Growing as an herbwyfe part 2

Within those few days at my daughters house, I mostly prepared for the classes I was teaching while battling a hoarse voice. I always dry out intenesely when in the desert Southwest. Drinking fresh ginger tea, and throat coat. had a few bloody noses...lol
Here is my sweet Ariella...remembering the women who sent me money to attend her birth. This is the girlie!


Amber was in the area so on her way back home to Arizona, she came by with her hubby for a quick visit.
She is as wonderful in real life as online except she is more talkative in person...lol So great to meet you too mama!

I spent a few days with my parents while teaching classes at their Migun Center.
My heart was moved with compassion for the people that came in that really needed help.
The classes went good and was firmly supported by Mt Rose herbs. They provided the herbs and teas we worked with in class as well as literature on their business. Thansk Mt Rose. Once again you prove to be the best!
The Dreamseeds display


My stepmom and youngest brother


Another Day with my youngest bro

Growing as an Herbwyfe part 1

I will try to make this as brief as possible. I took so many pics! lol
I dont want to lose you all in details

We woke up at 4 am on oct 3rd. Rachel being 8-9ish months pregnant, Josh 15 year old, and Olivia age 3 and I hopped into our prepacked Honda civic. The day was mostly uneventful. Hot through OK, TX and NM so we had the windows all down and got terrible gas mileage between that and a headwind.

Arrived at Mamatoabunch (Anabelle) house by dinner. She offered us a shower, and a meal and we spent the night there. In case you dont know, Anabelle has 8 children so we were accustomed to the noise of many children under one roof.
They have a small family farm which gave my children a chance to see their animals.
The older daughters are some might fine cooks. This day we had beef stew, homeade bread and Sandy's pumpkin muffin recipe as a cake though instead.

We all tried to get aquainted in a brief timeframe.

A good night sleep with the rain coming down in the desert. First thing I remember in the morning was running outside to smell the pines. Delight!
Also took a pic of the juniper berries that are far larger than ours at home in the Ozarks.


A little visit in the morning and we were on our way.
Snapped a pic on our way out


NM is one of my favorite places in the world so I also took a pic of the scenery outside Anabelles property.
Here is one


A rest area in Arizona fascinated me with its desert plants. I lustfully began picking white sage practically ripping the branches from the plant. she was sure to let me know by allow me to get a splinter from her base. Serves me right. I had problems with that thumb for days after that and had to admit my bad behavior immediately. I knew better than to treat a plant in that manner.

We stopped at a tourist trap to get a snack in Arizona. Here is the mountain's where we stopped


Flagstaff was our next favorite place-no time to stop though


Crossing the Hoover Dam into nevada by 5:30 or so.



Spent time with Robyn, Sam and Ariella for the next few days. My granddaughter is gorgeous! Will post pix of that in part 2

Herb Day 2007

Herb Day 2007

Being around Nicole Carter before herb day was such a great time! Then to see her pull together an herb day festival was even better. Another pioneer in the herbal movement.Go Nicole!
It has been a pleasure seeing this strength in her and her down to earth approach with people.
Nicole is local herbalist, amongst a small handful of others serving such a large city.

The Las Vegas Herb Co Op was created from her desire to cooperatively buy high quality Bulk Herbs as community. Buying more in this manner saves money, resources and allows for less packaging waste.

Arriving an hour before the venue were vendors setting up stations to demonstrate their goods and services to the public. Volunteers arrived from Las Vegas Herb Co Op and set up an herbal sampling tea station full of organic herbal teas graciously donated by Mt Rose Herbs.

Some of the volunteers set up a welcoming station which allowed guests to enter a free drawing for some fabulous donated items.
Amongst the donations were items from a Rainforest tea vendor, Herbally Grounded Herb Store, and Wild Oats.
Other tables were set up with information for other businesses that contributed to the event.
Horizon Herbs-Richo Cech Family
Mountain Rose Herbs
Local Desert Honey distributed by Annsley Naturals
Herbally Grounded
Las Vegas Herb Co Op
Dreamseeds-Kristena Roder
Migun Northwest
amongst other herb lovers.

