Sharing of Herbal Recipes....

 Sharing of Herbal Recipes from the Essential Herbal Magazine. A great sister duo who has shared so much with people interested in herbs all over the world. The following is their blog that I have pasted here plus the link to their blog. Tina explains why and the some of the recipes they are sharing. :) Enjoy!!

Love and Light

Liana
 
The Essential Herbal Blog: handcrafted recipes - first in a series:
 

handcrafted recipes - first in a series

 How to begin...  It is convoluted and tedious to explain, except to say that a good number of my recipes  (as well as those of my sister and our friend Becky) have been used without permission and are now being sold as a big part of an e-book.  They are many years old, and some desperately need an overhaul as time changes our knowledge.  We weren't given the option of tinkering with them, so we might be doing that now.
There are lots of things that could be done about it, but we've decided that the best thing to do is to put our recipes up on our blogs to share them with you freely.  I will post links to the blogs of the others at the bottom of all of the posts in this series.  
If you're looking for a lot of great handcrafted spa, bath, body, and medicinal recipes and instructions, I can guarantee you that our two volume compilation from the first five years, "By the Hearth" and "Under the Sun" will give you far, far more properly credited and truly original creations than you'll ever need.   
And now, today's recipe from The Essential Herbal Magazine:

Oats ‘N Honey Facial Scrub 

This is a very simple recipe and you can use some or all of the ingredients given.
Oatmeal is a must, but the rest is up to the individual. Into the food processor , throw the following dried ingredients – by the handful (I would change that now to "by the Tablespoon"):
Oatmeal
Lavender
Yarrow
Nettle
Irish moss
Rose petals
Elderflower
Soap powder (handmade cold process, of course…)
Almonds

Process until all the ingredients are a coarse mealy texture.
Package in jars and label.

To use, moisten about a teaspoon of the mix in the palm of your hand with an equal amount of honey.
Using the fingers, vigorously scrub the skin. This is a great mix for teens with oily skin. Make it a little more effective by blending several drops of lavender and tea tree essential oils into the process.


NOTE: Years later now, I would add that for mature skin the addition of yogurt (or powdered milks or yogurt) and some rose hydrosol to make the paste, and suggest a milder scrubbing.  I would also swap out some of the herbs for calendula and chamomile.

Stay tuned.  We'll be here all week!
Becky's Blog - Birdworms

Organize and Declare “Food Sovereignty,” Like Sedgwick, Maine

 Here is a really great article about one town in Maine working toward  forming local community bonds and taking back control over their choices of foods to buy and consume.  A quote from the article, "Sedgwick citizens possess the right to produce, process, sell, purchase, and consume local foods of their choosing. These would include raw milk and other dairy products and locally slaughtered meats, among other items."

Here’s a Way to Eliminate the Regulators and Lawyers, and Build Community At the Same Time: Organize and Declare “Food Sovereignty,” Like Sedgwick, Maine.
 
Link to Chelsea green publishing: 
 http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/davidgumpert/2011/03/08/heres-a-way-to-eliminate-the-regulators-and-lawyers-and-build-community-at-the-same-time-organize-and-declare-food-sovereignty-like-sedgwick-maine/

 Posted on Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 at 1:45 pm by David E. Gumpert

Maybe the citizens of tiny Sedgwick on the Maine coast were listening to the calls of Dave Milano, Ken Conrad, and others for more trust and community, and less rigid one-size-fits-all food regulation.

On Friday evening, they became perhaps the first locale in the country to pass a “Food Sovereignty” law. It’s the proposed ordinance I first described last fall, when I introduced the “Five Musketeers”, a group of farmers and consumers intent on pushing back against overly aggressive agriculture regulators. The regulators were interfering with farmers who, for example, took chickens to a neighbor for slaughtering, or who sold raw milk directly to consumers.

The proposed ordinance was one of 78 being considered at the Sedgwick town meeting, that New England institution that has stood the test of time, allowing all of a town’s citizens to vote yea or nay on proposals to spend their tax money and, in this case, enact potentially far-reaching laws with national implications. They’ve been holding these meetings in the Sedgwick town hall (pictured above) since 1794. At Friday’s meeting, about 120 citizens raised their hands in unanimous approval of the ordinance.

Citing America’s Declaration of Independence and the Maine Constitution, the ordinance proposed that “Sedgwick citizens possess the right to produce, process, sell, purchase, and consume local foods of their choosing.” These would include raw milk and other dairy products and locally slaughtered meats, among other items.

This isn’t just a declaration of preference. The proposed warrant added, “It shall be unlawful for any law or regulation adopted by the state or federal government to interfere with the rights recognized by this Ordinance.” In other words, no state licensing requirements prohibiting certain farms from selling dairy products or producing their own chickens for sale to other citizens in the town.

What about potential legal liability and state or federal inspections? It’s all up to the seller and buyer to negotiate. “Patrons purchasing food for home consumption may enter into private agreements with those producers or processors of local foods to waive any liability for the consumption of that food. Producers or processors of local foods shall be exempt from licensure and inspection requirements for that food as long as those agreements are in effect.” Imagine that–buyer and seller can agree to cut out the lawyers. That’s almost un-American, isn’t it?

This from a press release put out after the vote by supporters:

“Local farmer Bob St.Peter noted the importance of this ordinance for beginning farmers and cottage producers. ‘This ordinance creates favorable conditions for beginning farmers and cottage-scale food processors to try out new products, and to make the most of each season’s bounty,’ said St.Peter. ‘My family is already working on some ideas we can do from home to help pay the bills and get our farm going.’

“Mia Strong, Sedgwick resident and local farm patron, was overwhelmed by the support of her town. ‘Tears of joy welled in my eyes as my town voted to adopt this ordinance,’ said Strong. ‘I am so proud of my community. They made a stand for local food and our fundamental rights as citizens to choose that food.’”

The ordinance comes up for a vote in three other Maine towns upcoming–Penobscott, Brooksville, and Blue Hill.

(Thanks to Deborah Evans, a Sedgwick area farmer, for providing information for this post, and the photo above.)

Read the original post on The Complete Patient.
 Link: http://thecompletepatient.com/article/2011/march/7/heres-way-eliminate-regulators-and-lawyers-and-build-community-same-time

 Enjoy!!

Love and Light

Liana