Saturday, July 15, 2006

Today I ate an Echinacea purpurea


Pretty interesting class on Herbal Medicines in the Garden. There are so many people using herbal supplements and remedies and so many can be found growing nearby. No need for a trip to Longs, the "medicine cabinet" is right there in the garden. But this was just an overview, I can see where a person could spend a lot of time studying not only the uses of the herb or plant, but how to derive the best tincture, infusuion or decoction. The presenter was Darren Huckle, L.Ac., a clinical herbalist and acupuncturist in Santa Cruz. He is also an instructor and co-director of the American School of Herbalism (his website is Roots of Wellness) and he was personable and engaging. He certainly had lots to offer and it was fun wandering around the herb gardens at CASFS and listening to him talk about the many uses of the plants there. And yes, I ate an Echinacea. He had cut it up in segments like an orange and passed it around. It made my mouth go all tingley and was certainly a rush. Now I have another long list of books to yearn for. It seems that if I'm not wishing for one plant or another, then it's a book on a plant. The cycle is never ending.

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