HerbsAllAround

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La Crosse, WI
HerbsAllAround

HerbsAllAround Note there are hours by appointment and check to see if we are there and then drop by for a visit!

herbs and integrative health care planning, collaborating with you "from the ground up"...growing in the organic garden, wildcrafted in the woods and rivers, processed in the greenhouse and workshop into teas, oils, salves, tinctures, soaps, and related crafts..classes on how to make and use herbs and foods, massage area and sauna with fresh soups, juices or teas provided.

05/13/2026

the lady's slippers, our little patch has almost doubled this year! Maybe I have enough to make a bit of tincture or glycerite; it is an endangered plant and it's no longer possible to find it as an herbal product.
But anyway who cares?! It's breathtakingly beautiful!

Maybe I could have used some a couple weeks ago. I was getting a pot from the overhead rack, and knocked another large pot loose which fell on my head. Ow and a big lump and most likely a frontal concussion and perhaps a little contra-coup on the occipital side.

It really helps to know about head injuries, even the seeming little ones, because the symptoms and experiences can be just so weird and can change subtly but unpredictably.

What helped most was simple things like warm oat milk, sips of light veggie soups (chewing kind of hurt), violet and skullcap tea, switching to decaf coffee, less eyeballs on the computer screen, daily practice at stretching, walking, balancing, and most important, resting a lot. After head klonks you can feel very very irritable and fatigued, up and down for no apparent reason. Emotional reactions can be a bit big and sudden too.
What also helped a surprising amount was sticking to a less inflammatory diet. No wheat products, no red meats, no cow milk, no salt, no processed sugars, no alcohol, no caffeine, and everything well-cooked, warm or room temp liquid in sips. Amazing difference in bouts of crazy irritable pain brain

But take these bouts seriously especially if they continue and are accompanied by feeling extra sleepy; these may be signs of a little too much intracranial pressure, either from inflammation, resolving bruising or from a more obvious blood leakage or blockage . That kind of progression is a go-to-the-hospital kind of thing, but it isn't always easy to tell what is going on. It isn't always as focused as the one-sided signs you see in a stroke for example.

Unless you are a former neurosurgery ICU nurse who has had skull fractures in self and family members, go get checked out sooner rather than later after a head klonk, even a small one.

As we used to say... time is brain

04/24/2026

We are making fresh batches of our 6 signature tea blends, just finished Deep River and only have Sleep Aid left to do.

Deep River, Sleep Aid, Stomach Aid, Jin Jin, Uti, and Head and Chest teas are available at shop or garden. Order by pm or on the herbsallaround website "buy things" tab. They are all $8.50 per bag and make about 30 to 40 cups

So many people are selling rhings that I have hesitated to add to the overwhelming marketplace! But I think just once a week letting you know what we are making is low-key enough to I hope have more if an encouraging rather than frazzling effect🍄

Oh hanging out with the tea are "secret pocket" cat roys (mouse and spider); you can put one of our catnip tea bags in the secret pocket. Endorsed by Louis the big orange tabby

04/22/2026

Starting week 4 of Supported Cleanse on "Earth Day".

Holy moley, look out for that release of stored emotional junk! People might not realize that you hold onto unprocessed thoughts and emotions in a similar way (functionally or energetically speaking) to the way we store fat, or metabolic waste products, or nutrients in excess of what is needed, or exogenous chemicals and products in our food and environment.

More about that soon...

The photos show that food is still delicious, but just increasing the liquid form and gently warming spices. Cleanses are eliminative and cooling, so older traditions often caution against eating too many raw foods or drunking too many cool liquids

Veggie soup with fresh nettle leaf! Oregano, peppercorn, bay leaf today

Mug with almond milk, warm with added cinnamon

04/16/2026

Entering Week 3 of a Spring Supported Cleanse. So happy with progress so far! Eating delicious food, even a nibble of "bad" things occasionally, although those things just naturally appeal ro me less and less. Pretty much done with meat, cow milk products, salt, sugar, wheat flour products, alcohols. Still coffee in the morning though!

So for this week it's all about increasing lighter soups, teas, juices while adding a few gentle helpful herbs. But stll with much delicious food. So as I make recipes I will show them here

In the photo, simple stir fry with pumpkin, purple cabbage, tomato, kale, dame's rocket, onion, carrot, garlic, in a simmer of apple cider vinegar, shoyu, honey, water and ginger

No laxatives or harsh purgatives needed. When you get out of the way of your body's natural momentum at this time of year, things start to clear out pretty smoothly. The herbiest things I am doing are still just damdelion leaf and nettle leaf tea. Today I added some dilute juice of mulberry and raspberry, just because that's what I had in the freezer from last year.

I have had several delightfully sound sleeps. One shoulder still crunchy but intermittently, my whole body feels completely free of any stiffness or pain. I was walking through the market and suddenly realized that a lot of stuff felt wonderful. Well things just felt healthy and calm I should say, but when tou spend a couple decades at some level of feeling like ten miles of bad road, a wave of healthy and calm is almost startling.

