Yesterday was the last class day. I have to say I was a bit sad that I won't be exploring new regions and counties each weekend with my knowledgeable instructor, but as I go off on my own more often, my knowledge base should grow. He already said that I picked up on a lot of the things that would make me a great natural healer.
We made a de-stress syrup with Carrion flower berries. The berries generally have no taste, but with some sugar it's easily yummy. My course's end was unique for myself as well as for my instructor; we made a foraged/ medicinal plant meal for my family who had tagged along with me to Norfolk County this weekend. The meal was lettuce and tomato salad, a coconut rice mélange with leaves from plants such as St. John's Wort, Redroot Pigweed (amaranth), and Common Yellow Wood Sorrel. For dessert, we had watermelon and carrion syrupy bread. It was fantastic.
The carrion flower syrup & coconut oil on toast (similar to honey toast) before driving home from the campsite worked its magic. Driving is never stressful for me, but there were some wacko wreckless drivers out there. The carrion flower syrup bread kept me pretty calm. Only thing is, it was so yummy I used it all up!
I also sent a tincture (alcohol-based soak of herbal ingredients) to my father as he was having neck/ arm pain. I figure my first 'patient' should be someone who knows me and trusts my judgement of what to put in a tincture. I'm also starting to develop an assessment method for how I will conduct natural medicine. So for now I will be determining imbalances in the body (which can also pertain to the mind and spirit), what has triggered these imbalances, and the best way to remedy them. Using myself as my first guinea pig merely two weeks ago, I may have found a combination of herbs that would allow me to phase out my pharmaceutical medication. Now the issue is where to find them in this great big city of Toronto.
So an imbalance test, personal profile, and a personalized one-pager for solutions will be given to my medicinal plant guinea pigs. I already have a few individuals in mind who I believe would try anything since nothing has worked for them before. If anyone is in Toronto and having problems finding medicine that works, or if you have a condition for which you do not want to take prescription drugs, check out some medicinal plant properties and see if they would work for you. Of course you can also contact me if you want a bit of help figuring out which is the best herbal remedy for you, or anything else pertaining to medicinal plants or field botany.
