July is a busy month of harvesting fresh plants, both wild and cultivated. One of my favourite herbs of the season is St. John’s Wort, the latin name Hypericum perforatum. This bright little yellow flower is named after St. John the Baptist, a holiday celebrated in June, which is typically the week Hypericum begins to bloom. I’ve…
Wise sages throughout history have been known to say nature provides humans with all the medicine we may need for every illness. While it may be so that we haven’t yet decoded all of Nature’s elixirs – or perhaps we’ve collectively lost much of this wisdom through our industrialization and domestication – nothing coaxes me…
Make Your Own Medicine Making your own herbal medicines is easy, relatively inexpensive, and requires minimal equipment. The key ingredient in both recipes below is Elderberry. Elderberries are known for their remarkable antiviral activity. During H1N1 2009 they were studied and found to be effective against the virus; to-date they are shown to be effective…
The first steps I took in the Andes of Ecuador were like walking through thick molasses. Immediately I had no choice but to slow down. Literally. Adjusting to altitude pressure is a peculiar experience. Though I wanted to move fast, I had no choice but to move in slow motion. The altitude in Quito is…
