https://www.facebook.com/174756502596740/

Crazy Lady farm, Fairview, WY (2025)

02/26/2018

There are three plants which usually arise and bloom in late winter and early spring. They tend to be confused in their identification since the flowers are similar in color, the leaves seem to be the same shape and size, and the height of the plants are nearly the same. Let’s look closely at each...

01/06/2018

The most important weapon against influenza that you can add to your herbal arsenal is elderberry extract.

01/04/2018

Chickweed greens and violets: the breakfast of champions! Seriously, starting the day with a vitamin and mineral-rich serving of wild greens is one of my favorite morning rituals. The leafy parts of chickweed, nettle, dandelion, violet, day lily, and garlic mustard are all options, and can be prepared in a variety of delicious ways. If you asked me what I do to maintain my best health, eating and drinking these wild plants would be at the top of my list!

Every one of these greens can be found growing throughout the temperate world, and are featured in our *brand new* Online Foraging Course: Edible and Medicinal Wild Herbs. Come join us and we'll mentor you in safely identifying, finding, gathering, and using 21 of the most nutrient-rich and abundant wild herbs around! These plants are so common that you'll hardly need to wander farther than the edge of your garden, yard, or local pasture to find them.

The Online Foraging Course is enrolling for a limited time only—through Jan. 15th—so you'll have plenty of time to prepare for the spring foraging season! Our other online courses are also *on sale* right now in celebration of the New Year. For details:

> Online Herbal Medicine Making Course (150 hours): www.chestnutherbs.com/medicine-making

> Online Foraging Course (375 hours):
www.chestnutherbs.com/foraging-course

> Online Herbal Immersion Program (1,000 hours):
www.chestnutherbs.com/immersion

Photo © Juliet Blankespoor

*Please research any new herb and consult your health care providers for possible drug/herb contraindications and precautions before ingesting. Be sure of your identification before ingesting any plant or mushroom.

12/30/2017

Don't compost those Christmas tangerine peels! The peels are high in anti-oxidant flavonoids, and anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory essential oils. In Chinese medicine the rind is used to treat digestive stagnation and lung congestion. Only use organically grown tangerines that spent more than eight hours cozied up inside a stocking. Chop the rind finely and dry on cookie sheets or screens. An added bonus is the uplifting aroma, slowly released as the peels are drying.

Do you want to learn more about traditional and culinary herbalism? Join us for one of our online courses—they're *on sale* now through Jan. 15th! For details:

> Online Herbal Medicine Making Course (150 hours): www.chestnutherbs.com/medicine-making

> Online Foraging Course (375 hours):
www.chestnutherbs.com/foraging-course

> Online Herbal Immersion Program (1,000 hours):
www.chestnutherbs.com/immersion

Painting: The Orange Gatherers, by John William Waterhouse.

12/23/2017

A wreath of edible flowers, beautiful enough to festoon any plate. Clockwise from twelve o'clock: daylily, dill, squash blossom, calendula, nasturtium, red clover and bee balm. In the center: heartsease.

If these rainbow flowers speak to your heart, come join us for our *brand new* Online Foraging Course: Edible and Medicinal Wild Herbs. We'll teach you how to safely gather, prepare, and use all of our favorite healing wild plants. The course is enrolling for a limited time, through January 15th. Register now, and enjoy bountiful harvests in 2018, plus our introductory sale price! For details:

www.chestnutherbs.com/foraging-course

{The Chestnut School is dedicated to sustainability, and the plants featured are weedy, abundant herbs with a global distribution. The Foraging Course does not include rare and endangered plants. Please research any new herb and consult your health care providers for possible drug/herb contraindications and precautions before ingesting. Be sure of your identification before ingesting any plant or mushroom.}

Photo © Juliet Blankespoor

12/10/2017

Looking for some inspiration for last minute homemade herbal gifts?

Hibiscus Pomegranate Orange Fire Cider is a one-day affair. And the recipe fills many jars, complete with crimson medicinal yumminess! Grab the recipe (including a photographic tutorial) in our 23-page FREE Herbal Holiday Guide at this link: www.chestnutherbs.com/herbal-holiday-guide

*If you're a student (current or alumni) or subscribe to our newsletter, you should already have an e-mail from us (recent newsletter) with a link to the Herbal Holiday Guide. If you don't see it after checking your spam folder and promotions folder (gmail), then please contact support@chestnutherbs.com and we'll get you all sorted out!

11/28/2017

Foraged winter pantry dreams // Learning how to forage is a major game changer for any human. These skills are our birthright, but sadly most of us didn’t grow up learning them. Gathering medicine and food from the wild connects us to the natural world, our ancestral heritage, and our wild animal selves. When we are more personally involved with our foods and medicines (by growing or gathering), we can be assured that they are fresh, of high quality, and harvested in a sustainable fashion. We also weave ourselves indelibly into the great food chain of life, which instinctively encourages us to steward and tend our sources of sustenance.

