Tag Archives: #herbs

May 18, 2024 · 11:21 pm

Banishing Overwhelm

serated green leaves
motherwort leaves cut before flowering

This is no ordinary plant. You might say “well, Kirsti you think all plants are special,” and that’s true. But I have a real love affair going with this one.

Overwhelm is a real thing in our society. We all know the feeling of a too-long to-do list. And the overly full chest, overly heavy feeling that accompanies difficulty focusing in the face of a long list of tasks. And the anxiety that accompanies that has a way of setting in and staying.

Motherwort, pictured here, is widely used to truly calm that kind of anxiety in just such moments. A few drops of the tincture under the tongue definitely chases the feeling of overwhelm away. It’s legendary, used also in blood pressure remedies, to strengthen the cardiovascular system, and as support for premenstrual and menopause symptoms. If I had only known about it years ago, I could have eased many years of intense premenstrual cramps.

Just the other day I was out walking with a clinical herbalist, Stephan Brown, in his garden here on the cape. I’ve been taking motherwort tincture for months, originally to help with my blood pressure, I soon learned it benefits my mental state, as well.

But I have never seen the plant growing and I could not have identified it if it jumped up and slapped me in the head.

Knowing nothing about me or the remedies I favor, Stephan plucked a stem of motherwort from a nearby plant and presented it with a flourish. Herbalists and plants are both naturally psychic. There’s no getting around it.

square stems of the lamiaceae; motherwort has an especially strong stem

I went back today to gather some with his permission. A member of the mint family with the characteristic square stem of that species, you can see the shape in the picture above, making it easy to identify.

The lovely leaves are drying now, which means I can make my own bottle of tincture. Pure magic.

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May 14, 2024 · 5:00 pm

Time Passes, Where There’s War and Where There Isn’t

With so much bad news all around us, especially in Gaza, before that Ukraine, and in the middle east for so long, it’s been challenging to focus on simple things, like a garden. To the point of it feeling irrelevant and even silly to focus on such an ordinary small thing. I’ve felt guilt at not making this horrible news more central in my life. And yet, I’m not there, there is little any of us can do beyond pray, sympathize, donate, commiserate. And this beautiful planet, devastated by the blasts just as her children (us humans, animals, plants- everything) are – suffers, too. So I do the things I can do, honor the life that arises here, and try not to let anxiety prevail.

So a story about time passing here.

My 19 year old daughter Inga got a summer job at a local med spa working the front desk. She started applying for summer jobs in April, interviewed remotely, and was offered this job before her final exams started. She was thrilled. She’d worked with the software they use and had done exactly this job last summer. She was especially happy because she wants to work as an injector when she finishes school, all goodness spring from beauty as it does 😉 and so a med spa would be good experience for her.

The night before her first day of work, which was scheduled for last week, she received an email from the med spa owner saying she’d given the position to someone else who can work year-round and that Inga didn’t “need to visit.” Inga hadn’t been aware they were (still) looking for someone for the job, or that they wanted a year round person. She was crushed.

I told her (in a more confident tone than I felt) that it was early enough in the season that she would find something else, and that she was better off. Who would want to work for someone that would behave that way, anyway? She saw the reason in my words and went back to job hunting. This went on for weeks and she had very few call backs and started to feel “helpless.” Most kids had secured summer jobs in April.

Then there was an offer to interview as … a jet ski guide. I laughed. Perfect for Inga who is spirited, athletic, and adventurous, and who has vowed in past summers to someday own a jetski because she thinks they are great fun. Yesterday she was offered the job with tips into the hundreds of dollars on the busiest (long) days… a small example of how sometimes things don’t go the way we hope, want, and expect them to, but somehow they work out.

Inga last summer

And, returning to the garden.

I’ve been wandering out to my herb garden every day to see if I could spot a sign of my echinacea angustifolia. Echinacea A. is the variety of echinacea most prized for it’s infection fighting power. I’ve read it’s a little harder to cultivate than purpurea, which, admittedly, is usually pretty easy going. But there hasn’t been a sign of it germinating and I was beginning to think it won’t happen this year…

Until today!

small green leaves emerging from dirt
tiny echinacea angustifolia seedling leaves poke up through the dirt

I hope and pray every day for things to come right, for healing, for the right outcomes, for people and planet to find balance, acceptance, equanimity, and well-being. May we all have a hand in creating peace and presence where and when we can, remembering to be. Not to be this or that. But just to be.

