Dear incredible herb women,

I am so happy to see that this blog still exists!  How are all of you???!

I'm still living about 5 minutes from Herb Pharm, as the crow flies, at Seven Seeds Farm <3  The year has been an epic journey of love and loss, of growth and of push and pull and stretch and cry and laugh and play and jump in pond over and over and over again : )

Last weekend we held a permaculture gathering on the property and it was a great success!  Nourishing music, company and incredible food.  I even attempted to host an herb workshop on tincture making--quite rusty I might add!  We harvested Aronia berries and False Solomons Seal berries and they are now resting quietly in a dark cabinet swimming in vodka.  I am on another mission to harvest FSS root for cough syrup, but am still in question of whether or not FSS berries only serve as a laxative?  Does anyone happen to have any knowledge of this?

This weekend, I am strapping down and preparing for a Vision Quest in the upcoming week--4 days and nights without food/water connecting with the Great Spirits.  Send a prayer my way if I happen to cross your mind <3

I am post-poning any spring-time plans until post-journey but Blue Otter School of Herbal Medicine is glinting on my horizon...I'm stretching in that direction as so many other things let go and un-wind.

I love you all deeply and send you love and light and blessings from our herb home,
Emily

the kitchen sink

the end of summer is drying in the window.

this weekend i tinctured lemon balm and peppermint from the garden, and washed the floors with lemongrass oil.  we sleep with the windows open now, and wear jackets in the cool night.

change: my favorite season.

i've bundled and hung some herbs from the garden before they bolt; they sense the cold and turn to seed.  that dried lemon balm will be crucial to surviving the damp of winter.  also put up twenty-five pounds of tomatoes, a couple pounds of kale, and, of course, bourbon peach jam...

i've neglected to post about some important herbal activities of the summer, including befriending some ferns in the mountains, sewing my heavy nettle patch onto a cardigan with gold thread, and a visit from LIGHTNING PAW herself.  !!

fresh air all around now.  i'm here, writing love poems about herbs ("i want you to make me goldenrod tea/ and hang bundles above my bed"), listening to cat power, and watching cat gifs.  come visit; we've got a walnut tree in the back and sunflowers in the front and plenty of space for sound sleeping.

xoxo

jichaela and jarrie jann in jan francisco

nettles and geraniums growing in urban harmony!

dear Everybody,

last week Aralia Allheart and I went to California to visit our dear beautiful friend and herbal tattoo designer Sarah in San Francisco, land of handsome hippies and magical plants...

a jade island!

slide ranch garden!

wildcrafting featured in the in-flight magazine!
ferns, nettles, dandelions!

garlic mustard and morels!

chamomile in sidewalk cracks!

redwood grove!

xoxo

School

Hey Sisters & Brother!

I'm wondering if any of you have heard anything about The California School of Herbal Studies, or Columbine's School of Botanical Studies as far as Herbal Education. I am seriously considering applying to go back to school for herbs come spring and am curious as to if you have heard anything good or bad about either program...or if you have any better suggestions!

Love to you all. I miss you all so much and think of you often (near daily).

xo

Cranky Canker

So I got a canker sore. First time.

They're so terribly painful! And can last up to a month.

It just kept getting worse and worse, bigger and bigger. I brushed, used listerine multiple times a day (it helped dull the pain), and tried not to eat anything that would aggravate it.

And it just kept getting worse and worse.

Then, I thought I had pin worms. Eww. My anus was itching a little and it freaked me out. I started taking Yarrow for the pin worms because it spoke to me, and I read that Oregon Grape might help with the canker sore.

Turns out putting the Yarrow directly on the canker sore after brushing twice daily cleared it up in about 4 days. And it didn't hurt. I'm in love with Yarrow for so many reasons. Plus, I had my gentleman friend analyze a strip of scotch tape from my bum, I don't have pin worms!

Love and Miss You All. Anyone looking for a roomie?

XOXO

winter tea

a recipe for the most wonderful tea made by my teacher corinne.

an equal mix of cinnamon chips, rose hips, spruce tips, dried black elderberries
a little bit less of whole peppercorns, orange peel, a pinch of burdock

(she also puts some devil's club root bark in it but that's harder to find)

i hope everyone's fall is full of leaves and frost and the good kind of heartache.
p.s. you all are welcome to come visit me in olympiaaaa, always and whenever!

i laughed, i cried, i brushed my teeth with nettle tea

"an attitude of gratitude is the beginning of everything." --The Elders

last weekend i went to the southeast women's herbal conference in the beautiful and ancient blue ridge mountains. we registered under our first names, not our patriarchal patrilineage. there was much singing and merrymaking and drumming and walking and listening and laughing and tears. it was basically the herbaculture internship crammed in one weekend, but without the kitty crisis. the conference focused on

simple living
local plants
and
deep nourishment

"we are midwifing each other back into wholeness," we said.

i slept in a cozy tent nest beside a misty lake under a waning moon and woke to wild honking geese. i brushed my teeth with nettle tea. i dreamed of bright birds. i ate acorn/autumn olive/chinese chestnut/sweet potato cornbread. i awoke my venus. i danced around a fire. i slept past 7. i went to a class devoted to burdock root. i never considered a shower. i reconnected with old friends. i held burning mugwort over my leg three miles.

...and other secrets too sacred for a blog, even this one.

love to ally'all