Cooking Like a Kitchen Artist

Back a couple of blog posts, Cook Book Or Not?, I mentioned I would write about cooking like a kitchen artist.  Now is the time for you to: read on, get out your local foods, and start creating with your kitchen artist's palette! 

A common challenge I hear from clients and health class students is:  “How do I make my cooking easy, what do I use for spices, what can I do that is different….?

First Thought:  Do what is easy and familiar, make your favorite foods!  The key is to turn them into whole food recipes with fresh, local, and seasonal foods. 

Check out this hidden page “How to Make Any Recipe a Whole Food Recipe” to get you into the ‘whole food’ recipe make-over swing of things.

Trying to get more vegetables into your life?  People get too overwhelmed by ALL the vegetables that are available in the supermarket.  Common questions I hear from clients are:  WHAT do I do with all of these, what goes with what, how do I cook them…..?”

Second Thought: Learn to eat in season.  If the veggies you are eating are only available at certain times of the year, it makes your choices narrower at that particular time of the year.  Being overwhelmed by the plethora of choices is common in today’s culture of being able to eat broccoli, strawberries, asparagus, and every other fruit or vegetable 12 months out of the year.  Create meals using vegetables that are available locally and in season.  This makes the choosing easier, because there is not so much variety available all the time.  It also allows you the opportunity to have a diet that is varied over the course of the calendar year.

Helpful hints around seasonal eating:

• I believe seasonal eating would help to cut down on food sensitivities as well. When your body is not being subjected to the same food, all the time, you are much less likely to develop food sensitivities and intolerances. Local, seasonal eating was nature's way of varying our diets.
• When you eat locally grown food you help cut down on the transporting of food all over the globe. This can have huge impacts on the environment when we are using less fossil fuels moving food around the earth.

Examples of seasonal foods for Northern NY State:

Spring:  spinach, asparagus, green onion, early lettuce, rhubarb, wild leeks, spring sorrel, peas

Summer:  leafy salad greens, summer squashes, seasonal berries from strawberries to late summer raspberries & blackberries, tomatoes, peas, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants, juneberries, cherries, garlic, carrots, new potatoes, fresh herbs, corn, onions, melons…

Fall: root veggies, winter storage squash, cabbage, apples, pears, peaches, fall raspberries

Winter: stored root veggies, kale & collards still in the garden, canned tomatoes and veggies, frozen veggies and berries

Many websites offer their version of a “what produce is in season” charts for the geographical region you live in.   www.gardenshare.org

http://www.simplesteps.org/eat-local

http://www.nrdc.org/search.asp?cof=FORID%3A11&ie=UTF-8&q=seasonal+eating&cx=001024953138106184952%3Alevppyfplwy&hq=-inurl%3Ahttps&t=iframe

When you eat seasonally, what you eat changes with each seasons.  Your meal planning and preparing takes on a rhythm of simplicity.  I cannot stress this enough: keep it simple.  Do not over think things.  Wing it in the kitchen.  If the meal was a winning combination, do it again.  If the meal is not the taste you were looking for, eat it with gratitude for the farmers who grew the food, the earth/water/sun, etc. that provided the growing environment, and the work you did in the kitchen.  Make a mental note (or keep a cooking journal, if that is easier for you) and do not repeat that particular cooking concoction. 

If you think about vegetable dishes, they are the same things just cooked a different way.  One fall or winter night you might roast potatoes, carrots, onion, and parsnips and another night you might throw those same types of veggies into a beef or chicken stew.  On another night you might stir fry them and add meat, fish, scrambled eggs, or beans.  Another night you might gently steam them, mash them up with grass fed butter and unrefined sea salt, and serve with a side dish of chicken, beans, or fish.  This is what I mean about simplicity and not over thinking.

To these above meals add a grated root veggie salad using different root veggies:  rutabaga, celeriac and beets with some finely chopped cabbage.  Toss with an herbed, homemade oil and vinegar dressing and voila, dinner!

Summer cooking will be more tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, yellow squash and zucchini, and other summer veggies enjoyed with green, leafy salads and raw carrots, baby beets, and cucumbers.

