Weekly Tasks: RBGH Plastic Cover, Vegetable Distribution
Readings: Chapter 9 “Raising Animals” and Chapter 13 “Youth on the Land” – Farming While Black
Monday, 2/14
Happy Valentine’s Day! Today was focused on helping Beth with replacing the RBGH plastic roof, as well as distributing the radicchio, beans, leeks, and squash for our cooking lab next week with the Olympia Food Coop. We sorted the five different varieties of radicchio that had survived the big snowstorm before heading out to get the plastic prepped for hoisting up onto the RBGH structure.
First, we laid out the new sheet of plastic and tied rope around bunched up sections along the side we would be pulling over the structure. Then, we tossed the rope over to the other side and lined up along all sides to help guide the plastic over top. We ended the morning by straightening out any wrinkled patches around the sides before beginning the process of inserting the wiggle wire along the edge to hold the plastic in place. Overall, this was a really fun morning with lots of movement and action as a combined group of classmates. It was a nice change from the peaceful quiet of weeding in the herb garden each Monday.
The new plastic! 
Goin’ up!
While our work did not directly correlate with this week’s Farming While Black chapters, I appreciated the knowledge and ideas surrounding raising animals and welcoming youth into agricultural settings. I have had quite a lot of experience with chickens; my family got our first flock of chickens when I was quite little and I remember chasing them around our backyard with my brother, laughing and watching them dustbathe in the sunshine. Pigs, however, I am less familiar with, so learning about their care and impact on the land was really exciting to me. I was especially intrigued by the fact that chickens and pigs are the most climate-friendly meats, accounting for only 10% of the total greenhouse gas emissions by livestock while still providing three times as much meat as cows globally.
As for welcoming youth onto the land, I get excited by the idea of working with kids and educating them on agriculture or more specifically, herbal medicine and the healing magic of plants. I loved the wisdom and the activities that Leah Penniman shared on incorporating history into their learning practices for youth. Creating connections between children and the land and also their histories is important and empowering, and I think these are things that normal education systems miss out on most of the time.
Home Herbalism Series – Class 3
The Nervous and Endocrine System Part 2: Relaxation, Sleep & Mood – Flower Essences
The Home Herbalism homework has been taking me longer to complete than I originally assumed it would so I am not quite finished with Class 3’s homework as of the end of Week 10. However, this week’s home remedy-making was all about flower essences, which are an aspect of herbal medicine that I have been highly excited to learn about. Because of this, I have included excerpts from my Class 3 homework below to share information on flower essences and why I think they are so cool!
I was unable to make my own flower essence due to the fact that there are no flowers blooming in the winter season, but stay tuned for spring as I already have plans for multiple flower essences I wish to make!
How do you make a flower essence?
Supplies:
- Filtered well or spring water
- Brandy
- Plain glass bowl
- Strainer, funnel
- Scissors
- Glass bottles for storing
- Labels
- Thank you gift for plant
- Optional: notebook, camera
Before beginning, be sure you are in a good mental and physical state to work with the plants. Clean your materials however you see fit, through smudging, water, etc. Make sure you are creating flower essences on a sunnier day, preferably earlier in the morning when flowers are first budding. Select your flower, whether you have a specific one in mind or are open to hearing the “call” of one, and sit with it for a bit to gain permission for usage. Then, you can snip the flowers into your bowl of water, covering the surface or selecting a specific number to use. If the plant is sensitive or at-risk, you can gently bend the bloom into the water or adjust the bowl so the blooms are resting in the water. Leave the essence to infuse in a sunny place for 2 to 4 hours or however long feels best. When the essence is ready, strain into your bottle until half full. Fill the other half with brandy and succuss to create your mother essence. To make a stock essence, fill a separate bottle with ⅓ brandy and ⅔ water and add 5 drops of the mother essence (most flower essences for sale are stock essences). To make a further dosage bottle, fill another bottle with ⅓ brandy and ⅔ water and add five drops of each stock essence. Stock and dosage essences can be taken on the tongue, added to water or tinctures, placed on the skin, and more. A typical dosage is 1-5 drops up to three times a day. Store all essences in a respectful space without touching one another.
What is unusual about flower essences compared to other herbal remedies?
Flower essences bridge the gap between the science of herbal medicine and the magic of plants. They capture the vibration or energy of the plant and encourage the body to heal itself. They allow you to connect with your favorite plants on a deeper, more spiritual, level, getting to know these plants in an entirely new light.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using flower essences?
Advantages:
- Small dosing
- Can be used in a variety of ways
- Lasts a long time
- Very little plant material required, sometimes you don’t even need to harvest
- Easily added to other remedies
- Incredibly dilute and unlikely to have any chemical effect on the body
- Perfectly safe combined with pharmaceutical drugs
- Useful for children, babies, pregnant mothers, elderly, etc.
- Can be used for pets
- Unlikely to have side effects
- Works on a deeper level than most medicines
- Provide emotional, spiritual, psychological support
Disadvantages:
- Not necessarily a disadvantage but taking a flower essence can sometimes cause “resistance” when we consume the essence for something we are not quite ready to do. Can result in moodiness, weird dreams, a viral infection which should all pass in a couple days.
Readings
The Evergreen Herbal – Tari Gunstone
Chapter 2 “Community Herbalism”
I really loved this chapter and how personal it was to Evergreen and the Olympia area, it feels like a chapter that is speaking directly to me and my path of study. It highlighted three community herbalists from around Olympia, Corinne Boyer of Maple Mist Woods, Renee Davis of Goldroot Botanical Medicine, and Sean Croke from the Hawthorn School of Plant Medicine.
Out of these three herbalists, the one that I connected with most while reading was Corinne Boyer. Her combination of herbal medicine and plant magic speaks very strongly to me, as I am a strong believer in the spiritual and magical properties of plants as well. I did some searching around on her website after reading as well and got very excited about her class and apprenticeship offerings, especially her class on the magic and folklore of the forests. I hope Corinne is someone I will cross paths with someday, regardless of where my herbal interests take me in the future.
The Herbalist’s Way – Nancy and Michael Phillips
Chapter 4 “Considering Your Niche”
This chapter was a humbling chapter about herbalism, a reminder that we cannot do it all and that we need to remember to create balance in our lives between herbal practices and other daily callings. It started with a section on how most herbalism begins with oneself and healing oneself, learning what works and doesn’t work for you so that you can better help other people. “We need to slow down. Breathe deep. Understand. Be. This is the place where healing starts” (Page 109). This is a wonderful reminder not only for herbalists, but for all of us.
The chapter continues with the importance of service as an herbalist, while also acknowledging the need to make a living. We should heal because we want to and have the ability to, not solely to rake in cash. There is also the discussion of making your medicine available while not giving yourself entirely away with nothing in return, which brought up the idea of a barter list; if your patients are unable to pay, ask for their support with chores or other daily needs as payment in return for your medicinal wisdom. I love the community that this chapter creates in its pages, the idea that we should heal because we can and not because we expect anything in return, while still creating that balance so that we aren’t being used and our efforts are being acknowledged and rightfully appreciated in whatever way the patient’s privilege allows.
A final section in this chapter that was highly intriguing to me was the short section on flower essences, which was the home remedy that we covered in my Home Herbalism class for this week. Flower essences draw upon the spirit of the plant, its essence, rather than the actual medicinal properties of it to invoke healing. I have never used a flower essence before but come springtime, I am excited to make my own with the fresh flower blossoms from around campus.
“Chief Seattle advised that what we do to ourselves we do to Earth. Maybe the message for us today should be: What we do to Earth we do to ourselves.”
– NANCY AND MICHAEL PHILLIPS