Wise Wombmen's Healing Retreat

"The womb is not a place to store fear and pain; 

the womb is to create and to give birth to life."

This past weekend we hosted our first Wise Wombmen's Healing Retreat. Our weekend of replenishment and rejuvenation included a Sistar to Sistar clothing exchange, early morning yoga, vendors, camping and farm fresh vegetarian meals.  Participants had the opportunity to sit in on three workshops including Women's Wellness from a homeopathic and anthroposophical perspective and Crystal Contraception: a course in herbal and natural contraceptive methods for effective and pleasant alternatives to westernized birth control. We discussed the history and scientific findings of herbal supplements and contraceptive methods, emmenagogues, tracking methods and more, to discover a reliable system our ancestors have been aware of for ages. The women also engaged in a Wild Medicine plant walk where they learned about several green allies for spring cleansing to incorporate into their everyday lives.  Our focus was on nourishing our liver and kidneys and how we can use all the fresh edible spring greens as food. In the evening we had an amazing Healing our Wombs ceremony, a two hour ceremony and ritual offering a sacred space for women to let go of the suffering they carry in their bellies.  Between the bonding and intimacy created, wisdom shared, diverse group of women who gathered and the beautiful natural environment, the weekend was a success!  Thank you to all who participated and made this such a special weekend.  We are excited to offer another healing retreat in the future.  

Many Womb Blessings!

Ah...the Herbal Goodness

As dreams are the healing songs

from the wilderness of our unconsciousness-

So wild animals, wild plants, wild landscapes

are the healing dreams from the deep

singing mind of the Earth.  -Pendell

In preparation for our School of Earth Medicine, we have been creating an herb garden for education and use.  It has been a healing and amazing gift to work with these plants; to watch them grow, to come out at night and lie flat backed with them under the stars, to harvest them with respect and hang them to dry with reverence - anticipating the powerful and potent tinctures, salves, oils, and teas they will become.  With all the craziness going on outside in the world of humans, I find comfort and solace in the plant realm.  Sitting and being present with a single green friend or in a garden community you begin to feel time slow and eventually come to know the reality -  that time does not exist.  I marvel at the myriads of life forms on our planet, the differing ways of being, of breathing, of communicating and reproducing.  There is so much to be learned and never a dull moment!

 

 

There are a number of species I am growing this year for the first time.  Some are subtle and quiet like ashwaghanda, providing green bushy foliage for her neighbors, while others like Lion's tail (leonotis or wild dagga) take all the attention with brilliant showy orange flowers.  And perhaps my favorite newbie is evening primrose, who blooms her majestic yellow flowers at night under the moonlight.  One night I disappeared down in the garden until quite late and when I came back to the house, my husband called me a night pollinator because apparently I had yellow evening primrose pollen all over my face- I couldn't help it, the flowers smell so divine!   Sigh, so many plants to learn so little time...

 

We built an herb shed/farm stand out of recycled materials a few months back and now it has been filled to the brim with medicine, hanging to dry. 

 

 

 

 

Mullein, mints, feverfew, wormwood, lavender, sages, tulsi, rosemary, oregano, lemon thyme, Leonotis, yarrow, and many others.  Harvesting all the herbal goodness to store and create an apothecary for fall and winter. 



Bless and give thanks for Abundance, Health and Strength. 

Spread Love!



 

 

Tell your people they must learn to wake up their feelings. 

Their heart must arise from it's sleep. 

It must rise and STAND up. 

That is how you find the track to God.

-The Elders of the Kalahari Bushmen

 

 

 

 

 

All About Nettles

  

 

 

Last weekend we ventured out to Marin for our All About Nettles class.  The weather was amazing, a perfect day to experience Lady Nettle in all her glory.  We hiked out to our favorite foraging spot and sat in a circle to discuss identification, how and when to harvest, nutrients, medicinal uses, energetic influences, preserving, recipes, companion plants and cultivation.  Then we visited the many different nettle communities to pay our respects and harvest this nourishing plant ally. Along the way students also gathered young fiddle head ferns to sauté for their evening meal and fresh cleavers to juice as a tonic for allergies and eczema. 

