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WEED WANDERINGS
~ Herbal Medicine with Susun Weed ~

July 2002 ~ Volume 2 Number 7

Legal Disclaimer

Susun Weed in Provence, France ~ Summer 2001

~ CALENDAR of EVENTS ~

Wise Woman Center -- Workshops for Women
Join us this year for spirit healing and herbal medicine workshops, intensives, and apprenticeships with Susun Weed and other Wise Woman teachers. The Wise Woman Center in Woodstock NY exists to re-weave the healing cloak of the Ancients. This land, this sacred sanctuary for women is a place for the teachings of the Wise Woman way. The Goddess lives here, as do goats, fairies, green witches, and elders. Located between Woodstock and Saugerties, 5 miles from the NYS Thruway, the Wise Woman Center is easily accessible while private enough for nude swimming. You'll receive a map and directions when you register. Nourishing wild-food vegetarian meals are included with all workshops.

See the Calendar of Events & Workshop schedule (and to register) for this year, click here.

LISTEN TO SUSUN WEED'S RADIO SHOW

Dedicated to the Wise Woman tradition, I help women to learn the oldest ways of healing — together we are rediscovering the green witch/healer in each of us.
My goal is to change how we think about health and healing. May we all reclaim herbal medicine as the simple, safe primary care it is; a gift of health from the green nations. ~ Green Blessings, Susun Weed

~ FEATURE ARTICLE ~

Spirit and Practice of the Wise Woman Tradition
c. 2001 by Susun S. Weed
Excerpt from Healing Wise

As we enter the twenty-second century, herbal medicine is being integrated into mainstream medicine in the United States. Or is it the other way around? Are we in danger of adopting the limited, linear scientific view of a practice that is also considered an art? Are we abandoning the sense of delight that drew us to herbal medicine? Are we vulnerable to needing to be validated from outside because we don't value ourselves highly enough?

In order to answer these questions, we will use the model of the Three Traditions of Healing--Scientific, Heroic, and Wise Woman. Knowing the differences between these three views allows us to become informed consumers of health care, to repossess the power of our health/wholeness/holiness in a new and uniquely functional manner, and to maintain our dignity as herbalists in a world dominated by scientists.

I want to focus on the Wise Woman Tradition, its spirit and practice, because I believe it offers us a way to look at what we have as herbalists, and what society seems to be offering us, and to make a better-informed choice as to the path ahead.

What Are the Three Traditions of Healing?

The three traditions are ways of thinking, not ways of acting. Any technique, any substance can be used in any tradition. There are scientific and heroic midwives as well as wise woman midwives; there are MDs who are heroic and those who act as wise women, as well as scientific ones. There are scientific herbalists, heroic herbalists, and wise woman herbalists. There are preferred ways of working in each tradition, granted, but surgery is not restricted to the scientific realm, nor is a shamanic trance strictly relegated to the realm of the wise woman. To determine the tradition of the practitioner, we must look at the thoughts that lie behind their use of any form of healing.

Each one of us contains some aspects of each tradition. And these different aspects may want different things -- at different times -- or at the same time. The scientific aspect wants facts, the heroic aspect wants to be told what to do, and the wise woman aspect smiles and offers you a bowl of soup and some bread and cheese she made herself. As I define the characteristics of each tradition, identify the part of yourself that thinks that way.

The Scientific Tradition defines truth as measurable and repeatable. The whole is the same as its most active part. Herbs are reduced to standardized extracts; only the active ingredient is important. Healing is fixing. Linear thought, linear time. Good and bad, health and sickness always at war.

Nature is mechanized. Bodies are machines. Anything that deviates from normal needs to be fixed. Measurements determine deviation; drugs insure normalcy. Plants are potential drugs, safe only in the hands of licensed experts.

The legalized use of herbs in Germany follows the scientific model. Herbs are available by prescription and paid for by National Insurance because they are viewed and treated as drugs. Herbs are available only to those with a prescription written by an MD, who has received little or no training in the use of herbs, so the overall effect is to severely limit the use of herbal medicine and its availability.

