{"id":75787,"date":"2024-06-23T01:12:05","date_gmt":"2024-06-23T07:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/?p=75787"},"modified":"2024-06-23T01:12:05","modified_gmt":"2024-06-23T07:12:05","slug":"an-inspiring-herbalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/23\/an-inspiring-herbalist\/","title":{"rendered":"An Inspiring Herbalist"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Hermit Note: The Kensho Homestead <\/a> is one of the most organic and informative Homesteading\/Self-Sufficiency Blogs out there. Subscribe Today!)<\/em><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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An Inspiring Herbalist<\/a><\/h1>\n

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I\u2019ve been working bit by bit on the\u00a0Herbal Explorations<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>pages and hope to add several more medicinal plants very soon\u2014including the lovely Mimosa tree and the very popular Chasteberry\u2014both which grow wonderfully here, even in the extreme heat and drought.<\/h2>\n

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The mimosa tree and flower, (on the left) rising above the canopy along the road and full of butterflies, which unfortunately were too far up to catch with my camera. In the middle photo a fine specimen from our neighbor\u2019s garden, where I gathered some blossoms for kombucha. They smell delightful, a bit like honeysuckle.<\/h2>\n

Also in our neighbor\u2019s garden near the mimosa tree\u2014I just love old hodgepodge structures like this!<\/h2>\n

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It\u2019s not giving up yet!<\/h2>\n
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Also coming soon: Above, the chasteberry in our garden, also commonly called monk\u2019s pepper or Vitek, which has a completely different scent, but one I adore so much I\u2019m hoping to make soap with it some day very soon. And the bees love it, too!<\/h2>\n

Aspiring herbalists (like me!) must find inspiring teachers!<\/h2>\n

A big motivator for me to learn herbalism has been our critters. They all have special needs! It\u2019s hard not to worry about them, but I\u2019d rather have faith in nature than in Big Pharma.<\/h2>\n
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I am way out of my depth, but I know one thing for sure: the pharmaceutical model of our modern-day veterinarians is not for me. Not for animals, not for people.<\/h2>\n

Information that eschews this model is not easy to come by, so when I find something or someone special, I hone in.<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve found this book helpful, so I looked to see what else I might find from this author, and wow, is she ever fascinating.<\/h2>\n

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From the foreword:\u00a0\u201cSuch ailments as the now prevalent ones of scrapie in sheep and \u2018mad cow\u2019 in cattle are not going to find a place in this Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable, despite the fact that many thousands of cattle in the UK have now been diagnosed as suffering from Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). My book teaches natural care of animals and totally shuns their exploitation (wherein they are treated as machines, instead of as living, sensitive and loving creatures).<\/em><\/h2>\n

This book wholly condemns the force-feeding of unnatural foods to any creatures. If a diet is unnatural, disease will keep company with those subjected to it: that is a fixed law. I state force-feeding because, when animals through hunger are driven to eat foods entirely unnatural to their species, such as giving meat offal to cows and sheep, that, to me, is force-feeding. . . As I write this, when visiting England, television is showing cats suspected of having a similar disease to BSE in cattle. I do hope this fear proves to be unfounded. In any case, it is terrible that human acceptance and connivance in forcing the unnatural on our domestic animals bring much misery, pain and fear, all of which could be avoided.\u201d<\/em><\/h2>\n

This book was published in 1952, and she has several others about dogs and cats.<\/h2>\n

I wonder what she would\u2019ve made of our new\u00a0bird flu<\/em>?!<\/h2>\n
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She lead quite the unique life, having been born into wealth, but choosing to live a simple life, exploring nature, living as a nomad among gypsies in many countries, and learning their ways.<\/h2>\n
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There\u2019s a documentary about her life and work, and though I haven\u2019t found a full copy yet, here\u2019s a good clip.<\/h2>\n