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May 5, 2024 · 5:56 pm

Easy Aloe Vera Gel

aloe vera plant in a south window

Aloe is popular. You can buy it in most garden shops, I’ve even seen it for sale at the grocery store! It’s beautiful, easy to grow, and it’s medicine! Most folks know it’s great pain relief for a sunburn, and promotes rapid healing and tissue repair. It also has the same pH as our skin, and is a natural sunscreen.

You can make aloe vera gel at home very easily:

  • cut a firm leaf from your plant
  • slice it open (on a plate is best).
  • Use a tablespoon to scoop out the gel.
  • optionally, but this is really much nicer, puree it in a blender.
  • you can store it for a few weeks.

et voila! Ready for the sun!

aloe vera flower

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May 1, 2024 · 4:35 pm

Powerful, Healing Goldenseal

Two 7-leaved plants emerge from the brown leaves
Goldenseal root, Hydrastis Canadensis, is an herb endangered in North America from over harvesting, seen here emerging from the forest floor in spring

The beauty you see pictured here is Goldenseal Root. It’s the medicinal herb you often see in the herbal remedies aisle combined with echinacea in cold care formulas. Incredibly valuable medicine, it was popular with Native Americans on the East Coast of the US, and they taught us a lot of what we know about it.

My first experience with Goldenseal Root was when I was a young professional living in South Boston. I left work one Wednesday evening just before Christmas, trudged through the cold, damp winter air of Cambridge, and boarded the T to head back to my apartment – and specifically my bed – in South Boston, knowing I was getting sick. I could feel it coming on – chills, body aches, sore throat. An acquaintance at work, seeing my pasty pallor, instructed me to stop on my way home to buy echinacea and goldenseal root capsules. She swore by them and was sure it would be worth my time and money to stop at the coop for them. I took her advice, in part because I had a date the Friday following for a holiday party that I did not want to miss, and in part because I was willing to take anything that might help.

No sooner had I arrived home, herbs in hand, than the fever and chills overwhelmed me. I crawled into bed with my bottle of echinacea and goldenseal, only half believing they would help at all. I think I took between 8 and 10 of the capsules with water before falling asleep – more than the recommended dose.

All night long the fever and body aches raged, I alternated between sweats and chills. But, when I awoke the next morning, I felt miraculously better. The fever was gone.

I’d never recovered from a flu-type virus so quickly and I was convinced I was better because of the herbs.

Goldenseal contains infection-fighting alkaloids and bitters, and can be used internally or externally to fight infection. I use it in cold care capsules to fight bronchial congestion. It can be used in salves to fight skin infections, fungal infections, and athlete’s foot, in eye washes for conjunctivitis and eye infections, and as a remedy for poison ivy or poison oak.

The most potent medicine is in Goldenseal’s roots. Because this beautiful plant has so much healing power it’s been harvested in the wild to the point of becoming threatened.

Last year, I bought some of the roots from United Plant Savers, a group that is committed to preserving native North American medicinal plants, and planted them in a forested section of our backyard. No care, other than not trampeling over them or letting the chickens scratch them up (which, god bless them, they would) was taken with them. They emerged after spring rains quite independently.

Aside from wonder, the site of these baby healing plants unfurling their lovely glossy leaves evoked gratitude and deep relief. There’s hope for us, yet!

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March 8, 2024 · 4:02 pm

Spring is in the Air, and Making an Early Appearance in the Garden!

iIt’s finally spring!

Here in the Northeast winters usually feel endless to me. This year I started early. The Cape is a little warmer owing to being on the seashore, and I have some early start herbs I’m putting in. WOOOO!

Cape cod soil is pretty much what you’d expect … sand and clay. And lots of it. So we trucked in some planting soil and started clearing away vines and debris in a sunny spot to the west of the house.

It doesn’t look like much right now but it will be full of flowering herbs this summer! And we’ve found a local fence company to put in a garden fence for us – it’ll have to be dug into the ground to protect my precious gardens from rabbits and woodchucks. Two stories come to mind whenever I think about rabbits and woodchucks decimating my garden: Peter Rabbit and Caddyshack. You wouldn’t expect those two to go together, would you??

slate stakes identify what's planted
early herbs include chamomile, echinacea angustifolia, comfrey

And importantly, our friends the garlic shoots have made an appearance:

small green blades of garlic emerging from a bed of leaves
garlic emerging from a bed of leaves

Is this garlic shoot seriously not the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen?

green shoots and leaves with red stems emerge from little planters
chard and onions starting to grow in a seed starter mat.

