Five Flavors Herbal Cough Syrup Recipe – LearningHerbs

Good Witches Homestead

This herbal cough syrup recipe was inspired by formulating with the TASTE of herbs. I wanted to create an effective syrup that encompassed all five of the tastes in Traditional Chinese Medicine (pungent, salty, sour, bitter, and sweet). It’s commonly believed that a meal isn’t complete unless it has all the flavors, so I thought it would be interesting to apply this to an herbal formula as well. While western herbalists don’t often talk about the taste of a plant (although this is slowly beginning to change), classifying herbs by their taste is a major foundation of Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, two of the largest and oldest living systems of medicine today. The idea is that, by simply tasting an herb, you can understand the big picture of the ways it could be used. Taste, as well as how you feel after tasting, can also give you insights into…

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Seasonal Yule Wreath

GIFTING WITH INTENTION: HERBAL DIY

Good Witches Homestead

So much of the holidays get lost behind the buying and gifting that it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that this time of year is about love, family, and doing good in the world. Gifting with intention has been our goal when it comes to thinking about the holidays, and it seems especially important these days, as we live in such challenging times. As herbalists, we love giving herbal gifts, as they are unique and are always well loved.

These simple and easy DIY recipes can be made at home, and the ingredients can be sourced at your local health food store/ co-op, or on Plant Therapy.

Flora-Forager-by-Bridget-Beth-Collins-6

DIY AROMATHERAPY SPRAY

It makes an excellent gift for anyone who experiences stress and worry. This aromatic blend of herbs is traditionally used to promote a joyful spirit and positive mental attitude*.

It pairs exceptionally well with this easy DIY…

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Herb Gardener Gift-Giving Idea: Hori-Hori

The Herb Society of America Blog

I’ve asked five blog contributors to share their favorite herb-related gift ideas. HSA’s blog will be running one per day during the first week of December. – Paris Wolfe, Blogmaster

By Beth Schreibman-Gehring, Chairman of Education for The Western Reserve Herb Society unit of The Herb Society of America

My father had over three acres of the most glorious organic gardens, filled with historic roses, lilies, and every kind of beautiful perennial and herb imaginable. I remember perfect summer evenings when he’d wander his gardens with a cocktail in one hand and a sprinkling hose in the other. He taught me everything I know about growing beautiful gardens organically and with a minimum of intervention.

The funny thing about my father is that he didn’t have a garage full of tools. He wasn’t into the latest, greatest gardening anything, well except for permaculture which really isn’t a latest and greatest secret…

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ENCOUNTERS IN GRATITUDE AND A CHANCE TO LISTEN

Good Witches Homestead

by Guido Masé November 19, 2018

A long time ago, Anne and I traveled to Ireland. We vagabonded slowly down the west coast from hostel to hostel, over green hills to rugged seaside cliffs, stopping at standing stones and the ruins of circle forts, visiting old-growth forests left intact for hundreds of years. One day we were wandering in the southwest corner of the island with the goal of reaching one of those old forests. We crossed over a small waterfall. We walked between two ancient, massive linden trees whose roots and branches had grown together, leaving an almond-shaped opening just wide enough for us to cross. And finally, we came to the oak wood we’d been seeking. The trees were old, yes, but not very tall: craggy, leaning at odd angles, with moss covering their trunks up to the lower branches. This forest is still part of a protected area…

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Bittersweet … A Tale of Two Sisters

The Herb Society of America Blog

By Kathleen M Hale, Western Reserve Herb Society

The Sisters’ Shame
We were two daughters of one race;
She was the fairest in the face.
The wind is blowing in turret and tree.
They were together, and she fell;
Therefore revenge became me well.
O, the earl was fair to see!

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

bittersweet A lot of legends of magic, revenge and sorcery begin with two sisters. Sometimes they are friends. Sometimes they are rivals. But an unspoken message in many stories is, “Don’t pick the wrong one!” Increasingly, North American gardeners are finding themselves faced with this dilemma. The choice may be between a native plant and its sometimes seductive, sometimes invasive sister, introduced from elsewhere.

Bittersweet gives us such a story. American bittersweet, Celustrus scandens, is seen everywhere this time of year in wreaths and dried arrangements. It has tiny vivid orange fruits…

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Here’s An Easy (And Delicious!) Way To Consume More Wild Plants & Mushrooms

Greetings!

The leaves have fallen from most of the deciduous trees in my neck of the woods (save for a few Norway maples and persistent oaks), and even though the year is dwindling with predictable haste, wild edible plants and mushrooms can still be found.

During a recent walk through a local floodplain, I was excited to find several fresh greens sprouting amongst the leaf litter. Many of these plants were herbaceous members of the celery family, and a few others were aromatic species related to mints and chives.

Rather than treating them as trailside nibbles, I decided to harvest these tasty plants and incorporate them into a wild, homemade vegetable broth. With the addition of wild edible mushrooms, the broth was incredibly easy to make and quite delicious.

If you’re interested in learning how to forage local plants and mushrooms so that you too can create a homemade vegetable broth, check out the brand new video!

Have you seen this waxcap mushroom? Few fungi resemble this species, and if you’re in the right habitat, perhaps you’ll encounter a specimen or two! Check out this recent Instagram post to learn more about the violet-colored waxcap.Click to view post

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

-Adam Haritan

Home-Grown and Wildcrafted Smudge Sticks: Plant List and Recipes

The Druid's Garden

Basket of newly made smudge sticks

Creating homemade smudge sticks with local ingredients is a wonderful activity to do this time of year. As the plants die back, you can harvest whatever you aren’t using for other purposes and create a number of beautiful smudges that can be used for many different purposes: clearing, honoring spirits, protection, setting intentions, letting go, bringing in, preparing for ritual or mediation, and much more.

A few years ago, I wrote an initial post on homemade smudge sticks using local ingredients–this has become my most popular post on my blog. Given that, I wanted to offer a follow-up post with some additional information and share a few smudge stick recipes for specific purposes. For initial instructions on how to make your sticks, please see my first post. This post expands the plant list that you can use to make smudges and also offers…

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Making Smudge Sticks from Homegrown Plants and Wildharvested Materials: Step by Step Instructions with Cedar, Rosemary, Sage, Mugwort, and More!

The Druid's Garden

I recently posted about my research on Eastern White Cedar, and I wanted to follow-up that post with information on making smudge sticks, inspired by Eastern White Cedar. Smudge sticks are bundles of herbs that are dried and burned for purification and ceremonial uses. They come out of Native American traditions, but today they are broadly used by many for their purification purposes. I use them as a druid in my ceremonies, to bless and cleanse my house, to cleanse outdoor spaces that are in some kind of energetic funk. But I also use them practically–as a blessing for my garden at the start of the growing season, as a way to remove hostile energies from my chickens who aren’t getting along, or to pass among friends before sharing a meal. They are a great way to bring a bit of ceremony and the sacred into the everyday.

Freshly Wrapped…