Summer is a buggy time. I love the ones outside. Dragonflies, bees, spiders and butterflies are eye catching beauties. I also like the ones other people disdain - ants, soldier flies, wasps and moths. Many is the time I have…
I am a cheater. Summer jumps up from behind me and, suddenly, I have too much food and herbs to put by than time to process it. Sometimes I need a tincture tomorrow I haven't started today. Sometimes, a plant…
I live in a soggy area. Like most continental curls of geography, this section of Oregon does a great job of collecting rain clouds. The soil is rich and spongy due to years of volcanic activity. This is a boon…
I work at a free mobile clinic in town. It's held in a 31 foot Blue Bird bus. Most of the time, patients show up because they have nowhere else to go. We are just a little urgent care unit…
I arrived at the class groggy and disheveled. It had been a long week of work and I was spending all my spare time digging in the garden instead of resting my middle aged bones. I was interested in the…
It's planting weather here in the Pacific Northwest. The soil temperature is rising. The sun struggles with rain clouds for dominance of the sky. While some people invest in expensive soil thermometers, the Shoestring Herbalist watches the weeds as a…