Let go of the idea that you have to work from a recipe and cook up this fabulous gourmet meal every night.  100 years ago, people ate what they had on hand, in season, with no regards for cook books and recipes.

In my herb garden I grow:  mint, basil, cilantro, parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary, tarragon, sage, marjoram, certain edible flowers, etc.  It is so easy to step outside, cut a bunch of herb sprigs and brighten up a raw salad or add to cooked vegetable just before you serve them.  I do not recommend cooking the fresh herbs as you will save the fresh flavors for your eating enjoyment. 

I keep standard herbs and herb blends handy to spice things during the non-garden, no fresh herb months:

Italian spices:  rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley, basil, marjoram

Curries: mild, medium, or hot to your liking

Chili type spices:  Chili powder, cumin, turmeric, and coriander

Pulled pork blend: (I also put this on chicken, in chili, and in stir fries if I am looking for this particular taste):   ground pepper, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chili pepper, thyme, all spice, turmeric    Use 1 Tbsp. of each spice except  1 ½ tsp. thyme, allspice and turmeric

Chinese 5 spice for Asian stir fries

Cooking and eating is wonderful, tasty fun!  Relax and enjoy the process for good health in mind, body, and soul! 

PS

I was making chocolate chip cookies this AM, for my boy's school lunches, and I reminded myself of a wonderful Whole Food Recipe Conversion tip: 

• Never use 100% oat flour to make cookies. Why you may ask? Not because the flavor isn't yummy... it is because the cookies are very crumbly. Frankly, they can fall apart if handled roughly. Now eating cookie chunks and crumbs is an ok thing but a whole cookie that does not fall apart has a certain appeal!

OK, recipe... I know I will get emails asking where is the recipe?  See below.

The cookie recipe began in this Betty Crocker cookbook!

The below recipe is the chocolate chips cookies, the left side is the original recipe and the right side is the converted to whole foods recipe.

• Heat oven to 375 F.
• Mix butter, sugar, and egg.  Add vanilla here if using and I encourage vanilla!
• Stir in flour, b. soda, and salt. Add cinnamon here, if desired.
• Add in chocolate chips and nuts (if using nuts). 
• Dough will be stiff. Allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes as the whole grain flours continue to absorb the liquids. If dough is not stiff enough for cookie dough consistency, add 1 tbsp. of flour at a time to get it to the necessary stiffness of cookies.
• Bake one cookie for 8-10 minutes as a tester.
• If all looks good with that one cookie, bake those cookies up & enjoy!

The finished, yummy, oat flour chocolate chip cookies! They do not last long!

Comments, thoughts?  Write me a note in the comments below. Happy day to you!

Stalking the Wild Nettle

Nettles are my favorite healing herb. This fact about me is something I do not hide. Now I have plenty of other herb friends, both cultivated and wild, that run a semi-close second in my favorite herb department. Nettles are #1!

Nettle seeds

In the above picture you are looking at the beautiful tiny seeds that dangle in strands from the nettle plant. These seeds are powerhouses of nutrition for nourishing thyroid health.  The dose is 1/4 teaspoon daily. I would take this as 1/8 teaspoon, twice daily.

To dry nettle seeds I cut the entire stalk at the base and hang them upside down in a warm and dry space. Make certain you have a screen or something similar underneath the hanging plants to catch any falling seeds. When they start to dry, I carefully cut each strand from the stalks. I put them in a paper bag, poked with a knife to make many air holes, and hang the bag to completely dry the seeds. Leave the top of the bag wide open for better air flow. You can also use a very fine mesh bag to hang and dry the seeds.

The remaining stalks can be left to dry out the leaves. Again, trim the completely dried leaves off the stalks and store them in an air tight container. You now have dried nettle leaves for adding to soups, stews, sauces, and for making healing tea.

The beautiful nettle plant displaying her seed strands.

Looking straight down at the nettle plant. The seeds strands form a whorled pattern about this beautiful, healing plant.