Ready access to a wide variety of manufactured herbal medicines is a freedom that many American herbalists seem to take for granted. It is due, in part, to the strength of the Heroic tradition.

The Heroic Tradition is not one unified tradition, but many similar ones collectively known the Heroic tradition. Predating the scientific tradition, the heroic view sees that the whole is a circle made up of all its parts -- body, mind, and spirit.

Sickness is caused by pollution of the body, mind, or spirit. Healing is the removal of the corruption, the detoxification. Puking, purging and bleeding. Removing curses. Cleansing the colon and the aura. Making everything light.

We are all filthy sinners. We have to pay for our fun. No pain, no gain. If it tastes bitter it is good for you. Food is the first addiction, learned at the mothers' breast. Control yourself. Control your thoughts. Control your appetites. Control you desires. If you want to get to heaven, follow the rules.

If you are sick, it is your own fault. You were negative. You were bad. You ate the wrong food, thought the wrong thought, sinned. You stepped outside the charmed circle. You need a savior, purification and punishment. The Heroic healer saves the day thanks to rare substances, exotic herbs, and complicated formulae. Powerful, drug-like herbs (such as cayenne and golden seal) and vitamin and mineral pills are favored remedies in this tradition. Most books on herbal medicine, and many on nutrition, are written by men of the Heroic tradition.

Wise Woman Tradition is the world's oldest healing tradition. Its symbol is the spiral. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Life is a spiraling, ever-changing completeness. Disease and injury are doorways of transformation. Each one of us is inherently whole, yet seeking greater wholeness; perfect, yet desiring greater perfection. Whole/healthy/holy. Substance, thought, feeling, and spirit inseparable intertwined.

Good health may be freedom from disease, but it is also openness to change, flexibility, and compassionate embodiment, even when dancing with cancer or healing from a serious accident. Uniqueness rather than normalcy. Not a cure, but an integration; not the elimination of the bad, but a nourishing of wholeness/health/holiness.

Nourishment of wholeness/health/holiness is invisible, simple, grounded, holographic, both/and, ever-changing, woman-centered, and compassionate.

Nourishment is Invisible

Invisible as a bowl of soup. The World Health Organization says ninety percent of the health care provided in the world is given by women in their own homes. Invisibly. With a smile. A hug. A word of praise. In small daily increments, the wise woman builds the health of herself, her family, her community, her country, her world. She does it in the Tao, so she is invisible.

Nourishment is Simple

Simple as the weeds in the garden. Simple as in one thing at a time. Simple as in easy. Simple, common, single, unique. Open to subtlety, simply. The wise woman uses what is local and common, allying herself with one plant at a time, matching the uniqueness of the plant with the uniqueness of the person.

Nourishment is Grounded

Grounded as the earth, flowing with the seasons, ever changing, ever the same. Seeking to increase the power of the patient. Power flowing from responsibility. Planting the patient in the ground, to become rooted, to delve deep, to gain a foundation to grow up from. Praising the gift of the body, the ground of our being. Eating from the ground, locally, organically.

Holographic Nourishment

Holographic images contain the whole in every part. The more parts there are, the clearer the image. The wise woman nourishes all the parts of the unique individual so they become clearer, more filled with life. The wise woman herbalist gathers holographic plants, not active ingredients, not flower essences, but the amazing, complex, vital hologram of healing that her green ally gives away. A hologram that nourishes all parts, integrates all the parts, both/and.

Both/and Universe

The both/and universe embraces all possibilities. Allows distinction, sees beyond opposition. Yin and yang cooperate, reach consensus. Walking in beauty along the rainbow path of peace. We are all alive and dead, whole and piecemeal, healthy and sick, good and bad.

No Diseases, No Cures, No Healers

Woman-centered, heart centered, the Wise Woman tradition has no rules, no texts, no rites. It is constantly changing, constantly being re-invented, open to the ever-changing perfection of the eternal moment. The focus is on the person, not the problem, nourishing not curing, self-healing not healing another. A give-away dance of exploration and experience, with no answer to the question "why?" No blame, no shame, no guilt, no reason, no answer ever to "why?"

