Happy New Year! 

I can say that because it's still a couple of days before February : ) Which brings me to a big reason for this blog post: intentions.
Years ago I stopped making resolutions, because they can be so disappointing and great bait for self-blame, and started making intentions. One of my biggest intentions for this year is self-nurturing. There's a lot of ways that can materialize in my daily life, especially in cutting stress out of my life, for example: enabling myself to be on time, so I'm not feeling rushed or beating myself up for inconveniencing others. Another way is working with herbs as food to nurture myself and my family and making it simple.

A perfect model for that is chicken stock, aka bone broth. This is about as simple, nurturing, and nourishing as it gets! It's great for any kind of recovery or convalescence, when you're in a hurry, or need something light with some protein. The first time I made stock was with the help of the Nourishing Traditions cookbook. That gave me the basics, and I've been tweaking it since then. Vegetarians can make this, too, just leave out the bones. You won't get all the same nutrients, but it will still have lots in there.

One thing I added to the recipe to make it more simple and efficient is a little thing that I love the name of: freezer compost. Freezer compost is very basically where you take any compostable veggie scraps, i.e. onion and garlic skins and ends, broccoli and kale stems, carrot tops, etc, and throw them in a container in the freezer until you're ready to make stock. Then, instead of using fresh veggies just for stock and having to process them first, you can just chuck these in the pot. Once again, I'm a traditional herbalist, so I make recipes with a pinch of this and a handful of that, which might be substituted for a handful of something else next time. So I apologize if this makes you crazy. If you have questions, just ask.

The other way to simplify this is to cook a chicken a week, then you always have bones. Just throw the bones in the freezer with the compost. When you're ready to make stock, pull everything out and let thaw. Now the fun part: beat the bones with a meat hammer.

Meat hammer, fresh ginger from a friend's garden, and a good sharp knife

The plan for this blog was to write about plants and their uses.
(Though I don't like talking about "using" plants. I'd rather talking about "working with" them, since we are all life, they no less than us.)
But...I wasn't feeling very motivated to write. Then, I decided what I really needed was to make myself vulnerable: to write about the plants along with the everyday journey, lessons, successes, and failures. I've been loving this quote from Brene Brown:

"Courage is the ability to tell your story and like who you are in the process of doing that."

I began this crazy journey, that even I sometimes wonder, "What the heck what I was thinking???" (For more about that, see the new sidebar, "About Me" section.) I often feel alone on this path, wishing the old timers were still around, Euell Gibbons, Tommie Bass, the medicine women, and the rest, to learn from in the old ways. Now we're learning all this old knowledge from books, the internet, and the few still practicing these ways, like my fabulous friend, Ed, one of the best men in the world. He's a 70ish man with a mischievous smile and a sawmill who just gave me a "go-devil," or what others would call a maul. He's got a thick accent that you can't always understand and called me up the other day asking if he could bring me a truckload of wood just because. There are so many good people around here, though, if you just get to know them.

From here on out, I'll be writing about these everyday adventures in life and learning, along with pictures of rural mountain life and the plants I work with for food and medicine. There will be some education about the how and why of those beloved plants. My plan, though I'm trying to accept constant evolution, is to offer a post per week. Two will be completely free and accessible to everyone. The other two will be sent to you for a small monthly donation. They'll be more specifically about working with plants and go more in-depth. Your donation will help support the work I'm doing and those entries will be later combined into a book or books that will be partly super detailed plant identification, along with many many identifying pictures, stories, directions, and recipes. More on that later, stay tuned...

Sound good? Okay, let's hit the trail!

Witch hazel - Hamamelis virginiana

Our first plant is one of my favorite native shrubs. If you stick around, you'll learn I have lots of favorites :) Witch hazel is blooming near me right now. There's one other species that is native to the south central region that blooms in the spring (Hamamelis vernalis), but you'll see it planted around sometimes. Their family, Hamamelidaceae, doesn't have many other local plants in it, besides Sweet Gum. 

There's just something about seeing this beautiful, eye-catching flower. It blooms either when the sun is just coming back or is about to leave for the season. For me, it's like my own internal sunshine. This plant's bark is the stuff that the witch hazel liquid you find in the store is made from. It's great for skin! Whether it be for acne or a postnatal sitz bath, witch hazel is awesome.

One fabulous fact I learned from my mentor was that you don't have to use the bark, if you're like me and you vicariously feel the pain of the plant when you cut the bark. You can actually "work with" the twigs. Just prune them and add them to the formula in the same way. However, if you are going to harvest bark, never ever harvest it in a ring around the tree/shrub! That will kill it because all the plant's nutrient delivery systems are right under the skin. So, shave the bark in a narrow vertical strip.

