Making the Connection
Sitting down to eat breakfast, I began to look around. Showing prominently in the center of the table was the loaf of 7 grain bread used to make our toast, but there was also cereal of many grains, almond milk, coffee, half-and-half, orange juice, fresh berries, butter, jam, almond butter, honey, flax seeds, chia seeds,…
The China Study Cookbook Review & Giveaway
What one chooses to eat is often based on emotion and addictions, unconscious habits, and unquestioned cultural mores. Because how we eat affects not just our bodies, but the quality of our land, water, and air; human rights; and other beings, lifting food and diet out of the realm of the unconscious and into the…
Asparagus Crepes Recipe
The recent cold snap (80 degrees instead of 100) gave me an opportunity to fire up the stove and experiment with a yummy looking recipe I’d been eyeing in The China Study Cookbook, by Leanne Campbell, PhD. The whole foods recipes are based on the research findings of Campbell’s father, T. Colin Campbell, who promotes a…
Hibiscus: Herbs We Love For Summer
Hibiscus, also known as Jamaica flower, is one of our very favorite herbs for summer because, like spearmint, its flavor is easily infused into cold water—heating up a tea pot is unnecessary! Hibiscus is a showy member of the Malvaceae (mallow) family native to subtropics and tropics around the world and appears in a variety…
A Simple Solution for More Rejuvenating Sleep
Since we were young we have been taught the value of getting a good night’s sleep. Sleep does everything from helping us to rejuvenate our minds to ensuring that the cells in our bodies repair themselves. But while many of us are familiar with the benefits of sleep, what if there was a way for…
Garden Wellness
“[People have] has sought out plants with medicinal properties since time immemorial. Evidence of this are the-thousand-year-old traditions and records of popular healing. Even in this great age of great development and progress in the fields of chemistry [and] pharmaceuticals,…plants have lost none of their importance.” Botanical Wellness Herbalism is the oldest form of wellness….
Basil: Herbs We Love For Summer
Culinary herbs are so often overlooked as medicine. But great power lies in our humble spice jars and kitchen windowsill plants, including basil! Loaded with carotenoids as well as vitamins K and C, basil is also antibacterial. It’s used to ease nausea and cramping, and for irritability, depression, anxiety, and sleeping problems. Externally, basil repels…
DIY Curtain Holdback
Items needed for the DIY Curtain Holdback: Door Plate of choice Door Knob of choice (must have threaded type for screw) 2 – 3/8” carriage bolts 3 ½” – 4” long 2 – 3/8” flat washers and 2 – 3/8” nuts Crescent wrench Electrical tape Paint brush Craft paint Tape over head and beginning threads…
Plantain: Herbs We Love For Summer
When I was a little girl, my parents, unlike our neighbors with their perfectly smooth “chem lawns,” never applied pesticides or weed killer out of concern for their children’s health and to minimize our exposure to toxins. Our yard was viewed not as a status symbol but a place to romp and play, and so play…
St. John’s Wort: Herbs We Love For Summer
The summer herb of the week is St. John’s wort, also known commonly as touch-and-heal, goatweed, hypericum, johnswort, klamath weed, rosin rose, St. John’s grass, and tipton weed. St. John’s wort is an herbaceous perennial in the St. Johnswort family (Hypericaceae). You will find it growing in the fields and meadows and along roadsides and forests from…
Spearmint: Herbs We Love For Summer
Spearmint (Mentha spicata) is one of our favorite cooling herbs for summer! When it’s 90 degrees out, firing up the stove to make hot tea can be unappealing. Fortunately, spearmint, as well as mint family cousins peppermint and lemon balm, are easy-to-grow kitchen herbs that impart their refreshing taste into cold water.
Herbal Academy of New England’s Summer Reading List 2013
NUTRITIONAL HERBOLOGY By: Mark Pedersen This is a lovely reference guide to herbs and their nutritional and medicinal values as well as folk history. THE CHINA STUDY By: T. Colin Campbell, Thomas M. Campbell ll, Howard Lyman and John Robbins If you haven’t read this one yet, don’t walk, run to your nearest book store….
Make It: Flower Water
At this time of year, I am often stopped in my tracks by a sudden sweetness carried by the wind. A quick look around will reveal a blooming delight nearby, spreading its fragrant essence through the air. Today I found the roses outside my house blooming after a long winter’s rest, unfolding their strong petals…
Sticks and Stones: Homemade Plant Markers
Many of us are transitioning into summer by planting our gardens. And there is nothing better than planting in style! These homemade plant markers are not only attractive; they are free, easy to make and very green. All you really need are sticks and stones from the backyard!
