Greetingsand welcome to Herbal Musings and Updates brought to you by Moonwise Herbs www.moonwiseherbs.com. We offer this as an opportunity to inspire you to connect with the green world, whether by concocting a recipe, participating in an event or purchasing our handcrafted wares. If you have an herbal musing and/or recipe that you would like to contribute please feel free to send it my way. If it is seasonal and/or in line with our hopes of connecting with the green world we will gladly include it in this monthly (or so publication). You will be fully acknowledged for your contribution and we will be happy to include your contact information. Send to rosemarygoddess@moonwiseherbs.com

Trees as food and medicine are a predominant theme as the transition from winter to spring becomes apparent here in Wisconsin. The other day willow called as we spent time snowshoeing with friends. We walked across a frozen pond and harvested enough branches for baskets. Willow bark is also a powerful medicine. It is an ancient remedy that is thought to be the original source for today's aspirin. The peeled bark is dried or soaked in alcohol for preservation and can be ingested or applied topically to relieve pain and inflamation.

The fluctuation between freezing and thawing presents the ideal time to harvest tree bark for food, medicine and/or utilitarian applications. Under ideal conditions tree sap will freeze when evening temperatures drop and during the day the sap will thaw and run freely. This makes harvesting bark easier and is a critical process that maple sap harvesters rely on when they tap trees in order to gather the mildly sweet liquid. 

For the maple sugar harvest to be successful, nature needs to cooperate with her flux in temperatures. Everything needs to be just right in order for enough sap to be collected and transformed into the thick syrup that is often an honored guest at the breakfast table. If she does cooperate 40 gallons of sap will be transformed through evaporation of the water into a gallon of syrup. The resulting yield is entiely dependent on the natural process.

 Maple syrup as a wild food is one of the gifts received when I relocated to Wisconsin. For the past few years I have spent the month of March at our local nature center guiding school groups on tours of the maple sugaring process. I have learned a lot and appreciate the beauty of seeing the cycle begin again as the trees prepare for spring leaf production. The human aspect is inspiring as well. People take great pride in extracting and concentrating the sweet sugar that many of us enjoy at our table.

In addition to the gifts of the Maple and Willow tree, I have started to look for cottonwood trees. For me harvesting the buds of this tree to make a sweet smelling oil has been an annual ritual for over a decade. The infused oil of this plant, often called Balm of Gilead, acts as an important medicine in my first aid kit. The resinous bud of this plant when infused in oil or alcohol counters viral infections as well as inflamation.  

As you can see this is an important time for the trees to regenerate and begin a ritual that is the essence of their life force. All trees contain sap and rely on it's retention as well as flow to instigate life's spiral. The gifts that humans receive from the trees provide us with potent food as well as medicine. Below is a recipe combining three of my favorite foods, including maple syrup. Enjoy!

Blessed be the trees.

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Recipe Corner

Seaweed/Maple Bars

Inspired by Nature Spirit Herbs Kelp Cookie Recipe

1/2 ounce of Kelp (my favorite is Bullwhip Kelp (Nereocystis leutekeana)

1 1/2 cups nuts (black walnuts, almonds and/or hazelnuts)

1/2 cup dried fruit (we like to use fruit leather that we put up over the year and/or dried cranberries, cherries or rainsins)

 1/2 cup maple syrup

In a coffee grinder finely grind the kelp, nuts and fruit. Place in a mixing bowl. Add maple syrup and stir well. Spread onto an oiled cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Cut while warm and enjoy!

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Visit our new calender page for additional workshops and event listings!

We will be in Viroqua, Wisonsin offering programs April 5th and 12th offering pine needle basketry, cheese making as well as broom making classes.

We wil be in Seattle, WA May 27 to June 14, 2008 offering medicine, food and broom making classes in addition to our annual womens seaweed and herbal intensive.  

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March 27, 2008 Herbal Soap Making from scratch, the way your grandmother used to make it! Sponsored by and held at Olivu 511 North 8th Street Sheboygan, WI (6-8:30pm)  To register call 920-783-0809

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Traditional Food Weekend: Focusing on Fermentation and Cheese Making

March 15, 2008 You Are What You Eat: Fermented Food and Beverages                                                                                       

March 16, 2008 Home Cheese Making, Mozarella, Feta and More! (10am-4pm each day)

For information see www.moonwiseherbs.com or call 920-452-HERB

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March 16, 2008 Flap Jack Days at Maywood Environmental Center Join us for this fun day. Learn about the maple sugaring process and sample some as well. We will be vending our wares and available to talk about herbs! Maywood Environmental Center Sheboygan, WI For more information see www.gomaywood.org