A Pauite Native American Elder came to bless the event. Smudge filled the air under the pavilion where many of us congregated in preparation of Herb Day. Together we prayed for the land, our nation, and our people. It was a special moment many of us felt blessed to be part of.

I spoke after the elder on organics and the experience of Foundation Farm. (Thanks Patrice. Your little garden space in Eureka Springs, Arkansas is reaching the hearts of Las Vegans as well)

One of the master gardeners present expounded on some of the things I did not know such as the organic farms in the area and the varying foods that are grown in the region.

I also shared a situation that grieves my heart each time I return to the city of my birth.

In 20 years the Lake has receded so much that the landscape is changing in obvious ways. Without conservation and responsibility, I am concerned the water issue may be severe in 20 more years. I encouraged people to conserve and felt almost like I could cry.
Later I was able to meet some of the people in attendance to my speech and I enjoyed it very much.

After my class, Free, an aromatherapy artisan can to discuss essential oils.
Michelle, an herb co op enthusiast, gave a class of making herbal tea.
Angela Harris taught on tincture making.
Nicole taught a class on herbs preceding the parting ceremony.
Some of the attendees received the donated gift baskets and teas and we departed out into the real world again.
I wanted to help with clean up but felt at one point like I was more in the way then helping so I left before some of the other volunteers.
It was so fun meeting some of the women at the Las Vegas Herb Co op table. They were so good communicating with people about their venue.
I will not ever forget this event. The entire experience was one I have certainly grown from as a better herbwyfe./herbalist/woman.

Pics coming soon

An adventure to remember:)

I woke up at 4 am on Thursday morning, finished up business online, showered, made and drank coffee, woke up J, R and O and off we went in our little car. I managed to bring enough stock with me to help offset the costs of the trip. It is SO WORTH IT to me to see my family.
Mid way or so we stopped with Anabelle an her family of 8 children and hubby. She has a small family farm, and manages homeschool, and of course the task itself with that many children is huge. But she graciously gave us a warm bed, showers and meals and it was wonderful to get to visit with her and get to know her children well. I am always happy to see children being raised to actually KNOW how to do more than read and write and computer. These children tend to farm animals, cook the meals (or participate) and learning to sew, have homeschool co op, are active in their church and work on keeping order.

It rained the night we arrived and the scent of desert pines filled the air. When I woke up int he morning, I made a special point to go out and smell the air. Those moments are some of my most memorable. The calm of her land, the scenery adn the air. Also the berries on teh junipers are large and purple, whereas the ones at my house in the Ozarks are light green and small.

It took us about 45 mintutes to find a starbucks, but once intoxicated with Estimo, we were on the Interstate again.
New Mexico is one of the most woderful places to see. Like God's museum. You sense the presence of the Native people and how they must have lived.
The sky is large and colorful. Mountain temples appear red in soem areas, and white in others and you wonder if man did this or nature.
Arizona has its beauty as well. I stopped at a few rest areas to examine the plants. I was delighted by small flowers covering succulents, yucca, prickly pear and my most sought out sage. However the wise sage was sure to let me know that I was harvesting improperly by creating a sliver in my thumb where I pulled on her branches to take along.
I know better, but my lust for the plant overcame my manners.

We arrived to my daughters house, had a littel conversation, baked chicken and wine.
Today I wam floating around and plan to study. Want to work on my intake form and notes for the classes.
Once I figure how to upload photos I will:)

Harvest Party at Foundation Farm 2007

Music, laughter, community and organic foods! It does not get much better than that.

We arrived about 12:30 to help Karen set up since Patrice was at Farmers market.

About 2-3 people began to arrive. The children laughed and played, mostly on the trailer of straw mulch

Ray and I had such a good time. Ray is social so he enjoyed visiting while I am introverted and prefer to stay busy and serve. I spent most of my time by karens side helpign with food and clean up with visiting in between.