In my mind, the most sustainable way to gather food and medicine from wild places is to hone in on a particular array of plentiful, generous, and nourishing plants. These herbs are the wild weeds, the common flora, the invasives—the prolific volunteers that are often tossed into the compost pile. These are also some of our most superb medicinal allies and nutrient-rich wild foods! I’m talking about plants like chickweed, dandelion, wild rose, burdock, cleavers, violet, blackberry, and stinging nettles. Believe me, getting to know these plants is a bit like working a magic spell—the ordinary suddenly becomes extraordinary, astounding, beloved.

~ For our guidance on sustainable + safe wild food + medicine foraging, visit the blog: https://chestnutherbs.com/foraging-for-wild-edibles-and-herbs-sustainable-and-safe-gathering-practices/. And stay tuned for our upcoming Online Foraging Course!

Picture perfect illustration by Jill Barklem of Brambly Hedge Official. Many thanks for generously allowing us to use your gorgeous images!

11/27/2017

Prickly pear pads are high in soluble fiber, which helps remove excess cholesterol from the body, and are thus beneficial in preventing cardiovascular disease. Prickly pear is one of the most popular natural remedies in Mexico for treating non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). It has demonstrated hypoglycemic effects, possibly through increasing insulin sensitivity at the level of cellular membranes. Prickly pear appears to be more active in moderating blood sugar levels as food, rather than the powdered form (capsules). The daily dosage is four fluid ounces (120 ml) of a slurry made from the pad blended with water, taken in divided dosages. An alternative is one to two small pads ingested as food—a more pleasant delivery of prickly pear medicine for most people.

Caution should be used in combining prickly pear with pharmaceutical hypoglycemic agents, as the prickly pear may dangerously compound the hypoglycemic effect. The dosage of the pharmaceutical may need to be lowered with concurrent use of prickly pear.

We talk all about food as medicine in our Online Herbal Immersion. Come join us! www.chestnutherbs.com/immersion

(Opuntia spp.)
Photo © Juliet Blankespoor

*Please research any new herb and consult your health care providers for possible drug/herb contraindications and precautions before ingesting. Be sure of your identification before ingesting any plant or mushroom.

11/19/2017

Calendula is one of my favorite personal wintertime teas for keeping the immune system in tiptop shape. We add the flowers to our herbal soup broth, along with astragalus, shiitake, maitake mushrooms, and nettles. I also find it uplifting, especially when I am feeling the long-dark-night-blahs. Interestingly, a strong cup of calendula tea has a flavor reminiscent of unsweetened cacao. Most modern herbalists don’t use it as one of their primary anti-depressant herbs, but its use in this capacity has a strong historical precedence. For more on calendula's medicinal and culinary uses, please see my article on my blog Castanea:

http://chestnutherbs.com/calendula-sunshine-incarnate-an-edible-and-medicinal-flower/

And check out our Online Herbal Immersion program for a hearty dose of herbal immune system wisdom + our favorite recipes for preventing and treating winter's common ailments: www.chestnutherbs.com/immersion

(Calendula officinalis, Asteraceae).
Photo © Juliet Blankespoor

*Please research any new herb and consult your health care providers for possible drug/herb contraindications and precautions before ingesting. Be sure of your identification before ingesting any plant or mushroom.

11/16/2017

Salt is perhaps the most classic of all traditional seasonings. Here, we've upped the ante. Herbal finishing salts are a special way to bring your favorite flavors to the table. They are so alchemical - fresh herbs ground with coarse sea salt, laid out to dry and synergize for a few days. The salt absorbs the moisture and flavor of the herbs. We have several recipes up on the blog (link below) - perfect for the celebratory feasts of the holiday season, and a beautiful gift to boot. Pictured, a blend featuring white sage and lemon zest.

For all of our favorite recipes:
http://chestnutherbs.com/herbal-finishing-salts-and-white-sage/

Photo © Juliet Blankespoor

11/16/2017

Honeysuckle magic! Japanese honeysuckle is one of the most important medicines worldwide - and is great to have on hand during the winter months. The flower buds and opened flowers are anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory. They can be used in tea, tincture or pill form for colds, flu, urinary tract infections, ear infections, laryngitis and mastitis.

We feature a module on herbs for the immune system in our *online* Herbal Immersion ~ it's filled with medicinal wisdom, recipes, herbal anecdotes, and cultivation how-tos. Take a peek: www.chestnutherbs.com/immersion

(Lonicera japonica, Caprifoliaceae).
Photo © Juliet Blankespoor

*Please research any new herb and consult your health care providers for possible drug/herb contraindications and precautions before ingesting. Be sure of your identification before ingesting any plant or mushroom.

11/16/2017

Spiced Hawthorn Persimmon Pear Brandy // This is one of our favorite herbal gifts to prepare for nearly every festive occasion of the holiday season. It's brimming with heart-warming medicine and it's also a digestif - which is clearly called for at each and every decadent meal! For a non-alchoholic option, try substituting fresh-pressed cider for the brandy.

