The Classic Crash and Burn

It's something that just isn't worth fighting anymore. It always comes eventually. So many of my friends are self-employed entrepreneurs that I see it all around me, and at this time of year it can hit everyone, regardless of their circumstances. We work and work, creating endlessly auto-revising lists in our heads. As things get more urgent, diet, exercise, and fresh air fly out the window, sleep is sacrificed, and we are in contact with more people. I've actually experienced this in an almost instant way on some occasions. A few years ago I was caring for a desperately ill relative, and it was very stressful. I started to feel "off", but it showed up as a restless crankiness. After a few days, it was determined the patient needed hospitalization. Getting into the car, my stomach cramped. By the time we got to the hospital parking lot, I was full-out sick, quickly reaching the feverish weepy phase. In other words, as soon as the pressure was released, my body allowed itself to give in. That happened on a smaller scale today, since I've learned to listen more closely (and have the luxury of being able to stop). We've been at a dead run for several months, publishing 2 books since July, along with the bi-monthly release of The Essential Herbal Magazine, and the near tripling of the my sister's wholesale soap company. Then the tree farm opened, along with the little shop. The next issue of the magazine went into the mail yesterday, and my lower back started to act up (Ding!). This morning I felt grumpy. I went down to the shop, but couldn't quite get the smile thing going. By 2 o'clock I was back home and barely managed to get my shoes off before crashing for about 3 hours. It will probably be a very early night tonight, and a hefty dose of elderberry is in the cards for me too. Good timing, though. There's still lots of time to enjoy the next couple of weeks, and for once the crash and burn won't happen on the eve or day of a major holiday, and it only took me half a century to figure it out.

How to Enjoy the Holidays by Saying "No".

In the past week or two, I've spoken to several friends who are just completely overwhelmed by this season. Of course it isn't entirely about the holidays, but the season brings about a culmination of anxiety and stress. We all do it. We agree to things that we know are going to be difficult to accomplish. Lots of those things can't be avoided. Somewhere in the middle of it all, we lose the ability to differentiate between the "musts" and the "maybes". We can't see the forest for the trees, and sometimes even stop looking. When I was a child, most families had one parent who worked, and one parent who took care of the home and the children. It was not that way at our house, but most of my friends had that typical situation. When the holiday season rolled around, the mothers spent a lot of time on decorating the home, shopping, baking, and creating the whole fantasy. On a weekend soon after Thanksgiving, the father would get out the lights and the ladder and deck the house with lights before returning to the football fest indoors. As times changed, we have not allowed ourselves the flexibility to recognize those changes. We still expect the same amount of preparation and magic even though the time to make it happen has vanished, leaving us feeling inadequate and lacking. I'm not suggesting that we should give up the things we enjoy, but I am thinking that we need to give some serious thought to what we do because it is fun, and what we do because of some external and/or imagined pressure. Here, we've run the gamut from the Total Christmas Experience to pushing the whole season back a month because we couldn't manage it. Neither of those really work for us. The first makes us grouchy and stressed, the other feels sad and empty. Somewhere in the middle is the perfect blend. I've found that what we "need" to feel happy and festive is: *One day spent shopping at quaint shops for quirky little gifts with the kid. *One mad dash around with my sister. *One batch of cookies baked with the kid. *A tree. Everything else is extraneous. If it happens, great. If it doesn't, that's also fine. The best part is that by paring down the list of "musts", we find more time for extras without feeling like we're doing it because we have to. Then the extras really are fun! I'm wishing you all a season filled with genuine fun, joy, peace and love. And the ability to say no.

