Rivanna River Herbal

Whole Wheat No-Knead Bread And Healing With Onions ...

This is the monster that is growing in my refrigerator ... the no-knead whole wheat bread dough I put together on Friday.  I made one loaf yesterday and will get 2 more loaves out of this batch of dough.

The bread is Delicious.  There is very little of that bitter whole wheat taste you often get with 100% whole wheat bread because this recipe calls for some milk and honey.  The resulting loaf is dense with a sweet nutty flavor.  Bill had an egg salad sandwich for lunch today on it and it was really good.  I had some buttered with my soup and also loved it.

Recently I read on one of the blogs I follow (can't remember which one) that onion juice is good to put on burns.  Last night as I was preparing dinner I burned myself on a hot pot right out of the oven. It hurt and since there was a chunk of onion sitting on the counter that I was getting ready to cut up, I sliced a piece off and rubbed it all over the burned area of my finger.  Presto, the pain went away and there wasn't even a red mark!

Sidetracked ...

For the moment I've left tinctures, teas and elixirs behind because I've gotten really excited about no-knead breads and the coming gardening season.   In the photo above is Easy Four-Grain Pot Boule from Nancy Baggett's new book, kneadlessly Simple.  It is so easy to make and will fit into anyone's daily schedule because there is very little to do besides mixing the ingredients together and when you are ready sticking it in the oven.  Basically you mix the ingredients together, let it rise for 18 to 24 hours, deflate it, and if desired stick it in the frig until you have time to bake.  Then take it out, let it rise for an hour or two, then bake. It's sooooo good. 

Here is site with a slightly different twist.  For this kind of no-knead bread, you mix enough ingredients to make a number of loaves and you keep it in the frig for up to 2 weeks, baking a chunk of it here and a chunk there, whenever you want.  I just put a batch of 100% wholewheat sandwich bread together today and sometime in the next day or two I'll bake a loaf.  The longer it sits in the frig the more sour it gets, making it a sourdough bread.  This way of baking bread is all very new to me and I love it because I can fit it in between my daily chores.

As for the garden, I've discovered all sorts of wonders.  At this site, I got all excited to find that you could grow potatoes in pots, saving room in the garden and lots of extra labor. So I've ordered some seed potatoes and friend K. has located the required 15 gallon nursery pots.  That has led me to the discovery of self-watering containers for growing veggies and I'm trying to decide if I want to give this a try since we're already abnormally dry in the moisture department.  Just since January 1st, we are down almost 4 inches of rain.  Never mind that the past year was also exceptionally dry and the ground water is very low.  It's time to get creative about how to grow summer crops.  I do have a small vegetable garden, but by using some of these pots that have a reservoir that you fill only once or twice a week, I can make some additions to what I want to grow without having to water so much every day when there is no rain.  I'd be able to save most of the rainwater I harvest for the in-ground garden, allowing much more flexibility.  There is so much to think about and I'll keep you posted as I make decisions as to exactly what I'm going to do and what I'm going to grow. 

In the meantime, I hope everyone is as excited about spring as I am.  I can barely contain myself and have to take some time-outs to breathe deeply and slow down a bit. I often get so zealous that I take on far more than I should.  So, first things first, I'll  clean out the potting shed and slowly figure out exactly how deep in the mud I want to immerse myself! 

Burdock Root ...

I just recently discovered that one of our local health food stores carries fresh, organic burdock (arctium lappa)  root and it has become a staple in my frig.  Expensive it is, but a little goes a long way and it's really quite delicious.  I add it to stocks, soups and chopped it adds a nice crunch to salads along with its bitter/sweet flavor. 

