Calendula: Ally Against Gut Inflammation by Dr. Marija Helt You may be noticing a lot of talk about gut health lately. There’s a reason for this. The health of the gut is key to the health of the rest of the body. An unhealthy gut is a drag on overall health.... The Nerve Of It All Embodied Self-Care for the Nervous System by Asha Canalos A 1543 woodcut by Andreas Vesalius illustrating the human nervous system Ten years ago, in a time of relative personal adversity and general emotional funk, I ran across the following... The Orientation of Russian Olive by Jennileen Joseph Russian Olive, Elaeagnus angustifolia This blog post is about orientation. I’m going to talk about who I am, where and who I’m from, and how that particular vantage point factors into all things I do as a plant... Herbal Bathing: Maurice Messegue, Master of the Art by Donna O’Donovan Maurice Messegue, French Herbalist (photo credit) “To know a river you have to know its source.” For Maurice Messegue that source was his father. In his autobiography: Of People &... The Tagetes Genus: Two Key Herbs in Mexican Herbal History & Tradition by Atava Garcia Swiecicki Mexican and Mexican-American communities have a rich and vibrant history of herbal medicine traditions. Mexico has incredible biodiversity, with ecosystems that... Rocky Mountain Mushrooms – Hawk’s Wings (Sarcodon imbricatus) by Dr. Marija Helt With its brown cap layered with dark, protruding scales, this large mushroom does indeed resemble a hawk’s wing. As for the botanical name, sarco is derived from Greek... Anthropocene Apothecary by Dara Saville Native Medicinal Plants That May Proliferate with Disturbance Events: . Recent news cycles have been dominated by stories of climate change including floods, extreme heat, and wildfires. Disturbance events such as large-scale... Bokashi! The Fermentation That Builds Soil 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... Rocky Mountain 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... 