 

 

The week of a nettle harvest is always special, filled with fresh sparkling juiced nettles, delicious nettle soup, nettle quiche or frittata, green smoothies, then bundles and bundles of nettle leaves hanging in the kitchen to dry.  This year our preservation method of choice is to dry and powder as many of the leaves as possible and freeze them in small bags to use through out the year as our own local, deep green super food (in place of spirulina and chlorella). 

 



 

Herbalist Michael Moore says in his book Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West…"Nettle powder is something  that you can gather yourself in places that you trust, and you can add it to smoothies and salad dressings, put it in your bread, add it to tea, home beer, and so forth.  It is green food your body recognizes, and can help build blood, tissue, and self-empowerment.” 

Definitely our number one go to herb for extra nutrition and nourishment when we are stressed or depleted, an easily absorbable form of iron, vegetable protein, spring cleansing and so much more.  Thank you lovely nettles!

 

 *pictures taken by Amelia Avila

Sharing Knowledge Among Women

"Don't ever take more from a plant than what you need,

they enjoy having life as much as we do."

-Gypsy Wisdom

Sunday we spent our afternoon in class creating the beginnings of an herbal apothecary. The class was full and we celebrated many useful medicinal plants for boosting immunity and supporting the respiratory system.  Fresh locally wildcrafted elderberries stole the show with their juicy blue lusciousness.  

'Tis a special and important thing to have time for women to gather, share age old knowledge, and create holistic remedies for ourselves and our loved ones.  From generation to generation it has always been the women who held this task.  

Together we offer information, support, and community.  Our baskets at the end of class were full of immunity adaptogen tincture, mullein thyme lung tea, elderberry glycerite, herbal vapor rub, and our famous fire cider.  A wonderful collection of remedies to strengthen and encourage fall and winter health.  Definitely a day well spent.  

Blessings!

A Day At The Green Festival

Last weekend we spent our Sunday at the Albany Arts and Green Festival.  Blessed with beautiful weather and a large crowd, we sold almost all our local organic honey, as well as many of the products from our Handcrafted Herbalim CSA. 

There was a diverse grouping of  booths at the festival; everything from solar/renewable energy to The Sierra club to The Alameda County Beekeepers Association.  We spent some time promoting our classes, discussing our farm with interesting people, and benefiting from all the giveaways (fruit trees, environmental books, compost and organic vegi starts).  

Fire Cider, Herbal Body Cream, Gardener's Salve,
Eucalyptus Lavender Salt scrub for sale

Both our honey and the model Warre hive we set up drew plenty of attention.  It was a blast talking about bees with other beekeepers and hearing about many of the local apiaries in the area. The best part of the festival was networking with so many interesting, like minded people. Of course taking home peach, apricot, and cherry trees, comfrey, globe artichokes, mugwort, and a few more starts for the garden was pretty great too.  Hurrah for the Green Festival!

 

Tonics For Winter Wellness

Hey holistic health enthusiasts! Here are some of my favorite easy and effective ways to keep up a strong resistance through the fall and winter seasons.  All of these recipes act as prophylactics against cold and flu. Incorporate some or all of these into your weekly routine and you should notice an increased sense of vitality.  Don't forget your exercise and sleep!  

BEET KVASS

      I am in love with this stuff!  A wonderful liver and blood tonic, beet kvass is a surprisingly tasty fermented beverage made from raw beets, filtered water and whey.  A friend gave me the idea to add fresh lemon and ginger to mine.  Here is a basic recipe. (Definitely reduce the salt as the recommended amount is very salty.)

FIRE CIDER

A vinegar infusion made with organic raw apple cider vinegar, garlic, onion, horseradish, ginger, and cayenne pepper.  This concoction is rich with acetic acid, mineral salts and vitamins.  The acidity kills many forms of bacteria on contact and helps aid healing and cleansing in the body as well as fight infection.  Fire cider is strongly ant-bacterial and anti-viral, great for boosting immunity and fighting off sickness, especially when taken close to onset.  It can be taken straight or added to water, juice, etc.  It is very spicy so nice to take with a spoon of raw honey.  Check out my recipe here.

