Category: herbalism

  • Celebrating Spring

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    While it may seem like spring will never come for those of us buried this winter under 6+ feet of snow, the earth is doing what it always does this time of year–it is thawing. The maple sap has started to flow; the birds are chattering in the bright sun of the morning; the squirrels are patrolling the snowbanks and scramble with their fellows across the high drifts. Today, the temperatures got up into the high thirties, melting the sidewalks and creating rivulets into the streets. To celebrate the return of spring, I have decided to highlight the delicate work…

  • Another way to connect

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    Well, I’ve gone and done it. I made a facebook page for Delicious Ginger so that people can find classes and other events I’m hosting more easily. If you’re on facebook and want to check out my new little page, please say hello here: https://www.facebook.com/deliciousgingerherbals I think that a lot of new things are going to be brewing in 2015, so stay in touch! xo

  • Announcing: Walk Your Edge–A Six-Month Journey of Earth Connection

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    One Saturday per month * May – October 2015 (May 2, June 20, July 18, August 1, September 12, October 31) 10am-6pm meeting in Portland ME fee $600 : sliding scale work-trade & time dollars are options; payment plan available Many of us have been working for years to make big changes in our hearts and minds and in the larger society. As our society’s systems of racism, misogyny, homo-trans- and xenophobia and the destruction of our home the Earth are exposed and visible to us all of the time, it may feel like our work is simply too big.…

  • Listening to the Call

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    For most of my life, I have second-guessed myself, stood back to observe, avoided anything that might expose my lack of skills/knowledge/intelligence. I have taken the back seat, fumbled for words when asked to speak my mind, and generally been afraid of failing. Since 2013, I have been deeply asking what my true purpose here on this planet is–what am I called to do and what can I stand behind? I have been asking this question all of my life, but after a major illness and the reflection that followed, the question changed to be more like what can I…

  • Holiday Sale at Justice in the Body, 12/14/14, 12-6pm

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    This Sunday, from 12-6pm, I’ll be selling my wares at the Justice in the Body holiday sale. Here’s some information about that event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1565119927053646/ http://www.justiceinthebody.com/ We’re doing out thing at the same time as Picnic, but we’ll have lots of holistic bath and body products, herbal teas and tinctures, flower essences, salt blends and infused vinegar, knitted items, stuff for the kiddos, calendars & more, along with tarot readings and massages! It’s going to be great! Stop on by for a selection of my teas, flower essences, salt blends, vinegars, smudges, and other lovely items.

  • Herbs to soothe our collective grief

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    On this day of Thanksgiving in America, there are a lot of people in pain. There are people who do not have homes, people who have lost their children to police violence, people whose lives have been torn apart by sexual violence, people who are angry and have many good reasons to feel rage. We cannot escape the pain of living in this world, nor should we try to escape. We could all use a good dose of being present with the realities that surround us every day, whether the media reports them or not. We could all use a…

  • Honoring our ancestors

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    Outside tonight, a cold rain is falling, and we are likely to get our first hard freeze of the season. It seems fitting, given that we are moving rapidly from the upward, outward energy of summer to the inward, downward energy of winter. It is a time of reflection and conserving our energy. It is a time when the veils between the worlds of life and death are thin, when our ancestors are accessible to share their wisdom with us. It is a time of honoring the passage of time and the movement between living and dying. It is also…

  • Some medicinal plants for the permaculture garden

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    In preparation for tomorrow’s talk, and as a way to ease my anxiety about teaching (see my earlier post), I thought I’d use a mode of communication that feels more comfortable to explore a few of the plants that we’ll be discussing tomorrow morning.  There are so many spectacular medicinal plants that have multiple functions in the landscape and offer us incredible gifts of food and medicine–not to mention joy, but we only have a little over an hour, so we’re focusing on nine plants: Elecampane, Thyme, Raspberry, Garlic, Lady’s Mantle, Black Cohosh, Catnip, Rose, and Bee Balm.  We had…

  • On teaching, self-doubt & knowledge

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    Tomorrow morning, I will be in Unity, Maine at the Northeast Permaculture Convergence, which should be really fun.  After the session I’m co-teaching, that is. My friend Mischa Schuler and I will be giving a session on Medicinal Plants for the Permaculture Garden–it’s my first time teaching at the Convergence.  Mischa finished her permaculture design course last winter, and I finished mine in 2011. While I haven’t been designing formally, I’ve been using the principles in my own landscape and life.  I like to think that I live permaculture as much as possible in a rented apartment in a small…

  • Healing through Story

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    It has been a great pleasure to be a guest blogger over at the Herbstalk blog. My last post on “Healing through Story” reflects on how healing just the listening can be in a consultation.  I love supporting clients in seeing new ways to view their current experience of illness, and hearing people’s stories is a crucial element in that healing process.  I plan to explore that theme here soon, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy the Herbstalk blog. I am excited that Herbstalk is happening this weekend in Somerville–it’s a great chance to hang out with lots…