Tag: herbalist
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PNW Reishi (Ganoderma oregonense)
The season is now! If you live in the PNW and have a hankering to make a Reishi tincture, Ganoderma oregonense is the Pacific Northwest species of “Reishi”. You will know it by its white pored underside and deep red-brown topside. It will have a slight give to the top, similar to searching for a…
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Red (Purple) Dead Nettle, not so Dead.
Red dead nettle, also known as Lamium purpureum also known as purple dead nettle, is a herbaceous flowering plant that belongs to the mint family. While it is often considered a weed, it has a long history of medicinal and culinary use. During this time of year in the PNW, it’s cropping up all over…
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Pacific Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa), friend?
By now, you’ve started seeing the early leaves of our lovely delicate Pacific Bleeding Heart. This species is the Northwest’s native species of Dicentra. MANY people have other horticultural varieties in their gardens, generally picked up at some of the big box stores around the area. Those are beautiful, however, they are generally larger and…
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Red Clover Red Clover let Healthy come over!
Do you live in an area that blossoms with Red clover? Do you ever wonder if it’s tasty or helpful? Does it call to you to work with it? There’s a great reason for that! I have used it in IBS tinctures, Menopause aiding tea, Hormonal balance tea, circulation tincture. If you are interested in…
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Hops, not just for Beer!
Enter my delight and reverence for a plant so well known to the public for its use in creating ale/beer/lager, etc. I am not a beer connoisseur; however, I do love me some herbaceous (plants that aren’t woody and die back each year) plants that have secret powers! Of course, I love it even more…
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That fabulous time of year: enter Prunella vulgaris
If you look around, you may be starting to see some lovely purple flowers that seem to bloom randomly along their densely packed flower spike. It seems also that they pop up in a variety of places. Yards/lawns, edges of pathways, woodland floors, etc. They have a square stem and elongated lance shaped leaves. Upright…
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What a name, what a plant, what a friend! I recall a few years back; I was cutting through a cul-de-sac to get to my local park. Well, it was a path, but it was inconveniently right through two people’s front yards. Inconvenient for them I presume. Who knows, maybe they enjoyed fellow earthlings tromping…
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Dandelion Delights! Spring Greens, part 2.
Here they come! At least here in the Pacific Northwest we are in an emerging land of yellow! Yes, I speak of Dandelions. There is so much to say about these powerhouse “weeds” aka: plants. You can use the flowers, the leaves and the roots. Generally, we don’t eat the stems due to their latex…
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Eat Your Greens! Spring Greens part 1. BITTERCRESS!
Do you see them? All the little garden bed visitors. All the early green in the fields and lawns. There’s a good chance that it may be a species of Bittercress, also known as Cardamine. Cardamine is a genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. Several species of bittercress are edible and can be…
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Ready to get your green thumb limbered up? Sew these seeds in March!
Here I am, gazing out the window at the sun. A few days ago, I was gazing out at three inches of snow. It melted that same day, but it was certainly indicative of the Winter wishy washiness of our lush wonderful PNW. However, that hasn’t stopped me from organizing new and saved seeds for…
Ministry of Making 