Category: Herbs

Biodynamic, Environment, Frugality, Gratitude, Herbs, Homesteading, Minimalism, Nature, Organic

Goodbye Humidity…Praise God!

Lisa Burbank

My dream home is in Alaska. But I’ll settle for northern Maine. I know I’ve said it before but I am the most unproductive person when the humidity moves in. While friends of mine extol the virtues of a winter vacation in Florida, I’m glorying in seeing 3 feet of snow outside my window. Well, maybe not exactly ‘glorying’; digging endless pathways to the barn and chicken coop after each snowfall gets old after the first time. But I can praise God that I’m still fit enough to do the shoveling…even as I listen to Nervous Nellie nagging at me (Mom) that I’m going to stroke out if I keep this up (even while she reaches for the shovel herself–I don’t think so!). But snow is, hopefully, a few months’ away; I still have a lot of prep work before winter sets in.

Not snow, but this morning thunderstorms rolled in, giving a brief shower or two to nourish the land. Looking like Tobacco Road, as usual, I both welcome the rain and lament it. We need the moisture, as everything has been so dry, but the wet grass means another delay in finishing my landscaping as I wait for everything to dry out again. I am hoping the upcoming long weekend will be humidity-free so I can make a good dent in everything.

I want a good, productive garden next year. The last two summers have been minimal, by choice, and I cringe every time I have to buy produce at the supermarket. Not only the prices cause this tightwad to cringe; the not-knowing where it comes from, or more specifically, how many pesticides/fertilizers were used in its growth, cause me to shudder a bit, too. It’s the main reason I decided to homestead in the first place. However, because my garden area is towards the front of the house and visible to Interstate 6, I want to make it attractive. Yes, I know, Tobacco Road is definitely NOT attractive (though letting it overgrow has given me some great wild herbs and delicious wild blackberries, the latter now in the freezer to enjoy through the long winter), but my goal is to do this all without using any sort of power equipment–or, at the very least, only as a last resort. And I’m a stubborn woman. My dream is to combine some antiquated methods learned as a volunteer at Old Sturbridge Village with some modern, alternative farming methods like lasagna (or no-till) gardening plots and the Square Foot Gardening method (Mel Bartholomew wrote the book by this name that started the movement). I’ve been researching something called Biodynamic Farming, too; more on that later, but it’s definitely attracting me. And I am hoping to eventually add Aquaponics to the homestead. But, for now, I’ll settle for the completed landscape this year and the jars of homemade pickles, jams, jellies, salsas and relishes lining my kitchen shelves next year; I miss canning…even if it does increase the humidity in the house. Now there’s an oxymoron for you!

May God bless you & keep you!

Animals, Creativity, Gratitude, Herbs, Holistic Health, Homesteading, Nature, Spirituality, Writing

Monet I Am Not

Lisa Burbank

I added a brief blurb to one of last week’s posts about starting a mural on the wall of my home office. This is the one room of the house I have never painted in all the years I have lived here. I’m not sure why–and it certainly could use a coat of paint–but somehow the unpainted, unfinished walls add a sort of creative aesthetic to the room. A blank but less-than-perfect slate upon which to feed the creative genius. Last week, I painted the sky and the grass. This week I added details.

I am painting my dream life, my dream property in Maine. You see, I’ve been doing a lot of reading about manifesting, using creative visualization to manifest what you hope to achieve. I have several vision boards in the office, on the refrigerator, and even on the cork board next to my desk at work. For those of you unfamiliar with vision boards, a vision board is a collage of images of your heart’s desire. Mine have a wild assortment of goats, sheep, rabbits and Border Collies, as well as an array of antique furniture, spinning wheels, looms, beehives, and herb and vegetable gardens. You can add affirmations to them, too. The idea is to surround yourself with these constant reminders of where you want to be. I even have one with the image of a manual typewriter with an affirmation beside it that reads: I am a professional writer. Eh, whatever motivates you. And the mural is simply a larger vision board–one that I am putting a lot of passion and creative energy into as I improve upon my drawing and painting skills. (I read somewhere that this really helps with the manifestation process; it doesn’t hurt to try)