Finally, the onions and kale I started early are coming along. I added a few leek seeds in later, to the right, and I’m waiting for those to germinate. Later this month it’ll be lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower.

I am dreaming of spring flowers and greens, and beach walks. Soon!

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February 4, 2024 · 9:49 am

Herbal Remedy for Colitis/IBS/gut inflammation

Some time ago a friend approached me about his case of chronic colitis. Which is to say — he has had it for a long time and it’s pretty miserable, and did I have any suggestions?

Off the top of my head, other than demulcents, which are mucilaginous herbs that coat and soothe inflamed or irritated membranes, I did not. But I did a bit of reading and found that there is an herbal formula that has been used for IBS and similar problems related to the digestive system for a long time with good results, and has been adapted for use with modern constituent derivatives, etc. Looking at the ingredients list, it seemed to me that the formula addresses inflammation and virus in the gut. None of the ingredients had contra-indications that discouraged me, though these are definitely medicinal, rather than tonic herbs. By that I mean that these herbs are known to have powerful and immediate effects, as opposed to herbs that are gentler and can be taken daily and indefinitely. 

I decided to make the traditional formula myself and share it with him. 

There are versions of the formula that can be purchased online and have been modified from the traditional version by their makers, but I found an “original” formula that did not include derivative compounds, and purchased those herbs.

a mixing bowl of herbs flanked by jars of each type that appear in the bowl.
the individual ingredients in Roberts formula pictured here and combined at front in a mixing bowl before encapsulating

I will give away the ending before continuing this story: this formula worked for him. It corrected a chronic and persistent case of colitis that had been present for over a decade in a matter of weeks. 

encapsulating Robert’s Forumula

When the herbs arrived I had to grind some in order to be able to compound them, so I spent a Saturday morning grinding and combining them in equal parts. The old formula did not specify the quantity or ratio of each herb. I know from my herbal studies that often we combine in equal parts unless we know an herb (like cayenne or in goldenseal, for example) should be used more sparingly. I made the decision to combine them in equal parts.

The ingredients in the formula I made: Purple Coneflower root (Echinacea angustifolia), Marshmallow Root (Althaea officinalis), Wild Indigo Root (Baptisia tinctoria. note here the original called for a different genus – Baptisia australis, but the tinctoria was available and I judged the substitution to be fine), Slippery Elm Bark (Ulmus rubra), Poke Root (Phytolacca americana), American Cranesbill Root (Geranium maculatum), Goldenseal Root (Hydrastis canadensis. A note, this is an endangered species at this time so I was careful to order it organically cultivated. Please don’t buy this wildcrafted.)

We know that herbs are the original medicine of the people, and that they are powerful and effective, but I was surprised at how quickly and effectively this formula worked because traditional allopathic medicine had tried and failed to treat him. The truth is that allopathic medicine often is more quickly effective for some things – for killing pain, for example. But in this case these herbs, which are whole foods, worked with his body to remedy a problem that had been serious and persistent for many years, and had not been treatable with allopathic medicine.

Some of the versions of this formula you can buy are liquid and arguably more easily absorbed. I felt that in this person’s case the ease of the capsules would help ensure he’d take them, and the pure nature of the herbs compounded together with no “carrier” ingredients (tincture or syrup) felt intuitively right and was more accessible to me. 

If you have questions about this please feel free to reach out to me. I’m not a doctor, just a simpler herbalist, but I felt sharing this was important because of the profound effect it had for my friend , and I know that many people have similar digestive problems. 

Wishing you wellness.

Finished Roberts Formula capsules

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January 31, 2024 · 9:46 pm

Re-committing

The fact that our gut biome greatly benefits from putting our hands in the dirt is probably one of the most meaningfully religious doctrines I know – and I have a graduate degree in religion, so I’m as serious as a heart attack about that. 

I mention it here because this is about the time that I start to pare back my expectations for the year. I reserve the right to adjust my hopes back based on the amount of chicken poop and other compost I can gather! But here’s the early plan:

seedtime garden map of vegetables

I plan to volunteer as a gleaner and grant writer for Farming Falmouth, too, and there aren’t enough hours in the day for everything, but again, this is a first ambitious draft.