Starting to learn herbs

The topic of herbs is huge. It is intimidating to those who haven't put their tootsies in the water yet.Everywhere you look, people are talking about obscure, sometimes rare herbs, and as is suggested by the experts, they are using the Latin botanical names. There are very good reasons for that, but if you are hoping to just learn about the things that will keep your own family comfortable and healthy, it seems like too much to bite off. The truth is that most of us will use a small personal arsenal of herbs. Although I grow and/or gather 30 or 40 different herbs during the year, there are only 3 or 4 that have a place on my kitchen counter. Elderberry and holy basil are always there, although we don't take anything on a daily basis. Right now, goldenrod, ephedra, and nettles are there too, because my kid is struggling with some allergies, but normally they are back in the cupboard. Chamomile is one of our staples too. We always have ginger around, especially in the winter because it warms everything and seems to increase the actions of the teas we drink. But I'm getting off course here.... Considering how few herbs are truly necessary for the average person to really get to know (learning 10 well is very significant), the best thing to do is to learn one or two very well in a given season (or even year). I've written about this before, and I remember listening to Gail Edwards give a talk many years ago about finding an herbal ally and spending at least a year with it. For winter, elderberry and holy basil are my go-to herbs. Both are anti-viral, and holy basil has many other attributes, like helping the body handle stress. Stress leads to illness, so handling it is a good way to avoid illness.Let's say you wanted to become familiar with these two herbs. First read about them. Take notes and find out all the positive things they can do, and also if there are any contraindications. Next, obtain some of the herb. Make them into tinctures, syrups, jelly, and herbal lozenges. I keep several "batches" of elderberries frozen and ready for pie in the freezer. Blend them into an herbal tea. Use them, and record how they work for you. Really get to know them and get comfortable with them. Before you know it, you will have knowledge. You'll have some herbs that you can rely on, and you'll know how to use them. You'll have learned to put together soothing teas, a nice healing salve, and a tincture or two. By learning about herbs one at a time, there is nothing to fear and everything to gain. The Essential Herbal Magazine's goal has always been to demystify herbs and make them accessible to everyone. It's a great place to start!

You Mean *Those* Dandelions?

I was a lucky kid. We grew up surrounded by woods and fields and streams. We knew lots of the plants that grew around us by name, and they were part of our play, but not used in the home as food or medicine. My grandmother was from the days of horse and buggy, and she wasn't looking back. She embraced modernity with open arms and wanted nothing to do with the past. Every time she opened the chest freezer to withdraw some cherished out of season fruit or vegetable in one of those little waxed cartons (before they came in plastic bags), the look of supreme pleasure that spread over her face made it clear that she was never going to be making sassafras tea, dandelion greens or ANY foraged plant based foods or medicine in her house.

There was the disconnect. It happened right there. We knew the plants, but their place has been usurped by a love for modern convenience.Echinacea

As the years passed, we rediscovered a love for gardening, but in doing so, we looked for the new hybrids, the double flowers, and the colors that didn't exist before. Then we developed an interest in herbs. We started reading all the books we could get our hands on. My sister and I would each read a different book, swap, and then discuss. Over the winter, we studied field guides and memorized pictures of our long lost friends.

Early on, we started reading about herbs like dandelion, sheep sorrel, chickweed, and burdock. Burdock Surely they couldn't mean the ones growing outside here! We were so removed from what we felt, that we would order these herbs from suppliers to work with. Catnip, rosehips, and chamomile came in bags. Things like shepherds purse and cleavers and elderberry were ordered. Why? Because we just couldn't believe that the ones growing in the yard could possibly the magical, mystical items we were reading about.Yarrow

And then one day we reconnected. At an IHA conference in the early 90's, I saw a Wild Foods Field Guide and Cookbook by Billy Joe Tatum at the bookstore. For three days, I looked through that book before finally deciding to purchase it (I'm tight with a buck - lol). Inside, I found recipes for all kinds of weeds - the same ones that grew outside everywhere.Stinging Nettles

That started my everlasting (and somewhat annoying to companions) search for various wild herbs whenever I am outside. If we stop at a gas station in another state, I am standing on the edge of the parking lot looking down at the weeds growing by the culvert. If we stay at a hotel somewhere, I need to wander along the edge of the cultivated lawn and look into the wild places. If I am driving somewhere, I am looking at the sides of the road as much as possible, and prefer the passenger side because it is safer for everyone.

The first year, I looked for chamomile, and found it everywhere.Chamomile

The next year it was elderberry. In recent years, it has been blue vervain and linden. It is always something. I learn to see them by their color and shape, by realizing what plants they grow near or whether they like wet areas, or disturbed places, or shady, bright, hilly... Soon, if you look long enough you know where they are without actually seeing them. Step a little closer, and yup - there they are.

But the most important thing was learning that YES, it is THAT dandelion. It is THAT catnip, or elderberry or sheep sorrel. It is THAT red clover.Elderberries

At the time, we opened a shop and needed lots more of many of these herbs than we could ever forage or wild-craft ourselves. We tried gathering our own catnip one year, but we needed 10 or more pounds for the year and despite massive efforts only managed to collect a bit over a pound before taking over large portions of the workshop to bunches of drying plant material.

