Stocking up for Fall

I love this time of stocking up.  We are going mushroom hunting, and plan to cook a bunch of sauces and store them in the freezer, and also to dry them. Even though we don't have that many tomatoes that are ripe on the vine, we do have enough to make a few dishes, and the leeks have been one of the best things we have grown- hardly any work for the effort. I can cut up a leek and make the entire dish taste better. I made a leek, carrot, celery, and burdock stock that will make a great base for either soups or for cooking rice or quinoa. 

Marc is the Souper boyfriend in the winter time! He loves to make soup on the top of our wood stove, getting up periodically to stir while relaxing after snowboarding on Sunday afternoon. I just harvested burdock root from the farm, and made a stock from it for the freezer. This stock plus an endless supply of leeks, potatoes and kale will make his job easier! You should have seen Marc's face when I showed him how to plant the leeks. He tried to put the whole 4" pot of leeks in one hole and complained that they were falling apart. I showed him that each toothpick sized leek had to be separated and planted about 2-3" apart from one another.... His mouth had dropped and he just glazed over and mumbled something about feeding the worms and walked off. I only had to weed the area a few times during the season, and I grew squash up the fence next to them. Definitely worth it!

Next year I plan to plant shelling beans to save seeds for winter soups. I was afraid they would be too much work to shell, but I think given the potential taste factor I am going to give them a try. I have Jacob's Cattle and have an affinity to them because I have a friend named Jacob who's family raise cattle in Africa.

Happy Autumnal Equinox!

Wow, this cool weather, a full moon and the equinox this week kept me thinking about roots. I harvested about 10 beets, some leeks, and a very few carrots in the veggie garden this week, and I harvested fresh Burdock Root and seeds of Astragalus, Calendula, Catnip, and Skullcap on the farm on Wednesday's afternoon sun. I love the different shapes the seeds form. It is really cool how the burdock seeds are virtually velcro, and hook on to anything for a ride to their next destination; and the skullcap seeds look like they are designed to pop open and disperse when anything touches it. Their seedpod looks like a shovel head pointing to the earth after they fall.

I made burdock soup stock with leeks and carrots and put it in the freezer. We plan to use it during the winter as a nourishing stock for soups or to cook rice or quinoa. I also cut some of the burdock roots and put them in the dryer.  I was pretty amazed at how quick even the wettest ones dried. I was gone for the day, but in less than 7 hrs they were bone dry. I plan to make some salve from the burdock infused olive oil for some of my friends with psoriasis and eczema. I will post about the burdock as I make it. Please contact me if you want to try some.

peace-
Jayne

Shipping container homes

Check out this shipping container home. I have been seeing designer ones in dwell for lots more money. These folks lived in it while they built their real house. I have been through a remodel, and I suggest this over trying to live inside the house.

I always thought it would be a cool way to to have a studio, garden shed, or work room, and above make a nice greenhouse. Put in some water catchment and solar power, and plant it anywhere!

Glass house

Check out this dude's glass house made with mostly recycled materials.  At 3 minutes you finally get to see the greenhouse- the first part is just him talking about why he wants a glasshouse... It is going to be soooo cool!


I want one!
I am actually planning one like this. but about 2/3rd the size using two big glass windows in metal and a few glass windows I have been hauling around since the 1990's. Then I will put the clear plastic on top. I found some free long pieces of fir recently, and I think I will use them for the frame, but use the cement blocks to level them out and keep them off of the ground. I will build shelves on the fence side (N) to start plants from cuttings and seeds.  On the other side I will be able to plant right in the ground, and will have tomatoes, basil and peppers in the Summer and have greens all Winter long. I have been trying to figure out where to put it, and decided the sunniest part of my yard is directly behind our house, even though it would be more convenient to have it where we had the chickens. I will have to move the Horehound and all the new strawberries and blueberries, but they were not doing that well anyway. I will move them to the bed nearest the house with the other strawberries or in front with the rest of the blueberries and raspberries. Yum.

Michael Pilarski Video Herb Walk

 This is a good video of Michael Pilarski, a great northwest herb grower, forager and seedsman!  He is speaking about eating Nettles without getting stung too bad, and tells of  the time his son broke his leg snowboarding and used nettles, horsetail (young shoots), Oatstraw, and Comfrey Root. He talks about using the early leaves to eat, because eating it after flowering can hurt the kidney. You can use stems for fiber- or collect and dry the seeds to use in small amounts to relieve exhaustion & burn out.  If you are stung, use Swordfern, any leaf of doc, plantain or ironically the steamed nettles themselves... as a poultice.

