Turns out, they are the best raspberries I’ve ever eaten, and on top of that, they are extremely prolific! I knew they were an ever-bearing variety, but I had no idea that we would be harvesting berries for four months. If you love fresh raspberries, do yourself a favor and plant some canes. As an added bonus, both honeybees and bumblebees go crazy for these flowers, and an ever-bearing variety will provide a longer foraging season for them.

In late spring we enjoyed our first strawberry rhubarb tarts, and oh how delectable they were! But since strawberry season is so short, and rhubarb goes on producing like there’s no tomorrow, I decided it was time to look for some alternative rhubarb pairings.

The Raspberry Rhubarb Galette was born, and the recipe was a success! Simple and rustic, yet quite beautiful. It’s tangy, sweet, crunchy, gooey… very satisfying. The only thing that could make it more delicious would be a heap of vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

Raspberry Rhubarb Galette

This recipe is gluten free as given, but can be made with any wheat pie dough.

Ingredients:

Galette shell

• Dough for two 9″ pie crusts, to split into 4 smaller ones.

Filling

• 1 lb rhubarb stalks, cut into 1″ pieces
• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• 3 Tbsp flour (I used tapioca)
• 1 cup unrefined cane sugar*
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Topping

• 1 Tbsp melted butter
• coarse raw sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Make pie dough as per recipe instructions.
2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide dough into 4, and roll out into 4 separate discs, about 8″ in diameter, about 1/8th inch thick. If using gluten free pie dough, use parchment paper as your rolling surfaces and flip the discs often, dusting the dough lightly with flour to keep it from sticking. Move the discs onto the lined baking sheet and allow to rest in the refrigerator.
3. Preheat oven to 400°F
4. In a medium sized mixing bowl, prepare raspberry rhubarb filling by combining rhubarb pieces, raspberries, flour and cane sugar. Fold ingredients together, taking care not to smash the raspberries completely. Allow this mixture to rest for 25 minutes.
5. Remove dough discs from the refrigerator. Working with one galette at a time, place a scoop of the filling (about 1/2 cup) into the center of the disc, and spread it out leaving a 2″ gap around the edge. Fold the dough over the filling, pleating as you work your way around. When you’re finished, pour the remaining liquid that’s in the bowl over the crimped galettes.
6. Brush the dough edges with melted butter (fingers work fine) and then sprinkle the coarse raw sugar over the whole galette.
7. Bake until pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbling, 30 to 45 minutes.
8. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Makes about 4 servings.

*I don’t recommend reducing the sugar in the recipe or it will be too tart.

Initially, I had quit because of environmental concerns, trying my best to keep my consumption habits as local as possible. Another motivating factor was coming to realize how dependent I had become on this substance. One time, I had forgotten to bring coffee on a camping trip, and found myself in complete misery the next morning with a raging headache from caffeine withdrawal. It seemed unwise and unfortunate to be to physically and psychologically dependent on a substance that’s not really necessary.

Fast forward all those years, and I found myself with the same complaints as before, with an additional motivating factor: over the course of three months, my anxiety had gone through the roof become completely unmanageable. This wasn’t the baseline anxiety we get from having bills to pay or worrying about impending climate catastrophe (you know, the usual), it was anxiety about nothing, and I could feel it grinding away at me, both physically and mentally. Needless to say, this was seriously affecting my quality of life.

Of everything that I know that I need to do to ease my lifelong generalized and social anxiety, one of the most obvious, and yet, the most difficult things to do, is to quit caffeine– coffee in particular.

A Complicated Relationship

We live in a culture that loves its uppers and downers, legal or illegal. I don’t mean to demonize coffee or alcohol, but I can say with certainty that I myself, and many others, have an unhealthy relationship with these and other substances. All of which take us out of the moment, impede mindfulness, and contribute to a cycle of hyper-stimulation and exhaustion.

Now, I don’t mean to imply that this is true for all individuals and that everyone should quit drinking coffee. After all, it does have certain health benefits, such as being potentially protective against dementia, and our bodies metabolize substances differently depending on our genes. But I’m willing to bet that many of you folks are in a similar position as I am, where you’re struggling to keep up with a world that demands too much, too fast. We struggle to meet these expectations on our own energy stores, and have come to depend on this artificial boost to get us through the day. If this sounds like you, do consider quitting– at least for a time. For everyone else… mindful consumption can only be a good thing.

My Reasons For Quitting

1. Living off borrowed energy

Stimulants like caffeine trick your body into working overtime when you don’t actually have the energy to. The expression, “writing checks your body can’t cash” comes to mind. In order to be physiologically and psychologically healthy, humans should be allowed to follow our natural cycles and rhythms. It’s perfectly normal to want to slow down and conserve energy in the wintertime, or be more active during spring and summer with the increased hours of daylight. Instead, we’re like factory farm hens kept under bright florescent lights 24/7, duped into constant egg laying. Productive yes, but without crucial rest, there is a heavy cost– depression, susceptibility to disease, and a drastically shortened lifespan.

2. Prolonged Mediocre Sleep

Our body repairs itself when we sleep. I think a lot of stimulant-users have forgotten what it’s like to sleep soundly through the night or what it’s like to truly feel well rested in the morning. I know that coffee affects my ability to sleep well at night, even if I avoid drinking it after noon (that probably makes me a slow metabolizing type). The harder it is to get to sleep, or the worse the quality of sleep, the more tired we feel in the morning– which means more coffee just to get through the day, and in turn poor quality sleep. That’s the cycle of caffeine dependence for you.

3. Poor Circulation, Chronic Stress & Anxiety

Coffee is a vasoconstrictor, which is why it can be helpful for relieving headaches. Unfortunately, I have poor circulation and coffee exacerbates this problem. In the cold and damp Pacific Northwest, this is a game I can’t afford to play. I can’t tell you how distressing it is to have your fingers or toes go numb, even when you’re wearing wool and plenty of layers. And what’s worse is, I tend to drink the most coffee during the cold months. As I mentioned earlier, this is to jolt myself out of my natural inclination to increase rest and move more slowly to conserve energy. If you can avoid it, don’t wait until winter to quit coffee… I’ve found this to be near impossible!

For some folks, myself included, caffeine may negatively affect the nervous system. It causes the release of adrenaline into the body, launching us into a state of heightened awareness. This is our fight or flight mode, a stress response, during which our blood pressure goes up, muscles tense, breathing becomes rapid, heart rate increases, and digestion slows down. Short-term stress is not only fine, but necessary for health– and it can help protect us from real threats to our safety. Prolonged stress, however, is very damaging and can lead to cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and other diseases. And although caffeine can sometimes be used therapeutically for some psychiatric conditions, it can also exacerbate a number of mental health issues. This is especially true for people with anxiety and panic disorders.

4. Mindfulness & Connection to Spirit

Mindfulness practice is a central part of my life these days, and I can tell you that trying to be fully present and embodied in the moment is very difficult when your body and mind are “jacked” on caffeine. I find that caffeine exacerbates both sensory processing issues and patterns of overthinking. If you’re already a very mentally-oriented person with a lot of inner dialogue going on in your head, perhaps constantly planning and preparing or getting lost down rabbit holes of the mind, coffee will probably exacerbate these tendencies. That restlessness makes it near impossible to be still, grounded, and fully engaged with the present moment.

