My joy is "toxic.". My excitement is "bragging." My grief is "crocodile tears." My pain is "exaggerated." My friendliness is "manipulation." You confer on my actions the worst possible motivations. You humiliate me. You demean me. You dismiss my feelings. I am never safe with you. I am wary. I cringe. It's been like this for forty years. I could tolerate your nastiness so long as we were working together. Once you quit, I could no longer endure. I will no longer accept your v

excerpt from: Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year 🌱 Add sugar or honey to any type of decoction, and you have a syrup. The extra sweetness makes some herbs more palatable, soothes the throat, and can improve keeping qualities. How much sugar or honey should you add? The exact amount is determined by weight. A standard for syrups is an equal amount, by weight, of sugar and decoction. One cup (8 fluid ounces) of water or decoction, weighs half a pound (8 ounces). So o

excerpt from Abundantly Well: Seven Medicines. 🌱 This simple pesto has only four ingredients. It keeps up to three years in the refrigerator. Pesto preserves the herbs antioxidant power. Dandelion leaf pesto is bitter and tangy. Chickweed pesto is mellow and grassy; use new growth. Shiso or tulsi pesto is aromatic and romantic. Garlic mustard pesto is bitter and spicy and delicious. Garlic scape pesto is heaven on earth. There are no specific amounts; use what is abundant. C

That's how many days I have awaken, turned on my iPad, and created a virtual quilt. I thought I might put 730 mitochondria in today's quilt. But that was far too many. There are more than one hundred though. 🌱 I'm glowing with satisfaction. I'm tickled pink by my continuing — increasing — desire to make art. I'm gratified by your delight. 🌱 "The Spirit of the Plants," the first book of my quilts, Paired with Matthew Becker's marvelous herbal poetry, Is at the bindery. Only

I'm recording my HealthyLife.net show this week; to be aired in October. Boo! I'm focusing on the scariest legumes. Creeping, crawling, thorny plants that will give you quite the fright. Maybe even turn your face blue. > Kudzu (Pueraria) The name strikes terror in the heart of those who have seen it engulf a tree in a single season. It's said to grow so fast that you can see it grow. A healthy plant can grow up to twelve inches in 24 hours, so, I think you probably could see

Today I am sad. Am I a poor mother? My daughter is in pain. Physical pain. Emotional pain. And I can't take it away. I can't change it. Isn't that my job? Aren't I responsible to ease her pain? Actually, aren't I responsible for preventing pain from ever touching her at all? Have I failed? Shouldn't I have a remedy? Why doesn't my magic wand make her all better? Why won't her boo-boo be fixed by a kiss? I'm sad. So I look outside. I'm in the midst of beauty. Beauty all around

Today is another beautiful day in the Catskills. The birds are talking about it. The clouds are drifting by. Exciting packages came in the mail yesterday. The Epson proof of "The Spirit of the Plants" came yesterday afternoon. We will look at it today. We "read" the PDF proof already. And oh, frabjous* day, Hemmed virtual quilts were at my post office box yesterday too. I gave the big fabric pieces you've seen to Kween Zarah. Who took them home, cut the individual quilts free

I'm a feminist. I'm a green witch. I speak for the rights of women and girls. Most men tolerate feminists. Or did. We don't "hate men." We don't hate anyone. We love women. This just in: According to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's spiritual advisor Doug Wilson: feminists are "a large army of singularly unattractive and bitchy women". Yup. That's me. Bitchy and unattractive. And, hey, glad to know I'm part of such a large "army." Our weapons are words, not guns. Wit, not sla

"May I be a guard for those who need protection A guide for those on the path A boat, a raft, a bridge for those who wish to cross the flood May I be a lamp in the darkness A resting place for the weary A healing medicine for all who are sick A vase of plenty, a tree of miracles And for the boundless multitudes of living beings May I bring sustenance and awakening Enduring like the earth and sky Until all beings are freed from sorrow And all are awakened." May I hold the spac

I rotate through five nourishing herbal infusions: * Stinging nettle (check out The Nettle Conference here: https://www.wisewomanschool.com/p/nettle-conference ) Comfrey leaf (The Comfrey Conference is here: https://www.wisewomanschool.com/p/the-comfrey-conference ) * Linden flowers (The Lubricating Linden Conference is here: https://www.wisewomanschool.com/p/soothing-linden-conference ) * Red clover blossoms (The Red Clover Conference: https://www.wisewomanschool.com/p/

