A cold spring but verdant!

Easter is this weekend: while I'm don't celebrate Easter as such, I do present it for the holiday it is. It is meant to celebrate rebirth of the son, the sun, the land, the green.... there is a facebook picture going around showing Ishtar and correcting their perception of an Easter that celebrates only the Christian holiday. I appreciate this but it's also, in its own way, incorrect. Easter is, in northern European countries, based on Oestara. Oestara is alternately the goddess figure of spring and the pagan/ Wiccan/ proto-Christian celebration of spring itself. Usually it is on the Vernal Equinox (last week of course) because the date was based on a celestial occurrence that could be noted from year to year. I celebrate the equinox with Easter baskets, decorated eggs, lots of yummy food and too much frenzied gardening! Don't you??
According to Karen Pendleton, down the road of all the asparagus fame, we are at least two weeks behind growing schedule! I bought and am installing floating row covers for my vegetable patch. I grow in raised beds and large trees encroaching on my space. So we push it. And I especially love early season cold/ cole crops. This means I grow lots of lettuce, spinach, arugula, and kale. I'm finally to the point where I think my soil is friable (loose, rich) enough to grow carrots. My kids are absolutely in love with snow peas and sugar snaps so I've added lots of those in their honor!

from michaelweishan.com

Floating row covers are invaluable around here. Many people use them to keep pests out, as they are permeable, allowing air and water to move through. But I'm using them to get the soil warmed up sooner. Since I'm putting them on seeds that have yet to germinate, I'm laying it directly on soil. I'll suspend them a bit when the seedlings emerge.

Herb Update:
This season, I'm growing calendula again. Many of my supposedly annual calendula is still alive and green. Well. Huh. I'm planting more since my calendula oil was such a success last year. Golden yellow/orange and vibrant. I didn't dry my blooms, even though reputable sources say "dry the blooms completely!" (Mountain Rose Herbs blog). Other reputable sources (Susun Weed) simply say, eh, dry 'em a bit. I did that. I let them sit for 6-8 hours. It's oil.... nothing to be taken internally.
I have a HUGE amount of medicinal yarrow this year. As in- want a transplant?? Give me a holler, hit me up. I'll say yes. It's a lot. I've got it in front in multiple places and a large amount in a vegetable bed that must be transplanted soon!
I'm sowing St. John's Wort seeds this next week with a new helper of mine. She is a mom of two and on her own journey- and she'd like to learn about herbs. So I'm getting her to come explore with me: we are going to plant StJW, wildcraft nettles in a few weeks, transplant echinacea and yarrow. She's going to start learning about infusions, decoctions, infused oils and tinctures (vinegar, alcohol, glycerine). Doesn't that sound fun? Really- this is giving lots of discipline to personally "get it together". Organize my herbal bookshelves, make up a syllabus and ways to present the information effectively. I'm a natural teacher but an employed landscape designer, so this is wonderful for me!
On another note: here is the powerpoint from the presentation I did at the Flower, Lawn and Garden show in KC last week. Use it as a guide to basic landscape design- within your theme or not! Please feel free to contact me if you have landscape/ design questions! Listen to me live this Saturday on Jeremy Taylor's "About the House" radio show, AM 1320.

Apple Cider Vinegar, Burdock and tinctures

Good morning to you all,
I've taken a long time to get to this next post. Why? It's complicated.
I'm working on this right now: anxiety. How to deal with this holistically? What can I do to minimize my anxiety and transferring to those around me? I will accept any advice on this whole anxiety matter. I'm trying very hard to veer away from pharmaceuticals. While I really believe that there are SO many people who are helped by these, I believe that my emotional state is situational (child induced) and changing. Therefore, a whole biological upheaval of SSRI is not my idea of a good time. Also, my kids are making me bonkers. Martini time anyone?

Apple Cider Vinegar
Well beyond that, you all have asked that I talk about Apple Cider Vinegar! I need to talk about Burdock and nourishing strategies for your winter body. Maybe you are dry, tired and overwrought? Oh, that's just me.
Firstly, let me say that I don't "take" cider vinegar. I don't want to down a spoonful with water. Just don't want to. Many of you do... good work. However, I use cider vinegar for herbal infusions or herbal tinctures. Many herbs that work well in vinegar include edible, culinary herbs. Do you see where I'm going with this? Vinegar is another substance that can act as a tincture medium. It sucks the juices and good stuff out of your magic plant and saves it for a nice bowl of beans! I use vinegars anytime I make beans, meat soups, veggies stir-fry, salads, etc. Apple cider vinegar is famous for releasing calcium in everything.... you heard that right. It makes calcium available. That is miraculous since calcium is a tricky thing to absorb from most foods. Though I love green food, I do not love cooked greens (mustard, chard, kale). I need it mixed and not as it's own dish. It's just... not for me. And it is the primo source for absorb-able calcium!! So I do vinegars instead.
I use culinary herbs- thyme, rosemary, dill with edible flowers for zing! I use calendula flowers and nasturtium most frequently.

