Natural Remedies for the Cold and Flu Season

If we were truly living in rhythm with the Earth, we would all be hibernating right now.  Not necessarily in full hibernation like bears, but we would be spending our days at a slower pace, gathered around the wood stove, working on crafts, enjoying a bowl of hot stew simmering on the stove and using last summer's harvest stored in our root cellar.

Spending our winter days at a slower pace while deeply nourishing our body and soul is not an option for most of us.  Instead we are continuing the same work pace and added to that is shoveling snow, bringing in firewood and partaking in holiday cheer.  It can wear on us, weakening our immune system and leaving us susceptible to colds and flu.

So although we may not have the option of hibernating this winter, I thought I'd pass along a few natural remedies that I use to help myself and my family stay healthy.

Cinnamon Bark, cinnamomum verum

 The essential oil of cinnamon bark is a powerful healing agent being an anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal and an anti-inflammatory.  It's been used for treating all different kinds of ailments for the past 1700 years and was one of the the first herbal medicines listed in Dioscorides' De Materia Medica, Europe's first official guide to medicines.

The best way to use this oil is to add several drops to a carrier oil, such as jojoba or almond.  I put several drops in one of my salves that I make.  Using the salve or oil to keep your hands soft during the winter months will not just help your skin but it will kill bacteria and other germs on your hands as well.
Warning:  Cinnamon bark essential oil is one of the few oils that should not be put directly onto your skin unless it's been added to a carrier oil or in a salve as mentioned above.  Otherwise, it may cause skin irritation.  It should not be directly inhaled for the same reason.

The other way I use cinnamon is with the spice.  If I feel a cold coming on, I will mix a heaping teaspoon of cinnamon with a tablespoon of plain yogurt.  I'll do this a couple of times during the day and it really helps to keep an oncoming cold at bay.

Lemongrass, cymbopogon flexuosus
The essential oil of lemongrass is another wonderful oil that is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal.  Used frequently to treat respiratory and bladder infections, Lemongrass has been found to be highly effective in killing bacteria found in MRSA Staph infections.

MRSA originated in hospitals, making it highly resistant to standard antibiotics.  It has now been found outside of hospitals and has proven to be quite fatal.  I encourage you to read the following article, written by David Stewart, PHD on his findings with the effectiveness of essential oils for treating bacterial infections, particularly MRSA.  Essential Oils and MRSA Staph Infections, Part 2.

I use lemongrass essential oil the same way that I use cinnamon.  I add it to my oils and salves that I use through out the winter.  I particularly use the essential oil of lemongrass in a salve that I regularly apply to my youngest son's feet.  He has severe scoliosis and is therefor susceptible to pneumonia.  Using essential oils in the form of salves or body oils and massaged into the soles of the feet is a highly effective way to strengthen your immune system and fight germs.  The soles of our feet have many points that correspond with all the systems of the body, and using essential oils on the different points creates an electrical charge that helps to clear blocks both physically and emotionally.

I also use homeopathic remedies and although remedies are selected based on the individual's constitution and the characteristics of the illness, there are a few that I always have on hand.  If you have children, you may especially have seen the following types of symptoms.

Fever
Bright red, flushed face and glassy eyes with red lips signifies Belladonna.
Red, circular patch on the cheek, particularly the left side, signifies Ferrum Phosphorous.

Cold
Clear, watery mucous, and tearing eyes signifies Alium Cepa.
Thick, yellow/green mucous, non-burning, fearful mental state signifies Pulsatilla
Lethargic with body feeling very heavy signifies Gelsemium

Sore Throat
Swollen, sore and with pus filled spots on the tonsils signifies Mercurius.
Burning sensation combined with chilliness, thirst and fatigue signifies Arsenicum.
Beginning stages, tongue with red dots like a strawberry signifies Belladonna.

I also integrate many plants high in antioxidants and vitamin C into foods that my family eats.  Elderberry syrup poured over pancakes, mixed in plain yogurt or added to a cup of tea is a great way to increase your vitamin C intake.  Autumn Olive berries are higher in antioxidants than pomegranate and makes a delicious rose colored jam.  Echinacea root boiled in maple syrup is sweet tasting and generally well liked by children.  We also will freeze the root and take bits of it to chew on when we're feeling ill. 

Along with the many wonderful natural medicines available to us, nothing beats nutritious meals, plenty of rest and relaxation to stay healthy during the cold winter months!