The Six Steps of Healing

The Wise Woman tradition offers self-healing options as diverse as the human imagination and as complex as the human psyche. How confusing! We need a way to cut through the confusion and decide which option to use when. I call it the Six Steps of Healing, a hierarchy based on the concept: "First do no harm."

Step 0 - Do Nothing
Step 1 - Collect Information
Step 2 - Engage the Energy
Step 3 - Nourish and Tonify
Step 4 - Stimulate & Sedate
Step 5 - Use Drugs
Step 6 - Break & Enter

I see the wise woman. From her shoulders, a mantle of power flows.
I see the wise woman at her loom. Every thread is different, each perfect and splendid, alive with sound and color.
I see the wise woman. She is old and black and walks with the aid of a beautifully carved stick. She speaks in song, in story, in dance. She lives in every herb.
I see the wise woman. And she sees me. She winks at me and spreads her arms.

"These are the ways of our grandmothers, the ancient ones. Every pain, every plant, every problem is cherished. Night is loved for darkness, day for light. Uniqueness is our treasure, not normalcy.

"These are the ways of our grandmothers, the ancient ones. Receive abundance with compassion, knowing you will be food for others. Know that dying is a portal just as birth is. Celebrate all comings and goings, they are the turnings of the spiral.

"These are the ways of our grandmothers, the ancient ones. The joy of life is the give- away. You are the center of your universe. You are the axis, life's matrix, the still point in the ever-moving. The designs of the universe radiate through you. You are god/dess, unique and whole."

I see the wise woman. And she sees me. She smiles from shrines in thousands of places. She is buried in the ground of every country. She flows in every river and pulses in the oceans. The wise woman's robe flows down your back, centering you in the ever-changing, ever-spiraling mystery.

Everywhere I look, the wise woman looks back. And she smiles.

Excerpt from Healing Wise by Susun S. Weed

For permission to reprint this article, contact us at: susunweed@herbshealing.com

 

Chickweed from Healing Wise

Dandylion Wine from Healing Wise

 

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~ BOOK REVIEW ~

Traveler's Joy
by Juliette de Bairacli Levy
Foreword by Helen and Scott Nearing
Paperback - 256 pages
Published by Ash Tree Publishing

Legendary teacher, traveler, and pioneer Juliette de Bairacli Levy is known for her many books on living in tune with the rhythms of nature and her mastery of herbal lore.

Back in print! This enchanting guide to the wonders of unfetered travel takes the reader far from the stress and clutter of travel agencies, time tables, and reservations to the timeless landscapes of the Gypsies and other birthright wanderers. Learn the secrets of survival, comfort, and enjoyment in forests, fields, or caves, and the exhilaration of the freedom of the wandering life, from the legendary Juliette de Bairacli Levy - famed for her mastery of herbal lore and her many books on living i tune wiht the rhythms of nature. From back cover of Traveler's Joy

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This magical book has made me want to shelve my responsibilities and hit the road! The author's enthusiasm and ability to embrace hardship and bounty alike are truly inspirational. I am encouraged to lighten my material load to provide space for the gifts that the simple life provides. Recipes, travel lore, herbal medicine, literary references, and personal observations make
this book an enjoyable read. Reviewed by Peggy Goddard, Spring 2002

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The cover says it all, "A Legendary Wayfarer's celebration of the delight's of the wondering life." This is a delightful and insightful book on the travelers life. It is a book of life and it's celebrations, it's travails, calamities and dangers. This book is about life, how to live and survive in a world free of travel agents, tickets, deadlines, timetables. You will learn of gypsy wanderers and others who have adopted this life style.

This is a different kind of travel book. This is a what to do, how to do kind of book. An easy read, comprehensive and delightful. It has an index and my only complaint is that there isn't much a list of what the herbs are used for in the index. Such a joy to read and perhaps plan a leisurely trip using tried and true age old methods of wandering. I was fascinated and know any reader would be, as well. Reviewed at Romance At It's Best by Nan H Doporto, May 29, 2002

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Juliette of the Herbs Collection

This collection includes three great herbal medicine books and one video by Juliette de Bairacli Levy, well-known as the "grandmother of herbal medicine."
Nature's Children is a classic book on natural childrearing; it includes remedies, recipes, and fascinating lore.
Traveler's Joy is a unique guide to finding the wild bounty in simple living; Juliette covers topics such as travel, water, dwellings, medicine, and food.
Common Herbs for Natural Health is an essential herbal with lore and uses for 200 herbs including cosmetic, culinary, and medical recipes.
Juliette of the Herbs, the exceptional video included in this collection will delight, entrance, and inspire!
20% savings YOURS for $45 ($55.80 value), plus shipping.