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     GARLIC

     Add raw garlic to everything, fresh or cooked it does wonders for your immune system.

-    SEA VEGETABLES

      Seaweeds like kombu, wakami, and nori make great additions to soups, stews, salads and main dishes.  They supply optimum nourishment, enhance immune function, and revitalize cardiovascular, nervous, digestive, and endocrine systems.  

-    RAW HONEY 

      Honey is anti bacterial and demulcent, meaning it relaxes, soothes and protects tissues.  Honey is also nutritive and mildly laxative.  It is beneficial for relieving dryness in the throat and for treating cough and difficulty swallowing.  Combining honey with a strong infusion of sage is a classic preparation for relieving hoarseness and respiratory congestion.

-    MISO

      This fermented food is rich in vitamins, iron, potassium, anti-oxidants, and live lactobacilli, which enhance your body's ability to extract nutrients from food.  Miso is easy to make at home.  This is the recipe we use.   

      DARK LEAFY GREENS

      Kale, collards, mustards, dandelion- all do wonders for your health.  Eat daily chopped fresh in salads, steamed with high quality butter, sauteed with fresh garlic and ginger, or add to soups.  These greens will give you your dose of vitamins and calcium, while keeping you looking and feeling youthful and radiant.  

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      MUSHROOMS

      Shitake and reishi are medicinal mushrooms.  Both are adaptogenic, revitalizing, regenerative, and able to directly suppress infection.  Cook mushrooms well (do not eat raw, as the chitin in the mushrooms needs to be cooked for awhile to break down).  Make a strong mushroom tea or broth for a nourishing morning drink.  

-     STOCKS and BONE BROTH

      Chicken, beef, fish and vegetable stocks are all super foods!  Bone broth can be a rich life enhancing foundation to to any meal.  A pot of simmering stock is an essential part of our kitchen.  We also make weekly root immunity soup.  Use the crock pot if you like, add astragalus and burdock roots, potatoes, carrots, garlic, lots of ginger, onions and seaweed. Cook until roots are soft then add miso, tamari, a squeeze of lemon or lime and some dark leafy greens or sprouts at the end.  

      Here's to winter wellness!!

A Vegetarian's Adventure Making Tallow

Last weekend a friend brought me a huge bag of  beef fat to render into tallow.  I have never done this before with beef fat.  Actually beef fat is something I would normally avoid at all costs so I felt a little intimidated.  But this homesteading experience is changing me, I also felt intrigued and up for the challenge.  The fat was primarily from around the kidneys which means it did not have much meat attached.  Everything I read online about the rendering process says you must cut the fat into tiny pieces or put it through a grinder before you cook it down.  Well, I did not do either.  I just cut it all up into chunks, put it in a stock pot, poured in a little water, and set it on a burner on medium low.  I set up an electric burner outside my living space for this project as to not subject my non-beef eating family to the lingering unpleasant smell of cooking fat.  

I then went about my day, making sure to check on the project and stir occasionally, being conscious not to let it burn.  After several hours all the fat was melted and bits of cooked meat were floating on the top. 

It was then time to strain the hot tallow carefully through a cloth and pour into jars.  What I was left with was a clear benign liquid.  When I returned to the kitchen the next morning the tallow had cooled and turned pure white, looking very much like coconut oil.  

I was surprised at how satisfied I felt with the end product.  Perhaps it's just me, but I get happy when I find value in things that others would just throw away.  I really like the qualities of beef tallow and would describe it as a sort of animal shea butter.  For all the meat eaters out there, I have read that you can make the best of french fries with tallow.  Personally, I am more excited to use it as the main ingredient in my next batch of soap.  Or it might be interesting to use some in an herbal salve.  Definitely a fun experiment!