I'm about to make my own bottle of witch hazel goodness. When it comes out, I'll share the recipe. 

Until then, please share what you've got going on in the wild world of plants around you. What are you eating and crafting? And please tell me what you want to see here. Until next time, here's 

wishing you a wild journey!

The other day-as I fought a blackberry and multiflora rose briar patch in short sleeves and too thin pants, after painstakingly (emphasis on the "pain") making my way across the river, sliding on slimy rocks, against the current, pants rolled up to my knees, boots and basket (holding pruners and leather gloves) balanced precariously, daughter complaining from across the river because it's too cold to swim and I banished her laptop contraband, all so I could forage wild grapes-I wondered, "Is it all worth it?"

I was harvesting for my family and for a chef. The irony that I would be sending them 400 miles away to a restaurant I couldn't really afford to eat at, was not even a thought at that moment (though similar ones have come up before and since). Mostly my thoughts ran more along the lines of, "Most people would say I'm crazy and never want to do this themselves.  So why, why do it?"

What is truly the difference between picking them yourself or just going to the store and buying something similar? We all probably know the obvious reasons: fresher, healthier, the unique taste of wild grapes that you can't get at the grocery store. In the end, for me, it comes down to personal preference. Would I rather work a "job" and have more secure income and the ease of going to the store or this adventure with no security, lots of freedom, and plenty of time in nature. But this is just my choice, I don't judge anyone for choosing the former. Though there are plenty of stories and some glamor, there's often a lack of romance, plenty of deeply buried thorns, sprained ankles, numb fingers, and monotony. When it comes down to it, though, I wouldn't trade it for the world. In return, I have learned to live more simply with less, to "afford" the life I love, so that my passion is my work and my work is my passion (my motto).

Enough about me, on to the foraging lesson:

• Proper tools: A well-sharpened pair of pruners, at least, and often loppers (if you don't have to carry them far) are essential to keep in your pack/basket for cutting your way through situations like this or harvesting. 
• Fashion sense: Leather gloves are a must when it comes to battling thorny prickly plants, along with thick long sleeves and pants, like denim. These will also protect you from pests like mosquitoes and poison ivy or stinging nettle.
• A little about the plants:

Elderberries (Sambucus spp.): Several species are native, just don't go for the red ones (toxic depending on who you talk to). They contain cyanide, so cook them and avoid consuming them raw. The berries contain super high amounts of vitamin C and have been historically worked with for immune boosting, fighting colds, coughs, and fevers, and they bind with the flu virus to prevent it from attacking your cells. Pretty awesome, right?!

smooth sumac

winged sumac berries

winged sumac (see the wings?)

Sumac (Rhus spp.): Several species as well, including smooth, staghorn (the really fuzzy ones), and winged. Also high in vitamin C. Can be steeped in water in the fridge overnight for a tasty "pink lemonade" drink with a little sweetener added, grated as part of the za'atar middle eastern spice blend (recipe here and then, what to do with it). Usually, though, I add it to my elderberry syrup for a super high C tonic. And, yes, they are related to poison ivy and poison sumac. The edible sumacs have red berries. The toxic ones have white berries and only grow in very marshy areas.

Wild grapes (Vitis spp.): And many of these species, too, depending where you live. Some are large and some are small, some sweeter and some more tart, some with skin you can slip off, and all with seeds. I eat the seeds; my friend told me she thinks they scrape your intestines (like in a good way). 

I'd love to hear your comments and questions about what I've said or your favorite (or least favorite) things about foraging or how you like to work with these plants. Thanks for reading and go outside and enjoy this most bountiful time for harvesting wild foods!

This little plant with the big name has inspired a lot of contemplation in me lately. Prunella vulgaris, commonly known as Self Heal or Heal All, has some big shoes to fill. It grows right outside my door and I see its unique blooms multiple times per day. 

I've been thinking a lot lately about the plants that live in our habitat (and we in theirs, of course). I truly believe we are adapted to each other, they are our best medicine, and for every symptom, there is a plant closeby that can help relieve it. I want to focus my blogs on these plants, the natives and (or) the wild. 

Speaking of self healing, I sometimes get down on myself and frustrated that, as an Herbalist, I can't always relieve my own symptoms. Sometimes I need help from practitioners or mentors, sometimes I need to change my thinking, be more inventive, or try a different tact. So, just like Heal All doesn't always heal all, we all need a little help sometimes. My wish for you, as with myself, is to ask for and allow it gently. 

