Well, I did really well posting during the month of January, as you can see below.  And then there were plants pots to make and seedlings to start and web orders to fill and the "spring numbies" to contend with, and then it was summer and the Farmers' Market to gear up for weekly, and...and...and.  So RATS!!!  So much for my commitment to myself and this Blog!  Now the cold days of late November have blanketed the ground with some unusual snow.  My goodies are made and stored for several Christmas craft fairs next month.  David has begun repairing our adobe wall that "melted" a little during the monsoon rains of September.  And I believe I will try again to write.  I've made some new products these past few months.  Below are jars of Lemon Verbena water waiting to be decanted into spray bottles, for face and linen spray.  I've also done the same thing with lavender.  Lovely sprays!  Very pure--just flowers and leaves, witch hazel and distilled water.

Our new project has been making fermented vegetables.  Here is a picture of two crocks of cabbage/veggies and two jars of carrot/ginger mix ready to be put into smaller jars and stuck in the fridge.  We have several friends with whom we share our bounty! We are working hard at 

eating better and cleaner and love making all our edibles from scratch.  To that end, we're still striving to build our gardens up out of this hard, caliche-ridden soil.  I bet we've composted and spread half a ton of garbage, coffee grounds, weeds, comfrey, lamb's quarters, cow manure and other waste over the past three years.  We are learning to garden, still, here in the desert, having been trained to garden in Maine and 28 years in Alaska.  So we're still on that stiff learning curve for sure!!!  But David just came in and said the pak choi and swiss chard are valiantly standing tall through the lingering snow and we'll poke around for beet and kale seedlings later today when the sun is high, taking the remainder of the snow with it when it sets.  Off into my day, the day before Thanksgiving, when we formally give thanks.  I think I won't wait:  I think I give thanks for my wonderful life RIGHT NOW!!!

Slouching into the New Year

Standing near a south-facing table that contains last year's bouganvilla, early narcissus and a couple amaryllis from Christmas, I am reminded that spring can't be too far away.  Really, it can't possibly be too far away.  But right now?  Oh, it's cold and it's been raining and my little hands have just been complaining out loud!  Out comes the Arnica Salve and it gets liberally rubbed all over--hands, knees, feet.  Two days ago we went to Ha-Yo-Kay Hot Springs and took a lovely soak in one of their underground pools.  What else do you do here in the desert when it's cold?  I've caught up on replenishing my salves, I've started three more tinctures for people who need them, I've read and read and read until my eyes feel like they're going to fall out, and have drunk more tea and hot orange juice than I would like, really.  There is just a six-week period here when everyone seems to get the doldrums--it's either cold, rainy, windy or a combination of all three.  Our granddaughter has come for a visit, and she brought all hot-weather clothes.  After spending a day walking around town slightly underdressed, she presents this morning with swollen glands and a sore throat.  Out comes the Elderberry and Flu-B-Gone Tinctures, out comes the Good Earth hot and spicy tea, out comes the Oregano Oil for an essential oil throat rub.  Ah, and now my husband and I are feeling like we're fighting off the edge of something too.  So now we're dosed up all around too.  Pretty soon we can plant.  Pretty soon my seed orders will be here.  Pretty soon it will be warm enough to spend the morning out on our porch in the sun.  Until then I'll keep my eyes on the sun that filters through the flowers on my table and know that soon all these plants will be back outside where they belong and we'll begin another season of gardening in the desert.

Go Away Flu!!!

We are surrounded by the flu here--rampant in Colorado, gaining ground in Texas, creeping east from Arizona. It's in the news, my neighbors are talking about it. Oh dear.  Guess I made my Flu-Be-Gone Tincture and Elderberry Tincture just in time. I made a bunch before Christmas and sent some to family, but now I need to gear up if we're going to get hit with bad bugs sometime in the near future. I thought you might be interested in the ingredients in these cold and flu "assistants", and so I'll just ramble on about them a little bit here.  There's nothing like some good information to help you decide if a tincture might be just what you need to get you through.

Osha Root:  Osha Root has been used by generations of First Nations people to induce sweating, which helps with upper respiratory infections.  It not only helps coughs become productive, it ALSO aids in battling indigestion, stomach pain and cramping.  This Osha was dug on a mountainside outside of Santa Fe and dried and given to me; osha cannot be domesticated and all of the root available has been wild-gathered.

