Portfolio site for Elley K. – Alamere Herbs

While the growing season did not pan out as expected I met my learning goals both by conducting extra research and spending time shadowing the team I worked with at Alamere Herbs. I direct seeded Avena sativa, attempted propagating both Calendula officinalis, Scutellaria lateriflora, and tended to a patch of existing Arnica montana. I conducted research on the respective harvesting and processing processes for my crops. I will be prepared to process them when the season is further along. From shadowing my supervisor I  learned about the basics of greenhouse management and plant propagation, as well as the marketing and sales of herbal products.

This week I wrapped up the quarter by doing some final weeding and plant tending in my plots, as well as crafting a tincture. My crops are not ready to be harvested yet due to the unforeseen growing season conditions. The weather at Alamere this season has been unexpectedly cold, and in hindsight, my starts should have spent more time in the greenhouse before going into the ground. I will continue to care for them and harvest and produce medicine with them this summer.

Wednesday afternoon I got to use the tincture press and meet my goals of making medicine. Alamere had a jar of tincture from last season, skullcap and a little bit of tulsi, that needed to be processed. The plant material was ground up and left in a solvent in a dark cupboard. I sanitized the press and lined the basket with cheesecloth and poured the tincture in. Turning the scissor press allows the tincture to slowly drip down into the catch jar at the bottom. I kept cranking the scissor jack until the resistance reached max and allowed the last of the of the drops of tincture to drip off into the jar before cleaning up and capping the tincture jar.

The next steps are to allow the tincture to sit in a dark cupboard for a day or two and then decant and separate the last of the plant particles that made it past the cheesecloth barrier. Plant particle size depends on the plant material itself and I have noticed that even in professionally manufactured tinctures there is still sometimes some plant sediment left over with certain herbs. Once the tincture is decanted the final product is then ready to be bottled and taken internally. We talked a lot about the process of marketing an internal herbal product, and the steps to get regulated, To sell any internal product a commercial food processing kitchen is required, which means needing access to a commercial kitchen. For small farmers, this can be inaccessible and the steps to get to a point of becoming certified can overwhelm and discourage herb farmers. We calculated the perceived value of the tincture we made and at the current standard rate of $15 for a 1 ounce bottle of high-quality tincture the three or so cups of tincture we produced would sell for around $200 given the proper market and certifications,

Overall I am very pleased I was able to experiment with crafting a tincture at Alamere and am excited to continue to use the press to craft more products in the future.

This week I spent some time weeding and caring for my crops as well as learning about Alamere’s tincture press and marketing experience. Below is a type up of what I learned about both:

Tincture press- 

The tincture press that Alamere Herbs uses is an old shop press rigged with a scissor jack that can press about 1 ton of pressure onto plant material. A tincture press is useful when processing large quantities of plant material, usually over a cup. Using a tincture press increases the medicinal constitutes that are released from the plant material and increase the potency of the product you are crafting. The folk method of crafting tinctures involves allowing the plant material to steep in a solvent, usually alcohol or vinegar, in a dark cupboard for several weeks; the timing usually depends on the plant. Then straining and bottling the tincture after the solvent has done its extracting. A tincture press can be a beneficial tool in increasing the bioavailability of medicinal constituents in a tincture, infused oil, or glycerite. The process is similar to the folk method in that it involves steeping plant material in a solvent with the added step of squeezing out more of the medicine that the solvent extracts using the press. It is said that more expensive hydraulic presses that can exert several tons of pressure can even extract the liquid medicine present in the plant material itself as opposed to the medicine that the solvent extracts. Hydraulic presses are expensive and also present the challenge of contaminating your product with the hydraulic fluid needed to run the press. Strictly Medicinal offers some strategically designed presses that eliminate contamination but the prices start at around $2,000.

