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;

Getting ready to teach a new class series on The Three Traditions. Starting a Jan 19, at Wisdom Feed. https://www.betterlisten.com/collections/susun-weed-courses . The Wise Woman spiral. The Heroic circle. The Scientific straight line. "Health care can suit you better. Forget the confusion of trying to figure out which practitioner, which treatment, which remedy, or which diet is best for you. Once you understand the Three Traditions, all becomes clear. You can easily choose

Celebrate yourself today. This week. The rest of this year. The rest of your life. Celebrating yourself takes many forms. My celebrations are focused on my long-term health. Self-care = celebrating myself/yourself Holiday celebration can mean tossing self-care. Alcohol flows freely. Sugar is offered so kindly. Ultra processed foods abound. Time to review the four foundations of a long, healthy life: > Brain health > Social connection > Stress resilience > Nourishment Brain He

It can seem like everything here in the Sonoran Desert is thorny. I got jabbed picking a mesquite pod. Betsy got stuck trying to show me Woolly tomentum on the golden barrel cactus. And beware those super sharp agave thorns. Their sap is intensely irritating. But it turns out some of those thorns aren't thorns at all. They are spines. "Thorns are modified stems. Spines are modified leaves." Roses and raspberry bushes have thorns. So does mesquite. But cacti and agave have spi

There's an evergreen mint in your lawn. It's not very big. It's not very flashy. It has no odor. But its name says it all: Self-heal, heal all. Prunella vulgaris Dr James Duke got my interest forty years by claiming it had "The highest levels of antioxidants of any green plant." But I couldn't find much information on uses back then. Mostly because I wasn't looking in the right place: Chinese herbals. Prunella vulgaris is one of the scentless mints I'm featuring in class 3 of

This evening MJ My granddaughter And I will get together to play Dress up. We each need four ritual outfits. The women are gathering. A red ritual outfit. For the first day, for fire. I have a red dress. It was a gift from Grandmother Two Worlds. So I take her along with me. Too bad it's so heavy. A blue ritual outfit. For the second day, for water. Blue silk skirts And a flowing blue and purple top Will do. Silk skirts are ultra light. Easy to pack. (My colorful silk skirt d

I champion the weeds. When I started learning about herbal medicines — The world was vast. So many medicinal plants. Then I became aware that using plants Could use them up. Goldenseal and ginseng — Once available freely in my eastern woodlands — Are now threatened by overharvesting. .. From AgroForestry: "Overharvesting of goldenseal has caused serious reductions in populations. . . . In 1997, goldenseal was listed on Appendix II of the Convention for International Trade on

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