Mystery Weed

What weed is this?

It is found growing beneath trees in my area, and along disturbed roadsides.  The yellow colors in the picture are not flowers or part of the plant color, it's just the backlit sunlight.

If anyone knows this plant's identification, I'd love to know!  At this time, they are just under two feet tall in height and seem to grow together in groups.  Our location is southwest Florida.

Professional Herbalist Program

Cracking open the new books...in my "herbal study corner"

The New Arrivals!  East West School of Herbology Books Are Here!!

A big announcement in our world is that over a year of saving, dreaming, delightful internet searching, praying (and friends praying, too!), and slowly collecting relevant books has resulted in AT LAST being able to enroll in the East West School of Planetary Herbology.  Thank you, God...I am SO grateful!!  

There are really good herbal distance-learning programs available online for folks like me who have no schools to access locally.  It was hard narrowing down the choices to just one, but in the end I really liked the books I had read by the East West school's founders Micahel and Lesley Tierra, who have combined the best of western herbalism with both traditional chinese medicinal herbalism and ayurveda.  The merging of the three major herbal "paths" allows for tailoring herbs very specifically to the individual...an approach both empirical and intuitive.

The coursework is said to take up to two years to complete, give or take, and it is fascinating and challenging.  Much guidance is provided in various venues so that a student can learn within the framework of a richly diverse community and excellent sources.  As the coursework progresses, there are written assignments to complete as well as hands-on projects with (what else??) the herbs themselves (FUN!!!).  I've created a sister blog Herbin Living in which I'll chronicle this process specifically.

The course I've enrolled in is the Professional Herbalist course, and I don't know where exactly this road will take me, but I do know it's on the right path.  It seems like most of my life my studies and career choices were so often derailed from where my natural inclinations lay because of various reasons...raising a child, waiting for a husband to finish schooling, financial necessity, lack of resources or transportation, life crises, and so on.  So many jobs I have had in the past couple decades have been necessary but far afield from what I recognize as being "me."  The longer I continue in such, the less energy I seem to have to devote to the things that I'm actually good at, am energized in doing, and feel a real sense of purpose in.  Being able to go to herbalism school is truly a dream realized, because it helps me remember who I am, aligns me with a strong sense of purpose, helps me develop skills and knowledge I believe is truly necessary for myself and others, and brings me great JOY!!

I ask God to bless this effort for His glory, since He is the one who allowed this time to come about and brought this amazing opportunity to fruition.  I hope anything I learn is not for my benefit alone, but for the benefit of many, to return to a wiser design of natural health and healing and to regain knowledge and thereby regain independence from some of the mainstream "advancements" that have derailed sound traditional practices.  I do not want to be caught up in any arrogance of a "one true way" in the study of healing and plants, but to acknowledge the wealth of human experience that preceded our generation, and to give it its due respect, and to learn from it.  We have lost in large part the wise elders at whose feet we could sit and listen, and their stories and experiences disappear if there is no one left to value them and apply their lessons to our own day and age.

As in so many other areas of my life, Jeremiah 6:16 continues to ring true:


Thus says the LORD, "Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls..."

I am delighted that God does not leave us directionless when we come to the highway and have many routes  from which to choose.  I treasure seeking and asking for the ancient paths and treasure the fact there IS a good way and that it does bring contentment.  

YHVH, please bless this effort!

I'm delighted that this day has come...thank you for sharing in the joy of a dream realized, and a new "old" path begun!!

:-D   Robbyn

It's Kefir Time

Making Homemade Kefir : It couldn't be easier

Newly-cultured kefir is poured through a fine mesh strainer to separate the "grains" from the liquid. kefir.  The kefir  can then be drunk, refrigerated for later use, or bottled and covered at room temp for additional time and further fermentation.

For the last three months or so, we've been enjoying homemade kefir, a yogurt-like probiotic-rich cultured milk drink. Thanks to my dear friend, Deb of Kultured Karaite, I was able to begin with some of her robust live kefir starter "grains," which got us off quickly to a great start.

"Grains" are a mother culture with a lumpy gelatinous appearance and clean tart yeasty fragrance, not truly grains.  You only need one tablespoon per quart of fresh milk.  They quickly grow until there are plenty to pass along to friends!

The process is really simple, and the end result is a fermented product that can rejuvenate depleted digestive systems by rebuilding the "gut," the intestinal flora and healthy bacteria (the necessary ones which combat pathogens). It works its wonders without any fuss at room temperature when fresh milk of any description (the less processed the better) is poured into a clean glass container, live kefir "grains" are added, and a permeable piece of natural fabric or coffee filter is secured over the top to keep unwanted pests out but allow for air contact.

The kefir "grains" look almost like large-curd cottage cheese.  Here is some kefir already separated from the "grains," and the picture shows the grains being placed into clean jars waiting for fresh milk to be poured over...for more kefir.  The cycle is easy, and the end results are delicious!  Kefir has a tart, smooth taste and consistency, and the more it ferments the tarter it becomes.  Refrigerating the finished product halts the fermentation, and it's delicious by itself, sweetened with stevia, fruit, or other sweetener, or used in many other ways.  Jack loves it with stevia and vanilla extract.

