Balsamic Spice Brandy Cordial Recipe
The winter landscape offers little warming gifts if you know where to look. Balsamic Brandy is a lovely spirit lifter on a cold day whose lip smacking goodness comes from our conifer friends. Most people do not think of spruce, pine or fir needles as a spice for infused cordials but these wonderful trees are […]
Hawthorn Jelly Recipe
Who says heart-healthy can’t be absolutely tasty, too? This simple jelly made with Haws and Chili Peppers is one of our favorites. Sweet and spicy, this is the kind of medicine that does the heart good. This recipe makes approximately 9 cups (2 l). Ingredients 1.5 lbs. (0.7 kg) fresh haws, preferably after a freeze […]
31.Herbal Tree Medicines
We herbalists often get caught up in looking down at the bounty of medicinal plants at our feet, so much so we forget to look up. When we stop to look up, our tree friends are right there ready to share their medicine. Today, we’ll be talking about Herbal Tree Medicines you’ll find at home, in your back yard, and everywhere else.
How to make Herbal Bath Soaks an easy gift to create
Herbal Bath Soaks are surprisingly effective ways to tame both tension and pain. They take just a small amount of time to make and yet can melt away the worries of the day in only a few minutes. Those that know their secrets, use them regularly. Those that haven’t tried yet, quickly become fans after […]
How to make Holiday Pomanders – Cloven Fruit
The pomanders of my youth were made by pushing an endless bowl of cloves into what seemed to be an oversized orange. These pomanders retain the lovely scent of spiced citrus but have a bit more variety and take much less time to create. This DYI includes instructions to prevent molding. Those of us that […]
How to make Chili Pepper Ornaments
Bright red peppers shine merrily against the deep green of holiday trees. This ornament is basically a tiny ristra for decorating. It is easy to make and can be made more fancy depending on the artistic skill of the maker. The supplies are inexpensive and probably already in your cupboards. My mother made a box […]
How to make Ristras – Chili Pepper Strings
Ristras are traditional way to dry chili peppers for later use. The ristras that are available in farms stands in the American southwest can be up to 5 feet in length. Many households do not need that many peppers. These small ristras are simpler and smaller versions of the larger mesoamerican chili pepper strings. These […]
30.Easy Herbal Gifts to Make at Home
As the holidays draw near, herbalists everywhere are looking for ways to spread a little holiday cheer. The easy herbal gifts we’ll be discussing today are sure to bring a smile to faces young and old. Join us as we talk about our favorite Make-at-home Herbal Holiday projects.
Wave-O’s Dog Food: Affordable, Easy, Nutritious Raw Recipe
Over a decade ago, I met David Wave-o Howell, the then maker of Wave-o’s Pet Food. My dogs fell in absolute love with his frozen Raw Foods Diet. When Wave-o’s Pet Foods closed it’s doors after 17 years in the business of feeding canines, David was kind enough to share his Raw Foods recipe with […]
Cannabis: Potent and Versatile Medicine
Cannabis (C. sativa, C. indica, C. ruderalis) – Cannabis family a.k.a.: marijuana, hemp, ganja, charas, quinbu, koaba, q’neh bosm, kannabos, chanvre, hanf, caanvas, weed, pot, hash, countless more… For roughly 8000 years, mankind has cultivated cannabis. Unlike the wars we’ve waged over medicinal and recreational cannabis in the past century, our history has often been […]
Cannabis: Herb of Mystics
For centuries, cannabis has been a popular and, until recently in human history, cheap medicine. It was used in ancient Egypt, India, Africa, China, Japan, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and even Europe for many of the same complaints our modern scientists and doctors are beginning to address with it today. Generalized pain, neuropathy, and pain from various […]
Chili Pepper: History’s Hot Pepper
While cayenne chili peppers have enjoyed the most attention in recent years, chilies in general have been beloved for their medicinal and magical qualities for centuries. Archeologists have found the remains of chilies in dig sites in the Tehuacan Valley, Mexico, as old as 9000 years. South America and the southern areas of Mexico have […]