Nature Wild Craft
Colleen Chafe is a Holistic Health Practitioner who is a Certified Aromatherapist, Medical Herbalist, Nutritionist, Energy Medicine Practitioner, Gluten Free Chefette, Gardener, Artist, Writer who wants to improve your health and the health of the planet!
Colleen Chafe is a Holistic Health Practitioner who is a Certified Aromatherapist, Medical Herbalist, Nutritionist, Energist, Gluten Free Chefette, Gardener, Artist, Writer, Poet, who wants to improve your health and the health of the planet!
I wonder if you will be surprised as I was to learn that Hamilton, Ontario, Canada is the waterfall capital of the world, but it made sense because it’s the Niagara escarpment and near Niagara falls. So time to explore my own BIG backyard of a Country in search of waterfalls. I also added waterfall pictures from my B.C. trip.
I saw more waterfalls than I thought! I’m looking forward to photographing more in different seasons too.
Echinacea is blooming and what a beautiful butterfly magnet it is! Echinacea is the latin name that people are familiar with, but the common name for this amazing perennial wildflower is purple coneflower. ‘Echinos’ is the Greek word for sea urchin or hedgehog, which relates to the look of the center cones that resemble the spines of hedgehogs, especially when dried.
There are three types or species of Echinacea:
Do not misuse Echinacea as a long-term immune enhancer, it is not like adaptogens such as ginseng. Echinacea is a cool detoxicant that reduces infection and heat. Use it for short-term infections and acute conditions only.
***Echinacea should only be used as short-term immune stimulant. Do not use long-term and avoid overuse. Do not pick it in the wild, it is extinct and endangered. Cultivate it yourself or buy the root dried. Echinacea is also a good ingredient in gargles, washes, compresses, syrups, and used externally to treat injuries, burns, and skin disorders.
| Common Name | Echinacea/ Purple coneflower root |
| Latin Name | Echinacea spp. angustifolia/ purpurea/pallida |
| Family | Asteraceae |
| Parts Used | perennial flowers rarely used/ root harvested in late summer /fall after blooming |
| Target Organs | Blood, lymphatic, skin, stomach, urogenital, immune, |
| Common Uses | bacterial viral infections, first sign cold, flu, chills, swollen glands lymph congestion, runny stuffy nose, cough, laryngitis, food allergies, UTI, skin infections, fever, inflammation, discharge, wounds, ulcers, burns, |
| Properties | Cool, dry, calming, stimulating, restoring, dissolving, anti-microbial, antibacterial, antiallergenic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, anti-toxic, astringent, alterative, anti-catarrhal, antiviral, antineoplastic, febrifuge, depurative, detoxicant, diuretic, lymphatic, decongestant, stimulating/regulating, immune stimulant, vulnerary |
| Constituents | Essential oil, humulene, sesquiterpenes, glycoside echinoside, polysaccharides-echinacin, inulin, isobutylamides, polyines, polyenes, echinolone, betaine, tannins, resins, oleic/cerotic/ linolic/ palmatic acids, 13 polyacetylenes, enzymes, fatty acids, phytosterols, trace minerals, vitamin C |
| Cautions | Mild remedy but may cause dizziness, nausea, numb tongue, gastric upset, cankers, throat irritation due to its stimulating nature. |
| Dosage | Most effective: Tincture: 2-4ml Decoction: 6-10 g
Acute conditions like infection or onset of a cold Take up to 2 tablespoons of decoction or 1 tsp. of tincture every two hours at acute protocols |
The Riviera Maya in Mexico is one of my favourite places to visit and I went this past January for a couple of weeks.
I love exploring Mexico and eating delicious Mexican food. Eating gluten free and even being vegetarian is easy because Mexican food staples are corn, beans, rice, peppers, chiles, avocados, limes, tomatoes, and the blue agave plant.
The blue agave, also called agave azul, has the Latin name Agave tequilana L. and it is where the popular alcohol drink Tequila comes from. Mezcal and other drinks are also made from sap found in the heart of the plant.
Blue agave nectar is also an amazing natural sweetener that doesn’t raise blood sugar like sugar does and it is sweeter. It is liquid so use it like honey or maple syrup. Since diabetes runs in my family I have started to use more agave nectar to bake with and eat.
I explored the Mayan ruins of Coba and climbed Nohoch Mul pyramid, did some kayaking, swam in a sacred cenote swimming hole dripping with gorgeous stalagmites after being blessed by a shaman with copal smoke. We ate an amazing lunch of traditional Mayan food at a local Mayan village, and there was no wheat in sight! Mayan food highly resonates and agrees with me!
Drinking fresh coconut water on a sunny beautiful beach doesn’t hurt either! Coconut water hydrates and nourishes with nutrients of potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, with no cholesterol, and it tastes so good. I definitely want to go back to Mexico and explore more soon!
What is blooming in the garden? It feels like everything! Plants are blooming so fast, I turn around and it is almost summer. More delicious smells and tastes emerge 
I wish I could capture them all!
I have finished pressing the herbal tinctures that I’d made on the supermoon. I am pressing them a month later on the lunar eclipse in the middle of the transit of Venus. These celestial blessed herbal tinctures are so healing, nutritious, and delicious I could not have planned it better!
These mini-roses bloomed today in the front yard and it reminded me of Venus and the sun together as one. The masculine Sun and Venus the feminine, a balancing act of cosmic love artistry.
