Sweet Roots Farm and Apothecary

08/08/2024

WILD HORSE CONNECTION CALL TO ACTION concerning the trapped/removed Virginia Range wild horses.

CALL THE NDA 775-353-3608
Let them know politely that you want the Sunnyhills area wild horses in South Reno relocated to another part of the Virginia Range in the cooperative spirit of our range management agreement.

ACTION to do now!
Call the Nevada Governor 775-684-5670
Tell them the same thing!

Go on the website gov.nv.gov
Constitute Services
Contact the Governor
Share My Thoughts
Hit Submit
This established a permanent record!

We are having a rally tomorrow morning, 8/8 at 9:30am at the capitol building in Carson City. Please join us and voice your concern about these horses!

22/06/2024

Beautiful!

SUNNY LEMON TART: MIDSUMMER FLORAL REVERIE
Infused with summer solstice flowers this super easy tart only takes a few hours from harvest to stovetop to tabletop. This means blossoms can be gathered and consumed on the same day - vitally important for capturing summer solstice magic! On this day flowers (nature's seductive agents of reproduction) are brimming with solar energy. That means they not only enhance our energy and vitality but possess double their beautifying, healing, and magical powers. The recipe is up on the Gather Victoria website now. https://gathervictoria.com/2024/06/19/sunny-lemon-tart-midsummer-floral-reverie/

11/06/2024

Eat your greens 💚

11/06/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/YEge9SnTfWXK5aNL/?mibextid=WC7FNe

MUNG BEANS.

✨A superfood sprinkle ✨

▶Light and easy to digest, full of vital minerals including magnesium, zinc, copper and sodium.
Extremely low (GI) glycaemic index these sprouted seeds provide a positive alkalising effect on the body.

▶Use warm water to soak your seeds, soak seeds for 12 hours and make sure your seeds are completely submerged in water.
Strain and rinse your seeds the next day, place the drained seeds in the dark to sprout. Mung Beans are best sprouted for 5 days, you want very long tails. You can add sprouted seeds into your normal feed as an extra boost add as much or as little as you like.

▶More information on my B L O G at www.equineherbalist.ie

▶for the ultimate sprouting guide buy my e-book
S E E D S T O F E E D available at www.equineherbalist.ie

▶Mung Beans must be sprouted-never feed unsprouted seeds.

▶These are an ideal snack for both equines and humans.

28/11/2023

It’s y’all we humbly ask for your support today in making a positive impact in the lives of our rescued senior and special needs mustangs.
With your help we are able to continue to provide a healing space and top notch care for this very special herd of mustangs. ♥️
This year we’d like to raise $1000 for each herd member, each one of these horses comes with a special set of needs, whether it’s special feed and extra meals, special supplements, medication, hoofcare, veterinary visits, it adds up fast especially for our seniors!

Peggy O ~ senior
Luna ~ Senior
Maple ~ filly, Luna’s daughter
Freya ~ trauma survivor
Willow ~ Senior
Fee ~ reservation mustang c**t
Cedar~ special needs reservation mustang
Kix ~ senior
Jasper ~ special needs
and our very special Quarter Horse ~ Jetta ~ senior

Places to donate to our herd ~

PayPal.me/ParadiseWaits

Venmo:

Mailing address: DM for info

All donations are tax deductible 🙏🏽

11/05/2023

Lilacs are bursting into bloom - and their fragrance is utterly intoxicating.
Want recipes? I suggest browsing these from the herbalists at Roots & Crowns: https://www.rootsandcrowns.com/blogs/the-happenings
Roots & Crowns is a queer-owned small-batch apothecary based in Portland, Oregon. Their offerings include Botanical Skin-care, Natural Perfume, Herbal Remedies, & Self Care items. All the products are formulated with potent wild-or-organic elements that are sourced mindfully and ethically—supporting their fundamental commitment to lasting relationships.
Photo by Roots & Crowns

11/05/2023

With abundance of rose hips I. This area everyone should try this!

11/05/2023

We had a couple more hoofcare donations coming in so we didn’t do the raffle but we will today 🦄 thank you again to everyone that donated! 🙏🏽 This is a wonderful way to help our herd and it really helps us out! We spend approximately $3500 a year on hoofcare so every single donation is such a blessing!
These three were meant to be ♥️ Kix, Jasper, Fee, amigos!

11/05/2023

Wow!