How the tincture press works-

The tincture press that Alamere has was specially crafted by the owner John who was inspired by the presses carried by Strictly Medicinals. The press itself was found at a reuse store for under $20 and the parts needed to craft tinctures and oils were found at thrift stores and slightly altered using a drill press. The components are all stainless steel and can be seen in the photographs below and consist of a basket with holes drilled into the sides, a wooden ‘plunger’, with a stainless steel cap, …

The process of crafting a tincture involves steeping plant material in an alcohol solvent for 6-8 weeks then lining the basket in a tight weave cheesecloth and placing plant material into the bucket and slowly applying pressure using the jack and having the plunger to press down and squeeze the liquid out of the plant material, allowing the liquid to drip off into a glass jar. After all of the plant material has been pressed, the liquid is then stored in a dark cupboard for several days and then decanted to extract any plant settlement that got carried into the liquid. Decanting can be done using coffee filters or a coffee pour-over device, after any leftover plant debris is strained out, the tincture can then be bottled and taken internally, The process is similar to crafting infused oils.

Common Names:  Milky Oats, Milky Oat Seed, Wild Oats

Distribution: The origins of Avena sativa are unknown but it is thought that the species persisted as a weed in grain fields until it was taken into cultivation in the bronze age in Celtic and Germanic regions of Europe. Oats have been around long before cultivation and evidence of Avena sativa have been found in 4000-year-old remains in Egypt. It is thought that Avena sativa evolved from the wild oat species Avena sterilis from south-western Asia. Milky oats now can be found throughout most northern temperate climates and are commonly cultivated in Europe and 

Monograph: 

Avena sativa is the Poaceae family, or the grass family. One of the largest plant families with one of the widest distribution worldwide. The herb can be identified by its disctice leaves or ovulate tufted clum, or stalk. The plant grows around 1.5- 3 ft tall and has  slight green coloration. 

Medicinal Properties: 

As a food source, Avena sativa offers a calorie dense fast growing nutritive grain, the medicinal properties have been overlooked as well as all parts of the plant, the milky tops and oatstraw. The plant offers many minerals and trace nutrients such as silica, magnesium, phosphorus, chromium, iron, calcium, alkaloids, protein, vitamin B. Medicinally the herb helps to support nervous system function, balance endocrine function, support immune function and support mental wellbeing. It is said that those who consume oat’s medicine will remain grounded, as the tall oat plant will sway and dance with the changing wind while still remaining firmly planted into the Earth. The immature seed or milky top has long been used as a medicine in herbal medicine and offers trophorestorative properties to the nervous system. 

Harvesting and Processing: 

Milky oats refer to the milky stage of the oat tops, during this stage the tops produce a nutritive milky sap when squeezed. This milky stage lasts approximately one week and occurs right after the oat begins to flower but before the seed hardens into the grain we know as oatmeal. It is said that ticturing the oat tops at this stage will preserve their bioactive nutrients. Tincturing can be done via the folk method, it is recommended to blend the plant material in a blender or mortar and pestle with a chosen menstruum or solvent. Tincture presses can also be useful in producing milky oat tincture. Oat tops can also be dried and made into infusions or teas.

What is a nervine and how does the nervous system work? A closer look at the functions of Skullcap and Milky Oats as a medicine. 

 To best understand how nervines like Scutelleria Latierfloria, and Avena sativa can benefit wellbeing and improve conditions such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia, an overview of how the nervous system functions is helpful. The nervous system is made up of all the neurons or nerve cells in the body. It acts as a command center for the body and controls how we communicate with the outside world and how many of our internal processes are controlled within our bodies.  

There are two parts to the nervous system, the central nervous system, the voluntary system, and the peripheral nervous system, the involuntary system. The voluntary nervous system controls all things we are consciously aware of and can control ourselves, like moving our arms and legs. The involuntary nervous system regulates systems in the body that cannot be consciously influenced, like breathing, heartbeat, and metabolic processes.

The nervous system acts as an information highway sending electrical signals to and from cells, glands and muscles all throughout the body. This network of nerves receives information from the outside world and triggers a bodily response. The nervous system affects many different aspects of our health and wellbeing such as; 

• Thoughts, memory, learning, and feelings. 
• Movements, such as balance and coordination. 
• Senses, including how your brain interprets what you see, hear, taste, touch and feel. 