A few weeks ago I experienced a bout with some sort of stomach bug and found that a decoction of 4 Tbsps. of chopped  fresh burdock root and 2 Tbsps. of fennel seed in 4 cups of water, worked its magic and helped me feel oh, so much better.  Then while sitting in a waiting room, "waiting" for for my appointed time, I found another recipe for using burdock root in the magazine I was flipping through.  The magazine called, body + soul, had a recipe for Stamina Tea.  I've been making this decoction every day for over a week now and it is really great.  Here is the recipe:

To 4 cups of water, add 1 Tbsp. of dried eleutero, 2 tsps. of dried chopped burdock root or 4 tsps. fresh, 2 tsps. of dried licorice root, 1 tsp. dried or 2 tsps. fresh ginger, 1 tsp. of cinnamon chips or 1 cinnamon stick and 1 tsp. of cardamom pods.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.  I've been using cardamom seeds, as I have no pods.  The pot should be covered throughout the process. 

It is really delicious and I swear that my head feels clearer when I finish of cup this concoction.  With the flu running rampant here in Virginia, this tea will go a long way in keeping me healthy.

In her latest book, Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health, Ms. Gladstar hails burdock as a "superior tonic herb."  It is full of magnesium, iron, manganese, silicon and thiamine along with loads of vitamins and minerals.  It is a specific for the liver and is used both internally and externally for all sorts of nasty skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. 

Matthew Wood, in his book, The Book of Herbal Wisdom, says that burdock root assists in the digestion of fats and oils and acts primarily on the liver, kidney and skin. He also sites cases in which this plant helped stem "anxiety" and "worry."   Sounds like something we all could use these days as the world spins out of control.  The seeds and the leaves of this plant can also be used.

When I lived in Vermont and was raising sheep, burdock grew in the pastures where my sheep would often gets the burrs of the plant stuck in their lovely fleeces.  I was always on the rampage to get rid of it.  Today, like many other plants that people hate, I would welcome it into my meadow!! 

PS  I no longer raise sheep :)!!

Another Great Read ...

This is the latest book that I am spending time with and am finding it very enjoyable and extremely understandable.  Several years ago, I had a go at another book on Chinese Medicine and gave it away quickly because I just couldn't understand what it was trying to say.

I've been interested in Chinese Medicine for a long time since starting acupuncture treatments when I was going through menopause.  It helped me a great deal during those hot, sweaty days to bring my moods and patience into balance and though I still had some awful "power surges,"  I was much more comfortable all around.  I continue these treatments today just to keep me in balance, especially as the seasons change.  You might say it's like having a full service/oil change for this precious vehicle of of mine.

In herb class, Kathleen emphasized Chinese Medicine as the best way to treat individuals for whatever might ail them.  Every human is different in makeup and treating everyone with the same herbs does not necessarily work.  Treating a cold individual like myself with warming herbs is fine, but given to a hot individual, those same warming herbs may well make a condition worse.  I love the metaphors in this book of the western doctor as a mechanic, interested in fixing only the broken part of a vehicle, while the eastern doctor is more of a gardener, maintaining the health of the entire garden, not just the row of zinnias that seems to be dying.  By reading the patterns of an individual, where Qi may be blocked, helps the herbalist/doctor to take care of the whole being rather than just one aspect of that person, balancing the yin/yang of the entire body.  

On another note, I made the soup with kimche that was suggested in my last post and oh, is it good.  I am one who loves soup for breakfast in the winter and am finding this concoction to be warming for me throughout the entire day.  I used rich chicken broth that I made last week to heat the entire dish.  I'm going to try it next in miso broth.  Sounds like another winner to me.

Kimche ...

Last week I put together this jar of Kimche as directed in Full Moon Feast, by Jessica Prentice.  I let it sit for seven days on the counter in the kitchen and today I unveiled it!  Wow, wow, wow!, is all I can say.  I've never had kimche before and I'm completely hooked. 

It really is a wonderful traditionally processed food to have as a snack or as an accompaniment to a meal.  A little goes a long way.  It's not as salty as sauerkraut ... there's a  a tad of sweetness with a bit of heat for a kick at the end.  When I first open the jar there is a saliva inducing aroma like you'd experience from a jar of really good garlic dill pickles. 

