Raw pumpkin pie with chocolate mousse on top

I get a fresh pumpkin & take out the seeds. The hard part is cutting it up & taking off the skin. I cut it up into strips & put it through the juicer with the blank disk in it to homogenize it. You could also just cut it up small & put it in the food processor, just make sure it is well blended.

After it is homogenized I just put it through the juicer again with some fresh ginger, some cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, canned coconut milk (The organic coconut milk is super thick & good for stuff like this.) and some dates. Then I just stirred it up & put it in a pie plate. Decided to not make crust this time. 


For the chocolate mousse, I put soft ripe avocados, cocoa powder, bit of canned coconut milk & honey in the magic bullet & whipped it up into delicious softness & spread it on top of the pie.


Freeze the whole thing & thaw it a tiny bit before cutting it & eating.

EATING WITH THE SEASONS

Remember that since the weather has changed, so should your diet.

I am feeling that more this year than ever before because I am eating mostly raw food.
I have been adding a mixture of powdered ginger, cinnamon, and garam masala to my shake some mornings. These spices have warming qualities.

I made some raw pumpkin pie for some friend recently, once again, everybody like it.

I get a fresh pumpkin & take out the seeds. The hard part is cutting it up & taking off the skin. I cut it up into strips & put it through the juicer with the blank disk in it to homogenize it. You could also just cut it up small & put it in the food processor, just make sure it is well blended.

After it is homogenized I just put it through the juicer again with some fresh ginger, some cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, and some dates. Then I just stirred it up & put it in a pie plate. Decided to not make crust this time. I poured some thick coconut milk on top & froze it. We'd just thaw it a bit & cut pieces off to eat. mmmm....

I have also been having raw soup for dinner most nights. I just take some leftover salad, or green, peas in the pod, a few tomatoes, whatever other veggies I want to have & blend it with some water added. I sometimes homogenize a few carrots through the blender. Then I add some himalayan salt & some lemon. I put this in a pot & just warm it. It is still a raw food as long as just heat it until its warm. Sometimes I add some thinly sliced pieces of veggies in there too. Really good, tastes different every time & is warming.

ST. JOHN'S WORT SEED HEADS

St. John's Wort in in seed now, and since it is sunny & warm out still, it is a great time to harvest some.

I usually strain out the flowering heads from the tinctures I have made, and then add the seed heads, to double tincture it. So you are using the same alcohol.

I also infuse several quarts of oil with St. John's wort flowers & seeds heads to use in skin products. That's basically all I use as moisturizer.

And put some up in apple cider vinegar too for use as a mouth wash, it is very  healing to the gums & strengthens them. You can also use this vinegar on skin problems.

The stinky plant from our herb class: Rhinanthus minor

Rhinanthus minor

Yellow Rattle

 I think this is the stinky plant that was brought to our herb class for identification.

I don't see any medicinal uses, although the smell is enough to keep me away from it!

This plant might be poisonous to livestock. You can get a yellow dye from

the leaves.

You can see the small leaves in this picture.

I can't find any references to the bad smell, but I am pretty sure this is the plant.

ST. JOHN'S WORT VS. WOOD GROUNDSEL

ST. JOHN'S WORT FLOWER

Another plant causing some confusion is St. John's Wort & Wood Groundsel (aka Tansy Ragwort).


The St. John's Wort is pretty much past its blooming stage, its leaves are small & pointed.


The Wood Groundsel has larger blooms, it is a bigger plant, and its leaves are different.

Please be absolutely sure of what you are picking, especially if you are making a tincture & taking it internally. If you are taking my class it is probably best to just pick the plants during class.

WOOD GROUNDSEL: LOOK AT THE LEAVES

WOOD GROUNDSEL AKA TANSY RAGWORT

ST. JOHN'S WORT: LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE IN THE LEAVES

ST. JOHN'S WORT FLOWERS

TANSY OR RAGWEED OR WOOD GROUNDSEL

TO CLEAR UP SOME CONFUSION BETWEEN COMMON NAMES OF PLANTS, THE ONE EVERYONE HERE CALLS TANSY RAGWEED IS NEITHER TANSY NOR RAGWEED, IT IS WOOD GROUNDSEL.
I realized everybody is calling Wood Groundsel ---- Tansy Ragwort. Either way, here's the info in some confusing plants.

