Inspired by a dream of an old woman asking me about being a farmer, “Growing things, you know? You do this?”

I said yes.

She was old with whispers of silver hair around her ears and chin with the kind of lines on her face that hint to enough smiling. She had a sparkle in the eye that implied wisdom earned hard, a serious deep whisper of a voice, and wore all black with a scarf around her head that had the edges embroidered with big fully blooming salmon-colored roses. She was cleaning wool for dyeing and spinning.

This is a skill on my desire list as my twin sister is a master knitter and a weaver since we were 14 years old. She taught herself. I tried what she loved but failed. But dyeing and using a gravity spindle is intriguing. We will be funny old women together. This is my prayer.

So my old dream woman in black with beautiful salmon roses around her face had a cast iron pot on the stove that was simmering. She told me to open it and give a gentle stir to the left first, then the right, and inhale deeply. I did this while she described where her Angelica patch grows by the “creek to the south” and why Angelica root was added to this pot of broth and so needed along with beets, leeks, mushroom and more. I woke suddenly trying to hold on to the smell and the dream, with a thank you for the recipe.

It’s not new for me to sprinkle Angelica root into broths. Often Chinese Dong Quai root was used but in the last 10 years I’ve shifted to the Angelica archangelica species. When I ran with my home birthing midwife, one of my tasks at each birth was to arrive with broth, meat/veg/vegan based the birthing mom’s desire. It restored her and all attending as we sipped together and tended to the baby coming through. I love the title she gave me, “broth maker” and it definitely belongs on a resume in my mind! Twice a year I gave a broth making class to the new or seasoned moms who did not know how. It was fun.

We also covered so much terrain about Angelica in our Monthly Herbal Council #80 - Angelica As Medicine - as we practiced sitting with one plant to share, learn, and grow.

I made the dream-inspired broth. Delicious! I’d love to share.

Always remember there is room to make this your own with what you have on hand. I give suggestions here and there.

A sipping broth is just that, you pour a warm mug full and sip. You can use it as a soup base too, but sipping broths straight has been a thing around here for decades. It’s a soothing and energizing thing the body loves. Trace minerals are extracted and delivered without the need for lots of digestive fire. Nutrient assimilation is easy. I usually have 2 mugs a day when a pit is made until it’s gone. There may be a pause, or not before the next pit happens. The purpose is for organ and immune system restoration and repair. The gut is also supported well with homemade broths for now we know that without a strong gut microbiome, nothing heals well.
​
As a toddler I remember going to my Sicilian great grandmother’s home and being told to enjoy my warm vegetable water always served at arrival (we children definitely balked sometimes beforehand). We were told to drink it anyway and say thank you or give your grandmother a hug. She always made these as an immigrant woman through the depression, mother of 9 children, feeding a household of 13 people daily from a small city plot that did nothing but produce food from every ounce of soil that existed around their home. Hmmmm… maybe the old woman in black with the big salmon roses around her face was her, or her great grandmother… returning to inspire and support… makes me smile.

​Yield: I got 3 1/2 quarts - a lot!

This is written as a vegan sipping broth. The fat is important for immune function so don’t skip that addition. You can add butter instead of olive or coconut oil or chicken bones as well if you love that. I love butter and went that way.

Yes, I know the ingredient list looks long but nothing is odd or hard to find. If you have no Angelica root right now, burdock root, dandelion root, or astragalus root are good substitutes while you get a few ounces of Angelica root in house.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 medium beets quartered (with skins) + tops rough chopped
• 2 leeks - green tops only washed well and chopped rough or 1 onion onion quartered with skin
• 1 TB dried Angelica root (substitutes can be 2 TB astragalus root, burdock root, or dandelion root)​
  
