Nurturing the Wild Heart

St. John's Wort (Hypericum spp.) Anyone who knows me knows my biggest plant ally is St. John's Wort! I still remember the first time I really met this plant. I was on a plant walk with my class at Appalachia School for Holistic Herbalism. There in the middle of the trail was this plant saying, "Look at me all sunny and shiny!" Our teacher, Mateo, taught us how when you crush the flowers and leaves it will stain your hands red. The unopened flower buds have a ton of red juice in them! Using the doctrine of signatures, when a plant looks like what it is good for, that staining shows us it may be used to treat bleeding and the blood. The pin hole dots on the leaves and flowers also signify the treatment of wounds. It is well known for this powerful healing of cuts, scraps, bites, and bruises.  This leaf really looks like a bruise. Here you can see the tiny pin holes in the leaves. Lots of people use it for treatment of depression and SAD but I ...

Gladiolas from the kids' garden Today was a beautiful solstice day! I love to roll with the seasons so I like to celebrate each of them in some way. So today we all started in the gardens! It has been unusually hot here for the month of June but some nice thunderstorms in the evenings lately have been helping to keep the plants happy! My youngest talking to the bees this morning on the Bee Balm  We had so much fun relaxing together! My husband and I drinking coffee, while laughing at one of our dogs, watching the birds, and doing a little pruning and harvesting. Harvest from the herb garden   The best part of the day was a short hike at Medoc Mountain. One of our favorite places to hike around here. It is always gorgeous out there! A brilliant blue dragonfly who wanted his picture taken!   My oldest, that was recently diagnosed with Crohn's disease, loves to hike but since her flare up she has been very fearful to attempt it. She did...

***1*** St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) Lovely Sunshine St. John's Wort It's medicinal properties are sedative, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, astringent, antidepressant, aromatic, nervine, diuretic, vulnerary, expectorant, and hepatic. Dosage: 1-2 teaspoons of dried herb per cup of water. Steep, covered, 10-15 minutes. Drink up to 3x a day. Or if using tincture 1/4 to 1 teaspoon up to 3x a day. I have been in love with this plant since I first met it. It was amazing to see how if you rubbed St. J's green leaves or crushed it's yellow flowers it would bleed red! It was also amazing to see the color change when you put it in oil. It goes from green olive oil to ruby red infused oil in a matter of days sitting in the sun! I have used this oil to treat nerve damage in the back, on a broken foot for pain and inflammation, for ear infections, and turned it into salve for wound healing, burns, pain, insect bites and stings, and ra...