Homesteading with Dr. Kim

Tomatoes are growing!!

Progress:)

BURDOCK: Free, nutrient dense food & herbal medicine growing abundantly and wild. Tap this wild food superstar, among many others, when you join me “In The Wild Kitchen”. Registration is open until Dec. 26th Click here www.inthewildkitchen.com for more info.

In this online course you intimately meet the plants in the wild garden and then spend time in the herbalist’s kitchen preparing master recipes. We go slowly, in real time. The goals: to make you excellent plant detectives (which is the key to successful foraging) while empowering your inner wild food chef.

Engage in this knowledge lounge we’ve created. Think of it as a place to relax and learn in an inviting atmosphere surrounded by nature, and the hearth.

I wish for this course to inspire you to connect to nature, to put your hands on the earth, to touch the plants, and to get your creative juices flowing in the kitchen so you can bring wholesome delicious food to your table.

PS, You’ll be receiving more herbal goodies in this winter solstice package.
I invite you to learn more here: www.inthewildkitchen.com

To help with ID, harvest and use, here is our Burdock Plant Map from Foraging & Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook by Dina Falconi (me), illustrated by Wendy Hollender. To see more about our book, please go to our site here: www.ForagingandFeasting.com

Say hello to our new additions! 3 sweet little Cinnamon Queen hens:)
Trying to come up with names for them.

McMurtrey Farm photos ❤️

Making a rich vegetable stock today 🎃🍂👩🏼‍🌾

Vegan tacos with all home grown veggies:)

Getting onions ready for freeze-drying:)

Blackberry,
Rubus Villosus

Aubrey Packham, M.H.

When I first noticed thorny blackberry leaves creeping into my backyard, I was not happy about their presence. But over the years I learned to value this great plant and am grateful it provides me not only with delicious fruit in the summer, but powerful wild medicine from its leaves and roots, too.

Nutritionally, blackberries are a reliable source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, and manganese (an essential mineral).
1. The plant is rich in tannin which makes it a good astringent and tonic.
2. The root and the leaves can be used as medicine. The root being more astringent.
3. Recently, scientists studied 1500 foods measuring antioxidant activity (which is correlated with anti-cancer and anti-diabetic effects.
4. The results showed that fresh blackberry had more antioxidant activity than any other food tested!
5. Dr. Christopher has mentioned blackberries a few times in his publications. He says that blackberries are beneficial for treating rheumatism (aka arthritis) and are a good blood builder.
6. Dr. Christopher notes that historically, blackberry leaves have been used for burns and scalds; a tea is made for infant cholera and dysentery; and leaves and root bark to tone the stomach, intestines, larynx, and mucous tissues.
7. One of the most common uses for blackberry leaves or root is for the treatment of diarrhea. Long-standing ulcers have been healed in the past with a fomentation of blackberry leaves. A decoction of the root bark is said to be useful in treating whooping cough in the spasmodic stage. Some folks even say that eating the young shoots will fasten loose teeth!
8. If blackberry doesn’t grow near you, raspberry may be a good replacement. According to research, blackberry and raspberry were used interchangeably by the Greeks, Chinese, and Native Americans.
9. I use blackberry leaves often to make a nourishing tea. It gives me a little extra energy and strength, which testifies to me of its reputation as a blood builder.
While this herb is underrepresented in today’s pharmacopeia, it holds a high place in my apothecary due to its availability. I wish any readers all the best in discovering what medicine their backyard provides for them!

References
1. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1848/2
2. The Herbalist, Joseph E. Meyer
3. A Modern Herbal, Maud Grieve
4. https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2019/nj/c9nj01251f/unauth
5. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20070502005975/en/Blackberries-Top-in-
Antioxidants-and-Potent-Cancer-Fighters
6. School of Natural Healing Herbal Reference Guide, Dr. John R. Christopher

7. https://online.snh.cc/files/2100/HTML/uw_b_blackberry_leaves_rubus_fructicosus_.htm
8. A Modern Herbal, Maud Grieve
9. https://www.herballegacy.com/Corless_History.html
Aubrey Packham is a Master Herbalist and uses her knowledge to help her family and friends with any ailments that arise. She loves learning about plants and their medicinal qualities. She lives with her family in North Carolina.

herballegacy.com

Garden is looking good:)

Working on the garden now that it is warming up! ❤️

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lulled in these flowers with dances and delight.
(Oberon, Act 2 Scene 1) ( A midsummer Night's Dream - William Shakespeare )
Felice Casorati - Artist

Got some more KimChi going:)

Current ferments:)
Hungarian pickled cabbage (kraut) and spicy kimchi 🌶 🫑

The view from the bedroom window this morning. Need to get rid of the screen to eliminate all the tiny squares! More snow on the way...

My favorite place 😊

😂😂😂

Milk Jug Greenhouse Hey there! Follow us along as Dr. Kim shows you how to turn plastic jugs into little mini greenhouses. Please subscribe if you like this video!! Thanks!

Looking down the top of the water jug at my little tomatoes. I just filled them halfway with potting soil, added seeds and sat them outside:) By spring they will be huge and can be transplanted to the food forest. 🍅 🍅 🍅

Hydroponic tomatoes about to be in full bloom 🌞

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