Caramel Magnolia Bundt Cake by the inimitable The Wondersmith 🌸 If you enjoy wild foods with a fantastical flair, you'll want to read every recipe on her blog!
She describes the flavor of these magnolia petals as "a floral ginger mixed with a bit of black pepper and a resinous piney aftertaste." Ever tried them?
And the cake itself sounds like a dream:
"This gluten and dairy-free cake is soft and moist, and the uniquely delicious flavor of magnolias really comes through! The other secret ingredient is mellow miso paste, which adds just a bit of umami to the batter. Then the cake is coated in a delicious salted caramel glaze and topped with giant candied magnolia petals for even more magnificent flavor! And as magnificent as this cake looks, it’s actually very simple. The batter takes just moments to mix up, and the petals are quickly candied while it bakes."
You can find the recipe here:
https://misswondersmith.com/blog/2021-magnoliacake 💗
I recently published my own herbal bundt cake recipe (Lavender Lemon) in my book, The Healing Garden: Cultivating and Handcrafting Herbal Remedies. Order a copy wherever books are sold!
📷 The Wondersmith

03/05/2023

Sweet rescue herd 🙏🏽

Grazin’ ~ Peggy O has her grazing muzzle on and is happy to be out with the herd. Jasper is still learning about Peggy O’s boundaries 😅 I’ve only heard one squeal so far today, that’s a huge improvement! Kix learned after one long hour to steer clear of Peggy O and if you’re wondering, she is completely kind to all the youngsters. ♥️

03/05/2023

Beltane

As we dance in the meadow, flowers wreathed around our heads, drumbeats in our ears, we sense the trembling web, many fine threads entwined with yours and mine. We send out love to the threatened biodiversity of our beloved earth, the waning butterflies, and the amphibians warning us through thin skins to change our ways. Now is not the time for apathy or regret, not the time for keening in sorrow. It is time for swift feet and gentle fingers. Time for cracked open hearts and wild tears. Time for delight and determination to twine back together, eyes open to where we are and what can still be done.

We begin—like the crow daring to peck away at what confines us, cracking out of the shell, persistent in our knowing. We begin like the snake, feeling the tightness that no longer suits us, stretching beyond our edges until we shed our shape and become reborn. We begin with a smile, with tears, with blood and possibilities, we begin by listening to the whispers of our inherent capacity to rise.

Molly Remer © Mother Tongue Ink 2022


ART: Michif Horse Women © Leah Marie Dorion 2021

26/01/2023

There’s just something about these two. The bond between horses in the wild as well as domesticated horses is undeniable, it’s a shame humans don’t honor this bond more than we do and I can’t say that I truly understood this until I started rescuing horses, until Maple was born, or until I experienced the deep connection Traveler and Luna made during their six hour trailer ride from the kill pen. I had experienced deeply bonded horses, what some people refer to as “herd bound” a sort of negative label to give a horse that really means bonded with a herd mate. In modern times we ween em early, saddle em at two and start riding shortly after, many of todays horses are kept in box stalls most of their lives, all of these things creating all kinds of future issues for the horse. I would love to see modern horse keeping change, I would love to hear more vets say, give them room to move, don’t ween them so early, don’t ride them till they’ve finished growing, they’re not herd bound, they’re bonded.

26/01/2023

We might have to try this one 💚

An Imbolc-inspired nettle and poppy seed cake with lavender and rosemary-infused mascarpone frosting, baked up by the kitchen queens at Gather.
If you'd like the recipe, plus other Imbolc-season inspirations, be sure to visit the Gather blog—written and photographed by Danielle Prohom Olson and Jennifer Aikman. It's one of my absolute favorite blogs on ancestral food, herbal wisdom, and magical cookery.
You can find the link here:
https://gathervictoria.com/2019/01/17/imbolc-lavender-rosemary-seed-cake
You can also connect with them in our online roll call: Our Favorite Herbal Blogs, Podcasts & YouTube Channels:
https://chestnutherbs.com/our-favorite-herbal-blogs-podcasts-and-youtube-channels
📷 by Gather

26/01/2023

And the light is growing brighter now ✨🌙

Obstacles are stepping stones
That guide us to our goals
Fences are filters that purify our souls ✨🌦

Sometimes it only takes a song to remind us we’re right on track.

Willow is warming up to Jasper/Jiggsy she was spotted sharing breakfast with our newest herd member.
Willow has endured two round ups, blm holding, adoption and relinquishment back to the BLM, she has also had a lot of babies. We were able to step up and keep her from going away to long term holding last March. Willow is very sweet but also very standoffish, Willow however craves connection and we learned recently that she had actually bonded with her one owner, unfortunately that same person chose not to keep her. I have been spending a lot of one on one time with her and she is responding, unfortunately when I halter her, lead hef and get her feet done she struggles with trust, I’m trying to communicate to her that it’s for her own good. 🙏🏽

26/01/2023

Dandelion ~ one of the most important healers, yet completely misunderstood plants.

Common Name: Dandelion

Botanical Name: Taraxacum spp.

Taste: Bitter, sweet

Energetics: Cool, dry

A nomad with deep roots, this plant travels far on the white wings of her seeds but also sends her taproot down far wherever she settles, fully engaging with the land wherever she is and provides us with an excellent example of presence, focus and a life fully lived. The bittersweet roots are grounding in nature, restoring the proper circulation of fluids in the body and nourishing the kidneys and heart in the process. Dandelion leaves and roots are very effective diuretics and especially helpful for those with a constitutional tendency towards high blood pressure, gout, bloating, feelings of excessive heat, a sense of too-tight skin, water retention and scanty urination.

