Upcoming Workshop "Healing Power of Herbs" 8/15

Cycles

Everything is cyclical in nature. The acorn falls from the Oak. The acorn sprouts into a sapling. The sapling grows into a mature Oak. The Oak dies, falls, and feeds the entire system from it's decomposition. The acorns it dropped sprout into saplings. So it goes with every thing. In life there is death and in death, life.

Earlier this week, Eli planted some ferns around the bases of the Elder trees to mimic their natural forest surroundings and help them thrive together. When we make the choice to dig, we know we will injure some thing. Whether it is an insect, a root, mycelium, or a worm, we are aware that our one small action affects a long list of organisms. In our effort to build the system we are in relationship with, we sometimes do harm. In this case, Eli's shovel injured an Earthworm- one of our dearest companions. We noticed it suffering, so she and Quehanna gently buried it's body back into the soil, along with a freshly planted fern.

Who knows what will come of the worm? It may die and feed the soil from it's body or it may repair itself and go on serving the system through irrigation and decomposition. Either way, it remains a part of the cycle, the system from which it came. Our actions are simple, yet profound, and the lessons of life and death are no stranger to a three year old growing up on a farm.

~Shauna

Blossom

Yesterday I raked Chamomile. I walked slowly up and down one row of little white and yellow blossoms popping them into my bucket. The breeze and the sweet lullaby scent was everything I could have asked for on a summer afternoon. I spent the rest of my time at work dodging rain drops and photographing the magical wonderment of the flowers blooming in the fields. Each and every blossom proves to me over and over again that everything will be alright.

Every thing will be all right. 

~Shauna

The Press!

A while back, Heidi (our main medicine maker) and Eli came to the realization that if we had a tincture press, we'd be able to produce not only more medicine, but more POTENT medicine than we have been by using only our hands.

Let me explain: the process of making a tincture is quite simple. First, we harvest the herbs, dry them, and (in most cases) remove the stems. Next, we put them in a glass jar along with a menstruum, or solvent. Common menstruums we use are alcohol, vegetable glycerine, and vinegar. We let the solvent do it's work of drawing out the medicinal properties of the herbs for a few weeks or even months. Then we strain out the herbs and squeeeeeze them in a cheesecloth to get out the good stuff that is left lingering in the soaked herbs. We squeeze and squeeze and squeeze. We even take turns squeezing once one person's hands get tired of squeezing. Eventually, we call it. The liquid tincture is bottled, labeled, and sent out to our CSM members or sold at events. The spent herbs get composted, turning into the soil we'll use next year to grow more herbs and start all over again. BUT, we know there is much more very potent medicine deep within those spent herbs. And we'd LOVE to get that into the jars and ultimately into our bodies. The best way to do that is with a tincture press. These bad boys are made to exert 6 tons of pressure onto the herbs-FAR more than we'd been getting with our hands, in order to REALLY squeeze the juice out of them. 

So, we asked our good friend Eli Mailey (otherwise known as HEli) to help us out. HEli is a builder, fixer, and maker-extraordinaire. We knew he had experience with fabrication and would be able to help us build our very own press. And he did! HEli values locally-made goods as much as we do, so he contacted Smucker Laser Cutting, Rubin Steel, and The Restaurant Store -ALL Lancaster County companies, to source his materials. He custom designed and welded the press to meet our needs and even painted it purple!

 

Now we can be sure to extract ALL of the plants' goodness straight into the jars and into our bodies. Thanks to Eli Mailey and the local companies he worked with for making our medicine stronger and saving our hands!

To have Eli Mailey work with you on your next project, contact him at delirium87@hotmail.com and tell him we sent you!

Loving our new tool, 

Shauna

Milky Oats, Soothe My Soul

I LOVE Milky Oats! 

I love sowing them in the Spring- chanting and swaying and scattering their tiny hard bodies in the freshly worked soil. I love harvesting them in the Summer- gathering their juicy little cricket shells and sorting away the straw. I love making medicine with them in the Autumn- soaking them in sweet sugary glycerite until they’re juuuust right. Most of all, I love taking their medicine all year long- like the tin man’s oil can to calm and soothe my frazzled mind.

