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The Medicine Woman's Roots, Wild Plants and River

The Medicine Woman's Roots, Wild Plants and River
A river-bottom rambling through the wild plants and sacred stories of the Gila wildlands of New Mexico by Medicine Woman and Anima Sanctuary founder Kiva Rose. Learn about Nettle seeds and river restoration, medicine plant allies and the Medicine Wom

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Sunburned, Sore & Ready for a Change
2007-08-24 17:10:00
I've just spent the last couple days trying to dig our big black truck out of the river. This involved hauling huge heavy rocks, jacking up the truck about a thousand times (you think I'm exaggerating, hah!), digging through mountains of mud and rigging up some strange winch like contraption with the jack, two chains and a Cottonwood tree (don't try this at home, kids!) So now I'm sunburned (first one of the season), so sore I can barely lift my left arm or stand up and getting ready for the group arriving this evening for this weekends workshop with Robin Rose Bennett.So, if you're one of the many people waiting for an email from me, do not despair! I am getting there, and emails are my priority today.And in my spare time, I've created a new home for The Medicine Woman's Roots, same content with a new vessel. Blogger is simple and easy, but I really wanted more flexibility so I switched to self-hosted Wordpress. Sorry to disturb the RSS feed subscriptions and so on, but I th...
More About: Change , Ready , Chang , Chan , Burn

A Story in Pictures: Home
2007-08-20 20:20:00
The River I loveCabin view from the river.The Den and TreehouseMe banging on things.Rhiannon & her PapaLoba making ymminessRhiannon and her treehouse
More About: Pictures , Story , Home , Tory

Surviving Southwestern Summer Burnout
2007-08-20 06:42:00
I don't know about you, but here in the NM, everyone's red, irritated and dried out by the end of the Summer . We're chronically thirsty, many people are perpetually pink, and I can barely get my interns from the northwoods to come out from under the nice cool rocks for anything! One answer is to lay in the river all day, and it's certainly tempting to hide under a canopy of cottonwood and bulrushes until August burns itself out. More practically, I've learned a few practices in the last few years that can dramatically prevent and treat these chronic hot & dry conditions.Stay hydrated. No really, drink a LOT.Don't get overheated in the first place, do your hard work in the mornings and evenining. There's a reason we've got siestas in this part of the world. If you do venture out midday, put a wide-brimmed hat on, and a light weight, light colored loose long sleeved shirt on to protect you skin. And get in the river when you're done with whatever you're doing.Don't just dri...
More About: Burnout , Este , Vivi , Burn

Duck Stew With Turnips & Apples
2007-08-18 21:26:00
One of our favorite meals is this amazing Duck Stew, it's a lovely late Summer/Early Autumn dinner when the day starts to get cool. Loba originally created this recipe, and we've more recently fine tuned it together.I like to roast or shallow-fry the turnips and apples separately and add them at the last, so the sweetness they get from the dry heat comes through and they don?t end up overcooked. Fresh turnip or mustard greens are so good with this, but don?t despair if they?re not available, it?ll be excellent either way. Plan to have leftovers the next day, as it?s even better after it?s been reheated. And try a bite cold too. You can substitute or experiment with using turkey or goose, but you would need to at least double all the ingredients listed below. (Serves 2-4) 1 duck (wild or domestic) 1 tablespoon butter (even better if it's a nice herbed buttter, like Rosemary or Sage)6 cups water 1 large onion 1/2 head of garlic1/2 cup of flour (optional)2 good-sized turnips 2...
More About: Apples

Talking to Plants: The Prequel
2007-08-17 01:01:00
Here we begin the Talking to Plant s series of posts, but before we dig in I recommend reading Jason Godesky's excellent blogpost called "Plants Are People, Too". It's an in-depth exploration of the ways plants communicate and feel, and their inherent personhood. He quotes Stephen Buhner as well as lots of recent and not so recent research. It's well worth reading for a good overall look at the subject of plant communication (and a re-thinking of ethical vegetarianism at that!) Just click on the pretty banner below to go to the Anthropik Network to read Jason's piece.
More About: The Prequel , Prequel

