Welcome to Our Newsletter!
Issue 31 - February 2012
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What's Happenin' at OWH?
We can already feel spring in the air! This morning as the sun was coming over the hill, you could feel a gentle breeze - and it was WARM. Wow, we're on the way!
I walked out to the bee hives, and by then the sun was shining right on their front doors. A few sleepy bees were coming out and looking around. They'll be happy to see there are several trees already startingto bloom, which will give them a tasty spring snack. We are finishing up on our seed cleaning and
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preparing to start mixing our planting soil for the greenhouse flats. There is always a special energy at this time of year, when you can feel the plants waking up. It won't be long before the Echinacea and Astragalus plants start to peek out for another spring growing season, after their long winters nap absorbing the Earth's energy.
In a few weeks we will be harvesting White Willow bark for our extracts, as early spring is the very best time of the year to do this. Time never stops, so we better get busy and catch up. The plants won't wait for us.
This is our 19th year as a Certified Organic farm, and our 6th season growing our herbs using biodynamic methods. We expect this year to be the best ever, and we can't wait to share it with you!
- Randy Buresh, RN, Co-Owner and Farmer
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Healthy Hearts and Circulation
 Does it surprise you that heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States? Coronary heart disease is the major cause of heart attacks. Every 25 seconds a person has a heart attack. Every minute, one person dies from it. And, although heart disease is thought of as a "man's" disease, it is also the leading cause of death in women aged 64 and older.
Here are our Top 5 to Support Your Heart:
- Maintain your weight within a healthy BMI by balancing calories consumed with calories spent doing physical activity.
- 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days of the week.
- Eat fish twice a week. Recent studies show that eating oily fish containing Omega-3 fatty acids (ie: salmon or sardines) may help lower your risk of death from coronary artery disease.
- Eat less junk food such as those high in sugar and salt.
- Drink alcohol in moderation. This means one drink per day for a woman, and 2 drinks per day for a man.
More on Heart Health>
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Remedies and Recipes
Comfrey Poultice
Joanne Roberts, R&D Oregon's Wild Harvest
Comfrey's success as a healing agent for sprains, cuts and bruises is due to allantoin, a substance that speeds the production of new cells and facilitates healing. I urge you to seek medical advice rather than just rely on my poultice recipe, since all bodies and injuries are different.
You will need:
- ½ cup of dried Comfrey root
- Boiled water
- Gauze
- Bandage
Directions
- Cover the Comfrey with the previously boiled water. The water should be just off the boil point - approximately 3 minutes after boiling.
- Let the Comfrey steep for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Place the entire mixture into a blender.
- Grind or blend away at the Comfrey and water until a paste is formed. (If the mixture looks too dry, add more water - 1/4 cup at a time, until the mixture is wet enough to be blended into a paste. The paste should have the same consistency as peanut butter.)
- Spread the paste thickly onto the gauze.
- For open wounds: such as a bite or gash, place a fresh gauze pad between the wound and the poultice paste so as not to introduce debris into the wound.
- For a scrape or scratch: direct introduction of the Comfrey should be fine.
- Wrap the bandaging material securely around the gauze pad.
- Secure with a safety pin or other sturdy fastening, and leave in place until the poultice has dried out, or overnight.
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