Category: Botanicals

7 ways to use coconut oil in your beauty routine!

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I’ve written about the wonders of coconut before, and I’ve been using coconut oil even more in my day-to-day beauty routines since then.  I love that I’m using something that I have in my kitchen and is all natural.  It’s full of amazing fatty acids and other goodness that our skin and hair love!

Here are a few of my favorite ways to use coconut oil:

  1. Lip balm   ||    This is one of my favorites (and the easiest!).   The fatty acids in the coconut oil help lock in moisture, so when using it on your lips you’re creating an oil barrier that holds the moisture in.  If you don’t love the smell or taste of coconut, this might not be the best one for you!
  2. Oil-pulling   ||    You’ve probably heard about this one before and even might have wondered what that could possibly mean.  Take a scoop of coconut oil and swish it around your mouth like a rinse.  Make sure to spit it into the trash (not your sink!) to avoid clogs.  Your gums and teeth will feel cleaner than ever.  And some studies have shown coconut oil also helps with whitening teeth
  3. Skin Moisturizer   ||    Just like on your lips, coconut oil is great to use on your skin.  It helps to lock in the moisture and keep you nice and soft.  I especially love to use it on my feet (put comfy socks on after so you don’t slide around!), knees, elbows, and face.
  4. Massage Oil   ||    Smooth and isn’t absorbed immediately.   Perfect massage oil.  Need I say more?  Add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to give it a lovely sent as well!
  5. Hair Conditioner    ||    Take a little bit of coconut oil and apply to you hair roots to ends.  If your hair is particularly thin, use a little less and don’t go to the roots.  Do a quick wash out in the shower and feel your silky-smooth locks!
  6. Nail & Cuticle Conditioner   ||    Coconut oil is a great moisturizer for your cuticles and can also help strengthen your nails.  An added benefit:  coconut oil is anti-fungal so it’s perfect to help keep those icky feet issues away.
  7. Make-up Remover   ||    Coconut oil is amazingly good at removing make-up, especially the often-difficult mascara!  An added bonus is the moisturizer the coconut oil will also provide around your eyes.  That skin is some of the most thin and sensitive you have, so you must take good care of it!  (And as a note, be careful as you use the oil to remove the make-up:  don’t push too hard on your skin!)

I also love to use coconut oil in natural deodorant and soap recipes.  I’ll share those later down the line!

Do you use coconut oil in any of these ways?  What are your favorite ways to use coconut oil in your beauty routines?

on missing autumn.

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“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

I’ve lived in California for just about 3 years.  Prior to living here, I was an east coast and midwest kind of person.  I never saw myself on the west coast, until, of course, I did!  There are things I miss about my previous homes:  the people, the pace of things, the (much lower!) cost of living.  But missing autumn hits me hard every year at this time.

I love the crunch of the leaves, the crisp smell in the air, the exciting possibility that there could be flurries at any minute!

In SF, it’s still green and lush and lovely.  Which I also love.  It’s beautiful and amazing! This year, to help satisfy my yearning for autumn, I headed over to the National Heirloom Expo up in Santa Rosa.  It was a perfect little dip into this world I miss.

Some of my favorite snaps from the day are below:

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So many pumpkins, squash, and gourds.  My favorites!

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So, so many types of tomatoes!  And we got to taste a bunch as well.

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I couldn’t get enough of this colorful heirloom corn.  It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?

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Mushrooms and (weird) melons!

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Oh, and there were tiny piglets!

I hope you’re having a lovely start to the season, wherever you may be!

let’s talk: seasonal herbal csa.

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One of the things I most look forward to as the seasons change is my package of herbal goodies coming from Wild and Wise as part of their seasonal CSA.

What’s a CSA?

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  Traditionally, farms accept sign-ups from members of the community and, in return, the community members receive a box of fruits and veggies at a certain interval.  You are essentially purchasing a ‘share’ in the farm to help assist production during that season.  It’s a great way to receive wonderful local, fresh produce in your area!

