FRIENDS:  I have moved to a website dedicated to the use of wild plants and fungi for food and medicine. Come and check it out! Wild Herbs and Edibles

woodland plants

The woodlands hold lots of different plants from what I am used to seeing in my urban backyard. The alley contains some disturbed area plants like dock, poke, and dandelion, but nothing like what comes from a lush and moist forest. 

Mike and I alternated between riding our mountain bikes and hiking the trails of a place we've both been to several times before. We made lots of new plant discoveries! We were initially looking for alder and basswood trees, but we found much more in addition to those two tree species, including two little woodland creatures!

Prunus serotina (Black Cherry)

Wild Yam

Underwing larva

American Basswood (Linden)

Lady's Slipper

Toad friend

Wild Sarsaparilla

Wild Sarsaparilla flowers

Turkey Tail fungus

baby animals

There are babies all over the place here -- baby squirrels in the front tree (so cute!), baby plants in the garden, and ... baby French angora bunnies!!!

Here are some cute babies for you to gaze at.

Mama squirrel getting groomed by one of her 5 babies

Velvet-soft baby French angora rabbits

tiny plants

Though we experienced a frost here in west MI last night, almost all of my vernal seedlings are coming along well. The potatoes were bitten pretty well, but I can see that there is still nice thick growth of foliage under the frosted leaves, so they'll perk up soon enough.

The garden this year is focused mainly on medicinal herbs.  There will still be, of course, plenty of vegetables, but just not as many as in previous years.

Arnica

California Poppy

tiny Gotu Kola

Lady's Mantle

False Unicorn

Astragalus

little lamb

Oh, I dream of sheep! I love everything about them -- their wool, their portly bodies, the cheeses made from their milk...



I also love their babies, and I was very pleased to find out that I have a second cousin who keeps a flock of Shetland sheep just northeast of where I live.  My grandmother and I took a trip to his farm together to look at the sheep and we spotted a mother who had just given birth to twins! They were so sweet -- their spindly little legs were so wobbly and unstable and their faces were just the cutest things ever.

When mama sheep stepped away from one of her napping babies for a moment, I swooped in and scooped one up. He was a little ram and I had a hard time giving him back to his mother!

Sneak peek: Avena

I am bubbling over with excitement and therefore could not wait until it was published to show y'all this new hat! Avena, named for the little oat-like bobbles that border the brim, is knitted with some some yummy yarn of silk and mohair.

I will be out of town for school for the next week, but as soon as I'm back, Avena will need to be tested and prepared further for publishing.  Interested in testing for me? I will be sure to post when the test will be ready so that anyone who would like to test has the opportunity to do so.  The test will be through the group "Free Pattern Testers" on Ravelry.

Meet Stellaria

I am so excited to announce that my first knitting pattern has been published!  It has been tested over the last couple of days by some amazing Ravelers and it was decided that there were no errors and that the pattern should be sent forward for publishing.  Well, here it is! Meet Stellaria, the star of spring!

For the Ravelers, Stellaria is available here.

For the non-Ravelers, Stellaria is available here.

Collar Necklaces

These little babies have been all the rage, and ever since I made this one last year (I haven't posted any of my own photo projects of it...), I've been wanting to make more. They're great to use up any leftover skeins and are easy and fast enough to pump out two in a day.

Introducing, Csipke and Betula!

Csipke

Betula

I love the simplicity of Csipke with the little eyelet border, and also love the scallops and fun orange slice pattern of Betula.  I can't decide which of them I like better -- they're both so sweet!

Winter

Winter has been good. Busy, yes, but quite good. The weather has finally turned to real winter, and it is the best.  Last night's winter storm produced 12-16 inches of snow on top of the snow we already had, so this area of MI has officially welcomed the snow season.  Perhaps I'll measure the snow tomorrow -- it is impressive!

male house finch

schooling and tea

Well, for as crazy as I was going with my fiber fanaticism, it did come to an end and not by choice. Part of training to be a naturopath involves other co-requisites like human anatomy and physiology, and so that is now taking up my life. Don't get me wrong -- I absolutely LOVE A&P. In fact, it is one of the only studies that I can easily and happily read the textbook in.  Yes, I am talking about those boring textbooks that cost way too much and have 1000 pages in them.  Somehow (thankfully), I love my A&P book.  It also happens that I love learning about the human body, so I think that that definitely helps. Regardless, not having time to play with fiber has been challenging.  I spent a good hour and a half last night knitting further on my fingerless mitts I've been working on, and boy, did that feel nice! It was definitely a treat to be touching mohair and silk, that's for sure.

On a separate note, I've been making lots of teas! They've been an absolute blast to make, and they're super fun to drink, too.  Here are a couple of pictures of my latest teas that I've added to the Apothecary section in my Etsy shop.