Painting a wall a single color is actually kind of boring to me. I know many contractors and house painters who find it meditative but I need more detail. Painting a scene on a bit of canvas is meditative for me–as long as I can still the inner critic. But that’s actually not hard to do as I paint simply for enjoyment. When I write, the critic comes out. Though I enjoy writing, too, I tend to forget the rule of thumb about not expecting your first draft to be bestseller material. It won’t be. Accept it. When I paint, though most of the details I’ve added to the mural are pretty easy to figure out, I am definitely not a Monet. And that’s okay…even if it is occupying the whole wall in my home office. Though not a Monet, it does look like a bit of folk art, with a whimsical willow tree over a sea cliff, and some fruit trees that look like they stepped out of a Tim Burton movie. Once I add some leaves and the actual fruit, these skeletal monsters will look a bit more benign. As for the animals? I think I am going to have to find some “how-to” books or websites; my artistic skills need a little honing before I add them to the wall. I can do a passable cat, rabbit, sheep and even a horse but my chickens, ducks and goats leave a lot to be desired.

All in all, it was a great way to spend an afternoon. I went into that proverbial “zone” for a few hours and found true relaxation, something that is often sadly lacking with me as I tend to be moving in 20 different directions at once. It’s nice to be able to focus.

May God bless you & keep you!

Abuse, Animal Rights, Gratitude, Herbs, Homesteading, Nature, Writing

It All Started with Dreams of Goats and Sheep

Lisa Burbank

My favorite part of the St. Louis Zoo was the children’s petting zoo, especially the area where all the kids and lambs were kept. I could have stayed there all day. We went to the zoo a lot in the summer months so at least I got frequent visits where I could feed my growing obsession. In between visits, I would fantasize about having goats and sheep of my own. It’s funny because I never saw this enormous farm. It was always a smaller place with just enough room for a small herd. And I always had a garden full of herbs and flowers–the Botanical Gardens were another favorite place to visit as a kid. I would even imagine myself in later years as an old woman with that herd of goats and sheep, and a yard full of flowers, herbs and vegetables. I can’t think of a better way to retire someday but I am working towards making that dream come true now. That old woman of myself was happily settled.

It started with the petting zoo. Books fueled it further. When my family relocated from Rhode Island to St. Louis, Missouri in December 1978, I felt completely lost. I missed my family. Granted, my stepfather’s family welcomed me as their own and I’ve been blessed with a third “set” of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins that I love dearly. It’s just the place where you’re born always has a special tug, no matter where you end up later in life. And I was convinced there would be at least one family member I would lose before we returned East again. You see, I lost my paternal grandfather shortly after we relocated the first time in December 1974. He was probably my biggest influence. He was a writer and a musician and he gave me a love of learning that I cherish to this day. He started teaching me chess at the tender age of 3–well enough that I held my own in a chess club against some with trophies bigger than houses, though I’ve never had an interest in competing; I enjoy the game just because it’s fun and requires one’s total absorption. My family managed to move back East just before Poppop’s passing in April 1975. Nanny, my paternal grandmother, passed almost a year to the day after Poppop and things were never quite the same in my world. Somehow it stuck in my head that major moves like that would result in losing someone dear again. And I did. My Uncle Jimmy was killed in a car accident 6 months’ after that second relocation in May 1979. We were only 4 years apart in age and our birthdays just 2 days’ apart. Mom and Grandma Heon would have a cake for us both on the day in between our birthdays. Anyway, at 12 years old, this was just too much grief and homesickness to deal with so books became my solace.

I remember being in Ms. Borden’s 7th grade class and picking up Elizabeth George Speare’s “The Witch of Blackbird Pond”. It was set in New England–Connecticut, more specifically–and the vivid descriptions of a Puritan village (I had already visited Sturbridge on a field trip and fallen in love…) and autumn foliage and the smell of salty sea air brought home a little closer to me. Maybe that’s where the dreams of myself being a little old lady with a bunch of goats really came from as the character of Hannah Tupper lives alone in her little dilapidated cottage with her goats and her cats (I am sort of in line for that title of “Crazy Cat Lady”…). She reminded me of another elderly woman who lived across the street from my maternal grandparents. Her name was Mae. And I know her last name but I am not sure of the spelling so please forgive the lack of etiquette. Anyway, this book became a major part of my life. I still have a copy. And I cannot count the number of times I have read it.

