Morgan Botanicals

I've always liked to make my own Valentine love letters....all handwritten and colored with leaves and sticks and twigs and rocks and plant dyed spots, or whipping up my own chocolatey and sticky and sweet confections, and irresistible luscious liqueurs....but this year, I'm stringing wild jewels too. A little something special for my girls. They're easy enough to be a children's project but I'm keeping this one a secret because I'm making these ones for my Valentine girls. I will say though, that my fingertips didn't go without the occasional needle poke so some children my need help with this one.

Personally, I'm not one for store bought jewelry like gold rings or trinket laden necklaces. I have a lustful eye and a heart for the treasures gifted and hidden amongst Nature. I do love sea jewels and shells and seed pods and gems and stones and twigs and precious metals and such and I , especially like to find these treasures myself and make my own jewelery with wild jewels.

Nature is amazing in her ability to provide us with nourishing foods, plant medicines, and even wild plant jewels if you look closely enough.  And, if you can't get that close, you can still look on your kitchen counter or in your cubbies or pantries and find plenty of useable jewels for making bracelets, necklaces, hair-clips and such.

For my Valentine necklaces I chose to string juniper berries, clove buds, lycii berries and rose hips, but there are so many other wonderful and easily assessable  jewels that can be used. I like raisins, cardamom pods, orange and lemon peel, dried cranberries or blueberries, cinnamon sticks, cottonwood buds, gourd seeds seed, cones from spruce, currents etc.....I'm sure there are tons of beautiful jewels right outside your doors.

 

 

To make your Valentine Love necklaces or bracelets all you'll need is heavy duty thread, (I used Button and Carpet Thread as I find it holds up better, but you can use fishing line to) a long, thin sewing needle and dried wild jewels. Any hard wild jewels like clove, cut roots, barks, and peels need to be soaked for a bit to soften up. Just place them in a mug and pour boiling water right over the top, cover and allow to cool, then they will be string-able. Some may need to be boiled a tad longer to soften.

 

There's really nothing to it, you'll want to tie a knot in one end or add a clasp or button and thread on your wild jewels singly or in a pattern. I like to just tie them together when it's to my liking so that the amazingness in uninterrupted. If you're making hair-clips you can easily just hot glue your wild jewels on.

**A quick reminder that small objects are not suitable to children of choking age.

 

Here are my completed Wild Jewel Valentine necklaces I made for my girls. From left to right I made a solid juniper (bottom left) solid rose hips (top) and a pattern of cloves, lycii berries and juniper berries (bottom right). I made matching bracelets as well.

 

 Do you think my girls will like them? I hope so!

 

 

As always, please email any questions to herbalist@morganbotanicals.com.

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Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Jessica Morgan, M. H., Morgan Botanicals.

Disclaimer - The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. You should not use the information in this article for self-diagnosis or to replace any prescriptive medication. You should consult with a health care professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem, suffer from allergies, are pregnant or nursing.

Jessica Morgan, Herbalist

 

Morgan Botanicals is very excited to announce our new Herbal CSA Memberships!

Beginning this year we are offering the opportunity for local and not so local to be a part of our new monthly herbal medicines program. We have created an Herbal CSA Program (or rather CSH-Community Supported Herbalism) for those who would like to subscribe. It begins in June offering homegrown and wildharvested handmade herbals to each subscriber. Each month herbal offerings such as teas, tinctures, syrups, oils, salves, vinegars, jellies and other herbal products will be available.

Our herbal CSA will run for five months which will include June, July, August, September and October. The fee for the entire subscription (once a month pickup or delivery) is $260.00 (large) or $150.00 (small) payable at the time you subscribe. Members will be able to pick up their baskets the first Saturday of each month (delivery option is also available), or your box can be mailed out to you.

Morgan Botanicals Herbal CSA membership is a great way to build your own home supply of herbal medicines, learn more about how to use local and medicinal plants, and explore new ways of taking charge of your own health.

Purchasing a share also helps support the work we do: growing and processing the herbs into herbal medicines that nourish the body and enhance vitality as well as our training programs that teach children about foraging, plant identification, how to grow their own food and medicine garden, health and nutrition and the basics cooking and medicine making. If interested in our Junior Master Gardener classes please send inquiry to Jessica Morgan at herbalist@morganbotanicals.com and we will send you information on this program.

 

There are two separate Herbal CSA Monthly Basket Programs Available:

Large Monthly Basket Herbal CSA Program ~ $260.00

Season runs from June through October and includes five herbals plus an “extra”. Large is suitable for a family of 3-4, or to share among a group of friends.