For me, the deepest and most meaningful connections with Spirit have been through that quiet, relaxed, and grounded stillness. These cherished moments deepen and become more frequent without caffeine pulling my focus into the mental sphere.

6. Environmental Impact

Coffee production, even fair trade organic coffee, takes a large toll on the environment. Because it’s a monocrop, it contributes to deforestation, habitat loss, soil erosion, and increased susceptibility to pests and diseases. Because of the soil depletion and lack of vitality of the plants, chemical pesticides and fertilizers are needed. And of course, like all imports, it relies on the fossil fuel industry to transport the product over long distances for sale. To reduce our negative environmental impact, we should be more discerning in our consumption of both imported and local goods.

The Process & My Progress

Having been down this road before, I know how to quit effectively. What I had been missing was the motivation to stick with it long-term. At the time of writing this, I’m about three weeks in with no coffee and have instead been drinking two cups of green or black tea throughout the morning, and now that the weather is cooling down I’ve been enjoying a lot of herbal tea later in the day. I have a collection of caffeine-free herbal teas over at Chickadee Apothecary if you’d like to check those out!

Listed below are the steps that I use to wean myself off coffee and caffeine in general. The key is to very gradually reduce the amount of caffeine to avoid withdrawal headaches. Here is a chart you might find useful, which shows the different levels of caffeine in various common beverages.

Step 1: Drink Coffee Black, Limit to One Cup

No cream, no sugar, no added flavors. Just omitting milk in my coffee is usually enough to get me down to one cup a day because it doesn’t taste as delicious without milk, and eventually I lose interest in it entirely.

Step 2: Switch to Yerba Mate or Black Tea

Chai, Earl Gray, English Breakfast, etc. as well as earthy Yerba Mate, have less caffeine than coffee but will still give you a substantial kick. If you don’t care for any of these, skip to the next step.

Step 3: Switch to Green Tea

Green tea has a level of caffeine I can tolerate without getting jittery or it noticeably affecting my sleep. I still avoid drinking it very late in the day, though. My favorites are jasmine and sencha. Jasmine is more robust with a gorgeous floral flavor, and sencha is nice and mild, good for sipping throughout the morning and afternoon.

Step 4; Go Decaf, Coffee Substitute, Or Caffeine-free Herbal

I personally have no interest in decaffeinated coffee or tea, but I imagine this would be the point to switch over to that if you really love those flavors, but are trying to drastically reduce caffeine intake.

There are so many delicious, naturally caffeine-free herbal teas that can be consumed any time of day or night. In herbalist communities, roasted dandelion or chicory root is a well known coffee substitute. I’ve been drinking a product called teeccino, which doesn’t exactly taste like coffee, but it has a deep, earthy, full body like it. Some of the varieties do have barley, which contains gluten– so if you’re sensitive, be aware of that.

We Can Do It!

Whatever your reasons for wanting to reduce or eliminate coffee or caffeine, know that there are a lot of other folks out there going through a similar situation. It can be really helpful to talk to someone who’s struggling similarly so you can encourage and support each other through the process.

I can happily report that in only this short period of time, my anxiety and physical tension have all but disappeared and I’ve seen a vast improvement in my quality of sleep and general mood. I can’t guarantee that I’ve had my last cup of coffee during this lifetime, but for now, it’s been well worth the effort and I’m looking forward to seeing further benefits of this gradual weaning-off process.

Good luck!

Do this resonate with you? I’d love to hear about your experience with coffee or caffeine dependence, reactions, struggles as well as tips and tricks to quit. Share below!

What’s that, you disagree? I’m shocked, I really am!

It blows my mind how many variations of potato salad exist, and I find it rather comical how people can be so particular about their preferences (like arguing over pineapple on pizza, is there actually a wrong answer??) You can almost sense a fight about to break out over someone’s preference of mayo over no mayo or vegetables over no vegetables… and what about the raisin question? I will eat just about any kind of potato as long as its cooked and has a little salt and fat on it, but I’m tempted to put my foot down on the raisin thing.

Since we’re nearing the peak of summer, I felt inspired to create an even sunnier twist on this summer cookout classic- which features sweet potato in place of your standard spuds, along with spicy yellow mustard, a generous squeeze of lemon, and a dash of turmeric powder for a boost in color.

The combination of sweet and tangy flavors, and pleasant mix of textures came out so wonderfully. It’s easier than my standard potato salad recipe, and since the white sweet potatoes look like regular ones, it’s a fun surprise. So unless you’re a “real potato salad” snob– give it a try!

Sweet Potato Salad

Enjoy with a plate full of BBQ, sauteed collard greens, and a heap of beans and rice.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium white sweet potatoes (900 grams)
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, yolk and whites separated
• 2 stalk of celery, finely diced
• 3 Tbsp white onion, grated (or use chopped green onion for milder flavor)
• 1 + 1/2 Tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped, plus more for garnish
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise ( I used grapeseed Vegenaise)
• 1 Tbsp yellow Dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 apple
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• Dash of turmeric powder (optional)

Directions:

1. Boil cubed sweet potatoes in medium pan over medium high heat until tender when tested with a fork. Drain water and place potatoes in a large pot or bowl.
2. Separate the cooked egg yolks from the whites, placing the yolks in a small bowl and setting aside. Dice the cooked egg whites and add them to the large bowl with the sweet potatoes.
3. Place celery, onion, and parsley, in the large bowl.
4. In the small bowl, mix together cooked egg yolks, mayonnaise*, salt and pepper and mustard until mostly smooth and well combined.
5. Peel, core, and dice the apple and add to the large bowl, pour lemon juice over to prevent browning.
6. Add the mayonnaise mixture to the bowl and delicately mix all ingredients together.
7. Add any remaining spices and adjust seasonings to taste.
8. Transfer to serving bowl, and garnish with parsley.

Makes about 8-10 servings.

*Since I can’t find egg-based mayonnaise with free range eggs and at least non-GMO soy oil that actually tastes good, I use Follow Your Heart brand Grapeseed Vegenaise, which is a great mayo substitute and uses a relatively healthy oil. I also appreciate that their products come in a glass container. (No, I’m not getting paid for this!).

I also highly recommend using ethically-sourced eggs for this recipe, which are apparently much easier to find in stores than healthy mayo that doesn’t taste like it’s gone “off”. 

I’m curious to know, what’s your favorite style of potato salad? Is there a type that you strongly dislike? What ingredient MUST/MUST NOT be in the mix?

The stinging nettles aren’t quite as tall as I’d like for harvesting, but I see some salad burnet, chervil, and here it is– what I’ve been looking for: the French sorrel.

Yikes! Looks like all kinds of critters have been munching, pooping, and living in this dense cluster. I guess I missed my chance to harvest it for a creamed sorrel soup. Next year I’ll beat you to it but for now, enjoy the nutrients, little bugs! Get strong and go forth into the world to live your best life! And stay away from my strawberry patch!

Welp. No sorrel soup… but! Plentiful young dandelion greens are strewn about my yard! Let’s see… I’ve got some mushrooms in the fridge, some shallots, and lemon. Sounds like a meal to me!

