In our last post, we talked about the importance of being well informed when you source herbs and herbal products.
In case you think we were overstating the need for this, we just discovered the results of an investigation published by the Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York.
They took at at look at the actual contents of “herbal supplements” sold in Wal-Mart, Target … Read more
Many sources advocate herbs for healing and cooking, and they’re right – but only half right. There’s another very important part of the equation.
Where you get your herbs and how you store them are of maximum importance.
Where should you buy your herbs?
Because the effectiveness of herbs degrades significantly after one year, supermarkets – including most health food stores – are not a … Read more
Fascinating talk by Wade Davis on the varieties of human experience, the value of the existence of these diverse worlds views and the serious and ongoing threat to indigenous people around the world.
At the 11:23 point Davis explains how it is that forest dwellers make profound botanical discoveries that elude the most advanced western science.
– Ken McCarthy
PlantWisdom.org
Photographer Robert Llewellyn is the author of three books: “Seeing Trees”, “Seeing Flowers”, and “Seeing Seeds.”
“When I first looked at trees — really looked at them — it was like meeting another civilization,”
“Picking up a camera changes how I see things. The plant world, previously hiding in plain sight, now reveals itself as another civilization living among us. They have a plan. I’ll never see them the same … Read more
– Ken McCarthy
PlantWisdom.org
In the previous post, we introduced Richard Evans Schultes though a short video and excerpts of an interview conducted with him later in his life.
In this video, his student and protege Wade Davis goes much deeper into Schultes’ story.
Absolutely fascinating and excellent preparation for seeing the new movie “Abrazo de la Serpiente” (Embrace of the Serpent) – which I’ve now seen three times.
If this account of Schultes’s … Read more
Richard Evans Schultes (1915-2001) was probably the greatest explorer of the Amazon, and regarded among anthropologists and seekers alike as the “father of ethnobotany.”
Taking what was meant to be a short leave from Harvard in 1941, he surveyed the Amazon basin almost continuously for twelve years, during which time he lived among two dozen different Indian tribes, mapped rivers, secretly sought sources of rubber for the US government during … Read more
Baba Rahsan Abdul Hakim
Baba Rahsan Abdul Hakim grew up in Jamaica where his training in plants began when he was a small child at the hands of his grandmother, aunt and mother.
His grandfather, Charles Williams, was an important horticulturist and agriculturist who introduced a number of useful plants to Jamaica. He was the uncredited developer of the Hope Garden, the largest botanical garden in the Caribbean.
As an … Read more
Do trees talk to each other?
Yes they do and their communication is mediated by fungi beneath the surface of the ground.
This communication enables trees and other plants to share resources, thereby helping the whole forest to flourish.
Here’s a quick overview of the key principles from Dr. Suzanne Simard.
She’s Professor of Forest Ecology in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences at the University of British Columbia.… Read more
If you don’t know Jeremy Narby, you should.
He’s a “diplomat between two systems of knowledge.”
Narby as born in Montreal in 1959 and grew up in Canada and Switzerland.
He studied history at the University of Canterbury and received a doctorate in anthropology from Stanford University.
Narby spent several years living with the Ashaninca in the Peruvian Amazon cataloging their understanding and use of the plants in their forest … Read more