 

Small Monthly Basket Herbal CSA Program ~ $150.00

Season runs from June through October and includes three herbals plus an “extra”. Small is suitable for an individual or a family just beginning to learn about herbs.

Monthly Baskets can be picked up at Morgan Botanicals on Designated Pick-Up Day or will be shipped (shipping cost is included for those purchasing online).

2012 Pick Up Dates (Saturdays from 3pm-5pm)
June 2nd
July 7th
August 4th

September 1st
October 6th

 

 

How it works….
Each month from June through October members receive a package of herbs prepared as tinctures, loose teas, salves, honeys, vinegars, syrups, etc, and information about how to use them. Once you are signed up, you will receive confirmation via email or phone. We will contact you again via email or phone one week before your share is ready to be picked up or is being shipped.

A typical Large monthly share will include the following:
1 - 2 oz single tea
1 - 2 oz tea blend
1 - 1 oz tincture
1 - 2 oz salve or herbal oil
1 - 1 oz bags of dried seasonal herbs

One additional “Extra” Item will be chosen by Morgan Botanicals and included in your monthly basket based on seasonal availability a may included:

Herb Infused Honey or Jams
Medicinal or Culinary Vinegar
Elixirs or Cough Syrup
Herbal Face Scrubs, Creams or Salts
Fresh or Dried Culinary Herbs & Blends
Smudge Sticks and/or incense
Lavender Dryer Bags/Soap Nuts
Culinary and/or Medicinal Herb Seeds

 

 

We enjoy knowing that members of our Herbal CSA are stocking fresh herbs and herbals into their cabinets, cupboards and pantries, and utilizing them to improve the health and well being of themselves and their families.

 

To sign up or for more information, please contact Jessica at herbalist@morganbotanicals.com.

 

You can also find information on our website www.morganbotanicals.com under the dropdown menu "Herbal CSA". I will be accepting Memberships until May 20th so sign up now!

Click here to purchase a Large Herbal CSA

Click here to purchase a Small Herbal CSA

 

Thank you for your support, and Happy 2012!

Jessica Morgan

Morgan Botanicals

 

 

As always, please email any questions to herbalist@morganbotanicals.com.

Follow me on Twitter - MorganBotanical 

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Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Jessica Morgan, M. H., Morgan Botanicals.

Disclaimer - The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. You should not use the information in this article for self-diagnosis or to replace any prescriptive medication. You should consult with a health care professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem, suffer from allergies, are pregnant or nursing.

Jessica Morgan, Herbalist

 

 "One may live without bread, not without roses."

 

The rose hip, or rose haw, is the fruit of the rose plant, and typically is red or orangeish, but ranges from dark purple to black in some species. Rose hips begin to form in spring, and ripen in late summer through autumn.  And me, I like to get them while I can, and eat them up!

 

Rose hips are a very rich source of Vitamin C and are free for the picking. Three average hips have as much Vitamin C as a medium-sized orange so they are definitely a good fruit to incorporate into the diet. The food value is found in their skin and their taste is similar to that of an apple. If you plan on harvesting, pick only the ripe berries that are vivid red and slightly soft. They have a much better flavor if picked after the first frost as well…preferably late August through October. You can harvest them from your garden, but they’re more plentiful from old-time shrub varieties such as rugosas and wild rose bushes. To collect your own, and to encourage your roses to develop them, don’t trim the blossoms and leave them to naturally fade and fall. Or you can buy dried cut and sifted rose hips ready to use.

I use rose hips both fresh and dried to make tea, jelly, jam, halved in salads, sandwich fillings, soups and desserts! But here's one of my favorites that always gets eaten up faster than I can serve it.

 

 

Rose Hip Soup

 

To make this yummy soup all you need is the following:

• 2 cups (1/2 lb.) crushed dried rose hips
  
• 2 quarts of water
• 1/2 cup honey (or to taste) or sugar
  
• 1/2 of a vanilla bean, split and scraped and then tossed in
  
• 2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon or orange juice
  
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon potato starch, cornstarch, arrowroot or tapioca granules
• Whipped cream, sour cream or yogurt, optional

 

 

Preparation

In a saucepan bring the water and rose hips to a boil, reduce heat, and let simmer covered for about 45 min. Thin down with extra water if needed. You can press the hips through a colander or blend with a food processor (for a thicker consistency). If staining, save the rose hip mush for a sweet bread recipe or compost etc. just don't throw them away.

Pour liquid back into saucepan and add juice, vanilla bean, and honey, bring back to a simmer. Mix the starch or tapioca in enough cold water to moisten it, and stir it in. Cook till the soup thickens slightly and clears.  You can serve this warm or chilled either as an appetizer or a dessert garnished with sour cream, yogurt or whipped cream. You can also add all kinds of yummy toppings such as baked almonds slivers, granola, orange zest, chocolate shavings, cinnamon sprinkles, etc.

