Weeds or Treasures

In the circles I travel in, not wealthy, survival minded, thrifty for a purpose (like supporting missionaries), sustainably independent of mass marketing and interested in natural methods for everything, there is a tendency to take another look at our immediate environment to see what it has to offer or would offer in case of natural disaster or economic downturn. I began doing this 15 years ago when I first made "Meadow Magic" I was living on a floating log raft on the Pacific ocean. We were off shore of an uninhabited island called Tuxecan, in Southeast Alaska. A friend had come over in her boat from a larger island to help us with our annual beach asparagus gathering event. We cut the beach asparagus with scissors as to leave the roots undamaged for a new crop next year. People tended to cut while watching over their shoulders for the bears, who shared our love for this coastal vegetable. Isaiah at age 8 or 9 was no exception, which resulted in his cutting the tip of his thumb off. He removed the tip back into the nail bed, but not quite to expose the bone. My friend, an herbalist immediately bruised some tender yarrow leaves and pressed them into the wound. Almost instantly, the wound stopped bleeding and the shocky, panicked look left Isaiah's face.

Later, I bruised more yarrow leaves and warmed them in deer tallow until the leaves looked spent and the tallow was a beautiful mint green and smelled sweetly of yarrow. I applied this "ointment" to Isaiah's thumb and bandaged it. I reapplied and rebandaged once a day for several days, until it had healed over. Within just a very short time, the 2 thumbs were almost identical. That success got me started working on "Meadow Magic". I now have access to olive oil and beeswax which I substitute for the deer tallow. This gives it a more pleasant fragrance (though the original has a nicer texture), I have also added plantain, lavender and spearmint.

Plantain grows everywhere in the western world. Actually, I have seen it in people's yards and roadsides in every country I have ever visited. It is exceptionally healing, containing an allantoin like substance. It is proven to increase healing and to protect a wound, once cleaned, from infection with no fear of growing resistant bacteria due to antibiotic ointments etc. It was chewed and applied to bee stings when I was a child in the south. Even laying a bruised plantain leaf over a sting or wound will give quick relief from pain and inflammation. In the mountains above Oaxaca Mexico, I saw a woman who claimed to be 100 years old walking around like a much younger person would. To help with her rheumatism, she put plantain leaves in her clothes next to her skin and bound them to her sore joints.

Yarrow also grows everywhere I have been and is considered a roadside weed. It has many uses, showing up under multiple headings in your herb books, from a fever breaker to blood stopper. I use it for its regenerative qualities in wounds and for its anesthetic properties when applied to a painful injury. It really complements the effects of the plantain and increases the pain relieving properties of the salve.

Lavender and Spearmint are added to my recipe. Though they both have medicinal uses, particularly the mint when simmered to make a tea. I add them to the salve to bring about a feeling of comfort and well being. Both are known to be calming and reassuring when you smell them. I find, especially with children, this calming aroma is very helpful when there is a painful or stressful situation. (Remember baby lotion?)

My children call me a mad scientist and admittedly, I do think a lot about how to make things and how things work. But, you don't have to be a mad scientist to benefit from the plants around you. If you have a patch of ground around you that is not manicured and sprayed, take a walk and look down. Take pictures or pick specimens. There are many online resources for identifying herbs. I think a good herb book is a must have as well. You may find some amazingly beneficial herbs right in your own back yard. Even if you aren't inclined to use them in teas, tinctures or toddies, it is guaranteed to make your morning walk more interesting and help develop an appreciation for what God has put on the earth to benefit us.

Lawana

P.S. It was 40 degrees on my porch at daylight this morning. I built a little fire to take the chill off for my children.

Taking the Challenge

Okay. I started the first day of the official apply no yucky chemicals to my person challenge. I am in the middle of the several day process of crafting my "Meadow Magic" salve. I am making this batch to sell at the Farmer's Market and online. I am also using it to replace the mega chemical ingredient lotions and balms I have been using for decades. For 2 weeks minimum, I will be washing my hair with my friend Debbie's peppermint liquid goats milk soap and rinsing with my own recipe Kombucha rinse. (Trial run today, so far, so good!) For lip balm, hand creme, lotion and cracked heels, I will be using Meadow Magic.

After washing dishes this morning in SOAP, I applied Meadow Magic to my hands while they were still wet. This approximates lotion, as it increases the moisture content. I may experiment with a Meadow Magic lotion soon, but for now this is a low tech way of replacing my lotion. I have made Meadow Magic for years and know how healing and pleasant it is as a first aid ointment. Now I will see how it works in a more cosmetic way. I can say this though. This batch smells wonderful and it has no artificial fragrances. The herbs I use have been particularly fragrant and nice this year due to the cooler weather.

I am also totally switching to Debbie's liquid laundry soap for my clothes. I have found so far that my towels have lost that funny smell that makes you want to add more chemically smelling things to the rinse water to cover it. Between the clothesline, the natural soap and Kombucha rinse (it is acidic and dissolves the rough mineral deposits that hang on to bacteria which cause odors) my laundry is cleaner, softer and smells much better than before.

I have been working on removing the hazardous chemicals from my family's environment for a long time. Now we are on the home stretch. I will keep you posted on how the transition goes. The biggest obstacle for me and my daughters has been shampoo and conditioner. I will let you know if Debbie's theory holds true. She says that if we stop stripping our hair with detergents (you know, squeaky clean) that our oil glands won't feel compelled to pump lots of oil to replace what was stripped off, making our hair need less frequent washing and the same lack of stripping should make commercial conditioners unnecessary. We shall see. I have really loved my Herbal Essences!

