DIY Spring Herb Salve With Lavender, Calendula, and Rose
Fresh slow-infused calendula drips through a strainer sending drops of gold liquid splashing to the bottom of the glass. Next to it a jar filled with sweet lavender oil fills the room with a soothing aroma. A glittering of copper paints the wall as the sun hits the lid to my rose-infused oil. This right…
Milk Thistle Gomasio: An Herbal Flavoring Salt For Spring Meals
As the flowers awake after the cold days of winter, we often feel a nudge to embrace new growth and shed our winter coats. Spring is the natural time to cleanse, detox, and refresh after a long winter season of extra hours inside, less movement, and heavier foods. Spring’s arrival seems to awaken our longing…
12 At-Risk Plants NOT To Harvest This Year
Late spring and summer are ideal times for harvesting plants. This is because, by this time, most plants have developed to the point where their identifying characteristics are obvious—leaves are often fully grown, flowers have blossomed, and some plants are already forming seeds, each of which makes plant identification easier. While most in the herbal…
Ayurvedic Tips For Spring Wellness
Ayurveda recognizes the cyclic nature of life. In order to achieve wellness, it is important to be tuned in to our environment as well as to be cognizant of our inherent constitution, called prakruti in Ayurveda. This article will elucidate Ayurvedic tips for spring wellness. Though our prakruti (inherent constitution) is fixed, our present nature,…
What The Spring Equinox Means To The Herbalist
Have you ever wondered how our ancient ancestors kept track of time? I suppose the further back in time you go, people were more focused on survival than keeping track of the minutes. However, as people learned about the world around them and cultures began to form and progress, time became an important concept. My…
Sweet Violets of Spring
I’m sitting here, looking out the office window over the snow-covered hills and sniffing a wee bottle of violet leaf absolute that arrived a couple months ago in an extravagant birthday basket. It is hard to describe, but Marge Clark of Nature’s Gift has this to say about it: “Intensely green initially, this absolute has…
Three Herbs to Support Digestion After a Long Winter
Human beings are part of the natural environment. We pass through the same natural and seasonal cycles that affect other living beings—animals, plants, and ecosystems. This is reflected in traditional healing systems the world over. Western herbalism has a long history of practices and remedies that are determined by the season, and older systems like…
How To Make Fresh Herbal Sun Tea
It’s an herbalist’s favorite time of year again. The earth has turned green and we have an abundance of plants all around us. What better way to become acquainted with your green allies than by sipping fresh herbal sun tea? Fresh plant teas produce a sparkling crisp drink that feels like sipping in the summer…
Gift Of The Earth: A Spring Poem
As I sit, fingers lingering on the keys of my keyboard, I gaze outside. This is where the poetry grows, my fingers simply telling the beauty that nature so sweetly provides. The trees burst into the ready as they crown themselves in tethered colors of white, yellow, then green. Our rooster shouts. His juvenile crow…
A Family Herb: Dandelion
Hillsides and fields awash with vibrant greens and yellow blooms beckon us outside to enjoy warming springtime weather. It’s here, right under our feet, that we may find one of the most treasured plants in the world of herbalism. Well-known by children and often the bane of gardeners, the humble dandelion (Taraxcum officinale) is a…