Nettle's many healing gifts to your body:

• strengthens the kidneys and adrenal glands
• builds natural energy from the inside of the body (which is the opposite of coffee's effects in the body, coffee wears out the adrenal glands, nettles builds and heals the adrenals
• nourishes the hair and skin making you shine with vibrant health
• is an adaptogenic herb, helps a living organism adapt to stress (adrenal health!)
• rebuilds and restores the body cells as nettles is a powerhouse of nutrition
• great for reducing allergies on its own or make an herb honey with raw, local honey and nettle puree, take 1/4 teaspoon twice daily (This is basically making a tincture using honey as the base.)
• great for nourishing the male and female reproductive tracts
• nourishes thyroid health and contributes to body weight balancing

This is but a partial list of all the benefits nettles has in the human body. I suggest you become friends with nettles and learn all you can about her healing ways.

What you are observing, below, is a chicken nettle salad sitting on top of a romaine lettuce, carrot, and cucumber salad. In the upper left corner is a big dose of my late spring, wild leek infused sauerkraut. I got carried away and made 8 quarts! 5 quarts down, 3 quarts left to enjoy!

Chicken Nettle Herb Salad

• left over chicken breast from dinner at the ADK Cafe in Keene, NY. If you are ever passing through here, stop and eat. The food is divine, the meat is local and pasture raised!
• sprigs of fresh rosemary
• fresh chives
• nettle top leaves
• homemade mayonnaise made with 3 tablespoons whipped heavy cream, 1 small egg's yolk, and a dash of yellow mustard. I whipped the cream well, added in yolk and whipped some more, then added mustard. The cream and eggs were both from local, pasture raised animals cared for with love.

The chicken was chopped up, mayo blended in, added in the chopped herbs and nettles, and stirred all together. I plopped this decadent chicken salad on top of my veggie salad (all local veggies from Martin's Farm Stand) that was dressed with my homemade herb vinegar dressing. The finishing touch: wild leek sauerkraut!

Eat healthy, eat whole... your body cells with thrive with vibrant, radiant health!

Self Healing Lung Disease

I love this tree "lung" picture as it is so symbolic of life, health, vitality, healing, and breath! 

The human body is an amazing healing organism. Our RNA and DNA are constantly repairing. The immune system is a very busy system: searching out breaks and abnormalities in our RNA and DNA, scouting out unwanted micro-organisms in our bodies, repairing cells... the work of the immune system is amazing.

For me to say the word heal in regards to your lungs, I am only telling you what you innately know: Your body is capable of self healing any and every challenge it faces. Healing comes from within.

It is as simple as this.

Now, I will admit, sometimes the immune system is just plain exhausted. When this is the case, healing may have a hard time happening. Healing may not happen. This is the scenario when a person has seriously not taken whole health care of their bodies for years. The body, the immune system, is: worn down, malnourished, and exhausted. It just cannot rise to the occasion and do the healing work necessary.

Let's take a step back and focus on healing, focus on the fact that healing can and will happen!

What heals the lungs?

1. Removing all habits that are toxic to the lungs and the body as a whole.

2. Working on liver health is essential as the liver is your main organ of detoxification. The liver is involved in all healing and needs to be functioning at top notch health. Burdock is a good liver herb to learn about.

3. Add in 100% life giving, whole foods.

4. Add in Whole Health Lifestyle choices.

5. Add in herbs specific for healing the lungs. (More about this below.)

6. Make use of holistic healing modalities* that speak to you:

• Acupuncture or acupressure

• Reiki or any form of energy healing

• Yoga or any form of mind, body, spirit exercise

• Many, many more natural healing arts

Herbs to Heal the Lungs:  (These herbs have even more benefits than the few remarks I will make.)

