Sow it. Grow it. Make it. Take it.

The medicine is ready MAMA!

I planned a batch of Tulsi medicine to be complete just in time for my dear Mama's birthday a couple of days ago. What Mama out there can't use a potent plant medicine that helps to awaken the mind bringing mental clarity while relaxing the nervous system, allowing time for restoration of the adrenal glands which have become exhausted due to stress aka motherhood? I am not a Mama but I am a Mama caretaker because you ladies damn well deserve someone looking after you. You are the true hero’s of this story and none of us would be here without you. So here's to all the Mamas out there. Thank you, I love you. This ones for you!

Sow it in the spring, grow it in the summer, make it in the fall take it in the winter.

Herbal medicine making is a beautiful way to bring the fragrance and medicinal properties of the garden into your life all year round. Some of my favorite basic ways to make herbal medicine are:

Tea - an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot water over fresh or dried herbs
Tincture - a highly concentrated herbal extraction made by soaking herbs in alcohol, vegetable glycerin or oil
Oxymel - an herbal extraction using apple cider vinegar and raw honey
Poultice - a soft, moist, warm mass of herbs put in cloth and placed on skin to tend to a wound or ache topically

Tulsi aka holy basil is a sacred plant alley that is considered an adaptogen (an herbal medicine that helps the body adapt to stress) . Along with supporting us to healthfully manage stress she also:

protects against infection
lowers your blood sugar
lowers your cholesterol
lowers blood pressure
eases joint pain
protects your stomach

Tulsi was a surprise guest in my garden this year. I got swept up in the whirlwind of planting my veggie garden along with about thirty others plus the Free Food For All CommUNITY Garden at the TileWorks in Doylestown, PA that I forgot to plant myself some Tulsi. But her mighty seed returned from last year gifting me an over abundance that is much needed and appreciated.

*Tulsi aka Holy Basil aks Ocimum teniflorum*

It's funny how plants have a way of showing up when you need them. This is what I have noticed to be true on my plant medicine journey. Instead of me finding the plant, the plant finds me. The plant I need at a particular time in my life has a mysterious way of showing up naturally. I might not notice it at first so it shows up again, and again, and again, and again until I pay it some attention, do a little research and WABAM, SHAZAM it is exactly what I am needing to tend my current ailment. This is how I have been introduced to many plants — specifically peppermint, comfrey, anise hyssop, plantain, oregano, red clover, elderberry, nettle and yarrow. Plants have a subtle magical way of communicating that we can attune ourselves to if we so allow. The first two steps in attuning is to open our eyes and slow down because the medicine is growing all around us.

To me nature is Great Spirit (God), and my Soul is a direct ray of Great Spirit's eternal light energy. Therefore, there is an innate language between myself and nature, between all of us in nature, because we are nature. I have found Great Spirit's language to be one most commonly communicated through metaphor, symbol and synchronicity.

The first plant I fell in love with was dandelion. I've been eating them since I was a child. Drawn to the bright yellow color and their poofy wishful allure. It turns out that they are the primary and first food of the season for the honeybees. Which is what my full name Melissa translates to in Greek. Dandelion is also a beneficial anti-inflammatory and digestive aid which I have needed support with my whole life.

Perhaps the most medicinal plant I have found on my journey so far is lemon balm a.k.a. Melissa officinalis. I think it’s pretty damn clear that nature is telling me that lemon balm is my official plant. Nature has really dumbed this one down for me even though it took me years to catch on. Lemon balm has been a key component in my healing journey from ulcerative colitis.

Are you intrigues and ready to learn more about herbal medicine but not sure where to start? Check out my two favorite herbalists Bluestem Botanicals and Mary Blue Herbalist. And here's a couple great books to get you started “The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies”, by Nicole Apelian & “The Illustrated Herbiary”, by Maia Toll.

Mighty plants literally absorbs sunlight and transform it into medicine and ask for nothing in return. If that is not Godly I don't know what is. I deeply encourage you to open yourself up to the magical world of plants and to please share your enchanted plant stories with us. The more we know the more we grow and let's face it learning through story is just far more fun. Thanks for joining me on the blog today. Feel free to comment and share. I would love to hear from you!

Live Love,
Mesa🌱🐝

A Love Letter to Mother Earth
by: M.E. Longshadow

The gifts of the cosmos have revealed themselves in you
Your beauty is so real it brings me to tears
Tears of awe and wonder
Mystery and gratitude
Honored to exist within you
Privileged to be a part of you
I feel your majesty pulsing through my veins
I feel your warm embrace and smell your presence everywhere
Your essence infusing all tangible and transient
Nestled in your womb
I have found myself again
A resurgence to live this single precious life I have been granted
Soaring higher
Diving deeper
You nudge me closer to my edges
Expanding my very beingness
I am alive only for your tender embrace
Each step falling deeper and deeper in love
With this opportunity to live again