals and vitamins. Maple Syrup is a balanced form of sugar and shouldn’t make your blood sugar bounce. It is also rich in vitamins and minerals and will help give you energy (grade B is richer in vitamins and minerals than the other forms). Cayenne helps pull out the mucous and toxin build up in the body. Water helps keep the toxins flowing out.

  • During the day I will also drink lots of water and herb teas (without any sweetener). I also plan to use the following cleansing formula: 1 tsp each of Flax Seed, Fennel Seed, Fenugreek Seed gently simmered for ~15 minutes in 2 cups of water. Take off heat and add 1 tsp of Spearmint.
  • Before bed, I will also take 60 drops of Milk Thistle Tincture to help my liver cleanse

I’m not sure yet how long I will do this. Maybe 7-10 days. We have a big anniversary party weekend coming up the 22-24th. So, I don’t want to be fasting then. But, I could be coming off of my fast. That way, I can join in on the eating, but only good, healthy foods. Also, each day of this whole process I will either take a nice fast walk, or go to the gym.

Breaking The Cleanse

  • Day 1 – Freshly squeezed organic Orange Juice all day! This helps prepare the digestive system to begin assimilating food
  • Day 2 – Breakfast – OJ, after that I will add freshly juiced veggies and maybe a gently veggie soup
  • Day 3 – Breakfast – OJ, then raw fruits and veggies and soups
  • Day 4 – Normal (healthy) meals

So, now, what to do with that bag of chocolate chips in the cabinet. I don’t want to be tempted during the cleanse. I’d better go eat them!!

Drinking my own urine!

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* Many years ago I heard about Urine Therapy and was pretty grossed out. Why would you drink your own urine if your body is trying to get rid of it and the toxins it carries. But, the more I read about it, the more it makes sense! If your urine carries some of the toxins that your body is battling with, why not use your urine, in small doses, to homeopathically remedy yourself? I think I will try it and see if I can’t get rid of my asthma, or allergies. In fact, while I’m at it, maybe I’ll try a little of my feces too! Hell, why not go for the gusto!

*This post is dedicated to my mother, whom I love dearly. But, who openly, and sometimes with a bit of a hand-on-the-hip-finger-shaking air about her, disagrees with some of the decisions I make in my life/lifestyle and forgets sometimes that I am a big girl who does a lot of thinking/meditating/researching of issues before making decisions. And though she has said she is not going to read my blog anymore, “Hi Mom! No, I will not use shampoo on my hair! I can still get it clean and healthy without shampoo. If I die from lack of ‘shampoo hygeine’, you can stand over my grave and say ‘I told you so’ as loud as you like!” Oh, and don’t worry, I still think Urine therapy is gross and I certainly don’t intend on eating my poo. Just thought I would ruffle moms feathers a little 🙂

She’s a mean one, Mrs. Grinch

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So, I decided to play the grinch today. We (Toby, K and I) are supposed to go back to Asheville on the 10th for Toby’s Office Holiday party, and then back to Asheville again 2 weeks later for Christmas. I told Toby today that I would travel for one of those weekends but not both…and that means K would only be traveling for one too. Here’s why…of the past 4 weeks, we have traveled 3 of them (to NY for the Marathon and to Asheville, twice), with, let me emphasize, the 17 month old. During this time, we have had to find someone (and it was a different person every time, poor animals) to watch the animals, the house has become a complete wreck, and none of the stuff that we were supposed to have done before winter has gotten done. We still have 75 trees to take down in the front before our house can get any solar heat, I still have to sew up the insulating curtains, and let’s not forget about Christmas cards!!! I know, bitch and moan, but I decided that I have had enough. I almost popped yesterday (that’s popped, not pooped!) after tripping over the stroller, in the middle of the living room. So, since I am a little tightly wound (is that how you spell it?), I decided not to go to Asheville on the 10th. And since I don’t want to wean K yet. Toby will make the trip by himself and I will have the house, and K, to myself. At first glance, you might think it is harder to have to take care of K by myself, but I actually think it is easier. Because we don’t have to worry about anyone else’s schedule, or clean up after anyone else…I’m not saying that Toby is a needy pig, but you now what I mean, it’s just easier by yourself, even with a toddler in tow. So, once next week is over and school is done, maybe I will have some time to put my feet up and chill…I hope so!

On a happier note, I talked with my mother tonight and she said that the Herbal Ulcer Syrup that I made for her has her feeling 95% better! It’s always so good to hear when things work well. Even though I know what these herbs are supposed to do, it’s nice to hear good feedback.

Winter Medicine Making

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Every Fall, I try to prepare for the cold and flu season by making some herbal remedies to help get me through the winter. I always make some Elderberry syrup and maybe a garlic tonic…things to nip a cold in the bud. This year, I thought I would invite some people over to share in the fun of making medicines. So, I had a small group of people at my house today for a winter herbal medicine making class. It was a blast! We made a huge batch of Elderberry syrup, some nutritional vinegars, and some herbal cough drops. They all turned out very yummy! Here are the recipes we used if you are interested in trying them out.

Smelling the Elderberries cookingLaura smelling the cooking Elderberries.Straining the elderberriesRachel straining the Elderberries.Stirring the cough drop teaAndrea stirring the cough drop tea and supporting her back (She’s due anyday! :-))nutritional vinegarsThe nutritional vinegars with Astragalus, Ginseng, Shitake mushrooms, and Umboshi plums.