An Herbal CSA is the same deal, except rather than purchasing a share on a veggie farm, you’re purchasing a share of an herbal garden or farm to support the growth and production of herbal medicine.  I love that the CSA has spread beyond just fruits and veggies!

Choosing an Herbal CSA.

While I was on the hunt for an herbal CSA, I really wanted to find something local, something that offered a handful of products with each package, and something that was sent with the changing of seasons.  For herbs, especially, the shift of seasons calls for a different set of medicines to help keep your body and mind balanced and ready for the changes the earth brings.

You may have different wants and needs for your herbal CSA, and it’s really easy to do some research to find one that works for you.  I did some searches on Google as well as on Local Harvest before I came across Wild and Wise.

About Wild and Wise!

This CSA is based out of Humboldt County in California, so while it’s not immediately local to SF, I was comfortable with the herbs being grown and the medicine being made just a few hours north.  The huge selling point for me on this Herbal CSA in particular was the collection of items sent at the start of each season.  It’s perfect!

I also love that this is mostly a one-woman show headed by Nicole Gagliano, who puts her heart into everything she makes and really focuses on her goal of bringing community together around the common desire for local herbal medicines.  Perfect!  You can find more about her and Wild and Wise here, or check out info about becoming a shareholder here.


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And Now for the Most Exciting Part!  What Came in my Fall CSA Share.

This is the reason I really wanted to write about this wonderful CSA:  I am SO excited about the items I just received for the Fall share.

In this share, I received:

  • Tulsi Rose Sipping Vinegar (more to come on sipping vinegars because I’ve recently become quite smitten!)
  • Peaceful Slumber Tea
  • Motherwort Tincture (one of my favorite herbs!)
  • Triple Berry Syrup (delicious blend!)
  • Herbs de Provence
  • Inflammation Tamer
  • Newsletter and little sticker!

See?  What a lovely assortment of items.  In the newsletter, Nicole describes each of the medicines, what they are used for and their contraindications.  It’s one of my favorite parts of the season when I get to curl up on the couch and read through everything included.  It’s like a little treasure chest!

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So, that’s a bit about my CSA experience.  I’ve really, really enjoyed it.  Are you a part of any herbal or more traditional CSA?   I’d love to hear your experiences and any recommendations!

**Note:  these are my own thoughts and this post is in no way sponsored by Wild and Wise.  (I just love the medicines so darn much!)

online herbal medicine course!

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I wanted to make a quick post to let you know that enrollment for my dear herbal medicine teacher’s first online course closes tomorrow!

Kami McBride is a fabulous teacher, and I know you’ll learn a lot from her.  To learn more and enroll, click here.

You can also find some wonderful recipes in a guest post Kami did a few weeks ago on tsoana here.

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If you have any questions, feel free to comment and I’m happy to answer!  Her classes truly changed my life, and I learned so so much from her.  Honestly can’t say enough good things!

autumn: season of keeping the colds away.

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That’s right, summer is winding down and it’s time for the change of seasons!  You may already be feeling the change or, like me in San Francisco, it may still be pretty summery.  Either way, it’s a great time to think about preparing for the coming seasons!

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Today, we have a guest post from my wonderful herbal medicine teacher, Kami McBride.  She has been working with plants for over 25 years and  is the author of The Herbal Kitchen, which is all about using spices and herbs you probably already have in your kitchen to make healing and immune boosting remedies.

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there’s kami in the middle, back row during our last class of ‘cultivating the herbal medicine woman within’

 

She is also just getting ready to launch her first online course (registration starts on September 20!!) and I highly recommend checking it out!  Prior to launch, she is releasing 4 free videos that also hold really valuable knowledge.  She holds a wealth of information and is always willing to share and help others.

Read on for a few tips from Kami on Autumn and keeping colds away!

 

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With the change in seasons comes the beginning of cold and flu season!

