On the Farm
The bees are busy at Oregon's Wild Harvest, pollinating plants,
and making fresh maple flower honey. We expect blackberry flower honey
to be their next specialty. Mmmm-mmmm! It's
been another cold, long, damp spring, so the green houses are full of
herbs-- valerian, holy basil, astragalus, skullcap, feverfew and more
than 80 passionflower plants--all patiently waiting to be planted.
Cover crops are looking good, and seem to enjoy the damp weather,
thriving in a Pacific Northwest climate. The
goldenseal has awakened and is already flowering. Echinacea and
astragalus are also growing quickly. So everything is ready to go,
except the weather. It's still trying to decide if it's really spring.
But soon the rain will give way to the sun, and the soil will warm and
dry, and that's when we'll hear the sounds of tractor and
transplanters. It won't be long now...
|
Organic Farming & Gardening
|
What does it mean to be truly organic?
A lot of people seem to believe that their garden is organic
if they avoid the use of pesticides or herbicides. But there is quite a
bit more to consider than simply the lack of synthetic pesticides.
To be genuinely organic, a garden must also use only
organic fertilizers, such as kelp or fish emmulsion, compost, manure, grass
clippings, or sometimes, blood. The advantage of organic fertlizers like
compost material is that, unlike synthetic fertilizers which add nothing
to the soil, compost increases the nitrogen compound of the topsoil.
Higher levels of nitrogen results in healthier plants. Increasing
the nutrient value of the topsoil is a goal of organic farming, and one that is
often ignored in conventional farming.
Organic plants start with organic seeds, often saved
from the prior year's organic crop. By definition, crops that are
genetically modifed in any way (ie. sometimes corn) are not
genuinely organic.
An organic garden is manually weeded, rather than
relying on weed-killing sprays and chemicals. And the crops are rotated
from year to year, being planted in different locations. Growing in the
same place year after year reduces the soil's natural ability to fend off
predators and diseases. Mixing it up a bit lends itself to better soil, and
again, better plants.
It is entirely possible to garden organically at home,
but it does require more effort and intention than the
mere avoidance of pesticides.
For questions about organic farming, e-mail us at info@owharvest.com for personal input from
our resident organic (and biodynamic!) farmer, Randy Buresh.
|
June 2009
Ashwagandha, Organic 90ct.
Ginkgo, Organic 90ct.
Muscle Relax, Organic 90ct.
Prostate Health with
Lycopene 60ct.
Saw Palmetto Pygeum,
Organic 90ct.
Saw Palmetto, Organic 90ct.
Valerian, Organic 90ct.
More details>
May 2009
Bilberry 60ct.
Black Cohosh, Organic 90ct.
Fenugreek, Organic 90ct.
Ginger, Organic 90ct.
Green Tea, Organic 90ct.
Nettle (Freeze-dried),
Organic 90ct.
Valerian Hops 90ct.
More details>
|
Public Herb Walk & Organic Farm Tour
|
Come see, smell, touch and taste the medicinal herbs that grow fresh
on the farm. Led by herbalist and Oregon's Wild Harvest founder, Randy
Buresh, our herb walks are an interactive, educational experience.
They're also a lot of fun! We hope you'll join us.
Please call us at (503) 668-7713 to reserve your spot for our next public walk this summer on July 18, from 10:00am to 12:00pm. |
|
Welcome to Our Newsletter!
June 2009
Welcome to The Herb Patch -- the official newsletter of Oregon's Wild
Harvest. This is the 10th publication of The Herb Patch.
If there's a topic you'd like to see us cover, please let us know. This
newsletter is for you, our customer. Drop us a line with a comment,
idea, or question at questions@owharvest.com.
To your good health,
Randy Buresh
Founder, Oregon's Wild Harvest |
NPA and AHPA Announcement about Swine Flu and Natural Products
Recently the Natural
Products Association (NPA), Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) and the
American Herbal Products Association (AHPA)
issued a joint warning against any "natural" remedies that are
being promoted as ways to prevent or treat H1N1 influenza.
Their joint statement states: "We
are unaware of any scientific data supporting the use of dietary supplements to
treat Swine Flu."
This is an interesting and nearly nonsensical statement, though, primarily
because there is no such thing as a dietary supplement which treats any
disease.
More details>
|
Any Respectable Recipe for Relaxation includes a glass of
wine? Right? Or something just as good, if not
better?
Putting your feet up and relaxing with a glass of wine has become almost a
cliche in our culture for managing the effects of stress. How often do you
hear "Good grief, I need a drink!" or "You deserve to go home and have a
drink" or "Oh, it's nothing a stiff drink won't fix" ?
