A Green Valentine to You
© 2010 Susun S Weed
Isn’t February fun! Ground Hog Day! President’s Day! Valentine’s Day! My birthday! February may be the shortest month, but it doesn’t stint on holidays. February is a good month for celebrating. And it’s a good time to reawaken your herbal taste buds.
Some of you, many of you,
are thinking: “It’s still winter.” (It isn’t though.) “What herbs?” (I’ll tell you.) “Dried ones from the summer?” (No, fresh ones from field and forest.)
No matter what the date, there are always edible weeds available. I tested my belief by sending students into the streets and sidewalks of Amsterdam (Holland) on a breezy February day. Within an hour they had identified more than two dozen edible and medicinal plants — right there in the city. No matter where you live, there are greens available right now to sing a spring awakening song to your tongue and your heart and your spirit.
Listen to the trees. Here in the northeast, the maples are whispering: “Sweet, sweet.” Maple sap is flowing. Sweet aroma and an even sweeter flavor. Fresh, hot maple syrup is the sweet tas te of the spring warmth to come, magically created by the warmth of the wood we harvested last fall. While waiting for the sap to boil down, let’s chew on some pine twigs and needles.
Evergreen pine needles are rich in vitamin C and oozing with antibacterial resins. Just the thing to prevent, or treat, colds and sore throats. If you feel creative, stuff a jar with pine needles — I prefer to use white pine (Pinus strobus). Then fill it to the top with pasteurized apple cider vinegar, cap with a non-metal lid, and label with the date and contents. Your pine needle vinegar is ready to use in a day or two, but the longer it sits, the better it tastes. After two months, it is strong enough to be called “Domestic Balsamic Vinegar.” If you have several pines to choose from, make several wee jars of different pine vinegars as tasters. Some pine needles are too resinous to be palatable. You can usually get a good idea of how strong the finished vinegar will be taste by chewing a small clump needles. Pinon pine needle vinegar is exceptionally delicious.
Put your ear close to the ground. That humming you hear is the sound of underground bulbs waking up and sending exploratory fingers into the air and light. Wild garlic and wild onion shoots break ground all through the forest, in my meadow, and scattered on the neighbor’s lawn. Soon the wild leeks will raise their voices in colorful chants. What groundhog could sleep through the shouts of a wild onion chorus? Their sharp, intense green taste reminds me to breathe deeply. And protects me against the flu.
Look! Wild cresses. And so many different ones to choose from. There in the stream, where the sun warms the bank: watercress with its sharp, bitter bite and trilling song. There at the edge of the garden, hunkered down against the cold: dark green winter cress, also known as St. Barbara's cress, belting out jazz in a saucy rhythm. (Later, when it shoots up and flashes its sunny flowers, we’ll call it yellow rocket.) Look there, tucked in between the rocks: the grey-green leaves of tangy rock cress, murmuring mantras. And right here, under our feet, on this hillock that faces south, where the ground has warmed, the cabbage-tasting, petite, dandelion-shaped leaves of shepherds’s purse. Do you feel the smile in their song?
We’ll gather a little of each of those cresses — they all taste great — but the main part of our salad will be this prolific cress: garlic mustard. It tastes like a blend of mustard greens and fresh garlic. 
And, like the other cresses, it is evergreen, and available all winter long where ever it grows. When I walk in the woods in the winter, I can hear it in snatches if the snow is not too deep. Always sounds to me like a doo-wop ditty it’s singing.
Let’s ask this one if we can have its root, too. I’ll brush the dirt off, you try a bite. Yup! Quite the taste isn’t it! That’s why its alternate name is “wild horseradish.” It’s a real sinus-opener! I put a handful of garlic mustard roots in my blender with a little sea salt and some vinegar. It makes a great fresh horseradish condiment. I crave the mustardy flavors of the cresses more in February and March than I do later on in the year, and I think the taste better now, too.
One of my favorite winter greens — miner’s lettuce — grows too far away (about three thousand miles) for me to harvest it. But if you live on the west coast, you probably already know where the nearest patch grows. I look for it in damp areas, especially seaside streams and roadside ditches. It’s an easy plant to identify, with its perfectly round, neon-green leaves, each pierced through by a tender stalk. It usually grows with chickweed, another wonderful winter green in areas where the winter is a little milder than mine.
Alright, I will tell you more about chickweed on our next walk. But not now, I’m hungry. How about you? Shall we take our prizes back to the house and make them into a salad while the soup is heating? I’ll make some cheese toast. After we’ve eaten, you must tell me that story you hinted at. A fairy led you on a wild ramble, you said. I know how it ends — with green blessings — but I hope you’ll reveal what happened on the way to those green blessings.
© 2010 Susun S Weed
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Wise Woman Center
SPRING WORKSHOPS 2010
Spring Treasures, Spring Tonics with Susun Weed April 17
Treat your spring fever with birch water, root beer, dandelion wine, rampions, wild horseradish, and nettle soup! Bite buds, smell roots, laugh at goats, think green!
"You opened a grounded, ancient, wise, visionary, magical world to me."
