Spring is here, and it’s the perfect time to renew, refresh and restore the body’s delicate balance after the less active days of winter. Strolling through the springtime garden’s lush new growth, I love to harvest and nibble nutritious, cleansing herbs like Cleavers (Galium aparine), Yellow Dock leaves (Rumex crispus), Dandelion leaves (Taraxacum officinale) and Chickweed (Stellaria media). Simply munching on them is nice, but also try harvesting, rinsing and making a fresh tea with them, or adding them to salads, soups or your favorite vegetarian dish. I recently have been drinking my Spring Green Tonic made from juicing Cleavers, Chickweed and a bit of Yellow Dock leaves together and then adding Spirulina, Dulse flakes and a bag of organic frozen peaches, honey, water and blend it up!!! The tonic is quite tasty and so good for you. These plants are valuable, medicinal herbs.
If you’re ready to do a liver cleanse, for just one week, it is best to eliminate sugar, alcohol, processed foods, white flour and preservatives from the diet while doing process. Also, it’s a good idea to consume light, healthy meals for one week’s time, including soups and fresh vegetables. Add nutritious grains or beans to provide good protein.
During the cleanse, one needs to pay special attention to the liver. Known as the “Master Detoxifier”, the liver renders harmless the various chemicals, drugs and toxins that find their way into the blood stream. The liver also produces and stores glycogen, and stores all fat soluble vitamins including A, E, D, K and B-12 while metabolizing all other vitamins. My EZ Liver Tea includes alterative, blood purifying herbs such as Dandelion Root (Taraxacum offinale), Burdock Root (Arcticum lappa), Echinacea Root (Echinacea purpurea), Licorice Root (Glycyrrhiza glabra), Yellow Dock Root (Rumex crispus) and Ginger Root (Zingiber officinale) that work in concert to gently assist the body in eliminating toxins while also replenishing and rejuvenating the blood.
Choose a cleansing method that best fits your routine. Enjoy 3 – 4 cups of warm or cool liver cleansing tea throughout the day. In addition to the tea, you might enjoy a hot lemonade toddy in the evening. This is made from organic lemons, sweetened with maple syrup while adding just a pinch of cayenne pepper for an overnight stimulation to the liver. Also in the morning, it is good to start with a drink of ½ unsweetened cranberry juice, ½ water and a tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar. A great start to your day. Don’t forget to breathe deeply, get some exercise and take plenty of rest during the week.
Remember, an allergic reaction can happen to anyone. Take care to make sure all of these herbs are agreeable to you and will not counter indicate any other medications. In most situations, the herbs mentioned here are used safely and effectively by the majority of people. You may experience a slight laxative effect — one of the body’s natural ways of eliminating toxins.
The greatest benefit of cleansing is gaining a nourished, healthier liver, gallbladder, spleen and pancreas. Give your liver a gift — maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle!
Spring Green Blessings, Ellen
Are you sneezing yet? Its the pollen on our local Cedar trees (actually correctly named, Juniperus ashei). Unfortunately the sneezing, itchy eys and scatchy throat will only get worse during January if you are somewhat allergic to this pollen. Many, many folks in Central Texas do have a reaction to this pollen especially if you have lived here for awhile. But don’t despair. There is an effective and natural helper here for you and that is FRESH Nettle Tincture. My tincture made from the fresh leaves of the Nettle plants I grow is a tincture well worth trying. It will help to ease these uncomfortable symptoms of ‘Cedar Fever’ and is safe without any known contra-indications. Nettle is a food, an incredible herb and has a wide variety of uses. Read on!!