• Mullein helps to strengthen the lungs

• Lungwort promotes lung and respiratory health and clears congestion

• Chaparral for lung detoxification and respiratory health support

• Elecampane clears mucous

• Eucalyptus soothes and promotes respiratory health

• Lobelia (one of my favorite herbs) opens the airways to promote ease of breath and harmonizes the other herbs in a formula to work better

  More research information on Lobelia: https://www.herballegacy.com/Lobelia_King.html

• Osha root increases circulation to the lungs

• Coltsfoot clears mucus and strengthens the lungs

• Licorice root soothes inflamed lung tissue so the immune system can get to work healing and licorice harmonizes the other herbs in a formula to work better

• Thyme is a powerful aid in congestion and a powerful anti-microbial

• Oregano is a decongestant and natural antimicrobial and contains nutrients / anti-oxidants that directly nourish lung cells

• Sage dispels lung congestion and soothes tissues

• Peppermint, and all mints, relax and soothe the respiratory tract making breathing easier

• Plantain soothes irritated mucus membranes, is an anti-microbial and anti-toxin herb

• Echinacea is an immune booster to help fight infection

• Horehound is an expectorant and lung healing herb

• Grindelia flowers are an expectorant and sedative, calming

• Pleurisy root is an expectorant and anti-spasmodic, good for coughs

• Passion flower calms and eases respiration and circulation

• Yerba Santa leaf relieves excess mucus and is used for asthma and all lung conditions

• Yerba Mansa root is a mucus membrane tonic, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, stimulates circulation and relief of lung congestion 

• Ginger root warms the body increasing circulation and loosening mucus

That's a lot of herbs to heal the lungs!

So my interest in lungs and healing? Well, I am interested in healing the body... the lungs are part of this glorious organism.

My youngest son, Eli, was born 3 months early. It was a long haul in the neo-natal intensive care unit before he could come home, in my arms, 3 months later. Because of his pre-maturity, his lungs did not fully develop. He had respiratory distress syndrome and came home with severe asthma.

The first few years were rough and tough. A cold or the flu was seriously hard on his lungs (and his Mom!) and made the viral illness hang in longer than it would in a non-asthmatic person.

I used 2 herbal formulas to heal his lungs. I chose to not use any of the prescription medications or respiratory treatments prescribed: steroids, asthma drugs, inhalers, or nebulizers breathing treatments.

The formulas:

The Lung tonic is taken daily to heal chronic lung conditions. Asthma is one of these. I keep it on hand, at my Hands On Health Healing business, for clients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Emphysema, Asthma, and other chronic lung conditions.

The Respiratonic is used in acute moments: "I cannot breathe right now!" It helps to open the airways and ease breathing. I kept this handy when Eli had a cold or the flu. I keep a supply, at my business, for clients with lung conditions.

I also used a lobelia tincture with Eli. Lobelia is also for acute, "I CAN NOT breathe NOW" moments when he turned blue or I was preventing him from turning blue. It works very quickly to open up the airways and ease the tightness of asthma and lung breathing conditions. I kept this next to my bed, in my purse, in the kitchen, and a bottle on my body most of his first 7-8 years of life. There were many times, when Eli was young, that he needed it now. When he was an infant, I carried it in the front pack or sling that I was carrying him in. I slept sitting on an incline, with Eli on my chest, for the first 4+ years of his life with a bottle in my hand as I slept. No, I kid you not.  This made so much more sense to me than the hospital prescribed apnea machine attached to my kid sleeping in a crib in the next room over... WTH?

MORE Lobelia information: https://www.herballegacy.com/Lobelia_King.html

One Lobelia products I used, Dr. Christopher's was another brand

By the time Eli was 5, the asthma was almost completely healed. By 7 years of age, it was essentially gone. I continue to give him the Lung Tonic, from time to time, just to add in healing nourishment for his lungs. I usually give him 2 daily over the hardest winter months. He is 15 now and his asthma is healed.

Got lung health and healing concerns? Looking for a more natural approach? Give me a shout, I would love to support you on your healing journey.

Sending healing love, Paula

Treating whooping cough from an MD 

* Please feel free to contact me, I would be happy to help you find practitioners in the area who work with Plant Spirit Medicine, Massage, Shamanism, Acupressure, Yoga, Tae Kwon Do, and many more healing arts, to help you on your healing path.

Divine Weight Loss Tip #7, #8, #9, #10

Wait, what?!  Tips #7 through #10 in one fell swoop? 