How’s about some…

Sautéed Dandelion Greens with Mushrooms

Enjoy this dish as a tasty side with some potatoes and baked salmon, or at breakfast with toast and a fried egg, or just eat a bowl of it on it’s own like I just did!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups packed young dandelion leaves
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 3-4 cremini mushrooms
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp butter, divided
• pinch of red chili flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• light squeeze of fresh lemon, plus a slice for garnish

Directions:

1. Harvest the dandelion leaves, snipping not too close to the ground to avoid picking up dirt. Young greens are less bitter and tend to be more palatable. Harvest only dandelions you know haven’t been sprayed with herbicide (avoid parks or unfamiliar lawns).
2. Prepare your greens by washing them thoroughly to remove dirt. Snip off any brown, withered parts.
3. Over medium heat, heat 1 Tbsp butter, add shallots, and sauté until translucent and lightly browned. Add the mushrooms and garlic with an additional 1Tbsp butter (or olive oil if you prefer). Cook until mushrooms are tender, stirring constantly.
4. Add the dandelion greens, pinch of salt and black pepper, red pepper flakes, and a quick drizzle of fresh lemon juice. Stir to combine. The greens will cook almost instantly and greatly reduce in volume.
5. Serve it up and enjoy while its warm.

The cooked greens are almost the texture of spinach without the grittiness, and the lightly bitter flavor is balanced and complimented by the sweetness of the shallot, richness of the buttery mushrooms, and the brightness of the lemon.

This is where I gotta give my friend Sia a shout out because she was the one who turned me on to cooking dandelion greens in this super simple, but incredibly delicious way. We were discussing edible spring greens, I think last year, and she mentioned that her mom and grandmother who are Greek, prepare cooked dandelion greens, called “horta”, with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice.

I had been previously devising all kinds of ways to mask the bitterness of dandelions by cooking them in various creative, but more complicated ways, or burying them amidst more bland salad greens… but it’s almost as if the greens are meant to be eaten this way! The combination of the robust greens with lemon feels like an “Aha!” moment when it hits the tongue. It’s just too perfect, and the greens are honored this way– highlighted, not hidden.

People have been eating and making medicine from dandelions for ages… Probably as long as we’ve lived alongside them. It was a staple food source across Europe and Asia and is still a commercially cultivated green (and root, mostly for medicinal purposes). Why would people want to eat such a bitter food when there are more bland greens to slather with dressing? (That was sarcasm!)

They’re a free and abundant food! They are also incredibly nutritious, full of vitamins and minerals, and the bitter qualities of dandelion stimulate and aid digestion. Dandelions are a tonic for the liver and kidneys, and they have a mild diuretic action to help remove excess water from the body. Unlike other diuretics though, they are so full of potassium that they won’t deplete the body of it.

You know what, I’ll just write an entire blog post dedicated to dandelion because there is way too much to say here, and our friend Taraxacum officinale deserves a lot more time in the spotlight being showered with appreciation… Because quite unbelievably to me, this plant still gets a lot of hate.

Alrighty, well bon appétit my friends. If you try this recipe, or have a dandelion greens recipe you’d like to share, please leave a comment.

Hope you’re having a lovely spring so far!

Not even a full chapter into Marie Kondo’s “The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up” I lifted my head out of the book and said to myself, “I completely understand this woman. She is an animist and these aren’t just organizing tips, it’s a spiritual philosophy.” But let me back up a bit.

Marie Kondo is a Japanese organization consultant and best-selling author turned international tidying guru. She has become known for her phrase “Does it spark joy?” when clients are going through their belongings and deciding what to keep or discard. At the start of this year her reality TV program “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” aired on Netflix, strategically I’m sure, to coincide with people’s New Year’s resolutions.

In my own spiritual practice I begin self-reflection and inventorying around the time of the Winter Solstice, and around Candlemas (February 2) allow myself to begin actively “purging” the old, releasing all the things that are no longer useful to me on my journey of personal evolution. During this time and through the Lenten season, I limit my exposure to television and movies so I hadn’t had a chance to watch the Netflix show. Although admittedly, my husband and I were skirting around it since we thought it might be something like the show “Hoarders”, where we would be gawking at other people’s lives.

So at the start of February while browsing Amazon for Sandor Katz’s “Art of Fermentation”, the “Art of Tidying” book came up in the search and I decided to take a look. I needed some reading material for my upcoming trip to Boise and found a used copy for eight dollars, so I thought “What the heck, let me see what all the fuss is about”.

I mention all of this because of the serendipitous finding of this book exactly when I needed it’s type of assistance. But that’s usually how these things play out, right? I don’t think I believe in coincidence. In any case, I am 100% convinced that following the KonMari method will actually change a person’s life for the better, and create a positive ripple effect into the world. That is, if people are truly receptive to the message and don’t gloss over parts that think are unimportant. Trust me, there is nothing unimportant in this book.

Let me share with you some of my favorite concepts from this book, some of which just make good practical sense, and some that seem so obvious but I had never thought of before.

Discard first and completely. This is foundational to the KonMari method. Something unique about this method of tidying is that you organize by category, not by space, and it’s a requirement to pull out EVERY item of that category within the house and put it in one place. We have so much more stuff than we are even aware of, and can only “see” it, the sheer volume, the duplicates, the random “junk” in it’s entirety once its physically touched and sees the light of day. We will keep buying and buying because we forget what we even have. In deciding what to keep or discard, you hold each item and see if it sparks joy. Do you have a positive feeling when you see and feel the item? If not, thank it for it’s service and support and put it in the discard pile, respectfully. We should not keep items because we have guilt, or hold onto them out of fear. This causes negative feelings in our homes and contribute to low grade anxiety in our daily lives. Marie stresses that it is also a disservice to the item to keep it hidden away somewhere dark and stuffy where it gets no love and serves no purpose. This is a bad relationship, let it move on.

Storage systems: The chapter entitled “Storage Experts are Hoarders” made me literally laugh out loud. This one is simple, ask yourself if you really need more storage or to purchase an organization system, or do you simply have too much sh*t (that you don’t even need or use!!!)

Again, on storage, “keep it with confidence“. The items that you keep should be stored in a way that honors the item, and is pleasing to your eye. “Where does it live? Where is it’s home? Everything needs a home.” I’ve said this a lot over the course of my adult life while trying to cohabitate peacefully with other humans who have their own organization styles, and my girl Marie is on the same page. People function better and have a higher ability to succeed when we have a home in which to return, to rest and recuperate. It’s important to feel like we “belong” somewhere. Our household items feel this way too.

Don’t pass your unwanted stuff onto your family by default. They probably don’t need it, and are struggling with the same hangups of holding onto things because they feel guilty of letting a perfectly good item “go to waste”. I have definitely been guilty of this! We need to take responsibility for dealing with our own clutter. What we can do is ask people ahead of time if there is anything specific that they need, and if you happen to have the item, give it as a gift.

Appreciate your possessions and gain strong allies. When you respect and appreciate the items in your life it will not only shift your mindset but the items themselves will be vitalized by this energy. We are nothing without the support of community, and creating a vibrant, supportive community extends beyond human social relationships. All of the items that support us in our day to day are a part of our community and we theirs. This is why Marie Kondo recommends greeting your home when you return, and not only treating your belongings with respect, but speaking to them and taking the time to thank them. An example would be “Thank you for protecting me and keeping me warm” to your sweater, or “Thank you for making me beautiful” to your jewelry before returning them to their homes at the end of the day. If people could incorporate this type of mindfulness and respect for “inanimate” objects, imagine how we could collectively improve the way we view and treat other human beings, plants, ecosystems, Earth?