Darn!  Preventing and limiting the duration of colds and flu is a household art that has broad social application especially when it comes to people taking antibiotics to get rid of a cold.  You don’t want to do that if you can avoid it!

Herbs offer us a solution. Let’s use herbs for colds and flu and save the antibiotics for the life-threatening infections. Herbs that have antibiotic activities only kill pathogenic bacteria and do not harm the beneficial bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract. Many herbs help with viral infections as well as with bacterial infections whereas pharmaceutical antibiotics will not help treat a viral infection that causes a cold or flu.

Hospitals are now issuing statements in their membership newsletters about how taking antibiotics can increase your chance of later being infected with resistant bacteria that antibiotics cannot kill. Pharmaceutical antibiotics go into the body and kill not only the pathogenic bacteria that may be making you sick but it also kills the hundreds of beneficial bacteria that help you do many things such as digest and assimilate your foods.

When you kill your beneficial bacteria with antibiotics you become more susceptible to future illness.

One of my favorite anti-biotic herbs is Garden Sage (Salvia officinalis).

It is an herb that most people have in their herb and spice rack and it is very easy to grow. There are many beautiful Salvias (sages) grown for their colorful flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. These salvias are not your medicinal varieties of Salvia. When purchasing Salvia to be used for medicinal purposes make sure that it is Salvia officinalis; yes good old turkey stuffing, garden Sage.

Sage is especially good for upper respiratory and throat infections. You can drink three cups of strong tea a day for a week or do a steam inhalation.

Sage Tea Steam

You need:

  • four tablespoons dried Sage
  • one quart of water

Put herbs into pot of water and bring to a boil with a lid on the pot. Turn off the heat and let herbs steep for 15 minutes. Reheat the tea until it is hot.

Take off the lid and place a towel over your head and breathe in the steam from the tea. Make sure the steam is a temperature that is comfortable for your facial skin.

Do this for ten minutes and rest.

Another highly effective antibiotic herb that many of us take for granted is Garlic.

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Garlic has been used medicinally for thousands of years and clinical studies have shown garlic to be active against strains of bacteria that are now antibiotic resistant. Garlic is good for fighting off all kinds of infections and even kills fungus and parasites. Fresh Garlic works the best. Add some freshly crushed Garlic to any of your meals and mix it into soups.

Garlic Flu-away

  • 2 medium cloves of freshly crushed garlic
  • 1 cup of very warm water
  • 1 teaspoon of honey
  • 1 teaspoon of lemon juice

Add everything together in a tea cup. Mix well and sip.

Ok, so there are a couple great home remedies to help you stay well during the transition from summer to fall. Be well!

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Thanks for sharing your wonderful knowledge and recipes with us, Kami!  Don’t forget to visit Kami’s site here for more information. 

 

 

bay area hikes: huckleberry preserve.

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We love hiking, so we’re lucky that there are so many great hikes around the Bay Area!  We’re still working on checking out as many as possible, and I thought it might be fun to showcase some of our favorites here!

Quick Tip:  We use Bay Area Hiker to find great hikes in the area.  It maps them out and gives directions to the start of the trail, as well as some tips for each hike.  It is really a great resource!

We recently went to Huckleberry Preserve to do a quick morning hike.  It’s been hot here in the last few weeks (by hot, I’m only talking ~85 degrees Fahrenheit, but to be fair, it’s usually only in the 70s this time of the year!) so we tried to beat the sun a bit.

Huckleberry Preserve has a short trail of about 2 miles and takes about an hour to complete (although we spent some time bird-watching by the huckleberry bushes!).  It’s fairly easy with only a few short climbs.  There are many different plants including manzanita trees, various berry bushes, beautiful ferns, and lots of poison oak (be careful!).

Here are a few snaps from the hike:

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a peek down the trail.

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a wasp checking out some thistles.

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always love the texture & colors of tree bark.

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a forest floor covered in ferns. (fun fact: did you know that ferns are among the oldest living organisms on earth?!)