This combination of napa cabbage,  daikon radish,  turnip and  carrots are thinly sliced then soaked in a salty brine for 3 hours. It is then drained, reserving the brine. The veggies are  mixed with a puree of ginger, garlic and scallions.  You can add a hot pepper or cayenne which I didn't do.  It is then packed in a 1/2 gallon Ball jar. Add some of the reserved salt bath to cover the vegetables, weight them  down with a plastic bag filled with more of the brine, cover the jar with cheese cloth and let it ferment in a cool place for 7 days. 

Ms. Prentice suggests making a quick meal by putting some kimche in a bowl, topping it with soba noodles drizzled with some toasted sesame oil.  Add a tasty beef or chicken broth and cooked meat if you wish. Chopped fresh scallions on top will add even more flavor and a lovely look.

In Korea, the fall is kimche making season, with an abundance of root vegetables and cabbage available in the markets and is a large part of the Korean diet. 

A Joyous Day ...

From left to right:  myself, Therese, Nancy, Jen, Kara, Cabell, Krista (just the top of her head,) Emma (Kara's sweet and sassy daughter), Mindy and  Carla.  Ashley was there but not in the picture!
Photo by Kara Sheehy

A week ago, ten of us from last years Foundations class at Sacred Plant Traditions, got together for a creative herbal day.  What a wonderful time we had and everyone is excited about our next meeting sometime in March.  According to Kathleen, our much loved teacher, this is the first Foundations group to keep their promise of getting together every couple of months to hone skills and learn from each other.  This is a very connected group of Herbal Goddesses and it's the first circle of women I've ever belonged to in my 66 years that I consider myself a definitive part of.  Despite our age differences and various backgrounds, we are all passionate about the earth, herbs and the part they can play in healing our lives and our planet.

We spent six wonderful hours preparing an enormous number of recipes.  I had my doubts that we would do it all, but we did.  Once we started working it was non-stop all the way, except for a lovely lunch prepared by Mindy who was a most gracious hostess, despite the horrible looking mess we were making of her gorgeous kitchen.

We put together a batch of lacto-fermented Carrots with Ginger and a few Beets thrown in, Root Beer, Sumac syrup, a salve of Solomon's Seal and Prickly Ash and yummy Walnuts toasted with Tamari, Rosemary and Maple syrup.  We all brought several ingredients and all went home with some of all of the finished products. 

Though we haven't got a definite date for our next meeting, ideas for the day are already being floated around and being prepared for.  We're planning Warming Bitters and thinking various remedies for a first aid kit for both home and travel. 


Enjoying Mindy's garden at the end of the day!
Photo by Kara Sheehy

You can visit my other blog at Rivanna River Days.

Books ...

When I first became interested in medicinal herbs and food, I bought lots of books.  Now that the cold, dark months are upon us, I'm finding more time to read them.  Since I decided that I would not be doing the second year "clinic" portion of herb class at Sacred Plant Traditions, because of time constraints, I decided that I would read as many of these books as I can to simply stay in the game.  Not that my interest is waning ... to the contrary, it is growing every day.  Perhaps next year I'll find the time to do "clinic."  

My first read of the year was this book, Full Moon Feast, and I loved it ... some great recipes, too.  Along with Sally Fallon's, Nourishing Traditions, it is all about traditional foods and eating in season, with the cycles of the moon.  In Chapter 12, Moon Of Long Nights, Prentice considers the effect that the discovery of electric light has had on us both biologically and psychically.  When October roles around my hibernation instinct kicks in and I always want to be in bed by 9 PM.  

Prentice makes reference to another book, Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar and Survival, by T. S. Wiley, which I would also like to read.  That author discusses the hypothesis that the rise of diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer might be caused by our ability to keep the lights on along with the tv and computers, well after the sun goes down, keeping "our bodies in an artificial state of perpetual summer."  No wonder I'm so tired at this time of year!  And what must life be like for those chickens entrapped in those horrible factory houses with lights on 24/7?  What does that do to the eggs and meat we all consume?  Are they as nourishing as those we can buy from the farmer down the road who lets his chickens roam about the yard eating insects and wonderful wild weeds and seeds?  I rather doubt it. 