• Sleep, healing, and aging. 
• Heartbeat and breathing patterns. 
• Response to stressful situations. 
• Digestion, as well as how hungry and thirsty you feel. 
• Body processes, such as puberty. ^xiv 

 The nervous system is an invaluable ally in terms of mental and physical wellbeing. All psychological processes are anchored in the nervous system.  Factors like stress and overexertion can push it into a state of exhaustion and overuse that can lead to nerve damage. The flight or fight alarm reaction to stressors can activate adrenal glands as well as the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems in complex ways, pushing these systems into an overdrive state and creating disorder. Symptoms of the nervous system overwhelm, and exhaustion includes anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, brain fog, poor memory and concentration, depression and digestive problems, exhaustion lethargy, and muscular tension. When the nervous system is pushed past exhaustion and enters extreme, serious nerve damage can occur and cause serious health issues.  

Nervines 

By definition, nervines are herbs that are intended to help nourish and support the central nervous system and help restore balance and restfulness in the body.^xv There are no pharmaceutical equivalents to nervines, meaning you cannot take a pill to achieve the same benefits,  

“To understand nervine tonics, you’ll have to put aside the traditional pharmaceutical way of thinking.” ^xvi 

Nervines can be thought of in the same way eating healthy foods has a positive effect on your wellbeing and energy levels. They help to unify and nourish the nervous system providing both acute and long-term support. They provide support and nourishment to the body in a way that western pharmaceuticals cannot. It is important to reframe our collective perspective on health and shift to a perspective of nourishment and preventative long-term care and support, opposed to treating severe symptoms once they pop up.  

The nervous system as well as mental well being have a significant effect on physical wellbeing and the treatment symptoms that arise have different approaches in various types of medicine. The following quote from David Hoffman’s Medical Herbalism describes the dichotomy between traditional western medicine and some holistic views,  

 “Orthodox medicine tends to reduce psychological problems to purely biochemical mechanisms and assumes that the appropriate drugs will sort out or at least hide the problem sufficiently to allow life to continue. Interestingly enough, some premises of complementary medicine assume or imply the other extreme; namely, that psychological factors are the cause of all disease. According to this point of view, treatment of the psyche is the only appropriate way to approach healing, and will take care of any physical problem.” 

There are three types of nervines, relaxing nervines such as .., stimulating nervines like, and nervine trophorestorative, or nervine tonics like Scutellaria lateriflora. Skullcap is thought to revive and renew the central nervous system.^xvii  as well as treat nervous tension and anxiety. It has a long history of treatment of serious, hysterical states and epilepsy due to these nervous system properties. Scutellaria lateriflora is said to be one of the most widely used nervines and is considered safe and effective in treating both acute and chronic stress conditions, it had also been indicated to have been used in treating and easing pain. ^xviii 

Avena sativa is commonly paired with Scutellaria lateriflora and is considered to be one of the best medicines for “feeding” the nervous system. 

Its trophorestorative properties help to nourish and renew nervous system function. It is gentle and supportive and can offer help in times of acute stress. 

Common Names:Also known as mad-dog skullcap, mad-dog weed, blue skullcap, Virginia skullcap, helmet flower, blue pimpernel, madweed, Quakers bonnet. Monograph:Scutellaria laterifloria belongs to the genus Scutellaria, a genus known for its anti-inflammatory and other medicinal properties. Breaking down the scientific name, in Latin ‘scutella’ means a small dish and ‘Scutellum’ means little shield, both referring to the shape of the calyx present on the flowers, which has a prominent dorsal crest, or scutellum. It is said that the American skullcap was named by Native Americans because of its hooded, two-lobed flowers bare resemblance to military helmets worn by early European soldiers. ⁱⁱ 

Scutellaria laterifloria belongs to the Lamiaceae or mint family, a family is known for its medicinal and aromatic properties. Scutellaria laterifloria has leaves of a light green to pale reddish-green color and the characteristic square stem shared by many members of the Lamiaceae family. The opposite leaves are thin and ovate to lanceovate with heavily serrated margins and are 2.5-10 cm long with a dark green upper surface and light green underside. The distinguishable flowers are typically blue but can range from white to violet. They are irregular, tubular, and have the prominent two-lipped dorsal crest which gives rise to their namesake, skullcap.  

