Free Medicinal Plant Walk Celebrate Earth Day with a calm amble to meet the medicinal weeds of spring in Brattleboro. We will discuss how to find them, medicinal uses, and safety concerns. Children are welcome. Sunday, April 22, 4-4:30 PM, Brattleboro location TBA Although this event is...
Solubility: The Basics Something is soluble if it dissolves in a particular liquid: picture stirring sugar into hot tea (soluble) versus cold water (not). Many plant compounds that we use for medicine have to dissolve in the water/alcohol/honey/oil/etc. for medicine to be a thing. Many plant constituents...
This thing happens kind of a lot when you live in a place with significant seasons: you harvest some wonderful medicine, enough to last you a while--maybe all year--but then you have to actually do something with it while it's still good, knowing you can't...
When all is right in the world, it’s easy to mess around with kitchen witching. That’s not the case when we can’t sleep, or the kid’s sick and screaming, or whatever the current herbal crisis happens to be. Over many years of drying herbs to...
I just found out that United Plant is giving us a grant to build an at-risk medicine trail in our botanical sanctuary! It will be along the trail to the classroom, so every student will get a close view of forest conservation in action. More...
Starting seeds is a cornerstone of my herbal practice, not to mention my sweet sideline as homestead queen. I highly recommend growing this skill, as it quintuples your access to strange and interesting plants. There is a great, wide, green world of herbs and flowers...
UPDATE: FIRE CIDER IS GENERIC! HERBALISTS WIN! Fire cider is a spicy, immune-boosting infused vinegar that is traditionally taken in the winter as a cold and flu remedy. The concept is old, but the name “fire cider” was made up by herbal pioneer Rosemary Gladstar in...
As the snow piles up and icicles grow from the eaves, tea becomes a central part of my life. Drinking a steaming, fragrant cup of last summer’s bounty in front of the woodstove on these long winter nights is a cold weather ritual that resonates...
Autumn is the season for bark harvest, one of the most fulfilling medicine making tasks. A walk through the woods on a crisp fall day followed by several hours in the sun as the days grow shorter and the world goes to sleep—it is definitely...
An earlier version of this article first appeared in the fall issue of Green Living Journal. It is a very basic explanation of tincture making. For a more in-depth exploration, please see the article Making Weight-to-Volume Tinctures. Throughout New England, gardeners treat themselves to the charming long-season...