RAGWEED

WOOD GROUNDSEL
AKA TANSY RAGWEED

TANSY
Latin Name: Tanacetum vulgare

TANSY

Tansy was traditionally used to kill parasites among other things,
but there safer natural methods to kill parasites.


Notice that actual Tansy just has little button flowers with no petals.
Wood Groundsel has curly leaves & petals on the flowers.

Shift in seasons

Golden Crowned Sparrow having a bath.

There has been a slight shift in the season. A lot of the plants are going to seed now. Keep an eye on the

St. John's Wort for the seeds to be ready, you can use some of the tops to make St. John's Wort oil. And we will need some for our herb class when the seeds are read. The Motherwort is almost in seed as well, but for now the bees are all over its sharp little blooms. It will reseed readily & spread throughout the garden. Indian plum trees are turning yellow, they start growing in early Feb., so it is kind of like fall for them, and they seem to mark a shift in weather as it begins to turn from summer to fall.

Herbs & tree frogs.

Yarrow blooms, ready to harvest.

Another little tree frog hiding on the stones to the pond.

Yellow dock seeds almost ready to harvest,
and the marshmallow is in bloom.

Another tree frog in a squash leaf, seems to be their favorite spot.

TREE FROG

A PACIFIC TREE FROG IN A SQUASH LEAF

Raw food breakfast

This makes a great breakfast, easy to carry with you to work or wherever, and keeps you full for hours.

CUT UP A BUNCH OF FRUIT

ADD SPROUTED QUINOA, SPROUTED LENTILS, SPROUTED SUNFLOWER SEEDS

HEMP HEARTS, RAW CACAO, ACAI POWDER,

SPIRULINA, BEE POLLEN (IF YOU ARE NOT

ALLERGIC TO BEE PRODUCTS)

POUR COCONUT  MILK OVER IT

Barred Owl in our yard

We see this owl quite often, usually just at night though. Since this was during the day we got take some pictures.

Walk through my garden

I just added a page on my website called Walk Through My Garden

most of the herbs are in full bloom,

thought I'd take advantage of this & add some photos.

www.dragonflyherbals.com

St. John's Wort is ready to harvest now

We harvested St. John's Wort in our last herbal class. Just like with other herbs remember not to overharvest. We took part of a flowering tip with some leaves from scattered plants in a huge area, and made a tincture & an oil.

Infusing Wine with herbs

In the summer I often infuse some white wine with herbs. I made some white wine from scratch 2 years ago using green grapes & peaches. It still tastes a little 'new', aka not so good. When I walked outside the other day I saw the climbing rose had quite a few roses on it. I poured some of the wine into the mason jar above & added all the rose petals. It tastes amazing!

So I got out the other 20 bottles of peach/grape wine & a chopstick & pushed a bunch of herbs in each bottle.

For those taking my herbal course you'll have a good idea what herbs to use. For flavor I am thinking the rose petals will be great. And I made a few with lavender flowers (which will be great for relaxing before bed, lavender makes you sleepy). I also added: comfrey to some bottles, plantain, yarrow leaves & flowers, calendula flowers, borage flowers, lemon balm. Lots of these are for immune system, and some are for relaxing the nervous system. At some point I will strain the herbs out of each bottle, and also at some point, lavender or rose petals will be added to each one because I love the flavor.

I did try making some herbal wines using just herbs - no grapes. They are NOT so tasty. I think I like this method the best.

Pictures taken by our house.

BABY SWALLOWS

BABY SWALLOWS

in a nesting box in the big maple tree

CHAKRA BALANCING CLASSES & AN HERB WALK

The little hummingbirds flew off the morning after the last photo`s were taken.