My answer is yes. These are basic lifestyle habits that make your body soar with feel good energy, happiness, and balance your body weight.  When you feel good... you want to feel better. Health begets health; wellness begets wellness. It is an addictive thing!

Now that I have brought up the issue of addictions... Have you labeled yourself as an addictive personality type? "I can't give up sugar (or soda, or chips, or whatever), I am so addicted."

Why do addictions always seem to be for "bad" things, unhealthy choices? If we can get addicted, why not get addicted to:

• healthy choices,

• fitness,

• fruits and veggies,

• choosing to be happy despite what is going on around you,

• real food grown by real farmers,

• yoga,

• walking in the woods,

• gratitude,

• taking your health into your own hands?

Go ahead; ponder over what being addicted to healthy things could be like in your life. Sit. Be quiet. Breathe. Visualize healthy living coming from your core being. What does that look like? Feel Like? How can you put it into action, reality, in your life?

Eli, my youngest son, doing what he does when frustrated, angry, or overwhelmed with energy: quiet, breathe, visualize being calm.

Seeing 2 of Eli? Can you guess why? Leave a comment with your guess.

OK, now for Tip #7 through Tip #10

#7  Get plenty of sleep!  Skimping on sleep to “get things done” is not a whole health habit!  Getting to sleep before 10 PM maximizes production of melatonin and works with the earth's circadian rhythms for great sleep and health.  

Going to sleep, before 10 PM, reduces cortisol levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone that helps the body put on and keep on abdominal weight. Sleep peacefully to reduce your cortisol levels.

Stay away from bright lights and screens (computers, etc.) for 3 hours before sleep.  Bright lights make your body think it is daytime and impair the sleep cycles.  Get all lights out of the sleep area; even LED lights disturb good sleep hormone production. 

The moon and stars are fine!

#8 Daily physical activity. Start now and continue for life.  Your body is a beautiful creation meant for movement, poetry in motion. Your bones, muscles, and joints are singing out to be put into this motion. Listen; hear your body begging to be moved!

Hint: Get outside and move.  Fresh air and natural light are imperative to good health, endorphin, hormone, and neurotransmitter production. See below.

#9 Daily exposure to natural sun light and fresh air.  Exercise, work, play, read, and relax outside! And for an extra bonus... get to sleep (before 10 PM) outside! Seriously, sleeping outside is a health enhancing habit!

The natural light exposure, again, enhances the body's circadian rhythms. Fresh air and the sounds of nature calm and soothe body, mind, and spirit.

When our bodies function, with the rhythms of the earth, we are so much more balanced as human beings. This inner balance makes it easier to choose healthy lifestyle habits.

#10 Increase your intake of water; clean, pure water!  Water is crucial to healthy cell function. Just as your body cells need to be nourished with whole foods, so too they need water to carry on the processes of metabolism. Keep your cells happy, feed them water.

Use clean, pure water to make herbal teas. Herbal teas are high in minerals and nutrients that add to body cell nourishment.

Your gorgeous body cell. You want all of them to be healthy! There are trillions. One thing I find amazing about this is that every thing we eat has an impact on trillions of life forms (all a part of you!).

If your water supply is chlorinated, filter it.  Use a chlorine shower filter so you are not absorbing and breathing in chlorine as you shower.

Divine Weight Loss Tips 1-6 & final Tip:

1. https://www.paulayoumellrn.com/blog/2014/8/2/divine-weight-loss-tip-1

2. https://www.paulayoumellrn.com/blog/1370

3. https://www.paulayoumellrn.com/blog/2014/8/4/divine-weight-loss-tip-3

4. https://www.paulayoumellrn.com/blog/2014/8/5/divine-weight-loss-tip-4

5. https://www.paulayoumellrn.com/blog/2014/8/6/divine-weight-loss-tip-5

6. https://www.paulayoumellrn.com/blog/2014/8/7/divine-weight-loss-tip-6

7. https://www.paulayoumellrn.com/blog/2014/8/11/divine-weight-loss-final-tip-11

Salad Dressing Made Easy!

