The Plant Powered Naturopath

The latest Herbal alchemy workshop has just been released! I am so excited to share more knowledge with you all in such an important time. Winter is rife with sickness, so arm yourself with the knowledge to stay well.
If you are looking for Naturopathic herbal, and nutraceuticals advice on Immune system fortification and illness prevention, as well as treatment during acute or chronic episodes of infection, please join me.

Herbal Alchemy for the Immune System Join me for a submersive and hands-on experience in the magikal world of herbal medicine. Learn about the ancient art of alchemy, and how to use...

Did you know it's really easy to make your own black garlic?
If you have a dehydrator all you need to do is add whole raw bulbs of garlic, as many as you want but at least 12 or more to make it worthwhile.
Put them in a clean glass jar with a tight fitting lid.
Set your dehydrator temp to 70c and keep it on for at least 2 weeks. Check after 2 and you may notice some of the bulbs are darker than others. I think rearranging them makes a difference as the bulbs on the bottom of the jar weren't as dark as the bulbs on top. I think it's because of the moisture on the bottom.
The jar will collect a little water from the garlic every few days and will need emptying.
I recommend checking the bulb on top after 1 week to check the progress. You want the garlic to turn black! As it continues breaking down it will become soft and caramelised with a beautiful aged garlic flavour.
You can use it in normal cooking but its best highighted with neutral dishes like creamy pasta, bread and olive oil.

Medicinally, aged garlic is very powerful..it's a heart tonic. ❤️

❤️‍🔥 Several studies reported higher contents of water-soluble antioxidants compounds (S-allyl cysteine, S-allyl-mercapto cysteine), 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, organosulfur compounds, polyphenol, and volatile compounds.

💥 "Recent studies have demonstrated that BG and its bioactive compounds possess a wide range of biological activities and pharmacological properties that preserve and show better efficacy in preventing different types of diseases."

The health benefits of BG intake are largely associated with the presence of bioactive substances such as phenol and organosulfur.

So I recommend giving it a try if you have a dehydrator. There are other ways but this is the only one I have tried.

Need some inspiration for summer beverages?
Here's a special cocktail created with just a few special ingredients!
Butterfly pea flower syrup, rose tincture, vodka, soda and a herbal salt!
Want to learn how to make it from scratch and any other flavoured syrups, fermented sodas or essences for that matter?

The Herbal Cocktail workshop will teach you all this and way more.

Do you have an abundance of Elderflowers at the moment?
Mine is overflowing so I decided to make some Elderflower wild soda.
It is basically flowers, sugar and water to create a fizzy beverage.
The natural yeasts on the flower eat the sugar and produce carbon dioxide to create a bubbly drink which is good for the gut and the body.
Here I used 2 T of raw sugar per 700ml bottle. I used about 3 to 4 heads of elderflowers per bottle pulling most of them off the large stem of the plant.
Make sure there are no bugs, you can lightly rinse but I prefer to keep it natural to ensure the yeasts are prolific.
Use spring water only as bacteria do not like chlorine and neither do we.
I experimented using bakers yeast with one bottle using half a sachet to see the difference of time and carbonation.
It's obviously a cheat way but some recipes recommend it..
Natural is always best.
I am going to leave these for up to a week and see how quickly they start producing bubbles!

Looking forward to the end result.
You can use any medicinal plants flowers or fruit to create carbonated drinks with the help of natural yeasts on the plants.
Pine soda is my next one!

Love it when you score a classic book in the second hand bookstore.
Iridology is a fascinating and underrated form of identifying potential disease patterns or weaknesses in a person and Dorothy Hall's book is a priceless copy to have 💖

It's a purple kind of day 💜

There's nothing better than the sweet smell of apring and the variety of colours and flowers!
I decided it was time to pick some of the beauty in my garden to bring indoors so I can enjoy it all day!
I decided to stick with 2 cokour palletes, purple and yellow.
Both complementary of course.
With hesitation I picked some irises, tulios, ranunculas, status, elderflower, poppy, borage, nasturtiums, and freesias. What a collection...
The cats like them too :)
And they smell like spring :)

Wireless hill is coming alive with orchids. It's always a treat to visit with such beauty and diversity in such a small area.
The first spider orchids of the season I have seen, as well as red beaks, pansy orchid, cowslips and rattlebeaks.

Join Zoe from Alchemical Heart in a woodland walk in Perth Hills. Experience the unique flora our ecosystem has to offer including winter orchids, wildflowers and funghi. Learn how to identify the orchids and about the specific conditions in which they need to grow. Zoe will take you to her favourite spot to see a variety of species, which you can photograph. Expect to see hare orchids, snail orchids, leek orchids, jug orchids and more....
Take the time to breathe in the peaceful surroundings and explore your senses in this adventure for the wild souls, the nature lovers, and the young at heart.
This 1.5 hr event is for people 12 yrs and older, and ticket numbers are limited to 10, so book quickly to secure your spot.

https://events.humanitix.com/woodland-walk

$35 pp, please click on the booking link above.
About your host:
Zoe is a passionate nature lover, a wildfood hunter and gatherer, a 4th year Naturopath and vegan cook.
Her mission is to inspire and educate people on the sacredness and importance of being connected to the natural world. To help others recognise the abundance of food and medicine that surrounds us, encouraging self-reliance and curiosity.
She holds regular Herbal Alchemy workshops and will be running various nature events including Wild food, W**d walks and more.

Delightful little cocktail made from my lilly pully, lime, rose and cardamom syrup, plus soda water, vodka and fresh lilly pillies and a sprig of rosemary for its herbaceousness.
Just what I need after an exam today!

