"Our mainstream medicine culture would have you believe that every illness is best treated with a pill or a procedure. Likewise, mainstream farming practices would have you believe that every pest or disease is best treated with a targeted chemical concoction. If these options work so well, why are more and more chemicals required each year in both industries to achieve the same (or worse) results?"
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​I've been reading and researching for years, looking at trends in food and medicine (and how they relate to each other - I'm a fine geek). Right now I'm in the middle of reading the book, Good Energy by Dr. Casey Means, which examines the link between chronic diseases and inflammation and poor metabolic function - and how to fix the problem instead of just treating the symptoms.

The author is a doctor who realized that she kept seeing the same patterns in her patients. No matter how much surgery was done or pills were prescribed, it didn't address the underlying causes - and patients ended up coming back for more treatment. While this is great for "business", it's not so great for the suffering patient.

The United States spend more on healthcare per person than any country in the world ($13, 432 on average per person in 2023). We also use over 400,000 tons of pesticides annually on our crops, second only to China (where much of our imported food is shipped from).

Ultraprocessed foods make up between 60 and 90% of the Standard American Diet. (Ultra-processed foods involve several processing steps and include multiple ingredients like preservatives, gums, fillers, flavors and other substances like sugars, salt and fats.)

It wasn't always this way, and it doesn't have to stay this way (or get worse).

Chemical agriculture boomed after WWII, when the tools of manmade war were repurposed to wage war on "pests". The companies that manufacture those chemicals make sure to give ample funding to colleges, where generations have been trained to use the products.

Still, some people working the land are choosing another path. Regenerative farmers like Gabe Brown and Mark Shepard (and many others) are restoring soil health and raising more on their farms with fewer inputs - and no poisons. They're bringing back the nutrient levels in food that were lost with industrial farming. (You can use some of these principles yourself on a garden scale with regenerative gardening.)

Healthcare providers like Dr. Means are treating patients with lifestyle and diet changes to help their bodies to heal themselves. Herbalists and other holistic practitioners are helping people to reconnect with plant medicine and other less invasive treatment options.

We have the power to grow our own medicine right in our yard (or even a sunny window). Herbs are wonderful sources of antioxidants, and it's highly beneficial to use them in cooking and beverages, as well as in healthcare.

Recently, I've been brewing up some dandelion root tea recently to help clear out some of the mid-winter "blahs". Dandelion root is great for liver and kidney health, and rich in antioxidants. I ate some of the root chunks after brewing the tea, and shared some with the chickens. When the roots are fresh I use them in recipes, but these were dried and infused most of their flavor into the tea. I love being able to harvest healing plants right out of my yard and garden.

My friend, Heidi, is offering her popular free webinar again this month (starting tomorrow), "Five Herbs for Your Home Apothecary". She has three different viewing times available, so you can choose which one works best for your schedule. You can watch the presentation on Sunday, Tuesday, or Thursday.

​Click here to visit the event page to pick your preferred time and register for FREE.​

Attendees also get a free 29 page guide to go with the presentation that features remedies and recipes to get you started.

Be sure to register even if you can’t make it live because Heidi will have a replay for you, too.

I've known Heidi for years, and this webinar packs a lot of information, and is one of our reader favorites. She only offers it once or twice a year, so don't miss out.

Make 2025 the year that you add more knowledge that will help you to help yourself and those that you love.

Helping you create resilience and abundance,

Laurie (and August IV, August V, and Duncan)

P.S. - I've started work on the book I'll be publishing with Globe Pequot publishing company, and am still adjusting to the extra writing time. Newsletters may be every other week for a while, or as book writing time allows. Send positive juju my way for me to think clearly and write quickly. I think I can, I think I can...

P.P.S - I got some great feedback on the plastic and wool questions I asked in recent newsletters. We've ordered some products to try and I plan to share more information in the future as we find things we like (and things we don't like). If you're new to the newsletter, feel free to respond to this email with your thoughts on non-plastic alternatives to plastic items, and your experience (pro or con) with wool for clothing or bedding.

This week's featured articles...

As you prepare those spring garden beds, be on the lookout for dandelion roots. I've updated our article on how to use the roots for food and medicine, including some new recipes.

Along with the info on general uses of the root, I've put together an article dedicated to dandelion root tea (and tea blends), including the I'm Sick of Cellulite Tea and Decongest Tea.

I'm also sharing my favorite medicinal herbs to grow in my garden. If you're watching Heidi's webinar, you can compare our favorites.

Like many herbalists, both of us are drawn to specific herbs that work well for us. That's the wonderful thing about herbalism - you can customize your remedies just for you. Many herbs have a wide variety of applications, depending on what part of the plant is used and how it is prepared and applied (or ingested).