Road Trip

Road Trip

A Note from Cameron

As most of you know, I was on sabbatical for half of June and into July on a road trip with my Honey, and I must say that is was a much needed respite! I got to see some of the most beautiful parts of the country and meet some AWESOME new plant and people friends and rekindle some old relationships with folks and flora. 

Scott and I traveled all over:  Nashville, TN,  Denver, CO Arches National Park, Moab and Salt Lake City, UT, Bend, Crater Lake, and Williams Oregon, Avenue of the Giants, CA, San Francisco, Monterey, and L.A. California, Hoover Dam, The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, The Four Corners, Mesa Verde, Dallas, TX, Abbeville and New Orleans, Mobile, AL, Destin, FL and then HOME SWEET HOME.

I had never seen the desert and frankly, it was sobering! In every new habitat we would snag another key of flora for the area. It's funny, but until we acquired our new library I felt so naked and out of sorts! It was like there were so many new things (names, properties, parts used, etc.) for me to learn and without my guide book I was without access.

But in reality, we all have access to that ancestral knowledge. We can smell and taste herbs and discover all sorts of wonderful things about them and experience their properties (barring some toxic plants.) Tasting and smelling each new (safe) herb you learn its properties and help to discover more about what it does. It also ingrains itself into your mind. You are much more likely to remember an herb that you have tasted or smelled. 

Oftentimes herbalists will do what we call provings, which are exercises where a few people get together taste an herb and then talk about the herb's effects on their bodies, minds, and spirits. 

I am actively working my way through my formulary to spend more time learn more about each of the plants as friends and allies that I use on a daily basis in my practice and in my life. So, I would encourage you to go out into your garden or sit at the table and taste your veggies all the while thinking about their medicinal properties. Celery is salty, tomatoes astringent, and fennel is stimulating. What do those properties do for the body?

Join me in my exploration of the plants around us and share what you learn with me!!!

I'll leave you with that for this month…

Herbal Love, Cameron