The Changing Times 

anchoring in the new energy

There is tremendous change happening and personally, I'm experiencing it in a variety of ways. I especially feel chaotic energy as things are shifting and changing seemingly more quickly.  As a new energy is being revealed, relentlessly moving humankind through an initiatory passageway, many people I've worked with are experiencing a loss of a familiar structure or foundation whether it be income, relationship or perhaps even their homes.  For some people it may be experienced as an emotional letting go.  Old patterns surfacing, an upheaval of grief or a deep frustration that your life is not how you want it to be.  I've heard of an increase number of people experiencing weight gain, vertigo, sleeplessness, unexplained physical discomfort and pain.  I've experienced the chaotic energy of change reflected in my home as I struggle to keep up with the clutter and unfinished projects. 

From what I understand, these are all symptoms of a monumental shift that is taking place on our planet.  Our multidimensional selves are shifting in a variety of ways to become aligned with a new Divine blueprint.  And it can be unsettling to say the least.  I have had mornings where I wake up feeling as though I've been working all night.  Other mornings, I feel completely energized and well rested.  I've also noticed an increase in sensitivities and have had to pay more attention to setting healthy boundaries so as not to get over-stressed and worn out.

I've been paying attention to what helps me to stay centered and grounded during this time and would like to share these tips in hopes that for those of you who may be having similar experiences may find some relief and support.  First, taking some time for myself, whether it's just a few minutes to sit in silence helps to clear my mind and touch upon my own deep truth.  Maintaining some sort of rhythm that provides consistency to your day helps balance the chaotic energy of change. Even if it's a simple ritual of making a cup of tea or reading a favorite verse upon waking or before going to bed helps.   Going for a walk outdoors has also helped me to bring a sense of peace and letting go of fear and stress.  Using my favorite essential oils, particularly fragrances such as lavender, that help relax the emotional body and mind have also been very helpful.  I also know that in the past, using Bach Flower Remedies help as well.  I believe the new energies that are entering our consciousness at this time has a higher vibration that is more aligned with the vibration of flowers.  So it makes sense to me why essential oils and flower remedies can be very helpful during this time.

For any of you having similar experiences, I hope these tips help.  And if you have other things you've been doing that you find helpful, please feel free to share.

Hawk Circle's Farm Initiative

Ricardo and I have talked for many years about starting a farm here at Hawk Circle.  Aside from having the help of animals to keep our fields open, (which are becoming over grown with honeysuckle!), we've also felt having a small farm here would add  another valuable learning experience for the youth and young adults who come here every year.
 
I guess timing can be everything and apparently it's the right time for us to begin developing this project.   After sending a casual email inquiring about Icelandic sheep, we had a farm, HeartEase Icelandics, generously offer us a small herd of five Icelandic Ewes in exchange for their granddaughters to attend summer camp in the near future.  Ricardo, Javi and I drove out to Dansville, just south of Rochester, NY to pick up the sheep.  With such hot weather and very little rain all summer, farmers have been having a hard time finding enough pasture land that hasn't dried up for their animals to graze on.  So we picked up the sheep a few weeks earlier than planned, brought them back to Hawk Circle where there is plenty of green grass and shrubs to graze on.

I've been familiar with Icelandic sheep only as far as knowing that their wool is what produces the commonly known Lopi yarn.  But after researching this breed more, I found them to be the perfect animal to have here.  They are one of the purest and oldest breed of sheep having been brought over to Iceland many years ago by the Vikings.  They are excellent grazers, eating a variety of plants and shrubs (just what we need!), and they are one of the few sheep that are raised for all three purposes, meat, dairy and fiber.  They are also well versed for rough terrain and do great on hilly and rocky slopes.

Right now, we're doing intensive grazing with the five sheep.  We have two electric fences that enable us to move them around to new pastures every few days.  It's been fascinating to watch what they eat and what they don't.  They love Sumac leaves, which is great since it's high in tannins and good for getting rid of intestinal parasites.  It's also been amazing to watch an area that is so densely, overgrown with honeysuckle and goldenrod, open up where you actually can see into the woods or fields after just a few days of the sheep grazing.

We also visited a llama farm nearby, that is wanting to donate their llamas to not-for-profit organizations.  Another example of "right timing".  People pay anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 for llamas, and Ric just happened to stumble across an add for "Looking to donate llamas to non-profit organizations." The farm couple is looking to retire from the business that at one time was the largest llama breeding farm on the east coast.  Llamas are wonderful guard animals, so Ricardo and I thought maybe having one llama to guard the sheep from predators, mainly coyotes, would be a good idea.  We picked out a beautiful chestnut brown llama and will be picking him up this spring.