Motherwort, wot.

I use motherwort in vinegar. Leonurus cardiaca...Ever use it? It is a superb mood ally for the stressed out mothers among us. It does not harm men to take it- it has no hormonal effect but is calming. I LOVE IT. It is a "weed" that grows in alleys. It has a toothed leaf and appeared in my alley in KCKS. [Miss you, 'Dotte! But not really.] It's another in the large, in charge mint family. Laminaceae. Seems to be annual- but self sows seriously and will just keep setting itself out. But the whole plant seems to do a Borage and bloom itself unto death.









I use echinacea vinegar. I don't want to belabor the benefits of echinacea but it is a tried-and-true immune booster. Not for daily use, but for instances where you feel compromised and about to get sick, it will help you out. Take a break after 7 days or so. Listen to it- put echinacea tincture on your countertop. When you feel it calling you, take it. If you're getting sick and you know it, a dropperful every hour for a day. See if it helps.
Other herbal vinegars I enjoy: Melissa officinalis (Lemon Balm)- yummy and lifts the spirit! Pepper vinegar- lots of good capsicum for the internals. Dandelion- oh my yes. I eat the greens in the spring when tender, always making sure to pick from a totally unsprayed section of land. I dig and use the root and leaves in fall for vinegar. It is a stomach tonic- keeping your hydrochloric acid in good shape (this is digestive juice folks). [Note: If you're taking antacids, please stop! This kills your digestive juices.] So dandelion helps fix ulcers and other stomach owies. And is an incredible source of minerals- vitamin A, C, potassium, iron and more. Research it if you have a delicate stomach!

Burdock

Please note that I found burdock leaf vinegar inedible. Too bitter for me! I really have a relationship with burdock root and am taking the tincture daily right now. I love it- it is a deep, dark healer or ally for the liver and kidneys. But I use the root only. The leaf is just... WOOF. I use it in floral arrangements. :)
So Burdock: It has huge, huge hairy coarse leaves and an enormously long taproot. It loves to grow near rocky ledges, walls and disturbed areas. It loves old foundations and will be very hard to dig out. I have a whole trip on getting burdock root out of the ground--- want to hear it?

To dig Burdock:
** I wait for the first few freezes in the fall.
** I go out on a nice sunny, frosty morning with my narrow shovel and choose big second year plants. (I think other burdock aficionados have a different take on this... I could be doin' it wrong!) Burdock has a two year life span. Second year plants are meatier and larger and produce more bang for your sweating, digging buck.
** I dig in a circle around the base, not too wide but three inches out from it.  Then I keep going deeper around, pushing soil up with my shovel. If you are too quick, you will just break the root and have nothing to show for it. If you are patient and listen to your plant charge, you will see what is happening. It will come loose. Points that you will not like: most Burdock grows in rocky places. It's gonna be a bit precarious. You'll need to dig up a few plants to get the right amount- I'm talking 5-8 plants. I want to gather a whole quart jar full of this root. It will be very muddy (don't dig when it's too dry- impossible). I soak them in a bucket outside- I've learned that mucking up the sink sucks. Scrub these roots- they hold dirt particles. I then cut up the roots into pieces and cover the whole jar in vodka. I tincture in a special way- it is the Hal Sears method!

Taking burdock:
To get the medicinal support from burdock root, choose your medium. Vinegar, if you don't want alcohol: tincture, if you don't mind the alcohol flavor or the root itself as a food. The Chinese use this in soups and stews (see Gobo root). I use tincture and I take it three times a day for 6 weeks. The I take a break. I usually switch to a root vinegar to continue to get the healing effects. Burdock works slowly and methodically. It will not bowl you over with quick changes. But my skin shows a noticeable improvement whenever I choose to holistically support my liver. I choose not to take a handful of pills to help my liver- the liver sees through this!! It knows you're wanting a fast fix and will probably give you the stink eye. Your liver is one of the most important organs in your body and, along with your kidneys, will let you know when it is exhausted from your bad lifestyle choices (or from whatever else, medication, children, career= stress). Yep I said bad. Judging!


To tincture:
How Hal tinctured: he didn't use grain alcohol and ratios to figure it out. He just used vodka- local cheap stuff from Weston, MO in plastic jug (McCormick, locavore). This produces a tincture that is strong but not too strong. Make sure your jar is packed full with plant material. He and I cover all the plant material with vodka, no open space at the top of the jar. Seal it with a jar lid (you may use wax paper to prevent corrosion; vinegar is the worst!) and let it sit for 6 weeks in a dark place. Shake it as often as you think of it. Label it with the date you harvested and made the tincture. Decant it when it is done; rinse and squeeze the plant material to get all the *stuff* out of it. Add the pummy back into the vodka tincture. Label accordingly.