Farming for Justice

I turned 28 this month and started a business last September. I gave myself three months to dive in and not look back. “Take the leap, and the net will appear,” was my mantra.

Six months later, whether or not the net has appeared (Geez, I hope it has), I am grateful that I took the chance and leapt. I get to spend each day doing what I love. I make herbal medicines and body products that you could never find in the store. The energy I pour into each item is immeasurable because I truly love what I do.

I know being an herbalist and life coach is not the easiest career path to choose, but honestly, I can’t imagine doing anything else. This is my path and I’m sticking to it no matter how challenging it can be. I trust it will continue to evolve exactly as it is meant to with ease and grace- and of course a little elbow grease.

I admit I have felt scared about the risk I am taking as a young entrepreneur. There is no weekly paycheck deposited directly into my bank account. I have no boss asking me to do anything or keeping me on track. I am the captain of the ship because I am the one sailing. Yikes!

This winter poses both financial and emotional challenges. Can anyone relate?

How far down can I allow myself to sink, remembering there is a bottom to catch me? The winter is Water Time in Chinese medicine. It is the time to dive down into the depths of our souls and ask big questions.

 What do I want to call in to my life for 2015?

I see medicine gardens that I tend for making herbal preparations. I see a diverse, supportive community that shares in all the abundance that surrounds us. I see collaboration and partnership with other local herbalists and healers. I see a home full of creative projects and loving housemates (maybe a dog!) to share them with.

Everything I need and want will show up if its in alignment with my soul purpose. This much I know to be true.

This is true for you, too. We all are enough. We all are surrounded by abundance and creativity. Each moment is a gift. The light will return and the sap will run again. Until then, let us make the most of this deep watery journey within.

What do you want to manifest in 2015?

The wind woke me this morning, howling through the towering pines. Wind signifies change. The holidays are over. The New Year is here. The full moon in Cancer was full of emotions and brought me to a place I don’t usually like to go, deep aching sadness and grief. Every winter during these dark cold days and nights I naturally creep back into the darkness of my soul.

Who am I really? What is my purpose for the limited time I have on Earth? Am I doing enough? The questions pose very little reassurance during the season of darkness. I am choosing to remain curious about these inquiries rather than distract myself with work and social gathering.

I am like a seed underground waiting patiently for that far away day when I can germinate. Until then, I wait. What can I learn from this practice of Being rather than Doing? I am learning to let go of the grip I have on myself to always be productive.

But, what about all those emails to respond to and the ever- lengthening “to do” list? I think I just heard my phone ring, or was that a text? Breathe. It can wait.

With all the opportunities to engage with cell phones and computers, I have equal opportunities to say, “no,” and instead, I can just be.

There goes my phone again!

No.

Just Breathe.

I focus on my fingertips hitting the keys of my computer. The clock ticking behind me. The snow melting off the roof outside my window. The low hanging sun breaking through the curtain. The howl of the wind reminding me that change is inevitable.

With every breadth my consciousness shifts a bit. I am leaving the land of ego and heading towards acceptance. My focus changes entirely. All I see and feel is gratitude and humbleness. I am grateful for the time I spent with family over the holidays. I am especially grateful that my 95 year-old Grandfather spent Christmas with us. I begin to cry thinking of what a gift that is to spend time with him. My tears come from a place of gratitude and love, which is different from before, when they came from feeling incompetent and scared.

I am humbled every time I say “no” to distraction and “yes” to the present moment.

“As each women realizes her power, she transforms the world.” -Patrice Wynne

These long dark cold days and nights are true tests for my inner strength. The holidays are over, so what is there to look forward to anymore? We have a long stretch between now and when the ground thaws for planting. April feels really far away. How do I keep my spirits alive this time of year?

Make butter! My sweetie and I drove to Sidehill Farm in Hawley, MA and picked up a gallon of raw cream from their amazing farm stand. There was beef and pork in the chest freezers, fresh eggs, cheese, yogurt, milk, and granola for sale. It’s a wonderful place to go when you feel like there’s no fresh local food available in the winter. Sidehill Farm gave us hope!

