Medicinal and edible plants of California

in the new class room for our lectures

 about two weeks ago was the start of the new 240 hour medicinal and edible botany course offered here at RDI. we will be diving into a year long, once a month curriculum of native plant recognition, medicine making, and field trips to the 4 main bio-regions of California- the Eastern Sierra mountains, the trinity/Klamath region in the north,  the southern deserts of the Mojave and Sonora, and the Coast Ranges regions where we are now on the lovely unusually warm Pt Reyes Seashore. Tellur Fenner of Blue Wind Botanicals will be our fearless guide, and indeed he is a wealth of knowledge. the first part of the course was just a brief intro to bio-regions, poisonous plants,  and where we will be visiting through out the year long course. we also made a little field trip up the watersheds of Mt. Tamalpais overlooking Mill Valley and the grand San Fransisco bay.

 more to come after all our "home fun" reading before our next meeting. stay tuned. for now, enjoy some photos taken on our little field trip.

Tellur with his tinctures

looking south from Mt. Tamalpais to the city on the left, and  santa cruz mountains off the horizon on the right.

 from left clock wise: Coulter Pine cone, Manzanita Berries, and Turkey Mullein

Harvest of the Herb

Roman Chamomile

Herbs. they are pretty great plants. and they are at their peak right now in the mid-late summer. A really beatufiul, button like German Chamomile, was ready for harvest. see above.  we love it here for teas, and Commonweal Gardens (where RDI resides) always has its own stash of dried Chamomile. thought it would be good to replenish. Its great before bed, in teas, and the plant responds best for the body steeped in natural spring water brought to just under a boil. we are a little spoiled with our spring water here.

Calendula

 Calendula is one of my favorite flowers, and it was one of the first flowers i ordered from a catalog. it was called Flashback Calendula, and it was a sun burst of yellow pedals that faded at the tips and to the center of the head in a hue mix of pink, yellow, and a red center. here at Commonweal we have stunning varieties of both domesticated and wild Calendula, the later being almost twice as small in flower, and a slender creeping weed; we let it be most of the time to be a filler. yellows, oranges, and a few in between populate almost every nook, edge, and disturbed soil spot that we have. This little flower is edible and great in salads, although it is a strong medicinal. tinctures, teas, fresh and dried, this flower is a great healer, and especially vital in salves for topical application.

drying racks ready

Liam and White Coyote Mint, from Ebbet's Pass

 Liam has been adventuring around with a Medicinal Guru named Tellur Fenner http://www.bluewindbmc.com/bios.php and went up to the Sierra ranges and grabbed some fun plants. Tellur will be teaching a 12 month 200 hour medicinal california native botany class here at RDI starting in October-  http://www.regenerativedesign.org/edible-medicinal-plants-ca

Nicociana (wild tobacco) and Mint

 Yarrow (below) is another one of my favorite plants, revered in medieval times and used in beer and to make bitters before hops. an old world plant, its name Achillea Millefolium is referenced from greek culture because Achillies would carry it for his army as a treatment for wounds. much of it has established its self in most of the northern hemisphere. unsure of how we will use it, but drying it is a main priority.

Wonderful Yarrow