I like thinking about and researching plants like this one because they're often referred to as weeds, but they pack a lot of punch. Besides, a weed is just any plant growing where you don't want it. (I want these, though.) Self Heal is in the mint family (Lamiaceae). You can tell that by its square stems, opposite leaves, and "lips" on the bottom petals  (check out my pictures), though it doesn't have the usual aromatics of a mint family plant. And don't forget what I always say, "All mints have square stems, but not all square stems are mints."

I work with Self Heal topically, for any kind of wound or irritation. I add it to my salve recipe. I also work with it internally for coughs and sore throats mostly, in teas or tinctures. However, the most interesting method of working with this plant is to relieve herpes virus conditions, like canker sores, chicken pox, shingles, and genital herpes. Some write about its anti-inflammatory and tonic effects, too. The plant's leaves are edible and mild-tasting. I wouldn't recommend eating the flowering tops, though. They tasted like rotting fish to me (ewww!); interesting that the top looks a little like fish scales.

I invite you to have your own experience with Self Heal, and let me know about it. I believe that a lot of the healing that we get from the plants comes from our connection with them. I have been practicing plant meditation lately (more on that later). It's amazing to see what comes through my intuition and connection before I even start the research. 

Wishing you natural connections and happy forest frolicking!

Resources for further research:

Edible and Medicinal Wild Plants of the Midwest by Matthew Alfs

Making Plant Medicine by Richo Cech

The New Holistic Herbal by David Hoffman

http://www.localharvest.org/self-heal-all-heal-tea-prunella-vulgaris-C19300

What's this all about?

Spring finally came after the rough winter I think everyone had and now it's (somehow) almost Summer! Welcome to the newly revamped Artemis in the Wilderness Blog! I wanted to get this going again to take you along on my frolicking, foraging, wildcrafting, botanizing, and herbal adventures. This will also function as a chronological wild plant calendar and a venue for you to add your thoughts, recipes, and notes on your adventures. Let's go outside and play!

What's going on in the woods right now?

Spring and Summer are the most prolific time of year for the plants and, consequently, for us to eat and make all kinds of goodies. For the past week, my daughter and I have been focused on foraging mulberries. I think mulberries might just be one of the tastiest and most overlooked berries, along with one of my favorite native berries (okay, I say many plants are my favorites). There's two species you'll usually see around here, mostly the native red mulberry (Morus rubra), and sometimes the non-native white mulberry (Morus alba). They can also hybridize for a berry that can be somewhat pinkish. I think the red taste the best. 

A Legacy to be Shared

Lately it's really come through loud and clear how important it is to teach my daughter how to forage and wildcraft (this means foraging medicinal herbs, in case you didn't know). It's good in so many ways: 

• We bond with each other and mother nature and the plants, while creating a connection to place.
• We learn together and laugh together.
• She will inherit a trade she can use to support herself.
• I'll be confident that she will always be able to feed herself, and with food that has the most vitality.

The best way by far to harvest mulberries is with a tarp! Shake the tree gently over the tarp. And this is definitely a case for going after the "low-hanging fruit." I use this as a metaphor in foraging to teach to take it easy on yourself, but in this case, it's literal! 

Okay, so if you don't want your hands to look like this, you might want to wear gloves, but I kind of like it. Plus, it washes off quickly. Ripe mulberries are pretty soft, so you need to refrigerate and use them quickly. Here's some great ideas: Mulberry Harvesting - 10 Ideas of What to do with Mulberries

Like all berries, especially the darkly colored ones, these are super good for you because they're packed with anthocyanins. They have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions (Read more: Anthocyanins: What Should I Know About Them?). I found out some good info on this and other phytochemicals last weekend at the fabulous Midwest Women's Herbal Conference from Lisa Ganora. (Check out my pics of the conference.)

Always something to look forward to!

I'm so looking forward to heading down this trail with you! Just to give you a sneak peek of what is to come: 

Elderberry flowers, soon to be fruit! Another one of my favorite native anthocyanin-rich berries.

My yummy brew of leftover forageables: pickled ramps and nettles!

Stay tuned and happy forest frolicking!

Please comment and share. Thanks bunches!

Allergies: How to Deal and Overcome

It's my favorite season of the year, spring! Everything is being reborn, rejuvenated, growing, and blooming; it's green and beautiful everywhere you look around here! However, with blooming comes pollen, great for the natural world, but not always for us. So sniffles, runny noses, watery eyes, and sneezes have started to bloom, too, not as pretty. People often ask me what I do about allergy season, so I wanted to share a few things I've learned over the years of my own struggle.
First, let's talk a little about the science of allergies (just a little, I promise). In the most basic sense, allergies are caused by inflammation.  The respiratory and digestive systems and liver process waste and foreign substances in the body and are supposed to protect us from toxins.  However, when these systems are not working properly or are overloaded, they may attack things they usually wouldn't, like pollen. The immune system senses these invading substances and it sets off this vicious cycle: antibodies are created, which create histamines, which produce inflammation of the mucous membranes.
Now the real question, what do we do about it???
First, we want to quell the immediate symptoms, so we can get some relief and get to a place where we can work on the deeper issues.

