Dandelion, A Common Spring Garden Herb

Taraxacum officinale

Also, Known As:

Blow Ball
Cankerwort
Dandelion
Lion’s Tooth
Pissabed
Priest’s-crown
Puff Ball
Pu Gong Ying
Pu-kung-ying
Swine Snout
Telltime
White Endive
Wild Endive

The dandelion is a common garden herb, with easily recognized flowers. During the spring season, the leaves and the root of the dandelion begin to produce mannitol, which is a substance utilized in the treatment of conditions such as hypertension and a weakened heart in continental Europe – where it is often prescribed by herbalist for patients with these conditions. An herbal dandelion tea made using the roots and the leaves of the herb are good to take from about the mid of March to about mid-May in the treatment of such conditions. Prepare the herbal dandelion tea in this way, first, boil a quart of water in a pot, slowly reduce the heat and then add 2 tbsp. of cleaned and chopped fresh…

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Working Deeply with Water: Waters of the World Shrine and Sacred Waters

The Druid's Garden

Primal Water from the Plant Spirit Oracle

In the druid tradition, water represents the west, the place of emotions and intuition, the place of our ancestors and of the honored dead. Water is often connected with the salmon of wisdom, the salmon who dwells in a sacred pool, offering his wisdom to those who seek him. Water may serve as a gateway to other worlds and as a tool for scrying. Water can be used as a tool understand flows of all kinds. You can study flowing water through observation, fishing, boating or swimming and connected with in order to help us understand deep insights. Snow and ice can likewise, be used as spiritual tools. Water-based animals like turtles, fish, salamanders, dragonflies or water-based plants like cattail, calamus, or lotus are powerful allies for spiritual work. Working deeply with water is part of several druid teachings and courses, and…

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Refurbished bus turned mobile classroom helping to educate San Francisco’s disadvantaged adults — Life & Soul Magazine

San Francisco nonprofit Five Keys has transformed a city bus into a mobile classroom, providing a space for the city’s disadvantaged residents to learn. The first-of-its-kind mobile classroom has a library, a cozy study nook, Internet access, Chromebooks, white boards, desks, and a teacher. The refurbished bus, which is emblazoned with the tagline The Self-Determination […]

via Refurbished bus turned mobile classroom helping to educate San Francisco’s disadvantaged adults — Life & Soul Magazine

Dandelions with Bacon or Ham Recipe

A Hundred Years Ago

Each Spring a primordial urge pulls me out of the house –paring knife and bowl in hand– to the weedy natural area at the far edge of my yard. Luscious green dandelion plants peek through the brown leaf-covered grass. The winter has been long and hard, and I desperately need to renew myself. The tender foraged greens are my spring tonic (as they were for my parents and grandparents).

People traditionally ate a very limited selection of foods during the late winter months, and often they were nutrient-deprived by April. Their bodies told them they needed the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants provided by the emerging dandelion leaves.

Since I’m a dandelion connoisseur (Is it possible to be a connoisseur of weeds?) , I was thrilled to find a hundred-year-old recipe for Dandelion with Ham or Bacon.

I made the ham version. The ham bits nicely balanced the slight bitterness of…

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The Energies of April

Good Witches Homestead

The energies of April seem set to be fast-moving, turbulent and ripe with potential and opportunity for new beginnings. This is essentially a positive, helpful flow of energy, but keep in mind as you negotiate it, that we could find our new beginnings presented to us in the guise of seemingly random, unexpected events or situations that require us to make new ‘out of the box’ choices.

The planetary configurations and influences this month will be supporting us in every way they can, to move forward. One way in which they will do this is through instigating a focus on resolving the past so that our future can be different. In this energy flow, we may find ourselves confronted with memories, people or situations from the past so that we can review what we have inherited, especially from our family and ancestral line.

Without this review, we could find ourselves…

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Drinking in Spring: Red Flowering Currant Elixir — Gather Victoria

Right now in my back garden, a Red Flowering Currant Bush (Ribes sanguineum) is in full radiant bloom. Her drooping clusters of “soul-piercing pink flowers” are sending out an entrancing floral, fruity and spicy perfume. Which is probably one reason ethnobotanist and author Abe Lloyd describes the blossoms as “capable of transforming winter sodden pessimists…

via Drinking in Spring: Red Flowering Currant Elixir — Gather Victoria

Second Moon of Spring 2019

Here Are 9 Wild Edible Mushrooms You Can Forage This Spring!

Greetings!

Before I introduce the new video, I want to let you know that I’ll be an instructor at the upcoming Blue Hills Forager’s Gathering along with Samuel Thayer and Melissa Price (Forager’s Harvest) and Ellen Zachos (Backyard Forager). This event will take place the weekend of May 17-19th in Bruce, Wisconsin.

The Blue Hills Forager’s Gathering will focus on gathering and preparing meals from food we forage together during the weekend classes and walks, and people of all skill levels are welcome to attend.

If you’re interested in learning more about gathering and preparing wild edibles — all while spending time with an incredible group of nature enthusiasts! — you can find out more information here:

Blue Hills Forager’s Gathering

And now on to this week’s brand new video.

I’ll bet I’m not the only one who’s excited that spring is finally here. There’s something about budding trees, budding plants, and budding mushrooms that brings immense pleasure to those of us very accustomed to months of cold and darkness.

To celebrate the birth of another growing season, I thought I’d film a list of 9 wild mushrooms that you can forage during the spring months. These mushrooms are edible, they’re tasty, and they might soon be popping up in your neck of the woods.

Some of these species can be quite elusive, and if you want to learn some tips on where to find them, check out the brand new video!

In addition to fungi, spring ephemeral wildflowers are blooming! Pictured here is a rare species that’s among the first to flower near my home, and it’s a plant I look forward to seeing every spring. Have you seen Snow Trillium? Check out this recent Instagram post to learn more!

Click to learn more

Thanks for reading and watching… and as always, thank you for your support!

-Adam Haritan

Baked Eggs with Wild Garlic

2019 14th International Herb Symposium — Richo’s Blog

It seems that as one begins to study herbs, the plant’s essence infuses one’s entire life with joy. People become happier, healthier, more in balance and in tune with their inner dreams. The beauty of the herbs work their gentle magic on the heart of the user. — ROSEMARY GLADSTAR This coming June, the 14th…

via 2019 14th International Herb Symposium — Richo’s Blog