Here`s a few classes open to anyone for July:


I am opening up a couple of classes this month to everyone.
Usually some of these classes are just for my reiki students.
Email me to register for any of these classes.

SATURDAY JULY 10
10:00 - NOON (depending on how many students, could be 11:30)
$30
CHAKRA BALANCING CLASS
I am running a series of chakra balancing classes & have 2
scheduled at this time. Chakras are main energy centers in the
body & become out of balance: over or under active, causing
physical or emotional problems. These classes can help you
become more aware of your chakras
& doing some work to bring them back into balance.
We will do some reading & journal work (I never ask my students
to share what they write), learn to use a pendulum to balance
the chakra we are studying, and use a tuning fork for restoring
balance.
At that point, the class will be over & my reiki students will
stay to receive an attunement & to give & receive reiki sessions.

SATURDAY JULY 17
HERB WALK
NOON - 1:30 (approximately)
$25
If you are interested in looking at about 30 herbs growing in my
yard & learning a bit about each, also get to know me as an herbalist
a bit better if you are thinking about taking my herb course
next year. We will walk around & look a the plants, learn a bit
about their uses, and have an herbal infusion after from freshly
picked plants.

SUNDAY JULY 18
SOLAR PLEXUS CHAKRA
10:00 - noon
$30 for non reiki students
same as above chakra class, different chakra.

Baby Hummingbirds testing their wings

These little guys are growing up!

2nd picture: testing out there tongues in slow motion!

3rd pic: testing out their tiny wings.

4th pic: testing out the tongue again, tasting the maple tree.

Harvesting Herbs in June

Since our herb class is have a short break & we won't meet until July, thought I'd add a bit of info on what's going on with the herbs out there, maybe you'll find a project or 2 with the information I'll be posting.

Lots of herbs are ready to harvest or use right now.

The comfrey (pictured at the right) is just at the end of blooming, you'll find a lot of the stalks are starting to fall over & smother other smallers plants next to them. Time to cut some it back. Some of my comfrey leaves are HUGE this year.

Comfrey Root: I am finding the frozen grated fresh comfrey root excellent for so many things. I won't harvest any more root until fall, but I'll put this information in here anyways. I took fresh comfrey root last year & just grated it & froze it in baggies. It has been a life saver with some external skin problems, and with an eye infection. I just crack a bit of it off, add a tiny bit of water, blend it in my blender & strain it. Remember to make it fresh every day.

Comfrey Leaf: I am cutting off some of the big flower stalks & drying them whole to use in the winter for any colds or lung problems. Remember some people are sensitive to the leaf used externally, causes itching. The root usually works better for those people. Anyway, I use comfrey leaf tea in the winter for lung problems. If you have an abundance of comfrey leaf, it is excellent added to compost to help break it down. And the flower stalks are beautiful in vases in the house.

Valerian is in bloom: the flowers smell amazing, I always bring some in & put them in vases.

Keep collecting lots of spring nourishing herbs for use in winter as a green powder or in infusions. I just dry the herbs, keeping them whole, and will grind them or use them in infusions whole in the winter. I collect a few comfrey leaves, tons of dandelion leaves, nettles, plantain leaves. I also do dry some cleaves & chickweed even though they are really not so useful dried.

Yellow dock is blooming now. Remember, we just use the root, the leaves are a bit high in oxalic acid which can contribute to aching joints.

Yarrow is in bloom, collect & dry leaves & blooms. Keep some dried for teas in the winter for colds. Tincture some for the same use. And use it in salves to help stop pain & bleeding.

You may notice as the days get warmer that the chickweed is a little harder to find. I have some with huge leaves in a shady damp area of the yard. It is right next to the miner's lettuce, so I just go down there each day & pick a bit & eat it on the spot.

Cleavers is about to get those nasty sticky little burs on them, which makes my dogs look like they have little green beards. I usually pull it up at this time of year (it will still come back). Remember it is not so useful dried, so use it fresh to tincture, this is pretty much your last chance until next spring. I have also been using it juiced. If you remember it is great for cleansing the lymphatic system, which is why I've been feeling a low grade germy feeling, as it is pulling out toxic matter from my lymphatic system.

