I'm in the final days of a printmaking residency near Richmond, Virginia, and I am feeling bittersweet about it.

I am just getting into a groove of seeing some things really come to fruition, and yet I am also ready to be out of the city and on my family's farm for a week, outside all day.

I've been a little depressed here, I think in part because I don't have a home of my own, but I've been feeling a little down about myself and my work in the world and how to apply my knowledge and experience. Capitalism is weird, and 'selling myself' is not my forte. I do a podcast, write academic-style botanical articles on my blog (I don't repost them here cause that's not allowed!), send out packages called 'land capsules.' And honestly, I don't make any money doing this. If anything, I am breaking even.

I just want to offer this work to everyone for free, but I am not so good at 'receiving,' and when I try, I feel like I fall on deaf ears.

I have a patreon, and i have to step back sometimes and consider that having almost 50 supporters and getting almost $600 / month for my work on there is an achievement. (it's been about a year exactly since I launched it) It's weird how much $ patreon takes, and after processing fees, overhead for the land capsules, and the cost of paying my friend for the podcast, I might have $50 left over.

My philosophy is to keep going, keep doing it, cause I care, cause I have a grand vision for redrawing how collaboration and capitalism can work.

I WANT to share my unique experiences about plants, I WANT my friends to succeed, and I feature them in the podcast in order to give them an opportunity to speak their part, to have conversations about the things we're thinking about, about the work we do and why.

Today, I have a friend coming over who works for a non-profit, who is going to help me with my writing. She's very business oriented, and has a different perspective on communicating what you do. Some of what she will probably tell me I might find harsh or impersonal, or challenging my need to 'redraw' how it is done. It's always good to get different perspectives, and take when you will from them.

I love plants, I love talking to people about plants. I love gardening, growing things and experimenting with plants.

I have seriously been having major existential crisis' lately, maybe even for a few years now (Saturn Return will you be over already) about when and where I should be, and how to make a living in the structure of a world I don't agree with. I'm from the southeastern U.S., and when I am away, I miss the gritty culture, the swampy overgrown fields, the corner store, the old time music. When I am here (I'm here now), I think- wow... I feel like such an alien here in some ways. The antebellum culture of hyper binary gender norms (I don't want to wear pink and pearl necklaces, thank you very much), the overt racism (but it's everywhere), the gross cackle of white good ol' boys in suits running everything, polluting the water cause they don't want to pay taxes, the golf courses, the polo shirts, the silk covered chairs in screened in porches by the bar of whiskey.

With all of this, let's look at a few more plants, cause that's where my heart is, and that's what I love to share.

Borage Borago officinalis (Boraginaceae)

I took this photo last month with a macro lens, on my DSLR, in the garden of my friends in Oregon. I've always loved how beautiful this plant is. Borage is related to Comfrey, which some folks might recognize, its a common planted herb in gardens in the U.S. and Europe, and has been a popular plant used for biodynamic agriculture practices as well as fodder for animals. Comfrey is used for wound and bone healing. There's concern about the presence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in both Comfrey and Borage, which is a compound that can be harmful to the liver in large doses. I don't worry about them too much, as I don't take these herbs tonically, and I think if someone has a decently healthy liver than this isn't too much of a problem. Of course, legally if I were practicing herbalism, I would have to be careful about things like this. Of course, you can't really 'practice' in the United States anyway, at least not 'treat or cure.' That's a whole other conversation. Borage has a strong history of use historically in Europe, and has been brought over to the U.S. and planted in gardens.

While some folks see it as a good adrenal tonic, historically, it was used for sadness, depression, stagnation (as it also makes you sweat) and general fear. It is best used to lift the spirit. I suppose I could use some of this right now. It protects the heart in a spiritual and a physical way. The mind, body and spirit are not separate after all. Make an iced tea of it infused to cool off with an initial sweat (like cayenne does!) in the hot summer months.

Piñon Pine Pinus monophylla (single needle) or edulis (two needles)

so I wrote a very large article on Piñon on my blog here: https://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/blog/2017/10/8/nevada-pine-nut-harvest

But basically, it is an amazing tree. I know I have written a little on this tree here before, but I can't stop talking about it. Pine nut season is happening NOW, and I hope I can dip out to Nevada when I get back west and take a couple days to harvest. Most parts of the tree can be used medicinally. The needles are full of Vitamin C, and are a nourishing tonic. The sap is amazing for wounds (I put it in my bitters and my wound salve!). The nuts have tons of protein. I could go on and on. The tree is super important ecologically, too. The Piñon Juniper forest is pretty unique and grows in cold and warm deserts. I wrote in my article above a ton about how geologic history has affected where Piñon grows, how it grows and how it has formed different species and subspecies. Yes, I get geeky like that.

Wild Rice. Zizania sp. (Poaceae)

I have harvested and processed wild rice to eat. The past couple years I have gotten close to, even to the point this year that I was AT the wild rice camp with all my friends in Idaho, but had to leave cause my friend I was traveling with had prior engagements. It has been one of my favorite activities. It grows wild in Minnesota, the upper midwest into Canada, some of New England, and in the south there was traditionally a different species of wild rice growing in the Chesapeake Bay and inland shallow fresh waterways even into Florida. I have friends who know what Wild Rice looks like and canoe a lot- that have spotted it. Wild Rice is super nutritious and is a staple food for native folks where it grows wild. In Idaho, the patch we harvest from was planted long ago, but its a neat plant- it reseeds itself, and when folks harvest it, you inadvertently reseed it because the knocking of ripe rice heads into the boat (this is how you collect) will always throw some out to the sides into the water.

Manzanita Arctostaphylos spp. (Ericaceae)

Manzanita mainly grows on the west coast of the U.S. and into Mexico. It's in the Heath or Blueberry family, hence the similar looking flowers in the picture. The leaves can be used similarly to Blueberry leaf as a diuretic (makes you pee) especially good for UTI's. Where it grows, it is a common way to use it. The flowers are edible and great in pancakes or fried up. The berries are edible and make a substitute 'sugar.' It forms part of the 'chaparral' plant community along with Ceanothus, Mountain Mahogany and more. I might do a podcast episode just on this plant community at some point as I have a friend in California who is an expert on it.

That's all I'm gonna go into for now, gotta get into the print studio! I've got three days left. Thanks for reading about my life and my tidbits about plants.