July Blog Party: Weeds of Summer

taking a break from working on herbal roots to write for this month's theme for herbal blog party which is the weeds of summer, weeds we love to love and that others love to hate which is being hosted by darcy blue of gaia's gifts. you can go over to her blog for a list of blogs that are participating in this month's party!

there are so many great weeds to choose from, i had a hard time focusing on one! i started to write about my top 6 favorite weeds: plantain, dandelion, burdock, nettles, red clover and self heal but when i started writing about self heal, i realized, this was the herb i needed to tell you about because all the other herbs have been covered a lot already while self heal is left out in the cold!

i thought i had a picture of it in bloom, but i haven't been able to find it. self heal doesn't bloom until mid july so i still have a few weeks before i can capture her in bloom.
self heal, or heal all, prunella vulgaris, is a sweet timid herb i find growing at the back of our property. i dug up a bunch and moved it into my herb garden so i could watch her cycle of life more closely. self heal is in the mint family, so those of you growing mint knows what a 'weed' she can be! self heal is great to have around, just look at her long list of actions: alterative, antimicrobial, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, antipyretic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, astringent, carminative, diuretic, febrifuge, hypotensive, stomachic, styptic, tonic, vermifuge and vulnerary! it's like having a built in first aid kit all in one plant. pretty amazing. what does all that mean? essentially, this means self heal can be used to treat all sorts of viruses and bacteria, kills germs, lower fevers without normally lowering body temperature, relieve spasms, drying, help upset stomachs, flush out the bladder and kidneys, lower blood pressure, tone, worm and stop bleeding.

self heal is effective for most internal ailments and also good for external wounds. studies have been done on an extract of the plant being used to inhibit HIV virus as well as showing promise in treating herpes, cancer, AIDS, diabetes and many other maladies. clinical studies have shown it to have an antibacterial action which inhibits the growth of pseudomonas, bacillus typhi, e. coli and mycobacterium tuberculi. traditionally, self heal has been used as an alternative medicine internally and externally as an antibiotic and for hard to heal wounds and diseases.

as an infusion, self heal works wonders for treating fevers, diarrhea, sore mouth and throat, internall bleeding and weaknessness of the liver and heart. the tea is very pleasant tasting which makes it easy to give to children as well.

this little herb which i'm just getting to know is definitely a keeper in my book!

i'm posting at not dabbling in normal today about herbs in the bath.

essential herbal

congrats 2 cat 4 winning a copy of essential herbal! (i spilled water in my keyboard & it is ruined...waiting on a new keyboard 2 arrive so i can switch it out.) i need you snail mail so i can mail it out! lunafarm @ sbcglobal . net

blog party is back!!

go to darcy's blog for details if you want to participate in the monthly herbal blog party. this month's theme is the weeds of summer!

independence days - year 2 week 8

this year i'm feeling very challenged about gardening and everything else...too much going on and not enough time for it all! i restarted the id challenge to get me going and guilt me into being busy in ways i need to be.

want to play along? visit sharon (the creator of this great challenge) to read all about it!

lots of rain this week kept me out of the garden

1. plant something
~

2. harvest something:
~milk
~eggs (chicken and turkey)
~various leaves for making my morning tea: chamomile, sage, bergamot, thyme, oregano, echinacea, motherwort, dandelion, lemon balm, peppermint, spearmint, basil
~grass from the lawn to mulch plants
~radishes, lettuce, spinach, chickweed, dandelion leaves, kale, mint, lemon balm, cilantro, dill, borage, lamb's quarters, dianthus blossoms for salad
~carrots
~zucchini and summer squash
~flowers to make pretty bouquets for the house
~sheared a sheep (2 down, 4 to go)

3. preserve something:
~nada

4. Reduce waste:
~use canvas bags at grocery store
~re-use egg cartons for our nest run eggs
~use plastic shopping bags for trash bags

