By Jim McDonald One sunny fall day, while walking through a field on out way into the Michigan Renaissance Festival, my wife and I stopped at the edge of a small pond. Standing there on a rotting dock, I was, as is usual, looking around at all the blossoming flora, which included perhaps 5 different …

By Jim McDonald Some years ago now, on the Henna Tribe forum, a conversation about using henna for foot & nail fungus came up, which left me somewhat shocked at the confidence that some of the henna artists had in using henna to treat this decidedly stubborn condition… most herbalists will agree that nail fungus …

New Year’s day was as one of those perfect Pacific Northwest winter days — 45 degrees, misty and soft. The kind of day that smells and feels like earth. My garden is pretty much hibernating. A long spell of deep cold knocked back the last of my greens. There’s a fairly even layer of deciduous …

“….. Peter was not very well during the evening. His mother put him to bed, and made some chamomile tea and she gave a dose of it to Peter.”  ~ from The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (England, 1901) History Chamomile is one of the more familiar medicinal herbs, with a high profile …

By Dr. Mahalia Freed Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) is medicine for the heart on all levels. Indigenous to countries across the northern hemisphere, this small thorny tree has a long-recorded history of medicinal use in both Europe and China, as well as in North America. Poetically – and significantly – Hawthorn is a member of the …

By Dr. Mahalia Freed Willow is a distinctive tree that many people recognize, and many more are drawn to. Willow’s story offers many examples of the power of tree medicines, and the difference between living plant medicines and pharmaceuticals or isolated extracts. There are over 400 species of Willow, growing all through the Northern Hemisphere. …