Our garden this year, despite the lack of rain, is doing great.  Jacquelyn Ward, a graduate from Marlborough College in Vermont was our garden manager for the summer.  She did a fantastic job of creating a beautiful garden with lots of food and a cool design.  She's returning this fall to help run the after school programs.


We are planning on developing the Hawk Circle farm slowly and we're actively looking for a farmer or farm family that will the right fit for Hawk Circle.  Right now, I'm having fun taking care of our five sheep.  At the end of October, we will be hiring someone to come and shear them.  Icelandic sheep have incredibly long wool making it great for spinning, and I can't wait to start working with the wool.  Annie Hanson, who was our kitchen manager for the summer, is spending the year here and helping with the sheep.  We're both excited to learn how to spin and begin working with this beautiful fiber.  Our plan is to add perhaps a few goats and a few beef cows along with chickens to our farm in the next year and a half with the idea of offering both a farm camp during the summer and farm class trips in the fall of 2014.

If you have any ideas for the farm initiative or want to come help build fences, clear brush or spin some wool, let us know.  We'd love to hear from you.  In the meantime, we'll keep you posted throughout the year with our progress with the Hawk Circle Farm!


Javi's bunnies, Graham Cracker, Marshmallow and Chocolate.  They provide enough manure for all of my flower and herb gardens, plus they are so cute!

Late Summer's Harvest

We've had an incredibly busy spring and summer here at Hawk Circle, but things are beginning to quiet down a bit just in time for a late summer's harvesting and drying of plants for my winter medicine cabinet.  Standing tall at one end of my garden is a mullein plant that I will be cutting down to dry.  The soft, velvety leaves are wonderful for aiding the lungs.  I dry them by either hanging the whole plant upside down or spreading the leaves out on a drying rack.  If there are any mullein flowers on the stalk, I collect them and dry them as well.  Infused in olive oil, the mullein flowers are wonderful for healing ear aches.  Once the leaves are fully dry, I crush them and place them in a glass jar to store.  As with all plants you are drying for storage, make sure they are completely dry or mold will grow quickly.  I use the dried leaves throughout the year as a tea for supporting the lungs during times of chest colds or lung infections.  A good way to make it is to place a small handful of dried leaves in a mason jar, fill with boiling water and let sit for a few minutes, then strain and add a bit of honey.

Just beginning to bloom now is goldenrod and we have plenty of it.  The flower head is wonderful for dyeing wool and is one of the few plants that will transfer and retain its brilliant, gold color.  However, I also collect the flower heads and dry them for my winter medicine cabinet.  Made into a tea, it's a wonderful remedy for treating bladder and urinary tract infections.  I also use uva ursi, or bearberry for treating such infections, but I've heard that goldenrod is a bit more gentle on your system.

Another remedy I make is elderberry cold syrup.  Our elderberries are ripe and ready to harvest, about two weeks earlier this year than usual.  Elderberries are one of the fruits highest in vitamin C and makes a great remedy for boosting your immune system.  I make a sweet syrup that we use year round for sweetening pancakes and waffles, yogurt and oatmeal.  I have also made a cough syrup by boiling the elderberry juice down to about half of what it originally measured.  Adding some yarrow, cinnamon and nutmeg and honey, makes an effective cold remedy.  However, this year, because both my husband and I have been eliminating sugar from our diets, I plan on making an elderberry tincture.  Whenever you work with elderberries, it's always best to freeze them first, making it much easier to remove the berries from the branches and stems.  Filling a mason jar with the berries and adding a good quality vodka is all you need to do to make a tincture.  Place a lid on your jar and let it sit for 6 weeks.  When it's ready to strain, be sure, as with all tinctures, that you store it in a dark colored, glass bottle so the sun light doesn't weaken your tincture.

My favorite plant that covers my drying racks through out the summer is calendula.  Although it's an annual, it is a prolific self-seeder and will come back year after year even when the soil has been disturbed multiple times.  I collect the flowers when they just open and spread them out on my drying rack or sometimes on a cookie sheet.  Calendula is known for healing all sorts of skin ailments as well as cuts.  Along with calendula flowers, I also dry comfrey and plantain and use all three plants when making salves.  You can also take the dried calendula flowers and infuse it in your favorite massage oil for a wonderful skin remedy during the cold and dry winter months.