If you have lemon balm, this is a pefect time to tincture some fresh for help with sleep during the winter. And lavender if you have it. Sometimes I make a tincture with lavender & lemon balm, both help you sleep & this tastes great. We'll be working with that next class I think.

If you have Calendula, use the petals of the flowers on your salads. Same with nasturtium flowers.

This is a great time of year to make another salve, her are some ideas of herbs you may have in your yard that can be used: calendula, comfrey, plantain, wormwood, heal all, lavender. Look back in your notes or in one of your herb books & see what the properties are of some herbs that you have growing in your yard, make an infused oil & then make a salve from it. Add some essential oils if you have them, tea tree or lavender are wonderful in healing salves.

Remember to take a minute before harvesting any plants, think of what you would like for this plant to help you heal, pick it with intention, leave an offering of intending thanks or reiki.

seichim reiki

Seichim Reiki

I just added this information to my website, and thought I'd add it here too.

A group of us have been working with Seichim reiki since 2008. The energies are very different than Usui reiki. My feeling is that Usui reiki is a fixed set of energies. These vibrations (Usui reiki) offer everyone a way to start with channelling energy. All of my students begin with Usui reiki level 1.


After level 1 Usui reiki you can start getting Seichim attunements if you feel ready for something different. There are additional symbols given with Seichim.


Seichim seems to open a person up to whatever energies are currently coming to earth at this time. That would be whatever energies you are ready to tap into as well.


I work with a group of reiki masters, we get together every few months & re-attune each other to  level 7 of Seichim. Seichim has never felt ‘finished’ to me, it seems new & different each time.


Remember all attunements, of any type of reiki, open a person up to channel energy, they release what no longer serves them, but also offer personal growth.
I have found Seichim to be different every time I have been attuned. Quite often a Seichim attunement brings about a time of creativity, whether that is being creative with doing some form of writing or artwork, cooking, news ways of doing things, whatever type of creativity calls to you.


Seichim attunements are given 1 on 1, there are 7 levels. You can work with the first 6 levels, and get your 7th level after your Usui Master class.
Seichim attunements are given with the student on the reiki table, and usually take ½ hour or so.


During these attunements your energy field is opened up to the Seichim energy stream. Your chakras are opened & balanced, your heart chakra opens, and your energy field is knit back together. This heals any tears & imbalances in the energy field, & helps you be grounded in your own energy, less permeable to other’s energies fields & /or negativity.

Raw cracker sandwiches

I've been experimenting with some different raw foods. I needed some new flavors & textures in my diet.


I had made raw crackers quite a few months ago, but quickly lost a taste for them. So those all became dog biscuits, and the dogs definitely were not complaining about that.


Anyway, I suddenly got the urge to have some sort of raw sandwich or raw pizza.


Used some juicer pulp, it was mostly carrot, celery, cumber & a ton of greens from my garden: kale, chard, dandelion, cleavers, parsley. Mixed the pulp in the food processor with whole flax, Bragg, lemon juice & nutritional yeast, put it in the dehydrator on wax paper, & let it dry overnight.


Last night I had a large piece of the raw cracker with refried bean paste (I still eat some non raw stuff), sliced onion, sliced tomato, olive oil & a bunch of chopped garlic. Great little mexican pizza!


Today I had the same raw cracker base with squished avocado, sliced onion, a mountain of sprouts, tomato slices, himalayan salt & pepper. mmmmm....




I am growing lots of kale, chard, lettuce & parsley mostly for juicing. I usually pick a big handful of dandelion & cleaves & plantain & juice that too. Just remember to go easy on the juiced raw green, especially the wild leaves, let your body get used to it. Start off with just 1 or 2 leaves.

More hummingbirds

The first one is the mama hummingbird sitting on the edge of the nest.

Next ones are of the 2 babies.

Baby Hummingbirds from the roof