Elderberries have been used for millennia as both a food and a medicine, and its a wonderful immune booster of the best kind.  It’s particularly useful to enhance winter immunity in cases of fever and respiratory constriction, and has been found to kill the influenza virus and shorten bouts of illness. Here's a simple recipe to make yourself, which is safe for the whole family!

The problem with being a ‘holistic mom’ is that we want to send our grown-up kids out into the world with everything they could possibly need! The best college first aid kit addresses the most common small stuff in a general way and contains familiar, easy-to-use items.

Natural remedies such as therapeutic essential oils, homeopathy, and herbs can offer a gentle correction or rebalancing for the body/mind system before things reach a crisis. Homeopathy is a safe, gentle, and natural therapeutic method that uses highly diluted natural substances to relieve symptoms. The active ingredients in homeopathic medicines are highly dilute properties from plants, animals and minerals that relieve the same symptoms they would cause at full strength (i.e., a micro-dose of coffee bean helps nervousness). Instead of masking symptoms, the medicine sends the body a signal to help it rebalance and heal.

Seeing the wonderful and quick relief of my young son’s bee sting with natural a few simple natural products are what started my enthusiasm for a ‘natural remedy first aid kit.’ Here are the natural remedies are the most effective approach with wasp and bee stings and simple to keep on hand.

Homeopathy is wonderfully effective remedy approach to those who dread the fireworks’ season, and it’s safe for everyone including infants, elderly, pregnant, those with PTSD, those on anxiety medications, and even pets. Look for the best symptom match, and it’s fine to use more than one. It’s not unusual to have family members, including 4-legged ones, who find fireworks distressing. The noise may be overwhelming to fearful small children or anxious adults, or trigger former military members with PTSD memories. And as a midwife, I’ve often counseled pregnant women to ‘let their babies know’ what to expect if they are attending a fireworks event, so they will be less alarmed by the explosive noises.

I recently did an Instagram reel about (medicinal) weeds in my yard, and it led to being flooded with prostate questions! I know, LOL, that’s what I thought too! This is a very interesting incrimination of state of our health care system, that a midwife would seem like a great person to ask about men’s prostate health…but that’s a blog for anther day. So let’s take a look at how to help our men by helping their prostate, because nourishing and preventing is always a lot easier than solving a problem that builds for years! The prostate is a donut-shaped, walnut-sized glad that is wraps around the male urethra near the bladder. It produces the nutrient-rich fluid that nourishes and transports sperm (semen). The most common of prostate problems tend…..

Our body naturally makes an effort to cleanse itself in the springtime, making it an ideal time for a gallbladder cleanse.* The gall bladder aids in the digestion of fats, and stores and releases bile. It’s a small organ that sits on the right side of the body directly under the liver. It releases bile into the digestive track helping to simulate peristaltic action – the process that helps the body move waste through bowels for excretion. Once the gallbladder is flushed out (which may include the elimination of gallbladder stones), then the liver and other organs in the body are free to release additional toxins. This further reduces the burden on the body. Here’s how!

It's probably no surprise that joy and love are the emotions linked with the heart. Here are some natural approaches to nurture the hearts in your family, whether you are concerned about a family history of heart disease, or you’re comforting with a teen with their first broken heart.

The winter season often brings with it an old deep impulse to go dormant and hibernate. We work more comfortably with these seasonal rhythms by nourishing our selves & our families with yummy seasonal foods. While spring and summer are active times (at least here in the Northern Hemisphere) for movement and cleansing - think salads, watermelons, cucumbers and cold soups, winter calls for foods that warm, nourish and mineralize our bodies, such as soups, stews, dense foods and baked goods.

Drinking Red Raspberry Leaf tea is one thing a pregnant mama can do that nourishes her uterus, her baby, and her immune system all at the same time! Many of us midwives suggest that at the top of your list would be drinking red raspberry tea infusion throughout pregnancy, and especially during the third trimester and after birth!

Historically, pregnancy tea has been safely used by herbalists and midwives for nourishing all aspects of pregnancy, birth & postpartum for generations. And, contrary to internet dogma, red raspberry is most recommended to help PREVENT miscarriage, not cause it. (See my previous blog on red raspberry for more information and references.) This infusion is tasty, and nourishing for the whole family!