Your not as squeaky, but still clean, Meadow Magic scented, friend.
Lawana

Kicking the Can



Early morning walk

 I think I may have mentioned to you that I have a short attention span. Not the totally short attention span like some folks who can't follow a conversation to the end of a sentence or can never sit still. I am more typical of someone with an ADD diagnosis. I can zone in on something that I find fascinating. For instance, I spent 30 minutes this morning researching the chemistry, uses and qualities of carbamide. Really.

Until I was about 11 I was under the impression that I had inherited my paternal grandmother's build and looks. She was dark and small. I had visions of becoming a jockey. While outwardly doing math or science quietly at my desk, inwardly I was urging some modern day Man  O' War to a total upset at the Preakness. I mentally perfected all the jocky moves while everyone else just thought I was doing my school work. Sadly, under the influence of an onslaught of estrogen, I discovered that I had inherited the stout genetics of my German ancestors. I bargained with myself that I could perhaps be a sulky racer. They could weigh more than jockies. As I grew skyward and developed ankles the diameter of my friends' calves, I allowed those dreams to slip away.

choke cherry blossoms

Running Gear!

Today, those same genetics have blessed me with strong bones and durability. However, my inner jockey/athlete is perfectly camouflaged behind a frumpy, fat lady in ankle length prairie skirts and her husband's running shoes.. So, as I find myself walkng in the morning to try to uncover bits of the inner athlete, I once again find my short wired brain multitasking. Mere walking is not enough for this brain with its visions of grandeur. No, it has to find something to do. After watching daylight come and reviewing the taxonomy of the half million or so species of plants and animals on my walking route, it became bored. Until I found the beer can! Oh what joy as I kicked that can for 2 miles. My walk flew by. My heart was light. I had rediscovered something that had occupied endless hours of my childhood. I kicked away. I was light on my feet. I swerved and dived to keep the can down the middle of the roadway. It was only later, as I was revisiting the fun I had, that I thought ...of the ...neighbors!

The Can! Before Picture

I have good neighbors. Across the river, though, at least one set keeps a spotting scope set up in their front room. I happen to know they routinely glass the hill near my house for deer and elk. They are not nosey people, just avid outdoorsmen, but they have discovered a number of suspicious activities by accident while looking for critters. I know this because they have sometimes called me to ask if someone had permission to be on my property and things of that nature. Oh my...




The Can, After Picture. Safely stowed for next time...or not.



I can hear it now.
"Honey?"
"Yeah."
"You gotta see this!?
"Elk?"
"Um No! Come look!"
"What is she doing?"
"I don't know, it kind of looks like soccer moves, or square dancing."
"Did she just bounce something off her head?"
"Looks like a beer can."
"Does she drink?"
"I don't think so."
"Wow. This is pretty interesting. I don't think I have ever seen a fat lady move like that."
"She is probably going to hurt herself!"
"I can't watch,"
"Me either!"

So. If you are bored while walking and you find a can. It can be fun and good exercise. It can also affect your neighbors. I think beer cans should come with a warning like this. "The attorney general has determined that kicking this can for two miles in the sight of sane neighbors may be deterimental to your standing in the community."

There are some stories you should not tell on yourself. As soon as I publish this, I will probably decide this was one of them.

Lawana
P.S. I kind of hurt my knee a little bit with this shuffle kick maneuver. It is okay though, I tell folks it is a soccer injury.

Hanging Out

                                                                                  


I have been without an outdoor clothesline for about a year. It hasn't mattered too much because this past winter was more conducive to indoor drying. I am, however, very excited to get the new posts up and the string run. My beloved salvaged some nice heavy weight clothesline posts and set them in the ground. That provided a good lesson in post tamping for my 9 year old son. Saturday, I got the line and enlisted the help of some friends who were visiting to help me get the line taut and fend off the Yellow Jackets that were building in one of the cross pieces.
                                                                                  

                                                                              
As soon as it was tight and secure, I hung two loads of towels on it. It was a breezy afternoon  and the towels dried in about 15 minutes! Of course a few blew completely off the line onto the barbed wire where they also dried quickly. I personally don't mind perforated towels. I could have saved money on clothes pins and simply strung my line with barbed wire. This is the kind of thinking that frightens my husband sometimes. All I have to do is get that particular gleam in my eye and he gets concerned. Thank God he is more normal and has a better eye for aesthetics or this place would look like the Rube Goldberg version of Little House on the Prairie.

Clint has a decided sense of the fitness of things. He makes a mean bed, leaves the kitchen sparkling if he does the dishes, and folds towels so they look like the pictures in the catalog, all while riding in on a white horse to rescue me from...ugly makeshift home improvements such as barbed wire clothes lines. He is also very adept at keeping clocks and pictures straight on the walls.Our clothesline suits both of us. It was free and recycled which makes me happy and fits our budget and it fits into the natural landscape as if it grew there. That pleases my handsome husband.
                                 
                                                                                

I would like to challenge you, wherever you are to make a place for line drying your clothes. Of course it is politically correct to be green these days, but there is more to a clothesline than that. The clothesline gets you outside early in the morning and again later in the day to bring the clothes in. It encourages sensual pleasure. The clothes look pretty as they dance and flutter on the line. They smell heavenly as no laundry additive can mimic. They feel different, sometimes rougher, sometimes whipped to a soft suppleness. (You can always air fluff before or after hanging to soften your clothes if line drying makes them too stiff) You can even close your eyes and listen to your clothes on the line. If you want to know what the clothesline experience should be like, hang some sheets and let them play their pied piper song to your small children. Before you know it they will be reveling in their senses and you will be ensuring that another generation of people will associate clothes on the line with pleasant memories.