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We are pleased to sponsor the following workshops:

Saturday, March 29, 2008 (1-4pm)  Lyme Awareness!
Yes, it’s that time of year again. Current approaches to preventing and dealing with Lyme’s Disease include much more than antibiotics. Find out why. Herbal Educator Carol Jacobs speaks from personal experience & what she has learned because of it. This will be a comprehensive workshop, with extensive hand-outs. Cost: $30 
 
Sunday, March 30, 2008 (1-4pm)Spring Tonics, Cordials & Elixirs
A perfect time of year to step beyond teas & tinctures for a most delightful & magical afternoon of hands-on Herbal fun & taste-testing! Popular over 100 years ago, these were recipes with a purpose, now to be transformed by you, modern tools & ingenuity. Join us, one & all! Bring your imagination plus something to share, trade or transform: a piece of fruit, a favorite tincture, a popular sweetener or a bit of left-over liqueur from last Winter’s festivities (Bailey’s, Kalua or -?). Refreshments will be served. Curiosity a must, previous experience not necessary. Cost: $30
 
 
Sign up ahead of time for both sessions, Saturday and Sunday, 1 to 4 pm, for a discounted price of $50 total. These workshops are sponsored by Moonwise Herbs and will be held in Sheboygan, WI To register call 920-452-HERB
 
Carol Jacobs is a life-long student of the plants and a graduate of Rocky Mountain Center for Botanical Studies (RMCBS). She is currently an Herbal Educator in SE Minnesota, a member of Coulee Region Herbal Institute (CRHI), La Crosse, WI and the North Country Herbalist Guild, Minneapolis, MN. She has spent many years working in State, National & private woodlands & prairies of the Midwest, from the Great Lakes of Minnesota & Wisconsin down to the Mountains of Arkansas and the Piney Woods of NE Texas.

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April 16, 2008 Introduction to Home Cheese Making (6-9pm) Held at Maywood Environmental Center, Sheboygan WI Pregister by calling 920-459-3906

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April 24, May 1st, 8th and 15th, 2008 (6-8:30pm) Spring Has Sprung Herbal Series: Shoots, Sprouts and Flowers Cost: $68.00 plus $10 material fee payable to instructor. Sponsored by and held at the Univeristy of Wisconsin, Sheboygan. To register call 920-459-6617

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April 26,2 008 (6-9pm) Wild Eats: Nettle Mania Join us for this wild and whole food dining adventure. For more information see www.moonwiseherbs.com or call 920-452-HERB

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May 3, 2008 Herbfest Appleton, WI at the Gardens of the Fox Cities - 1313 E. Witzke Blvd - inside the Memorial Park in Appleton. Join us for this fun day of workshops and vendors. Linda will offer a workshop on Herbs for health and nourishment.
 
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May 4, 2008 (10am-4pm)  Fermented Beverges: Beer, Wine and Soda Making Join Linda and John for this fun and inspiring day. Learn how easy it is to make beer, wine, mead and soda in your own kitchen. Learning the basics participants will leave feeling confident in making their own beverages at home. Discussions about influencing your beverages with herbs for promoting health will be included. Each person will leave with a bottle that we cork together. A whole and wild food lunch will be included.  For more information rosemarygoddess@moonwiseherbs.com or call 920-452-HERB This class is held at a private residence in Sheboygan. You will be provided with directions once you have registered. Cost $50.00

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May 10, 2008 Wattle Fence Making and Rustic Willow Crafts (10am-4pm) Held at Maywood Environmental Center, Sheboygan WI Pregister by calling 920-459-3906   

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May 17, 2008 3rd Annual Morel Mushroom Hunt with Little John. For more information and/or to register see www.moonwiseherbs.com or call 920-452-HERB

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May 19, 2008 Herbs for Promoting Health: A Walk and A Talk (6-8pm) Held at Maywood Environmental Center, Sheboygan WI Pregister by calling 920-459-3906   

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Register now for the following intensive programs or click on the program you are interested to find out more information :

Women's Annual Herbal and Seaweed Intensives 

on Lopez Island, WA in the Beautiful San Juan Islands

Herbal Wisdom, Wild Edibles, Whole and Local Foods, Community, Transformationand Much More!!!                   May 30-June 6, 2008!!  

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Women's Earthways/Herbal Residential Apprenticeship Program

Held in Coon Valley, WI

July 7-28, 2008

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2nd Annual Women’s Herbal Intensive  

Rock Island, Wisconsin

F                      For information about our handcrafted herbal wares and handmade click here