Crushed cranberry lemonade decoction

I was delivered a package of fresh cranberries around thanksgiving, and was finally able to use them... All of them!

First, I washed the cranberries in cold water, then put them in the blender for about 15 seconds just to crush them. Then I added 3 parts water, a whole lemon, brown rice syrup and sugar to the cranberries, and boiled them for about 10 minutes. Then I strained the juice to get the cranberry skin bits out, although my partner loves the pulp! This process basically makes a concentrate to which I added sparkling mineral water to make it fizzy and.. mineral-y (haha). So yummy! I'll be glad when I find highbush cranberry (awesome for cramps and headaches) and will make the same thing!

Willow tree Headache wipe-away!

So I had a throbbing headache for about 36 hours a couple of days ago, and it was horrible.

I had to leave work early because of it, but now I'm feeling fine and heading to work headache-free! I met up with my friend Emma and we scoured downtown Toronto for a willow tree of the Salix genus, as this contains salicin which metabolizes in the human body as salicylic acid, a natural form of aspirin. It was clearly a success!

First, I have to say that I tried real Advil for my headache, and it did nothing. Then Tuesday night I made a willow bark and bergamot tea, and here's how I did it! The following is for one or two people.

1. COLLECT 5-10 willow leaves, 3-6 pieces of willow bark (inner bark is best) and 5-10 bergamot leaves. Leaves can be fresh or dried.

2. WASH the willow leaves and bark, and bergamot leaves in cold water.

3. BREW 1.5-3 cups of water with the plants (let boil for 5-7 minutes) , let stand and steep for about 10 minutes.

4. FLAVOUR and COOL with sugar and soy/ almond milk.

Willow bark- noted as one ingredient of which I must have a constant collection. Not only did this tea vanquish my headache, the bergamot calmed me down to have a good night's sleep. LOVE IT.

'Confections' of a Botanist Pt.1

Today I was inspired. I had an amazing day at work after having a terrible one the day before. I decided to do some baking after my lovely made a salad and lasagna. The salad dressing he made was simple; he put so many pieces of tomato, onion, cucumber and lettuce in, and it was so good. I knew he had a gift with food, I think he just needs to explore it more.

Anyways, obviously without him, I made 3 things tonight. I did some vegan baking The first was a carob-banana bread that came out looking SO fine. The second; fruit & fibre bran muffins with all this classy dried fruit, coconut and oats. The last was really fun: autumn olive marmalade. I FINALLY got some agar to use as the jeller (agar is seaweed gelatin, so vegan) and the strained sugared jelly is chilling in the fridge overnight. Awesome tip for making your own jelly: some types of berries, when boiled with sugar and agar in my experience, actually shed their pulp to fully expose the seed for straining! I found this particularly helpful, as Autumn Olive fruit are tiny and were really hard to mash. So I took my chances, and it worked out just great. Pictures to come tomorrow.

The best test for great baked goods is if they taste as good the second day they've been 'alive' as they did when they were first made. Very few treats can pass this test consistently. I will post pictures tomorrow of my fabulous, super-healthy creations!

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Diary of a Future Ethnobotanist Pt. 2: Child transference: the best of its kind

So I'm starting to get a feel (and taste, smell, and eye) for which plants look like what and what ailments they can help. My great long-term memory and innate intuition come in handy, especially when there are thousands upon thousands of species of plants, and I only know just over 200 of them!

I want to share a story; dedicated to my instructor Dave Jolly. When we first spoke we were discussing how my newfound plant knowledge would come with the responsibility of sharing it with others. Already I feel as though I've already made a difference with one of the children I nanny.

There's a bright, fun, and totally loveable child for whom I care for at times when her father asks. She's one of the most unique persons I know (and I know a lot of people!) and last week when we hung out, we went for a long walk and collected some samples of plants for her own plant identification sample book.

Yesterday we went on another outing, and among other things, we found an edible plant; one that we had found almost two weeks earlier. When I offered her a part of the plant stem, she actually referred to the plant by name (wood sorrel, which tastes sweet and lemony) and I got so proud I started shrieking "Oh my goodness! Oh my gosh! Great work, I can't believe you remembered that!!"

It was a moment that I will remember forever. It's the same feeling I get when I am explaining something of great depth to someone, and they finally understand. I imagine that for anyone who has ever tried to teach or impart knowledge to someone else, it's the same feeling.

All I know is that I've been given permission from the girl's father to teach her what I can about edible and medicinal plants, and I want to take advantage of it. If I knew about medicinal plants as a kid, I might have been a much healthier individual, which is my hope for my child friend and any others I am privileged to teach along the way.

Finito, pero hay mas a saber.

So my course is finished, and I now hold a certificate of a Field Botany Trainee in Medicinal Plants. I have to give props to my instructor, as he was so inspiring and thorough. I can only hope and pray that my knowledge of field botany will be half as detailed as his as I explore the wetlands, uplands, and disturbed areas of Toronto over the next few years.

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.

Diary of a Future Ethnobotanist Pt. 1

I am realizing that after the biological field work I am doing this month, focusing specifically on edible and medicinal plants, it's going to take me even longer to get somewhere if I'm walking. There are so many beautiful plants around us everyday that we could be eating and using for medicinal purposes -often working more effectively than pharmaceutical medication- I thought I might as well know what these plants are, how to identify them, and how they can be used. This diary will serve as interpreted findings in various field sites in Aylmer, Ontario, and parks in the city of Toronto.

At an Alymer field site this weekend, my instructor and I made a tincture of a surprise doctor's signatures plant (plant with crazy medicinal properties) and it's sitting in my windowsill, being activated in alcohol by the sunlight. It should be ready in about a month, and I will go searching for some more of the plant in the park close to my house as it is something good to always have around; at work I referred to it as a natural superdrug.

Walking home from dropping off a rental car, I found some Queen Anne's lace on the side of the road (can be confused with poison hemlock, the reason of death of Socrates and the true-story guy in the movie Into the Woods) and I'm 100% sure it was Queen Anne's Lace. It tasted more like carrot than parsnip as well as carried the visual traits of having some hairs on the stem, being under 3ft, and having one purple flower in the middle of the flower cluster. I ate a few stems, guess they were my breakfast. Yumm.

I made a tea yesterday of staghorn sumac and st. John's wort. Definitely not supposed to have st. John's wort with seroquel/ quetiapine, but it wasn't a lot and I needed some energy. The sumac made it sweet with its richness in vitamin C, and made for an earthy-tasting tea/ infusion when cold. I have a mint plant, mad dog skullcap, to use tonight to help me sleep. I had it in Alymer when I was alone in my tent an I PASSED OUT; one of the best sleeps of my life. Anyways, I need to learn some more of the identifiers for the plants, but I will be exploring what edible/ medicinal plants can be found in the northern part of David A. Balfour Park later this week.

COMING SOON...

my neurotic thoughts. for you.

sneak peek: I'll lament about our increasing dependence on technology, the future of our children and youth, explain and expand on my world view, express my gratitude and love for nature, and share stories that have made me laugh and laugh again.

A great song and video. Check it out. Noah and the Whale




...coming soon...