“Those Miller Girls” by Alberta Wilson Constant was another that captured my heart at that tender age. Though it was not set in New England like “The Witch of Blackbird Pond”, Swish the Goat was a major supporting character–at least in my book he was. This seemed to be a theme to my early readings. Ironically, I didn’t read “Heidi” until my early 40’s!

A couple of years later Mom had enrolled in the Doubleday Book Club. One of the first books she received was entitled, “The Tiger’s Woman” by Celeste De Blasis. Unlike “The Witch of Blackbird Pond” and “Those Miller Girls”, it did not feature any goats, though there were plenty of sheep. And this was not a young adult reader. If Mom had known the very adult content, she probably would have prohibited me from reading it at 14 years of age; the bedroom scenes were quite explicit. But this book actually became a major catalyst in my life as the lead character of Sarah-Mary Drake and I shared a common childhood: we both had fathers (in my case, stepfather) who wanted too much to do with us. I suddenly felt less alone in the world but, more importantly, the influence that this book in particular had on my life still has the power to astound me: my love of Newfoundlands from the character of Captain; my determination to learn American Sign Language from the characters of Maggie and Ben; Sarah-Mary learns gardening, spinning, weaving, breadmaking–all of the myriad aspects that make up homesteading. A later book by Celeste De Blasis, entitled “Wild Swan”, had almost as much of an impact as the lead character, Alexandria, is an herbalist, as is her grandmother, Virginia. The vivid descriptions of Virginia’s English herb garden stuck with me and put me in mind of Mae, too. Though I don’t recall Mae having an herb garden, she did know her plants, her herbs. Mom cured a case of pink eye (conjunctivitis) in me using a decoction of spearmint leaves, a remedy that she learned from Mae when she was a child.

I am definitely older now. Not sure if I’m any wiser. But copies of these books stand on the shelf of my library, tattered and torn, the bindings cracked, the pages yellowed from their many handlings over the years. Every once in awhile, I feel a need to re-visit some old friends and mentors, and remember the solace these cherished volumes provided for a lost and lonely little girl. It could be, too, that they’re simply some well-written stories with some vivid and memorable characters. I admit, if I can write just one complete novel with even half of the dynamics that Celeste De Blasis put into her novels, I will consider myself a success as a writer. She was an extraordinary author…even if she didn’t feature any goats in her novels.

Almost 40 years later, I am still in love with Swish the Goat. And I still linger overlong in the petting zoos.

May God bless you & keep you!

Animal Rights, Environment, Faith, Frugality, Herbs, Holistic Health, Homesteading, Minimalism, Nature, Organic, Yoga & Fitness, Zero Waste

Motivation

Lisa Burbank

The antithesis of motivation is avoidance. I have been sitting here for over 1/2 hour going through unimportant emails–the Linked In connection prompts; advertisements from certain companies/organizations I’ve been in touch with in the past; coupons that I probably won’t use, etc. One of my new textbooks touches on this, that as writers, we often tend to avoid writing. I suppose it’s not so very different from any other passion or skill. How many students of piano lessons avoid practicing? Or runners/joggers become “lazy” and stay in on that chilly winter morning? The textbook says to write anyway and that writer’s block doesn’t really exist, that it’s “a fabrication, an excuse that allows you to ignore the problem you’re having with your story” (Dufresne 22). My problem this morning is the blank slate that is my mind for the moment. But, amazingly, as I finally discipline myself enough to log into Word Press and start writing, the creative juices start flowing again.