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a pop of color.

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bird watching.

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and the huckleberries!

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beautiful lichen.

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never forget to look up!

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delicious!

If you visit this trail at the end of summer or early autumn, you might be lucky enough to find a few huckleberries to snack on.  Remember to make sure you can identify them correctly, though!  I’ve also heard that the spring is wonderful, too, with many wildflowers and new blooms.

We ended the morning at the farmer’s market where they had amazing pomegranates.  They’re definitely one of my favorite fruits.  But that means summer is really coming to a close, doesn’t it?

Have you been to the Huckleberry Preserve?  Or do you know of any other great hikes in the Bay Area?  We’d love to hear about your favorites!

 

Refreshing: Lemon Verbena Tisane.

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Lemon Verbena is, hands down, one of my personal top 5 herbs.  More on the benefits of Lemon Verbena later.

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For now, let’s talk about one delicious way to prepare this herb as a lovely and refreshing beverage.

First, what’s a tisane?

A tisane (pronounced tea-zahn) is the name of any infusion of herbs or spices.  Technically, ‘teas’ like chamomile, lemon balm, mint, etc. aren’t teas at all.  Tea leaves (for green tea, black tea, white tea, etc.) all come from the same plant:  Camellia sinensis.  Only teas that contain leaves which come from that plant are technically teas at all.

So, what does that mean for us?  Well, nothing really!  It’s just interesting to know!  And, before I had the amazing opportunity to spend time in Darjeeling, a town noted for its tea industry (more on that later, too), I had no idea that this was the case.  Maybe you didn’t either?

Okay, Great.  Let’s Get Started!

Agreed.

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Ingredients:

Extremely Simple:

  • A Large Handful of Fresh Lemon Verbena Leaves
  • Hot Water (just under boiling)

Optional:

  • St-Germain Liqueur‎ to add even more deliciousness to this night cap.

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Let’s Make It!

I’m sure you guessed, but it’s just like making a tea.  Put the leaves in a teapot and pour the hot water over.

Let this steep for ~5 minutes while covered.  If it’s not covered, you’re letting the beneficial essential oils of the plant escape, and we don’t want that!

I don’t use any sweetener, because it’s so light and refreshing as-is.

On occasion, I do like to add just a splash of St-Germain Liqueur‎ to add another layer of flavor that enhances the profile perfectly.  (And St-Germain Liqueur‎ is my favorite, always).

That’s it!  Now enjoy and end your evening well.  You deserve it!

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steeping with my grandmother’s beautiful jars behind. always make me think of her ❤

Do you make tisanes?  Any tips, tricks, or favorite herbs?  Let us know in the comments below!

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ps. I also started making some Lemon Verbena oil that I will use to make delicious meals in the future. How-to on this coming soon!

Xox,

Leah

A Garden is the Best Medicine.

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I was feeling a bit under the weather this morning so I decided to take a day at home to rest and relax.  I am not great at sitting still, or letting my mind be still, so I went for a short walk to the community garden near my apartment where we have a small plot.

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“And the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles.” -Frances Hodgson Burnett in ‘The Secret Garden’ (one of my favorite books of all time!)

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the bee & the borage!

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chamomile flowers from our plot.

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“There’s naught as nice as th’ smell o’ good clean earth, except th’ smell o’ fresh growin’ things when th’ rain falls on ’em.” from ‘The Secret Garden’

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lemon blooms and fruits.

It is so healing to be among the plants.  To pull up some weeds.  To listen to the hummingbirds buzz and chirp and watch the blue jays fly by.  To hear the leaves rustle and the morning dew disappear, lifting back into the sky.  To look closely at blooming flowers.  So closely that you can see their little hairs and pollen, almost as if it’s oozing out of the center.

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look at the colors, that detail, and that pollen!!

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some feverfew in our plot.

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succulents on the path.

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amazing details.

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curly-q beans!