Therefore I grow my Nettle in very large clay pots so I can keep it isolated and the visitors to my garden do not get stung. I have noticed, however, that you can gently harvest the Nettle leaves, with bare hands, if you talk sweetly to the plant asking its permission for harvest and thanking it for all its many gifts.
travelers company. And of course some great shopping!! We had several wonderful Aruyvedic massages and Tom even visited with an Aryuvedic Doctor who told him to listen to his herbalist wife when he got sick for a bit. Aryuvedic Medicine is a very practical, earthy, old method of health care and is well establisehd in Varkala. The area offers a few Aryuvedic Centers and is a great place to go if the need arises. The shop owners were hurting as the tourist industry was down because of recent disastrous flooding in Kerala. So we did our best to support the Varkala economy.
Next we traveled to Allepey where we boarded a houseboat and sailed through the backwaters for several hours. The scenery was serene, maginificent and the sea eagles flying overhead were breathtaking. I felt like I was sailing through a National Geographic magazine. The house boats, the rice pat
ties, the trees, the birds: all so lovely. Jogi hired a cook for our meal onboard and I think that was the best meal we had (except for the 2 we cooked ourselves in the cooking classes!!). The food was fresh, flavorful and oh so good!!!
ring shrub, that blooms only once every 12 years. We were there at just the right time and saw the tail end of it’s bloom: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/kerala/story/kurinji-flowers-bloom-after-12-years-as-sun-shines-on-flood-hit-kerala-1333467-2018-09-06 Oh how I would love to see the entire hillside covered with these lovely purple flowers!
What a dream for an Herbalist! Tea plantations everywhere. India is famous for Black Tea and Green Tea and having Masala Chai everyday was another delight. I also love the Chai I make at home and I am inspired to offer y’all a sale on tea this Holiday Season. Look for a newsletter next week advertising my sale. A few of us went to a Tea Museum and that was fascinating and informative. The Indian people take time to relax during the day, enjoy a cup of Chai, talk to their friends, neighbors and strangers and make the most out of their lives. My very favorite thing about India are the people. They are so friendly, outgoing, fun, generous, loving people. Their kindness, their consistent true spirit shines through with every interaction. The Indian People made the trip completely wonderful for me.
Finally we drove to Kochi where we visited temples, actually temples all along the way, a lovely waterfront where we saw how the fishermen work their nets, visited an ancient tree and the last night we were lucky to see some Kerala theatre with dancers, martial artists and more.
ntestinal irritation and for the throat, lungs and kidneys. It can be used externally as a poultice for ulcers and abscesses and its highly nutritional value make it useful as a food during convalescence. A small sapling can be planted in your yard and nurtured as a lovely shade tree. I’ve planted two saplings into the ground and the one that is growing in my garden is at least 20 feet high and gorgeous. Here it is full of unusual ice during a rare Austin winter.
(as it is a favorite home to the Monarch butterfly), or Pleurisy Root, Asclepius tuberosa is a spectacular flower, and sadly, “At-Risk” in the wild. We can easily grow Butterfly Weed from seed, sown in the fall, or it can be propagated from root cuttings. This showy Milkweed is used as a diaphoretic (promotes sweating), antispasmodic, expectorant and a tonic. As one of its common names indicates, it was often used for pleurisy and lung and bronchial congestion.
Asclepius asperula, to facilitate childbirth. According to Herbalist, Michael Moore, the aerial part of the plant is good for the Respiratory System and also helpful for the heart. This plant is elusive and oh so beautiful!!. Look at it closely.
Are you looking for a delicious and relaxing way to receive the healthy benefits from herbs? Discover how easy it is to benefit from common herbs for health, relaxation and well-being by drinking herbal infusions and decoctions!
Roasted Yaupon Tea, made from our local, Ilex vomitoria tree (don’t worry, it’s the berries, ingested in very high quantities that may cause vomiting), is high in caffeine and a good substitute for coffee ( as is my Chai tea). Just harvest some leaves, roast them in a low oven for approximately 20 minutes until they’re almost brown and somewhat crisp. Prepare the tea as an infusion and ENJOY!!! Roasted Yaupon can be enjoyed hot in the early morning and/or ICED for an afternoon treat.