Distribution 

There are approximately 360 species of Scutellaria making it one of the largest genus groups in the Lamiaceae family. The genus is distributed globally mainly in temperate regions and tropical mountains, but can naturally occur in most regions of the world, excluding the Amazon basin, Pacific Islands and lowland tropical Africa. Over 101 species of Scutellaria grow in China, making it a center of diversity for this plant group. Chinese skullcap, Scutellaria baicalensis, is a treasured herbal ally and is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine.  

Scutellaria laterifloria is a perennial herb that is indigenous to eastern North America, it grows in wild damp woodlands, thickets, and swamplands, and along river beds. It is commonly cultivated in Europe for medicinal harvest. It grows to around 1-3 ft high and blossoms at the end of July through September. The leaves and stems are harvested when flowering for medicinal use. The herb can be used fresh, dried, whole, crushed, chopped or pressed to prepare the medicine.  

Scutellaria laterifloria can be cultivated by direct seeding, transplanting, or dividing roots. It naturally grows in USDA hardiness zones 2b to 7b, making it the most widely occurring species of Scutellaria in North America. Cultivation has been developed and in 2001 it was estimated that 85% of global harvest was from cultivated sources. It is widely imported the outside of the US, notably to Europe for medicinal use, it was estimated that 70% of US cultivated skullcap was exported from small farmers to outside of North America. 

Medicinal Properties:

The Scutellaria genus has been noted for its anti-inflammatory properties, which is thought to be due to the prominent levels of flavonoids present, which contain significant antioxidant levels. The genus also exhibited preventative effects for neurodegenerative diseases.

Skullcap is thought to revive and renew the central nervous system.^xvii  as well as treat nervous tension and anxiety. It has a long history of treatment of serious, hysterical states and epilepsy due to these nervous system properties. Scutellaria lateriflora is said to be one of the most widely used nervines and is considered safe and effective in treating both acute and chronic stress conditions, it had also been indicated to have been used in treating and easing pain. ^xviii 

This week was altered by a Covid outbreak and I spent time conducting more research on greenhouse work. Below is a write up of the basics of what I have learned: 

Water Management: Water management is one of the most important factors of successful greenhouse propagation. It is a tricky art to perfect, especially for a farm like Alamere which specializes in rare ornamentals and medicinal plants which all have very specific watering requirements as opposed to a vegetable farm. Each plant requires its own specific microclimate, and the more specialty plants a farmer is cultivating, the more complicated the greenhouse routine. Greenhouse work is truly an art and requires a high level of skill and intuition. Alamere uses a bottom watering strategy which consists of placing start trays into a tray full of water and usually fish fertilizer. As well as a timed sprinkler system with mini sprinklers placed in the heated cold frames, which are essentially mini-greenhouse environments built with heated wire and PVC siding. They offer a cost-effective way to have heat in the early spring without the requirement for an expensive heated greenhouse. The timers are set depending on the weather and will usually be set off around every hour- an hour and a half on hot summer days for around fifteen minutes. Watering is especially important for small and sensitive starts.

Temperature regulation:

Temperature regulation is important in keeping water retention as well as keeping the greenhouse at the ideal germination temperature: 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit. The strategy Alamere Herbs uses to regulate temperature during hot summer days is to have misters go off in the greenhouse increasingly as the outside temperature rises, going off as often as 30 seconds every 10 minutes when the temperatures reach the 80s. The greenhouse also has a lot of ventilation, temperature thermostats, and shade cloths in the summer months. Shade cloths are a highly cost-effective method to regulate temperature. They are made out of loosely woven polyester or aluminum and have varying degrees of sunlight blocking ranging from 5%- to 95%. It is believed that plants only require 10% of sun exposure to complete photosynthesis, but is recommended that shade cloths in Western Washington require 50% light exposure. The shade cloth is held upon an outside frame and it is important that it is not touching the actual greenhouse surface as the would counteract the cooling effect.