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Energy and Stamina the Wise Woman Way

 

c. 2002 Susun S Weed

If having enough energy to earn your daily bread and to get all your chores done is a struggle for you. If you go to bed tired, but wake up even more tired. If you can't get up and go without coffee, or can't slow down and relax without alcohol. If your fatigue is ruining your mood and your friendships. Then it's time to build energy and stamina the Wise Woman Way.

The Wise Woman Tradition nourishes optimum energy, and optimum health, by using safe simple nourishing herbal infusions, eating whole grains, and avoiding stimulants.

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is my favorite energizing infusion. It gives me the energy to work 14-15 hours a day on my dairy goat farm, train my apprentices, write books, run a publishing company and a workshop center, and fly all over the world to teach. I don't know how I could do so much otherwise.

I buy dried stinging nettle and prepare it like this: Put one ounce by weight in a quart canning jar. Fill the jar with boiling water, cap well, and allow to steep for four hours or overnight. Strain and enjoy. Refrigerate the remainder. Drink within 36 hours.

Because stinging nettle strengthens the kidneys and adrenals, it builds powerful energy from the inside out, and gives one amazing stamina. If you drink 4-5 quarts of nettle infusion weekly, you can expect to see results within 3-6 weeks.

There are no contraindications to the use of stinging nettle infusion. Side effects may include: thicker hair, softer skin, stronger veins, and greater delight in life.

Nourishing herbal infusions can be made with other herbs too. I like red clover blossoms, lots of anticancer protection there, as well as lots of phytoestrogens. And oatstraw, such a mellow brew, and it's so great for easing and nourishing the nerves. I also use chickweed, comfrey leaf, linden blossoms, and mullein as infusion herbs, depending on my need.

All nourishing herbal infusions are made as instructed above.

Whole grains are the backbone of a whole food diet. Because they break down much more slowly than refined (white) flour products, whole grains provide a "time release" capsule that allows you to work and work and work (or play and play and play, as you will). For more energy, eat more whole grains.

Notice which white flour products you currently use, and replace them with whole grain versions as you run out. Soon you'll be eating: whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bagels, whole wheat English muffins, whole wheat crackers (read boxes carefully), whole wheat pretzels, whole wheat cookies, whole wheat bread, brown rice, kasha, millet and more. The tastes and textures will bring new delights to your dining pleasure and well as lots of energy for you to do with as you will.

Avoid stimulants. For powerful stamina and lots of energy, we are well advised to avoid stimulants. Not just drug stimulants like cocaine or "speed," but herb and food stimulants too.

It is tempting to try to get more energy by using stimulants. But stimulants actually decrease overall energy. They provide fast fuel, but no steady flow of energy. Stimulants push us beyond our innate capacity. In effect, they make us work harder than we truly have the energy for, and thus deplete us at deep levels.

The energy-depleting effects of coffee, soft drinks, and white sugar products are cumulative. The more you try to get energy from these sources, the more tired you make yourself. The long-term consequences often include a profound fatigue.

Black pepper and spices such as cinnamon and cloves are acknowledged stimulants too, and, if overused (as in drinking chai daily) can also weaken the internal fires that give us energy.

Herbal stimulants such as ephedra (ma hang or Mormon tea), cayenne, ginseng, and guarana are also unlikely to help build real energy and stamina unless used sparingly and wisely.. Herbal stimulants may even be quite dangerous, especially when powdered and taken in gelatin caps. Water-based preparations of stimulating herbs (teas and soups) are usually the safest, and tinctures are next safest, unless standardized. Small amounts of these herbs taken occasionally are harmless enough. It is long-term use of stimulants that erodes healthy energy.