To make rose hip pudding instead just increase starch or tapioca to 5-6 tablespoons. After it has thickened pour the pudding into individual dishes or into a serving dish to cool. The flavor is simply delicious and very fruity.

 

In my bowl below I spooned in a dollop of yogurt and topped with orange zest and dark chocolate shavings.Yum!

 

 

As always, please email any questions to herbalist@morganbotanicals.com.

Follow me on Twitter - MorganBotanical 

Fan me on Facebook - Morgan Botanicals

Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Jessica Morgan, M. H., Morgan Botanicals.

Disclaimer - The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. You should not use the information in this article for self-diagnosis or to replace any prescriptive medication. You should consult with a health care professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem, suffer from allergies, are pregnant or nursing.

Jessica Morgan, Herbalist

 

"Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired."  ~Robert Frost
 
What better day to be irresistibly desired than on Valentines day, the day of lovers. The day to express love for each other whether it be giving flowers, poems, offering confectionery or sipping luscious love elixirs. I remember reading something once ...something like: Sometimes we make love with our eyes. Sometimes we make love with our hands. Sometimes we make love with our bodies. But always we make love with our hearts.  I couldn't agree more and what better than to have around a delicious sensual lip smacking love potion to share...to make you more 'touchy feely.'

Chocolate, roses, patchouli, warm baths, sensual oils, love potions and liqueurs are some of my favorite things and I've decided to share one of my favorite recipes with you. You can enjoy this irresistible elixer anytime of the year but it makes an especially lovely gift and love potion to share with your lover. Damiana love elixir with vanilla and rose...because you can never have to much love.
 

Damiana Love Elixir with Vanilla and Rose

You'll need: These are approximate as I don't use standard measures, so give or take.

• 1 ounce damiana leaves (dried)
• 2 cups vodka or brandy (I'm a whiskey kinda girl myself)
• 1 cup honey, preferably raw
• 2 vanilla beans broken in half and split down the middle
• Small handful of rose petals

Some other extras if wish, and some I like: cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, cocoa bean, coffee bean, ginger root, ginseng, anise seed.....just experiment. Just  pop a few right into the jar and stir it up. Make it to your tastes and make it fun!

Simply fill your jar with damiana, rose petals and vanilla bean. Then pour in 3/4 the way with your preferred alcohol and then the remainder with the delicious ooey gooey honey. Stir and let mellow for a month or longer. The longer the better! Sip, share, kiss and nibble with a luscious bar of 88% extreme dark chocolate.

 

 

 

Some of my favorite Love Herbs

Anise (Pimpinella anisum) Mediterranean - contains aromatic oil, that has stimulating and digestive properties, spice used in tea and food

Arabian coffee (Coffea arabica) East Africa, Arabia - was a sacred beverage to African sufis. For aphrodisiac results mix in cardamom and honey.

Cacao tree( Theobroma cacao) Central America-mild stimulant, ground beans made into drink or chocolate bar.  Cocoa was considered the "food of gods"; Aztec prostitutes were paid in cocoa. Beans contain theobromine and caffeine, aphrodosiac phenylethylamine. 

Cardamom Elettaria cardamomum) Soitheast Asia - stimulant, especially if added to coffee, essential oil has erotic effect.

Cinnamon ( Cinnamomum zeylanicum) Southern Asia , evergreen -stimulant, spice used in food, tea or erotic as a massage oil. 

Damiana (Turnera diffusa) America - stimulant, smoked or extract drunk in water or , more effective, alcohol.

Ginger (Zingber officinarum) South Asia - stimulant, rootstock eaten or made into tea. Has hot qualities, brings fire into the body.

Licorice Glycyrrhiza glabra) Europe, Asia - sweet tonic, ingested in tea or in powder, use woody root. Especially popular as aphrodisiac among women.  

Wild Rose (Rosa sp.) - erotic stimulant, especially for women, love magic, rose petals used in tea or love potions.

"Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly."  ~Rose Franken

 

 

 

As always, please email any questions to herbalist@morganbotanicals.com.

Follow me on Twitter - MorganBotanical 

Fan me on Facebook - Morgan Botanicals

Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Jessica Morgan, M. H., Morgan Botanicals.

Disclaimer - The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. You should not use the information in this article for self-diagnosis or to replace any prescriptive medication. You should consult with a health care professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem, suffer from allergies, are pregnant or nursing.

Jessica Morgan, Herbalist

 

Somebody asked me yesterday what my herbal path was, my story. Here's a smidgin about me (so far anyway) for those who wanna know......