• 1 garlic bulb sliced in 1/2
• 2 in piece of ginger roughly chopped or sliced thin with skin
• 2-3 cups mixed chopped vegetables and peelings - I used carrot peelings, red cabbage, mushrooms, and celery, kale or other greens.
• 1/4 cup dried nettle or 1 cup fresh nettle
• 2 potatoes quartered with skins
• 1 small sweet potato quartered with skin
• 1/2 c dried mushrooms or 1 cup fresh mushrooms (this batch has two slices of dried reishi and a small handful of dried lion’s mane + shiitakes too)
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground peppercorns
• 1 TB dried oregano, thyme, or rosemary - pick one or a combo of these
• 1 TB turmeric root powder - or sliced thin fresh root
• 2 star anise pods
• 1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoons fennel seed
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 TB kelps, alaria or dulse seaweed or a 4inch piece of dried kelp
• 1 TB olive oil or butter
• 1 TB coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon salt - taste before adding more after strained
• 8-12 cups water - cover your veggies with room to stir

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. So easy! Add everything to a large pot, bring to a boil, and simmer covered for 2-3 hours.

2. Turn heat off and allow to cool, covered, until warm when you hold the pot - maybe 1 hour - then strain into a large bowl using a fine mesh strainer, pressing liquid from the solids (compost solids). That’s it.

3. Serve immediately seasoned with more salt if needed, or cool for later. Store in the refrigerator and rewarm as you dose (2 mugs a day). You can also freeze in mason jars leaving 2-3 inches at the top for future use. Be sure to cool completely in the fridge before freezing to prevent the glass breaking.

May you experience the blood building, warming and blood moving effects of this broth that are perfect for most healing processes and for weathering cooler climates and seasons. Your immune system, gut and liver with be grateful and your mind and peripheral nerves will relax as healing energies get reorganized for more profound health.

Let me know how you shifted the recipe and how it turned out too.

Much love, Jen 💚

NOTE: use substitutions noted for Angelica root is you have an active bleeding condition, severe hot flashing / nights sweats or heavy menstrual bleeding. Angelica is so good at moving blood and fluids that these few situations ask us to make substitutions. This preparation is not at a therpurtic medicnal dose by any means, but it good to take note even at low doses even in broth. Plants heal!

Angelica Root Medicinal Actions: Alterative, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiseptic, anti-rheumatic, antiemetic, antispasmodic, aromatic, antioxidant, astringent, bitter, circulatory stimulant, carminative, diaphoretic, digestive, diuretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, hypotensive, hepatoprotective, nervine, rejuvenates, stimulant, stomachic, tonic, uterine stimulant.

Making good food as our medicine is often a big hit when it comes out of our kitchen.  Years of playing and experimenting in the kitchen make it all happen. We took up our best knives and chopped, stirred, consulted knowledge, experience, and the intuitive forces present and came up with this simple yet potent, satisfying soup for deep winter support. after many requests, we thought we'd give it a proper write-up. Enjoy from our kitchen to yours. 

INGREDIENTS
1/2 lb - 3/4 lb chopped fresh shiitakes - or reconstitute 1/4 lb dried
1 large chopped onion
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root
2-3 garlic cloves chopped
3-4 yellow potatoes chopped
3-4 garlic scapes (we had frozen garlic scapes - optional when ya have)
1 TB fresh thyme leaf or more if you like - plus extra for serving
1/8 -1/4 teaspoon cracked pepper or to your liking
2 TB dried nettles
3 TB of oil or butter to your liking
2 TB arrowroot or tapioca powder (for your rouge)
8 cups bone or veg broth 
6-8oz. 1/2 & 1/2 cream or coconut milk if dairy free needed
 
A handful of chopped scallions, squeezes of fresh lime juice, sprinkles of fresh cracked pepper and thyme leaves for serving

DIRECTIONS:
- sauté the shiitakes for 5 minutes in oil or butter until a bit of browning happens
- add onion, ginger, garlic, thyme, nettles, and pepper; saute a few more minutes
- add potatoes and continue to stir adding more oil or butter if needed
- add arrowroot or tapioca powder and cook a few more minutes stirring constantly to make a light brown rouge
- add  bone or veggie stock you love, bring to simmer for 10 or so minutes just until the potatoes are done, turn off the heat and allow to sit for about 10 minutes for flavors to infuse
- stir in 8oz of 1/2 n 1/2 cream (or heavy cream), or coconut milk for non-dairy options; adjust salt and pepper to your taste. 