Tomorrow naking veggie juice, soup and root coffee, and thinking about herbs to carefully add. None of this stuff is very exotic or expensive either

04/10/2026

Today added a few things to Spring Cleanse week 2: a bit of the lacto-fermented beet-cabbage sauerkraut, that I had started in February. Also a simple nettle and dandelion leaf tea.

Continued decreasing wheat flour, cow milk, salt, concentrated sugars, meat while increasing broth, soup, tea, coffee blended with mushroom.

I felt rhings moving a little too fast perhaps.. the body says ok coach! We can just quit all this bad stuff right now! That is encouraging but past experience has taught me that rhis can be a setup for a big craving-and-crashing episode. So I had some of our bread and a little butter in the evening, and a small almond milk latte.

Sometimes I think what folks experience as a "healing ceisis" during a cleanse is actually withdrawal symptoms, especially when discomforts are felt early in the process Your organs of digestion and metabolism have a lot of down-regulating to do and they can't just do it like flipping a switch. Complex biological systems don't generally work that way.

Perhaps later you may experience discomforts more truly related to a tempoary bloodstream increase of metabolic wastes and previously stored contaminants and chemicals. But the Supported Cleanse process makes this kind of unmanageable "washout" of toxins much less. I think it is much safer.

04/09/2026

Entering Week 2 of a Supported Spring Cleanse. The idea is, you do not do anything too abruptly. For example, it has been difficult to decrease conentrated sugars, foods containing wheat flour, or coffee from my daily diet.

You do not eliminate things unless you also do supportive things. So in the photos are some of the things to replace (gradually) pro-inflammatory, neurologically irritating and blood sugar raising things, with more supportive and soothing rhings.

After Week 1 I realized:
-crunchies in neck and back and one shoulder are gone. Other shoulder stull feels a little gritty though

-sleeping better and one night especially, a delicious sound sleep

-no further GI reflux

-improved energy during the day, one afternoon "sag" only

I think after this week I will be comfortable away from all wheat flour and concentrated sugars, and coffee perhaps 1 morning cup.

Taking time to do this supported withdrawal can be very important in avoiding "crashes" in blood sugar and other body systems that work to maintain neuro-hormonal balance. More ideas in the comments and more ideas tomorrow too

02/26/2026

I would love to help other clinical/medical herbalists be enouraged and successful in what you all do. It isn't always an easy path but it's so rewarding for practirioners and clients and community!

Please let me know what naterials or other supports I can help you with. Or just call and chat! Cheap or barter or I just donate whenever I am able to🌷

Or also, let me know if you would like a little "soapbox time" and I will give you space here to tell our communities about yourself and what you do🌻

02/25/2026

Hey herb friends, we are putting in our wholesale herb order rhis week, so if you are an herbal practirioner, (including a person making things for self, family, friends and community) please let us know if there are things to put on th list for you.
We mark up from wholesale about half as much as everybody, if at all. Extra charges for mail orders are minimal also

My goal this year is to get everybody started with their kitchen and bath herb cupboards and favorite recipes🌼

02/12/2026

Thank you for the interest and follows everybody. I will make the next video more concise..

Still pondering that question "what things should I do to not get colds and fevers and sore throats?" I am still answering this at the kitchen-medicine level, folding in your spices and foods and habits into many things you can do every day. This might be frustrating ro folks who expect a formula or protocol that covers a lot of answers.

And you may find your single or just a couple of your herbs that are your go-to for just about everything. But those would be unique to your needs, not the same as your neighbor's.

Anyway! I am reminded again of how important cultured foods can be in strengthening your body's ability to redist and heal diseases. Today we made a few more crocks of things to ferment.. descriptions in the comments

Vinegars, cow- and non-cow yogurt will have to wait ril next week. And then we should have the talk about mayo, mustard and ketchup

01/29/2026

Miso day!

Some herb-and-client friends have been asking, what can I do to prevent colds and flu bug illnesses, sore throats, aches and pains etc.? Well first of all, my training is that so much illness and imbalance is so unique to each person, that it is hard for me to generalize an answer. But!

One thing I have been talking about is using your kitchen as your first clinic and pharmacy. Cook everything with aromatic herbs and spices, make tangy tasty sauces and soups...generally speaking.

Here's another "first line of defense" thing to do..make and use fermented and cultured foods. Recently we made cheese, and we usually make yogurt every couple of weeks. In our household we do not eat or drink plain cold (uncultured) milk...except for the occasional ice cream sundae, which is medicine.
Today we are starting a crock of miso, another cultured food. This batch is made with our regionally grown, organic non-gmo soybeans. I would like to try making some with barley too, I understand that is really good.

Next we will make a jar or two of fruit vinegar, which has a live culture of Acetobacter which makes the tart vinegar when they nom up the fruit sugars. Apples work, but we have made pineapple vinegar (awesome) and pear vinegar among others. Maybe next week!

So...cook with aromatic spicy herbs. Make soup. Make and use cultured foods. You might be surprised at how much these kitchen medicine habits will help lower your tendency to get sick...generally speaking

What are your favorite cultured foods, how do you like to use them?

Address

1729 Kane Street
La Crosse, WI
54603

Website

http://www.herbsallaround.com/

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