White sugar is one of the most common stimulants in the fast-food culture. We consume it in dozens of forms: corn syrup, cane sugar, "raw" sugar, fructose. I find that when the diet is rich in minerals, especially those in nourishing herbal infusions, whole grains, and yogurt, the desire for sweets is lessened and more easily satisfied with far less.

For energy and stamina everyday, plus the extra you need to deal with everyday emergencies, follow the Wise Woman Way: drink nourishing herbal infusions, such as stinging nettle, red clover, oatstraw, and chickweed.

For energy and stamina at home and on the road, plus the extra you need to deal with the constant stress, follow the Wise Woman Way: eat only whole grains: brown rice, wild rice, spelt, cornmeal, amaranth, quinoa, and edible wild seeds including lamb's quarter, nettle, and yellow dock.

For energy and stamina, the Wise Woman Way, rely on your own power, trust in your own bodies wisdom if it needs to say "no," and don't force the issue with stimulants (except on those very rare occasions when nothing else will do).

Energy and stamina the Wise Woman Way is simple, safe, successful, and fun. Congratulations for taking your health into your own hands.

Please ask for permission to use this article, write to us at susunweed@herbshealing.com

This article also appears at Awakenedwoman.com

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~ WEED WISE RECIPES ~

This month's Weed Wise Recipes are excerpt from
Nature's Children by Juliette de Bairacli Levy

Almond Milk
Hazlenut Biscuits
Carrot Flan
Oat Tart with Date filling
Recipes from Many Lands

Milk of Almonds, p. 120

The almond is, along with the maple, the king of trees, and the most medicinal. The wood is of exceptional strength. Its greatest medicinal asset is that it strengthens the immune system naturally, a much needed help in modern times. I have noted with interest how usual it is for nomad people to strengthen their children with almonds; and how robust are such children!

Shell and blanch organically grown almonds. (To blanch: pour hot water over the nuts and let sit long enough to loosen their skins, which must be rubbed off.) Then crush the blanched almonds. To every tablespoon of crushed almonds, add four tablespoons of warm water or milk. (I prefer milk.) Allow to stand for seven hours or so. Then strain the resultant almond milk through a sieve, pressing the pulp very well to extract all the milk. The milk is for infants; the pulp for older children and parents.

 

Carrot Flan, pg. 132

Ingredients: two cups finely grated raw carrot, six raw egg yolks, six tablespoons water, half teaspoon salt.

Well beat the egg yolks, water and salt. Next mix the prepared carrot into the egg mixture. Grease a casserole and pour in the mixture. Test for complete cooking with an inserted knife (see Spinach Omelette, page 131, for cooking directions). Serve cut in long strips.

 

Oat Tart with Date Filling, p. 135

Filling: two pounds stoned dates, one orange, one lemon (small).

Grate the peels off the orange and lemon, then squeeze out all the juice. Pour the juice over the dates in a pan and heat over low heat for about ten minutes until the dates have softened. Now mix the grated peels into this and set aside to cool.

Oat crust: four ounces butter, one tablespoon maple syrup, one cup milk, two cups flaked oats, half cup flour, half cup sugar.

Melt the butter, then add the syrup and the milk. Mix the dry ingredients separately. Finally, add the two mixtures together, mixing very completely to prevent lumpiness.

Grease a round baking tin, spread the oat crust in the bottom and cook for about twenty minutes at 350°F until a light brown color. When semi-cooked take from oven, press up the sides of the crust with a spoon, to make a low wall for the date filling. Now add filling into the tart and bake for a further ten minutes.

When still warm and soft, cut up into triangular portions of the typical tart shape. Allow the tart to set before removing the portions from the baking tin.

 

 

Hazelnut Biscuits (England), p. 135

Ingredients: half pound hazelnuts, two ounces each of powdered sugar and unbleached or whole wheat flour, three eggs, juice of one lemon, rind of one lemon, one teaspoon honey.