Women's Nourishment Tea

Immuni-Tea

Lemon & Lavender Relaxation Tea

Fiber

Fiber has all but taken over my life. I spend nearly every waking moment either spinning or knitting, though I do find that my yarn stash is growing, which means I need to knit more than spin! Ever since the truly cold weather hit here in MI, I have turned into a complete hermit, typically only stepping away from my fibery-fondness to do basic things like heating the kettle for tea and such. It's great.

We also found a suitable stud for Mel, our REW French angora.  His name is Archibald and he is a Cinnamon French.  We anticipate new, fluffy, fiber-filled babies toward the end of March. I can barely wait! Mel is a proven doe, so I am hopeful that she doesn't kill her litter like I've heard other bunnies doing.

One of my most recent projects in the fiber department has been a triple plied yarn of two different colors of angora (Elise is well-known in our household for growing different colored coats after each shearing) and metallic sewing thread. I plan on putting it in my Etsy shop just as soon as I get it skeined up and take some decent photos of it.

In the meantime, here is a little teaser shot.  You can't see the thread as well as I had hoped through the camera lens, but in person it is lightly glitzy and totally feminine.

and a little close-up...

I hope all of you are well, happy, and enjoying the season!

Elderberry Syrup -- The Recipe

The local artisan market went very well and I sold two bottles of my elderberry immunity blend syrup.  I am almost finished with my own syrup, so I figured I should make some more, and by popular demand, share the recipe!

Elderberry Syrup -- Immunity Blend

Ingredients:
1/2 c. dried elderberries
3 c. filtered water
2 Tbs roughly chopped ginger
15 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp dried and chopped echinacea root**
1 tsp dried and chopped astragalus root**
4 Tbs raw apple cider vinegar
2 c. raw honey

**Both echinacea and astragalus are optional in this syrup as the elderberries do a great job at being antiviral, but they do add some serious immune-boosting properties, and that's why I like to use them!

Instructions:
In a medium-sized pot, add all of the ingredients except for the honey and vinegar.  Slowly bring to a very, very light simmer -- you shouldn't see any little bubbles that are typical of a simmer.  Decocting the herbs in this way preserves their medicinal qualities.  Decoct for approximately 1 hour and then use a potato masher to mash up the contents.  Strain out the plant material and let it cool (it is important that it cools completely so that you don't destroy the beneficial qualities of the raw vinegar and raw honey).  Once cool, add the honey and vinegar and stir to combine.

For adults, take 1 Tbsp every hour when ill. For maintenance, take 1 Tbsp per day.

For children ages 6-12, 2 tsp hourly when ill or 2 tsp daily for maintenance.

For children 2-5, 1 tsp hourly when ill or 1 tsp daily for maintenance.


Enjoy!

Elderberry Blend Immunity Syrup

'Tis the season for colds and flu ... what in the world is a girl to do?



... Make elderberry syrup, of course!

The recipe I made is a classic elderberry syrup but with the addition of a couple other immunity-boosting ingredients.  I found some great, concise information on the herbs through Mountain Rose Herbs and thought I'd share them here.

Elderberry --  Elder is touted as one of the strongest anti-viral herbs. "It's flowers and berries have a long history of use in traditional European medicine...Elderberry's real claim to fame is as a cure for the flu.  Israeli researchers have developed five formulas based on elderbery fruit that have been clinically proven to prevent and ameliorate all kinds of influenza..." (mountainroseherbs.com)

Echinacea --  Echinacea (specifically angustifolia) "is herbal medicine's first choice of treatment for colds."  It works specifically through stimulation of the immune system.  "...administered in times of need, this helpful ally can assist the body's immune system in treating a wide range of disorders". (mountainroseherbs.com)

Astragalus -- "...research shows that simple preparation of astragalus...stimulate[s] the immune system in several ways.  It increases the number of stem cells in bone marrow, and encourages their maturity into active white blood cells. [Astragalus] appears to help signal the white blood cells known as neutrophils to migrate to places they are needed to fight infection.  [Astragalus] stimulates the "germ-eating" white blood cells known as macrophages, activates T-cells and natural killer (NIK) cells, and increases the production of immune globulins.  Usually taken with a variety of other herbs, astragalus...eases chronic respiratory infections..." (mountainroseherbs.com)

It's hard to not just drink this stuff for a little pick-me-up during the day.  It is so darn tasty! I decocted the herbs with a variety of mulling spices to come up with a mouth-watering, natural tonic for boosting your immunity. How perfect! It's good for you and it goes down easily, too!

preparing for the local artisan market

This upcoming weekend is the local artisan market here in Grand Haven, MI.  I've got lots of things to bring along (namely, nearly everything) in my Etsy shop, plus a couple of new things that I finished up over the past week and a half.  Some are not posted yet for sale, so I am going to consider this as an exclusive debut for these new knitted items. 

