Yarrow at the Colosseum?

We were just looking through our photos from our trip to Italy earlier this month and have decided that perhaps we’ve become a little obsessive about plants. There were about 10 shots of what we initially thought was yarrow (Achillea millefolium) growing in the remains of a Colosseum wall until closer inspection revealed it to be some variety of mustard. Not to mention that it was way too early in the season for yarrow…

Thanks to all of you who patiently waited for us to return to process your orders. This has been the second time we have closed sunstoneherbs.com since going online in 2000 (the first being during the week we moved from New York to New Mexico).

We had a wonderful, relaxing time - lots of good food and lots of art - and are now ready to jump into the growing season. Here are some parting shots.

Blue skies through the Colosseum.

The Roman Forum

Us posing in front of the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence.

St John’s Wort Oil in New Mexico

St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perfolatum) is one of my favorite plants. I love its buttery yellow flowers and the way they magically produce a deep red ruby juice when crushed. I love how it pops up in unexpected places like craggy, dry slopes where one would think nothing could grow. And when it is infused in olive oil it makes one of the prettiest oils we offer at sunstoneherbs.com.

I’ve used this oil in the past to relieve pain from shingles (in a former life I worked 50 - 60 stressful hours per week as an IT project manager for a financial services company in NYC), but recently, I’ve been dipping into our stock for a new purpose.

As readers of this blog may know, we recently moved our homestead from upstate New York to New Mexico where the sun is more intense than I had previously imagined. I’ve gotten very good at wearing an enormous visor to protect my face, but occasionally I’ll run out to hay the goats without it, and then after 15 minutes (often more) of playing with them, I’ll end up with a patchy mild sunburn or, sometimes, a blotchy wind burn. Not pretty, uncomfortable, and not good for my skin. Gently applying a little bit of St J’s oil, however, relieves the dryness and soothes the burn until the next time I forget to wear my hat. -Tree

Talk About Eating Local

In an article earlier this month in Science & The City, Steve “Wildman” Brill talks about the bounties to be had in New York City’s Central Park.

From the article:

“Burdock is one of the tastiest and most healthful root vegetables. It’s an expensive detoxifying herb when you find it in health food stores, but it abounds in cultivated areas throughout Central Park. Remnants of the decaying leaves reveal the taproots’ locations.”

More here.

 

A Run on Self Heal

We’re sold out of self heal tincture and are scratching our heads as to why there was such a huge demand for it over the past couple of months. We made more than last year, keeping in mind an anticipated increase in year-over-year sales as well making extra to get us through our move to New Mexico.

Often a run on a particular tincture or oil occurs when an herbalist is teaching about it. Who is teaching about Prunella vulgaris these days? Or, better yet, how are you using it?

Family Farm Festival

Here is a link to photographs from our 4th Annual Family Farm Festival. A big thanks to volunteer Keiko Sono for taking these wonderful pictures.

Violet Oil is Back in Stock!

With the dry weather so far this summer, harvesting violet leaves from our woods has been virtually a bug-free experience. Now that we got the bulk of the harvest in though, we could use a little rain.

Wild violet leaves and blossoms harvested fresh from our woods are infused in Greek extra-virgin olive oil to create a wonderfully nourishing massage oil.

Herbs, Gardens and Green

I noticed that our blog features lots of pictures of our animals, but none of our herb gardens. Here are few shots of the beds behind our house. I’ll post pictures of the field that we cultivate soon. -Tree