Now, without a shop it is very easy to gather what is needed for most things. Very few of the herbs that I use are not from this property - either wild or cultivated. I will never know all the plants that grow around me, but I do know that they are all important, and will keep learning them - one or two per year.Rosehips

Not everyone has the luxury of living where there are wild things outside the door, but I've also found chickweed and lambsquarters in a rooftop garden in Manhattan. Here at The Essential Herbal, we believe that if you're interested in herbs, it's a good idea to recognize that the dandelion you see is the very same one you'd use. It's great to get to know them!

Natural $$$

Sigh.... Just recently, we've been reading about the sell-out of the big natural and organic corporations to Monsanto and genetically modified crops. I wish it were just a little bit more surprising. I wish that just once big money and truly natural and organic products could honestly swim in the same pool, but it doesn't seem likely. Oh, sure... there are wonderful companies where the people running them do well, but there is a division, and once we start talking "corporation" and "stock options" the numbers fall off quickly. In all seriousness, we should all know better by now. We've watched this game for a good long while. Not as long as some, but the last 20 years have told a weary tale of hope and deceit. Hopeful, exuberant people learning to use plants for healthier lives, and deceitful business people seeing dollar signs in those glowing faces. For me, it started in *I think* 1992, when my sister and I trekked to what I believe was the first Natural Products Expo East and found an entire wholesale show that catered to exactly what we were looking to add to our shops. We were beside ourselves with excitement! Row upon row of booths run by family businesses making and selling their wares, and we were able to talk to the people who blended the teas, made the tinctures, or wrote the book. We found incredible, innovative natural and organic products. Imagine our surprise when the very next year the whole thing changed, and instead of long-haired hippies in jeans and tie-dye, we found chrome and glass, suits, and booth bunnies selling things like glandulars, body-building formulas, and weight-loss capsules. We were devastated. The big boys had followed the scent of money to be made. I distinctly remember having a drawn-out argument with some "suit" who stopped us in the aisle offering an "herbal cure for herpes". Really. To begin with, you rarely find the people who actually make things standing in the middle of the aisles hawking and blocking the way - just sayin'... But we took a look at the ingredients and noticed there were no herbs in the list (nevermind the whole CURE thing). It contained vitamins and some amino acids. So we asked him to please point out which of the ingredients he considered to be herbal. He couldn't believe we were being so petty because, you know, what's the diff? You see, he assumed that as shop owners we would be just as interested in pulling the wool over someone's eyes to get their cash as he was. He really couldn't understand how he was insulting our whole industry, and besides, he was just hired for the show to work the booth. He didn't actually know about the product or care if it worked. About that time, the pharmacist from a large drugstore came in to our shop and really gave us a ribbing for all the HILARIOUS products we carried. Can I tell you how highly amused we were to find that within another month or two, we found that they were carrying many of the same products? Or that from then on, we always saw his boss at the Expo? And of course the CVS that opened a block away from our main shop did the same thing. And then we took a series of classes covering the various forms of alternative medicine. During one of the classes, we were told about a new chain of grocery stores, where you could walk in and buy anything, sure that it was healthy and natural. Every eye in the room got misty at the mere thought of such a foodie Nirvana. However we were told, they wouldn't be opening in our area because surveys showed we were "not a highly-educated area". Even at that moment, I knew it couldn't be about education. You can scarcely swing a cat without hitting an institution of higher learning around here. It was about money. I'm glad Whole Foods never came to our area because that has meant that we have honest, family-run establishments run by knowledgeable people who have managed to stay in business here! Whole Mart destroys small business the same way WalMart does, except they manage to cost a WHOLE lot more. We have CSA's, herb shops, herb farms, and our grocery stores carry local produce. We have an amazing array of farm markets. We were way better off without the expensive chain, and learned how to shop for ourselves. In the meantime, I like to think that a lot of people have been learning what they need to know for themselves. Every day I get to converse with readers of The Essential Herbal who are in the process of learning to make their own herbal products - or purchase them from our advertisers who are not big money corporations. I'm proud of spending the last 10 years helping to share that information and getting people together to teach and learn. That's where it's at, folks. It really is up to the individual.

