herbal traditions

A New Leaf

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You may have noticed that I have recently changed the name of this website. I needed a new name to represent more of what I want to share right now, so Blossom Herbs has now become Blossom Roots. The focus will remain on the traditional uses of herbs, natural foods and products, and sustainable food systems. Replacing the word ‘herbs’ with ‘roots’ better represents my perspective and reason for showing up here right now. Herbs are still the main vehicle for exploring our shared humanity and evolution with the plants and peoples of this planet, but it’s the shared humanity and evolution themselves that motivate me to write and create videos and classes. Like herbs, I’m interested in balance, and right now our world is mightily imbalanced in a way where nature is forgotten, traditional knowledge is ignored, and people are estranged from one another both in global contexts as well as in personal lives. We are social creatures and our shared humanity as earthlings born of this lush, fragrant, magical planet is being, purposefully or not, shredded into sides, algorithms, deception, and manipulation. Perhaps counterintuitively, we can take back our autonomy by leaning into communities, creating connections that foster authenticity, feedback, and hopefully, shared food. We cannot move backwards in time but we can bring the best of the past with us forward into the future, that is, unless we completely lose our connection to the past. We have choices, every single day, to choose between creating the world we want to live in and gift to the following generations, or choose merely to survive in a world that isn’t supportive to us or our values. We get to choose. What do you choose?

I choose beauty, authenticity, community, and eternal growth. I’m happy you are here.🌷🌿✨

Herbal Inhalant

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My considerate colleague just got back from a trip to Thailand, and she brought us all back these individual herbal inhalant mixtures which is just so unique. It reminds me of old-fashioned smelling salts, although I have no idea what was in those or how they were made, but this is an herbal blend intended to be inhaled when in need of a decongestant. It is incredibly strong, so I imagine it would certainly bring someone back from a fainting spell though or at least help revive them when they start to come to. The ingredients are camphor, menthol, borneol, eucalyptus oil, and, surprisingly, bergamot. 

As soon as I experienced this little treasure, I knew I had to make a version myself! Mine are not perfect, but I wanted to use what I had on hand, so this is what I did for my first go at it.  

DIY:  

I have had a blend called EMC for many, many years, and I believe it is a fragrance oil instead of pure essential oils, which I do not recommend, but since I had it, I wanted to go ahead and use it. 

EMC stands for eucalyptus, menthol, and camphor, which is a common blend not only for inhalants but also for topical pain relief. I used some dried herbs and containers that I already had on hand as well. The herbs are astragalus, because I wanted something woody, rose buds for their soft porousness, and star anise. 

I filled the containers with the herbs, then dropped about 10-15 drops of the EMC blend right on them, allowing the liquid to penetrate the woody astragalus and soft rose buds.

https://youtube.com/shorts/yL5X0txDQkE?feature=share

The star anise was more to add a bit of its own scent, especially since star anise is traditionally used for immune boosting and other health benefits around cold, flu, and digestive issues.  

The Kentucky tin had peppermints in it at one point, and I have always wanted to use the tin again for something else. Since I will be visiting my family again soon in KY, I thought this would be a suitable time to reuse the container.  

I love how every culture has their own herbal traditions, just as every culture has their own culinary customs. What are some herbal traditions from around the world that you particularly like or find especially unique? 🌿