Nettles contain a natural anti histamine, so Marc has been taking almost daily doses of nettles infusion and has gotten progressively better with his allergies. They are great for reducing inflammation in any area of the body. I usually take a handful and put them in the 1/2 gallon mason jar. Then I add boiling water to the top of the jar. I usually drink a cup of the light green hot tea after this has steeped a bit.  I add more water to the top of the jar, and let it sit overnight. In the morning, it is a beautiful shade of emerald! If you put it in a mug, it looks black like coffee! After the steeping, I strain and put it in the fridge.
Nettles contains protein, so it can spoil pretty easily. If you think it is gone sour, it probably has. It only lasts about 3 days at the most in the fridge (but we usually drink it up by then!). It also contains an easily assimilated source of iron. The plants in your garden will thank you for the addition of the nettles leaves for compost; and if you accidentally let it go sour, your houseplants and leafy plants will love & thrive from the addition of the tea for a nitrogen boost.

Echinacea Calendula Tincture

Beautiful tincture, made with Echinacea and Calendula from the farm!



I will make a tincture from the roots when they are ready, and a Calendula only Tincture, then add them together to make my Echinacea & Calendula Tincture.  I use it to boost my immunity just about the time the leaves start falling, if someone around me is getting sick, or if I am to go on an airplane ride.

*Never use immune stimulating herbs if you have an auto immune deficiently- that makes your immunity work too hard. You may just want to treat symptoms instead, as they come up. *

You can purchase tinctures at my Local Harvest Storefront.

** As with all of my suggestions, please see a qualified health care provider if you have questions about herbs you should take for specific issues.**

Peace on Earth!

Breitenbush Herbal Conference

I am off to the Breitenbush Herbal Conference, and if I don't see you there this afternoon, you should come with me next year. There are beautiful grounds (and hot springs) and organic meals and about 300 herbalists all around! You can check out the conference here.
Enjoy your Fall weekend in the Northwest... It is coming on for sure.

peace-
Jayne

Meet my New Pig Plows

Well, I asked for it- I asked my farm neighbors to get some friends together and raise pigs on some of the land that has gone back to the quackgrass... and they did! They raised 4 pigs on their own 1/2 acre last year in the winter/spring and used every part of the pig (from ear to toes and including the blood...) and taught a class on butchering with the meat. I am sure I will be hearing how great the prociutto is very soon.

Anyway, now they have more friends who want in on the Vashon Bacon Wagon and they have invested in 8 little piggies.






This picture is from when they first got to the farm and now they are old enough to get on the move. We are going to take the wire that is on their land and move it to mine, and have them work on eating the quackgrass. Then, when that is turned up I will plant a cover crop and they will live in the old berry patch that has completely grown up with scotchbroom in the past season. It is one of the driest parts of the entire land trust, and there is a wet area in one spot (but everyone says they have the lowest portion on their plot) and I think they will do a good job clearing it out, and live there well for the winter.


I am excited to have the little piggies work on some of the problem spots on my soil at Sister Sage Herb Farm.

Herbal Compost

This is my new Compost Pile - made with the dregs of tinctures I strained Monday!








I see  hawthorn berries and leaves, chamomile & calendula flowers, basil, catnip & ginko leaves.


I emptied many 1/2 gallon containers of tinctures, glycerines, and oils that I couldn't count them- they were in the sink and dishwasher and new ones were being filled with dried herbs that were ready and waiting for olive oil.   I found the "binkers" (as in those that go "BINk" in the night).  I made Mullien infused oil in 2008 from fresh flowers, and then not strained a second time; they had been moved several times to different places with varied teperatures and light sources. They were real stinkers, too.

    They were super cloudy, and had black stuff on the bottom. 








I think I was in denial- I forgot that I could just send it to the biodiesel guy. The lavender oil didn't smell bad, but started to become cloudy near the bottom. I put all the spoiled oil in the new Soon to be bio-diesel gallon jug. I want to take a field trip to the guy who makes it on the island, follow it through a batch and see if I can smell the flowers in the finished product...


I poured off the useable Lavender infused oil for my personal use,  I have about a 12 oz bottle of mixed oils that didn't fit into the 8 oz bottles that I am using to store anything over a 1/2 gallon size. I will use it for a massage oil/ salve for my personal use.

Consolidation of the tinctures, glycerines and Oils

All the herbal potions on the table!

I finally took advantage of an extra rainy day off and took all my herbal potions out of the various nooks and crannies.  I like to consolidate and do inventory of the herbs from the past year and take stock in the fall before I am quite done harvesting and have not made all the infusions for the year, yet. I go through them and decide how many smaller containers to package up, which ones will be sold in bulk containers, and which ones can be made into new products. All need to be labeled throughout the process... It is easy to mix up the containers- for instance, Oat Glycerine looks a lot like  Motherwort tincture.