Socks and hosiery. These are some of the hardest working items of clothing we have, and Marie reminds us that they should be resting while not on our feet. Instead of stretching the leg opening over and around the bundled socks (which puts unnecessary tension and wear on the elastic) the socks should be laid together and rolled gently into a cylinder/cinnamon roll shape. Then when you store them, you keep the spiral facing up and line the socks up together neatly so they aren’t flying around and hitting each other when you open and close the drawer.

That’s all I will give away about the book, but suffice it to say, there are a lot of really beautiful and helpful ideas in this book and if you take it to heart you will probably implement at least a few different ways of organizing your household.

I’ll wrap it up, but I want to stress that the point of this process is not to strive for minimalism, even though that appears to happen naturally over time with many KonMari lifestyle enthusiasts. Its not about pairing down your cups and bowls to some magic number that will make it impossible to entertain guests (but who cares because your cupboard will be elegant and Pinterest-worthy). The point is to surround yourself only with the items that you love. Items that inspire you and nourish your soul.

The KonMari method will help you to find out who you really are and help you envision the person you aspire to be. We can’t see those things clearly if we are drowning in clutter and emotional baggage from the past. You’ll find out what is actually important to you, how little you actually need in order to live happily, and hopefully through this process find a little peace and clarity.

Of course, I’ll let you know how that all pans out because truth be told I’m still working on the first category (clothing) and half the battle has been reminding myself not to start digging through objects in another category (books, I’m lookin’ at you) or to buy something new to fill the empty spaces that the de-cluttering process has been creating! Give me strength. Hahaha.

So I would love to hear from you! What are your impressions of the KonMari method? Have you tried it yet? Please share your thoughts and stories with me!

 

This beloved flower has such a wide variety of uses – ranging from cosmetic to culinary, sanitary to medicinal… and let’s not forget its ecological benefits! Come and let’s explore some of these together.

Lavender Plant Profile

Botanical names: Lavandula angustifolia or officinalis (English lavender); Lavandula latifolia (Broadleaf lavender); Lavandula stoechas (Spanish or French Lavender), Lavandula intermedia (Lavandin)

Other common names: Lavender (English), Lavendel (German, Danish), Lafenda (Yoruba), Lavanda (Portuguese, Spanish), Lavande (French)

Family:Lamiaceae

Range/Habitat: Native to the Mediterranean, North Africa, Europe. Enjoys dry grass slopes with rocks, usually parched, poor soil and open spaces. It’s hardy to zone 5.

Parts used: Flowers

Identification/Life cycle: Lavender is an evergreen, slow growing/mounding shrub that can reach a mature height of 2 to 6 feet high depending on the species. The leaves are narrow and oblong, concentrated at the base of the plant and growing in a spiral pattern. Both stem and leaves are greyish green in color. The small flowers form in a spike/cone at the tip of a long, vertically growing, square shaped stem and range in color from a light to dark purple. English and broad leaf lavender, as well as their hybrid cross, Lavandin, have short and compact flower spikes in contrast to Spanish or French lavender, which has showy bracts emerging from the tips that look like rabbit ears or a fancy hat.

Harvesting: The best time to harvest lavender flowers is when the buds have formed but the flowers haven’t opened. They will retain their fragrance better at this stage. This is likely to be in early or mid summer.  Gather a handful of stems and cut, making sure to leave behind leaf sets for the plant to regrow from. Do not cut back to the woody part of the stem or it won’t come back. Tie up these bundles with some twine and hang them upside down to dry in a well ventilated area out of direct sunlight.

Edibility

All varieties of lavender flowers are edible, but English lavender’s mildness makes it preferable for culinary purposes. It can add a lovely flavor to beverages or baked goods, though caution is advised! Lavender can easily overpower a dish and end up making your food taste like… well, soap. Blend a small amount of lavender with herbs such as mint and brew a cooling and relaxing tea, or try it in a shortbread cookie recipe drizzled with lemon lavender icing. It’s definitely more of a spice than a food. In small amounts it’s great as a flavoring, but as you increase the strength you’ll start venturing into therapeutic/medicinal and caution is needed. (See below). Note that Spanish/ French lavender is more for ornamental and sometimes cosmetic purposes, but ingestion isn’t really recommended.

Medicinal Use – Lavandula angustifolia / English Lavender

Actions: Antimicrobial, antiseptic, lightly sedative, antispasmodic, mild antidepressant, carminitive, anxiolytic

Energetics: Cool, dry, bitter

Forms of preparation: Fresh or dried flowers in teas or food, tincture, essential oil or infused oils externally

Indications:

Lavender is well known for its uplifting and relaxing qualities, most often in aromatherapy. It also has a range of uses medicinally, with both internal and external applications.

Externally, lavender infused oils or essential oil diluted in a carrier can be used externally as a muscle rub for its relaxing properties. It has an effect through both inhalation of the volatile oils and absorption through the skin. Being antimicrobial and antiseptic, it makes a great wash (an infusion of the dried herb) for wounds and can be combined with herbs such as calendula flowers to facilitate faster healing. This wash can be used even in sensitive areas where there is injury, inflammation, or irritation such as perineal tears, balanitis, vaginitis or issues relating to vaginal dryness. A drop of the essential oil on a bug bite or sting can help reduce pain.

Lavender has also been used to ease anxiety, irritability, mild depression, and PMS. In Tibetan and Indian Ayurvedic medicine, lavender was referred to as “the broom of the brain” and was used in psychiatric formulas. It’s specific for conditions that arise from stress or emotional overload, and especially useful when there is digestive upset due to its carminative properties. Lavender can also be useful for stress-related headaches, and can be enjoyed as a tea for its relaxing and lightly sedative properties. Also taken internally it can help relieve muscle cramping and spasm.

Safety considerations: The volatile oil may cause sensitization such as mild dermatitis from topical use and nausea from oral use. Because volatile oils can cross the placenta and lavender is a central nervous system depressant, lavender should not be consumed more than an occasional cup at a time during the first trimester of pregnancy.

Cosmetic

Lavender has a long history of use in baths for its divine fragrance, cleansing and soothing qualities, and anti-inflammatory properties that improve the look of skin. It’s commonly used in lotions, creams, soaps, bath salts and scrubs. Topically, lavender oil can be used to treat acne.

Other uses:

In the garden- Lavender is very popular with honeybees! I always make sure to do my lavender harvesting in the morning when the bees are less active. Otherwise, even though these pollinator friends are quite docile and don’t seem to mind some side by side garden work, in the late afternoon there are far too many frantically buzzing bee butts in these bushes for my comfort! Honeybees have been in trouble (which means we’re in trouble) so anyone who is able to should deliberately add some bee (and other pollinator) favorites to their gardens.

Lavender bushes also repel slugs and moths, and are deer resistant. As it is drought tolerant, lavender makes an excellent xeriscaping plant.

In the home – Dried lavender in sachets placed among clothing in drawers will help repel moths and make your clothes smell nice to boot! Lavender oil in a diffuser can refresh stale air and help create a calming home environment. In laundry and general household cleaning, lavender not only adds a lovely scent, but being antimicrobial actually helps to kill bacteria. Always dilute essential oil or it can cause damage to furniture!

Folklore, History, Mythology & Magick

The name lavender may originate from the Latin word for blue, lividus, but was also influenced by lavare, to wash, due to its use in laundry washing.

