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Materia Medica: Pine
Just in time for cold and flu season, comes a delightful herb from your backyard chock full of Vitamin C, an important nutrient for our immune health. Learn more about this coniferous ally, the Pine Tree, in today’s video! There are over 60 species of Pine growing in North America, and the needles of all can be used medicinally. In Florida, some of my favorite pine to work with are Longleaf Pine – Pinus palustris – and Loblolly Pine – Pinus taeda. Method of Preparation: Needles & Sheathes: Infusion, Vinegar Sap: Salves, Poultices, Liniments & Topical Preparations Herbalist Susun Weed recommends a delicious vinegar tincture to extract and preserve the…
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Materia Medica: Papaya
Papaya, or Carica papaya, is a commonly known fruit that also offers lots of healing benefits. Check out more at the link above. How have YOU used Papaya? Let us know in the comments below.
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Materia Medica: Vitex
Vitex or Chaste Tree, latin name Vitex agnus-castus, is a gentle yet powerful balancing herb for the endocrine system – aka your hormones. As one of the herbs we meet and discuss in our Roots of Herbalism course, and our Home Study version of that program, as well as an herb that grows well in Florida’s climate, we are delighted to share this herb with you today. How have YOU used Vitex? Leave us your experiences in the comments below.
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Making Your Own Herbal Tinctures
From our Roots of Herbalism Home Study video, we explore Tinctures today – how to make your own concentrated, liquid herbal extracts using alcohol like brandy or vodka, vegetable glycerine, or apple cider vinegar. In today’s video, we explore making tinctures using the Simpler’s method. If you enjoy this video, you can learn more about tinctures in our Roots of Herbalism class. The next live session will be held November 14 & 15 in Orlando, and we also offer the course as a home study curriculum. Register for our November live course using the code ROOTSDISCOUNT before November 5th and receive a $50 discount off tuition PLUS Rosemary Gladstar’s book…
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Water Prayers
Herbalist Emily Ruff brings her reflections on the healing powers of water, and the power of focusing our collective energy on gratitude and healing the Earth’s waters, in this video from a spring atop Sage Mountain in Vermont. Looking for more information on Water Justice after watching this video? Visit www.FoodandWaterWatch.org, or see our review of the movie FLOW. One of our favorite groups, Rising Appalachia, recently shared a new song in collaboration with The Dogon Lights that celebrates the beauty, mystery, and healing power of water. “Water she gathers on solid ground Water a memory yet to be found Water she wanders through my bones Water she dances, dances…
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A Fiery Conversation
On Saturday January 25, I taught my Roots of Herbalism students the health virtues of cayenne, garlic, and ginger as part of the Materia Medica section for their weekend class. My long-time favorite combination of this “holy trinity” of healing herbs is Fire Cider, a delicious remedy steeped in apple cider vinegar with variations of other warming, spicy allies like turmeric, horseradish, or onion. It moves energy into and pathogens out of the body, boasting reliable results in preventing illness and shortening the duration of infection and congestion. This preparation of these strong-personality herbs is ideal, because they can often be aggressively strong to taste raw when I’m feeling down…
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