by Atava Garcia SwiecickiMexican and Mexican-American communities have a rich and vibrant history of herbal medicine traditions. Mexico has incredible biodiversity, with ecosystems that include both Pacific and Atlantic coasts, deserts, jungles, plains, valleys, and...
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 for “flesh”,...
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 and high-intensity fires...
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 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) sticks...
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,...
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 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/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 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 don’t...
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...
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...
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,...
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 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...
Old World Herbs in the American West by Dara Saville Around the globe plants and people have been making relationships since the early days of humanity. Five thousand year old clay tablets from Sumeria, ancient Chinese texts, and an Egyptian papyrus from the second...
Desert Mesa Medicine by Dara Saville The desert mesa is a landscape where we are confronted with the history of the land and the culture of people; a place where we cannot hide from ourselves. The endless vistas, open expanses, and clear blue skies put everything on...
Desert Aromatics of the American Southwest by Dara Saville Aromatic plants have been an integral part of landscapes and human cultures, playing important ecological and ceremonial roles since the beginning of history and beyond. The deserts of the American Southwest...
The Teachings of Saxifrage and Orchid by Dara Saville Saxifrages and Orchids are some of the most otherworldy plants you might encounter in your herbal path. They are known primarily for their inherent beauty and not widely used in Southwestern herbal traditions....
The Beauty of the Bioregional Approach to Your Herbal Practice by Dara Saville There are many ways to practice herbalism including a multitude of traditions all over the world, each with their own plants that form the core of that herbal path. No matter what...