Lavender has a very long history of use for both physical and spiritual healing. It was commonly used in baths for spiritual cleansing, purification, and protection. The physicians of medieval emperor Charlemagne had lavender growing in his gardens for medicinal purposes, and both royalty and commoners used this herb for health and protection.

During the 16th century perfume trade, lavender aromatic oils were very popular and it was an ingredient in the famous Dr. Stevens’ Water, an English herbal cure-all.

Grown in abundance near the home, as well as harvested and brought into the house is a means of protection from the evil eye.

Associated with psychic abilities and the crown chakra, lavender is often used prior to and during meditation to help to bring relaxation and clarity of mind. Purple is said to combine the stimulating qualities of red and the calmness of blue.

That sounds like lavender to me!

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Sources: Romm, Aviva. Botanical Medicine for Women’s Health. Churchill Livingstone, 2010. Vill. “https://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Urtica+dioica” Plants for a Future, 1996-2012. Web. Hoffman, David. Medical Herbalism. Healing Arts Press, 2003. Leyel, C.F. The Magic of Herbs. Harcourt, Brace and Company (1926). Print.

I’ve come across a number of nasturtium recipes online – such as making vinegars or jelly from the brightly colored, spicy flowers, or chips out of the leaves much like you would with kale, olive oil, and sea salt, or just adding a few flowers or leaves to a salad.

It just so happens that I’m also experiencing a raspberry boom and had plans for a vinaigrette- so I thought “Why not add some nasturtium leaves?”. It would balance out the sweet a bit, and add some extra nutrients.

This is the recipe I came up with, based on a basic raspberry vinaigrette. It’s excellent over a simple green salad, and for added flair- top it with fresh nasturtium flowers. A dish fit for a garden faerie! Enjoy!

Raspberry Nasturtium Vinaigrette Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 cup safflower or other neutral flavored oil
1 cup fresh raspberries
1/4 cup fresh nasturtium leaves, packed
3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Add all ingredient to a blender and puree until smooth and creamy. Store in a clean, tight-lidded jar in the fridge and use within a week or so. Makes about 12 oz.

 

Before I had any relationship with stinging nettle, I only knew of its reputation for being a painful nuisance to gardeners. Many years ago, a former housemate and I actually insisted that my husband Aaron remove the nettles he had planted in our garden! I find this rather comical now as I’ve since cultivated two patches of nettle in our home garden and Aaron has become the concerned one. As an herbalist, a whole foods enthusiast, and an advocate for sustainable food production as well as increasing biodiversity- Knowing what I know about this plant, I just couldn’t imagine ever having a large enough patch of nettles!

I don’t believe that I could write a blog entry that would even scratch the surface about this amazing fellow Earth-dweller, but I’m going to give it a try. It is thankfully a rather common wild edible and medicinal plant, but being one of my absolute favorites, I could not pass up an opportunity to sing nettle’s praises.

Not only is nettle a powerhouse of vitamins, minerals, and plant protein, it’s considered to be one of the most generally useful herbs in western folk medicine! In addition to it’s reputation of being a nourishing and “blood cleansing” spring tonic; it’s also used for a wide range of health conditions ranging from kidney and urinary tract problems, to anemia, inflammatory muscle and joint problems, skin problems and more. I’ll be going into a lot more detail about our friend below, and later on I will also share some information about folklore and magic of nettle, as well as recipes for cooking and making remedies with stinging nettle.

So welcome nettles and welcome spring! So glad to have you back.

Stinging Nettle Plant Profile

Botanical name: Urtica dioica (pronounced: UR-tih-kuh dy-OH-ih-kuh)

Common names:  Nettle (English), Große brennnessel (German), Esinsin (Yoruba), Urtiga (Portuguese), Ortiga verde (Spanish), Ortie dioïque  (French)

Family:  Urticaceae

Range/Habitat: Native to Asia, Europe, North Africa, North America and has been introduced widely elsewhere. Nettle is abundant thoughout Canada and the US, especially in the Pacific Northwest and areas with high annual rainfall.

Parts used: Leaves (edible), roots, seeds (medicinal), stalks (craft)

Identification/Life cycle: Stinging nettle is an herbaceous perennial that grows in a range of soils – clay, sandy, or loamy and either in direct sun or partial shade. But it needs moisture! It can be found pretty commonly in fields or ditches in the countryside, and would grow well in many urban environments if folks didn’t mind having this prickly fellow around! Nettle grows quickly, sending up its “hairy” square-stemmed stalks with heart-shaped, deeply serrated leaves- growing up to 4 feet in height. The plant is covered in “stinging hairs” which are hollow, needle-like spines containing a substance consisting of histamine, serotonin, formic acid, and other chemicals, some unidentified. When the little spines make contact with skin and break, the compound is released and causes the irritating and inflammatory reaction, which can be relieved by applying the juice of fresh nettle, dock, or jewelweed, which often grows nearby.

In May through October, nettle will produce flowers that are either male or female (hence the name dioecious, meaning “two houses”) and if both types are present will then produce seed. Nettles can be propagated by the cut tops, runners, or by seed sown in fall or spring. The patches will not frost-kill.

Harvesting: For food usage, harvest the young leaves in spring, snipping the stem just below the top 3 segments of leaves, these are the best texture-wise. Always leave plenty of these young nettle tops alone because Red Admiral butterflies lay their eggs on those leaves and these hungry little caterpillars are reliant on this forage. For fiber usage, the old stalks should be harvested late in the season, around August when they’re tall  and leaves are yellowing but stalks still have moisture in them.

If collecting for drying, the leaves should be gathered when the sun has dried off all dew, and then hang to dry in an area without moisture, where airflow can pass through. Do not harvest the leaves of stalk of plants that have already flowered.

 

Edibility & Nutrition

I feel tempted to write a big ol’ “DUH” under this one and leave it at that. Nettle greens are hands down my favorite “wild food” because its so versatile and you don’t need to mask the flavor to make it palatable. People often compare it to spinach, but I think that’s only because it can be prepared in a similar way and it’s very… well, green tasting? I don’t know how else to describe it! I actually prefer the flavor and texture of nettle to spinach. Nettle is often referred to as a vitamin and mineral powerhouse and research has shown nettle to be one of the highest sources of plant protein, contains a very high amount of calcium, and iron in a form that is easily assimilated by the body. Other minerals present are potassium, selenium, magnesium, and zinc. Nettle also contains high levels of vitamins A, B-complexes, C, D, K, P, and E as well fiber, chlorophyll, and amino acids.

If that’s not reason enough to incorporate this green into your diet, I don’t know what is! Harvest as I stated up above, and either cook it or puree it completely to deactivate the sting. Prepare it like you would spinach – on the stovetop with oil and spices, with eggs in an omelette or scramble, sub for spinach in a spanikopita, puree it into pesto or sauce – or add the puree into baked goods like muffins or CAKE! Trust me, it’s delicious and it gives a fun color.

Every week I drink at least 3 quarts of nourishing herbal infusions, and dried nettle leaf is always in the rotation. Check out Wise Woman Susun Weed’s instructions on making and drinking herbal infusions and prepare to have your life changed!