Options for dealing with acute symptoms:

• 1g of Vitamin C with bioflavonoids (restricts the inflammation), preferably with Vitamin B, and a calcium magnesium supplement (these are all contained in the supplement Emergen-C and mix easily into water)
• 1/2-1 dropperful of echinacea tincture every 1/2 to 1 hour as needed until symptoms begin to abate
• Rinse with a neti pot
• Do an herbal steam over a pot of steaming water with eucalyptus or thyme herbs or a few drops of essential oils
• Take a shower to wash off allergens

Burdock

Yellow dock

 Longer term options:

• Nourish the liver with herbs such as dandelion, burdock, and yellow dock. Put a few tablespoons of roots of one or a combination of the herbs into a pint of water while still cold. Bring to a boil and simmer gently, covered for 5 minutes. Refrigerate and heat up about a half cup at a time and drink several times per day. *Note: these are all bitter herbs and are supposed to taste bitter; the bitter taste stimulates the liver and the digestive system. However, the yellow dock is super bitter, so should be mixed with one of the other herbs.*
• Eat local honey and bee pollen, as recently collected as possible, daily. It's like a mini-vaccination.
• Do a neti pot or two daily during the allergy season.
• This is a new one I just learned about, but seems to work pretty well: eat 1/2 teaspoon of grated horseradish a few times a day until symptoms abate, then eat sporadically during the month as a preventative.
• Drink lots of fluids, including fresh vegetable juices.
• Lay off the dairy. I know this is really tough, but it makes a huge difference.
• Cut down on the sugar.
• Consume warm and hot food and beverages, rather than cold.
• Boost your immune system by eating healthy foods, including lots of fermented foods to improve digestion and medicinal mushrooms.
• Goldenrod tea: 3 tablespoons dried leaves steeped in a quart of boiled water, covered. Drink two cups once to twice daily.
• Stinging nettle: Eat fresh, lightly wilted (the active compound is deactivated once it dries), or take a dropperful of tincture a couple times a day.
• Drink green tea.
• And, saving the best for last: eat chocolate! It needs to be dark chocolate with low sugar, but still chocolate!

Goldenrod

There's so much more to say and explain, but here's a good start. I'll talk soon about collecting some of these herbs. In the meantime, tell me how it goes, what else works for you, or ask questions.

Green Blessings!

Happy Birthday to Me and Rebirth to Spring!

Welcome and welcome back!
Every year on my birthday, I reflect through writing on the year and years past.  This year, I decided to take that writing right here, to the blog.  This also helps me continue on the mission I started last year, my life's purpose: to educate about nature.  This mission became more clear after reading "Last Child in the Woods."  In the book, the author shares the idea that people are not likely to protect what they cannot name.  Once people can name a plant or animal, they start to recognize it, see it's beauty and connect with it, and they are more likely to conserve it.
Last year was full of botanizing (or going hunting for new plants to id and learn about).  I make resolutions on my birthday instead of at the new year; one of this year's resolutions is to get out into the woods even more.  It's been working out pretty good so far and I've already seen some new-to-me plants.
Here's some spring ephemerals (flowering plants that are only around for a short time in the spring) and other goodies that I've seen recently and may be new to you.

A buckeye (Aesculus spp.) bud, these can get huge!

Chickweed (Stellaria spp.) can be a pest to gardeners, but doesn't have to. It's super nutritious and delicious!

So exciting, the first trillium of the year; can't wait to see them flower!

Woah, the first violet of the year, already!

Up close and personal with harbinger of spring (Erigenia bulbosa). It's in the carrot family. Can you tell from the leaves? Yup, spring is here!

So cool, the paintbrush-like terminal bud of the pawpaw (Asimina triloba), that Audubon supposedly used for a paintbrush, and the round, fuzzy flower buds soon to turn a deep maroon when they open.

Amazing yellow spicebush flowers (Lindera benzoin). The bark smells like the spice it was substituted for by the pioneers, allspice.

The first toothwort (Dentaria laciniata/Cardamine concatenata) blossoms of 2012 with their jagged narrow leaves and horseradish-flavored, tooth-shaped root.

Okay, now that you know what they are, get outside and find your own!  Just make sure you tell me about them.  Happy hunting!