Nourishing Weedy Tea
Herbalists have an eye for beauty and worth, seeing usefulness inside what others consider useless. Often reviled plants like nettles, dandelions, burdock, plantain, chickweed, lambs quarters, and red clover often grow nearby in favorite fields or woodland paths, or even on our lawns, and make delicious and nutritious teas as well as herbal vinegars, soups,…
An Introduction To Phytobiophysics ®
Our good friends at Mossop Natural Remedies put this video together for our students and readers! Sit back with a cup of tea and enjoy the presentation, An Introduction to Phytobiophysics®, by Diana Mossop. A little about Diana: Professor Diana Mossop has been studying natural remedies from plants for the best part of her life…
Greens and Roots on a Bed of Warm Quinoa
There is nothing more delicious than vegetables right out of the garden. With this quinoa salad recipe you can use whatever you have on hand from your latest CSA pick up, your garden or the vegetable crisper. The satisfaction you feel from eating this salad comes from the texture, taste and temperature. This mixture of…
How To Make Herb-Infused Oils
If you have never made an herb-infused oil, you are in for a wonderful treat! These easy herbal preparations are a wonderful way to capture the benefits of herbs for many uses, from skincare to cooking. There are so many herbs you can choose from depending on your intended use, and there are so many…
Regrowing Your Kitchen Greens
Did you know you can extend the shelf life of your greens by simply putting them in water? It’s true; I’ve done it! I picked up green onions at the grocery store two weeks ago. It was sad seeing them go so quickly. So I experimented with a jar of water and sunlight and regrew…
Outrageously Delicious Homemade Jam
Making a delicious jam is easier than you think! Here are three of our favorite recipes.
Upcycling for the Herbalist
If you’re sentimental like me, you likely have a stack of greeting cards stashed away that you can’t bear to part with – not only because of the messages inside, but because they have lovely colors and designs.
Interview with Madelon Hope
April 10, 2013 In our “Herbalists we Love” page, we are going to give our readers insight into the lives of herbalists. Here we will introduce you to herbalists that are well suited as guides into this realm of healing and the passing on of knowledge. Our first herbalist is Madelon Hope who has been…
Mossop Natural Remedies: Review and Giveaway!
The Phytobiophysics Flower Formulas support emotions and help people to deal with the sad, painful and traumatic experiences that we all suffer with throughout our lives. Emotions interfere with function which then creates physical imbalance. Through stabilizing the emotional issues in our lives, we may then recover from the physical manifestation. This quote is…
In the Spring…
In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. -Margaret Atwood Quoted in Bluebeard’s Egg.
Natural Easter Egg Dye
There are more natural ways to color eggs than using the fizzy tablets we used as kids. You don’t have to run to the store to buy a kit or any special materials. Colorful veggies, fruits and spices all make nice dyes. This year I experimented with what I could find in my kitchen. I…
The Herbal Healing Practices of Native Americans
“Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it, such that whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” Native Americans believe strongly in the interconnection of all of creation. They practice their healing arts in a way which includes the natural world and the whole person –…
Berry Bok Choy Chia Smoothie
My go-to smoothie these days has a little secret: bok choy. Now, I love me some leafy greens, but since even I find it challenging to fit in the recommended servings all in one day, I fancy finding places for them wherever I can. Bok choy is in the cabbage family and is high in…
Teacup by Teacup
Turn up the flame, wait for the teapot to heat and whistle. Pour hot water over the jar of dried leaves and flowers. A slow stir with a spoon sends steam rising from a spinning spiral of herbs. The technology is simple: water, fire, glass. No shares, likes, pins, tweets, or re-tweets. Simply water silently…
On The Road
We are packing up our cameras and notebooks and heading out on the road to bring you exclusive interviews and personal stories from herbalists across the country. We’ll introduce you to some of the world’s most well-known and revered healers and teachers, as well to the treasured local village herbalists working diligently behind the scenes…
Flowers For The Home
Flowers in the foyer, fresh lemons in the kitchen and plants, well…everywhere else! They say that the kitchen is the heart of the home and I wouldn’t disagree with that. We love hanging out in the kitchen. It is the place where we nourish ourselves, enjoy the company of family and friends and spend time…