River Talk, Harvesting and New Ideas!
2007-08-16 22:12:00
The river is lower this week, thanks (or not) to the declining number of storms coming through the Canyon. She's still sandy and far from clear, and you're likely to sink at least to your knees should you try to get from bank to bank. It does make for lovely swimming though, as the current pulls you down through the Willows and Alder on either side, and the sand softly strokes your skin.Late Summer smells something like heaven here: wet and green and laden with storm turned soil. Since the river is so sandy, and the banks are so muddy, we've been going to town on the trail up the mountain. It's only a little over a mile to the parking area up there where we leave vehicle, but some of it's steep switchbacks on loose gravel which makes for a challenging walk if you're carrying much of anything. I'm easily distracted from the weight this time of year though, by the beautiful plants adorning the forest floor. The trail winds upwards through old Ponderosa Pine forest where Yellow ...
More About: Ideas , River , Talk , New Ideas , Harvest

New Look & Labels
2007-08-15 15:56:00
Welcome to the new Wild River look of the Medicine Woman's Roots blog! Not only is it prettier and more personalized, but I've also organized the labels that accompany each post in order to make everything easier to find. I've also signed up for Feedburner so that you easily subscribe to my blog in case you don't want to constantly be checking the site. There's a link in the right bar just below the Medicine Woman picture to subscribe through a reader or by email.There are only five different labels for now:Medicine Woman Materia Medica - Self explanatory, individual or combined profiles of herbs and how to work with them.Therapeutics and Nutrition - Having to do with treating a specific problem, or talking about an approach to treating people through herbs or nutrition. Tales of the Sweet Medicine - River Tales! These will be long or short stories about the Sweet Medicine River, the Canyon and two-leggeds that are here.Green Tidbits - Short Canyon updates and little herbal bit...
More About: Labels , Abel , New Look

A Few of my Favorite Calming & Uplifting Herbs
2007-08-09 20:27:00
Not an exhaustive list of course, but a small number of the plants I'm most likely to use in any given situation. Don't forget to try Magnesium and other trace minerals for any seemingly random emotional problems.These kind of plants often act very differently according to the individual, and so it's important to proceed somewhat slowly and for the person to try to be self-aware and open when working with the plants, so as to get the most out of the experience. And while plants can profoundly affect our process and our ability to be with our emotions, it's up to us to work through our issues, and to have a fierce love for our own spirits so that we can mindfully and gladly journey through the pain and bliss, joy and terror, great loss and immense gifting that is our lives. Evening Primrose - Great for food based anxiety in those recovering from eating disorders as well as depression arising from digestive problems (David Winston). I also use Evening Primrose hormonally related a...
More About: Herbs , Favorite , Ming , Herb , Calm

Walking Barefoot Through the Nettle Patch
2007-08-06 04:55:00
I don't know if I'd recommend it, but it was kind of fun.... It all started with Rhiannon's birthday walk and the fact that I'd left my shoes at the bottom of the path below the mesa we live on. And the huge storm the night before that had washed away said shoes. I like going barefoot, it helps me feel my connection with the ground and plants more intensely and so I often traipse barefoot through the canyon. But this is the time of year when the stickers are reproducing like manic bunnies and you can't see the ground through the Sunflowers anyhow. So I was hoping to have my trusty green chaco sandals to make the trek downriver. I managed to find one sandal lodged in a rain-tangled mat of Nettles and Four O'Clocks, but just couldn't find the second one.Since there was no point in limping downriver in a single shoe, I proceeded barefoot. Through the Nettles and Willows we went, Rhiannon holding a large sprig of Mugwort in front of her like a beacon (in case she got stung, she w...
More About: Walking , Patch , Foot

Another Gratuitous Elderberry Post
2007-08-05 00:38:00
Everyone, or nearly so, in our small village has a terrible hacking, icky cold. All of us here at the Sanctuary have been a bit run down and short on sleep so it was no surprise when Loba woke up yesterday morning with a sore throat, low grade fever, muscle aches and copious phlegm and other face fluids.... She was miserable and overtired and begging for something to make it go away. First, I assigned her to extra sleep, instructed her to pour Fire Cider on everything she ate and drink lots of Ginger tea to enhance the body's own virus fighting techniques of fever and sweating. She also ate easy to digest foods in small amounts in order to not further tax her system. AND, I dosed her up good with Elderberry Elixir, not that I don't love Elderberry syrup, but I have found time after time that Elderberry is MUCH more effective when not heated in any way... my two favorite ways of preparing are the Elixir (see recipe below) and a honey paste with whole dried berries ground into raw l...
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Blood Knowledge, Plant Dreams and Remembered Wisdom: A Rambling Exploration
2007-08-04 03:14:00
My family, both sides, came from the Appalachians, and before that from Scotland and before that from Northernmost Europe.... there's something of those people still in my blood. A bit of melancholy, a lot of storytelling and a deep love of forest and river. My mother played the fiddle, and sang those old sad songs so filled with longing and love, all underlaid with the haunted feel that my wandering ancestors carried with them from land to land to land.Here in the Gila, I'm the farthest piece of my family's roving migrations. The only one who's made it West, who's made it, once again, to the edge of civilization and story. And though I feel at home in these cave-riddled mountains unlike anywhere else, I still have a few of those songs, and many of those stories in my bones.My love once told me I must have been birthed from the moonlit flowers of the night blooming Sacred Daturas, and I am indeed born from this land of red dirt, crystal studded cliff faces and rambling red hipp...
More About: Dreams , Rambling , Wisdom , Knowledge , Blood

