Looking and Feeling Young

The other day, I got (what most people would call) a compliment on my looks. They said that I "didn't look 42", and "looked at least 10 years younger".

In addition to having some feyness, some healthy fat on my bones, and not smoking (anymore); I also didn't tan relentlessly when I was younger (yay, gothdom!). These things help a lot in keeping bodies healthy and not overly ravaged by time. But I also attribute my youthful appearance to what I eat and put on my body as well (and chasing a preschooler!).

I do not use commercial beauty products anymore, and I think this helps a lot. To clean my body and "make it up", I use natural products, most of which are much less expensive than commercially bought stuff and so much better for your body. I no longer use a foundation- and the last time I did, I was using tinted moisturizer by Dermalogica or Dr. Haushka. I don't put on a lot of makeup- and when I do use it, a liquid eyeliner (body shop), and a lipstick (I have amassed quite the collection) are about it.

I am still using the "no poo" and "no conditioner" that I wrote about last June. I think my hair is healthy and shiny. I also make our deodorant, our first aid creams, our cold medicines, and our moisturizers. I am in the process of making a migraine remedy making tincture of feverfew, white willow bark, and California poppy.

I have dry skin and I used to shower then oil my body (just a combination of good-for-skin oils, with olive as the base). Now I use a sugar scrub exfoliant that has plenty of oil and essential oils (I switch it up for fun- sometimes it is lemongrass for purification, sometimes I want tingly cinnamon!) and moisturizes as I wash. A month's supply of sugar scrub is about 21 cents- and once you invest in essential oils, you will have most of the ingredients around to keep yourself in supply. I only shower every few days because of my dryness. So I need to moisturize in between bathing. In the summer, I need a lotion (that I make myself)- but now that I am back in dry midwestern winter, I actually use raw unrefined shea butter on my face daily! I personally think it makes my skin radiant, and before it completely soaks in (it is solid at room temperature), it forms a weather barrier on my face that really helps prevent tiny eczema patches.

Speaking of eczema- I don't really get it anymore (again, I attribute whole foods and natural toiletries)- and if there ever is a tiny bit, it comes in smaller than a dime. Carrot oil or shea butter takes care of it immediately.

So, what does our family eat? There's a joke going around that "natural foods" and "organic foods" are simply what our grandparents called "food".

Here's an example: this week, when we had tacos, we went out of our way to get corn tortillas without crap in them (most of the standard supermarkets here carry tortillas with unpronouncible ingredients- bleh!). I cooked a pork roast (that came from a pig that was purchased in advance, raised on a farm in Appalachia, and slaughtered and processed with the cuts and preparation we specified) in the crock pot all day with onions, cumin, oregano, and salt. I soaked overnight, then simmered pinto beans all day and pureed them in the food processor with leftover bacon fat from our nitrate free, grass-fed bacon, olive oil, garlic, oregano, and cumin. We ate it with crap-free loca; Amish sour cream from the co-op, fresh made salsa (not by me, but local) and cheese. While the meal took all day to cook, there was little actual hands-on work for it. It was delicious and I have leftover pork for lunches and refried beans in the freezer for future meals.

So to make a long post short, I guess my "secret" is simple living and avoiding overly processed stuff. What are your secrets to staying healthy and young?

Why I am an Herbalist (A Manifesto of Sorts)

"An herbalist" is one of the ways that I identify myself. But just what do I mean when I use that term, and why is it important to me?

To me, an herbalist obviously cares about healing others. But it is the way that they do the healing that defines them as a person. An herbalist tends to value tradition and hand-to-hand, mouth-to-ear learning more than academics, who tend to place higher value on the written word.

