Kvass for Beginners: Easy Probiotics for Digestion and Immunity
Full of lactic acid, anti-oxidants, and digestive fire, kvass is an old tonic fermented either from rye bread or beetroot. It’s a household mainstay in Eastern Europe, and is sold commercially in multiple countries. Recipes are simple enough to make at home.
Rhodiola rosea Energetics: TCM, Ayurveda, Western Herbalism
Stout, sunny, and strong, Rhodiola rosea or Roseroot is a steadfast friend through cold, dark times. We humans have been partnering with Rhodiola for centuries to help us survive and even thrive in climates and conditions that are particularly cold and weakening, heavy and challenging, dark and unbalanced…in a word: Stressful. Modern herbalists reach for […]
Better Bittering for Beers: Brewing Better Herbal Beers
Hops have been the bittering herbs for beer for a few centuries now. In more recent years here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s as if brewers have gotten drunk off the bitter Hops brings to the feremeter- Extreme IPA has become the standard beer here, with extreme being the important element in that moniker. These beers are quite medicinal in strength. Between the higher alcohol levels that draw higher levels of medicinal constituents out of the hops and the sheer volume of hops brewers are using, Extreme IPA beers are starting to taste more like tinctures than like beers. If that’s your jam, great. But, if hops isn’t the best herb for you, it’ll come as a relief to know that there are a lot of other herbs you can try!
Calendula Benefits: Sunny Herbal Remedy Tea for Skin Comfort
Chapped skin, infected wounds, diaper rash, and eczema all relax under calendula’s care. Most herb lovers have made a simple salve or lotion with calendula in it. Both varicose veins and hemorrhoids do well with topical treatments of calendula.
Making Honey into Wine: Mead for Herbalists
Mead, strictly speaking, is made with honey, water, and yeast. Nothing more. It’s a fabulously medicinal and Divinely Delicious medicine in its own right. Truly, I could write a book just on the virtues of Mead, as have many enthusiasts and experts already done. Mead combines the medicinal properties of Honey, which are plentiful, with the gut-friendly medicine of fermentation. A glass a day of mead can help improve digestive health and prevent a wide variety of digestive complaints.
Kombucha Howto: Fermented Home Remedies for Herbalists
It’s come to my attention recently that many folks don’t know what Kombucha is. I was shocked, but upon reflecting over the past decade since I first began drinking it I realized that it wasn’t until I moved out to Eugene, Hippy-Capital of the World, that I discovered this amazing fermentation.
How to Home Brew: Easy Dandelion Porter, Malt Extract Herbal Beer
The Dandelion tops in this recipe offer a good liver-supporting element that offsets the challenges alcohol offers the liver and supporting systems. You can substitute Dandelion Root for tops using the same quantities. Dandelion is a terrific and easy Hop-substitute for home brew!
Berries as Herbal Medicine: Links, Videos, Berry Herbal Remedies
Berries don’t get a ton of credit for their medicinal power. Maybe that’s because they’re so tasty, or because it’s easy to overlook that which is rather small. Tiny doesn’t always mean insignificant or weak. Medicinal Berries offer a plethora of healing and preventative qualities we can use to make Herbal Medicine an every day […]
Garden by Constitution: Planting for Your Family
Gardens, like diet and exercise, are all highly individual. They need to be. What’s worked so well for my friend, Master Gardener Sue Sierralupe, for instance, seems to fail miserably for me even though her techniques are proven and so many of them are super easy. Why? Because she gardens in a way that matches her personality, physicality, and energy. She’s naturally matched her garden to her constitution, and it works brilliantly!
Cranberry for Phytochemical Protection: How it works
Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait) is one of the most cultivated fruits in the western upper regions of North America. Today bogs and terms like “superfruit” are associated with cranberry. But only within the past few decades has the phytochemical composition of cranberry been widely recognized and studied. Now it is known among the scientific community as a viable antioxidant and a treatment for urinary tract infections.
Schizandra Berry formulas based on Traditional Chinese Medicine
The schisandra berry is a delightful, and delicious, addition to an herbalist’s toolkit. Before I describe in detail all the abilities and applications of this herb, I want to share my personal experience of schisandra.
Herbal Iced Tea for Electrolytes: Herbal Home Remedies for Summer
If you’ve ever made sun tea, you know all about how simple it is to create a little herbal luxury. Herbal Iced Teas, which are a variety of sun teas, are amazingly easy to brew. What you may not realize is that herbal luxury can also be a powerful ally against dehydration and electrolyte imbalance in summer’s heat. The bonus is Herbal Iced teas are super low-cost to brew.