I look around this crazy fast-paced world and I know we all could use a little more Milky Oats (Avena Sativa or Avena Fatua)) in our lives. Here’s why:

myelin rebuilder, nerve supporter

Most of the nerve fibers in the body are covered with a myelin sheath. Sort of like the rubber coating that insulates the current running through electrical wires, the myelin sheath coats your nerves and protects the electrical impulses that surge through them. When the myelin sheath becomes weakened or damaged, the nerves cannot conduct electrical impulses properly. So many things can cause the breakdown of the myelin sheath such as stroke, inflammation, nutritional deficiencies, infection, certain drugs and alcohol, and even stress. Demylinization can lead to permanent nerve damage. This is especially a problem for people with Multiple Sclerosis. Their myelin sheath breaks down over time, causing symptoms of MS like muscle weakness, confusion, trouble with balance, etc.

Milky oats can help to restore and rebuild damaged myelin sheath as well as to maintain healthy nerves. Loaded with minerals, this nervine tonic is a blessing to all who are feeling depleted. They’re soothing to the system, like a nice warm bath for your entire nervous system. Ahhh. Milky oats, take me away!

If you’re feeling the effects of stress or dealing with health problems related to your nervous system, you could fall in love with Milky Oats, too. I dare you! Love!

~Shauna

Here's what's going on- don't miss it!

On the farm

Spring Community Planting Days!

It is that time of year when we drum up the energy to welcome our tender seedling babies and plant their roots into their new home at our farm. We invite you and please invite any of your people to come be a part of this exciting homecoming. We will have herbal tea, snacks, and other surprise goodies. 

1st Planting Party Day:
Saturday May 16th 9-2

AND

2nd Planting Party Day: 
Saturday May 23rd 9-2

Bring a bottle for water and any sun gear you might need!
1075 Gypsy Hill Rd
Lancaster PA 17603

Look out for the stone retaining wall, enter the lane up the hill, and continue until you see our farm sign. Follow arrows to parking. Carpooling encouraged and an easy bike ride from Lancaster city.

Questions? contact 717-799-7420
Click here to view the event on facebook.



CSM Shares!

Community Supported Medicine is the reason we're here. It is our passion, our mission, and our gift to you.

CSM Shares consist of a once-monthly delivery of 3-5 hand crafted herbal products, fresh/dried herbs and a beautiful newsletter containing information about utilizing them for keeping you and your family healthy throughout the year. Variable with the season, you may receive items like detoxifying and digestive support tonics, healing skin salves, freshly infused therapeutic skin oils, fresh and dried beneficial tea blends, and rejuvenating bath salts. 

The deadline to sign up for your share is next week! Don't miss your chance to reap the benefits of our farm season and feel the love and healing power of plants.

Click here to sign up now!

In our community

Susquehanna Forest School!

Some of our dearest friends are starting an amazing nature immersion school for kids and have openings in their summer camp for children ages 3-8. They are a passionate and talented group of people who hope to share their love for the wild with our children.

We support their work with open hearts and hope you will too. Please visit Susquehanna Forest School online to learn more about this unique and incredible opportunity for our youth, find out how you can help, and to sign up for summer camp.

Click here to sign up now! Or, click here to follow them on facebook.

Farming is hard work!

In the first few weeks here on our small farm, we've already harvested hundreds of pounds of spring herbs! Nettles, dandelion, dock, and spicebush have graced the drying room with the first scents of spring. We've spent countless hours hoeing, planting, mulching. The asparagus is growing so fast we can't keep up with it!

         

But who is doing the most work?

This weekend, we got two new honeybee hives delivered and moved them into their new homes- one of which was custom built, just for them, out of an old Oak. More than 3000 bees live and work together in each hive, constantly moving, always hard at work. This week, the new bees will be working to find their queen, establish ranks, and get acclimated to their new surroundings. Once they're familiar with the farm, they will join the rest of our hives in arguably the hardest work there is- pollinating.

Then there are the plants- the reason we are all here. Eli pointed out this week that despite all of our sweat and sore muscles, it is really the plants that do the work on the farm. Started from tiny seeds just weeks ago, our green friends have grown in leaps and bounds, stretching and digging deep to root into the Earth that we've prepared for them. In the coming months, we'll see them reach their full potential as they blossom, bloom, and heal.

We're all working hard out here on the farm.
Humans, insects, plants, and more- together we make it happen.

Now get back to work!
Shauna