When we lived in Michigan, we had an 800 square foot garden where we grew so much food!  I was canning and making jams nonstop just to keep up.  Now, that garden is bigger than our current little San Francisco apartment.  We waited two years on a waitlist to get our garden plot here, and it is much, much smaller than what we were accustomed to, but it’s been so nice to finally have our little piece of land to tend and grow beautiful, delicious plants.

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the ladybug & the fennel.

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This garden is also adjacent to a day-care center, so as I worked and watched in the garden, I could also hear songs about flowers and gardens floating through the air in high sing-songy, beautiful voices.  Garden and earth-lovers in training!

This is what I would call a perfect morning.

(for more photos from this beautiful garden, please visit tsoana’s through the lens section of the site!)

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delicious strawberries from our plot!

Refreshing: Watermelon Strawberry Breeze

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I didn’t realize National Watermelon Day was this past week, but this watermelon-based smoothie is a recipe you can enjoy any day of the summer!  Completely light, crisp, and refreshing, this Watermelon Strawberry Breeze is perfect to cool off and relax on these hot, fun summer days.

(Side note:  Who creates these whacky national days?  Is there a national day for everything now?)

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Anyway, here is the (extremely simple) recipe:

Ingredients

Only 3 ingredients are needed:

  • 3 Cups Cubed Watermelon  (Chilled is best)
  • 1 Cup Strawberries  (Chilled)
  • 1 Whole, Peeled Lemon

You may also choose to add (but definitely don’t need to – still delicious, either way!):

  • Mint Leaves (as garnish or blended into the smoothie)
  • Crushed Ice (for a cooler taste. I personally like it without and prefer the full fruit flavor instead)

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Let’s Make it!

Simple:

  • Prepare the fruit
  • Put everything in your blender
  • Blend for 20 seconds or until desired consistency reached
  • Pour into a tall glass
  • Garnish with mint if desired
  • Put your feet up and enjoy!

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a journey to river’s bend.

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I have been fortunate enough to learn about herbal medicine and the magic of plants from a wonderful teacher, Kami McBride.  This past weekend, our circle of plant sisters drove in from around the Bay Area to the most perfect retreat spot at River’s Bend.

to the river <3.

at river’s bend.

The part I love most about Kami’s classes is that not only do I learn so much about plants and their medicinal uses, but also, I learn about plant spirit and so much about myself.  I can really delve into what’s inside of me, in my heart, in a very safe and comfortable environment.  I can be me and I am held and protected.  We don’t have enough spaces and communities like this in the world.  We need to make them!

delicious purple sage.

delicious purple sage.

in the garden at mary pat palmer's philo school of herbal energetics.

in the garden at mary pat palmer’s philo school of herbal energetics.

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beautiful bark texture.

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a glance toward the sky.

One idea that came out of the weekend is that we certainly need a culture shift – to one that is more loving toward humans, plants, and the earth.  One where we see the earth as a living being and treat it with kindness and respect.  In order to do that, we need some of the ‘crazy ones’ that talk to plants and share with the world.  Will that be you?!

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plant mandala in our sacred space.

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garlic people!

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mullein flowers saying hello.

During our final bit of time in at River’s Bend, we went on a hike through what used to be a lush redwood forest.  It is now mostly tan oak and douglas fir.  (Un-fun fact: did you know only 4% of our redwood forests still stand today?)  I found a family circle of redwoods and sat in a little nest of their dropped and browned leaves.  It was so cozy and protected and I felt so at peace.  I could have stayed there all afternoon (and beyond).  I felt as though the trees were telling me to be strong and they would be there.

st john's wort.

st john’s wort.

When I needed to go, I picked up a dried tan oak leaf and wrote the simple words ‘be strong.’  I placed it in some peeling bark on one of the trunks in the redwood family and kissed them goodbye.  I walked away.  I won’t forget.

(for more images from this beautiful journey (and others!), please visit the ‘through the lens‘ section.)