Summer abounds with lush, juicy, crunchy, yummy produce.  A simple salad dressing, lite and tasty so as not to overwhelm the taste of the amazing fruits and veggies, is essential in the kitchen.

Commercial salad dressings are full of garbage, fake ingredients, that do not nourish your beautiful body cells.

Making a salad dressing, from scratch, is terribly simple AND you will know every ingredient that goes into making it (and into your body!). You can create a cell nourishing, heavenly tasting salad dressing in less than 30 minutes. (This includes picking the fresh herbs and rinsing them off!)

Have a quart size, wide mouth canning jar, on hand for the finished product.

1. Pour 2 cups raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar (ACV) into your blender.

1. Skip outside for some fresh herbs. Yes, it is important to skip. When we create food from a happy, loving space, our energy infuses the food and nourishes all who eat it.  Go ahead, skip.

1. At home I skip to pick: basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley, cilantro, mint, and dill. Today, I am writing from my family's camp in the ADK Mts. I have to go with what is on hand: my rogue oregano and thyme plants all over in the lawn, wild mint, dandelion greens, and raspberry and strawberry leaves. Shh, don't tell my kids about the wild stuff, they might freak out.

My Friend Basil, my Hornbeck Canoe, and an ADK lake... does it get better?

1. Pick big handfuls of herbs and remove all bugs. Despite the bugs lending a 'lil extra protein to the dressing; the bugs prefer to be left outside with their lives intact. Rinse the herbs and put into the blender with the vinegar. (By the way, at home I use local ACV from Martin's Farm Stand. I love how there is always a big gob of the "mother" on the bottom of the gallon jug of ACV.  This can be used to ferment another batch of AVC.  I tried feeding it to my kids on a spoon. Seriously, it is like sauerkraut or yogurt... good for the gut.  I got it past their mouths once.  I was threatened, by both my sons, if I ever tried that slimy trick again, well it was not a pretty threat!  I just eat it myself and figure some day they will come around to Mom's holistic way of eating!)
2. Put cover on the blender.  This is a very important step. If left undone, it can be a catastrophe in the kitchen... green liquid dripping off the ceiling in a circle above your head.  Trust me, I know this to be true!
3. Blend into a green, foaming puree.
4. Pour into quart canning jar.
5. Stir with a spoon to calm the foaming green stuff.  It will seem like it has swollen to fill the whole jar but it will calm down.
6. Add a good squeeze of organic, yellow mustard. I would say about 1 tbsp. More mustard will not be an issue.
7. Pour in some organic, extra virgin olive oil to fill jar. No, the olive oil featured below is not organic. It is from Italy where Monsanto has not created their death grip on food!  I do not put the olive oil into the blender because it makes the blender an oily mess to clean.  I simply rinse the green, herbed vinegar stuff out of the blender and drink. No soap or hot water required for clean up.
8. Voila'!  Dressing fit for fresh, local produce nourishing your cells!

Optional ingredients: unrefined sea salt by the pinch or two and either local, raw honey or local, maple syrup.  Maybe a tbsp. of the sweetener.  Maple syrup will blend in at any time in the making process.  If using honey, add honey to the vinegar herb puree when blending, as it mixes together better.

To use: Use a hefty, long handled soup or serving spoon.  Remove jar cover and stir well.  Remove a big spoonful as you are stirring.  This keeps a better blend of oil to vinegar, otherwise the oil rises to the top quickly when you stop stirring.  This is fine, you want this effect.  Commercial dressings stay blended because they have chemical binder ingredients.

Storage: I leave my jar on the storage shelf under my kitchen table, no refrigeration required. AND it will last until you use it all up. Vinegar preserves!

My Healing Yard, Take 2

Come along, time for another healing walk through the back yard.

A couple of weeks ago, the boys were mowing the lawn.  Suddenly the lawn mower quit. I immediately wonder: lawn mower ill or kids quitting when the job is not half finished? Jake yells to me:  "Mom, come over here, please."  I go over to see this nice sized patch of purple flowers he has neatly mowed around.  I was not sure what they were but glad he left them intact, knowing that next year the patch will be bigger!