5. Preparation and Storage:
~weeded
~continued digging water pond
~mulched the plants with grass clippings

6. build community food systems:
~sold eggs, yogurt & milk to local people
~worked on july issue of herbal roots to teach children about using herbs medicinally and for food
~worked on willoughby farm master naturalist intern project, pulling invasives and id-ing trees
~bartered milk for produce at market
~accepted an intern to work with us this summer to teach her about gardening and help her get her hours in for school


7. eat the food:
~lettuce, radishes, kale, chard, dill, mint, lemon balm, carrots for salads
~zucchini and summer squash

not buying it - week 15

clothing


food
-harvesting salads from the lawn and garden: carrots, chickweed, kale, dandelion, violet, lettuce, dill, mint, lemon balm
-zucchinis
-cherries from the orchard
-eggs and milk from our backyard

household
-reusing plastic bags for trash bags

utilities
-shutting down power strips whenever possible
-making sure lights and fans are off when we are not in the room (kids are bad about this upstairs and it's driving me crazy!)

gifts
~hand made card for my dad for father's day (gift was a bottle of wine from a local winery), wrapping paper was white packing paper tied with some hemp yarn with bergamot blooms

exercise/self improvement
-hooping
-weeding
-knife throwing
-walks in the woods

homestead
~mom and dad picked up a ton of quart canning jars at a garage sale and gave them to me
~brought home food scraps from dinner at their house to feed the chickens (they were going to throw them away)

education
~requested books from the library to get started on our summer semester of school
~started sewing bags for the kids to hold nature study equipment (journals, paint, charcoal, pencils, containers for storing specimens, etc)

weaknesses
~ate out at the festival (cheap chinese)...was gone from 7am - 11p all day so even though i spent money, i only spent about $10 for the entire day on food and 2 beers

purging
~cleaned out a corner of the dining room (long past due!)

published!

i wrote an article for essential herbal. it's been awhile since i've done so. i wrote about making yummy herbal candy. peppermint and spearmint were good but making them with lemon balm is to die for! my kids begged for more. i want to try sage, basil and bergamot next.

for fun, i'm giving away 1 copy of the magazine. leave a comment here and suggest another herb that may be yummy candied for a chance to win it! if you sign in as anonymous, please leave your name and email contact in the comment section.

i'll draw a winner on tuesday morning.

sweet!

i'm posting over at not dabbling today about a warm weather sweet potato dish.

medicinal trail field notes 6-17-09

today i spent a couple hours pulling invasives (mostly honeysuckle, haven't made it up to the porcelain berry yet) and identifying trees. idnr puts out an awesome forest trees of illinois book that i have coveted for a long time but yet have scored for myself. i borrowed a friend's so i could figure out what some of the trees are. to date, here is a list of trees i have identified:

sycamore
black walnut
sassafras
pumpkin ash
slippery elm
dogwood
redbud
mulberry
box elder

i was stoked to see so many slippery elm out there today. there were a lot of little saplings, most being choked out by the honeysuckle which i removed today. this is going to be a long, long project to see to completion! there are more invasives than i first realized and i've barely even begun.

rainy days and mondays always get me down

it's a rainy day and monday...i'm feeling karen carpenter's pain.

on a more cheery note, i'm doing another giveaway over at herbal roots! this week is for a plantain pendant made by my good friend rebekah. come check it out!

i have so many things i could be doing outside but the rain is discouraging that. paths need mulching, weeds need weeding, water pond needs digging, laundry needs hanging...but once again, rain, rain, rain. i'm sorry, did we move to the pacific nw and i slept through the move or something?! seriously. i am not cut out for this non-stop gloominess week after week.

alas, instead, i am stuck in the house with 4 kids who will want my non-stop attention today while i try to declutter some areas that seriously need it. and working on herbal roots, a good rainy day project.

i seriously wish i didn't have to sleep so i could be more productive.

i hear the weeds growing 10' tall out there while the vegetables cower. what is up with that?!