Motherwort Tincture from Sister Sage

Sister Sage Herb Tinctures to be Strained

Naturopaths use my bulk tinctures as a base for making their own formulas - customizing medicine has never been so easy. They decide how much of a tincture they think they will be using that year, and pre-pay for a 25% discount. They mix their own formulas to create custom remedies based on the individual patient's symptoms and reaction to the dis- ease.

Various Infused Oils- Lemon Balm, Yarrow, Calendula, Arnica & Lavender

I will make more salves from most of the Calendula, Lavender, and Arnica infused oils, and package the other oils in 8 oz containers to sell to other product makers and naturopaths this fall.  Massage practitioners and physical therapists would find my bulk oils useful. If you don't know how to make lotions, I will teach you how- It is a great way to add value to your services. I can sell you the infused oils and you can mix them to suit your client (nerves to muscle soreness and inflammation).

Crowded Herb Land, Sister Sage Herb Farm

Echinacea & Astragalus at Sister Sage Herb Farm on Vashon Island, Washington

My nephew Kai was out last year (when he was 7) to visit for about a month,and all of the herbs had bolted and gone to flower or seed before I could get a handle on it. Kai suggested with all sincerity that we make a sign and place it on Vashon Highway that says "Crowded Herb Land this way->" . I think I was a little offended last year because I was taking the weather personally, but now I think it might be a great idea! When I bring people out to the farm when it is in full bloom they often say things like " I am Blissfully overwhelmed" or something to that effect. If you haven't read "The One Straw Revolution", you should- It is a biography of this Japanese farmer who bucked the trend in rice farming in the 1930's. He didn't till in his crop, he added clover to the mix, didn't flood the fields much, and planted his seeds in mudballs that he threw into the fields and basically foraged for the food that survived. He didn't believe in tending the plants much at all, and thought that you were indebted for life once you started pruning a plant. He grew Clementines and never pruned them. I try to take inspiration from him, but I have a push/pull with that because of what a "farm" looks like in my head.
You know that plants just want to make seed, and they didn't get much water to start- someone was going to do it for free/trade..... Due to the overwhelming heat last Summer (Don't laugh, even my folks from South Carolina were complaining on August a few years back) the whole farm was kind of a mess.
I managed to make a lot of medicine from the plants that I did harvest from, and I learned a valuable lesson about being ready to harvest when the plants are ready to be harvested, and planning out the whole system so that nothing gets stuck in the production line.
I think we did a pretty good job this year of managing the herbs and moving them through the system I have created. I love the herb screens I made, but they are a bit heavy. I think I would make them of something lighter, and a little smaller. I bet 4' would work well.  I still want to try placing the screen over a sawhorse so we could stand. My intern and I sat on the floor, with a table cloth under the screen. When all of the herbs had gone through the screen, we packaged them into 1/2 gallon glass jars and/ or in paper bags depending on how I will use them and when. I made 6 gallons of oil from those and I am about to make more.

Kai's Chamomile

Chamomile Flower & Valerian Leaf- Sister Sage Herb Farm Vashon, Washington

My Nephew Kai was out Last Summer for about a month, and he picked all of the Chamomile on the entire farm. He was very interested in doing it, and washed his hands before starting, and put the bag in the shade when he was done; and when he was bored (after about 20 minutes) he would ask if he could go play. When he came back, he went through the hand washing, and checking on his bag of herbs to make sure it was not getting too much heat... I loved the intention he had with the project! We made about a gallon of glycerine infused with Chamomile, and when he left, we strained some for him to take with him. He took it all last year during the school year. This year he planted seeds at his new house in Albuquerque, NM and harvested it from there. I have been thinking about him all summer as I made my harvest. There was a giant Chamomile plant in the garden that I put in the former chicken coop area. I also have 8 kinds of Tomatoes, Leeks, Beets, 4 kinds of Squashes, Celery, 2 kinds of Cucumbers, Hops, and Kale all growing well in the 10' x14' area!

Skullcap~ A Great Night Cap

We call it sleeping potion at my house. A few years ago I tried growing it, and it didn't grow well, then last year I bought a small amount and made a tincture. I forgot all about it until I was consolidating things. I strained it, and added a little glycerine to make it a little less harsh if I take it right before bed time. I can take just a dropper or two  and rest well. My friend who is going to Bastyr said that her class had to pick a nervine and take it all semester. She chose Skullcap. I asked her how much, and she said up to a teaspoon per day if you are really nervous. I didn't know how anyone could function after taking that much since it put me to sleep, but it really made it so I didn't stress and think about everything I have to do. I am now growing my own plants, and as long as they last through the winter, I will be able to start harvesting in the next few years. I will use it along with Catnip and Chamomile in the "Sleeping Potion" I make with the kids in the after school program this fall.

