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The Pacific yew and other species in the genus Taxus are slow growing conifers, often found in older mixed forests.
It was discovered in the 1960s that the leaves and the bark contain potent anti-cancer alkaloids.
In the 80s and early 90s the trees were harvested to make the drug and especially was used in breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and esophageal cancer treatment. It has saved lives. But the harvest of the bark placed heavy pressure on the slow growing trees, so harvesting was a problem. Fortunately, it was found that it was actually Endophytic fungi that produce most of the alkaloid. This enabled manufactures to grow the fungus in big tanks and extract the alkaloid without harming the trees.
One of the alkaloids paclitaxol and others are still widely used in standard cancer care programs as chemotherapy.
I have seen patients use the tincture of yew leaves, with the idea that the full range of alkaloids and other compounds in the leaves might be more effective, produce less chemotherapeutic resistance, and have less side effects. Although this idea has not been proven in clinical studies.
The wood is extremely hard and was widely used by Native Americans to make weapons and other implements .
Check my website www.christopherhobbs.com for many handouts, videos, and other information. You can also sign up for my newsletter and announcements of upcoming webinars that I will be offering in the coming months.
in gratitude, Dr. Christopher Hobbs.

California poppy is the California state flower. It’s so easy to grow in your garden it spreads so rapidly by seed. In the spring it gives you glorious golden flowers, and in the summer and fall you can harvest the roots and the long, slender fruits.
You can either blend them up in a 80% ethanolic menstruum and make a tincture, or simmer the plant parts for 20 minutes, then blend up the herb with the water and simmer down until it’s fairly thick. Then spread that in the fruit leather trays of a food dehydrator and dehydrate until you get a crispy wafer And crumble that up and grind into a fine powder in a coffee grinder.
Store this powder in jars and you can add a half teaspoon to a little warm water and drink anytime you need it. The tea powder is stable for up to three years. It’s good to add flavoring, herbs or sweet herbs, like licorice to counteract the slightly bitter flavor of the herb.
The tea powder is very potent, especially if you only include the roots in the fruits.
It is such a fantastic remedy for calming, for promoting good sleep, and to help relieve spasms, such as menstrual cramps or intestinal spasms.
I dispensed it for years in my clinic and had so much positive feedback. It’s also useful for pain.
See my website www.christopherhobbs.com for handouts, videos, and more.
www.christopherhobbs.com
I’m so happy and grateful to connect with you!

Nature finds a way.
Each habitat or ecological niche has its own challenges and rewards.
For the cranesbill of the geranium family, Genus Erodium, the challenges are getting their seeds into the hard packed ground to protect them in grasslands where many browsers occur.
In the picture, you can see a complete fruit of the cranesbill. The upper curved tip sticks in a little irregularity in the ground. the column that arises from the seed as it dries will twist and turn creating a hard coil. The very tip of the seed at the bottom is incredibly sharp and hard. As the coil forms, the seed is literally drilled into the ground.
Vast acres of cranesbill with its pink flowers fills vast fields and meadows. It is so successful because it found a better way over millions of years.

Check my website for lots of handouts, videos, and much more. www.christopherhobbs.com.

from Flora herb gardens.

Onions of any kind are incredibly healthy. I try to add wine to my diet. Most days they are abundant in quercetin and sulfur compounds, both of which are anti-inflammatory and highly protective.
They also add so much flavor to our meals !
Check out my website christopherhobbs.com for lots of freely-accessible handouts, articles, and videos!
Thanks for watching

There are several species of wild oats in the genus Avena. This one is Avena fatua, despite the caption in the real that says Avena Batua. I fixed it when I was making the real, but it keeps reverting. The editing tools are not always perfect!
Doesn’t matter which species you use. Domesticated oats will also work, but I always felt that the wild ones like the one you’re seeing in the reel are stronger. iIn the milky stage, the seeds do contain several alkaloids, including hordenine which have been shown to affect the nervous system.
Some herbalist feel that it has an invigorating effect, and others, a calming effect. Likely it depends on the person, how much you’re using, and the stage in which they are picked is often used for people who have been through a lot of stress. It’s important to use daily in a little water for an extended time, even several months to get the full affects so it is used along with other herbs like California poppy, or a skullcap for anxiety, but also is used in other countries to help people break addictions, like tobacco.
Very safe to use even during pregnancy.
No need to worry about overharvesting! In many places, the wild oats are growing tickly as far as you can see.
They are originally from Europe, but the slender, wild out is actually a native.
Thanks for watching, and don’t forget to check out my website where there are many handouts, articles, books, and other resources for Herbalists.

A classic and highly revered herbal remedy, especially for nervous system and respiratory tract problems.
So easy to grow and beautiful to have in the garden. This is a rather low-dose herb so growing one plant can make a half a pint of the tincture and experiment with it. In line.
thanks for watching, sending out green herbal blessings the day after herb day.
I hope your spring will be full of beauty and magic. More time in the garden whether it’s small or large, or even in pots. We are caring on an ancient tradition of healing through connectedness with nature or source of all blessings..
Christopher Hobbs
#herb
#selfcare

Sometimes, an old way is still a good way!
I had 80 sheep in my backyard yesterday and they truly are like lawnmowers. They trim the weeds and grass down to the nub.
They also left behind some fertilizer, and only took them about four or five hours to trim an acre.

Poison hemlock was known from antiquity because the juice of the plant was often used as a way to carry out a death sentence in Greek culture.
It was Socrates, who was a real pain to the government because he was a truth teller (couldn’t we use more of that today?).
Socrates was told the judgment after his so-called trial was to either drink the poison, hemlock juice, or be banished. He chose to drink the juice, and with all his students around him he reported how he felt after drinking it. He said his mind was completely clear, but eventually his heart stopped, and he stopped breathing , the active alkaloid shuts down the nerve impulses to some of the internal organs, causing death eventually.
It is the fruits and the roots that have the highest quantity of the alkaloids. The young green foliage was actually eaten as a green and I have seen people do it without harm. Still, I don’t recommend it. The alkaloid contact could vary with the population.
Early American physicians used a tincture of poison hemlock to treat pain. Today that use has fallen out of favor for obvious reasons. Well now we have cannabis.@
poison hemlock is the plant used by the hemlock society to help with conscious dying. Likely it is one of the most painless and green ways to die when we are truly ready.
Thanks for watching. I appreciate you let’s create a green world together where Medicine is truly from the earth and healing medicines that are not based on greed.
#herbal
#poisonousplants

With monumental rains throughout the California winter, comes abundant wildflowers. We went to the Carrizo plain and we’re overwhelmed by the beauty. To sit quietly with the baby blue eyes and watch them move in the wind for 20 minutes was surprisingly consciousness shifting. In the wider view, we were surrounded by unsurpassable beauty. When quieting the mind, and really seeing a pollinators view, we were taken back to our young childhood, where everything was so beautiful and simple, where friends and family surrounded us by love.
It brought to our awareness that connecting with wild nature, the forest and the fields, the birds and the gentle wind, moving amongst the flowers is available always as a gift from our mother. If we can only remember to consciously return the live by caring for her throughout our days.

inspiring quote by Wordsworth .