 

I grew up a naturalist, clinging to the arm of my momma and her picnic baskets and canteens of soup and spent many weekends under the pines and vacations in the forests and the deserts, in tents, in canoes, wading rivers, tip tops of mountains, in caves, fishing, gardening, all of it. She paved my love for life and the outdoors probably without even knowing it. I've always had a close relationship with the plants, like building little fairy houses or big ol bonfires, and whistling with grass blades or pelting someone with acorns and rolling down grassy hills or napping under old oaks.... the peace, the fresh air, the quiet, the play, the smells and the simplicity of it all is so healing and over the years I've grown quite attached. Whether it be wild or cultivated, to this day, this is where I go to play or to heal mentally during trying times. I'm continuing to learn that health as a whole is a blend of emotional health, dietary approaches, balance, spirituality and knowing that the body has the ability to heal itself, if we allow it too. I'm a lover of life and I'm all about happiness, and I'm happiest when I'm mingling with the plants.

 

 

I remember being seventeen and being in my high school Ag class. I was weeding through my little strip of veggie garden and my teacher came strolling behind me saying "This isn't a weed, this is food! This is Lamb's Quarters!" And he was popping the trail of plucked plants into his mouth and smiling and munching all happily and his eyes were all twinkly. It was then that something magical happened between me and the plant world. This was the piece that was missing. I realized that there was so much more to the plants, that they had something to teach me. That was seventeen years ago. And today I find myself teaching kids these same things. Funny how life unfolds. Shortly there after, my life long home away from home family, started teaching me about herbal medicines, healing properties of plants, magnet therapy, fermentation..... I started foraging, and cultivating herbs, picking up 'new to me herbs' from the local herb shop, burying my head in the books and making herbal medicines, practicing on myself, my friends and my family. I brewed up herbals for the sneezy and coughing, and the hungover, concocted my own herbal cigarettes, and smeared cayenne on bloody scraped knees and knuckles, found yarrow for fishhook puncture wounds, and read everything I could on herbs and medicine making and plant identification. It was so fun. I've slowly and steadily practiced and incorporated herbs into my everyday life. This was me then.

 

When I was pregnant with my oldest daughter thirteen years ago, I started brewing up my own nutritional herbal pregnancy tea, and drank it through three more babies. I made my own herbal sitz baths and nursing teas, and baby butt salves.  I still blend these to this day and they were the seed and founding products of Morgan Botanicals. I never would have known then that so many women would be enjoying my herbal brews now, but it makes me happy to know they do!

 

I've spent the last ten years pursuing my 'formal' education.  I'm currently an herbalist and environmental horticulture and crop science graduate; a certified CA master gardener and junior master gardener teacher, and still a forager and wild foodie. I've taken Aromatherapy classes, online classes, canning and food classes and get in on any and all webinars I can. Before creating Morgan Botanicals I was a botanical research biologist for the University of California Stanislaus- working to protect endangered CA native plant species, specifically: Beavertail Cactus - (Opuntia basilaris) and Kern mallow - (Eremalche kernensis). I have been a practicing herbalist for seventeen years (self taught and mentored) but have completed a three year course of herbal study under Michael Tierra at the East West School of Herbology. My continuing education includes all aspects of the science and art of Herbalism including Traditional Chinese Medicine, Native American Medicine, Ayurveda, Vitalism and Botany as well as some Clinical Nutrition and Aromatherapy. I have recently relocated from California to Colorado and am attending the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism and preparing to mentor for AHG recognition. My lifelong passion for herbology, holistic nutrition, and gardening have led me to develop Morgan Botanicals where I can share not only my knowledge of plants, but also to help people reconnect with the healing powers of the plant kingdom.

 

Today you're likely to find me roaming the wilderness oohing and awing and botinizing, wildcrafting, twig collecting, tree climbing, plant pressing, plant tickling, brewing and photographing; teaching in my food and medicine garden surrounded by children or crafting herbals in my herb shop.

I offer medicine making workshops, children's classes, plant walks, garden and crop advice as well as private consultations and custom blends.

I live in the beautiful Loveland, CO area with my adventurous, twig and rock collecting worker bee husband and our four children, three of which were born at home accompanied by our midwife.

As always, please email any questions to herbalist@morganbotanicals.com.

Follow me on Twitter - MorganBotanical 

Fan me on Facebook - Morgan Botanicals

Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Jessica Morgan, M. H., Morgan Botanicals.

Disclaimer - The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. You should not use the information in this article for self-diagnosis or to replace any prescriptive medication. You should consult with a health care professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem, suffer from allergies, are pregnant or nursing.

Jessica Morgan, Herbalist