Moonrise Herbs Blog — arcata

To mark the 1st Annual Fairy Festival happening this Saturday at our own Arcata Plaza, we would love to make #herbalwisdomwednesday all about the wee magical folk around the world and the plant & herbs associated with them.  When many of us think of Fairies, we imagine the tricky sprites, pixies and elf-like creatures from the Gaelic-Celtic-Northern European traditions and, naturally, many of the plants and trees native to those areas are associated with them. A couple of examples include: -Foxglove (Digitalis) have also been called Fairy Gloves and Fairyweed and the little spots inside the flowers are said to...

Since we are so close to Oyster Fest, it seemed natural to celebrate #herbalwisdomwednesday by sharing a bit about the herbs of the sea – Seaweeds!  According to the wonderful tome Ocean Greens, “Seaweed is an umbrella term for the entire group of macroalgae that live in salt water, brackish water or fresh water.  Algae can be divided into two groups: microalgae (unicellular organisms, like chlorella) and macroalgae (multicellular organisms, like seaweed).”   Green Algae (Cholorphyta spp.) – Chlorella and Sea Lettuce are in this category. Love nutrient-dense water.  High protein, iron and mineral content.   Brown Algae (Phaeophyta spp.)...