Yum? Well, maybe not....

If you were to look in my livestock medicine drawer, you probably wouldn't find any 'Safeguard' dewormer in there; or any 'Ivermectin' for that matter. A few years back (last time I had dairy goats), I stopped using store-bought dewormers. Tired of the havoc they were playing on my animals, annoyed with withdrawal times, and frustrated that they really didn't work, I began using an herbal dewormer.

The difference is amazing! A test was done once on 29 goats (can't remember who did the test, right now) divided into two groups including milkers, wethers, dry does and bucks. The types of parasites that were being observed were thread worms, tapeworms and lung worms.

After treating one group with an herbal dewormer, and the second group with a chemical dewormer the following results were found:

1. Thread worms and tapeworms were found in 0% of the herbal test group, but 29% to 33% in the chemical group.

2. Lung worms were found in 33% of the herbal group, and 50% in the chemical group.

I have been really happy using my herbal dewormer; and so have my goats!! There is no withdrawal time, I can continue drinking the milk, and the herbs are overall very beneficial to my animals. But enough talk! Here's the recipe that many people besides myself have used and received good results from....

1 cup mustard seed powder

2 cups Thyme leaf

2 cups Wormwood leaf*

1 cup black walnut hull (powder, or just finely crushed)*

2 cups sage leaf

1 cup garlic*

2 cups Rosemary leaf

1/2 cup cloves

1 cup psyllium seed powder

2 cups Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.)*

The most crucial ingredients are marked by an asterisk (*).

My favorite place to buy herbs from would have to be from here.

Now! Directions! :)

Step #1: gather ingredients. Okay, that's obvious, but still...

I made a new batch of dewormer today, and ended up doing a simplified version of the above recipe. All I did was the black walnut hull, mustard seed, garlic and wormwood. But it still works very effectively!

Step #2: Dump all ingredients into a bowl and enjoy the nice layered look that results. ;)



Step #3: Mix it all up.

Step #4: put it into a container and then take it to the barn, or wherever you store your livestock medicine.


Step #5: Sprinkle this mixture onto their feed morning and evening for 7 days straight. A mature sheep, goat or alpaca gets 1 tablespoon per feeding; a mature pony, or llama, gets 1/4 cup per feeding, and a mature horse, or cow, recieves 3/4 cup per feeding. I usually do about 1/3 of the adult dosage for young animals, but I would suggest using your best judgment. you can also use this dewormer for dogs, rabbits... Really any animal. With dogs I can't really give a set amount, as they vary so much, but with rabbits just a pinch twice a day will do!

One more note:

Black walnut hulls can contain a fungus which is deadly to horses, so horse owners should probably omit this one ingredient if making and using. It should be noted that black walnut does not always contain this fungus. It just depends, and there is no good way to tell if it does or doesn't. Everything else in the recipe is perfectly safe for horses. and the dangers of the fungus apply ONLY to horses. The rest of the recipe is perfectly safe for other animals.

Are you asleep yet? I could do another post about all the latin names of herbs if you're not bored enough yet! ;D

~Caitlyn

A forest Gem.....

Wild Trilliums are so lovely.....

The Green Band-aid

My love for herbs has definitely increased since Saturday.

On Saturday morning, I woke up with a terrrible pain in my left wrist. I guess I must have done something to it in the night because it hurt a lot and was hot to the touch.

But luckily we had the right herbs around. :)

I quickly made a hot poultice of Plantain, Comfrey and Slippery Elm and with Emily's help bound it snugly to my wrist. It was amazing, there was instant relief from the pain and after I took it off (I left it on for 45 minutes) my wrist felt 100% better!

Why those herbs, you may ask?

Plantain gives relief from pain, burns, stings, bites etc. Comfrey is a deep healer, my wrist never completely healed from when I broke it so the comfrey helped mend tissues and the slippery Elm was to give added relief. :)

Today, I accidentally touched a very hot griddle which caused an immediate blister and of course, lots of pain. I kept an ice pack on the burn but the relif was only temporary. So I went outside (with the ice pack with me!) and picked a couple Plantain leaves. Mom gave me a little coffee grinder for my herbs, so all I had to do was plop the leaves in there and grind it to a pulp. I put my "green band-aid" on and "aaaah", once again, instant relief.

It is so amazing how the Lord created such wonderful "weeds" to grow so abundantly in our backyards. Plantain grows all over North America and loves poor soils (although it does grow well in good soils too). Here is a picture of Broadleaf Plantain. It's latin name is Plantago major. It is in the Plantaginacaea family.

The plant itself is very low growing and can be easy to miss. The leaves are broad and oval shaped with deep ridges on the back side of the leaf.

~Caitlyn

Of Friends and Flowers

Saturday, July 11th, was Yamhill County's annual Lavender Festival. During this time, all the local lavender farms open up to the public, selling their goods and showing off their beautiful lavender. This year, Emily and I went along with two good friends of ours, as mom was not able to come with us. :( It was a day filled with bliss (and lavender!) and I am so thankful to have a photographer for a sister! Because now I can share with my readers what our day looked like....


Friends...



Red Ridge Farms was our first stop. I highly recommend this place!! Everything was beautiful and they have picnicking areas so you can eat amongst the flowers.

So this isn't lavender, but it has the colors at least! ;D

We walked through some lovely knot gardens that day...

I loved this sign!

Lavandula angustifolia....

This year I am having my senior pictures taken... I'm thinking on having them done in a lavender field. What do you think?

A view at Red Ridge Farms...

A wheat and Lavender wreath.

Breathtaking...

Echinacea Purpurea. Purple Coneflower. (fourth favorite herb!)

More Wheat and Lavender. Isn't it pretty?

Three maidens wending their way through a sun dappled path....

Only to find themselves confronted by three different paths to take....

Gros Bleu Lavender next to French Field White Lavender.

A lavender field with a wheat field right behind it! Can life get any better than that?

One of the farms we visited had alpacas. They were soooo cute! They had all been recently shorn, so they looked a little comical.

I miss my alpacas...

Lavender and wheat. Wheat and Lavender. A beautiful combination.

Art...

A young rose in all its blushing glory...

Art...

More art...

It was a lovely day with our friends and I can't wait until they do it again next year! Maybe next year mom can come with us.... I believe that would make everything perfect. :)

~Caitlyn

A sunbeam in plant form

I love Sunflowers, they're so cheerful looking! Whenever I see one, I always smile back. ;)

~Caitlyn

You know you're an herb fanatic when....

. The ceiling in various rooms and closets have holes all over them from hanging so many herbs to dry.

. Your family officially dubs your bedroom closet the "flower graveyard".

. It no longer surprises your family when you come careening into the house with a pathetic looking leafy twig and you are jumping up and down in excitement over your find.

. Nor are they surprised when they open their own closets and find strange looking plants hanging upsidedown from the ceiling.

. It's been said that you sometimes say Latin herb names in your sleep. (*note* I have yet to do this one ;D)

. You and your family are driving on the highway and you suddenly shout "Did you see that!?" Your family turns around, looking for something spectacular. Then you continue to say that you just saw a lovely Canadian Thistle plant in the ditch.

. You drive by a very large and important building often but never actually notice the building. You're too busy admiring the beautiful Lady's Mantle plant in the front and wondering where they got it.

. Your sewing room is beginning to resemble a plant nursery more than a sewing room.

. After church is over you find yourself talking with a friend about magnesium deficiencies in the soil and the various species of pigweed around your property.

. You name your favorite pansy plant. (I admit to this one! Her name is Stella.)

. You are constantly amazed at how perfectly the Lord created everything.


I admit that I can relate to almost every single one of these. Especially the last one....

~Caitlyn

I need help from my readers!

Something is wrong with two of our lavender plants and I can't find anything anywhere about what to do. within the week, the blossoms on both plants have drooped and then withered away. The plants have been looking amazing all spring, and then, boom!, they began to "ker-flop". ;)


This is a not-good-at-all picture of what the lavender looks like:


I'm sure you can tell by the poor quality of the picture, that I took it and not Emily. :-/

One plant is a four year old 'English', and the other is a one year old 'Provence'. They are no where near each other and none of our other lavender plants that are near them look droopy (yet).

Any suggestions or ideas?

~Caitlyn

The latest addition to the herb garden

I am sooo excited! Look what I found at Wilco today!

HollyHock seeds!

I've always liked these flowers but this variety is, by far, the prettiest I've ever seen. These ones are called 'Peaches 'N' Dreams' and rightly so! They are a beautiful peach color all over and tinged with the faintest blushing rose shade be'twixt their fluffy petals..... ahhh, I can't wait until they bloom... :)

And lucky for me, they are an extremely useful herb so they will be right at home in my garden. :D

~Caitlyn

I am gone into the fields....

Yep, that's the way life has been lately for me. I've been waiting and waiting for leaves to unfurl, flowers to bloom and fruits to ripen so that I can get busy harvesting, drying, preparing and storing my herbs for the year. It's been pretty overwhelming of the late; but I'm in almost constant bliss. :D

Between my chores in the house, barn chores, working in the gardens and doing other things of the sort I haven't really had time to do any blogging. But I made time today!!

So far I've got some hawthorn leaves drying, some willow bark, alder bark, rosemary, shepherd's purse, dandelion root and some Scotch broom blossoms. I'm still working on getting everything else.

All of our Nootka Roses have blossomed now; Hurray! So hopefully within the week I can begin making some rose water (yes, the exact same stuff that you pay who knows how much for at the store).

And my herb garden is officially in and sprouting! I don't have very much this year as I wasn't planning for a big garden. In all I think I have: Fennel, Lemon Balm, Catnip, Forget- me- nots, Chamomile, MarshMallow, Meadowsweet, thyme, basil, cilantro.... oooh, there are a few more things, I just can't think of what they are right now. I am also working on transplanting some herbs into the garden: Mullein, Plantain, Foxglove (just for looks!), FringeCups, Nettles.... Well, you get the point, there's a lot. ;D

Hmmm, what else has been going on.... Oh, beware to whomever may dare come onto our property for the next couple of weeks. Why you ask?

Our CottonWood tree has gone to seed.

And it is not called a "Cotton" wood tree for nothing. It might as well be snowing, for that's what it looks like outside! The seeds are encased in small fluffy bits of cotton that gets everywhere. Not fun. I wonder if you could spin it somehow..... ;)

Well, I'll end my rambling here; maybe I will think of something else to blog about later that doesn't involve so much, um, rambling. :)

~Caitlyn

I leave this notice upon my door for every passing visitor:
I am gone into the fields to see what this sweet hour yields....

A Sad Happening

Alas and Alack, my most favorite book finally broke into pieces.



This one's title was 'The Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable' by my favorite author Juliette De Bairacli Levi. Juliette is a famous herbalist who has traveled all over the world collecting herbal wisdom from the gypsies and peasants.

Her books have no-nonsense knowledge about herbs, their uses and how to treat humans and animals with them. I've had this particular book for about four years now, and just one look at it could tell you that it was a favorite. Numerous pages were dog eared, the cover was curled in half, some of the pages were falling out, and then finally, it split straight down the spine.

For a long time I kept it in my hope chest where it would be safe from harm, but now I'm working on ripping all the pages out, punching holes in them and putting them in a small three ringed binder. Slow work, but it will be worth it.

~Caitlyn

Spring

The first herald of spring's coming......

A walk through the woods

The weather was beautiful today, crisp and cool with the sun shining brilliantly. So I took full advantage of it by doing my daily herb collecting in the 98 acres. Naturally, since I am one- handed, I had to bring somebody along to carry all of my stuff (okay, so maybe just a little basket). My victim this time was poor, unsuspecting Emily. ;)

She got over it once she remembered her camera though. :rolls eyes:

We took our time while hiking. We stopped once to look for the spot where I fell, and to look at one of the beaver dams, oh, and to smell the wild spearmint.

The blackberries are dying now. But the leaves turn a stunning scarlet color right before they drop off.

This is Teasel. It doesn't have very many medicinal uses but it is great for carding wool and using for arrangements.

Here's me, coming back from collecting a bit of spearmint.

Deer prints in the mud. They were sniffing around our barn early this morning. :)

And, of course, Octavia had to accompany us. Whenever We go up to the 98 acres, one of the cats follow us. What more does one need on a hiking trip? A sister, a camera, a pocket knife, a basket of herbs and a cat! Oh yeah, the chickens started following us up too; but mom and the younger ones herded them back. :D

All-in-all it was an enjoyable trip. And I have some Mullein leaves and some Alder bark drying for later use. :)

I have given you every herb...

And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so.

Genesis 1:29-30





I love reading this verse in Genesis. I also love all the other verses about herbs in the Bible. :) For some reason, herbs have always fascinated me. For a few months I have been mulling over the thought of raising my rabbits naturally. Meaning no store bought pellets or medicines or anything. When the first idea came to me I laughed at myself. "feed my rabbits something besides pellets? They would starve on grain!" But the idea continued to grow. I'm naturally curious and began to really think about this. "What did they do in the olden days? How long have pellets been around? Would whole grains really work?" I did some research and the answers I found are fantastic!



#1 Pellets were introduced right after World War II. Before that Just grains were used.

"Oh, so pellets really haven't been around that long." :knits brow and nods slowly:



#2 Rabbits only need 18% fiber, 16% protein, 3% fat and a low percentage of energy. Whole barley and whole oats together with 3rd cutting Alfalfa provides this perfectly.

"Hmmm.. This is looking good!" :begins to grin:



#3 Rabbits will not only just live on grain, hay and added herbs, they will flourish! Rabbits have proved to be healthier, have better litters, do better at shows and live longer on an all natural diet!

"Wow!"



I've been skulking around some rabbit websites that talk about doing this and have been reading everything I can get my hands on, trying to learn more. I have one very well loved and used book called "Herbal handbook for farm and stable" that has a permanent home next to my bed (I'm constantly reading it) It's by 'Juliette de Bairacli Levy' who is of Turkish descent but grew up in England. She is an herbalist who has treated animals all over the world. Juliette writes very detailed and gives directions to treat animal such as dogs, chickens, sheep, goats, cows, horses and bees with only herbs. I cannot say enough about this book and highly encourage any animal owner to buy it (look on Amazon.com).




To get back to the subject, She provided a lot of extremely useful info that has helped me make up my mind to switch to natural stuff for my rabbits. Another thing that helped was feed prices. Nowadays it costs $16.00 for 50 lbs. of medicated pellets, while it only costs $17.00 for 100 lbs. of organic whole grains!

So I now have 50 pounds of whole, organic barley in the barn and my oats are coming in a few days. Hurray!