An herbalist cares about human health, obviously- but they also care about the health of our entire planet as well. They will not heal at the expense of the planet and its other inhabitants, in the way that big pharma does. Commercial allopathic medicines and mass produced remedies (even herbal ones) by big companies rip raw resources out of their habitats, destroying them. They farm their ingredients in a monoculture way that strips the soil of nutrients and destroys habitats. They produce in a factory environment that pollutes the atmosphere and water supply. And then they create an end product that is often toxic or causes harm. Herbalists like me grow their own herbs, providing habitat as well as food for insects. (Or they acquire it from ethical sources that grow like me.)

Herbal medicine is simply more potent (as well as gentle to the system) for many more living beings than commercially made remedies and medicines. Further, there are many herbal remedies that are working better than their pharmaceutical counterparts, because they use the whole plant, not just an isolated component of it. And don't get me started on how commercial antibiotics are over-prescribed and are strengthening the bacteria's resistance to those medicines. We have major strains of mersa, clostridium difficile (c diff), strep, and other infections that used to respond to anti-biotics but now don't. We simply don't have this problem with herbal anti-biotics. They still work, and don't destroy your body's immune system while killing the bad stuff, either.

Herbalism is magick making. A good herbalist is an animist- who knows that plants are living things with a form of sentience and hold energetic properties that can heal or harm. Being able to speak to plants, commune with them, and sacrifice them to create medicine for greater healing in the world is a magickal act. Coupling their properties with my Will and infusing my remedies with healing and intent is an act of magick. Being a part of the red life who takes the green life for its survival and knowing and welcoming the fact that one day the green will eat me in turn links me to the Wheel in a way that most urban dwellers do not know in their marrow. Re-tying myself to the wheel daily is religion and magick.

Lastly, being an herbalist means that I believe that all people have a right to to health care and wellness- and that capitalism and profit do not enter into that access. I price my remedies to simply cover my costs and labor. Profit does not enter into it.

My labor costs pay me enough- I am not a Witch for profit. Further, to assist everyone with access to healing, I barter and give away remedies when needed. We have so many poor and uninsured people in this country. It is disgraceful that so many suffer without care. In my little corner of the world, I am doing my part to heal family, friends, and my community.

Herbal Work!

They say that you should write about what you know. Lately, all I have been knowing is Boline and its projects! (And it makes me really happy.)

Three of my tinctures.

I have been creating new products and testing them on myself and others. In my medicine cabinet are protoypes of a deodorant balm, a body/baby powder, and some allergy tincture for seasonal woes. I have given the neighbor, who does not have dental insurance, a powerful antibiotic oil for a tooth infection as well as some clove oil for topical pain relief. I have given some my my myrrh slave to a friend with painful shaving rash. I get reports every couple days about the status of their conditions and so far so good.

I have also been making my tried-and-true recipes and offering them for sale on Poppy Swap and Etsy. I have several more in the works. Some are mid-process (making herbal remedies is often a multi-step, time consuming process) and some are waiting and on the "to make" list.

For folks unfamiliar with medicine making, here's an example of what I mean by "multi-step, time consuming process":

To make my herbal antibiotic salve, I first had to make three types of herb infused oils. I chose oregon grape root, goldenseal, and thyme.

4 types of my salves.

Step One: Create herbal oils. You must let the oil steep for many weeks, sometimes in direct sunlight, before they are ready and potent. You must choose the carrier oil that best suits the herb and the ultimate recipe you are making. I always choose carrier oils that are suitable for external as well as internal uses. You never know what you might want to make!

Step Two: Strain oils. I usually strain a couple of times- especially if the herb you used was a powdered preparation.

Step Three: Melt beeswax with herbal oils in a double boiler til liquified. Add vitamin E oil for stability.

Step Four: Package the product. I put this salve in 2 and 4 oz tins.

Steps Five and Six: Label (create cute label with ingredients, company information, and how to use the product and possible warnings.) Then, list in stores.

It has been taking a little over a month to create salves, balms, and oils. It takes double that to make tinctures, as the same plant matter needs to be soaked in alcohol and then water. Each liquid extracts different effects from the plant, so herbalists first soak in one, then the other, then combine the liquids for a whole plant medicine. I just strained the alcohol from my valerian and vitex, and now the plants are soaking in water for a few weeks.

