What makes a tree medicinal? The answer to this question depends on the medicine we are searching for. Especially in spring, trees can be medicine for our eyes. After the grayness of winter, glorious flowering trees like dogwood and magnolia are sweet visions. Aside from landscaping decoration, both dogwood and magnolia along with many other trees,…

Plant energetics is a way to understand how a plant can affect the body through our senses and how it feels in the body. Energetics is subtle, but so helpful when choosing herbs. The difference between warming and cooling plant energetics is like feeling the warmth of the sun versus a cool plunge into the ocean. In this episode, we delve deep into …

Pine trees are trees that are very familiar especially because of their long thin needles and pine cones. But they seem overlooked for their culinary and herbal remedy benefits. In this episode, I am back in my kitchen with elegant pine needles brewing a tea blended with warming spices and preparing a skin healing salve. I’ll talk you through all t…

Herbal teas are a lovely way to be creative and experience herbs on a daily basis. Brewing herbal teas can take on different forms and tastes, including juice-like creations when dried berries are used as the main ingredients. These berry teas are a wonderful way to gain nutrient benefits from herbs. In this episode I am sharing my current favorite…

The Little Herb Saver: Lemon balm is like a blanket of peace, calming a nervous stomach, reducing anxiety, elevating a gloomy feeling, and providing relief for sleepless nights. That’s a lot, but that’s also not all. Lemon balm is easy to grow, lovely to eat or drink as tea, powerful in its own right but not in a way that lends caution to using it.…

Lemon balm is soothing, calming and uplifting, whether fresh or dried its a pleasure to have and use. Lemon balm is such a gem that it deserves a a two part herbal monograph. Here in part 1, Dina focuses on lemon balm's origin and the benefits it can offer for us now. Also offering favorite sources for dried lemon balm and some recipes for making t…

Baking and herbs both calm my heart and mind. In today’s episode, I am back in my kitchen baking scones with lemon balm infused heavy cream blended into the batter. Lemon balm is a delight to grow and the fresh leaves offer a beautiful perfumey aroma that can uplift a heavy heart and offer a peaceful moment. In the kitchen, it’s medicine for the ba…

Rounding out my broth episodes with ginger provides the perfect example of how lovely tasting herbal tea can second as herbal broth which then infuses the food we eat with an extra layer of nourishment. Ginger is a great example, because it is such a foundational culinary herb with multitudes of methods and recipes incorporating ginger both fresh a…

Could chicken soup be medicinal because of the plant and herbal ingredients?. Chicken adds nourishment but I propose the healing qualities are due to onions, thyme, bay leaves and pepper. Chicken Stock (from my kitchen) ½ gallon water (2 quarts) 3 pounds chicken bones (joints - wings, backs) 2 cups chopped onion 1 cup chopped carrot 1 cup chopped c…

Another form of kitchen alchemy and extraction: Kvass. This fermented beverage is refreshing and tangy. Using Kvass as broth may be unconventional but it is also uncommonly good, especially beet kvass used in borscht, either cold or hot. Give it a try. Kvass Recipe 12 slices dark rye bread 2-3 quarts hot water ¼ cup sugar or honey 1 ¼ teaspoon dry …

Join me in my kitchen apothecary as I make the easiest stock ever. Just garlic and water simmered together results in a versatile, flavorful and densely nourishing stock. It’s perfect for making vegetable soup, rice, marinara sauce or beans. Garlic Stock makes 2 quarts 2 whole heads garlic 1 Tablespoon olive oil 2 quarts water Gently wash garlic he…

Chocolate begins as the seeds of Theobroma cacao, a tropical tree. After much processing, we are gifted cocoa powder which is in itself an herbal remedy, a delicious one at that. Come join me in this pop-up tea salon episode where we brew a warm comfort cup of cocoa. **NEW TRIAL OFFERING: Herbal Kitchen Styling Sessions** To Schedule Click Here Men…

The more I work with weedy plants from my yard and in my kitchen, the greater my confidence in them grows. Plantain is the perfect bridge for embracing the idea that plants growing around us are remedies readily available. Plantain is a rockstar for healing the skin and mucous membranes where it can soothe pain, cleanse and promote wound healing. W…