Consuming alcohol is a relatively common response to dealing with excessive
stress. Probably because for most people, a feeling of greater
relaxation comes quickly. In short, it works. There's something
almost instantly soothing about drinking a glass of red wine before dinner, or,
for many a busy mom at the end of the day, as she prepares
dinner. More details>
|
Muscle Relax, Organic
 Use of Valerian has been reported for more than 2000 years, for
example, in the 2nd century, the Greek physician Galen recommended
Valerian for insomnia.
Skullcap has a solid reputation in Europe where it is commonly used as a
relaxing nervine (a nervine is an herb that has an effect on the
central nervous system)
The traditional use of Hops in the West probably arose from the
observation that hop-pickers tire easily. This herb is also used in
traditional Chinese medicine. More details>
|
Saw Palmetto, Organic
 Traditionally used by Native Americans and in the 19th Century, it was
used by naturopaths for numerous genitourinary or endocrine-related
conditions. This extensively studied herb has been approved by the
German expert panel, the Commission E, for mild-to-moderate BPH ("stage
I-II"). In Italy, herbal therapy represents approximately half of
treatment for BPH, whereas in Germany and Austria, it is the principal
treatment. In the United States, Saw Palmetto is the most commonly used
non-prescription therapy for lower urinary tract symptoms in BPH. More details> |
Ginger, Organic
 Ginger has played a significant role in Chinese, Japanese and Indian
medicine since the 1500s. In Asia, Ginger has been recommended in the
treatment of stomach aches, diarrhea, and nausea for thousands of
years. The oleoresin of Ginger is often contained in herbal medicines
for the digestive tract.
Ginger has been listed in the in the
United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) and the National Formulary as a
carminative, aromatic, and stimulant. More details>
|
Remedies & Recipes Using Bulk Herbs
|
 Oregon's Wild Harvest offers a great variety of bulk herbs in ¼ lb and
1lb bags.
In this issue, I will share recipes for cold
refreshing herbal beverages including herbal iced tea, herbal lemonade, non-alcoholic
cordials and lassis. The recipes are
remedy-specific, but the same methods work with other herb substitutes of your
individual preference:
-
Herbal Iced Tea - Herbs are used to add character to iced teas. The herbs we have chosen are stimulating and
cooling to enhance the iced tea experience.
-
Calming Lavender Lemonade
- The wonderful fragrance of lavender evokes memories of
summers. Treat yourself to some of this
yummy lemonade and relax on the porch with this calm inducing herb. .
-
Traveler's Ginger Cordial -
Similar to syrups, these traditional medicinal
preparations are often drunk just because they taste so good. This Ginger Cordial is perfect for the weary
traveler as it is energizing and may also soothe that motion sickness.
-
Mainly Manly Lassi - A milky decoction of Ashwagandha is the traditional
way to prepare this adaptogenic herb.
This old use is reincarnated in this recipe as it is combined with
another traditional Indian preparation-the yogurt-based lassi.
|
Organic Ashwagandha root, Cut-and-Sift
Ashwagandha has been used for over 3,000 years in its native India,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Throughout history, ashwagandha has been widely
used throughout India as a rejuvenative tonic, and is classed as a
"rasayana". This group incorporates the most highly regarded
therapeutic herbs in Ayurvedic medicine. The translation of Ashwagandha
is roughly, "the smell and strength of a horse", possibly referring to
its aphrodisiac properties.
The chemistry of ashwagandha has been
extensively studied and to date approximately 60 chemical constituents
have been identified and isolated. The major constituents of the root
are steroidal alkaloids and steroidal lactones belonging to a class
called "withanolides". More details> |
In this quarter, we have added some high-tech equipment to our manufacturing process:
We
have recently integrated a pharmaceutical grade metal detector on our
packaging line to ensure that our products are free of metal
contamination. Although Oregon's Wild Harvest has not had metal
contamination problems, it is very important to be completely assured
that our herbs meet the same quality as many pharmaceutical products.
We
have also installed an induction sealer. Coupled with the new capsule
seals on all of our capsule bottles, this ensures an airtight seal,
each time, and results in added freshness for the capsules inside.
|
Glass versus Plastic
As an environmentally responsible and health-promoting company with
the highest regard for our planet and all its living organisms,
Oregon's Wild Harvest does not take any manufacturing decision lightly.
The decision to use plastic bottles to package the majority of our
encapsulated herbs is no exception.
Like some of our customers,
we initially believed that glass packaging was the more ecologically
sound choice. More details>
|
|
|