Preliminary sketch of my new logo. It has a boline,
the full moon, and two medicinal herbs.

Many tinctures are not simples, they are complex blends with specific purposes or custom-made for clients. For example, my preferred digestive bitters blend is 4 different herb tinctures, blended together. My sleepy tincture is 2-3 different herbs and my allergy formula is based on the region and type of allergy.

I haven't gotten enough variety of herbs yet to create any old concoction that I desire at the drop of a hat. I have been acquiring ones as I can- and creating wither an oil or tincture from it as I get them. I have not been making medicines in Ohio long enough for that. I envy the stock that my old herb school had- jars upon jars of anything that you could ever imagine! I could easy create my own custom blends with everything they had. One day, I will have that! I dream of an apothecary room full of glass jars of roots, flowers, leaves, liquids and butters. When that happens, I will be able to make anything I need for anyone within a day.

In business news, I have been working with an artist on a logo (it should be finished this weekend- yay!) and I am designing a website and labels myself. Right now, the labels I am using are temporary until I get a real logo (and I love the look of this logo!)

Stay tuned for more Boline news, as it happens!

Growing Medicinal Mushrooms

One of the new projects that I am taking on this year is growing mushrooms- mostly medicinal for Boline, my online botanica and apothecary. Unlike western herbalism, with which I am familiar and know the plants and how to grow them, mushrooms are their own strange little adventure!

I have several types of mushrooms growing in my home: reishi, shiitake, maitake, turkey tail, and oyster. The oyster is for me for food. All but the oyster varieties are growing on sterilized, organic, hardwood sawdust (the oyster is growing on my used organic coffee grounds (reuse! reduce! recycle!)).

Mushroom life cycle.

I have been tending them multiple times a day (they need watering two-three times daily) as well as in bursts (when it is time to innoculate the sawdust or harvest) and I am just starting to see the fruits (literally!) of my labor.

The shiitakes are fruiting like crazy and the oyster has started to pin as well. The maitake is in the pre-fruiting stage, also known as the pinhead and priordium stages. My turkey tails and reishi are slowly spreading their mycelium throughout the substrate and have created hyphal knots (the stage before becoming priordium).

Take a look at my mushrooms!

Shiitake mushrooms fruiting.

A close up of the Shiitakes.

Aren't they adorable?

Harvested Shiitakes. I will now dry them.

This is oyster and shiitake spores in liquid. Once they form mycelium strands,
they will be used to innoculate sterilized organic hardwood sawdust or rye grain.

The shiitakes under their humidity tent.

Look at all that mycelium! (This is a bag of oyster innoculated sawdust for a friend.)

The Maitake under its tent. See the big bumps? Those are GOOD.

Harvested shiitakes in my dryer.

Here, they will dry out and then be used in medicine making: either dried tea or a tincture.

These are my oysters in coffee grounds. Look closely- do you see the pinhead?

There it is!

About Shiitakes
Why grow Shiitake mushrooms in particular? Most people in the US only know them as a tasty mushroom found in Japanese food and do not understand its myriad medicinal properties. "Modern research has indicated shiitake mushroom may stimulate the immune system, possess antibacterial properties, reduce platelet aggregation, and possess antiviral properties, possibly through antiviral agents known as proteinase inhibitors. ... It also possesses lentinan, which is a compound isolated from shiitake, is used as an intravenous anticancer agent in some countries. Studies have demonstrated lentinan possesses antitumor properties, and clinical studies have associated lentinan with a higher survival rate, higher quality of life, and lower recurrence of cancer."*

As an herbalist, I believe that the whole plant is better for you and contains more healing properties than isolates. So I would rather use the whole dried mushroom in a tea or create a tincture form the whole fruit for remedies. I will be selling this through Boline.

Stay tuned for more interesting information on the other mushrooms that I am raising as well as their properties.

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*Wikipedia