Real Herbal Healthcare
Experimenting With Syrups
What could be more evocative of the summer than a light and sweet, floral and fragrant drizzle of a fresh blossom syrup on your morning oatmeal or in your evening...
Honoring Grandmother’s Wisdom with Poke Root: How to Make Poke Oil and Salve
by Corinna Wood Growing up in the Northeast, I loved playing with the purple pokeberries, painting designs on my skin. My parents allowed this, though they made it clear that...
Love of Nettles
by Corinna Wood My early love affair with herbs – which led to my life’s work -- started with nettles. I’ve heard similar stories from other herbalists: one special plant...
Reciprocal Wildcrafting: Unexpected Gifts of the Forest
While walking in the forest recently with the kids, we found several of Earth’s bountiful treasures: whimsical witch hazel flower and a few lucky buckeye (Aesculus spp.) pictured here. We see the remains of summer’s leftover reishi (Ganoderma spp.) and lingering dried oyster mushrooms, along with so many other green and brown gifts of the forest.
Summer Solstice Rituals and Scratching the Poison Ivy Itch
For many, the summer solstice is about celebrating the sun and everything that it so graciously beams upon us: fully ripe strawberries, darkening freckles, St. John's wort oil (which is best to make right around the summer solstice when the plant is in bud and at its peak).
Bottled Sunshine With St. John's Wort
There is no other beneficial herb that bespeaks more of sunshine than St. John's Wort, or St. J’s, as we fondly call it. It loves sunny open places, blooms at the height of summer solstice, soothes the skin after sunburn, and even brings sunshine into our lives through its mood elevating properties.
