Hi! It’s been a while….
I don’t know what happened since I last wrote in March that caused me to take a two-month break from this newsletter. Maybe the Fire Horse galloped in and sped right by me. I am afraid of horses, so that makes sense. But, that’s a story for another day….
Last I wrote, we had an 87-degree day, which always throws me. Remember? I scarfed down potato chips instead of electrolytes, which decidedly did not help my hydration level.
Since then, spring has sprung in all its gentle, green glory, and now here we are, sliding into summer.
During April and May, I flip-flopped between having so much fun at some of our favorite annual events, and dipping back into what feels like hibernation mode in our little cabin. Which is currently full of fleas. Poor old cats. We’re dealing with it medicinally, and also vacuuming the house like mad and using a room spray that I created last time they had fleas.
I’m considering adding it to our line of room sprays. We have Happy Home and Home Sweet Home, so this could be called Welcome Home. However, the original name I had written on it two years ago was Bastard Flea Be Gone, which I prefer as it really captures the essence of its purpose.
I haven’t gone ahead with labeling it yet, but if you’d like a bottle, reply here and I’ll handwrite the name of your choice on a 4-oz bottle for $22 plus tax. Ingredients: distilled water with peppermint, geranium, tea tree, rosemary, lavender, and lemongrass essential oils. It smells good (Welcome Home) and those little buggers do not like it (Bastard Flea Be Gone).
Essential oils are not recommended for pets as their livers can’t process as ours do. Even diffusing oils in the home when pets are present can be a problem. When we spray this on our couch and rug, the cats up and OUT. Which is helpful since they’re the ones bringing in the fleas….
I’ll have some at the Healdsburg farmers market this Saturday, so come see me and try it out! 8:30-12:00 at the Community Pavilion on North Street. The market is finding its legs at the new home. I’m curious what you think of the setup.
And speaking of pets….Jordy was bitten by a dog recently. OUCH! I’ll spare you a picture of his wound, but the before and after story of his plantain poultice is pretty impressive.
He immediately bathed it in hydrogen peroxide, which was smart because he thought it was possibly a deep puncture wound from the dog’s canine tooth digging in. In the case of deep puncture wounds, you want the bubbling action that hydrogen peroxide offers to bring up anything in the wound that might cause infection. That is the only purpose for hydrogen peroxide in wound care, as it is now understood to harm healthy tissue and delay healing.
When the emergency vibe and shock subsided, and he had a real chance to examine the wound, he realized it wasn’t a deep puncture as much as a nasty bruise from the impact of the dog’s contact. Luckily, he was wearing jeans instead of shorts, and the tooth snagged on the denim instead of his skin, leaving a superficial wound with a purple-black contusion surrounded by a beautiful shade of yellow.
He looked around and saw our friend Plantago lanceolata, pictured here, and grabbed some leaves, chewed them up, and stuck that poultice on the wound. Then, because he’s Jordy, he went for a hike. He thought getting the circulation going would help, and honestly, I think this is how he calmed his nervous system down as well. Nature is medicine.
I was out of town at the time, but the photos he sent went from concerning to, “Wow! Plantain to the rescue!” He kept it clean, washing it thoroughly, and using an antibacterial ointment for a day or two. No lasting bruise, and the marks the teeth did leave are healing well.
So! What medicine does plantain offer? According to Christa Sinadinos, as plantain is a soothing astringent and gentle demulcent that reduces inflammation, we can
gargle with tea or juice for sore throats
drink the tea or juice to help treat ulcers in the GI tract
drink the tea to relieve diarrhea
rinse the eyes with a well-strained, cooled tea to reduce inflammation and soothe irritation
use a fresh plant poultice (simply chew or mash up the fresh plant with a bit of water) to soothe toothaches or abscesses
apply a poultice with a bit of clay added as a drawing aid for insect bites, splinters, boils, acne, and mastitis pain
The antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and tissue-repairing constituents in plantain helped heal Jordy’s wound and lessened the bruise, disappearing it almost overnight. And that psyllium powder you drink for added fiber? It comes from the humble plantain family. So thank you to another, wonderful green friend. Look down next time you’re outside, you’re probably standing near some.
Stay tuned! We’ve reformulated the Herbal Hair, Scalp & Beard Oil, and it should be ready in time for Father’s Day! And we’re making a batch of our Jade Mist Facial Oil. If the Lavender Geranium Facial Oil is the golden child of Spring Street Botanicals, causing people to sigh, “Mmmm, you smell good” each and every time you wear it, Jade Mist is the wild child. She’s blue, she smells like marzipan and magic, and she’s silkily nourishing for all types of skin.
Give it a try. She only comes around once in a while. Kind of like me ;)
Just kidding. I’ll be back in your inbox before another two months are up.
By then, we’ll be—oh can’t even look that far ahead in the calendar. Summer is just beginning! We ate the first tiny cherry tomato from a friend today, and it did not disappoint! See you on the river.