Along with my reading, I'm tincturing and making oils.  This Sunday, a group of us from class are getting together to make some fermented foods, root beer and salves.  Can't wait!!

Making Friends ...

It's been a lovely couple of days ... like spring, with temperatures in the 60's.  My hands are beginning to itch to get in the dirt. I breathe very deeply when I'm outside as if I can inhale the growth that is happening within the soil and I dream it must be March or April.  But December isn't quite over yet and I'll have to put my spring fever on a shelf in the pantry for a couple of months. 

I have been keeping busy getting some new tinctures put together  ... Yarrow, Gravel Root among them.  For Christmas I gave family members tinctures of Echinacea, Elderberry syrup and bags of herbal teas that I put together.  Both Bill and I have had colds and both of us have benefited from having these medicines in the house.  Bill is just getting over his second bout with this cold and is feeling much better today.  It is hard to get him to rest but he is finally agreeing to sip the tea I've made for him and take the tinctures.  He even says it works!!  The tea I make for him is basically 1 part each Elderberries, Mullein leaves, Sumac and fresh Ginger.  He likes it! For myself I prefer a Honey/Lemon/Ginger tea strong enough to leave me almost breathless.  It really warms me up and I swear the worst of the cold is gone within a day. 

In my last post I talked about Ground Ivy being one of my plant friends.  There are others, like the Goldenrod in the photo above, now gone to seed.  As a weaver/spinner/natural dyer in my youth, Goldenrod was one of the plants I depended upon to dye my hand spun woolen yarns a soft buttery yellow or a pale spring green, depending on the mordant I used. 

I also used the berries of Sumac for various shades of tan and light brown and I'm very excited to find that there are two small stands of Sumac beginning to grow in the meadow just below the house.  We recently had the meadow mowed as we always do in the fall and I've left the Sumac babies standing.  Now that I've learned that those berries are used for medicine, they will be left to grow and provide us with their goodness.  It may be a couple of years before they give us berries, but I will baby them to see that they grow healthy and strong. 

I've found it amazing to watch myself come full circle over the years.  When we moved here to Virginia some 30 years ago, I gradually gave up the weaving, spinning and dying for things like photography and painting.  I constructed mixed media pieces, made collages and wrote lots of poetry.  Though I gardened and still loved the outdoors and especially plants, I had no idea I would eventually turn to them once again to learn their other ways of bringing joy and comfort.  I've learned these old friends have so much to give and am grateful that they are central to my life once again.

I will gradually be adding links to other interesting blogs concerning herbs and food to this siite.  All you have to do is click on them and you will find yourself in an amazing world of herbalists ready to share their knowledge.

I hope everyone had a marvelous Christmas and I pray the New Year will bring all of us peace, light and and an abundant harvest of medicines.

Pernicius Weeds ...

The October/November issue of Horticulture Magazine, calls Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea), a garden pest!  Introduced from Europe as a common ground cover they say, "it's become a pernicious weed of turf and landscape, flourishing throughout most of North America, especially in shady, damp sites."   I have it growing in my meadow and do not consider it a weed at all.  I consider it one of my "plant friends." In herb class it wasn't mentioned as one of those "important" plants but I consider it as such.  It  caught my attention over 8 years ago when I moved to this spot on the river, noticing each spring and early summer its graceful creeping habit, its lovely little purple-blue flowers and its strong aromatic qualities.  You might say that it called to me and until I started studying herbs, I had no idea why.  It was just one of my favorite small wild plants that I considered a friend. 