Grind the hazelnuts to a fine four in a blender, food processor, or clean coffee mill. Combine with the sugar, mixing well until a paste is formed. Then stir in the flour, again mixing very well. Beat the eggs; add lemon juice and rind, then beat the honey into the mixture. Fold all ingredients together into one solid mass. Take teaspoon quantities of the mixture and drop onto a baking sheet greased with butter. Bake in a slow oven (350°F) until the biscuits are hard and crisp.

Photo from Nature's Children by Juliette de Bairacli Levy

 

Recipes from Many Lands
by Juliette de Bairacli Levy

Excerpt from Nature's Children, pg. 113-115

The bookshelves of libraries and private houses are filled with cookbooks and there is really no need to add to them--especially no need as few of the recipes seem to be followed; in most homes the same foods are served day after day through the years!

Also, who am I to give recipes when I very seldom serve a meal of cooked food, and further have never possessed, nor needed, a kitchen in my various homes. I am not a dedicated cook, but I am interested in food.

The several dozen recipes which I offer now are, I think, mostly new, collected on my travels and kept because they are healthful as well as good tasting; none is complicated, for I have never had time to waste on elaborate cooking. Most of our meals have been entirely uncooked (apart from sun heat), and the few cooked things have been done Gypsy or Bedouin style, over wood fires, or very occasionally over a small oil stove.

Throughout this book [Nature's Children] I have stressed my belief in the health values of unfired foods, so it would be inconsistent to give many recipes for cooked ones. Only, as the modern child demands some cooked foods and will seek them elsewhere if entirely deprived of such food in the home, I have decided to include such recipes. The cereals, with the exception of barley and young corn on the cob, have to be cooked for digestion by people.

It should be remembered that our primitive ancestors of magnificent bone and teeth, as found in ancient burial places, lived on uncooked foods; there was no sign of cooking on the shards of food utensils found at these primitive sites. And in biblical times, when such mighty deeds were performed, there was no reference to breakfast, only a simple midday meal and, when work was done and the heat of the day over, a substantial meal.

On the topic of eating Nature foods while away from home, "Johnny Turk" in World War I fought for days with only a meager ration of dried raisins which he kept inside his army cap! And one of the longest keeping wild foods, which possibly could be imported from the Middle East, is dom berries from the wild shrub called "Christ thorn." This is an ancient travel food of the wandering Bedouins, and the Israelite warriors used it in the Roman Wars, when they often had to survive for long periods without food, when in hiding or when ambushing the enemy. These berries are very light when dried and keep for years. They have a pleasant taste resembling a mixture of apples and dates. I carried quantities when I was on sea travels with my children and natural foods were difficult to get.

Quite a number of recipes for sweets are given, as children do demand sweet foods. It seems that all creatures of great energy, such as bees, wasps, ants, even horses show this great desire for sweet things, and the human child is no exception. But the sweets that they will buy in shops are mostly made from highly refined sugar (cheapness and keeping qualities being the prime consideration); and in the refining process the natural vitamin and mineral content is mostly eliminated. The remaining elements, the carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, forage around in the human system, seeking to combine with other elements, and in that way depriving the body cells. Therefore, when sugar is called for in a recipe, use unrefined "raw" sugar or evaporated cane juice sugar (available in health food stores).

Many parents look on sugar as deadly for their children, and try to deprive them totally of this food. The result often is to create a defiant craving, which I have witnessed quite often. Therefore my advice is, give sugar in moderation, and make use of our delicious natural sugars, such as honey and maple sugar.

The Native Americans (bless them for their ancient wisdom), call the maple tree the king of the trees. They have reason for their high estimation. It is my favorite of the sugars.

However, when giving my children the "fancy" foods I do sympathize with the leader of the Spartan athletes who used to ask people bearing trays of sweetmeats to the conquering athletes to take them away before the Spartans enjoyed them and thus had their appetites for natural foods corrupted!

This chapter closes with a few recipes for pleasant-scented things to make for the children, such as face cream, hair tonic and herbal tooth powders.