Wild Canyon Grapes - Blogparty
2007-08-02 04:27:00
I'm just resurfacing from co-teaching an incredible and moving four day workshop on Earth Path Shamanism. I don't think any of us could have predicted the power and profound shifts that occurred for nearly everyone present, and I'm still a bit overwhelmed by my gratitude to describe it fully. I will hopefully do a post about it before too long though.I was so happy to see that Rebecca's decided to wait until tomorrow to post the blogparty, since now I actually have time to do at least a small post on berries.My berry of choice at the moment is our Wild Canyon Grapes that are just now ripening, the picture above shows fully ripened and ready to eat Grapes, yum!We also eat Grape leaves year round, both fresh and also preserved in a brine during the Winter season. Grape leaves are wonderful medicinally for taking down all kinds of swellings when used externally (fresh leaf poultice) and as an amazing fertility tonic when used as a dry plant infusion (especially combined in a regime...

Herbal Tidbit: Evening Primrose for Wounds, Stings and Bites
2007-07-23 02:56:00
Much of the ethnobotanical reports about Evening Prim rose have to do with it's purported prowess as a wound healer. Having used it extensively in the last few months, I'm here to tell you that the reports are true! I've used tincture (flower, bud, seedpods, leaf and root) on infected wounds, venomous insect bites and stings and even a few rashes with wonderful results. The redness clears, everything heals up without a fuss and VERY rapidly. It's really quite impressive, and is now up there with Cottonwood, White Sage, Rose, Yarrow and Plantain as my favorite first aid plants for infection, venom, irritation and slow healing.Next step is to infuse into an oil for salves....As a side note, these healing properties also seem to work very well internally for GI problems as well, as one would expect of an herb with such an affinity for the digestive system. A lovely plant.
More About: Herbal , Herb , Bite

Every (Wo)Man?s Adaptogen: Nettle Seeds & The Adrenals
2007-07-22 02:32:00
I?ve always been a bit intrigued by adaptogens (SUCH a trendy word), but the fact that they tend to come from far away lands combined with their often (for me) over-stimulating effects have kept me from using them very much personally. I do occasionally recommend Ashwaganda or Eleuthero root to others, but generally stick with my local allies in my practice. But I?ve been keeping my eye out for local nutritive tonics and adaptogens. It?s fairly unusual to find such a plant in the Gila, most of these plants seem determined to keep us cool, calm and disinfected (I?ve never met so many anti-infective plants in one place before!), we do have Wild Licorice here, but even that tends to run a bit to the bitter, cooling side in this ecosystem. And lately, people have been calling Nettle an adaptogen.Now, I?ve loved Nettles for a long time and I?ve used her medicine in all sorts of ways, as a nourishing mineral packed infusion, as a vibrant bang of green tincture, as an itch soothing salve, ...
More About: The A , Seed , Seeds