not buying it - week 14

clothing (i did all this on a rainy day when greg was home to distract the kids)


food
-harvesting salads from the lawn and garden: carrots, chickweed, kale, dandelion, violet, lettuce, dill, mint, lemon balm
-zucchinis
-strawberries
-cherries from the orchard
-eggs and milk from our backyard

household
-reusing plastic bags for trash bags

utilities
-diligently shutting off power strips each night for computer/dsl and tv/dvd player (this is especially important right now while we are incubating eggs and raising chicks with grow lights which sucks the electricity)
-making sure lights are off when we are not in the room

gifts
-

exercise/self improvement
-hooping
-weeding
-knife throwing
-walks in the woods

homestead


education
~

weaknesses
~went out for sushi after market on saturday
~bought poly tubing to make hula hoops for kids

purging

independence days - year 2 week 7

this year i'm feeling very challenged about gardening and everything else...too much going on and not enough time for it all! i restarted the id challenge to get me going and guilt me into being busy in ways i need to be.

want to play along? visit sharon (the creator of this great challenge) to read all about it!

don't even know where this week went to...very busy with everything but the garden it seemed...tuesday gone on errand day, wednesday had volunteer work at the farm and then study group that night, thursday was playday with tons of kids all running amuck (one of them ripped the top of my flowering mullein plant off....grrrr!), friday more friends came over to do soap making, saturday was market and then more errands with greg...

1. plant something
~scallions
~sweet potato slips (37) finally! i hope it's not too late
~echinacea pallida seedlings from a friend


2. harvest something:
~milk
~eggs (chicken and turkey)
~various leaves for making my morning tea: chamomile, sage, bergamot, thyme, oregano, echinacea, motherwort, dandelion, lemon balm, peppermint, spearmint, basil
~grass from the lawn to mulch plants
~radishes, lettuce, spinach, chickweed, dandelion leaves, kale, mint, lemon balm, cilantro, dill, borage, lamb's quarters, dianthus blossoms for salad
~strawberries
~cherries
~carrots
~zucchini and summer squash

3. preserve something:
~nada

4. Reduce waste:
~use canvas bags at grocery store
~re-use egg cartons for our nest run eggs
~use plastic shopping bags for trash bags

5. Preparation and Storage:
~bought 15 bags of feed (while i was in a far away town picking up my kids)
~weeded
~continued digging water pond

6. build community food systems:
~sold eggs, yogurt & milk to local people
~worked on july issue of herbal roots to teach children about using herbs medicinally and for food
~worked on willoughby farm master naturalist intern project, locating plants and grant writing
~bartered milk for produce at market
~sold cherries at the market
~gave a friend 1 gallon frozen cherries leftover from last year's harvest
~taught herbal study group/did plant walk/gave away plants from the garden
~taught some friends to make soap (and got some of the fresh soap in my eye....OWWW!...stupid blond moment)

7. eat the food:
~lettuce, radishes, chickweed, kale, chard, dill, mint, lemon balm, carrots for salads
~strawberries
~cherries
~zucchini and summer squash

more lovelies to look at

lamb's ear and feverfew make lovely garden companions

i'm posting at not dabbling in normal today (thursday already!). this week, i talk about my phobia of pulling weeds and how herb gardening is much more suited to me. with lots of herb garden porn!

plants i do know

ok, so i don't know what these are but they are beautiful to look at.

prickly greenbrier, much taller than the one in my yard.jewelweed

the ginger i planted is settling in nicely.

let's play name this plant!

trying to id more plants. you all were such a great help last time i thought i'd try it again!


the first 2 photos are the same plant. if i remember correctly, it had spines on the stems. the leaf pattern reminds me a bit of ginseng.
this is a bad shot. sorry. i don't even remember where it was.

i want to say this is coltsfoot but i've never seen it in person before. there are two beautiful stands of it. i asked a more experienced naturalist and he crushed me by saying 'it's probably just a weed'. his explanation was the roots were shallow and natives have deep roots. uhhh, dude, have you ever seen jewelweed? there are no rhizomes on this but i could have not dug deep enough. i brought home a plant to watch.
some sort of tree seedling?
this plant is intriguing. very soft leaves, reminds me of large flax.
another view with a goldenseal lookalike...that plant sends up stalks with white flowers. you can see it in the above picture.
porcelain berry? or just another type of grape? there is wild grape growing but it looks different. sort of hoppish looking but too large and woody stemmy (comparing to my memory from years ago). also, it just didn't look like hops to me.

