Dear Nature Academy: Week 2

Dear Nature Academy,

Hi again!  Today was so fun!  Doran hit the nail on the head when he said that the flow of our day was awesome.  Projects combined with play...  I just think about everything that you accomplished today and I am so grateful!

Can I just say that you all rocked at milking the goat?  It amazes me how quickly you all picked it up.  It took me days to get to the point that all of you reached after a few squirts in the bucket.  You all were so gentle and empathetic towards Terra.  Milking an animal is an intimate thing, and you can't help but form relationships with them.  They can feel when they are being respected, loved and appreciated.  I could tell that Terra was very comfortable today, and although she was a little nervous here and there, over all she settled in very nicely to having so many different people handle her.  It was truly a reflection of all of your calmness and gentleness.

So during our milking lesson we talked a little bit about the difference between a sterile operation and a sanitary operation.  Some farms use harsh chemicals in an attempt to sterilize all of their equipment and the udders of their goats.  We however choose a more natural approach.  We first washed Terra down with a cloth dipped in hot water and peppermint castile soap.  We scrubbed all sides of her udder, especially around her teats, and also her belly to remove any loose hairs.  Next, we sprayed her teats and our hands with a sanitizing vinegar and essential oil solution.  Here is my recipe for that spray:

Home Made Disinfecting Teat Spray

You will need:

1 – 4oz dark colored glass spray bottle

8 drops – peppermint essential oil

8 drops – tea tree essential oil

6 drops – lavender oil

2 drops clove oil

Distilled white vinegar to fill bottle

Add each essential oil to the glass bottle and fill remainder of bottle with vinegar.  Shake before each use.  Use this teat spray after you wash her udder and before you milk, and allow to air dry to disinfect her udder and prevent germs from traveling into the milk.  Spray her teats again after you are done milking to protect her against pathogens infecting her udder.  This spray will not harm the milk or the kids in the least.  

 So since Terra kicked our bucket a few times, we fed her milk to the pig rather than keeping it to drink ourselves.  When pasteurization isn't in the equation, we always have to be prepared to discard milk that has been contaminated, even if it's only a possibility that it's been contaminated.  

I am so thankful for the delicious picnic you all brought for us!  Everything was so good, and filled my belly up!  Nom, nom, nom... : )  

After lunch we moved right along to making some herbal medicines.  First was the Immunity Tincture!  This preparation is full of herbs that are going to fight both bacterial and viral infections (colds and flues), build your immune system, as well as tonify and cleanse your liver and blood.  Here is the recipe we followed:




(All of the herbs listed from this point forward are linked to more information about that herb.  Just click on the herb name.)

Immunity Tincture

You will need:
1/2 pint mason jar
1 tbsp elder berries
1 tbsp echinacea root
1 tbsp nettle leaf
1 inch piece of astragalus root (torn into small pieces)
Raw apple cider vinegar

Add all herbs into your jar, and then top the jar off with the apple cider vinegar, leaving 1/2" of head space. Shake and set in a cool dark place for at least 4 weeks.  Shake daily (if you remember...).

Here are some things we discussed about tinctures:

• Traditionally, tinctures are made with a strong alcohol as a base.  However, alcohol free tinctures are an important option to have for people that react negatively to alcohol based preparations, would prefer to avoid alcohol or for when the medicine is being made for children.  Raw apple cider vinegar (from a trusted, ethical, and/or organic source) is a very effective and high quality alternative to alcohol, however, it does not extract the properties of the herbs as efficiently as the alcohol, so it is important to leave the tincture to steep for an entire lunar month.
• Speaking of lunar months...  I like to prepare all herbal medicines on the new moon, and leave them to infuse until the following new moon.  The new moon has fantastic energy for starting new projects, creation and setting intentions.  Leaving the medicine to steep through the entire moon cycle allows it to take full advantage of all the drawing properties of the moon cycle as it goes from new, to waxing, to full, to waning.  
• You can make a tincture with whatever ingredients you want in whatever size jar you want!  The general rule of thumb is to fill your jar 1/5 of the way with dried herbs, and then fill the rest of it with the apple cider vinegar.  Kale and I spoke about headaches a little.  Here's a recipe that could help with that:  Migraine Relief Tincture
• We talked about why using dried herbs is preferable to using fresh herbs in tinctures.  The vinegar will draw out the juices from the fresh herbs and become diluted.  This will diminish the effectiveness of the vinegar pulling the vital components out of the herbs.  The above migraine recipe gives the option of using fresh or dried herbs.  I would definitely use dried!  