Medicinal Use

Actions: Astringent, diuretic, tonic, hypotensive

Energetics: Cool, dry

Forms of preparation: Fresh plant as food, dried herb for tea/infusion, tincture of aerial parts, tincture of root, dry or fresh seeds

Indications:

One of the longest known medicinal uses of nettle is for reducing pain and inflammation of joints by a process called “urtication”. A fresh stalk of nettles was used to self-flagellate, or deliberately sting an affected body part. Following this administration, the original pain and stiffness will subside- usually from 4 to 8 days. In case you don’t trust that our elder folk who have been walking through stinging nettle patches to cure their achey bones for hundreds of years knew what they were doing, there are now clinical studies to back it up. I reckon they wouldn’t subject themselves to the pain if it didn’t work. Of course, the side effect of the process might be itchy welts, but those are arguably less damaging in the long term than taking NSAIDs for arthritic pain over the course of months, years, or the rest of a person’s life.

As a remedy for gout and rheumatic conditions, the alkalizing minerals in nettle leaf are thought to break down and remove acid waste buildup in the tissues and round the joints and the diuretic action flushes them from the body through the urinary tract. This application has been known since Medieval times in Europe.

Traditionally known as a “blood cleanser”, nettle is perceived to have a stimulating effect on the lymphatic system and supports the body’s natural ability to cleanse and remove toxins and waste through the eliminatory system. Used internally, nettle is considered a remedy for acne, childhood eczema, and may also be effective for adult eczema when used in conjunction with burdock and dandelion root. According to herbalist David Winston, the fresh or dried seeds are trophorestorative, and the tincture is used for kidney failure.

The extract of nettle root is an accepted treatment for enlarged prostate, also called Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia or BPH. Although Saw Palmetto is the most famous of the “male herbs” for treating BPH, nettle is showing promise in trials to reduce the size of enlarged prostate.

Both root and aerial parts of the plant are diuretic, improving flow of urine and encouraging thorough emptying of the bladder, reducing the frequency of needing to urinate which is a common symptom with BPH.

Nettle’s high iron content makes it useful for anemia, and its ability to “build blood” makes it an ally for women prior to and after menstruation to replenish lost blood. Regular consumption of nettle may also alleviate painful cramping as calcium has been shown to relieve muscle tension. Nettle has a hemostatic action, which is why I choose not to drink the herbal infusion the week of menstruation as it may slow the cycle down, but for folks who menstruate very heavily, this could be a deliberate application.

Because of this hemostatic action, many midwives recommend regular use of strong nettle leaf infusion during the last trimester of pregnancy to reduce the likelihood of postpartum hemorrhage. Nettle is also a galactogogue, helping to increase the flow of milk in nursing mothers.

There is gaining evidence that supports nettle as an adaptogen that quickly improves many symptoms associated with chronic stress. Herbalist Kiva Rose recommends the crushed or chewed fresh seeds for adrenal burnout.

Fresh or freeze dried and encapsulated nettle is used as a remedy for asthma and hayfever. The formic acid is responsible for curbing allergic responses by mildly desensitizing the mucosa in the body that is overly sensitive to irritants like pollen, essentially blocking the histamine receptors.

According to Matthew Wood, nettle helps to build proteins in the blood, keeping plasma in the vessels. Without those proteins, fluid can leak out causing low blood pressure. This makes nettle an effective remedy for low blood pressure, however if you have high blood pressure, you may want to be cautious about therapeutic use of nettle.

Safety considerations: The fresh seed may be a little too stimulating for some. Fresh nettle causes urtication, the irritation and inflammation caused by the stinging hairs. May affect the efficacy of anticoagulant drugs.

Cosmetic:

Nettle has a long history of use in Native American and European cultures for use as a hair rinse. It was even said to cure baldness. I have used dried nettle leaf as a hair rinse off and on for some years now, and I can attest to its leaving the hair feeling soft and silky, but I’m not quite convinced about its claims for reversing baldness. I have a hunch that using a tea made from freshly boiled nettle leaves would be more effective for stimulating the scalp and encouraging hair growth, and it might also be useful as an infused oil to massage the scalp with.

The nutrition that nettle brings to the body that is responsible for healthy skin would benefit the nails and hair growth from inside out as well.

Other uses:

In the garden, on the farm: 

Fresh nettle left to decompose for 3 weeks in a 5 gallon bucket of water will produce a nutrient-rich liquid fertilizer. It is quite stinky, but oftentimes, stinky things make for excellent soil amendments for our gardens (Ahem, manure). This mixture can also be prayed on plants to promote folliar health and deter aphids and mildew.

Planting stinging nettle near other plants is said to increase their volatile oils.

Crafting/ tools: 

Nettle has been used for thousands of years for in European fiber crafts. It was carded and spun into thread for fabric, garments, sacks, sails or made into cordage and used for rope and nets. Gradually, it was replaced by more southern-dwelling plants like flax and hemp.

It can also be used as a natural fabric dye, yielding various shades of green. Check out this blog post by Katie Grove.

Folklore, Mythology & Magick

When it comes to a character like stinging nettle, so commonly abundant, yet with an unforgettable personality (attitude!) you’re bound to uncover loads of lore and folk customs surrounding its use.

The deity association that I’m most familiar with is that of Thor, the God of Thunder in Norse mythology. He is a mighty warrior, a God of the heavens, son of the Odin and a giantess named Jord. He is both of celestial and Earthly pedigree- arrogant and rather narrow minded, yet a loyal and fierce protector of loved ones and humanity In many ways, he is representative of our condition, the Human Story on Earth. Thor wields powerful tools: Mjolnir- a mighty hammer that none but Thor can wield, iron gloves, and a power belt called megingjord. Thunder and lightning in the sky was thought by Germanic and Scandinavian peoples to be Thor, battling with destructive forces of nature that would threaten our well being. He was and still is held in high regard and his plant association is the stinging nettle! Recently I got to thinking about the three magickal possessions of Thor and their connection to traits of nettle. First, the hammer that is associated with thunder and lightning. Nettle’s sting feels rather like an electrical shock, a zap and when you brush against the welt later it feels to me like a sort of gentle electrical current passing over the skin. I’m not sure what the connection would be with the iron gloves- it could have to do with nettle’s high iron content, or something else to do with the chemical makeup of the plant that conducts or controls the flow of energy. The power belt is the most intriguing to me at this point. Thor’s power belt wraps around his waist, covering the kidneys and adrenals, and its said to amplify his power threefold. Nettle has a strong affinity for the kidneys and the seeds are highly energizing and an adrenal restorative. Coincidence? Yeah, I don’t really believe in those… Myths are not truth, but they contain truths and our ancestors were not dummies. I think its also very interesting that nettle is associated with Shango, the West African orisha, who was once a king and became an ascended master. He shares similar personality and character traits to Thor, such as being a deity of thunder and lightning, wielding a 2 sided axe (which looks similar in shape to mjolnir) and having originated as human, has a physical and celestial connection as well. Ah, more synchronicities.

There is a story by Hans Christian Andersen about two brothers who had been turned into geese by a witch. In order to break the curse, their sister was instructed to harvest nettle at night, card and weave the fibers and make them into coats. She ran out of time and could’t complete the sleeve on one coat, so that brother was stuck with a goose wing for an arm.. at least until (as I understand it) he cut it off later on in the story.