Germination Mix: 

The germination mix that Alamere Herbs uses consists of 40% pumice stone and 60% peat moss. The pumice stone adds tilth and texture to the soil to create air spaces to hold seeds and leave room for their growth. As well as to hold moisture. The peat moss is hydrophilic meaning it repels water which looks like holding moisture and slowly releasing it as the H2O molecules are repelled by its surface. It is also very sterile which helps in reducing pathogens and fungus outbreaks in the greenhouse. 

Fertilization:

Alamere Herbs primarily uses liquid fish fertilizer as it is cost-effective and offers burn-free nitrogen and other primary nutrients without having to use chemical inorganic fertilizer. They also use chicken meal pellets for a slow release of nitrogen. They also occasionally use blood meal or alfalfa meal. During the Greenhouse lesson, we talked a lot about when to fertilize and why to avoid fertilizing before the seed germinates and produces a radicle and the cotyledon begins to push to the sun. A seed is a lot like a chicken egg, it is equipt with the nutrients and nourishment to get it to the stage of hatching or germinating, and once it emerges in the world it is hungry for outside nutrients. Once the seeds emerge from the soil Alamere begins a fertilizing schedule of one to two times a week depending on the type of plant. Every time you water nutrients are rinsed away so it is important to stick to a fertilizing schedule as the new plant begins to grow. 

Containers:

Alamere uses various types of containers to germinate in, largely using 72-128 trays for early germination, or soil blocking trays. Once the start has been established the plants more to 3-inch pots, and for plants like madrone that have long taproots, special pots that encourage taproot growth, and cut them off at a certain point once they reach an air hole on the bottom

Overall I view plant germination as a sort of alchemy or magic to recreate natural growing habitats and create perfectly sculpted micro-climates. Greenhouse work is a complex and beautiful art form that requires skill and heart. 

*Pictures coming soon

After noticing how poorly my plants were looking last week I had a meeting with John and we discussed the signs suggesting that deer must be getting into the farm and eating them, a problem all PNW farmers know. We also discussed how unusual this growing season has started off weather-wise. I have heard from multiple farmers and gardeners about how the growing season has started off so hard. I am not sure if my crops will be ready to be harvested by week 10, the cold and the rain is slowing down their growing process and I suspect them are taking longer to establish and grow to harvest. It is interesting to see the contrast between this spring and the spring before. 

After identifying the causes of stress altering my crops, we brainstormed solutions. First thing first we needed a deer blockage. John decided that building a deer fence with T-posts and chicken netting like he has in other parts of his farm was the faster and most efficient way to get a blockade up in a timely matter. We gathered supplies and I built the deer fence Thursday afternoon. I was nervous as building and using tools are both a new skills to me that farming is helping me take head-on. I really appreciated the leadership that John demonstrated during the process and am inspired to use a similar teaching model in the future. He helped me gather all of the supplies and we talked through the process together as I moved step by step through the building, he checked in with me at each step without taking over the project and giving me the independence to successfully complete the fence. I first dug four T-posts in with a T-post digger and then began to wrestle with the leftover chicken fencing and zip-tied it together, leaving a locking mechanism at the front leaving easy access to getting in and out. The experience was really empowering and I feel that I am slowly gaining more confidence in tackling big projects. We also established a fertilizing routine to help support the new plants through the tumultuous weather, as well as started more calendula seeds in the greenhouse to have more to plant if the first succession didn’t succeed. During the seeding process, I got a lesson in general greenhouse work, I will have more to report on this next week.

This whole process felt really valuable in learning about how to readjust and strategize plans to adjust for external factors in growing medicinal crops. Farming is a art dependent on the sway of the elements and mother nature, we are all subject to her wrath. It is both beautiful and challenging but I am not going to rush the process and am going to listen to the needs of the plants and help them get established.