In honour of the return of the divine feminine Venus, named after the goddess of love and beauty, I am making a rose petal tincture and essence.
What better symbol for love is there on earth than Rose~ Queen of the flowers! The roses in these pictures are from my garden, and some are from Florida Botanical Gardens when I went there in 2008.
| Common Name | Rose hips/ flowers |
| Latin Name | Rosa spp. |
| Family | Rosaceae |
| Parts Used | Perennial- Collect flower petals during growing season. Roses lay dormant in colder climates. Collect rosehips in the Fall. Essential oil made from flowers. |
| Target Organs | Digestion, Central Nervous System, Nerves, Skin |
| Common Uses | Aphrodisiac, perfume, debility, exhaustion, nutritive, inflammation, skincare,
Rosehips, rosewater, are used in cooking and beverages |
| Properties | Aphrodisiac, antidepressant, antiseptic, euphoric, antispasmodic, nutritive, astringent, mild laxative, vulnerary, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, |
| Constituents | Essential oil : Esters: geranyl acetate, citronellyl acetate, neryl acetate,
Sesquiterpene alcohol: farnesol, Aldehydes: benzaldehyde Monoterpene alcohols: Citronellol 15-20%, geraniol 10%, linalool, nerol 15%, cedrol, linlool
Monoterpenes: a+b pinene, limonene, camphene, b-caryophyllene, citronellal, p-cymene
Damask rose: a-damascenone, B-damascenone, B-damscone, B-ionone, rose oxide
Other: vitamin C, tannin, pectin, carotene, fruit acids |
| Cautions | Do not use during pregnancy. Thorny plant, caution while harvesting. |
| Dosage | Tincture: 1-4ml Tea: 1-2 tsp |
For five years I lived on the west coast of Canada in both Victoria, and in Vancouver. I love going back to visit, it is so beautiful! I thought I would share some pictures of Brandywine falls, Shannon falls and the beautiful scenery of the west coast.
Biking around the seawall in Vancouver B.C. Canada was amazing and a huge improvement from when I was living there. Big changes since hosting the Olympics. I did some mountain biking, hiking, paddleboarding, and saw Crankworx! biketrix in Whistler. On some hikes I noticed Devil’s club growing everywhere. It is so big and thorny it is best to avoid it, it’s called Devils’s club for a good reason! The red berries are poisonous! It is an adaptogenic root like ginseng, but it is more specific to treating pancreatic disorders. It is strong medicine so consult a qualified practitioner before taking it. Caution is advised!
| Common Name | Devil’s club root |
| Latin Name | Oplopanax horridus |
| Family | Araliaceae |
| Parts Used | perennial thorny shrub root/ rhizome |
| Target Organs | pancreas, immune |
| Common Uses | diabetes, pancreatic, pain, arthritis, stops milk flow, colds, TB, infections |
| Properties | Adaptogen, analgesic, alterative, emmenagogue, hypoglycaemic, pancreatic, nutritive, antimicrobial, tonic, laxative purgative, |
| Constituents | saponins, glycosides, flavonoids, ascorbic acid, tannin, |
| Cautions | Medium Strength: Purgative emetic in large doses. Potentizing herb: Use 15% and combine with demulcents in a formula. Red Berries are poisonous |
| Dosage | Tincture: 2-4mlTea: 2 tsp |
I go away and come back to a blooming garden I love perennials, they take care of themselves and keep on giving more every year.
Georgian Bay is Ontario‘s best kept secret boasting the world’s longest fresh water beach, 30, 000 islands, camping, diving and all kinds of outdoor activities. Wasaga beach on Georgian Bay is the longest fresh water beach in the world and sandy beaches stretch for miles around the Bay of clear blue water.
It was so hot this year it was the first time in May I dipped in Georgian Bay. I have seen the most stunning sunsets on Georgian Bay and I wish I could post them all on here.
Around Tobermory is where Georgian Bay meets the rest of the Great Lakes and thousand-year old cedars grow on windswept cliff sides. There is camping, diving, hiking, biking, swimming, a natural grotto and all around beauty to take in.
I love Georgian Bay!
Bleeding hearts ~Lamprocapnos spectabilis (formerly Dicentra spectabilis)
are an ornamental perennial flower that bloom every springtime.
They are woodland plants that prefer shade and well-drained soil.
This is the pink fringe bleeding heart and the blooms last longer than the bigger deeper pink variety.
This is a white bleeding heart variety.
Bleeding hearts are easy to grow but plant some summer plants like hosta beside it to fill in the gaps when they finish flowering in spring.
The Wisteria vine has started to bloom!
Wisteria is the Latin Genus name and then a variety of different species fall under the Genus name.
They are woody vine climbers from the pea family (Fabaceae).
Wisteria perfumes the air with its delicious smell and some varieties are edible and made into wine.
I have grown vines from seed but they take over 7 years or more to bloom so propagation by cutting is faster. The long hairy seed pod has 2-3 or more seeds. When it dries it curls and pops the seeds out the pod with a loud bang which woke me out of a sleep one time.
Wisteria grows fast and needs strong support to climb on.
Wisteria needs a bit of pruning into shape by cutting the curly spiral ends off, but it is well worth the effort!
I wish you could smell this right now, it is intoxicating!
I have to replace the wooden arch because it is getting crushed. I’m going to use something stonger, like wrought iron for endurance.