Happy Birthday to Me!
2007-07-12 02:48:00
Today I turned 27! To celebrate, Loba, Rhiannon and our intern, Kyra, climbed the arroyo to seek out the (hopefully) ripe Gooseberries. Much to our delight, about thirty percent of the Gooseberries were indeed ripe. So into the brambles we went to gather the tart black berries, between the four of us we managed to gather a couple pints. In the process, we also managed to get plenty scratched up and very hungry.We wandered a bit further up the wash to find a shady spot to eat our wild salmon & egg salad, blueberry pudding and apples. There's something very magical and special about sitting on water polished volcanic rock, surrounded by a dozen varieties of butterflies, with stone walls enclosing us like a womb and a bright strip of sky streaking overhead.Back home, we made Gooseberry-Pear Pie with an Almond Coconut Crust and Pear-Peach Cream on top to have after a so fulfilling meal of Nettle Stew with Wild Elk meat, Butternut Squash, Coconut Milk and Ginger, mmmmm.Both Loba an...
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Wild Women's Gathering 2007
2007-07-09 01:08:00
Here we are! Happy Wild Women getting ready to sing together and howl at the moon. I'm there in the middle with the brown dress, Loba to my right and our apprentice Annie to the left. Our new intern, Kyra, is to the far left in the pretty pink peasant blouse.All of the women were so special, and this Wild Woman's Gathering is certainly the best I've ever co-lead with Loba and may in fact be the BEST Gathering ever in eight years!Together we ground cacao, cardamom and chili by hand on an ancient Mogollon metate, we made molé, tamales and special spiced sauces for around-the-fire chocolate delights. And we cried sweet tears of both grief and joy on the warm summer earth as we shared and learned, danced and laughed. We swam like otters in the beaver pond and gathered medicinal plants on the river bank. Here we are cuddling up, with Rhiannon wrapped around our new student, Jenya's arm. Our youngest Wild Woman at thirteen, Roya is grinding grain on the metate and Loba and I (nearly i...
More About: Erin

A Walk up the Arroyo: Monarda, Chokecherry, Gooseberries & Saskatoons
2007-06-26 03:12:00
Loba and I woke up early this morning to prepare a picnic lunch to take up the arroyo on a berry picking adventure. We were hoping for ripe Gooseberries and maybe even a Saskatoon (Serviceberry, Shadberry, Juneberry or whatever else you'd like to call it) or two. In the early morning the air was still chilly and quartz studded boulders that make up the arroyo floor were cool and smooth under our feet as we made our way up from the river into the mountains. Brilliantly colored Butterfly Weed was still blooming profusely every which way we looked, certainly its most prolific year in a long time. I can't wait to harvest a good batch of root this fall! Lavender to fuchsia Mona rda blossoms were exploding on both sides of the rocky trail, some of them plants nearly four foot tall. Well, we just couldn't resist and harvested armloads and then bag fulls of richly scented flowering tops. As we walked we noticed we felt euphoric and a bit sleepy from the relaxing effect of the Monarda vola...
More About: Walk , The A , Toons , Choke

How to Survive a Summer in the Wilderness: Remedies from a Thorny Land
2007-06-24 04:21:00
This started out as a simple post on Summer Skin Remedies for this month's blogparty but somehow dramatically expanded... I also have a previous post on treating injuries that is in a similar vein.Sunburn: I haven't found anything better than Rose petal vinegar, diluted 1:4 in water and applied as a fomentation every few hours. It usually takes the heat and pain out very rapidly. The next step is Prickly Pear gel (or aloe) application and as the skin begins to heal and then a moistening, healing salve of White Sage, Elder leaf & flower and Plantain. Do not apply oils or oil based products to any burn that is still hot, it will only hold the heat in.Burns: First, cool the area with lukewarm to cool water (never never never ice). Then apply diluted tinctures of Rose, Cottonwood and White Sage (or Monarda). Lavender essential oil (neat) or diluted tincture will also work well. Later on, compresses of Mallow and Elderflower can be very soothing. When all heat is gone from the skin the...
More About: Wilderness , Survive , Land

Tree Medicine and the Magic of Blisswort
2007-06-23 02:46:00
Wolf trimmed some Alders and Cottonwoods the other day, and this small trimming resulted in a whole pickup bed full of branches. Now, I generally gather bark at the prescribed times of Spring and Autumn if only because the bark is generally easier to peel back then, but how I could I resist all that yummy resinous Cottonwood and silvery Alder bark just calling my name. Truth is, I couldn't, so I hauled tarps full of clipped limbs to the Medici ne Lodge where I do most of my herb work and proceeded to sort and chop these mountains of trees. At the same time, my floor is already nearly covered with drying Quelites (Lambsquarters) so it's quite a squeeze in there right now, I can't even begin to reach my chest full of dried herbs or the shelves of tinctures and oils.And I learned something, Narrow-leaved Cottonwood is much harder to dry than regular broad leafed Cottonwoods, they want to blacken right away rather than retaining their cool green crispness the way the other species do....
More About: Magic , Tree , Wort

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