A little wine helps the nervousness of crowds and thankfully people brought a few bottles to enjoy.

The sense of community at this party was magnificent. Everyone supprting the work at the farm and organic produce. People came from Eureka springs of course since that is local, and Berryville, Fayetteville and in between.

It has been so rewarding working at the farm volunteering/apprenticing. Patrice is amazing-real and genuine and Karen is wonderful to.

Just wanted to share our beautiful day out in the sunshine with the people the support our local organic agriculture.

http://www.foundationfarm.com/ is the website for anyone that may want more information.

We served sandwiches on local baguettes by Eureka Bread Company. Cut each into 5th and had vegetable sandwiches and free range chicken sandwiches with the chicken by Little Portion.

We used Karens homeade vinegarette, with farm fresh basil, arugula, peppers, tomatoes, onions adn then chicken for those sandwiches cooked with Karens homeade bbq sauce. She makes homeade ketchup and homeade teriyaki and combines. YUM!

She also made 17 dozen cookies.

We had organic mint we floated in our water. Delicious.

I enjoyed meeting some Europeans. Listening to French accents as well as German was fascinating.

Patrice being French, attracts Europeans which is so wonderful to be able to meet others from other countries.

And hearing Karen speak fluent French was also very fun.

One thing that Ray and I both felt strongly was that this venue was family friendly with alcohol.

It just shows how alcohol can be ok in a group setting without a singel incidence.

The worst thing that happened was some male dogs getting to frisky with a female. SHE LET THEM KNOW she was not interested! lol

HAd my precious daughter not had an accident in her pants, we probably woudl have stayed another hour or 2 to help clean up. That was a very fast 6+ hours for us.

I am so greatful for the experience.

The Organic Farm Experience

I was born and raised in Las Vegas Nevada. Small scale farming was practically unheard of.
Water is diminishing in the lake. Las Vegas is pretty dependant upon neighboring California and surrounding areas to feed their city.
Since I was a little girl, I dreamt of places like Vermont and other scenes plastered on wall calenders.
I am currently living in the Ozarks so that is a dream come true of sorts.

This year, I had the opportunity to apprentice at http://www.foundationfarm.com/

It has been so rewarding and enriching. There are other folks that work the farm with the creator, Patrice Gros. It is amazing the sense of community that occurs out there. I could see a person for 5 minutes for the very first time, and we will visit for hours like old friends. It never fails.
The organic farm is spiritual. I dont know if it is the beauty, the plants themselves, or the thriving life, but I feel like I have walked away from a powerful church service when I go home.

I have pictures on http://myspace.com/dreamseedscrone and have been blogging since the summer about it, but today is fall and I have a new blog. So there may be less and less writing about this venture coming soon, but for the next few weeks, come with me to experience the autumn work at the organic farm.
It has been such a rewarding experience for my family.

I typically tend on Mondays, but this week I was up to my ears in orders. So I went on Friday adn worked with Fred, the guy Friday as he refers to himself.
Fred has been homesteading for only a year now adn it sounds liek he got a huge jump starrt. He is already selling at farmers market and has on the side music lessons he teaches. His wife is a nurse as well so they are fixing up their 12 acre farm.
We had a great time visiting while harvesting basil.
We usually round out our work day around noon with a farm fresh meal. Today was squash pancakes with dip sauce.
My 15 year old Josh, came out for the first time-his homeschool science for the day.
He helped with basil until he got a rash, and then moved over to the beans. He also herlped prepare the meal.
Olivia also came for her first farm visit and she sat with the doge, Billy and Roux for msot fo the day and watched Patrice work.
I am so thankful she did well out there so that if I need to bring her again, I feel she will behave and stay off the beds. You know how 3 year olds are!
This Saturday is the Foundation Farm Harvest Party we are invited to. A good time to meet others passionate about quality organic foods.

This is cute for some reason:)