Writers also love to read. This morning, while still in avoidance mode, I pulled a favored book off of the shelf. Favored but only read once; I’m not even sure why “only once”. So I’ve decided it’s time to read it again. If for no other reason, inspiration. The book is “One Woman Farm” by Jenna Woginrich. And it was the title that caught my eye in the first place. I happened across it in a catalog from a book club I used to belong to. Ms. Woginrich could be my long-lost sister. The pages of this book echo my dream life with very few exceptions. Ms. Woginrich raises sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, geese (I have ducks but geese are on the radar…as are the sheep), honeybees, and, when this book was written, she had just started training her first Border Collie to herd. I have avowed not to get another dog until I am ready to get sheep (which will require a bigger farm with more acreage than I currently possess…) because I want to train and work with Border Collies. “Babe” is my favorite movie and every event that I attend, be it a fair or a festival, if there are sheepdog trials or demos, I am there. My fascination with this never abates. Ms. Woginrich also grows all of her own vegetables and fruits; I’m not quite there yet but every year sees a little further expansion. This year it was the perennials: blueberries, rhubarb and asparagus. And she cans/preserves what she grows. I love doing both. No mention of herbs or making tinctures, etc. nor do I recall anything about spinning and weaving, but she’s also a musician; albeit, her instrument of choice is the fiddle; mine, the guitar and Appalachian dulcimer. Suddenly, I don’t feel quite as alone in the world.

As a homesteader, there are times when I feel like the very odd duck because most people do not seem to understand why I do what I do. I’ve heard comments about why do I want life to be so hard? Sorry. I don’t consider any of this hard; it makes me happy, actually. I hear plenty of comments about my animals. Because I am a pescetarian (vegetarian + fish), none of these animals is raised for slaughter. And I would never allow that to happen to any of them. Nor could I live on a farm where animals are being slaughtered. I know that’s where meat comes from, and I respect another’s right to eat as they choose, but it won’t be happening here. And there’s no such thing as Freezer School. My chickens and ducks give me eggs; reduce the tick and slug populations, respectively; provide sweet song and gentle chatter, laughter and love; and plenty of free fertilizer for the gardens. That is enough. They do not need to give me their lives, too. The goats are dairy goats but Felicity has not been bred. It is in the future plans, but I’m still learning basic goat care skills like hoof trimming and such; milking and midwifery will come later. The milk, cheese, soap and cosmetics that the goat’s milk will eventually provide, as well as their comical antics, affection, and, yes, more fertilizer is also enough. My rabbits, well, I’ve had 3 Angoras in the past who have provided me with lots of Angora wool. I have a spinning wheel but I haven’t mastered spinning yet; that is a work in process. The 6 rabbits that currently share this homestead with me are Lionheads. And, at present, cuddly and funny little pets who also provide plenty of fertilizer–I’m getting this composting thing down pat. (chuckle) I have considered cross-breeding them with some Angoras next spring, which I think would produce a finer wool but we shall see; one step at a time. Homesteading is a work in process. Always. You are always improving, always thinking of new ways to increase your yields, to reduce your waste and your carbon footprint, to become more self-sufficient. But the one thing I hear most–especially from Mom–is “I do too much”. Interestingly, Jenna Woginrich has a section entitled just that. Her words echo my thoughts and feelings entirely:

“I have too many hobbies, too many obligations, and too many animals holding me down on this farm. Sometimes I believe this. Sometimes. If I just kept a few chickens and some raised beds with a couple or three sheep, life would be easier.

And I would be miserable.

I do what I do because it fills my mind, body and spirit. I live in this frenzy of activity not as a victim but as a celebrant…some days are overwhelming and scary, and those words “too much” haunt me like ghosts. They keep me up at night. But every morning I know what I am capable of, and what this farm stands for. What feels like fear today is inspiration tomorrow and nostalgia around the fireside in a season.

I’ll figure out the mortgage, the freelance, the bills, the manuscripts, and the workshops…It’s not what I have taken on that scares me, it’s that I’m not doing enough. Not doing enough to make this farm work, to make myself healthy, to make mistakes disappear.

You know what I think? I think wasted potential is a lot scarier than feeling overwhelmed. There is no monster greater than regret. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

Yes, I do too much. It’s what I do.” (Woginrich 100-101)

I couldn’t have said it better myself. This one passage really says it all for me. It is also comforting that there is at least one other person out there with many of the same passions as I possess. And they’re making it work for them. I just have to keep putting on those big girl pants each morning, sit down, and just write. The creative genius is just another muscle that needs to constantly be strengthened and stretched. Sort of like this morning’s tackling of one of my new yoga DVD’s. I may not be getting all the way into those bends and twists yet but, in time, look out. I am unstoppable.