​Serve with more fresh thyme, fresh squeezed lime, and sliced green onion. A good load of bread or cornbread goes great with this. Enjoy!

​In our home 1 bowl equals a 'therapeutic dose' of medicine.
Have 2-3 bowls per day for active cold & flu symptoms! Perfectly fine for daily health care intermittent use by having random bowls throughout your life (giggling with toes wiggling because it's that delicious to me). Enjoy and may you stay strong through these darker months where all is brought to the table for review. Keep shittakes around always. Have soup ready. Thank you shittakes and all for your deep care of us here. xo-Jen 

Making your home apothecary your primary health care is not that hard. Consulting the plants first is a safe, effective, and potent part of healing that requires a little bit of learning since our near relatives may not have been given these skills to pass along to us. We do it anyway under these circumstances. May we meet in class one day... Blessings Always, Jen

I said yes again to it all. It takes time to cultivate a community apothecary but it's happening. There's around 70 medicine plants in house now handcrafted as tinctures and a few more to come (plus much more to come) that I just know demand space on the shelves here. Seedling leaves unfurling... Thank you for your support. -Jen

Equal light and dark is one of the gifts of the Spring Equinox. Honoring balance is something I'm thinking about by carefully looking at what's needing balancing in my world. Balance is a dynamic state anyway. Even scales wobble or need a hood to reduce the wobble. We don't live there. Maybe nothing does, or maybe we swing through it and sometimes pause a bit and oscillate around it until the full spectrum measures 'balance’? They’re calling for snow for the Spring Equinox. It's not a new thing here for New Yorkers. It makes me turn to the soup pot again with soft, understanding eyes. I'm not sure how to survive without my soup pot. I most likely could, but not well. The markets are rolling in asparagus and watercress and I love them both! Potatoes from the fall are still around and needing to be consumed so the balance of fall and spring, in one pot to feed our bones, is the way of our weekend within this tribe.

Many are still moving the flu around so the bone broths and thyme, with all the luscious green, help boost our resistance while offering flavor and keeping us in flow with Nature. My dearest friend, Caroline, taught me this recipe with watercress we would harvest in the watery areas we knew of. She was one of those people you are blessed to know, who showed me deep sisterhood at a much needed time, dragged me to my first herbal conference, and then pointed the way for me. Life did an about-face and she was suddenly gone in an accident and many lives changed forever by knowing her. She died on Valentine’s Day decades ago now. I always make this soup in honor of our time together as deep sisters, in gratitude for showing me the herbal world before she had to go, and in great anticipation for the blooming of the Magnolias which was her favorite flower that brought her deep peace from chronic pain. She comes forth through these blooms for me and the worlds are more interwoven than we think when I sit with Magnolia and fill my belly with one of my favorite soups from my dear sister, Caroline.
 
In deep honor of these days, may you enjoy welcoming Spring and our swing through 'balance' in your way. xo- Jen

Interested in deepening your relationship with the plants as medicine keepers? Full descriptions are available in the links below. Thank you for sharing. xo-Jen

Are you stocking your pantry with medicinal mushroom yet? Packed sinuses and congested lungs always open to such medicines as this. Thinning secretions so they can run out along passageways that are less inflammed is the name of the game here. You can literally live on this broth for days with herbal teas and honey-lemon water and get through the roughest of flus in less time if you choose to stay in bed too. This is simple and tasty and satisfies all eating styles (omit the butter for vegan diets). Most health food and specialty grocery stores stock these items. The Reishi and Astragalus are easily sourced on-line if need be to get your pantry stocked well for flu season. I shave my whole Reishi mushrooms with a wood rasp which sounds like work but not really. Reishi mushrooms weigh nearly the same fresh as dried and are quite solid as they carry very little water in their cells. Health-wise they are worth the little extra effort. Rasps are found in hardware stores, are inexpensive, and mine lives with my knives. Otherwise buy it already shaved. I plan ahead and stock up by buying enough for a pot 1-2x/months through peak flu season.