Goldenseal:  Goldenseal root has proven to be a very effective broad-spectrum antibiotic and is used in numerous remedies for bronchial infections, intestinal infections and infections of the mucous membranes.  Its antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties has it being studied now as a possible alternative to allopathic antibiotics.  

Mullein:  Mullein coats sore throats with a mucilaginous substance, makes coughs more productive, and is an expectorant.

Echinacea:  Echinacea is the front-line herb for colds.  It can stimulate the immune system as well as heal yeast infections in women and prevent urinary tract infections in both men and women.  However, this is probably NOT the herb for you if you're allergic to ragweed.  Let me know if that's the case, and I'll make an echinacea-free tincture just for you!

Ginger Root:  Hoards of folks all over the world use this herb every day as a preventative and as a proactive treatment for a variety of illnesses.  Ginger Root is especially effective to help heal colds that have taken a strong hold on the body.

Lemon Balm:  Sometimes getting truly restful sleep becomes almost impossible when you're sick.  Lemon Balm provides that little "jump start" that you may need to drift off to sleep.  An added benefit, if you are prone to a herpes outbreak when you get sick, is that lemon balm can lessen the severity of an outbreak, reducing the longevity, decreasing itching and other discomfort and minimizing the number of lesions.  I have friends who end up with a cold sore every time they are under the weather, and Lemon Balm can really, really help.

ELDERBERRIES:  Researchers have found that the age-old stories of Elderberry preventing colds and flu have merit:  Elderberry prevents cold and flu viruses from infiltrating healthy human cells and at least one study shows  those taking Elderberry while they were sick got well faster than those who did not.

Disclaimer:  We all have to use the brain God gave us when we're making decisions for ourselves as they relate to our health and well-being.  I am not a physician; nor can I prescribe ANYTHING to ANYBODY.  If you're really ill, common sense would say that you should see your doctor and do what s/he says.  My tinctures have a Folk Remedy history of efficacy in moderating some symptoms of cold and flu.  If you're not sure if these would help you any, please contact a licensed herbologist or a licensed Naturopath.  Neither the FDA nor any other governmental organization have tested these products, nor are my products meant to replace any prescribed allopathic medications.  Use your best judgement and your own belief system when making healthy decisions for yourself:  please do NOT use mine!!!

A Day in the Life

I often think that this little lizard is my alter-ego.  I do SO love sitting and moving in the sun and the heat of the New Mexico high desert. So many mornings we have our coffee and breakfast out on our porch, soaking in the sun that blazes out of a blue, blue sky and watching the lizards skitter around trying to avoid our cat. And as much as I hate to admit it, I think we have several weeks to go before it's really warm enough to do that again.  Of course it's not as chilly as Alaska (where we came from) or Maine (where we originated) but it IS chilly for New Mexico--no doubt about it.  So my concession to the cold is to get busy in the house, taking inventory, ordering herbs and oils and bottles and jars and today, decanting and making more tinctures. I decanted some Elderberry Tincture and some Flu-Be-Gone Tincture into their little bottles and went to the store for more brandy so I can begin new quarts of tincture, which will be ready in a few weeks.  A friend came by and purchased several bottles of each--she says she's been reading that the flu is dropping people like flies, so I want to be ready!!!    

All lined up like good little soldiers, ready to make folks feel better!

I spent some time adding information to my website :  www.anniessalves.com  about consumers of herbs, essential oils and homeopathics always needing to keep in mind that if the remedy, or tincture, or tisane, or infusion is really effective it can cause what is known as the Herxheimer Effect.  This occurs when, because of the effectiveness of the treatment, pathogens die off in a hurry, flooding the body's system with little dead critters and toxins.  This can jump up the body's response and its immune system goes into high gear and you feel like either your symptoms have just gotten a LOT worse, or you've just come down with bad flu. Doesn't happen very often, but it can.  Usually, if you can take a nap, these symptoms go away, but sometimes they can last for even a few days.  Do go online and research this phenomenon in healing.  Perhaps you've heard it called a "Healing Crisis".  Same thing.  Stuff often gets a little worse before it gets a lot better.  Like Life...