The roots tend to be more bitter and diuretic in the spring and more sweet and starchy come autumn frost, teaching us the value of living by the seasons and that a plant’s medicine changes through the year. The bitter taste of both root and leaf can initially turn many people off, but this same unpleasant experience is part of Dandelion’s most important medicine. It increases the release of gastric juices throughout the digestive tract and improve digestion, especially if there’s symptoms of heat and acidic imbalances. The leaves make an excellent food-based digestive bitter and can be added to all manner of salads and cooked greens for their bitter bite and their high mineral content. They’re a great addition to pestos (as are the flowers), soups, pickled greens and even kraut! The roasted roots make a bittersweet but pleasant and hearty brew, well accompanied by cinnamon, nutmeg and a splash of cream.

-- Kiva Rose

26/01/2023

I try to do a big yarrow harvest for the herd every year, it grows abundantly in the climate.

Links between obesity and laminitis
Higher levels of circulating inflammatory chemicals are thought to trigger endocrinopathic laminitis (links to arthritis and non-infectious respiratory disease).
Alteration of the speed and process of metabolism, circulating inflammatory chemicals TNF, IL1 & IL6 reduce the way insulin is absorbed into the muscles, liver and other tissues.
Circulating inflammatory chemicals lower adiponectin and increase leptin.
The insulin, leptin, and adiponectin signalling pathways are known to share certain downstream molecules like phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (PKB), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and AMPactivated protein kinase (AMPK) (23).
Luckily there are plant chemicals (22-hydroxyecdysterone) that share these molecules and if provided in the diet will prevent them being used to signal for the over-production of leptin and insulin.
These same plant chemicals increase adiponectin production, adiponectin increases energy expenditure and fatty acid oxidation in the liver and muscles.
Nature has an abundant supply of 22 hydroxyecdysterone 2 acetate, the highest are within the Chenopodium family (wild and cultivated spinach and quinoa) yarrow, anise hissop, cow parsley, burdock and over 10,000 other plants, listed here https://ecdybase.org/.
Only small amounts of ecdysterones are needed to stimulate the metabolic processes, if feeding whole dried herbs a 20g daily dose will be sufficient, if sourcing from spinach the roots contain the highest levels 15g per day.
Nature understands the complexity of the endocrine system and metabolic pathways better than we do, if we can trust and make them available the horse, will seek out the plants he needs to stay healthy.
Bagged food will not provide you with the phytochemicals needed to prevent the disintegration of the energy metabolic pathways.
Balancing minerals won’t fully support a metabolically healthy horse.
Reading the marketing of feed companies ie contains low starch, good for laminitis-prone horses, cannot prevent obesity or laminitis, they may occasionally provide a low plane of nutrition which then reduces weight, though much better to allow nature to regulate and rebalance and restore the metabolic pathways.
If you don’t have access to a diverse environment, feed simple unprocessed ingredients and find hay that contains a wide variety of meadow species and avoid processed food.
Ecdysterone is found in products at www.phytorigins.com or in the popular Equibiome Spring Tonic, pre-order here https://www.equibiome.org/product-page/spring-tonic for shipping 15th Feb.
Happy Foraging!

13/01/2023

Holly (without the berries) is a potent pharmaceutical plant, horses prefer the smooth or young leaves the best and will readily eat the young bark and dried leaves.
If your horse is snatching at Holly (any member of the ilex family) he's searching out strong metabolic stimulants (polyphenols) called xanthines (chemically classed as a combination of caffeine and theobromine), followed by purine alkaloids (caffeic acid, 3, 4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3, 5-dicaffeoylquinic acid), flavonoids (quercetin, kaempferol, and rutin), amino acids, minerals (P, Fe, and Ca), and vitamins (C, B1, and B2). Horses only require small amounts of chemicals from the leaves or stems and stabled horses may take some time to adjust from the relative ‘sweet’ tasting feed in hay and grain to the more bitter tasting phytochemicals. Holly also contains high levels of an important anti-oxidant called caffeoyl, its action is to lower blood glucose, 10 leaves is sufficient to provide an adequate daily amount. Caffeoyl slows down the passage of food through the G.I. tract whilst the quercitin, kaempferol and rutin are excellent compounds for horses with ulcers. The younger leaves are the most palatable (first three images), and abundant in Jan-March, the older leaves are more woody and bitter.

26/02/2022

Important!

Working on this harvest calendar for my book. Do ya’ll agree with the timing here? If not, let’s get into it in the comments🌷🧑🏼‍🌾

Please support my kickstarter (link below) for my book: A Visual Guide to Foraging Medicinal Plants of the Pacific Northwest. If you’d like to help out, please share and help spread the word.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nataliehammerquist/a-visual-guide-to-foraging-medicinal-plants-in-the-pnw?ref=user_menu