Category: Nourishment
Mythical Mushrooms & Dark Magic Reishi Tuffles
It’s summer in Appalachia and there is endless rain. Some days it has poured from grey dawn to greyer twilight, the sound of it like trees harshly arguing. It’s become a rhythm: the rain, the rain. Last week, it reached a pitch. The soil was saturated; every step raised small lakes of footprints. Low…
Oh, Roses: Medicine, Magic & Honey
On the craggy side of our driveway, arching over a rusty fence, there is a rose bush that has grown wild. Once upon a time, I imagine, it was planted by a quiet, well-mannered couple. Decent, hardworking folks who placed that bush, square and manageable, at the far end of their placid yard and…
Avena Sativa: The Warm Weather Medicine of Milky Oats
We’ve slipped into one of the most delicious times of the year– that liminal, lofty space between spring and summer. The raucous rush of springtime ephemerals has died down, leaving a haphazard cascade of petals dissolving beneath the trees. And yet, the hot days of dry grasses and hibiscus have yet to arrive….
Spring Cleansing & Eating Wild Greens
Spring is the season of renewal. It is a time for cleansing, releasing, letting go of all that which you kept and counted and swaddled throughout the long winter months. Every spring, the thaw has each of us dropping the heavy robes of winter, and inviting in something entirely new. In the forest, flowers…
How to Make Herbal Love Potions: Infused Honeys, Elixirs & Aphrodisiac Recipes
I thought I’d share some of the more delicious material from my Love Potions class last night at Villagers. It was an intimate group of old comrades and new friends, gathered together to smell and taste a whole chest of aphrodisiacs… as well as chocolates, elixirs, flower essences and the ambiance of a most…
Fall Harvest & Deep Colors
Autumn has passed swiftly. In one momentous sweep the mountains around my home turned from yellow, to gold, to amber, to ruby and then finally– with a last groan– to earth and brown. Here in the Blue Ridge we watch steadily for that first bit of color. It seeps down from the top…
Herbally Healing Bronchitis // sick days & making syrup
So, I got bronchitis last week. On Sunday I suddenly felt a damp bog settle into my chest. Monday the cough began and Tuesday the fever set in. The rest of the week was spent bemoaning my existence and grappling with the three-headed dog of misery that is respiratory illness (as well as trying to…
Herbal Aphrodisiacs
In sensuous honor of the upcoming holiday, I thought I’d reblog an article I wrote for the most recent issue of A Green Beauty. I hope you enjoy… Throughout history, people have gone to great lengths to cultivate and consume herbal aphrodisiacs. Some aphrodisiacs, like cacao, have become objects of such mass…