The recipe is on the blog: http://chestnutherbs.com/spiced-hawthorn-pear-persimmon-brandy/

And if you want to get crafty in the kitchen with us this winter, swoop on over to our website and scroll through the details of our online Medicine Making Course: http://chestnutherbs.com/online-herbal-classes/herbal-medicine-making-course/

Photo © Juliet Blankespoor

11/10/2017

Overcome the common mistakes most people make when using herbs for colds & flu

11/02/2017

Raspberry’s leaves and fruits are both nutritive tonic herbs. The berries, full of juicy vitality, are a nourishing food-medicine rich in antioxidants, phenolic acids, and anthocyanins—a powerhouse of compounds and plant pigments that stimulate the immune system, nourish the blood, and protect against heart disease and cancer. Interestingly, studies reveal that raspberry’s leaves may be even higher in flavonoids and antioxidants than the richly colored fruits. They're also packed with vitamins and minerals—especially calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, and vitamins B, C, and E.

Do you want to learn all about the medicine of the berry patch? Join us for our Online Herbal Immersion and we'll share how to grow, tend, gather, and make medicine with these delicious herbs. For details: www.chestnutherbs.com/immersion

Red raspberry (Rubus idaeus) illustration by F. E. Kohler, circa 1887.

*Please research any new herb and consult your health care providers for possible drug/herb contraindications and precautions before ingesting. Because raspberry leaf is astringent, it can be overly drying for people with dry skin and mucosa. Demulcent herbs, such as marshmallow (Althaea officinalis), chickweed (Stellaria media), violet (Viola sororia and V. odorata), and linden (Tilia spp.) can counteract its drying qualities. Be sure of your identification before ingesting any plant or mushroom.

11/01/2017

Lemon balm, all dressed up in frost. Unlike some of the cold-sensitive herbs we've been harvesting over the past few weeks, lemon balm is up to the challenge of a freezing winter. Come spring, she'll be back bigger and bushier than ever.

As we move into the colder, darker months, keep in mind that lemon balm is an uplifting seasonal tonic for those who experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Its cheering qualities also make it a gentle but powerful remedy for sadness, depression, and melancholy. In either case, its effectiveness is enhanced when combined with Saint John’s wort. I find a fragrant infusion of lemon balm to be more heartwarming for depression than a tincture, but both are effective. Other gladdening herbs like rose, cardamom, and tulsi are good additions. A lemon balm bath also does wonders for raising a downcast heart.

~ To learn more about lemon balm, and other herbs for health and healing, join us for our Online Herbal Immersion—the most comprehensive online course in DIY herbalism there is!
www.chestnutherbs.com/immersion

(Melissa officinalis, Lamiaceae).
Photo © Juliet Blankespoor

*Please research any new herb and consult your health care providers for possible drug/herb contraindications and precautions before ingesting. Be sure of your identification before ingesting any plant or mushroom.

10/31/2017

"This Autumn, let something die.

A worry, a relationship, a project that has run its course. Let go of anxiety over the future. Let go of guilt.

Let go of other people’s dreams for you. Let go of the fear that happiness or success or love or joyousness somehow isn’t for you.

Let go of feeling unwanted. Go outside, can you feel how deeply your presence is craved here?

Let go of the small and burdensome things. Gifts never opened. Keys without a lock. Broken earrings, old love letters, the ephemera on your fridge.

As David Whyte writes, “Anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.” This Autumn, let go of all the clothes you have outgrown.

Let go of comparison.
Let go of doubt.
Let go of the feeling that you are somehow not good enough.

Because every imperfect apple that lays soft in your hands, and every ray of low Autumn sunlight that warms you through woolens will tell you a different story, a much truer story. The story that you are more, much more, than enough. That you bless this world simply by being alive."

—Seasonal words and photo by Asia Suler of One Willow Apothecaries

10/28/2017

"Botanical Shakespeare," by Gerit Quealy with illustrations by Sumié Hasegawa-Collins, compiles the roughly 175 mentions of plants in Shakespeare's plays.

10/19/2017

Astragalus is one of our premier immunomodulating herbs. Immunomodulators have been used traditionally as tonic support for the immune system, and are slower acting with a more prolonged effect, as compared to immunostimulants (like Echinacea and Elderberry). Also called deep immune tonics, they are used for longer periods of time when necessary and have a more balancing, rather than stimulating effect on the body.

Therapeutically, immunomodulating herbs are used when there is poor immunity, as seen in individuals who experience frequent infections. Herbal immunomodulators are also used when the immune system is over-active, as in allergies and auto-immunity. This seemingly dualistic nature can sound miraculous, especially to those familiar with the unidirectional action of pharmaceuticals.

If you're curious about how to use immune system herbs to their best effect, visit the blog for a tutorial on immune stimulants, immunomodulators, immune tonics, and anti-bacterial herbs: http://chestnutherbs.com/herbs-for-the-immune-system/

{We also cover astragalus in great detail in our Online Herbal Immersion, the most comprehensive online program in DIY herbalism: www.chestnutherbs.com/immersion}

(Astragalus propinquus, Fabaceae).
Photo © Juliet Blankespoor

Crazy Lady farm

02/26/2018

01/06/2018

01/04/2018

12/30/2017

12/23/2017

12/10/2017

11/28/2017

11/27/2017

11/19/2017

11/16/2017

11/16/2017

11/16/2017

11/10/2017

11/02/2017

11/01/2017

10/31/2017

10/28/2017

10/19/2017

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Practice

Shortcuts

Share