We also made some herbal oils, in preparation for making salves in a few weeks.  The process for making herbal oils if very similar to making tinctures.  We infuse herbs into oil for entire lunar month, however we filled our jars 1/3 to 1/2 of the way full with the dried and/or fresh herbs.  In an herbal oil it is great to use fresh herbs!  Herbal oils get made into topical applications, and in most cases the juices from the herbs are what brings relief to wounds, rashes, sores, etc.  I had an array of herbs available for you all to include in your oils and each of you came up with your own mix!  I loved seeing all the variations.  I know Meg and Keenan went outside to pick some chickweed to add to their oils.  Did anyone else?

Here are the herbs that I had out:

• Calendula
• Lavender
• Comfrey root
• Marshmallow root
• Chamomile
• Thyme
• Echinacea root
•  Chickweed

Once our jars were filled with our special blends of chosen herbs, we then topped off the jars with organic olive oil, and put them up on the shelf with our finished tinctures.  I'll am shaking the jars once a day to make sure no air bubbles collect around the herbs (which would interfere with the extraction taking place), and in 4 weeks we'll harvest our medicines, and use the oils to makes salves!

In closing, I want to send out a HUGE THANK YOU to you all for moving my terribly heavy bath tubs into the garden for me!  What a chore!!!  It'll be great to plant medicinal herbs in them and have a "farmacy" right outside the door!  You guys rock ; )
 

Harvesting Forest Soil for Starting Seeds

I had a very interesting conversation today.  In involved commercial compost and potting soil, and human bio-waste.  That's all I'm going to say about that...

If you are like me, with a gigantic pile of unfinished compost at sowing time, you have been calling around to local garden centers and landscape supply outlets to ask about organic compost and seed starting mediums.  By now, it seems like most people are aware of the very misleading "organic" labeling on most bagged soil amendments.  For example, Miracle Grow brand "organic"potting soil has the synthetic fertilizer, ammonium phosphate, in it.  Right on the back of the bag, in the world's smallest font, it says that it is not to be used by certified organic growers.  Then to top it off, I had the aforementioned conversation.  Needless to say, I no longer had an interest in any type of commercially produced compost or potting soil.  You must even beware the compost created on site by landscape supply centers.  These composts are typically only made of green waste, then they just sprinkle on some compost activator and call it good.  Sounds harmless right?  Well, in most cases the green waste is dumped there by landscapers and tree trimmers, so you are at risk of introducing toxic pesticides and herbicides into your garden.  So what are you to do, when it seems like there are no options?  Look to nature.  She always provides!

When you walk around the forest, no doubt the ground looks like this:

I mostly have oak woodland around here, so you see lots of oak leaves and twigs.   The forest floor in a pine forest may look a little different than this photo, but that doesn't matter.  It is what's underneath that top layer of leaves (or pine needles) that you want.  When you scrape off that top layer of whole or only partially broken down leaves, you should find this:

 

Isn't that soil beautiful!  I found this black, rich soil only 6 inches down or so, right around the base of a large old oak tree.  I chose to harvest soil from around the base of a tree because there was a natural clearing where no plants where growing.  Often times the natural mulch around the trunks is too thick for delicate forest grasses to grow through.  When you hold this soil in your hands it is light, fluffy, and smells of the Earth.  It is teaming with beneficial microbes and nutrients.  Since it is from nature, and nature is a genius, it is sprinkled with lot's of little rocks which is great for aeration (read: one less thing you have to add to it!).  It is so ALIVE!!!  What could be more perfect for starting your seeds?   I took only what I needed!

 

When I was done, I thanked the forest for this bountiful, rich gift, and for saving me money!  I also took the time to cover my tracks and replace the top layer of leaves I had pulled back.  The forest soil is a precious resource to new plants and the animals that feed on them, and that top layer is there to protect it.

In my next blog post, I will show how I used this forest soil to start my seeds, and some things you can add to further enrich it and give your plants a great start!

UPDATE:  The post about turning your forest soil into a good seed starting medium is up on the blog!