November's Meetup

For this month the plan is to meet and work on three simple, fun skills: Herbal Tinctures, Herbal Salves, and Coiled Pine Needle Baskets. You all asked for something "crafty" that would be appropriate for holiday gift giving and this is what we thought would be the most fun and easy to share with a lot of people.

First will be making Oregon Grape tincture. This stuff is great as a bitter tonic for digestive problems and works both topically and internally as an antibacterial to heal infections. We have planned so that hopefully everyone will be able to take some home with them. In addition to learning some basic principles of herbal tincturing we will be able to get to know the Oregon Grape plant itself so that we can be more connected to our own bioregion.

Second we will be making an Herbal Salve with Yarrow and Plantain. These herbs are two of the finest herbs for first aid that grow in our bioregion because they are both effective and extremely common. We will make a simple salve that can be used on bruises, and abrasions to disinfect and speed healing. Because they also grow around our house we will take a look at how to identify them in the wild and how they fit into the ecology around them.


Finally, we will also be creating coiled pine needle baskets. These baskets are deceptively easy to make and are a lot of fun too. You can make anything from a small coaster to a large fruit basket this way. These also make excellent gifts and your friends will be really impressed that you could make such an attractive basket.

The Details:

When: Sun Nov 30th 10:00 AM

Where: Our house 84779 McBeth Rd.

What to bring: Bring yourself and invite a friend. You don't need to bring any supplies, we have everything although we are asking for a small donation (maybe less than $10.00) to help cover the cost of materials.





P.S.
For more info on plantain and yarrow see out posts from last spring outlining the uses of these two herbs.