​Astragalus Root – Astragalus membranaceus -  Astragalus Root slices are a regular item in my pantry for more than 20 years now which was when I first learned of this anciently rooted plant that has walked with us humans for a long time. Related to our common vetch plants that grow easily here, Astragalus has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine. It is a powerful adaptogenic herb and supports deeply restorative and surface immune responses. Astragalus has gained popularity recently as research has emerged about the "possibility that it can protect DNA and increase longevity". Such a broad, safe statement for what time has already taught us about this one, right? I was taught that it needs to be cooked to get the full benefit so I encourage this way instead of pills. Each slice can be cooked for up to six hours before all medicine is released.

​Shiitake Mushrooms- Lentinula edodes - Shiitake’s flavor is 4 to 10 times more intense than that of ordinary button mushroom. Ordinary button mushrooms actually should be eaten in low to moderate amounts due their toxicity. Not shiitakes though! It is a fleshy fungi and is rich in nutrients. It contains proteins (18%), potassium, niacin, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and B vitamins. Another ancient medicine brought in on a food level to enhance and organize immunity, this thins secretions so they can move and opens respiratory passage ways by reducing inflammation. Did you know that Shiitake is said to love music?  Yes, classical and rock and roll. It also likes company and flashlights. At least that's what some farmers report who grow Shiitakes on a daily basis. They assert that when you grow Shiitakes on an isolated log, it does not produce as much as when the log is in a cluster of logs. Word has it that it also produces generously when the people attending to it emit positive energy. If there are some clumsy people near it or arguments or fighting going on, Shiitake tends to be defiant and wilts. We drum and play music for our medicine plants here as well and this is an ancient practice too that even some modern grape producers for jelly making won’t talk about but actually do.
 
Reishi Mushrooms - Ganoderma lucidum - Regular consumption of Reishi, and there are a few different species that all have medicinal value, can enhance our body's immune system and improve blood circulation, thus improving any health condition. Reishi is also anciently rooted in use with humans and is recommended as an adaptogen, immune modulator, and a general tonic. Reishi is also used to help treat anxiety, high blood pressure, hepatitis, bronchitis, insomnia, and asthma. I love the immune enhancing and organizing characteristics of Reishi. The immune system has great power but can get dis-organized and over or under reactive even to the point of being life threatening, such as anaphylaxis (over reactive), and sepsis (under reactive). To this extreme, one usually needs modern medicine interventions to live through the ordeal. Coming down the intensity spectrum a bit, we can still see immune system disorganization and over or under responsiveness that is not life threatening but definitely not life enhancing either. There are a beautiful number of plants, and mushrooms, that carry this beautiful way of shoring up the immune system and reminding it that it can get organized and fight the good fight for re-establishing the boundaries necessary with the microbial world in our inner world. Indeed, boundary maintenance is one of the biggest jobs our immune system has. Reishi can help.

1. Heat the butter and oil in a large pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the carrot, celery, leek, and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions and leeks have softened, about 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant which only takes a minute.

2. Add the mushrooms, bay leaf, and peppercorns and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms start to release some moisture, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to the low and simmer with the lid on the pot until the vegetables are completely soft and the stock has a pronounced mushroom flavor, about two hours.

 4. Remove from the heat and add your parsley and thyme. Cover and allow to cool to warm for an hour or so. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer set over a large heatproof container or saucepan; discard the contents of the strainer. Stir in the salt or tamari and taste and adjust seasonings to your liking. If not using immediately, let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 1 month.