it's futile

why my kitchen floor is never clean

the culprit

some cheeriness on a gloomy, rainy day

motherwort and feverfew

st. john's wort

valerian

mullein

wood betony

echinacea purpurea

yarrow

black hollyhocks

asian daylily

not buying it - week 13

clothing
-

food
-harvesting salads from the lawn and garden: carrots, chickweed, kale, dandelion, violet, day lily shoots, lettuce, spinach, radishes, asparagus, dill, lamb's quarters, cilantro, mint, lemon balm
-strawberries & zucchini/summer squash from garden
-eggs and milk from our backyard
-made yogurt from milk

household
-reusing plastic bags for trash bags

utilities
-diligently shutting off power strips each night for computer/dsl and tv/dvd player
-making sure lights are off when we are not in the room

gifts
-

exercise/self improvement
-hooping
-weeding
-knife throwing

homestead
-greg brought home a 15x15 strip of rubber roofing material he got from contractors for free (perks of being an architect) to use for lining the water pond i am digging
-got some pots through freecycle for used it potting up plants to sell
-starts of wild gooseberry and scallions (from the freecycle lady who gave me a ton of pots)
-cutting up empty feed bags to line paths i am mulching


education
we are on spring break

weaknesses
-bought locally made organic wine at the festival yesterday and crap food at another festival today (i was too tired to make our lunch today)

purging
-weeds...does that count?!

independence days - year 2 week 6

this year i'm feeling very challenged about gardening and everything else...too much going on and not enough time for it all! i restarted the id challenge to get me going and guilt me into being busy in ways i need to be.

want to play along? visit sharon (the creator of this great challenge) to read all about it!

prepping for festivals all week.

1. plant something
~gooseberries (got from a freecycle run, i was picking up pots and ended up with gooseberries and scallions too)

2. harvest something:
~milk
~eggs (chicken and turkey)
~various leaves for making my morning tea: chamomile, sage, bergamot, thyme, oregano, echinacea, motherwort, dandelion, lemon balm, peppermint, spearmint
~grass from the lawn to mulch plants
~radishes, lettuce, spinach, chickweed, dandelion leaves, kale, mint, lemon balm, cilantro, dill, borage, lamb's quarters, dianthus blossoms for salad
~strawberries
~carrots
~zucchini and summer squash

3. preserve something:
~rose petal jelly

4. Reduce waste:
~use canvas bags at grocery store
~re-use egg cartons for our nest run eggs
~use plastic shopping bags for trash bags

5. Preparation and Storage:
~mulched paths
~weeded
~continued digging water pond

6. build community food systems:
~sold eggs, yogurt & milk to local people
~worked on july issue of herbal roots to teach children about using herbs medicinally and for food
~worked on willoughby farm master naturalist intern project, locating plants and grant writing
~bartered milk for produce at market

7. eat the food:
~weeds from my garden, using lamb's quarters sprouts by the handfuls (we let a lot go to seed last year)
~spinach, lettuce, radishes, chickweed, kale, chard, asparagus, dill, cilantro, borage, mint, lemon balm, carrots for salads
~strawberries
~zucchini and summer squash

please call back!

someone named tracy or stacy called my home today from the virgin islands...i played the message over and over trying to get the phone number and accidently hit delete instead of repeat. if you read this message, please try me again! the first message was hard to hear so i'm not even sure what the call was about.

thanks!

sew in fashion

i'm writing over at not dabbling today about keeping kids clothed on a tight budget. hopefully it will give others ideas on how to dress kids well without spending a lot of money.

hop on over...

to herbal roots and sign up for a chance to win this adorable toad handcrafted by mamaroots!

and if you haven't already, check out the latest edition of herbal roots! it's all about plantain and has even more fun activities packed in there!