Since then I have learned that it is an analogue for another herb, Eyebright
(Euphrasia officinalis), which is becoming rare and difficult to find ... most likely because it is being harvested as a remedy for upper respiratory problems and eye difficulties.  It is anti-inflammatory and astringent, known for treating nasal congestion, conjunctivitis and other bothersome eye problems.  Ground Ivy being an analogue for Eye Bright, means that this "pernicious weed" can be used instead of Eyebright, allowing this disappearing plant to recover its numbers.

A member of the mint family, I harvest Ground Ivy while it is flowering in early summer and make a delicious tea with it, either alone or in combination with other herbs of the season.  I have tinctured it and take a dropperful whenever my sinuses are acting up.  It works beautifully. 

In his book, Stalking The Healthful Herbs, Euell Gibbons wrote that Ground Ivy is high in Vitamin C and was used to treat scurvy.  Gibbons calls it, "an excellent home remedy.   Primarily it is used as a bitter tonic, as a nutritive tea, and as an excellent remedy for stubborn coughs. Its most time-honored uses are as an antiscorbutic and to prevent "painter's colic," which is a euphemism for lead poisoning.  Both of these uses point to a high vitamin C content, as synthetic vitamin C is the modern, scientific treatment for both these conditions today."

The Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs says, "Traditionally, leaf tea was used for lung ailments, asthma, jaundice, kidney ailments, 'blood purifier.'  Externally, a folk remedy for cancer, backaches, bruises, piles.  Alcohol extracts are anti-inflammatory and reduce edema."

"Pernicious weed" indeed!!  You are welcome in my garden anytime!!

Late November Harvest ...

I'm still gathering things from my garden!  The  persimmons were few this year compared to last and I left them on the tree for too long.  I'd planned on picking them on a certain day and when that morning arrived the persimmon above was the last one left.  Was it the wind? Or some creature like a raccoon or opossum who climbed the tree on a starlit night and filled its empty belly?  I think it was the latter and I'm happy to share with them.  Next year I'll just be a bit quicker about it.  You are supposed to leave the persimmons on the tree until a few good frosts take the pucker away from the fruit.  But thinking about it now I think a day in the freezer could speed things up if one were in a hurry.

There are a few lettuces that I planted in September producing lovely green leaves, but my favorite plants right now are chickweed (in the basket) and winter cress.  There is a carpet of chickweed under the fruit trees in my little orchard along with some winter cress and even cleavers are sending up shoots.  Winter cress grows all around the garden and I leave it to grow, pulling up these "weeds" when I need some greens for a salad.  The cress is a bit peppery though not as peppery as water cress or nasturtium leaves but it will do in a "November pinch."  I've enjoyed a mixture of the cress and chickweed on egg salad and tuna sandwiches these past few weeks and they provide each bite with a wonderful bit of crunch that really makes the sandwich.  I also chop up these lovely herbs and mix them with butter ... yummy on a baked white or sweet potatoes!!

winter cress

Winter cress, (Barbarea vulgaris), is a member of the mustard family and according to Peterson's Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs, Cherokees ate this plant as a "blood purifier."  The leaf tea is supposed to suppress coughs  and stimulate the appetite.  It has been used as a diuretic against scurvy and a poultice of the leaves helps the healing of wounds.  It is also pointed out that though this plant has been called an edible wild food, some studies indicate that it may cause kidney malfunctions and internal use should be avoided.  I only add small quantities to my salads and have not experienced any problems with this plant.  

Chickweed, (Stellaria media),a member of the pink family,  is another common herb found most of the year here in my garden.  It likes the cooler weather so doesn't make a show of itself in the heat of summer.  Tea made from this plant is used as a cooling demulcent and expectorant. Externally it is used against itching caused by eczema or other skin conditions.  According to David Hoffmann, in The Complete Illustrated Holistic Herbal, it makes a great ointment when combined with marshmallow.

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall and the beginning of the Holiday Season.  One cannot get away from Christmas carols and sales pitches, even in the privacy of one's home.  The emails and spam keep me busy deleting them from my screen.  If it were up to me I'd change Thanksgiving to a date in late September, giving all of us some elbowroom before the gift giving season arrives.