I absolutely love how this ancient way is enjoying a resurgence in popularity as we see antibiotics fall short of our unrealistic expectations and misuse. Our desire to heal and be well is amplified now with a desire for a deeper connection to the Earth as we find our way in these modern times. It was common place in my home as a child for the soup pot to come out at the first sight of a watery-eyed, sniffling, sneezing family member immersed in struggle with a virus or bacteria. I grew up raising chickens for eggs and then the roosters and hens became soup... we bypassed meat production for many reasons and one was it was easy to get kindly raised meat in the 60s and 70s. We partnered with local farmers for many of our food needs. With the vast changes in food production we are seeing the results in our health and thankfully many are recognizing the need to get back to some time-tested ways of growing food that our bodies have evolved from, know well and prefer. Our cells know the value of bone broths for healing even if you have never eaten it before in this life. It's true but me knowing and you knowing are two different things. So try and see. Chefs have made stocks and broths for the cost and flavor components and I do wish they would post in their menus a description of the stocks and broths they make and promote it more as the immune booster it is as well. Lengthen of cooking determines whether you have a stock or bone broth. Stocks cook in hours and broths are cooked for days. 

A little perspective on the microbial world is offered here. I often hear people cursing bacteria or viruses for their awful lot in life. I also hear hatred of the deer for carrying Lyme disease as I live in the northeastern US where Lyme is a common tick born illness.  For the record, scientists are now learning that Lyme is carried more by mice and Lyme infections increase when the populations of fox drop. Yes, the natural predator of mice are fox, to name only one. So, can you see how hating deer is not helping the situation. When studying Microbiology I was amazed at the beauty of the microbial world when we played with stains so we would give them contrast to the background and actually be able to see them under the microscope. Having a detached understanding that all things want to live filled me with a curiosity to learn not only about the microbes but about my body and how it defends itself with boundary work on a daily basis. Do I love the flu virus when I get sick. No. Do I hate my 5 year old child for sneezing into my mouth when he is sick. No. What I can do is respect that the flu virus has a place here and a will to live and a role to play in a larger plan that I may not fully understand. I treat it like an unwanted house guest and remain cordial, eat and sleep well (even a liquid fast if fever is present) use herbal remedies, reduce seeing ones I love so I don't pass the unwanted house guest to them, see a medical professional if I have exhausted all of my great skills for caring for the ill and am getting worse, and finally, clean often once they leave. Trusting your body and your choices comes first to hating a microbe. This just may be part of the good medicine needed to overcome some health crises. Just a thought.... and here are a few microbe pics I love. 

So, what is a microbe? "Microbe" is such a vast term and refers to organisms that may or may not be living.... scientists are still debating this one back and forth for viruses thwart definition by not being able to reproduce themselves. I say they are living and always have believed this. Did you know that microbes can gene splice antibiotic resistance and share with non-like species of microbes? That would be somewhat like you sharing your genes with a frog that wanted to walked on two legs! Exaggeration? Maybe not. These living creatures are masterful at adaptation which certainly is partly due to having such a short life span. Still fascinating. 

So when it comes to the microbial world it's all about boundaries. We quite simply need to make a boundary with the invading microbe. Slow cooked bone broths are a powerful part of this skill set in my experience. They provide high quality nutrient rich fluid you can drink copious amounts of that is easy for your body to use without spending large amounts of energy digesting like it has to with solid food.  Remember, we are just a large host for a much smaller world that has changed the course of our larger world and sometimes radically so. Thank you AIDS for introducing the idea of genetic modification in a short time frame in humans.  Yes, our genes are much more adaptable than we thought and science is also starting to study this now with the effects of trauma. You are genetically altered between birth and death. I often stifled a laugh as I was taught in college biology about how humans are at the top of the food chain. Maybe we will modify this one day? For now, let's boost up your boundaries with the microbial world by learning to make simple slow cooked bone broths. 

Most of us have a desire to be well and the choices you make can exert some pressure on the outcome of how well you are. 