Livin' the Dream

Yes, I get to live my dream. That's pretty much always been the case as long as I kept my nose to the grindstone and my eyes on the prize, but this isn't about me. We had many interesting encounters during the last week, and it made a big impression and gave me a lot to think about. Several times during our stay in the Big Apple, my sister and I discussed how gracious people were, and how they seemed to take joy and pride in what they did for a living. It started out with a malfunctioning shower in our hotel room. Strange plumbing is always a challenge for me, so I dragged Maryanne into the bathroom to see if she could get it to work. Nada. Then I called the desk and asked if there was some trick to it. They sent up maintenance, and it turned out that a part needed to be replaced. The Russian man who came to fix it turned down our offer to go to breakfast while he worked, and had it done in about 15 minutes. My sister joked that back home it would take several days, and he said, "Ah... but this is the Holiday Inn!" and smiled as he left. At breakfast, our waiter Singh asked where we were from, and we found that his cousin has a gas station in the area we grew up, and a home less than a mile from our old house. He told us how he loves our town, and that his family in India are farmers. I asked if it was a difficult transition from the farm to NY, and he agreed that it was. He took very good care of us during our stay, and made a point of saying goodbye on our last day. Later, on a shuttle ride to the trade show, we sat close to the driver. We watched as a driver in a small car pulled out of an icy space and did a u-turn directly in front of the bus, and that led to a conversation with Lena, our driver with a very thick Spanish accent. She doesn't like driving in the city much, preferring runs to Atlantic City, but they needed her. She told us that she has 4 awards for her driving, that her daughter is a doctor, and that she is very proud to wear the uniform - even if her mother doesn't understand why. Her bus company gave her a diploma, and it was the only diploma she's ever gotten. She framed it and it means as much to her as a PhD might to someone else. She LOVES her job. This is in contrast to some women who sat near us on another shuttle and discussed the various merits and disappointments in exotic vacation locations they've visited. Or the vendor who told us about how difficult the grind is going from show to show (and I do know that's true). Or the goof on the train home, trying to impress a young woman with tales of how much work he manages to skip out on. This is not a commentary on immigration. NY is a thrilling mixture of accents, nationalities, and ethnicity. I cannot imagine what it would look like if it were homogenized, but still that's not the point here. So often my friends and I talk about perspective, attitude, and creating our own reality. Over and over we were treated to living, breathing examples last week. None of these examples were typical goals that we think of in our lives, but these folks were living their dreams. It was inspiring to see. All work has value, but it is up to us to find the happiness in it by taking pride in our performance of that work.

A Little Warmth Goes a Long Way

There's talk about a warming trend. Last year we got 40" of snow in the first half of February, but up until February, we'd had almost nothing. In contrast, this year it feels like there has been snow on the ground since Halloween... or was that Thanksgiving? Well it's been a l-o-o-n-g time. Some years it doesn't much matter to me what happens outside. Most years, in fact. I like all the different weather we get here, but this year the snow has been around too long. I yearn for some GREEN! This year spring can't get here fast enough. I need it now! Today we had our first warmish day for a long time. The snow is finally starting to give way. I pulled on some boots and had a look around. There's not a whole lot to see just yet. The horehound is amazingly continuing to grow. I didn't take a picture, but don't mind saying that I find that a wee bit scary for its neighboring plants - the fennel, gooseberries, and something else that I can't remember at the moment (it's still buried under the white blanket). There are three rosemary plants out back. They really aren't fond of the bitter cold temperatures that we got this year, especially before they were covered with snow. Looking at this one, it's hard to say whether it will survive or not, but the lower part of the plant that was protected by snow looks more viable than the tips. The golden elderberry bush has swelling buds. Just this year I learned from Barb Steele at Alloway Creek Gardens that having more than one variety of elderberry will increase the yeild from all of the bushes. That explains the 6 weeks that I spent frantically drying, freezing, and tincturing last year (still have some dried berries available on the website, btw....). Under the elderberry, a deceptively weak looking plantain is greening up. There are many plants showing green - chickweed, garlic mustard, and plantain in particular, although most of them are still under snow. The long row of Munstead lavender is silvery white without a tinge of green yet - but I have no doubt that it will survive. I suppose it's not good to be so cocky, but the lavender seems to love the soil here, and in 5 years they've done nothing but spread and grow, needing vigorous haircuts last year. These particular plants flowered continuously for 3 months last year. The front yard only has two patches of ground, surrounding the trees. It makes me wonder about whether the roots produce some kind of energy/heat. Certainly there isn't as much snow under trees, since the branches would form a shield, but this is kind of interesting. This coming week we should head towards 60 degrees by the end of the week. I can't wait!