We leave the fermenting kefir at room temperature for 24-48 hours, then stir it gently, pour and strain it (separating the "grains" from the liquid"), and pour up the finished kefir. The finished kefir is kept in glass jars in the fridge, and the "grains" are added to another quart of fresh milk and left (covered with coffee filter rubber-banded across the top)on the kitchen counter to ferment. And this process is repeated over and over as we drink the kefir and the grains ferment each time. It's truly EASY. I tend to make a mess, but so few things are needed, anyone can do this: I use a rubber spatula for stirring and easing the liquid through the strainer, a fine plastic mesh strainer, a glass Pyrex measuring bowl (any glass bowl will do), and wide mouth canning jars for the finished kefir and for the fermenting milk.

I don't tolerate most milk products well, yet the homemade kefir has not upset my digestion like regular milk does. We will experiment with reducing to organic skim milk, but at the moment are using whole pasteurized milk. The kefir grains LOVE being fermented in cream :) They will work with not only dairy but with nut milks, and there is a way to culture sweetened waters, juices, and things such as coconut water. At the moment we're keeping things simple...a daily straining of the grains, setting aside the newly-made kefir, and pouring up fresh milk over the "grains" to ferment again...a very easy and repeatable system, and healthy. There are many claims to the benefits of drinking kefir due to its high content of multiple probiotics. The evidence of its restorative actions in the digestive/intestinal tracts were enough for use to begin making and using it daily. We'll report back here as we note positive changes from its use. Kefir is very satisfying, filling, and has not caused us any digestive problems. Do you make kefir, do you drink it, and what benefits have you noticed as a result? I'd love to hear about your own experiences with it! .

They tried to kill us, We survived, Let's eat!

...it's the Jewish story boiled down a bit, ha!   At this Passover season, we celebrate God's deliverance by remembering and reciting the story of the Exodus.  And unwittingly my mother also experienced a deliverance on that same anniversary in 1966 by giving birth to me, woo!

This is a brief post due to my waiting till the last minute to cook a few more things for the big Seder tonight.  Our yearly most requested favorite I owe to this recipe which is truly worth the few steps it requires.  I thought I'd repost it...it's a matzah covered with a toffee crunch layer and then spread with chocolate and toppings such as nuts or coconut.


Chag Pesach Sameach to our Jewish friends out there, and to everyone else, happy holidays!! 

Wood Stork Buffet

(clicking on pics will enlarge)

I had never seen a wood stork before moving to Florida.  They are not your average waterbird, either.  Oddly ugly in contrast to the slender, plumed great egrets, their wrinkled heads seem nearly prehistoric, like a pterodactyl head stuck on a heron's body.  They are also surprisingly large, which can be startling the first time you're approached by a friendly one in your yard.  Most of the time, though, as with the wood storks in these pictures, they are wary of humans and like to keep their distance. They look gawky and awkward, but their wingspan is awe-inspiring and when they do take to the skies they are grace on the wing.

Our first home here was a small duplex in an older neighborhood, and among the tamer sorts of birds, there were some "regulars"...great egrets and wood storks...who made the rounds of the front doors looking for handouts.  There are now laws on the books about not feeding native wildlife, and whether they were in force back then I'm not sure, but the neighbors would often leave an opened can of tuna or other fish snack on the doorstep for the wandering beggars, and they would tolerate being watched at close range, mere feet (or even inches) away.

A couple mornings ago, we awoke to the noise of large machinery being operated in the backyard along the swale.  It was time again for the digging out of the overgrowth to allow for better drainage, and the heavy equipment dug a deeper trench, piled the scraped-away cattails and other water plants up on the surrounding banks, and left a lengthening strip of newly-exposed mud down the center...a wetland bird's feast!   Oblivious to the noise and heavy machinery, a mixed group of wading birds followed at close range, snapping up the frogs, snakes and other hidden critters as fast as their beaks could grab them.

For more reading about wood storks you can start here

What's lurking in your backyard?  I'd love to see your pictures!

:)  Robbyn

Free Power for All, Free From the Grid?

Do you enjoy the TED talks? This one grabbed my attention...Justin Hall-Tipping: Freeing energy from the grid. I love it when people think outside the box...or beyond "normal"

My Blog Content Has Been Stolen

I recently received the news that content from my website had been duplicated at another site found at this link.  I have contacted Blogger and filed a request to have it removed, but so far I have received nothing but a form email response, and this is now Day Three.

Two years' worth of my blog posts dating back to 2010 have been duplicated (except any mention of my authorship) and all of the accompanying original photos in those posts have been duplicated over at the other site as well.

If anyone has any idea how I might address this, I'd love any ideas.  I left comments at the site alerting the person(s) that I know they took my stuff, but of course have received no response.

JERKS.

Any ideas out there??  I'm furious and will get to the bottom of this somehow...