May God bless you & keep you!

Works Cited

Dufresne, John. The Lie That Tells a Truth. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York: 2003.

Woginrich, Jenna. One Woman Farm. Storey Publishing, Massachusetts: 2013.

Animal Rights, Animals, Environment, Faith, Friendship, Healing, Herbs, Holistic Health, Homesteading, Politics, Prayer, Religion, Spirituality

The Introduction Continues…

Lisa Burbank

I got broad-sided in my last post as I hit on one of my passions–feeding the hungry and feeding them well. But also, taking away the opportunity to “sponge” off of our government and the kindnesses of others. There are too many who abuse our system but the answer is a difficult one. Too often we find adults taking that advantage but, if you took away the benefit they are abusing, it is the innocent children who pay for it later on. And that is the dilemma our federal and local governments have wrestled with for time in memorium.

The environment is another big issue I could go on about ad nauseum. We damage our planet greatly by our dependence on fossil fuels; the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and household cleaners; the use of lawn treatments such as Scotsgard and TruGreen (Sp?); our over-consumption of electricity and water waste. Then there is the over-use of convenience foods and convenience items such as plastic cutlery and TV dinners that not only harms our rivers and streams but also our bodies. I read in Cunningham’s “Environmental Science: A Global Concern” that by 2020 there will not be enough fresh drinking water for everyone–even in the United States!  2020. That’s just 4 years’ away.  How scary is that?  Ironically, a major culprit in the contamination of our water is the plastic, single-serving bottle through which our water is sold on most supermarket shelves.  It actually takes the equivalent of 5 bottles of water (or 60 oz if the bottle is a 12 oz) to produce one of those plastic bottles. And, once created, the water used to make it is unfit for consumption.  Not only is it a waste of money–there is usually nothing worse coming out of our taps, and bottled water companies likely get it out of a tap somewhere else–it is a waste of life’s most precious resource.  As a holistic health care practitioner, I am grateful to see so many people adding more water to their daily intake but a reusable travel mug would work just as well, save tons of money each year, and millions of gallons of clean drinking water.

Another environmental hazard today is the K-cup coffee machine. Mom and I figured it out one day. We took the large metal canister of coffee she buys at the supermarket for $5 and change, which lasts her a full month of 4 cup pots of coffee each morning, and divided the sticker price by, roughly, 120 cups (30 days X 4 cups) and came up with .05 cents per cup of coffee. Then we divided the sticker price of a box of K-cups by 20, which is the average number of cups in a package, and came up with .75 cents per cup so, by making coffee the old-fashioned way, you save .70 cents per cup. When you factor in the plastic K-cups themselves and how much water is contaminated to make them, the aluminum covers–aluminum has to be mined out of the earth and creates more water and soil pollution than I care to speak about in polite company–and the likelihood of having to replace the K-cup machines more frequently than the standard drip coffee maker due to our modern society’s obsession with the latest technologies and, the only thing I can ask is, does any of this make sense from either an economical or environmental perspective?

And, yes, this is obviously a pet peeve of mine. I have many others. As an herbalist, the list of side effects from modern pharmaceutical drugs is frightening. Oftentimes, the side effects are worse than the malady the drug is supposed to control (Note I said “control” not “cure”). There was one in particular that has always stuck with me. Sadly, I cannot remember the name of the drug but only its use for treating headaches. One of the side effects was “gas with an oily discharge”. Eeew! I think I’d rather deal with the headaches…or seek a different treatment, such as an herbal tea or a 20 minute nap or a modification of my diet. This is just my honest opinion, of course. I am not a licensed doctor so I am not asking anyone to do away with whatever he or she has prescribed. I am simply wondering how good for us these prescriptions really are. These are our bodies and, while I applaud the pharmaceutical industry for providing this information so we can make our own intelligent choices for our health, still, our health is ultimately our responsibility and we do have a choice in what goes into our bodies.