On my way to writing this morning, I was swept away on a plant adventure. My neighbor Theresa invited me into her garden And asked if I wanted some plants. Yes! Now I have to plant a bucketful of lungwort (Pulmlnaria) With its lovely spotted leaves. Now I have to plant some catmint, Not catnip. But still a mint. Now I have to plant the foxgloves Which are wilded in her garden. I've tried, unsuccessfully, to get foxgloves to inhabit my garden. Hopefully this will take. Now I h

While I was harvesting violets For my salad, I noticed my mind. As usual, my mind was busy. Thinking, planning, remembering. Things it does very well. And has done ever since I started noticing My mind in meditation. Picking violets, And putting them in my basket, Joy came to me. Riding through my thoughts And stopping them. The sun warmed our shady spot Under the tree, As I gathered violets. And joy filled me Like a precious memory. "No need to plan," Joy declared. "Joy with

The Nourishing Nettle Conference starts today. My family arrived home from their winter in Costa Rica yesterday. It looks like my young goat Ashay may give birth this week. I want to plant seeds. The plants that overwintered in the house want to come outside. Now! I need to move compost. There's so much chickweed to harvest. What shall I do with it all? Right now there's two pounds — no joke — in my fridge. Garlic mustard to pull up. Roots for vinegar. Leaves to cook. Started

Two mainstays in my healthy life are nourishing herbal infusions and walking. Yes, I cook all my own food. Often from local sources, including my own garden, And foraged food as well. But if I couldn't, nourishing herbal infusions would provide for me. Yes, I do a full yoga practice twice a week. And have done so for sixty years. Yes, I do Tai chi and Qi gong, erratically. But if I can't do my practice, walking keeps me going. Sometimes I can't make nourishing herbal infusion

9 Biggest Longevity Myths, Part 1 Michele Ross, posted April 10, 2026 https://superage.com/9-biggest-longevity-myths-to-stop.../ . Edited for length [comments] "The longevity industry is selling you a story. Research sets the record straight. [Who knew there was a longevity industry?!] "We've been told that living to 100 requires full-fledged optimization at every turn. But when you look at the data, much of what passes for longevity wisdom is either overstated or more nuance

You can listen to my show on soy, including some beany poems I wrote, next week at HealthyLife.com . Catch previous shows at: Susun Weed HealthyLife.Net Radio Show Archive https://www.healthylife.net/RadioShow/archiveGB.htm . Are soy isoflavones truly a public health concern? Front Nutr. 2025 1 Introduction "Isoflavones are phytoestrogens, which are plant-derived compounds found in high concentrations in soy and other legumes, such as chickpeas and lentils. These molecules

Justine and I have spent the past week together. Creating. We have ignored everything else. Monica Jean (MJ) and her beau Phillip have cooked — gloriously — all our meals, And made nourishing herbal infusions for us to drink, So we can create, create, create. Here's our list of what we planned to accomplish. And what we actually did. > Create at least one mitochondria book in The Motherline Medicine Series. — The Spirit of the Plants — Yes! (Still work to do, but all images a

I have a Meyer lemon tree In a pot, of course. It's minus 2 outside And citrus is tropical, Intolerant to sub-zero weather. It blooms in January. And scents the air. I could put my nose into those blossoms And never do anything else. I am transported by that smell. It isn't a childhood memory. No citrus in my childhood backyard in Dallas. It's older than that. Inhaling the odor makes my heart glad. I cannot resist smiling. Even thinking about the aroma makes me smile. I'm chu

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing a practitioner of Ayurvedic. She "laid down the law" to us on eating. This is what I remember: Eat only at certain times and never after dark. No cold drinks. No leftovers. If I got it wrong, I know you'll let me know. I disagree with all those rules. I took her to task about not eating after dark. Told her I don't like to eat before teaching. If I'm giving a talk at 7pm, I'm eating afterwards. I don't care what time it is. I'm sta

I like to sort. Really like to sort. And January is a great time to sort. Sorting satisfaction is one of the reasons I like doing picture puzzles. Sorting means putting things together. Sorting means separating things. All the green things can be sorted together. Sort the circles from the squares. Sort socks by season: Summer socks, winter socks. Sort socks by length: Ankle-high, crew length, knee-high. Sort socks by desire. The ones I like best go on top. Large plates here;