*Photographs coming soon

This week I sowed milky oats into the first half of their bed. I plan to experiment and sow a second succession later in the season to compare the success rates of different sowing times later in the season. I sowed the seeds according to the Strictly Medicinal suggestion, broadcasting them about three inches apart and then raking soil back over them. I also started the process of inoculating skullcap seeds in a wet paper towel in the fridge. They need to be cold stratified for a week and then moved to the greenhouse. I will give updates on this later in the quarter. At the farm this week I worked on the Arnica bed and noticed that the Skullcap and Calendula I planted last week are not looking very healthy, it looks like deer have been trampling on them and munching on some of the plants. I also am noticing that the skullcap starts are looking yellowish-green and unhappy, I am wondering if all of the hail and cold weather is affecting them. Next week I plan on addressing these issues and getting some TLC to the plants. I am nervous to plant anything else until the weather clears up. 

This week I also spent some time with another group of Evergreen students working with the distiller at the Organic Farm. During last season’s cycle of POF I focused on herbal medicine production and worked with a team and the distiller to produce multiple batches of oil and brandy made from apples and pears grown on the farm. I helped share my knowledge of how the process works and the basics of setting up and running the distiller from beginning to end. I am really interested in doing further work with distilling and am excited to get a chance to learn the process of using the tincture press. 

During this first half of the quarter, I have focused solely on crop production and greenhouse work. I have prepared a bed using a tiller and have planted three crops Skullcap and calendula I planted via transplants, as well as started to germinate them both through seeding in the greenhouse. Milky oats I planted via direct sowing. I have also been tending to an already established patch of arnica by weeding and fertilizing. I have learned a lot about how to plan crop successions and choose what method of planting works best for different conditions and different plants. I have also learned how to troubleshoot and make decisions on crop care. My calendula and skullcap have struggled with the unpredictable weather we have been having this spring, there have been several frost and hail storms that have hurt the young plants as well as an invasion of deer that have been eating them. In hindsight, the transplants should have probably been kept in the greenhouse for longer into the season but I am learning to care for them and make strategic moves like building a deer fence, planting second successions of seeds to make up for the ones that were lost as well as establish a fertilizing routine to support the weakened transplants. I have had a greenhouse crash course and have learned the basics of water and temperature regulation as well as germination and transplanting techniques. For the remainder of the quarter would like to focus on researching medicine-making techniques as well as learning how to use the tincture press available to me at Alamere. I would also like to fully establish my crops and help see them through the rough patch they have had. It is also a goal of mine to set up a time to interview my sponsor on the topic of selling herbal products at market and learn from their experience.

This week I planted my calendula and skullcap beds! I received calendula starts from my friend who works at a herb nursery in the area, and purchased skullcap starts from Eastside farm and garden. I feel bad about not starting them both from seed but time did not permit that for me. I do want to experiment with starting a second succession of skullcap to gain experience germinating. I read that they will need to undergo cold stratification for at least one week in the fridge. I will start this next week once my seed order comes in. I might not be able to harvest this succession during the quarter but would still like to gain experience. My milky oat seeds will arrive next week and I will sow them into the wood chip bed as well. I noticed that I have space for one more crop to fit into and plan to discuss the possibility of a fifth herb being established with John next week.

I planted both crops in the wood chip bed I tilled last week. I raked in mulch to the bed before planting as well as added fertilizer pellets that John uses for his plants and planted using the spacing guidelines I state below in my journal entry.

I also was able to get another couple feet of the arnica bed weeded. It is taking more attention to detail and effort as the bed seems to be most densely populated with the arnica starts in the middle. It feels like slow work but any progress I am able to make is helping to further save the crop. The section that I weeded in the previous weeks looks happy to have more space to breathe. I thought of the irony of going through back-breaking work for a plant that will later be crafted into a sore muscle salve. I thought this week about what I want to use each crop for and am hoping to create a sore muscle salve with the arnica, a nervous system tonic with the skullcap and milky oats, as well

My journal entry from this week shows a rough draft of my crop planning chart as well as a crop map. I will update and share as more information is added.