So, my sister googled the image, a few days later, when I find some in my Mom's yard.  This purple beauty is Self-Heal (Heal All), a powerhouse healing plant from the Mint family!  Good for: sore throats and mouth sores, fevers, diarrhea, skin wounds and sores, a diuretic for kidney ills, and conjunctivitis.

This humble plant contains antibiotic, hypotensive (lowers blood pressure), and anti-mutagenic (think cancer) properties. Traditional Chinese Medicine considers it a cooling plant and uses it to treat the liver (inflammation) and aid circulation.

Thanks Jake for seeing these 'lil flowers in the lawn and knowing to protect them from the hungry lawn mower!

Self-Heal growing next to a friend, White Clover.

White Clover:  Colds, coughs, fever, and vaginal infections. Flower tea is used for arthritis and gout, health conditions in the same family.

White Clover

Wild Strawberry leaves were once used as a nerve tonic, for bladder and kidney ailments, jaundice, scurvy, diarrhea, stomachaches, and gout. Fresh leaf tea was used for sore throats. Berries are eaten for scurvy and gout... something tells me to eat them just because they are yummy! Root tea was used to treat gonorrhea, stomach and lung ailments, irregular menses, and as a diuretic. What a humble little plant!

My yard is carpeted with Wild Strawberry plants. I have caught the cat's eating them on many occasions, bet they were self medicating their bellies!

Rhubarb root is delightful for constipation as it stimulates the liver to release bile which promotes colon cleansing. The root helps lower cholesterol, is an antiseptic, relieves spasms, has anti-tumor effects, is a diuretic, and a general tonic for good health. 

Rhubarb stalks are a good source of calcium, anti-oxidants, are a laxative, and a purgative.  Rhubarb is high in dietary fiber, protein, vitamin C, vitamin K, B complex vitamins, potassium, manganese, and magnesium. Rhubarb is a rich source of polyphenolic flavonoids like beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin.  Hey, rhubarb is a "superfood" that does not have to be imported thousands of miles!

Caution: Do not eat the rhubarb leaves... TOXIC ALERT!  The triangular leaves are extremely high in oxalic acid, which can cause severe illness in people, resulting in the common belief that rhubarb is poisonous. If the plant is subject to extreme cold, the dangerous acid can migrate into the stalk, so be sure to store rhubarb in a warm or temperate space, just like the climate it normally grows in.

My Rhubarb patch, looking a little ill this time of year!

Bee balm: My patch is a mix of wild and cultivated.  I planted it to feed the hummingbirds and have found it attracts bees, dragon flies, butterflies, and various other flying insects!  It is Wild Bergamot! The leaf tea is used for colic, to expel flatulence (gas) and parasites, colds, fever, stomachaches, nosebleeds, insomnia, and heart troubles. It was used with measles to induce sweating and "fever" the virus out of the body.

Bee Balm

Plantain: Here is a plant for your skin!  Got some pesky bug bites?  Chew up plantain leaves and put the chewed up "poultice" onto the bites.  Let them sit for a bit and soothe the bug bites.  This is back yard first aid!  Plantain is used to heal all sorts of skin issues, sores, and ulcers as it stimulates the healing process.

This plant is another healing powerhouse, used as a prominent folk cancer remedy - healing plant in South America. My yard is a cancer healing center!

Plantain is a confirmed antimicrobial.  This is what we should be making hand sanitizers out of, not toxic chemicals and over used and abused antibiotics.

Plantain's seeds (the seed stalks are an easy way to identify this plant) are mucilagenous and used to reduce cholesterol.

Plantain

Wild Geranium: This fun little plant grows atop my septic tank.  I am not sure I would ever want to harvest it from this spot...

Wild Geranium's root is used for stopping bleeding, diarrhea, dysentery, hemorrhoid relief (seems to me it would be healing to varicose veins as well), for gum disease, kidney and stomach ills, and as a diuretic. The powdered root is used to heal canker sores, apply topically. Externally it is used as a cancer remedy.

