A few people have recently asked me what first aid items they should bring to the January 21 march in DC. Please note, I am non-partisan at this (or any) event. I am there to assist anyone who needs help and is willing to work with me. I have a much more detailed handout…(Read More)
Amble to the Preamble This blog was initially meant to be a reasonably succinct discussion of my thoughts and feelings about Burning Man. Instead it is has become a dissertation-sized exposition on this event. If you are mainly interested in reading and viewing photos from Burning Man, jump to the sections below that interest…(Read More)
We recently tinctured fresh Kava kava (Piper methysticum) root. I purchased the fresh roots (primary and lateral roots) from Adaptations in Hawaii. They came second day air and on the following day we tinctured them up. Here is the process used to make the tincture. I was fortunate to have the help of Ly…(Read More)
Introduction This article is about my herbal first aid bag. I am writing about it for two main reasons: First, with the accompanying photos and information I hope to persuade someone to make me a new version of this bag. And secondly, I hope this information is helpful for others who would like to make…(Read More)
Jamaican Dogwood (Piscidia piscipula) Monograph Introduction In late January 2014 I went down to South Florida to identify and gather some Jamaican Dogwood (Piscidia piscipula, Fabaceae). This is my second time making this trip. I had also gone down in 2007 and wrote a blog about it here. Back then I gathered enough to make…(Read More)
A pre-story note; I wrote this as an article after I first gathered Jamaican dogwood in January 2007. I recently wildcrafted this plant again in January 2014, and decided to present this earlier edition as a blog with photos. I have avoided giving the exact whereabouts where I gather the Piscidia as I get…(Read More)
Before I go into some of the details here, I want to say that herbal first aid is much the same as all other first aid, the main difference is in some of the medicines dispensed. But the basics of sanitation, wound dressing and making the patient comfortable are similar. In this article the emphasis…(Read More)
One of my favorite first aid plants for infections is Chaparral (Larrea tridentata, Zygophyllaceae). It has a number of other common names, but in the world of herbal medicine, Chaparral seems to be the most common, common name. This is distinct from the southern California plant community which is also called ‘chaparral’. It is…(Read More)
Once upon a time, a very very very long time ago, you and I were very small creatures floating freely in the vast oceans of the earth. How small were we? We were tiny, just one cell big. To put that into perspective, we are much bigger now, about 60 trillion (60,000,000,000…(Read More)
While in Gainesville, Florida recently I gathered some Gelsemium sempervirens for medicine. Honestly, I have some from when I last gathered it in 1994 or so, but I like to sometimes wildcraft plants again to remember the specifics of gathering them. Gelsemium has many common names generally alluding to its sweet (many would say overly…(Read More)