Juliette of the Herbs Collection

This collection includes three great herbal medicine books and one video by Juliette de Bairacli Levy, well-known as the "grandmother of herbal medicine."
Nature's Children is a classic book on natural childrearing; it includes remedies, recipes, and fascinating lore.
Traveler's Joy is a unique guide to finding the wild bounty in simple living; Juliette covers topics such as travel, water, dwellings, medicine, and food.
Common Herbs for Natural Health is an essential herbal with lore and uses for 200 herbs including cosmetic, culinary, and medical recipes.
Juliette of the Herbs, the exceptional video included in this collection will delight, entrance, and inspire!
20% savings YOURS for $45 ($55.80 value), plus shipping.

 

 

NEW LINKS to check out...

http://www.cancure.org/ The Cure Research Foundation is dedicated to the advancement of healing without drugs. We began in 1976 with a special focus on cancer, and our cancer division is the backbone of our current program. In March 2002, we decided to cover other health disorders as well. As funding permits, we will be offering counseling services for each of the following conditions: Aids, Alzheimer's, arthritis, diabetes, heart and circulatory disorders, neurological disorders, and pathogen-related diseases. As soon as we have the funds, we will open divisions to provide information on each of these conditions.

http://www.foxmtnpublishing.com This is where a small farmer can go for answers. Lots of information on basic goat, chicken and pig care. This is the place to start for the beginning farmer. The books are full of adventures told by these novice farmers who came from the big-city and survived the adventure. Don't miss the On-The-Farm Newsletter where folks share stories, recipes, learn how others live on the farm through real on-the-farm interviews. Our mission is to advance the image of small-farmers through the education and sharing of real-life experiences.

http://www.trinityherb.com Trinity Herb, a wholesale distributor, offers a diverse variety of organic herbs, spices, teas, essential oils, body care products, books, and supplies. Their facility, in Sebastopol, CA is certified "organic" by Quality Assurance International. Certification allowed Trinity to maintain standards and integrity between growers and consumers. For 25 years, Trinity¹s knowledge of the herbal marketplace promotes successful business relationships with organic farmers. They continue to expand the accessibility of herbs and spices that have not been available as certified organic. Check out "Herbal Forum" and the Herbal Voices Newsletter available on their website.

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com WILD FOOD! Learn about edible and medicinal wild vegetables, herbs, greens, fruits, berries, nuts, seeds, and mushrooms with NYC's favorite naturalist, "Wildman" Steve Brill. Website includes lots of recipes and interesting mushroom facts. Find out about his public Wild Food and Ecology tours in local parks, and the work he does with kids. Site includes book excerpts and botanical artwork, plus more.

http://www.medicinalherbplants.com Crimson Sage Nursery is a small family operated nursery that sprang from a life long interest and fascination with Medicinal Herbs. Located in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, Oregon, they believe in the magic of Healing Herbs. This magic comes from the strong sense of connection and interdependence you create in the growing, and collecting of the herbs. Also visit: http://www.crimson-sage.com

http://www.ladybuglive.com/ Something new, an Internet radio station designed specifically for Internet broadcast and specifically for the needs and interests of women. We are no single audio site, with one or two scratchy files, but a real radio station where you can find interesting programming 24/7. LadybugLive is part of a network of radio offerings from IA-Connections.com and has sister sites at www.LadybugFlights.com (an eZine) and www.LadybugBooks.com (a community of writers, book store, and more). LadybugLive is "Radio On Demand". Come hear what you are missing!

Know of a good site to recommend?

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Herbal Medicine Chest

Plantain (Plantago major)
Gathering and Preservation of Herbs

Excerpt from Common Herbs for Natural Health
by Juliette de Bairacli Levy

Excerpt from Common Herbs for Natural Health by Juliette de Bairacli Levy
Materia Medica--Common Herbs, p. 122