Wild Geranium

Motherwort

Motherwort: This plant, hanging here on my front porch (above picture) was an awesome gift from Martha Pickard's farm, (Nourished Roots Certified Nutrition Specialist).  I am going to tincture it as Motherwort is a wonderful healing plant for the female reproductive tract: promotes and regulates menstruation, as an aid in childbirth, as a uterine tonic, and for menstrual cramps.  I would mix it with Red Raspberry leaf and Stinging Nettle leaf for an amazing uterine tonic and female reproductive tract healing remedy.

Motherwort is also used for asthma, as a sleep aid, for heart palpitations, for sciatica, fevers, spasm, nerve pain, and stomachaches.

Motherwort is equally awesome for the heart, nourishing and strengthening the heart muscle and its blood vessels. It is a remedy for most heart diseases and rapid heart rate (tachycardia).  I would blend it with Hawthorne Berry for heart-loving nourishment!

Below is the pint of Motherwort tincture I have brewing.  The Motherwort demands respect when handling, like Stinging Nettles.  It has sweet, little, biting blossoms whorling about the stem.  Handle carefully, lest you get picked!

Thank you Jane for always keeping a supply of organic vodka at Village Wine & Liquors, Potsdam.  Keeps my tincture "squeaky clean!"

I would be horribly remiss if I did not mention my best herb friend here... Stinging Nettles. Yes, that is a gallon jug of Nettle, Red Clover flower, and Strawberry leaf tea.  Thank you John Casserly for the big bag of dried Nettles.  What a gift!

Herbs ARE very healing to body, mind, and soul.  The herbs nourish the physical body with vitamins, minerals, and healing chemical constituents that we really do not need to know their every name... just know that they work.  Herbs heal the mind because of the thinking you do to learn about their healing properties. Learning about herbs is a mind soothing activity. You are taking self-responsibility for your own health and acknowledging, at a very deep level, that you are not at the "hands" of fate and genetics.  You can do something, everyday, to make yourself feel and function from a vibrant space.  Herbs heal the soul because... well, look at my friendly connections just in this post.  My sister, Ginny, googling Self-Heal and teaching me a new plant, Martha gifting me with Motherwort, John gifting me with Nettles, and Jane gifting me with always having organic vodka available. Every time I use these healing gifts, I will think of my dear friends.  Self-Heal will always flash my sister into my mind. Herbs keep me connected with the best people and that is very soul soothing!

Creeping Wood Sorrel: This is that fun plant kids pick to eat because it is sour tasting. I ate plenty as a kid! Perhaps it is a wise, intuitive, healing action for kids who need the vitamin C after a long winter in Northern NY!  

Traditionally, the leaves were chewed to relief mouth sores, sore throats, and nausea.  Fresh leaves are poulticed and used on skin sores and ulcers, as well as cancers. Leaf tea is used for scurvy, urinary tract infections, and fevers. Caution:  Large doses may cause oxalate poisoning (much like the rhubarb leaves above).

Creeping Wood Sorrel, notice the tiny yellow flowers.  When in full bloom, flowers will be all over them.  Maybe flowers are another characteristic that attracts kids.

I hope I have helped you to look at the plants in your yard from a different perspective, a healing point of view.  I always feel so sad for the lawn that people try to mold and shape into nothing but pure grass by cutting down and digging up plants and applying toxic chemicals.  When we leave nature as it is, bio-diversified, we have a healing oasis right out our back door (front door too!).

If you sit on the lawn, so you are close to the ground, and look at just a 2 square foot space, you will be amazed at the biodiversity of plant life in just that small space.  Even more fun, try moving about your yard, sitting in different spots along your journey.  By the end of your adventure, I bet you can find 50 to 100 different species of plants!

Go ahead, take a walk and look into your grass. Sit down and really look.  I bet you can find many, tiny plants interwoven with the grass blades, struggling to come to life. That is your healing garden!

Blessings, Paula

Self-Heal... another pretty picture!  I see Wild Strawberry leaves, plantain, white clover, and wood sorrel intertwined in here!