What winter hath wrought

The glacier in the back yard started to retreat yesterday. There was much joy! Much puttering about was done! Supper was late! Perma-dirt under the fingernails was initiated!

There's a long way to go yet of course. Along the edges it still looks like this:

The rhubarb patch. Hahahahaha.

Bush etiquette

By request ..

Whether you've moved to the country or you're just visiting, there are do's and don't's surrounding how to get the best out of a ramble. I spent my childhood in rural areas, then spent the next 30-some years in cities. When we moved out here to the wilderness - it really is wilderness as soon as you set foot outside this village - there were some things I remembered, but there was a lot I had to re-learn about the vulnerabilities humans face in what we Canadians call 'the bush'.

This isn't the city, nor it is a National Park designed for humans' recreational enjoyment in a quasi-wilderness environment. It's a land unto itself, it's the land, and it's bigger than you might think. It's gorgeous but it doesn't suffer fools gladly!

Susun Weed does stand-up comedy

This is part one of a series of videos of her talk at the 2016 Transformation Conference. Susun Weed is one of the grand old dames of 'herbal medicine as people's medicine'; someone I respect greatly for her wisdom and in this case, her wry sense of humour.

Beauty in the garden - the best argument against using store bought herbal medicine

(This post is just an excuse to put up some pictures. Click to embiggen and let yourself dream. There will be links for more info on the medicinal uses of each plant at the end of the post.)

My St. J patch, nestled in with its friend
the ornamental willow.

Got inflammation? Maybe you're angry ..

or frustrated, or suffering from a build-up of feelings you just can't face. So you hid that stuff in your belly, where it's gumming up the works. Or your joints. Or just under your skin.

In other words, it might not be your food choices or your gut bugs or your histamine levels being out of whack, or whatever the latest theory on health happens to be. It might be - and please note that I say might be - an emotional issue.

I'm not saying it's all in your head (no, it's not in my head it's in my knees!). I am saying that if you have tried "everything" and nothing works, or it works for a while and then it doesn't, you might want to look into your heart.

wildcucumber - a troll for Mother Nature

I troll in the comment sections of GreenMedInfo and Natural News - you should look for me there and join in sometime! - and today, in the comments below a post on (shocker!) the contamination of commercial supplements, I said this:

"This has been known for decades, yet people still buy supplements instead of eating real food or turning to growing their own, including herbal remedies.

And before you try to tell me that 'not everyone can' do these things, let me assure you that anyone can find sources of clean food, anyone can grow clean food IF and WHEN they wake up to the truth - that consumerism leads to chronic, learned helplessness.

Strike out on your own people, grow some 'nads and free yourself from Big Herb."

And do you know what the mods did? They removed my post, of course.

To read the rest of this post, click on over to my other blog. See you there!

Goldenseal - a misunderstood miracle worker

When I found tiny bags of goldenseal powder (Hydrastis canadensis) at the little health food store in the village of Killaloe, I was delighted.

You don't see goldenseal available that way very often anymore, it's all in capsule or tincture form, adulterated and/or mixed into inappropriate formulae. That's a shame. When I expressed my joy on finding the 'real deal' to the lady who runs the store, saying "I don't use goldenseal more than every few years, but when you need it, you need it!", she nodded deeply. There is nothing quite like it.