Aanka

Lisianthus

Bellatrix -- in cherry

Bellatrix -- in white

We had a super fun time with these photos I think especially because there were rabbits involved.  Who doesn't like rabbits, anyway? 

what I've been up to

It's been nearly a month since I've posted! How does that happen so easily? I love to try and keep this blog up-to-date, but lately it's been rather challenging.  I am hoping to get some pictures up soon of some new knitted items and such, since that's been half of the bulk of what I've been up to.  The other half has been entirely dedicated to accomplishing my field work for school.  Let's just say that I've done many, many reflexology, therapeutic touch, and polarity sessions within the last month.  This past weekend was my final weekend at school before a holiday break though, and the majority of my assignments are just reading lots of books, which I can do rather quickly, which is good. That means more time for other things like knitting and spinning and enjoying the holidays with my family!

This past weekend, we spent the majority of the school days learning some basic techniques of connective tissue massage.  I got to use all of my new techniques today on a friend who was very ill with an awful headache.  Connective tissue massage, plus some herbs, some hydrotherapy, and therapeutic touch and my friend was actually fidgeting after being sedentary and so uncomfortable for such a long time.  I love being able to help the people I care about to feel better naturally.  I look forward to more amazing experiences like that!

wild turkey & deer

There are several things that I've always wanted to try but have never done, including butchering and tanning animal hides. Well, yesterday was my birthday and, happy birthday to me, I got to try both! Warning, if you are at all squeamish, please don't finish reading this post!! 

The butchering was on a wild turkey that a friend of mine hit with her car while on her way to work.  As someone who doesn't care for waste, I decided to go and get the turkey to clean it and use for meat.  In school, I was always the one who would happily dissect any animal and wouldn't be disgusted by it, so I knew that this chore of cleaning a turkey would be very similar.  It did help that I didn't have to kill the turkey myself as there would have been a lot more emotion involved, regardless though, many prayers and chants of thanks were said to the turkey for his life and to the Earth Mother for providing this turkey for my family.

Klaus was a little unsure about the process, so he stayed away.

Preparing to gut.

After it was all said and done, I had 9.2 lbs of fresh turkey meat to go in the freezer plus a carcass, head, and feet to go in the crock pot for turkey stock.  In addition to the edible portion, I also salvaged a large bag of beautiful feathers, two huge wings, a fan of tail feathers, and a turkey beard. I feel pretty darn good about turning this amazing roadkill that was just going to rot (and feed other wild creatures, of course) into something that I could use. Humans waste so much, especially with the animals we kill with our cars, and I am happy to represent a different generation of folks who appreciate and use as much of the animal as possible. 

As for the deer, another friend of mine, Stephanie, shot a beautiful doe with her bow and was generous enough to give me the hide and the head for learning and use purposes. I've been really interested in learning the ways of Native Americans and how they preserve hides, so I used the method of tanning called "brain-tanning".  I used this tutorial as my guide to tan, and so far, so good! The hide is currently balled up in it's tanning solution for another 2-3 days, so I will have more updates as soon as I get to see the results of the labor.

deer brain

cooking the brain

Skin side up of the hide

Smearing pureed deer brain into the hide.

I hope that the hide turns out all right! We have a lot more work to do once the tanning period is over--lots of "working" the hide to turn it into something supple and not stiff.  

All-Heal Salve

Happy Sunday!  I spent the day making herbal salves from the different herb-infused oils that I made over the course of the summer.  I made two other salves aside from this one, but I'll save them for another day.


Here is the main ingredient:

A brief breakdown of the herbs used to infuse the olive oil:

Nettle - Urtica dioica:  Used as a specific for childhood eczema as well as other varieties of eczema

Horsetail - Equisetum arvense:  Used as an external wound healer.  Also strengthens hair and fingernails.

Violet - Viola papilionacea:  Soothing for skin irritations, including hemorrhoids.

Red Clover - Trifolium pratense:  Anti-inflammatory and calming for the skin.  Another specific for childhood eczema and also psoriasis.

Comfrey - Symphytum officinale:  Speeds up wound-healing.  Guards against scar tissue development.

Plantain - Plantago major:  Soothes irritation and infection.  Helps stop bleeding.

The end result is nothing short of super for your skin -- I have poison ivy right now and this all-heal salve not only helps with the itching, but it also is limiting the dermatitis that I'm causing myself by scratching! It's perfect for my hands for winter too, especially since my hands are always so dry from working at the restaurant.

I love salve.  It is my go-to for just about every nick, scrape, bee sting, etc. that troubles my skin.  If you've never made it before, I highly recommend giving it a go.  Most of the herbs are very easy to come by (especially plantain, a common "weed"!) for wildcrafting and then all you have to do is be patient while your herbs macerate, add some beeswax, and there you go!

My final result of today's hard work to be later listed on Etsy: