Stephen Harrod Buhner- “Healing Lyme”
It is all about herbs, it seems, and plants. Buhner puts it this way. The microbes, folks like Lyme spirochetes, have been around for 15-20 million years. And plants predate them with a history of at least 700 million years on earth. Now we folks have only been at it for 300,000 years. Because of their maturity and wisdom, plants have had a little time to figure out how to take care of themselves against potential enemies. With a broad array of plant secondary metabolites, plants, and particularly herbs where compounds are more intense, become important allies for people seeking support from disease organisms like the borellia family. Recently I read “Healing Lyme” and walked away wondering why I hadn’t read Buhner 26 years ago because of the massive amount of information he has gathered and shared on plants in book form since 1996. If you or someone in your family has suffered or is suffering from Lyme this is a must read right now. I have always been an herb tinkerer, especially with family nutrition and healthcare, but I am now in it for real. Still poorly understood, Lyme is likely the cause of many mysterious modern maladies. Lyme disease is endemic and you can get it in the city too. And Buhner makes a good case that with this disease there is no real way out without intelligent use of plants in powdered, tinctured, homeopathic, teas, and supplemental forms. With pages upon pages of references and lists longer than your arm of protocols, he uses his knowledge of working with at least 25,000 Lyme sufferers to share real remedies to this sometimes devastating disease. But before the protocols chapter there is the wading through 6 chapters letting you know more than you ever want to know about how borellia infections enter the human body and their mode of action. I have gone down a Lyme rat hole and don’t plan to emerge until I can help Jack overcome his debilitating Lyme-caused arthritis. Wish us luck. And get the book, or any of his other 16 books. You will never take a plant for granted ever again.
Job Opening at MHOF
Yes, this is still open!
Many Hands Organic Farm is looking for a full-time farmer. We are a certified organic highly diverse family farm in Barre, MA raising vegetables (2 acres), large and small fruit (1 acre), pigs (8 seasonal), chickens for eggs (175) and meat (250-300), and turkeys (100-150). We focus heavily on carbon sequestering methods on our 55 acres of land and prioritize maximum nutrition and biodiversity and stacking of enterprises. We are no/low till. In Barre for now 40 years, we offer a lot of wisdom and perspective to aspiring farmers looking to gain agricultural understanding. You must be physically strong and have a positive and convivial attitude. Duties include animal, vegetable, fruit management, machine and hand work, carpentry, some chain sawing, sometimes leading volunteers, food preservation and making value added products – you name it, we do it. We start at $15/hour and will pay more depending on experience (and hustle) for 40 hours of work each week (Monday – Friday), with a rare need on weekends. Omnivorous meals (breakfast, lunch and morning snacks) are provided. We are looking to hire as early as February 1 and have work through the year, with fewer hours over the winter months. Apply to farm@mhof.net or call 978-355-2853. Check us out at www.mhof.net. Julie Rawson and Jack Kittredge
Never too early to join the CSA
I am sure it seems a long time away, but when you put some of your money down now, we can continue to pay our bills and you are assured a spot in our 22-26 weeks of outstanding produce – vegetables of all sorts, herbs and tree fruit. You can sign up here – https://mhof.net/community-supported-agriculture/ Thanks to the three folks who signed up this week!
Julie,
We enjoyed every week of our share so much. Inspired us to try new recipes and made it easier to eat healthy every week. We value your permaculture farm practices, were always satisfied with the high quality produce and are happy to support the farm. Looking forward to the spring!
-Lee and Andy Picard
June 7 prep for week 3 of the CSA, 2021
Working Shareholders
Thinking about coming out to the farm to volunteer? If you like cold weather, starting with us in the winter can be fun. We are hosting working shareholders on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 8-12, with breakfast and lunch included. Your pay also includes a dozen eggs. Coming on an irregular basis in winter is quite fine. We are always involved in a variety of adventures, and there is a lot of soup stock, lard, soap and salve making besides our outside work. Presently we are putting up hoop houses and will soon move to fruit tree pruning. Once we get into CSA season, working shareholders will receive a large share in exchange for their labors.
New opportunity this year – In an attempt to be more fiscally sustainable, we have cut back on our paid staffing. One of the areas where this will impact us is in our daily early morning foliar feeding with a 3 ½ gallon gasoline powered back pack mister. We could use up to two working shareholders who would love to arrive here around 6:15 to spray a field or orchard with our nutritional mix (all certified organic and non-toxic). The job will conclude between 7 and 7:15 with breakfast at the end. Barter pay to be determined. You need a strong back, and it would be helpful if you have some skill in operating and sometimes fixing small gasoline engines if it clogs up or fails to start on your day.
When I mentioned your name to Moira Donell and Ari Kurtz, my intuition was confirmed, as Moira said that you are “the best and that if I could volunteer with you even for a short time I would learn amazing things.” Liz Williams
Like Kerri, you can build muscle mass on the farm!
Circle of Song starting up February 3 – this Thursday
Yes, you have another chance to join our compilation of delightful and high energy singers for our spring season. We are a SATB chorus that knows no bounds when it comes to music selection. Supported by the talented Cailan McClure on piano, we can go that much further in our quest to perform beautiful and varied music. We sing every Thursday night at the Barre Town Hall from 7 – 8:30 pm starting on February 3. We will have our spring concert on the week end of Saturday and Sunday, May 14 and 15 (date to be determined). Call or email me to find out more or to sign up – Julie@mhof.net; 978-257-1192
Musical Line up for this spring – Silver Rain, Three Nocturnes –Lullaby, Ballade to the Moon, Star Sonnet, Can’t Buy Me Love, Last Words of David, Sounds of Silence , Alma Llanera, Locus Iste, Down by the Riverside, Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears, Celtic Blessing – Wanting to improve your Spanish skills? Check out Alma Llanera – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvSOggjekFU Pease note that we are not quite as big as that group, but equally as spirited.
Health Topics of Interest
Reading the Color Code of Foods – source Ellen Kittredge
This information below applies most specifically to fruits and veggies (higher nutrient content when eaten raw), though raw nuts, seeds and oils also contain anti-oxidants.
White Foods – These foods are beneficial to the lungs, supportive of maintaining healthy cholesterol levels, and are overall heart-healthy.
Red Foods – These foods are heart strengthening, blood building, and support healthy cellular renewal. Many of these food contain a lot of cancer-preventive nutrients.
Orange Foods – These foods are highly anti-inflammatory, offer benefits to skin and eye health, and are immune-boosting.
Yellow Foods – These foods are tissue building and help with tissue repair and are generally high in Vitamin C.
Green Foods – These foods are the best detoxifiers and liver cleansers, and are very cancer-preventive as a whole.
Blue Foods – These foods nourish stem cells and bone marrow. Many of these foods (along with some of the purple ones below) are also supportive of healthy urinary function.
Purple Foods – These foods offer protective benefits to the nervous system, both the central nervous system and the gut nervous system. They support healthy circulation and for this reason can help prevent blood clots.
Brown Foods – These foods specifically nourish the intestines and the digestive tract, and help with peristalsis.
Black Foods – These foods promote longevity, contain nutrients that enhance life force essence, and help with supporting healthy bone marrow, kidneys and adrenals.
Buhner Arthritis Tea
Mix together 1 lb. each of dried, cut and sifted
- Nettles
- Horsetail
- Dandelion
- Peppermint
- Celery seed
- Turmeric
- Devil’s claw
- Meadowsweet
Mix this well. Each night measure out one cup of the herb mix and place in ½ gallon of boiling hot water. Take off the heat and let it steep overnight. Drink 3-4 cups of the tea the next day.
Agricultural Education of Note this Week
Advancing EcoAgriculture Podcasts
Pigweed was his teacher.
“Mother Nature will humble you at every corner you take.” Rick talks about moving to “plan w” and is grateful that there is the entire alphabet of capital letters for each new thing he tries.
I love listening to other farmers talk about their trials and tribulations and all of their humble leadership.
Farm store hours
M-F – 12-1 pm
Tuesday 5-7
Friday 5-7
Always call ahead to be sure of supply.
Available this week
- Free range organic eggs at $8/dozen – we newly added free choice kelp to their now full farm free range lifestyle.
- holy basil, burdock, in 2 ounce bottles – $12
- frozen certified organic applesauce – just the apples cooked down in water – $7/quart
- 2 ounce jars of comfrey salve – $10 each
- 2 ounce jars of hemp salve – $10 each
- 2 ounce jars of calendula salve – $10 each
- garlic powder – $10/2 ounce – we have about 12 bottles of this, and then no more until next late fall – order now
- frozen pork stock – $7.50/quart
- frozen chicken stock – $7.50/quart
- frozen pork cuts –regular ribs, ground pork and roasts – $12/lb.
- ham and bacon – $18/lb.
Julie
