The Language of Plants Series- The Pungent, Spicy & Aromatic Box
"In most cases we can take aromatics back down to having a high volatile oil content or to containing resins, but again they’re viscerally discernible. If you want to know whether an herb is aromatic, you don’t look it up in a book. You crush it up and smell it. You open a jar and smell it." ~jim mcdonald
How many times throughout human history has someone plucked a leaf from a plant, crushed it up and brought it to their nose to inhale the scent there? How many olfactory nerves have been stimulated through the ages by aromatic chemical messages from the plants? In our modern world there are countless actions we perform on a daily basis that simply did not exist for our ancestors, but the act of smelling plants is truly ancient. I like to think about these things when the pungent odour of crushed garlic hits me, or my nose burns from horseradish, or the spicy warmth of rosemary refreshes me when I am tired. How many other noses have smelled the same smells? How many ancient healers have had their mouths fill with a botanical perfume and understood how to apply its therapeutic actions?
Aromatic herbs are often rich in volatile oils or oleoresins, while more pungent herbs like garlic and horseradish get their odour from a chemical reaction due to the release of enzymes. These chemical constituents can have profound physiological effects in our bodies from warming our extremities, to decongesting our sinuses, to breaking a fever.
The last in the Language of Plants Series, October's box will explore the world of aromatic, pungent and spicy herbs including their warming, drying properties as well as some of the common actions associated with aromatics such as carminative, diaphoretic, expectorant, rubifacient, antispasmodic and antimicrobial.
Herbs you may meet include garlic, onion, horseradish, sage, thyme, oregano, New England aster, cottonwood, daisy, crampbark and/or lobelia. Products in your box could include Fire Cider, garlic honey, New England aster oxymel, pain relieving liniment, antispasmodic tincture, and a warming herbal tea.
"Our nervous and endocrine systems, the biological nexus that carries information through our bodies, evolved responding to chemical signals from plants that arrived in the air our ancestors breathed, the water they drank, the brush of leaf and petal against skin." ~ Sean Donahue
How many times throughout human history has someone plucked a leaf from a plant, crushed it up and brought it to their nose to inhale the scent there? How many olfactory nerves have been stimulated through the ages by aromatic chemical messages from the plants? In our modern world there are countless actions we perform on a daily basis that simply did not exist for our ancestors, but the act of smelling plants is truly ancient. I like to think about these things when the pungent odour of crushed garlic hits me, or my nose burns from horseradish, or the spicy warmth of rosemary refreshes me when I am tired. How many other noses have smelled the same smells? How many ancient healers have had their mouths fill with a botanical perfume and understood how to apply its therapeutic actions?
Aromatic herbs are often rich in volatile oils or oleoresins, while more pungent herbs like garlic and horseradish get their odour from a chemical reaction due to the release of enzymes. These chemical constituents can have profound physiological effects in our bodies from warming our extremities, to decongesting our sinuses, to breaking a fever.
The last in the Language of Plants Series, October's box will explore the world of aromatic, pungent and spicy herbs including their warming, drying properties as well as some of the common actions associated with aromatics such as carminative, diaphoretic, expectorant, rubifacient, antispasmodic and antimicrobial.
Herbs you may meet include garlic, onion, horseradish, sage, thyme, oregano, New England aster, cottonwood, daisy, crampbark and/or lobelia. Products in your box could include Fire Cider, garlic honey, New England aster oxymel, pain relieving liniment, antispasmodic tincture, and a warming herbal tea.
"Our nervous and endocrine systems, the biological nexus that carries information through our bodies, evolved responding to chemical signals from plants that arrived in the air our ancestors breathed, the water they drank, the brush of leaf and petal against skin." ~ Sean Donahue
New England Aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
"As in ancient times, herbalists would do well to continue to rely upon their trained senses and experience to properly assess the therapeutic nature of plants, and among the different faculties there is perhaps no equal to the perception of taste. Used by every system of traditional medicine, taste figures prominently in the practice of herbal medicine, providing immediate insight into the properties and uses of medicinal plants.” ~Todd Caldecott, Ayurveda Herbalist
Sage, Salvia officinalis
Click image to enlarge
Boxes are offered with sliding scale prices. To learn more about sliding scale pricing, please read this post. But basically, in a nut shell (pun intended!), I invite you to pay one of the reduced fees, if paying the full price would cause you to be less secure in your ability to meet your food, health, housing or essential transport needs. To determine where you fall on the scale when choosing which price to pay, please refer to this infographic created by Alexis J. Cunningfolk (Click image to enlarge).
Please note: Shipping fees will change in January 2018
Please note: Shipping fees will change in January 2018
Large Box- 6 products
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Small Box- 4 products
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Please note that I can no longer ship to the US.
Payments can also be made by etransfer to [email protected]
or cheque made out to:
The Wild Garden, 2389 Pepin Ct. Ottawa, ON, K1B 4Z3
Additional shipping fees may apply outside of Ontario and Western Quebec.
Please contact me for more information: info at thewildgarden dot ca
About the Herbal Box
The Wild Garden Herbal Box is your opportunity to connect with and learn about the wild edible and healing plants of the Ottawa bioregion. Monthly boxes are delivered directly to your door. Each month’s box will explore a particular theme and comes with a detailed newsletter highlighting the products for the month and is full of information, historical lore, recipes and more! Herbal boxes make great gifts and can be shipped directly to the recipient.
Monthly subscribers also enjoy free access to any walks and select workshops offered by the Wild Garden, during the month(s) for which they are subscribed. (Material fees apply and pre-registration is required.)
With an herbal box you can:
Payments can also be made by etransfer to [email protected]
or cheque made out to:
The Wild Garden, 2389 Pepin Ct. Ottawa, ON, K1B 4Z3
Additional shipping fees may apply outside of Ontario and Western Quebec.
Please contact me for more information: info at thewildgarden dot ca
About the Herbal Box
The Wild Garden Herbal Box is your opportunity to connect with and learn about the wild edible and healing plants of the Ottawa bioregion. Monthly boxes are delivered directly to your door. Each month’s box will explore a particular theme and comes with a detailed newsletter highlighting the products for the month and is full of information, historical lore, recipes and more! Herbal boxes make great gifts and can be shipped directly to the recipient.
Monthly subscribers also enjoy free access to any walks and select workshops offered by the Wild Garden, during the month(s) for which they are subscribed. (Material fees apply and pre-registration is required.)
With an herbal box you can:
- build your own home apothecary of healing plants and discover traditional ways of supporting wellness
- support local, small-scale, organic permaculture
- incorporate more nutrient dense wild foods into your diet
- enjoy organically grown and ethically wild gathered foods and herbs delivered directly to your door (all products are made from herbs that I grow and gather myself on the Just Food Food Farm.)
- nourish yourself and your family with local, seasonal products handcrafted with love in small batches
- learn about the wild plants growing in the greater Ottawa bioregion
- loose-leaf tea blend
- herb infused honey
- herb infused vinegar
- herbal syrup or elixir
- wild herb seasoning blend, dried culinary herbs
- wild food preserve (jam, jelly, fruit leather…)
- herbal liqueur
- tincture
- herbal salve
- body oil, body butter or lotion bar
- herbal scrub or bath salt
- loose incense and smudges