I sat back and relaxed with earplugs while C followed this really simple recipe involving only one tool: a food processor. Within minutes he made butter! My job came once his was finished…making ghee. I followed this easy recipe and next time I’ll make what’s known as “medicinal ghee” where herbs and spices can be added such as sage, ashwagandha, or cinnamon.

Things are looking up this winter- and our freezer is full of butter to prove it!

The sun is shining and it is a comfortable 70 degrees as I sit in the backyard trying to find inspiration to write. In front of me is a squirrel. It is shaking its tail rapidly and balancing on a thin branch. It holds a remarkable bundle of acorns in its mouth. Just before I began to write, I titled this blog entry, “Wild Food Foraging.” A coincidence? Not at all.

My natural instinct to store away food for the winter is strong this time of year. I’m foraging for wild grapes, autumn olives, burdock, and dandelion root. I make detours to local orchards to pick up bushels of utility apples for sauce. I frequent the Tuesday Farmer’s Market in Northampton for the precious fresh ginger, which I’ll freeze for future smoothies and stir-fries. I cook chicken stock to fill the freezer for winter soups that will keep me warm during the long nights ahead. I even organized several community members to buy half a cow from a local farm so we could fill our freezers with grass fed beef.

Just like the squirrels, I am preparing for a time when the earth is resting. The abundance will go from the garden, fields, and forests to cabinets and freezers. While it sure doesn’t feel like winter is coming on a day like today, I do feel prepared for anything!

Cheers to all the incredible seen and unseen magical gifts the Earth offers!

Enjoy this delicious Autumn Olive Jam recipe.

Autumn Olive Berries are the fruit of a large shrub or small tree (Elaeagnus umbellata) with fragrant, ivory-yellow flowers, silvery-green leaves and silvery-mottled red fruit. This shrub grows wild throughout the eastern United States.  This fruit is crammed with nutritional value.  They are 17 times higher in lycopene than tomatoes (the substance that makes tomatoes red)
“The red berries of autumn olive have a high carotenoid content,” writes Fordham, “and particularly high levels of lycopene (30-70 mg/100g). Lycopene has powerful antioxidant properties, making it of interest for nutraceutical use.”
The berries also contain high levels of vitamins A, C and E, and flavonoids and essential fatty acids. Lycopene is their main attraction, though. Lycopene, adds Clevidence, who heads ARS’ Phytonutrients Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, has generated widespread interest as a possible deterrent to heart disease and cancers of the prostate, cervix and gastrointestinal tract. (http://wildblessings.com/autumn-olive-berry-jam/).

Gather 8 cups of Autumn Olive berries

Bring to a simmer in a pot with ½ cup of water

Process through a food mill to remove the seeds

Heat again and add 3 cups of honey

At this point I let it thicken on low to medium heat. I do not use pectin, but you can if you wish it to be thicker. Can the jam in 8 oz. jars following the proper methods. Otherwise it keeps in the fridge for 1 month.

While traveling to the Great North, I searched for ways to connect to a land far from home. Alaska was always a place I dreamed of visiting one day. Two weeks ago I made the journey with the intention to reconnect with old friends, eat local fish and berries, and experience the wild wilderness of Denali. How much awe and wonder can I experience from towering mountains that meet the ocean?

Naturally, food and herbal medicine took my breath away. Salmon berries dripped from steep mountain slopes while hiking up to Exit Glacier. Picking blueberries in Denali National Park was thrilling in other ways. One must keep an eye out for the grizzlies who, like us, also enjoy the fruits of late summer.

We watched men, women, and children pull salmon out of the sea by the dozens in Homer. After each fish was fileted, they were packed into coolers ready for stocking the freezer for the long winter ahead. What does this diverse group of locals all have in common? Food. Hunting, fishing, canning, drying, and freezing food for the winter is part of life in Alaska.

Every weekend, my friends headed out of Anchorage to forage and fish. The dehydrator always was running. The smoker was full of salmon. The chest freezer packed with berries, meat and veggies. The garden was in its last push before the cold returns. Alaska summer is short, but the days are incredibly long and full.