Weeds To The Rescue

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. " 

-Hippocrates

This season has been particularly uncomfortable for allergies.  I, for one, had a couple of weeks of severe symptoms.  I don't suffer from traditional hay fever, but I do occasionally get random allergic reactions to unknown food triggers.  I had not experienced these symptoms in years but recently I had an awful flare up and found myself desperate for relief.  As I lay in bed one morning with my eye lids almost swollen shut, I remembered my friend Cleavers.  After years of experience, I now have a strong tendency to listen to myself. That inner voice in all of us that is so often ignored can be a guiding force of wisdom.  

Cleavers climbing next to the compost bins

So I grabbed a basket and went looking for some fresh specimens of this sticky weed.  Well, it is the perfect time of year around here and I didn't have to look far.  There is a profuse amount of this plant growing all over our property.  Cleavers (Gallium Aparine) is known by different common names; Goosegrass, Stickyweed, and Bedstraw are just a few.  But the way most people know Cleavers is by the way it persistently sticks to your clothing.  My son likes to surprise me by throwing it on my shirt or hair.  

This wonderful weed strengthens lymphatic activity, reduces allergic reactions, eases tender swollen breasts, PMS symptoms, and mild lymph edema.  To harvest, cut the top two-thirds of each plant while it is in flower or setting seeds (the seeds look like burrs).  You can then make a tincture, tea, or my preferred method, fresh green juice. 

To make the fresh juice I gathered a basket full of leafy tops, brought them inside and rinsed them lightly.  At first I attempted to put them through my juicer, but since I do not have a Vita mix, that attempt failed.  Cleavers is way too fibrous for my wimpy machine so out came the Cuisinart blender.  

I added a little water to the plants, enough to get them to turn over and blended until I had a nice even green juice.  Then I strained the mixture and added a couple of juiced apples.  Delicious and very cooling.  I think I drank 2-3 pitchers full.  I just kept making more as it was very calming to my inflamed system.  

So all you gardeners, foragers, and hikers out there, don't think of Cleavers as a nuisance. Harvest some when in season, use it as a spring tonic, and reap the health benefits.  

Spring Cleansing

One way of purifying the mind is by attitude, by the right attitude towards life.  That is the moral way and the royal road to purification.  A person may breath and sit in silence a thousand postures but if he does not have the right attitude towards life he will never develop.  It is upon one's attitude that one's whole life depends. 

-Hazrat Inayat Khan

Spring is a time of renewal, of new beginnings and new intentions.  This can look many different ways for some of us.  Whether we give our homes an extra deep cleaning, make a vision board of our dreams for the year, go for meditative hikes, or do some journaling.  The goal is reflection and to start fresh.  To let go of old habits or inhibitions that held us back, working toward becoming our higher selves.  Creating ritual is an important way to celebrate and welcome the spirit of newness.  One way I like to do this, with the help of my green allies, is to make sage bundles or smudge sticks. The plants that are called sage can come from very different plant families, some from the salvias and some from the artemesia family.  But my favorite plant sister is California white sage (salvia apiana) for her powerful cleansing abilities.  Used for generations throughout the world, white sage can both heal and cleanse away or "wash off" the outside world.  Native American tribes use white sage for many purposes, among them for ceremonies and purification. 

We happen to have a gorgeous white sage plant growing in our medicine wheel.  After all the rain we have been getting it has leafed out and is ready for a small harvest.  You do not need to take much when you harvest sage.  It is strong medicine and a little goes a long way. 

Once you harvest several nice leafy tips, collect some attractive yarn or twine you like.  It must be either organic cotton or wool, no synthetic fibers.  (This is very important because the yarn will burn when you smudge.)  Separate your sage into small bouquets and gently wrap with the yarn.  You can wrap more densely at the bottom to make a handle. 

Dry your bundles for a week or two and when they are no longer wet they are ready to burn as smudge sticks. 

Sage or any other herb bundles make wonderful gifts and look beautiful hanging in your kitchen window or sitting on a mantel.  I also like to hang herb bundles in the shower to let off their essential oils with the steam or hide them away in our dresser drawers for wonderful smelling linens.   Try tossing one into the dryer with your clothes now and then.  Other aromatic herbs you can make bundles with to hang around your home are lavender, rosemary, geranium, marjoram, thyme, oregano, or any edible medicinal.