Hands-on Herbal Medicine/Spring with Susun Weed April 18
Roots and rhizomes, tubers and corms: the underground parts of plants have been the focus of herbal medicine for hundreds of years. We'll look at the differences between annual, biennial, and perenninal roots; discuss optimum harvesting times and best ways to prepare and use the bounty of roots such as burdock, dandelion, echinacea, astragalus, yellow dock, ginseng, poke, ramps, bloodroot, and osha.
"The lessons you've given me will be my companions forever."
Priestess Training: Divination with Z Budapest April 23-25
Experience prophesy and self-discovery through the Tarot with Z Budapest – the Queen of Tarot Readings. Bring your own tarot deck – Everybody gets their cards read.
Sacred Heart of Mary with Marie Summerwood May 15
We'll gather in sacred song to Mary and be blessed by the beautiful love of Her sacred heart. Her presence is strong in circles of women like us. She loves us; come feel the love of Mary. I am Marie Summerwood, singer of sacred music, composer and green witch. I am a priestess who claims Mary as my sacred mother. I have long blessed and been blessed by the Wise Woman Center.
Chant, Chant, Chant with Marie Summerwood May 16
Yes, that's right, we'll chant and chant. We'll feel how chanting holds and heals us. Learn about breath and intention, the sacredness of women chanting together, and yes, we'll chant. I am Marie Summerwood, singer of sacred music, composer and green witch. I am a priestess who claims Mary as my sacred mother. I have long blessed and been blessed by the Wise Woman Center.
"Your dynamic presence and remarkable story telling make
learning fun and easy."
Herbal Medicine Chest, part 1 with Susun Weed May 22
Identify, discuss, learn to prepare and use simple herbal remedies against headaches, sunburn, muscle pain, wounds, indigestion, parasites, Lyme disease and more.
Herbal Medicine Chest, part 2 with Susun Weed May 23
Identify, discuss, learn to prepare and use simple herbal remedies against headaches, sunburn, muscle pain, wounds, indigestion, parasites, Lyme disease and more.
"I continue to relish the special communion I felt in that amazing circle of Wise Women."
Wolf Clan Teachings with White Feather June 5
Our beloved Grandmother Twylah Nitsch passed into spirit and she continues on in those who, like White Feather, spent the last 26 years traveling and studying her teachings.
Wolf Clan Teachings with White Feather June 6
Our beloved Grandmother Twylah Nitsch passed into spirit and she continues on in those who, like White Feather, spent the last 26 years traveling and studying her teachings.
Conscious Menstruation with Astrid Grove June 12
We will embark on day long journey together as we sink into our wombspace and remember the ancient blood mystery teachings, craft our own moonpads, create ritual, heal and honor the beauty and power of our sacred moon time.
Maya Abdominal Massage with Astrid Grove June 13
Astrid will be offering Maya Abdominal Massage on June 13th- book ahead - contact Astrid at: ph. 831.331.6134 or astrid@birthrootmidwife.com
Talking with Plants with Susun Weed June 26
Learn the language of plants. The Medicine Wheel of Plant Uses makes it easy. By tasting, smelling, feeling, looking, and even listening to the plants you can learn if they are poisonous, medicinal, or edible, and how to best use each one.
" The simplicity of your approach is amazing and empowering."
Hands-on Herbal Medicine/Early Summer with Susun June 27
Get hands-on experience identifying, harvesting, and making herbal remedies from the marvelous plants of summer, including yarrow, motherwort, yellow dock, red clover, and comfrey. You'll create teas, infusions, vinegars, and tinctures.
Hands-on Herbal Medicine/Late Summer with Susun August 21
Get hands-on experience identifying, harvesting, and making herbal remedies from the marvelous plants of summer, including Saint Joans wort (hypericum), wild oregano, mullein, purslane, amaranth, lamb’s quarter. You'll create teas, infusions, vinegars, oils, and tinctures.
"I continue to relish the special communion I felt in that amazing circle of Wise Women."
Chronic Problems with Susun Weed August 22
Wise Woman Ways and herbal helpers can relieve asthma, allergies, joint pain, candida, indigestion, headaches, backaches, PMS, menstrual pain, and lots more.
"You are a wonderful teacher and an incredible example."
Sensual and Scented Herbs with Susun Weed September 18
Let your nose lead the way into the magic of scented herbs. We will explore the sensuous world of aromatic plant including rosemary, lavender, lemon balm, catnip, lemon verbena, thyme, sage. You will learn how to use them for beauty, food, medicine, and protection.
Hands-on Herbal Medicine/Early Autumn with Susun September 19
Time to get ready to dig roots and make antioxidant honeys. Join me for a full day of identification, harvesting, preparing, and using the wild foods (including mushrooms) and medicines that grow all around us. Be prepared to get your hands dirty.
Magical Plants with Susun Weed October 2
We will talk about fairies and devas, plant spirit medicine, the magic of psychoactive plants, mojo bags, flying oils, love charms, and dream pillows. We will come to understand how to combine our own intentions with the energies of the plants to create more of what we want in life.
Winter Medicines with Susun Weed October 3
Learn the difference between cold colds and hot colds. Explore antibacterial, antiviral, antiseptic, and anti-inflammatory herbs. We will discuss relief for sinus infections, throat problems, congestion, and breathing difficulties. Learn how to stay healthy and deal with winter miseries.