This is not the tropical fruit plantain, so yummy cooked in butter. This plantain is the leafy green weed growing in any grassy yard, field or meadow. This plantain tops the list for herbal first aid remedies, especially for rashes and insect bites. In this episode, we explore topical uses including the amazing plantain poultice. Plantain Poultice …

Herbs offer all kinds of remedy. Tending a kitchen garden may provide culinary delights and stock for an herbal medicine cabinet, but with additional benefit of peace, solace and hope. Join me in this episode to tour through my 2020 kitchen garden for some delicious and medicinal discoveries. Mentions: Donna J. Haraway: Staying with the Trouble, Ma…

Medicine from plants can’t replace pharmaceuticals, but botanical remedies can contribute to prevention and recovery from illness. In this episode, I explore building the kitchen herbal pantry to include cough remedies. Categories and Examples of Herbs with therapeutic use for coughing Demulcents are herbs that soothe and protect mucous membranes f…

Sharing three inspirations of courage from my kitchen apothecary. A calming chai, ideas for a little remedy kit that you probably have already at home and thoughts for future herbal kitchen planning. Ashwaganda Chai Herb/Spice Blend ¼ cup ashwaganda root powder 2 teaspoons cinnamon powder ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder ¼ teaspoon clove powder ⅛ teaspoon …

Finally a kitchen medicine baking episode! This one starring herbal infused culinary oils. Not to be confused with essential oils, herb infused oils are easy to prepare at home and versatile. Always use dried herbs for infusing into an oil like olive oil. The creative options are endless. Perhaps begin by baking this biscotti with me! Mentions: Cul…

Herbal tinctures are welcome and sustainable additions to your kitchen medicine cabinet - whether homemade or purchased. And they are so easy to prepare. Join me to delve into the basics of herbal extractions. Herbal Tincture Weight to Volume Ratios Fresh Herbs 1:2 (1 part herb to 2 parts menstruum) Dried Herbs 1:4 or 1:5 (1 part herb to 4 or 5 par…

Astragalus is one of the premier immune system nourishing and strengthening herbal medicines. The best way to use an immune system tonifying herb like astragalus is to begin taking it when you are not sick, beginning about six weeks prior to the height of cold and flu season. It’s ideal for incorporating into cooking on a daily basis. In this episo…

Lovely red clover may be a weedy and grow wild, but it is not to be overlooked as a medicinal herb. This full monograph delves into all of its nuances from garden friend to delicious tea to profound remedy. Mentions: Mypronouns.org Strictly Medicinal Seeds David Winston’s Alterative Formula from Herbalist & Alchemist Celebrated Herbalists: David Wi…

We are forever learning the role of plant compounds in our bodies, especially those with complexity like isoflavones and phytoestrogens. Red clover and traditional whole soy foods are sources of these phytochemicals. In this episode, my goal is to reframe some of the controversies. Sources for Red Clover Dried or Tincture: Avena Botanicals Mountain…

I can not yet serve you a latte through your podcast app even though I wish that I could. Maybe someday that will happen. For now, here is a pop-up recipe offering, to make dandelion root vanilla latte homemade. I hope you enjoy! Dandelion Root Latte with Vanilla Syrup 8 ounces roasted dandelion root tea 2 teaspoons vanilla syrup ¼ cup milk (whole,…

An installment in my continued commitment to not waste the abundant and aggressive nettle crop I have growing in my yard. These green sauces are an embrace of life for me, a pathway to the things that I love: recipe collecting, discovery of brilliant herbal use and reason to shop for interesting ingredients, green or otherwise. Please come along an…

Materia medica tells a plant’s story. Please join me to explore and appreciate one of the herbalism sweethearts, a far cry from bothersome weed. I hope by the end you will love dandelion and never want to spray it with chemicals again. Taraxacum officinale = Dandelion: leaf, root, flower, stem Photos of Tarasque in Tarascon, France Sources for Dand…