 

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Recipes

Fresh Nettle Pesto

 

Mineral-Rich Nettle Vinegar

Pack a small glass jar with fresh nettle leaves and stems (tender tops) and fill to about an inch from the rim with apple cider vinegar. Push the herb down with a wooden chopstick until submerged and air bubbles are out. Cap it with a plastic, or other non-metallic lid, or use wax paper over between the jar and metal lid to avoid corrosion. Let it sit somewhere cool and out of direct sunlight, steeping about a month before straining and using. Excellent in salads.

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Sources: Hoffman, David. Medical Herbalism. Healing Arts Press, 2003. Vill. “https://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Urtica+dioica” Plants for a Future, 1996-2012. Web.  . Web. M. Grieve, “https://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/n/nettle03.html#gre” Botanical.com, 1195-2017. Web. Kiva Rose, “http://kivasenchantments.com/nettle-seed-as-adrenal-trophorestorative-adaptogen.html”, kivasenchantments.com, The Medicine Woman’s Roots 2013. Web. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/, “https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4708629/”, Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Food Science & Nutrition published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Web. Green, James. The Male Herbal. Crossing Press; 2nd ed. edition (April 1, 2007). Print. Weed, Susun. Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year. Ash Tree Publishing, 1996. Print.

I’m fairly average in my eating habits, or patterns I suppose. Over the holidays I do tend to over indulge in sweets, eat larger portions at meals, and drink more than I know I should. No wonder so many people make new years resolutions about dieting and exercise. It’s smack dab in the middle of the most overindulgent time of the year! Of course we’re going to feel less than optimal, physically and mentally. The guilt! The shame! But also… the deliciousness! My resolution? Well, I resolved to make more time for my friends and to feed myself well. Sometimes, I just get so busy and its easier to forego meals for a quick cup of coffee and piece of bread… But this year, I’m determined to properly fuel my body. So three days into the new year and with that lazy post-holiday haze lifting I’m getting organized and feeling more energized… ready to tackle the mountain of projects that lies ahead in 2018. Time to do some menu planning! This week we’re starting off with Caldo Verde, a Portuguese collard and potato soup.

Caldo Verde, which translates to “green broth” is a very well-known traditional dish of Portugal, and it’s one of the earlier markers of Europeans cooking with potato! The soup usually consists of a chicken or vegetable broth, collards or kale, potato, leek, and a type of sausage depending on the region and availability. The seasonings are beautifully simple- salt, pepper, maybe some garlic or onion. It’s gluten free and can easily be made vegetarian or vegan by omitting sausage, using vegetable stock, and adjusting the spices for a more interesting flavor profile.  I’ve made variations of this recipe for years and the one I’m going to share with you today is my family’s favorite for winter. The addition of beans  give it a bit more heft and it’s more richly flavored overall. This recipe definitely strays from the original in a few ways, so we’ll call this Caldo Verde à minha moda- my way.

Recipe: Caldo Verde da Tessa

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter or olive oil, divided
12oz linguiça, chourico or other spicy pork sausage, sliced*
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp sea salt
dash of black pepper
4 medium yukon gold potatoes, peeled and large diced**
8 cups/ 2 qt chicken or vegetable stock
1 bunch kale, lacinato or other curly green variety, de-stemmed and chopped (you could also use thinly sliced collard greens)
15oz can of canellini or other white bean, drained and rinsed

Directions:

1. In a heavy bottom soup pot or cast iron dutch oven, heat 1 Tbsp butter or olive oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches if you need to, arrange the sausage in a single layer and brown both sides, then remove from pan and set aside.

1. Reduce heat to medium, add the remaining oil or butter to the pot and saute the onion until translucent. Now add the garlic, paprika, salt, and black pepper and cook about two minutes.
2. Add potatoes, browned sausage, and stock to the pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 5 minutes, potatoes should be nearly tender.
3. Add chopped kale and beans and cook about 10 minutes, then cover and remove from heat.

That’s it! So simple. The soup is now ready to eat, but I like to let it rest for a few minutes to let the flavors come together a bit more. This soup is delicious right off the bat but it gets even better the next day. If you’re doing a vegetarian version I recommend adding more spices like garlic powder to the mix. Serve this with a side of crusty bread and for an extra decadent treat, try sprinkling some freshly grated parmesan cheese over the top.

Recipe notes:

*If you can’t find natural/humanely raised linguiça (I’ve never been able to find this in a typical grocery store), sub it with a related type like andouille or other smoky/ spicy pork sausage or omit altogether.

**Traditionally, this soup has blended potato. I prefer them in chunks, but you could mash some or all of these up if you prefer.

Truth be told, when I migrated north years ago I had a really hard time dealing with our cold and damp winters. In Southern California you can pretty much get by with shorts and sandals all year, maybe throw on some socks and a light jacket in the winter… but that simply will not fly around these parts. Over the years I’ve learned a thing or two about living in the Pacific Northwestern climate, like discovering the miracle fiber that is wool (especially wool socks!) and the art and science of layering clothing. That’s all great information to know, but today’s tips for keeping well through the winter come from the perspective of nutritional and lifestyle habits we can implement. We also won’t go into detail about germ-covered door knobs and grocery store keypads, so I’ll leave it up to you to use common sense in that department. (Psst….. wash your hands before eating or touching your face.) But here are some of my tips to help you keep your physical body and your psyche resilient and more able to enjoy this beautiful season.

Tips For Keeping Well Through The Cold Winter Months

Tip No. 1:  Eat well and appropriately for the season.

Nutrition is foundational to good health. Maybe this should have been tip number one? Making sure we’re getting enough nutrition from our food is really important to keeping all of our body processes functioning optimally, including our immune system. Now, I happen to be a strong proponent of listening to our bodies. What we crave and how we respond to various foods- can really be our bodies are speaking to us and its fairly easy to decode the language if you pay attention. If not, the cries just get louder and more unpleasant over time, potentially leading to very serious illness. When people talk about their bodies being “messed up” or “betraying” them, I have to wonder- Is this how your body feels about you?

Part of listening to my body is noticing the change in the types of food I want to eat over the seasons. In fall and winter, I know my body wants a lot of warm, well-cooked foods. The sugar and baked goods I prepare and enjoy around this time of year are definitely more about my psychological and emotional well being… comforts to cope with the darkness and cold. But those hearty soups, roasted veggies, a big pot of lentils or rice and beans really give that sense of total body nourishment and satiation. For the most part it’s goodbye to those crunchy, cooling summer salads. And it makes sense. There’s much more available nutrition in well-cooked foods and or bodies are programmed to maximize nutrients and conserve energy usage around this time. Eating with the seasons can also be more nutritious when we eat locally available meats or produce that doesn’t have to be trucked in from thousands of miles away while still under ripe. It’s generally better for the environment to eat locally and seasonally, and also better for our health.

Tip No. 2:  Take A Quality Multivitamin

Speaking of nutrients, consider incorporating some kind of nutritional supplementation to boost your regular diet. In our current times, most of our crops are grown in nutrient-depleted soils and unfortunately, that means we may not be getting the vitamins and minerals at levels that we need to maintain optimal health. I hesitate to recommend just going out and buying any old multivitamin, because not only can they can be expensive (the good ones are always expensive), but so many of them on the market are either marginally effective, and some of them could potentially cause harm.

I recommend doing some research before shelling out the cash, but if you live in a climate where you’re not getting as much sun exposure during the winter, at least consider a good Vitamin D3 supplement. Keep in mind that it is possible to have too much Vitamin D, though, so it’s ideal if you can run a comprehensive vitamin panel with your healthcare provider to see where your levels are. A naturopath or other such practitioner might also be able to steer you in the direction of a quality multivitamin and eliminate some of the guesswork with that.