Motherwort Flowers for "Women's Hysteria"

Motherwort Flowers (Leonurus cardiaca)

If we studied and listened to Herstory as much as we do History, we might understand the Hysteria! I use the fresh herb tincture in my anti-stress formula called Holy Mama. It also contains an adaptogen, Holy Rama Basil (Tulsi), and the nervine, Wood Betony (stachys, betonica).  I like to add a dropper or two to a glass of soda water, and sometimes vodka & ice for a tasty relaxing cocktail. I have also added the tincture to hot water and a scoop of local honey for a relaxing cup of hot tea.
The Motherwort Leaves and flowers are so beautiful this time of the year when I harvest and dry or tincture them. I let some of the plants flower and go to seed for the bees & birds. I got a close-up of the flower when I was in the field last week with the camera.
Maude Grieves, a well respected herbalist from England,  author of  A Modern Herbal published in the early 1930's writes about Motherwort "(It) is especially valuable in female weakness and disorders (hence the name), allaying nervous irritability and inducing quiet and passivity of the whole nervous system." And  "when made into a syrup, it will allay inward tremors, faintings, etc."

It sounds to me like I should be taking it to help me sit for yoga meditation...

I Love the Calendula flower!

Calendula Flower~ First Aid From the Garden

 It is so  bright and cheerful, and smells so clean and crisp. It doesn't spill pollen out or entice from far away with it's aromatics, but you can tell it is an antiseptic from the moment you smell it. I encourage you to stick your nose in one as soon as the sun comes back out. I did manage to pick quite a few, and have many more dry days this season to pick, but when we get a sudden rain like this week, I always worry I did not harvest enough yet.
When I harvest on sunny and hot days, I dry the flowers and make infused oil. Later I combine it with Lavender infused oil to make my great skin healing Calendula Lavender Salve. I make the tincture out of the Calendula that has some dew or rain on it in the late season, and combine that with Echinacea tincture for a formula that is used as an immunity booster.

Burdock Seeds Aplenty

 Burdock with a Pollen Laden Bee

I accidentally forgot to harvest my burdock root, and it went to seed! On further reflection, there were a few bird families living in the burdock area this summer, and they did scold me every time I got close to them- I was listening to nature... I kept thinking about looking up the best time to dig up burdock, and kept forgetting. Burdock is really easy to grow, and only needs weeding at the perimeter of the growing area since the leaves are so big.  I will be growing it in the same spot forever since I will inevitably be leaving some of the root when I dig and it will re sprout, but I have been wanting to try growing them in a garbage can with holes in the bottom.  I finally acquired a big planter to try out in my home garden.

Dried Burdock Root

 I do have some Burdock that are first year plants, but I missed the optimal time for most of it this year.  I am going to dig up what I can anyway in the next few weeks, and process them into soup stocks for my personal use. The good part about having so many herbs around me is that I can experiment with herbs to see if they taste good in soup, or freeze as ice cubes, or if they will grow in certain conditions... I also need to figure out what I am going to do with so many seeds! They are extremely prickle-y and I already got a big splinter from cutting off the first batch. 

It is pretty long (up to 3 feet) and off white like a turnip. If you dig it yourself, make sure you have permission, proper ID, and wash it well.

The roots need to be simmered for a long time, and have been traditionally added to stocks for soups. One recipe had it stewing all night in a crock pot. 

Burdock Root Stock: 

2 onions

4 carrots

4 celery stalks

3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil (Optional)

1 fresh burdock root (whatever size you can get) cut up as small as you can

Cut all of the vegetables except the Burdock in a rough 1 inch cut, and put them in a oven safe pan. Put into the cold oven and set the temperature to 400 degrees.  

Roast the veggies for about 35 minutes, then turn the oven off and let them sit for 15-20 more. They should be soft and caramelized.  

Remove the veggies from the pan and put into a stock pot with the cut up Burdock. Fill the stockpot with water to cover the roots by 3 inches or so. Add water to the roasting pan and scrape all the good, crusty bits off into the stockpot.  Bring the stock to a boil, then turn it down to simmer for 4-10 hours. Check in on it often and add more water as it evaporates. 

Cool the stock and put in old yogurt containers or ice trays to freeze. Take out what you need during the year. You could also add glycerine to the mixture (at least 30%) and preserve it that way if you didn't want to use the electricity. I would not advise using alcohol because skin issues are supposed to be related to the liver, and alcohol is not supposed to be good for the liver.... Cooking with the root will benefit your whole family though and you won't think of it as medicine.

**These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, and you should use caution when using any remedy- talk to a naturopath for more information.

I have yet to make a lotion or infused oil with it, but I am determined to do it this year. I am sure I will be reporting here on my findings.

In Seattle you can buy Burdock at almost any asian grocery store and at http://www.uwajimaya.com/ almost any time of the year. Next year, in the Spring, Call or email me!~ jayne@sistersageherbs.com.