Carrots, spinach, onions, cauliflower and (hidden) garlic in the bottom right, chamomile, beets, arugula, broccoli and radishes stop right corner, tomatoes, basil, swiss chard, beans, and calendula middle top and an assortment of winter squash top left. the middle rectangle is an imaginary patio that currently does not exist but could have our picnic table on it someday.

happy green beans in the garden

Not shown is an herb garden (bottom right, out a window to the right of the kitchen table) that will have many of my favorites – lemon balm, fennel, verbena, parsley, more chamomile (because who can have enough?), peppermint, monarch and hyssop for the pollinators (center because they are tall), some more sage, a rhubarb plant (also center), rosemary, lavender, bay leaves, lemongrass, tulsi, purple basil, asclepia for the monarda butterflies. And more flowers elsewhere including my favorite zinna and some marigolds because they just get along with everyone. The space will be big but that’s okay. Flanking this against the fence – a hedge of raspberries. What’s missing? Potatoes. We love them, we eat them, they aren’t here.

That said, we can get them at the local Pariah Farm farmstand. I welcome visitors and will gladly share what we grow. 

cherry tomatoes make a luxurious sauce

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July 18, 2022 · 10:49 am

Versatile and Beautiful Lavender

Summer Lavender Grosso

Above, a hedge of lavender next to my driveway popped into glorious fragrant bloom in June. I don’t know who was more excited – me or the bumble bees.

I can never bring myself to cut the flowers while they are in full bloom – the sun on the flowers is too glorious. But when they’ve passed their prime they still cut beautifully and are wonderfully fragrant.

Cut lavender fills the kitchen with fragrance

When my son’s girlfriend saw my giant pile of cut lavender she immediately thought of lavender lemonade, and took a handful to make lavender syrup. It was delicious.

Easy to grow and easily available, lavender will grace your garden, attract pollinators, and is truly a sensory joy. Lavender is drought tolerant, does well in zones 6-10.

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December 16, 2020 · 12:46 pm

Winter Thyme

Last night we made a stew that called for fresh thyme. We’ve had storms but there’s no giant pile of snow outside our door, so the kitchen thyme continues to thrive. It’s compact, fragrant, woody little self is a persistent and adorable tenant in our landscape.

It would be hard to overstate how satisfying it was to step out into the cool air of our kitchen walkway and snip fresh sprigs of this sweet little plant rather than open a glass jar of dried herbs.

Most of our kitchen herbs grow just down a stone walkway near to the kitchen, and they are looking very dormant right now. But there is a tiny patch of ground just by the door that is big enough to accommodate a little thyme plant; it seems happy in its protected south-facing spot. So last night I grabbed a pair of scissors, pulled my hood on, opened the door, and snipped what I needed, thanking my little friend and thankful that it isn’t buried in a mountain of snow, yet.

In these dark winter days, the cool, moist fragrance of this little thyme plant was reassuring and comforting, nourishing to my mind and senses, and helped me be fully present for a moment of sweet appreciation.

Hooray for the little things.

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November 13, 2020 · 2:44 pm

November Garden

The early snow storm we had before Halloween was the end of the zinnia, the portulaca and other annual flowers, and remaining peppers, lettuce and radish. The montauk daisy’s glorious spray of blooms – now wilted, browned, bruised. On that morning I left the house to substitute at the local middle school, imaging a dusting or perhaps an inch of snow. But the snow fell and fell, making a 4-inch thick blanket on everything.

I returned to a garden on its way to winter dormancy.

Happily, I had already cut most of the herbs I wanted to save for winter before the snow came.

oregano, sage, thyme, and peppermint hanging to dry

There’s more to this than having herbs to cook with and make tea with. For me, bringing my friends in and enjoying them after they’ve gone underground is a joy and a comfort. There’s brightening peppermint tea from my cheeky, robust plants that only weeks ago were covered with bumblebees. And velvety, sun-loving oregano that had grown large enough to divide. Like gifts left by visiting friends.

The snow has receded for now, leaving auburn trees and sending flowering perennials into hibernation. Seeing them die back brings up a hopeful tug of anticipation for next year. Bittersweet hangs on some of my trees – a glorious murderer; beautiful, and choking the trees it hangs on. I resolve to cut some to bring indoors for decoration.

The last of the vegetable plants were cut and thrown into the compost last week. Hardier perennials, now mulched in, reach faded leaves toward gray skies.

November garden in New England.

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