Herb Mother

A few years ago, I got really overwhelmed after I started reading about all the gunk that makes its way into most commercial cleaning and body care products. I immediately threw everything away and got crazy making it all from scratch. It was mostly a disaster and I ended up rebuying a lot of stuff. But, then I made this list. It was mighty, but fun and challenging. It was a list of all the things I wanted to replace herbals with in my home. You know like, floor cleaner, dish soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, deodorant. I’ve been chipping away at it, but making sure to take my time with each one so as to make it smell and taste really good as well as be truly effective.

The most recent thing I’ve checked off is replacing tooth paste with tooth powder. I took a class from a super cool herb guy last January that was all about natural tooth care. It was fascinating and I bought a few ounces of his tooth powder. But determined to make my own, I started experimenting. Some tasted terrible, weren’t ground fine enough, left bits of bark and seed in my mouth, others just didn’t feel clean. But finally, I’ve settled on something that we all like. The kids even think it’s fun to brush their teeth with it, actually thought it was dirt at first, which really excited Sevilla.

The basic ingredients are baking soda and salt. Something like 3:1 ratio. As with most of my potions, I don’t really know the exactness of what goes in the powder, but I’ll share what I use.

Baking soda
Salt
Desert Lavender
Creosote Bush
Horsetail
Cinnamon
Licorice Root
Desert Rhubarb Root (this is a new addition, supposed to help with mouth sores and gingivitis)

Put it all in a coffee/spice grinder and grind to a super fine powder. For brushing, just wet toothbrush, sprinkle on and brush. It might feel strange at first, but after a few days your mouth will never feel better. I still use my toothbrush, but a thick tree branch or root like licorice works well. I’m just not quite ready to give that up. But I do use my branches and roots to chew on and push against my teeth throughout the day.

Try mixing up a powder of your own, all you really need is baking powder and salt. There are many antiseptic and cleaning herbs you can add. What do you think you could try?

Besos,
Latisha

Have you signed up for the HerbMama newsletter yet? And, I’m being a little quiet about it, but the first HerbCraft eCamp is now open for registration!

My camera went kaput, and I didn’t expect it to bother me so much. I didn’t realize how attached I had become to telling stories in that way. I’m using my crappy phone and tiny old pocket camera that doesn’t feel very good. It’s been a week of ups and downs. Successes and major crash and burns. But I am grateful for every bit. Even the hard parts. Forward motion, big risks and changes are always a hard, but the payoff will be worth it in the end as long as we keep ourselves grounded in love. I have some fun projects to share as soon as I get this picture situation sorted out, but here are a few flashes that are making me smile as I remember them.

Oh! And just because I can’t take great pictures, doesn’t mean I can’t hire someone else to. My dear friend Georgia came over the other day while we were making medicine and followed us around with her camera. Check out the magic she made over at her blog here.

Counter filling up with potions. This was last week, it has already doubled in size.

Watching breathlessly, as little girls become….not so little.

Making art with nature bits.

and just remembering to have fun with the messy stuff.

Because we are a wee bit busy with packing and such, I’m reposting our Valentine’s adventures from last year. May you find love and inspiration in these treasures if you have the time. We will be doing none of these fancy things this year, but spending the day wearing love on our sleeves just being together. 

Because love is good enough for everyday. Here’s some of what we were up to valentine’s week 2011.

collecting treasures

dreaming sweet dreams

taking a bite out of love

finding love in everything

finally, becoming queen for a day. this was the best part of our week. after cutting the things we loved out of magazines to string around the house, sevi noticed the leftover parts made crowns. the imagination of a 3 year old is inspiring.

Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them. ~A. A. Milne

I’ve been spending a good bit of time with the garden guests this past week. I call the weeds guests, because we invite them, they come for a little while, but don’t stay all spring. We will let them grow tall, twisting and turning their roots tilling and nourishing and blessing the soil a bit longer before we pull them to make room for the other herbs we’ve planted.

My children especially love the weeds. It’s almost as if they can hear the plants calling them near like an old friend. Like the cats nibbling on the grass, I often find Sevi and Sage instinctively pulling at chicory and dandelion leaves munching away as they play all day on the patio. Sevi even made up a little chicory song, that somewhat resembles the ch-ch-ch-chia jingle. The children are connected to the plants in a knowing and primal way, like the animals. They don’t need to know why or what the plant is doing to their body, they just know they need it. And they listen. If they happen to grab something not for them, they know immediately and move on to something else.  They don’t continue to eat a plant simply because there is something in its medicinal value that must be working for some ailment in their body. That leaves this science minded mama often dumfounded. True, we talk a lot about plants in this house, but there seems to be a deeper relationship the children have, far beyond what I may ‘teach.’ It is a constant gift and a blessing to be taught again and again through them, how simple using plant medicine can be, when we are childlike in our approach.

I don’t mean to say that learning about the medicinal qualities and constituents and safety is not important. But that working with plant medicine is so much bigger than just those things. Something I am having to remind myself constantly when stumbling to find ‘the just right plant’ and always thinking I *need* to understand why it works pharmacologically. I’m no herbal expert, but the more I learn about why it works, the more I see how important it is to engage intuition with this craft. The more I just drink the tea already.

Rechilding the scientifically minded part of myself begins with the senses. Watching my children carefully, I model them hoping to tap into that little girl who once sat under the trees staring for hours. I take a place under the ficus and listen to the breeze rattle through the leaves, wafting the sweet scent of honeysuckle behind me. I lean in and gently pet the hairy borage leaves, and marvel at the dainty fine hairs on the nettle. Finally my eyes are directed toward the chicory that has held their attention so much in the recent days. I pluck one of her tall upright leaves and taste the bitter citrus healing of her offering. I feel a freshness, my cells dancing and running to receive this nourishment. That slow intentional bite of one leaf does more for my body, than taking my bitter tincture before each meal, which is often done mindlessly and in a rush.

I am grateful for my tinctures. They offer an availability to the medicine when I don’t always have the time to spend outside. But it’s not enough. First, the plants ask that we play. Only then, like the children so easily do, are we able to realize the full potency of their medicine.

Please note that I do not advocate letting your children simply walk around tasting whatever plants they  find. Everything in my garden is safe for my children to munch. They learn about prickly plants the natural way, by getting to know them and both are very respectful of the nettle and she rarely stings them. We have set very good ground rules in our home about tasting things other places whether they are other people’s gardens or in the wild. My girls know to ask first before putting anything in their mouths. Children have a natural relationship to the wild world and are very curious, especially if never given the opportunity to engage with plants in this way. Please be sure to set some ground rules before letting them explore with their taste buds.