As fall approaches, I'll be making more medicines for my winter medicine cabinet and definitely keep you posted!  Have a wonderful last few weeks of summer!

Coltsfoot Spring Cough Remedy

Coltsfoot, Latin name tussilago farfara is the first flower to blossom in the spring and is easily visible because of its bright yellow color that stands out amongst the still sleeping early spring landscape. One could easily assume this yellow flower is a dandelion, but if you look closely, there are significant differences. The flower itself is a bit smaller but most unique is its stem. Dandelion stems are smooth and hollow where as the stem of coltsfoot is scaly and this is the best way to identify coltsfoot.

Coltsfoot is well known for helping to heal coughs. Picking the fresh flowers along with the stems, placing them in a jar then filling with honey makes a great remedy. After covering the jar filled with flowers and honey, place the jar in a cool area and let sit for about 6 weeks. When ready, strain the honey so it is free of all plant material and then store in a covered glass jar, ready for use when needed.

Have a healthy spring!

Gluten Free Menu Offered to Hawk Circle Campers this Summer!

Over the years, I have noticed more and more kids coming to our summer camp requiring a gluten free diet. Last year, when we had six people here who were in need of gluten free meals, I realized that this phenomenon was only going to continue to grow. It not only gave me the realization that we needed to do more to accommodate this growing need, but it also inspired me to search for answers as to why having an allergy or a sensitivity to wheat was on such the rise.

I found it odd that wheat being one of our oldest grains, certainly not the oldest, but definitely one of the oldest grains was giving people so many problems. After doing some research, the information that I found to make the most sense was research done by Dr. William Davis, author of Wheat Belly.

In Dr. Davis' book, he explains that with the efforts in the mid 1900's to solve the problem of world hunger, scientists developed thousands of new strains of wheat through plant hybridization. While the new strains offered high yields, particularly the semi-dwarf wheat plant that now comprise more than 99% of all the wheat grown worldwide, they are altered so much from their original ancestors, that it's practically a different plant all together.

One of the most dramatic changes is with the gluten proteins. As Dr. Davis says, "when compared to century-old strains of wheat, modern strains of Triticum aestivum express a higher quantity of genes for gluten proteins that are associated with celiac disease". Along with an increase in gluten proteins, the hybrid wheat plants are completely reliant on human assistance for their survival and can not survive in the wild as did their ancestors.

I am just giving you a very small sampling of the information that is in Dr. William Davis' book, Wheat Belly. And this book's focus is not on celiac disease or gluten sensitivities, but instead offers a variety of information that links many ailments from arthritis to diabetes to the consumption of our modern day wheat. It gave me a better understanding why sensitivities to gluten are on the rise. So Hawk Circle's contribution to this dilemma is to offer a gluten free menu this summer in hopes that it will support the families who have children with wheat allergies and sensitivities.

The Healing Magic of Essential Oils

I've been using essential oils in supporting my family's wellness for the past few years. I started using them in the creams, oils and herbal salves that I make mainly for their beautiful scents and purity. However, after traveling to Egypt and seeing hieroglyphs containing vessels of what appeared to be healing oils, my interest was peaked. I began doing a much more in depth study of the use of essential oils through out the ages and I have found working with them to be nothing short of magical!

I have many favorite oils that I have used to support my family's immune system as well as emotional stress. But my favorite oil for its many uses and beautiful aroma is lavender. It's a great stress reducer, as the molecules of pure essential oils are so small that they can penetrate the "blood brain barrier" having wonderful healing effects that work directly with our brain, bringing peace to our emotional center. Aside from relieving stress, I have found lavender to be a must have in your natural medicine cabinet for a variety of other uses. It is one of the few oils that can be put directly onto open wounds.

This summer, Ric had a very sharp chisel slip, leaving a significant gash across his stomach that in hindsight should have had stitches. I immediately reached for my lavender oil and put it right on the open wound and then covered it with bandages. I continued this for a couple days until Ric had had enough of smelling like a flower. The wound had very little to no redness around it and was not sensitive to the touch; it healed beautifully!

Lavender is also very good for burns. I've applied it directly to burns to help heal and relieve the sensitivity. It's also great mixed with a bit of water and poured into a spray bottle for relieving sunburns.

I'm adding lavender to our Hawk Circle infirmary this summer to help us take care of any minor cuts and abrasions as well as sunburned campers.