By Kathy Abascal I am told that you can measure when summer will end by watching fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) bloom. Here on Vashon, its purple flowers began to open at the base of its stem in early July. They then work their way up until finally the tips of the plant are in bloom. When…
By Dr. Leigh Siergiewicz Equisetum, or horsetail, is the only remaining genus in the prehistoric plant family Equisetaceae. I certainly think it looks like it belonged with dinosaurs, with its crusty texture and poky, bottle brush appearance. It is extremely persistent, with very deep rhizomes that make it extremely difficult to eradicate. It does not…
By Kathy Abascal Many of us love real licorice candy and enjoy licorice’s sweet flavor in various herbal teas. But few appreciate what an amazing and useful plant licorice is. Licorice has been used medicinally for thousands of years in both European and Asian traditions. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), licorice is considered harmonizing because…
By Leigh Siergewicz When I first started learning about herbs, it was so exciting to find that the common weeds we see everywhere can be consumed for many benefits. After learning about cleavers, galium aparine, I can’t help but notice how abundant it is in spring. Cleavers are native to Europe, but have naturalized here. Cleavers…
By Sandi Silagi In February 2015, after withdrawing from a golf tournament, Tiger Woods claimed, “My glutes are shutting off.” That was the “butt” of many jokes to come, but what is the reality?Initially, I thought, “Fire your trainer!” “Use your ground forces, use your feet!” “Channel Arnold Palmer!” But I was wrong. The chain…
By Daniel Hooker It’s Father’s Day. I remember being a father and why I tell dad jokes, and tell humorous stories. I studied psychology as an 18-year old in London, and worked/lived at an unfunded halfway house, called Cope House. There, I manned a Help/Suicide hotline two days a week, where humor and sharing stories…
By Tracey Stover Meditation is the fifth pillar of this series – the five pillars of health. The pillars of breath, hydration, nutrition, exercise, and meditation are equally important to maintaining health. I sincerely hope this series of articles have provided insightful ways to promote your well-being. If the body is healthy, happiness is a…
At first glance, Oregon grape looks a lot like holly, until you see the bright yellow blooms currently scattered all over Vashon and along the coast from British Columbia to southern Oregon. Later in the season, the flowers will be replaced by edible blue berries. The stems and roots of Oregon grape are yellow under the…
The extraordinary gift of a human body. It affords us many experiences, and supports our happiness. As a Buddhist, we believe a human body is as rare as a 200-year-old turtle that surfaces the ocean once every hundred years that, as it comes to the surface, pokes its head through an oxen yoke floating by. Needless…
Grief often comes with many misconceptions. One prevalent idea is that grief is to be gotten over or resolved, as if it’s a binary on/off state of being. The damage this does shows throughout our culture’s level of grief illiteracy. So if we want to change this landscape at all, how do we start? Well,…