Plantain
Plantago major. Plantaginacaea

Found on wasteland and in fields. But will grow anywhere, even in the middle of a pathwat. Its leaves are in flat rosettes, and are oval or lanceolate and prominently veined. (The name of this herb is derived from planta, foot, owing to the flat form of the leaves.) The flowering spike is peculiar and has a look of slender bulrush in its narrow form and brownish flowers massed together in a narrow spike. Plantain is an old-fashioned herb and a favorite of the American Indians and Gypsies everywhere. The latter used to do a profitable trade peddling plantain ointment as a general cure-all.
~ Use, internal: The leaves and root yield a soothing and healing mucilage which is somewhat like linseed, but even more powerfully medicinal. Valuable in ailments where internal inflammation has developed. For dysentery, diarrhea, ulcers, fevers. Used internally and externally to treat diseases of the urinary organs, including syphilis, and to check excessive discharges from the body, whether from the bowels or the uterus.
~ Use, external: Gives speedy relief when applied to all kinds of bites and stings, and has been used against all kinds of bites, ranging from dogs, snakes, scorpions, and poisonous spiders to ants. Excellent for all skin ailments, wounds, sores, ulcers, skin rashes, eczema, erysipelas, boils, abscesses, scalds and burns, the crushed leaves being applied direct. For application to piles, aching teeth, inflamed eyes (using the root or leaves). Plantain is also used very successfully as a poultice herb.
~ Dose: Eat a few young leaves, sliced, raw in the daily salad. Or make a Standard Brew of the finely cut leaves or from the sliced root; the root requires boiling for approximately five minutes and then steeping for several hours. Take a wineglass of the brew of either leaves or root, morning and night.
Externally: As a poultice, apply either pulped leaves or crushed and boiled roots, hot, on pieces of linen, and bind into place. Plantain ointment can be made by pounding up plantain leaves and mixing them into melted cold cream or warm vegetable fat.

Excerpt from Common Herbs for Natural Health by Juliette de Bairacli Levy
Chapter 1, pp. 1-10

Gathering, Preparing, and Preserving Herbs

The most healthful way to use herbs is to gather them fresh from the countryside, or fresh from the herb garden. However, as the majority of herbs are not evergreen, some drying and storing is necessary to keep supplies available for medicines throughout the year, especially in hot, dry climates where the green periods of the plant life is brief.

For gathering of herbs the following rules should be followed: A general law is that all plants should be gathered during the time where they are at the peak of their growth, usually during the spring and early summer months. The best gathering hours are in the early morning after evaporation of dew. Herbs gathered when dew-wet are not suitable for drying, as they will turn moldy. The same applies to rain-wet herbs. Also, when gathering for drying it is best to take the herbs at the time of month when the moon is waning, in the early days of the waning. At such times there is less sap in the foliage and stems, and the herbs dry more easily.

The following rules are applicable to the different parts of plants required for medicinal use:
Leaves should be picked when young. Newly opened leaf buds possess concentrated medicinal powers. Yellowed, faded leaves, mottled or insect-bitten ones should not be used. Snip off all stalks.
Flowers should be gathered in their first opening and before being visited by bees and other insects. Faded, wilting and insect-eaten flowers should not be picked. As with leaves, snip off stalks when required for drying.

Seeds should be left to sun-ripen as much as possible, ripening on the plant, but watch should be kept to ensure gathering before seed dispersal by wind or other means. Yellowing leaves are often an indication of ripened seeds.

Roots are best gathered for drying when the sap rises in the early spring, although they may also be taken after the plant sheds its leaves in the autumn or winter. Gather when the moon is waxing full; the roots are more tender then.

Barks, as with roots, should be gathered in the early spring or autumn. So as not to damage the shrubs or trees, bark should be taken from the big branches only, which can be sawn off the shrub or tree before the outer bark (and sometimes the inner layers) are collected from them.

Note. It is necessary to give a warning nowadays concerning chemical poison sprays used on weeds and other herbs. When gathering herbs, care should be taken that they have not been sprayed. Now that poison spraying is often operated from the air, the danger to medicinal herbs is considerable.

Read more excerpts from Common Herbs for Natural Health by Juliette de Bairacli Levy.

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Legal Disclaimer: This content is not intended to replace conventional western medical treatment. Any suggestions made and all herbs listed are not intended to diagnose, treat,cure or prevent any disease, condition or symptom. Personal directions and use should be provided by clinical herbalist or other qualified healthcare practitioner with a specific formula for you. All material on this website/email is provided for general information purposes only and should not be considered medical advice or consultation. Always check with your personal physician when you have a question pertaining to your health and healthcare.

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