 I brought an eye mask in case the sun didn’t set for long enough to get my full 8 hours. Yet, the long days of hiking and exploring left my body so tired, as soon as I lay my head to rest I fell into deep dreamy sleep. Camping was our primary form of lodging. Bear spray (strong pepper-spray) bottles were easy accessible inside the tent in case an unwanted visitor approached. Fortunately, we never used them, but they did make us feel a bit safer.

Bald eagles perched atop tall pines almost as abundantly as our red tailed hawks in the Northeast. Rainbows magically appeared as the weather shifted so frequently. Change is constant and the weather is unpredictable. We hiked in downpours that suddenly turned to bright sunshine.

The tallest mountain in North America, Denali (The Great One), cleared entirely for 2 days in a row. After a 5 and a half hour bus ride and a night of rain, we woke at Wonder Lake Campground, 84 miles from the park entrance. “I have a good feeling about this morning,” I said while opening the tent door. Sure enough, the entire mountain was visible and they sky was clear. Denali, more immense than I ever imagined, gleamed back at me only 20 miles away. I felt like I could reach out and touch it.

What kind of wisdom does this great mountain have to offer me? I sat with this inquiry far longer than the cool damp weather permitted in only a fleece jacket and wound up with a cold the next day, but it was worth it! The mountain answered loud and clear, “Expose yourself to the ones you love.”      

I took the message home with me. Be YOU. Be vulnerable with those you trust. Be BOLD. Do what you love and trust in the magic of the Universe. 

Summer is here! According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, summer is fire time. The color red signifies this season of heat. We can see it in the ripening berries, blossoming flowers, and flames on the grill.

Well-balanced rains and sunshine, along with the hard work of our farmers, have produced delicious strawberries. What to do with such bounty? I froze 8 quarts for smoothies the rest of the year and of course, strawberry rhubarb pie was in order.

Summer Fire Heat also correlates with the heart, pericardium, and small intestine. The heart is the “seat of the mind,” therefore its highest expression is love. In the heat of the summer, our emotional hearts can get out of balanced and cause rapid changes from feeling joyful to feeling depressed. Excess fire in the heart can cause agitation, nervous exhaustion, heartburn and insomnia.

When the fire element is balanced, the heart properly governs and circulates the blood and insures proper assimilation of the beginning breakdown of food in the small intestines. Emotionally, when the fire element is balanced, sensitivity and expression, true fulfillment and the equilibrium between heart and mind are our greatest rewards.

During the summer heat, I try to cool my body internally and externally. Swimming in rivers and lakes every day takes care of one of those. The other solution is herbal sun tea. I like to combine equal parts of fresh mint, lemon balm, bergamot (bee balm), and lemon verbena. I cover the leaves in room temperature water, add lemon or lime slices, then place the jar in the sun for a few hours. Add honey to taste if you wish. Cool in the fridge.

Bee Balm

Monarda fistulosa, M. punctata, M. menthifolia, M. didyma

Also called Wild Bergamot, Sweet Leaf, Horsemint, Wild Oregano, Oswego tea

Plant family: Mint family (Lamiaceae)

Plant energetics: spicy, diffusive, stimulating

Parts used: Aerial portions, harvested preferably just before a full bloom emerges

Plant properties: anti-microbial, carminative, stimulating/relaxing diaphoretic, anti-spasmodic, emmenagogue, relaxing nervine

Plant preparations: Infused honey, infused vinegar, tincture, steam inhalation, infused oils and salve, culinary spice, cough syrup, douche

Used for: Colds and the flu symptoms (fevers, sore throats, coughs), UTIs, yeast infections, topical fungal infections, digestive woes, wounds, burns, as a culinary spice, toothaches, steam for congested sinuses, mouth wash, inflammation

“In my mind, Bee balm’s special talents lie in its infection resolving abilities as well as its mood lifting and somewhat euphoric effect upon the senses. It also has the benefit of having both stimulating and relaxing, warming and cooling attributes. It can create a distinct feeling of heat in the body, but also significantly cools inflammation of any kind.” Kiva Rose

The bees love bee balm, too! Plant some in your garden and they will bee happy.