In the meantime, nourishing herbal infusions are a great way to boost your nutrient intake as they’re food-like and easy for the body to digest… and they’re also extremely affordable.

Tip No 3: Let yourself feel the cold.

Un-bundle

No, you can’t catch a cold by being cold. I believe a valuable method to help our bodies adapt as we transition into winter is to allow our selves to actually feel cold, at least periodically, and individual health permitting. Rather than bundling up from head to toe as soon is it gets a little breezy out, let your skin touch the crisp fall air. Our bodies have evolved over thousands of years to cope with the ebbs and flows of environmental stressors like seasonal changes in temperature and limited food availability; but modern society and technological advances have disconnected us from these aspects of nature. We’ve deliberately sheltered ourselves from experiencing any of these perceived discomforts- unknowingly making ourselves weak and sick.

Turns out that eating the same nutrient poor foods year-round (often in excess), and a leading a sedentary, temperature-controlled life isn’t doing us any favors. That elemental tempering our ancestors were subjected to actually plays an important role in our body’s processes. Exposure to cold has been found to activate and increase brown adipose tissue (BAT) also called brown fat, which plays a role in regulating metabolism and insulin levels. Brown fat, which gets its color from the mitochondria, is known as “good fat” and burns energy to keep us warm- as opposed to white fat which stores excess energy. So getting cold can actually boost your metabolism and potentially help you lose weight. I don’t recommend focusing on weight loss, but increasing bodily resiliency? Hell yeah!

Lower The Thermostat

In addition to foregoing a beanie or fifty layers of sweaters while you’re out on a walk, can we talk about setting the thermostat at a reasonable temperature? While some people hate central heating with a passion and don’t mind the fact that you can see your own breath in the house, and on the opposite end the dang thing is cranked up so high the place feels like a desert in the midday sun. I personally find 65 degrees to be comfortable and not requiring more than a sweater, warm socks, and booties. Below 55 and the pipes might freeze. Many years ago I lived in a house where the heating system didn’t work and my husband, then boyfriend, and I pretty much kept our gym membership to avoid showering at home. Being wet in a freezing house is pretty miserable! So I think a little bit of cold exposure is great, but I’m not about to start doing Nordic-style ice plunges just yet. Not to mention that for some folks, this would be a great way to welcome a heart attack.

There are other significant benefits to reducing the usage of heating systems in your home, though. They tend to really dry out the air and cause dry skin as well as irritate the lungs, sinuses and throat, the eyes, and mucous membranes in general- which really compromises their ability to keep pathogens and dirt out of our body.

Tip No. 4: Keep active and go outdoors.

Every year I look forward to cool weather so I can bundle up with a blanket and good book and not feel guilty for being unproductive… but that can get old fast and at some point cabin fever will start to set in. If I sit around too much in any season I tend to get irritable and achey, and in winter I can feel tired from the decreased daylight hours, yet unable to sleep well through the night. Cooler weather definitely encourages me to eat more (I’m not hard on myself about that), and if that additional calorie consumption isn’t being countered with exercise, well… we’re in for some uncomfortably tight pants.

Being cooped up in a dark and stagnant environment is bad for mental health, too; especially for people prone to seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Air that hasn’t been circulating in our homes during the winter can also negatively impact our health. Extra dust and mildew combined with the dry air can really irritate the respiratory system. I find that a great way to combat the winter blues and stay physically healthy is to go outside and get some light to moderate exercise. I do tend to get cold very easily and have less-than-optimal circulation so being outside without moving much can cause my toes to go numb and feel generally unpleasant, but jogging on even very cold days gets my body temperature up and I feel toasty warm. Since my lungs are sensitive, I try to cover my mouth and nose when I go running to avoid sharply inhaling cold air. Gloves and a light beanie also make the experience more comfortable.

Sometimes though, its just not possible to exercise outside. There can be ice or hidden hazards in snow, even falling tree limbs during an ice melt. In those cases, its easy enough to do a bit of exercise like yoga, jumping jacks, sit-ups or at least a little stretching in the comfort of your own home. The gym is also an appealing option for a lot of folks, and it tends to be accessible year round, though I’d personally rather exercise outside where it… smells less like feet. Another benefit of walking outdoors through the seasons is being able to feel present and really connect to the beautiful changes in the landscape. And there is nothing quite like being out in the peaceful stillness of the first snow.

Tip No 5: Stock up on remedies before you need them.

I find it incredibly annoying when a cold or flu catches me off guard and I don’t have remedies on hand before I start to feel crummy. Trekking to the grocery store, cooking, or putting together remedies is exponentially harder when you’re already sick, and since there is always something going around during the winter it pays to keep well stocked and have those favorite remedies ready to go. My personal favorites are garlic and lemon tea with honey, elderberry syrup, and echinacea tincture or immune boost glycerite. In the freezer there is usually bone broth and a whole chicken from our meat CSA to make one of the most healing remedies out there- chicken soup! Some others to keep around would be sage tincture which can be diluted in water and used as a gargle for laryngitis, or the dried leaf for gargle or as a tea for sipping, marshmallow root for dry/irritated throat (lovely with a bit of honey),  a salve of cayenne for increasing circulation if prone to getting chillblains, and I also go through a good amount of All Purpose Healing Salve in the winter for dry and cracked skin. This year I put up a few batches of fire cider, which will be ready in another 3 weeks. I absolutely love the spicy vinegar punch of fire cider! If you’re planning on making your own tinctures or fire cider, take the wait time into account- get ’em started before you need ’em!

Tip No 6: Practice Hygge.

Pronounced hyoo-guh, this is a Danish word which roughly translates to “coziness” in English, but actually represents something more complex and harder to describe in words. It’s like a deep contentedness in a moment, an awareness that a truly special moment is being experienced, and this can be while we’re alone or with others. I think of quiet time, curled up in a blanket with a good book, enjoying a home cooked meal with friends, good company and conversation, or snuggling by a roaring fireplace on a snowy winter’s night with a cup of hot chocolate! Very hyggelig. Cultivating these moments of coziness will definitely help stave off those winter blues.

Tip No. 7: Go with the flow.

Keeping active through exercise will probably help you feel more energized, but it’s also perfectly acceptable to slow down if you need and are able to. Go out less, go to bed earlier, sleep in a bit in the mornings if you can. Like other animals, our bodies are definitely affected by the shortened daylight hours and historically, winter was the time of year where humans hunkered down. We relied more on the work we put in during the warmer months, either through farming or hunting and gathering. This was a time to slow down and conserve energy… I guess our modern society didn’t get that memo?

When there’s no time to slow down, we tend to rely more on caffeine to give us that energy boost, and this overwork is very taxing on the adrenal system and really takes a toll on our general state of health. The remedy is allowing ourselves to move with the natural cycles, these ebbs and flows of energy, rather than constantly redlining our engines for maximum productivity and hoping we can repair the damage later. Find the balance, listen and be kind to yourself.

Those are just some of the basic wellness concepts I wanted to share with you all, to help make this season more enjoyable and healthful for you and your family. Each season that comes is a blessing, a reminder that we are alive and continue to live and experience the wonders and beauty of this world.

Have a lovely holiday season, and a happy upcoming new year.

Please share your wellness tips below!