This recipe is over 25 years old and continues to amaze me! It was formulated for my family quite intuitively in a time of need as I was figuring out how to be a new mother to sons born 13 months apart and we were all falling apart with many recurrent illnesses. The teachings given to me then were lacking basic skills on caring for the ill. I deeply wanted to learn though and that was the beginning.... I adopted pretty strict sleep habits, looked at food choices, quality and timing of eating, introduced some basic herbal skills and remedies and boosted the chicken stocks my family taught me to make when someone got sick into much richer bone broths. Now I call it Deep Immune Broth because it made such a noticeable difference that even our pediatrician asked “What are you doing different? They are noticeably healthier.” She didn’t like the truth but that was in the early 90’s. Maybe there are more doctors now who actually know these changes have the power to improve immune function? I hope so.  This broth has nourished nursing new babies through their mama’s milk, those close to death and all in between. It can also be put through feeding tubes quite well even with pureed vegetables added in the end. It has even been given to a friend’s dog, near death from a car accident.  She used a turkey baster to feed him and it was all her dog took in for weeks until he was strong enough to start eating on his own back to a full recovery. It is highly recommended for compromised immune systems such as in those people with low immune function due to treatments or debilitating disease, those with recurrent colds/flus and infections, Lyme disease, and many chronic conditions. This broth aids in restoring vitality, particularly during and after any debilitating illness, hospital stay or invasive medical or surgical procedures. Birthed during a time when I was in great need while caring for my babies, I hope that this can help you or a loved one in a time of great need.

INGREDIENTS:
6 dried or 12 fresh Shiitake mushrooms; stem included
4 small or 2 large dried Astragalus Root* slices

2 TLB. Olive oil, coconut oil or animal fat if desired

6 cloves fresh Garlic unpeeled and chopped
1 inch piece fresh Ginger root sliced thin, unpeeled
1-2 of each Carrot, Onion, & Celery unpeeled and rough chopped (yes, add the skins of all vegetables)

4 TBS. fresh or 2 TBS. dried chopped Burdock Root*
3-4 inch piece of kelp or other seaweed*

Animal bones - organic, free range, hormone free – do the best you can and mix larger bones with smaller jointed bones for a thick gelatinous stock when cooled - I use 1 chicken carcass for this recipe.

2 TBS. apple cider vinegar - this helps pull minerals quickly from the bones.

* found in local health food stores - choose non-sprayed 

DIRECTIONS:
-Add olive oil/fat to a stock pot and sauté Mushrooms, Ginger, Garlic, Burdock Root, Astragalus root, Seaweed, Onion, Celery and Carrot for 5 minutes stirring often to brown a bit. You can by pass this and just add all to the pot with the water. I do like the saute step for it deepens the flavor for me. 

-Add the animal bones and vinegar. If you have a small fryer (5-6lbs chicken) - add it whole, simmer 30 minutes and then removed the meat and add the bone back in. The meat can be used later or for other meals.

-Add the water to cover

-Slowly bring to a gentle boil and simmer ( for a stock - for anywhere from 1-3 hours covered-remove from heat and allow to “steep” covered for 20-30 minutes more.) For bone broth, I use a crock pot and cook on low all day and/or night (1-3 days). Make it easy so you do it. 

I will start to ladel off cups full after a few hours if I need it immediately. Just replace the water if you are working towards a broth. 

-When you are satisfied with the cooking time, strain your broth into another pot. Check your bones here for you should be able to pinch them and they break up with your fingers... that means you have extracted most of the nutrients. Some ancient teaching refer to grinding these to a paste to eaten as well. 

- Ladle a mug full for taste testing and mix 1 tsp miso paste or just a splash of tamari and taste. This is how we often drink it for hours, by the mugful before it becomes a pot soup.

-Therapeutic does: Drink warm 1 cup 3-4x/day. 

-This broth may be used to cook grains and vegetables or added to or used as a soup stock. It freezes well too so make a vat of it for now and later use.