****
Medicinal Herb Consortium Project Autumn Update ****
Once again the seasons change and the plants bed
down for winter dreams under starlight.
After the downpours from the hurricane series, autumn has been calm
and serene in the garden. First frosts
were light, wolfberries gave us a bumper crop, and the bees had plenty of
50-degree days to fly. Tatarian Aster put on quite a floral display in
mid-October, its clear purple complementing the vivid orange maples
surrounding the field; we received comments from several passers-by. But that wasn’t the only plant attracting
attention..... **** Herb
Samples Star in Road Show **** This fall, the Medicinal Herb Consortium (MHC)
pulled out all the stops in an effort to fascinate, seduce and tantalize the
senses of Oriental Medicine practitioners around the country. What better way than to present a glorious
array of freshly harvested and dried, domestically and ecologically-grown
herbs? Deep green whole leaf chòu
wú tóng, fat yellow julienned strips of huáng ba( a green-gold tapestry of qi-ng
ha-o and, of course, bright red unsulfured gouqi, along with about forty other samples in small
clear baggies, have been touring from California to West Virginia, New York
and Minnesota. It’s the culmination of
a year-long feasibility study conducted by the MHC, the five medicinal plant
growers associations working together to figure out how they can provide the
Oriental medicine community in the U.S. with fresh and ecologically grown
herbs. This effort is just beginning. Response from the Oriental medicine
community has been consistently supportive of the farmers, as if to say,
“Yes, we want this to happen, but how?”
This fall, herbalists shown samples tended to amplify their response –
“This must happen; this is OUR FUTURE!”
Yes, we know the way to an herbalist’s heart! **** Herb
Notes From All Over**** Fall events staged by the MHC and their cohorts
began in September. On the 16th in Alcalde, north of Santa Fe, previous attendance records
were broken when 150 people showed up for a Medicinal Herb Field Day. Charles Martin offered commentary on
cultivation while Deborahlise Mota,
D.O.M., discussed medicinal properties of the herbs. In California on the 18th, the popular
Sonoma County Herb Association annual festival drew the crowds. A separate booth set up to feature the
Chinese medicinal botanicals was an innovation that got steady traffic all
day. Outside California, October is the primary harvest
month. By the time of the West
Virginia Herb Association annual conference on Oct. 29-31, fresh-dried herb
samples from all over converged on Morgantown. On November 19th, we packed the lower level
of Ambrosia, Jeffrey Yuen’s clinic in NYC
Chinatown, when over fifty students and practitioners showed up for an Open
House. Visitors to Chinatown are
accustomed to exotic aromas, but this time it was domestic fragrances wafting
up the stairwell! The following day
Jeffrey’s two-year program in Chinese Herbal Studies convened in the same
location, and an additional group of practitioners got to indulge their
senses. The final scheduled event (although New Jersey
practitioners are demanding equal time) is at Northwestern Health Sciences
University in Bloomington, Minnesota on Dec. 4th. This is a 4-CEU-credit workshop on “How
Domestic Cultivation Can Elevate Quality and Assure Future Access to Our Materia Medica.” Mercy Yule, D.O.M., L.Ac., president of the
Washington practitioners association, will be the featured speaker. The MHC will wrap up the project in January and
issue a final report. We will tell you
exactly how to get your hands on these, and more, samples. **** And
How Did They Get So...Gorgeous? **** At the West Virginia conference, growers Matthias
and Andrea Reisen presented details of their
operation including their solar herb dryer, an important development that
makes the herbs “sweat” out their moisture quickly and preserves color and
fragrance. My first experience with commercial-quality herb
drying took place in October, thanks to local herbalist Isa
Coffey’s adoption of the Reisen hoop-house solar
dryer model. Isa
assisted (invaluably!) with the preparation of a number of lovely samples
from High Falls Gardens, contributed to the MHC array. The results show the superiority of the
drying method which, by the way, is entirely off-grid. ****
Newman to Lead China Herb Tour **** Robert Newman, L.Ac., M.S.T.C.M., collector extraordinaire, will lead a herb
tour to southwestern China on March 17 to April 2, 2005. He’ll show herbs under cultivation and in
the wild, visit the famous Tong Ren Tang pharmacy,
and much more. A unique opportunity to
travel to China with a major plantsman -- and for
under $3,000, airfare from LA included!
Limited to 25, so contact Robert ASAP at newmanacupunture@yahoo.com. **** The
Next Step: Botanical Studies in A&OM **** Having read this far, you might suppose I was having
the time of my life drying herbs and watching practitioners’ eyes bug out
when they saw the samples. No,
actually in this remarkable year I discovered something that’s even more fun
– teaching field botany to masters’ students! The interest in Botanical Studies in A&OM is a
groundswell, brought on partly by increased science hours required in the
curriculum but also by cosmic timing.
If farmers are to produce our herbs, then we must train a generation
of practitioners with the capacity to evaluate the quality of
domestically-grown herbs and, in essence, adapt the supreme Asian knowledge
of herbal medicine to our circumstances here in North America. In response to inquiries over the summer, High Falls
Gardens ran four different workshops for students and practitioners, testing
different formats and working with colleges of A&OM to see what fits
students’ needs. All were met with
considerable, and occasionally wild, enthusiasm. Botanical Studies is important enough to our future
that High Falls Gardens has made the following decisions:
**** HFG
Internship Opportunity in 2005 **** We’re
moving quickly to ensure that High Falls Gardens is able to meet next year’s
demands for seed, cultivation knowledge and horticultural expertise. After trying different kinds of
apprenticeship arrangements, I’ve concluded that our mission is best served
by training members of the profession of A&OM to do plant work. Students and licensed practitioners may
apply. Four
internships will be awarded for 2005.
Room and board is provided with a $300 stipend for travel. The format consisting of four special
weekend workshops (dates to be confirmed) follows. Contact me ASAP if you’re interested. 1. SOWING Feb. 25-27, 2005 2. PLANTING May 20-22 3. CULTIVATION Aug. 19-21 4. HARVEST Sept. 30 – Oct. 2 Watch for
the Botanical Studies appeal letter.
This is how we will support our farmers -- by ensuring that
Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine takes the high road in 21st century science
and remains true to the spirit of the plants.
Your contribution will make this mission possible. Jean Giblette, Director HIGH FALLS GARDENS Box 125 Philmont NY 12565
USA 518-672-7365 hfg@capital.net |