by Donna O'Donovan The Ubiquitous Microbe Lactobacillus: . Cabbage leaves provide good habitat for air borne Lactobacillus. Lactobacillus also stars in a compost method known as bokashi, where food waste and scraps become "pickled" via the bokashi process. And,...
Rocky Mountain Medicinal Mushrooms: A Lot About Artist’s Conk
Rocky Mountain Medicinal Mushrooms - A Lot About Artist's Conk by Dr. Marija Helt Artist’s Conk. People actually do create art on it. More on this momentarily. But first… A conk is a shelf fungus. “Shelf” because the fruiting body (aka. the reproductive bits)...
Oaks: Acorns, Flour, Perspective
by Donna O'Donovan Acorns from Oaks + Making Acorn Flour + Oaks in Perspective The English words for flower and flour come from the old French word flor or flour. This means blossom or the finest thing. Such as a flower can be. The ground flour from wheat, rye,...
On Healing: A Gardener’s Perspective
In the author’s garden, mounds of Wormwood, Bee Balm, Sage and Lavender benefit from peripheral shade and dense plantings; the Pollinators have a buffet of nectars and pollens to choose from.On Healing: A Gardener’s Perspective by Asha Canalos A couple of years ago, I...
The Normalcy of Nature in Otherwise Odd Times
The Normalcy of Nature in Otherwise Odd Times by Dara Saville Some people say they fell in love as their eyes met with their partner’s across a crowded room. They describe it as love at first sight. I know what that is like. Stopping at a roadside pullout in the...
Artemisia: Excerpt from The Ecology of Herbal Medicine
Artemisia/Sage: The Ecology of Herbal Medicine The following is an excerpt from Dara Saville's new book The Ecology of Herbal Medicine: A Guide to Plants and Living Landscapes of the American Southwest from the University of New Mexico Press (2021). Artemisia...
Rocky Mountain Medicinal Mushrooms – Puffballs 101
Rocky Mountain Medicinal Mushrooms - Puffballs 101 by Dr. Marija Helt Did you know that mushrooms are more closely related to animals than to plants? Or, that what we generally refer to as a “mushroom” is actually the reproductive apparatus of the fungus? We...
Cultivating Mental Health During the Pandemic Winter
Cultivating Mental Health During the Pandemic Winter by Angie True ...in the midst of horrorwe fed on beauty—and that,my love, is what sustained us. — Rita Dove, “Transit" To cultivate mental health during the pandemic winter, the first thing is to avoid categorizing...
Make Incense + Inspire Wisdom + Invite Blessings
by Donna O'Donovan Let’s have some fun and get our hands dirty outside and in the kitchen. With viral concerns lurking everywhere and most of us spending more of our lives at home, it’s a great time to make some incense that will improve the quality of our living...
Pandemic Garden
Pandemic Garden by Dara Saville Throughout history the role of gardens has been shaped by cultural viewpoints and conditions specific to the time. Extensive wild-spirited gardens helped ancient people to begin building sedentary societies, develop new lifestyles,...
COVID-19 Support
Perspective on COVID-19 Home Health Preparations by Dara Saville March 22, 2020 Strange times indeed…. Unless we remember that humans have been through similar situations before. In fact, we are the descendants of people who have survived terrifying outbreaks...
Fall Foraging with Prickly Pear and Mesquite
Fall Foraging with Prickly Pear and Mesquite by Dara Saville Working with plants provides numerous opportunities to live our lives in harmony with the natural cycles unfolding around us and within us. Just as the end of winter is marked by walking the river and...