Annie's Arnica Salve

These are Arnica flowers that we grew last summer, drying on a screen, waiting to be added to Extra Virgin Olive Oil so their goodness can infuse over five weeks in the sun into the oil.  Arnica is a rank herb with anti-inflammatory properties.  Used as a topical rub, it provides several hours of relief from muscle aches, joint pain, bangs and bruises.  I began using Arnica Salve on my feet, knees and hands when they hurt so badly.  As nice as the salve was, it was VERY expensive.  When a neighbor pointed out to me that Mexican Arnica was growing in the alley behind our house, I was inspired to figure out how to use it.  After a week of research, and another couple of weeks drying and infusing the flowers and waiting for my New Mexico beeswax to arrive, I was ready to make my own salve!  It was fantastic!--so much so that I began sharing it with friends, who all came back for more! They all suggested that I think about selling it, but it took about a year for me to start my business.

Here are some of Arnica's therapeutic properties: When applied directly after an injury Arnica significantly reduces bruise formation. It is also helpful for treating arthritis, burns, ulcers, eczema, and acne. Anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory qualities help reduce pain and swelling while improving wound healing.  Arnica contains sesquiterpene lactones (known to reduce inflammation and decrease pain), the volatile oil thymol, arnicin, arnisterol (arnidiol), flavonoids such as anthoxanthine, tannin, resin, a polysaccharide inulin, mucilage and manganese. It's the sesquiterpene lactones that reduce inflammation by dispersing fluids that build up in bruised and injured tissue. Arnica helps to mop up inflammatory debris and lactic acid, which reduces swelling and relieves pain after injury and muscle strain.

Learn more from Natural News

So although I'm no physician and I don't believe the FDA wants to corroborate any statements about any herb that's not part of the Big Pharma system, I find all this interesting and believe that we could all benefit by looking at plant remedies especially for some of our less critical ailments, instead of looking on the shelves of Big Box Stores.  That being said, we all need to be smart about it too.  If you have plant allergies, you might be allergic to this plant as well.  And you should not take the Arnica herb internally, nor should you apply it to damaged or broken skin.  (Homeopathic Arnica Montana is what some folks take for accidental injury, severe bruising, or trauma.)  

If you think you might be interested in trying some of my Arnica Salve, just CLICK HERE 

Walls and Work--Musings

Weeks ago when my sweet husband began this wall, I was amazed at how quickly it took form.  This picture was taken when he had just begun--now one whole side of the driveway is walled and he's waiting for our good, warm weather to return so he can start on the other side (the bricks won't dry when it's as cold and overcast as it has been these past couple weeks).  He doesn't knock himself out, just works slowly but steadily every day--mixing the adobe, making the bricks, stacking the partially dried bricks, laying the dried bricks with more adobe mud.  And slowly but surely, a wall begins and grows.  I joke to family and friends that David's hobby is work, and it is--and apparently so is mine as well.  It's part of our New England heritage perhaps; also part of a shared belief that each one of us was put here in this life to be of use in some way.  So he makes an adobe wall to provide shade and privacy and a barrier to the mule deer who find our yard so delicious--and I make salves and ointments and tinctures that provide both comfort and pleasure to those who use them.  Neither of us are able to NOT DO ANYTHING.  So much for retirement.  It's a simple life here; it's a spartan life in many ways.  We live as poor people in a poor town in a physical environment that sticks you, bites you or stings you. On one level, there's not much going on as far as external stimulation goes.   But if you are so inclined, you always can find something to do that's worth doing.  If David and I are somehow modeling a lifestyle worth others' consideration, it would be these things we would want you to consider:  you don't need very much money to have a fulfilling life--in fact, you need way less than you think you do; love and affection will keep you warm when every blanket fails you; being outside is better than being inside; doing something that feeds your spirit is as important as doing something that feeds your body--what's important is the DOING, not just thinking about it or wishing for it; kindness works when nothing else does. So have a good day--MAKE a good day for yourself and those around you.  More later!!!  Annie

A New Year--A New Venture

So to celebrate this second day of the 2013 New Year, I have decided to expand my new business through this Blog, which will chronicle our days here in the high desert of New Mexico, as well as share what I'm learning and what I already think I know about the benefits of herbs, other plants and essential oils that are derived from said herbs and plants.  I am not of any particular religious persuasion, but it does make sense to me that everything we need to be healthy has already been created for us to use in the natural world around us.  Our job is to remember that those things are there and re-learn how to use them.  This Blog will share that information along with anything else I find interesting along the way, add fuller descriptions explaining why I've used what I've used in my salves and balms, and share a little about our life here in New Mexico while I'm at it.  My salves and balms can be found at www.anniessalves.com .  You can order them directly from my website store.  This will be fun for me, and interesting and informational for you I hope!