Welcome to Our Newsletter!
Issue 27 - September 2011
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What's Happenin' at OWH?
Well, it's early September and summer has finally arrived.
With temperatures into the mid-90's, the 4 acres of Ashwagandha say "Ahh... This is more like it!" Ashwagandha loves the heat and has been waiting all summer for it. If you look real close, you can actually see it growing.
The Calendula flowers are continuing to come on, too, as our 600 by 16 foot bed is just now starting to show flowers. They are hoping for a long Indian summer.
The German Chamomile starts are taking off in the greenhouse, and we will be preparing for a fall planting. We have found that planting Chamomile in the fall actually helps the plants to follow life cycles that are more in tune with nature. For many years, we have planted Chamomile in the spring. But, poor yields got us thinking and we realized that maybe we were doing something wrong. We were not paying close enough attention to what the plant wanted.
 Think about it. Chamomile is a early flowering spring plant which then goes to seed and waits all summer for the cool temperatures and rain fall. It germinates before winter hits and is well established by the first frost or freeze.
Everyday we learn new things about farming and using biodynamic principals. This has opened our eyes to all the wonderful things that go on around us everyday, and helps us to reconnect with mother earth.
- Randy Buresh, RN, Co-Owner and Farmer |
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Women's Reproductive Health
 It's an old adage that just happens to have a lot of truth in it: You are what you eat. Or, more accurately, you are what your body does with what you eat. A good diet is the foundation of good health.
Whether you are 16 or 60, everything you eat can in fact have a direct impact on your reproductive health. Factors that can easily throw off your optimal hormonal balance: stress, genetically altered food, pesticides, over-worked adrenal glands, poor liver function, and poor digestion.
Here are our Top 5 for Optimal Reproductive Health: - Egg plant. In Ayurvedic medicine, eggplant is known as Gods Ovaries. It is loaded with phytoestrogens.
- Ginger, Onion, Garlic, and Turmeric. Each of these herbs is known for aiding with hormone levels and enhancing circulation.
- Flax, olive and fish oil. Each of these oils contains hormonal messenger molecules.
- Chestnut, sesame, safflower, sunflower, corn, soy, nuts and whole grains all contain phyotsterols that can be turned into a wide variety of hormones.
- Stress wears away at the immune system and the female reproductive system. Explore yoga, meditation, and/or herbal medicine as methods to deal with stress.
More on female health>
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Remedies and Recipes
Galactagogue Tea Joanne Roberts, R&D Oregon's Wild Harvest As a confirmed tea drinker, I consider my tea habits to be amateurish until I was postpartum. That stage of my life was very conducive to drinking tea, and it became a relaxing ritual that I still enjoy today. Many herbs are used for improving breast milk-flow in the new mother, but to take them in a tea seems to improve on an already good idea, as it forces a few moments of relaxation and provides the extra fluids that the breast-feeding mother needs. The tea is also a substitute for black tea or coffee and is preferable if nursing. Ingredients Directions - Mix the herbs together in a dry container.
- Put into a sealed jar with a label and keep in a cool, dry place.
- To make the tea, add 16 oz of boiling water and 2 teaspoons of the tea mixture to a teapot.
- Cover and let steep for at least 10 minutes.
- Stir, strain and sweeten as desired.
* The Blessed Thistle tends to have the most characteristically bitter taste. If this is too bitter for your taste, reduce the amount used and/or add more sweetening agents. |
Race for the Cure 