While I am on the pharmaceutical subject, another pet peeve of mine–actually, an issue that I am as passionate about as our environment–perhaps more so–is anti-vivisection. Vivisection is the use of animals to test drugs, household products, medical procedures, military weapons, and anything else science elects to experiment with this month. If these poor creatures could speak, would they choose to be the, um, well, guinea pigs (pardon the poorly-chosen pun) for these experiments? I doubt it. What makes their lives any less valuable? What makes it ‘okay’ to maim, poison, injure, infect or kill them simply because some members of our society view them as “lesser” life forms? And how accurate is the data from these animal experiments versus the comparison with human DNA? How many drugs get recalled after testing “safe” for animals because, when given to a human animal (yes, we are animals, too, not vegetables or minerals…) they cause serious side effects, even death? How many rabbits have to blinded before we can say this mascara is safe or we should avoid getting this bleach/pine cleaner, etc. into our eyes? How many goats must have their limbs blown off for us to understand how traumatic combat wounds are to our soldiers? And how many chimpanzees will be lost in space so that we can find another planet in our solar system (or a different solar system) to pollute beyond the capacity to support life? We say they are lesser life forms but it is Mankind that is often the true beast when such cruelty is so easily inflicted and justified for our own selfish gains. Again, there are other choices. And we can support those choices by electing to buy cruelty-free products and electing government officials who support both cruelty-free and eco-friendly practices.

If we could find a candidate who also has faith in God, what a blessing that would be. This one is a tough one because I have the utmost respect for other belief systems. I cannot, in clear conscience, “condemn’ or judge someone as “wrong” or “bad” because they worship Buddha or Goddess Diana or even Allah. Our beliefs are at our core. They are the foundation of our very lives (unless, of course, we are talking about atheism but even that tends to be deeply rooted). However, here in the United States, our very culture is being stripped away as our First Amendment right to freedom of religion seems to include every other religion EXCEPT Christianity. If I pray openly in school, I am at risk of being expelled. If I pray openly in a public place, well, I may not be arrested yet but I may be asked to leave if it makes the other patrons uncomfortable. Why? Does it remind you that you have forgotten Him, whatever name you attribute to your Higher Power? Government buildings can no longer have pictures, slogans, etc. that reverence our Christian God though He is the foundation for this government. And, yes, before we go further, I am one of the First Americans, with my Narragansett and Mohawk heritage, and well aware that Christianity is not truly the first religion practiced here on these shores. I cannot change what my European ancestors did when they took over this land but would it make sense to allow history to repeat itself so that yet another culture is all but destroyed? And, I believe in my heart, that losing Him, hiding Him, removing Him from the foundation of our government is why we see so many without work, losing their homes, and we see so much violence in every form. Yes, Christians have committed some bloody acts in history, too. But, without faith, there is no balance, there is no compass point to keep us straight and true. And, while it is often the actions of Christians–especially Christian officials–that turn people away from Him, we should remind ourselves that priests, pastors, ministers, Jesuits, etc. are merely human beings. They are not God. Though most of them sacrifice everything they have to follow Him and to lead others to Him, they, too, are subject to all of the human failings and, while it may be difficult to do so, it would be wise to remember this lest our faith be shattered by those human failings. Faith in God, not in priest, pastor or otherwise. As for those individuals who share different beliefs but still come to these shores? Our First Amendment welcomes you and invites you to stay true to your beliefs but it does not give you the right to take away mine, to tell me or my government that we cannot print “In God We Trust” on our American dollar or place a manger scene on the lawn of our town hall. Instead of protesting, petition this same government to include symbols of your beliefs on the front lawn during your important holiday celebrations. I will not be offended to see, for example, a Menorah during Hanukkah or, for 2016, pictures of monkeys to commemorate the Year of the Monkey for the 2016 Chinese New Year. In fact, I welcome these sights as they provide the opportunities to learn more about you, my new neighbor. And, perhaps, if I greet you with such love and respect, you won’t feel as threatened by my God when I share Him with you as well.

God bless you & keep you!