Through the dry heat of this long Summer with very little rain, I have been drawn time and time again to the sweet cooling presence of the Onagraceae tribe. From the golden glow of the Suncups to the delicate white blossoms of the Evening Primrose to the feathery silk of the Willowherbs, I find myself [...]
The taste of a drop of rich wildflower honey, a lick of peach elixir or a sip of spice infused cordial is sensual, comforting and ecstatic all at once. Humans crave and love all things sweet, and while it’s clear that this is the taste most easily overdone and abused, it still retains its own [...]
For The Weeds of Summer Blogparty hosted by Darcey Blue over at Gaia’s Gifts
Prequel: An Irreverent Introduction to Weeds and Other Wild Things
Unruly and feral, weeds annoy us with their promiscuous strut and blatant disregard for convention and known boundaries. Many of them are immigrants and gypsies, with a reputation for sneaking into happy [...]
Monsoon season is a magical time in the Southwest. The air grows heavy, the clouds roll in and the thunder rumbles across the mountains. Within days of the arrival of the first storms, the golds and sages of the semi-arid woodlands, grasslands and meadows erupt into a riot of vibrant wildflowers and lush green growth. [...]
I thought the earth remembered me,
she took me back so tenderly,
arranging her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds.
- Mary Oliver
Nature was my first mother.
I memorized the forest floor as I would
my mother’s body. This forest skin
smelled like pine sap and sweet rot, and
it stained my diapers green and
perfumed my hair, which was [...]
If I were a plant, I would be this particular plant. Not just a general Rose, but wild New Mexico Rose growing on the lush banks of the Gila’s riparian forest. Not only because the flower is exquisitely, delicately beautiful but because the Wild Rose is tough and tenacious, living through flash floods, long droughts [...]
This has been previously published on my website, but I’m posting it here with a few edits and updates for your reading pleasure.
Common Names: Vervain, Verbena, Moradilla, Dormilón,
Botanical names: Verbena spp. & Glandularia spp.
Taste: Bitter, acrid
Energetics: Neutral, dry
Actions: Relaxant nervine and diaphoretic, digestive stimulant, galactagogue, vulnerary, endocrine/thyroid tonic
When most people speak of Vervain, [...]
The beautiful blue-purple blooms of the Vinca are just starting, the Honeysuckle will soon have buds and the Elms are drooping under the weight of their fat green fruit. Spring has been coming in small ripples this year, beginning early but the full bloom taking a bit longer than usual, with some unseasonal (but very [...]
Yes, I really am alive. And as of late last night, I’m done working on the redesign of Wolf’s new children’s book, I’m a Medicine Woman, Too! That means that I’ll spend the next several days to a week catching up on emails and digging into all the student work that was put on hold [...]
That’s 8 yr. old Rhiannon sitting on a rock ledge looking out at the budding Cottonwood trees, one of my favorite pain salve ingredients.
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Pain salves are used for a wide variety of purposes, but are most commonly applied to sore and often inflamed joints and muscles. This pain and inflammation can stem from many [...]
Referring to my previously posted monograph on Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), I’d like to add a few notes. One is that most of the side effects I referred to in that piece, specifically hot flashes and sweating, seem to vary a great deal based on where the herb comes from. The herb I have used from [...]
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This is an abridged version of my monograph of Oregon Grape Root from the upcoming The Medicine Woman’s Herbal. Enjoy!
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Name: Oregon Grape Root, Yerba de Sangre
Botanical Name: Mahonia spp.
Energetics: Cold, dry
Taste: bitter
Actions: bitter tonic, liver stimulant, antimicrobial
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Unlike many of the herbs I write about, this one has been well loved (if a bit misunderstood) in [...]
In case I needed a little more confirmation of the success of the Alder/Beebalm tincture combo in treating infection, I just got it. I recently gave a bottle to a client with a mild sinus infection and she was quite happy when it cleared up in a few days. She then passed it on to [...]
Ya’ll know how I love Peach, whether in the form of leaf, bark, flowers or fruit. I even love the pits, and I saved several quart jars worth from the luscious organic Peaches we processed earlier this season. I let them dry for a few days in the shade, picked out the best looking ones, [...]
Botanical name: Sambucus spp. (of the blue and black berried varieties, I of course prefer our wild Gila native S. neomexicana and S. mexicana)
Common name: Elder, Hylde Mor, The Elder Mother
Energetics: Berry – Neutral. Flower – Cool, Dry
Taste: Berry – sour, sweet, bitter. Flower – acrid, sweet
Pictured above are some of the lovely, luscious and [...]