W**ds..🌿🌾🌱
Some people's friend, most people's fo.
There is an abundance of nutritional food and medicine, that you can gather, that's completely free! Most are edible, some better medicinally used, however all have a plethora of benefits.
🌸🌳🌺🌹🏵
If you get to know your local w**ds, you are creating a sustainable future for yourself, ypur family and even community with food security.
How many times in the last two years have we been unable to purchase staple foods. With supermarket shortages, to catastrophic weather events affecting food transport.
Wouldn't you like to know, that you can get your greens in your own backyard?
🖤🌱🌿🍀☘️
Although many people don't expect w**ds to be tasty, many are often mild or slightly bitter, akin to spinach or rocket.
🍃🍁🌺
There are certain things to know when it comes to safety and preparation as well as identification.

I'm excited to begin offering w**d and wild food walks.
Dates to come..
Stay tuned 💖

You can use fresh, raw garlic as a flea and tick repellent!

Many people are under the impression that garlic is toxic to dogs, but it's only toxic in insanely large amounts! Your dog would have to eat a LOT of garlic for it to be dangerous.

With proper dosage, garlic is an amazing:
- Anti-parasitic
- Anti-biotic
- Anti-fungal

Using fresh, organic cloves is best!

Your dog can have 1/4 cloves per 10lbs daily, max out at two cloves even if your pup is huge.

*Puppies have a lower red blood cell mass and hemoglobin concentration than adult dogs due to the transition from fetal to postnatal blood cell development. Because studies have demonstrated that garlic can accelerate red blood cell turnover, it should not be given to puppies under six months of age to avoid any chance of anemia.

I'm super excited to present my first workshop in the Greenhouse on my favourite topic of all. HERBS!

Join me for a submersive and hands-on experience in the magikal world of herbal medicine. Learn about the ancient art of alchemy, and how to use medicinal herbs from your very own backyard to boost your and your families health and wellbeing.

We will explore the physical, magical, energetic and phytochemical properties of a selection of herbs. ✨

You will learn to intuitively create herbal tea blends and learn the art and science behind tincture making.

The workshop will go for 3 hours and you will leave with your own herbal tea blend, a beautifully designed herbal material medica including recipes, and a whole lot of new knowledge and inspiration for the craft.

🌱Places are limited, so book your spot now via the following ticket link

https://www.trybooking.com/CIYBH

Creating a personalised tincture for myself from homemade tinctures. Adaptogen and liver support with Schisandra chinensis, Siberian ginseng, St mary's thistle, with hormonal balancers, Chaste tree berry, and a touch of sweetness and adrenal tonic with liqourice. ction

Homemade tinctures are so effective and super easy to make! Every herb has a particular way they like to be extracted, either in water for certain constituents to be extracted that are hydrophilic (water loving) or hydrophobic (water repellent) will require either oil or alcohol. Most constituents will be extracted best in an alcohol base, of a particular percentage.
You can use a store bought 80 proof vodka for many herbs. However some such as Calendula require a 90% alcohol extraction.
This astragalus tincture is using a 50% alcohol in a 1:5 herb to alcohol ratio.
Shake daily and wait 4-6 weeks, then strain and take around 7ml per day!

Today is a flower drying day as I collect a beautiful harvest of Calendula flowers and Cornflowers of many colours. So beautiful!! These will probably become oil infusions for a healing salve.
Have you ever used calendula or cornflower before?
They have wonderful antiinflammatory and vulnerary properties for healing wounds and GI irritation if used internally.

Water healing...
Some of the great early naturopaths and doctors expressed their fondness of this amazing natural medicine to heal many an ailment. Particularly a man called Sebastien Kneipp, who pioneered the use of water for healing. He was suffering tuberculosis and discovered the idea of water healing in a book. He then decided to try it for himself and began a treatment of cold river baths. Eventually he cured himself of tuberculosis and proceeded to treat hundreds of people in various ways using water 💧. Hot and cold in showers, baths and sitz baths, as well as cold river dips.
Even in this modern time, many people swear by the benefits of ice baths and cold water swims, particularly famous is Whim Hof for his ice man method!
Well this river was pretty freezing and perhaps I should have taken inspiration for a swim, but I'm a bit chicken.
If you're not, you should definitely give it a go!

Healing is often thought of as pharmaceutical medicine fixing our problems, eliminating disease and taking away our pain. And to some extent that may be true. But it really is a type if bandaid, suppressing or reducing our symptoms which come from a much deeper imbalance in the mind, body or soul.
In Naturopathy, the Vis Medicatrix Naturae is a healing philosophy, meaning we step back and allow the energy of nature to rebalance itself. We allow time, space and recuperation for our marvellous spiritual and physical being to heal. This can also be achieved by surrounding ourselves in nature, and allowing ourselves to relax and heal. It can can reinvigorate us, give us hope and bring us joy, and surround us with love. And those can be the most powerful healing emotions of all.

Some of my favourite things 💕
Dried artemisia (wormwood) is a fantastic space cleanser, and can also be used internally for detoxing parasites and other bacteria.
Dried reishi, is an ancient medicinal mushroom prized for its immune modulation, blood cleansing and tonifying properties. I use these dried pieces in tea and to make tinctures.
Mortar and Pestle, well are you really a herbalist without one?

Today I made up a bush flower essence remedy for myself.
I am currently studying the many benefits of these essences and many other brands also, and I am very fortunate to have my own practitioner set of Australian bushflower essences from the course I completed a couple of years ago.
I must say, I need to use them more! They are energetic medicine designed to assist in rebalancing our negative states that are difficult to shift, providing us with wisdom and insight into our troubles, allowing us to correct our internal stories and release patterns and beliefs and deep emotional states, allowing them to transcend!

remedy