Early Summer Newsletter
Gummy Recipe, Cordials, Discount codes, and Why learning about Indigenous peoples matters
In late winter I was doing a little bit of a dive and deeper inventory of where the cabinet resides in the hopes of creating a more meaningful and specific land acknowledgment. I ended up on the Suscol Intertribal Council website reading about the Onasatis People. Prior, I had heard this community referred to as the Wappo people. I was surprised to find that this is not the self-referential name of the Onasatis and to hear a bit more about their history and how that name came to be. I arrived at this statement, a revision of our previous Land Acknowledgment:
The Community Medicine Cabinet is located on the ancestral homelands of the Southern Pomo people and the Onasatis* people, specifically the Bitakomtara and Mutistul communities, past, present, and future.
*These communities are more often called Wappo today. This name is a mispronunciation of Guapo- how they were referred to by the Spanish for their resistance to colonization. The tribe call themselves Onasatis, meaning people who speak plainly or "Outspoken People”. We call them by their chosen name here.
I also read about a program the Suscol Intertribal Council offers around local indigenous history and legacies of trauma with an emphasis on reaching healthcare practitioners and enabling better client care. I reached out to see if we could coordinate a cohort of the class. It was wonderful speaking with the teacher, Charlie Toledo. And I quickly was humbled by how much I had to learn in terms of local indigenous history. Charlie, in addition to her work at the Intertribal Council is also a therapist and I am very excited to be both a student and organizer of this class. I am personally looking forward to deepening my commitment and understanding through the class.
So far, the class has given me a lot to think about from ways I can better show up as a participant in discussions around wild taking (aka wildcrafting) and land access as settler herbalists, to a deeper sense of just how recently colonization in this part of California began and how the ripples of that time are continuing to be felt, often un-named in big ways.
From Acknowledgement to Action
How we currently move from land acknowledgment to action: some small ways we honor indigenous communities as settlers on this land as the cabinet and links to support you in learning about and participating in these actions…
We pay our Shummi Land Tax personally and professionally (this is geographically more bay focused. If you know of a more local land tax, please let us know)
We support local indigenous health access through space & resource sharing with the Botanical Bus
We do not wildcraft native plants with the exceptions of windfall, plants about to be removed by landscaping and construction, and harvest that results from tending like pruning suckers post-fire. ( link to an Herbal Highway radio show on the subject)
We wild-tend (this is an area for growth-we hope to do more of this year and in the future) and you can too through Land Paths!
As we continue to work through the curriculum we are looking forward to what emerges and are listening for ways we can support indigenous sovereignty in Sonoma County and beyond.
Essence Highlight: Shooting Star (Dodecatheon herndersonii)
This essence shows us that we are a part of a community on earth. It helps us feel a sense of belonging with humanity, reconnecting us with parts of ourselves we lose touch with when we feel isolated or other. It shows us that we are of the earth. We can find direction in our lives from that point of resourced connection.
If you want to purchase this essence you can do so HERE— write Shooting Star in the notes section at checkout so I know what essence to make you.
To our Trans Community,
Despite legislation sweeping the nation that crafts a narrative attempting to erase the existence of trans people, we recognize the trans community as an important part of the community at the cabinet and a present, visible, and deeply valued part of our community as a whole. We offer Shooting Star as an essence that helps embody this deep truth of belonging even when others are getting it wrong.
This spring we volunteered with @translifesonoma to offer a free DIY Tea Blending Station & free Flower Essence Consultations at their TRANSLIFE Community Conference in Santa Rosa. For trans communities near and far, we want to offer you 50% off flower essence consults & herbs with the code: TRANSLIFE
You asked for the recipe and here it is!! (more pics here)
GUMMY MEDICINE RECIPE
karyn sanders says that when you take your medicine, you get the medicine of the time spent taking care of yourself in addition to the medicine of the plants. she also always encourages students to make medicine with kids. adults: it’s nice to make medicine for the kid in us who likes gummies too. these gummies are simple and versatile. enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
3/4 C fruit juice
1 oz tincture
1/3 c honey
3 Tbsp. Vital Proteins Grass Fed Gelatin
Silicone Molds- whatever shape you want- be aware that the size does affect the dose.
sunflower or other neutral oil
INSTRUCTIONS
Generously moisten a paper towel with oil and rub it into all the nooks and crannies of your molds. Alternatively, pour oil into your molds and wipe excess. This step is important for releasing the molds but try not to have too much oil.
Mix 1/4 c cold fruit juice with the gelatin in a small bowl and allow to bloom.
Heat the remaining juice and tincture on low till the smell of alcohol dissipates and the liquid is steaming but not boiling.
Turn off heat.
Add in the gelatin and juice combo and whisk to combine fully. You can add a little more heat if needed to help clumps dissolve.
Whisk honey into the juice/ extract until dissolved.
Place molds on a baking sheet.
Pour into your molds. It’s helpful to have a dropper to redistribute liquid when you inevitably over or underfill.
Refrigerate. The mixture should be set in 20 minutes or so.
Store 1/2 in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 2 weeks - 1 month and 1/2 in the freezer.
A tip: not all juices are created equal in the land of gelatin. Both PH and enzyme content can affect the setting. Pineapple juice gummies are the most common culprit here, but you may have trouble with citrus juices, papaya, and others as well. It’s also possible some herbs may have an effect due to their properties, but I have not encountered this.
A Woof: The first time I made gummies I made anti-inflammatory ones with bone broth for our older dog Rosebud a few years ago. She did not like them. I actually think it was the texture. I haven’t made any pet gellies since, but if you try it let me know how your dogs feel. If I make some again I will experiment with more gelatin for a harder chewy texture.
A Neigh: I recently made marshmallow root and agar gellies for my horse and she also was not a fan of the texture. Not surprising. Nothing she usually eats is the texture of a slime mold.
An important safety tip: If you are making these with or for your kiddo please note they may be very excited about them and may need to be stored somewhere that they will not eat all of them at once.
A citation: this recipe was adapted from HERE
EASY MATH
You follow the recipe and make however many gummies you make… you can adapt this math to your number of gummies and desired dose.
say you make 185 gummies.
and you decide want to dose your tincture at 1/2 ml/ dose.
to know: there are 30 ml/ oz and 30 drops/ mL (recall 1 oz is how much tincture is in the recipe)
30/.5 ( your dose)= 60 (the number of doses in the recipe)
185( # of gummies)/60 (number of doses)= 3.08 (the number of gummies you take per dose assuming your molds are all the same size)
Another way to think about the math:
The recipe makes about 8 oz or 240ml of gummy solution accounting for loss & evaporation
If you buy 2 mL gummy holders, 240/2= you will make 120 gummies.
there is 1 oz of tincture of 30 mL of tincture in the gummies.
30/120=.25mL tinc./ gummy or 7.5 drops
If you want the dose to be 1 ml that means a dose is 4 gummies, 3/4mL= 3 gummies, 1/2 = 2 gummies… you get the idea.
Cordial Making as Community Care
Cordials are sweet alcoholic beverages preserving the height of summer for darker days. We all lift each other up sometimes, and I think of cordials as summer in a bottle, something we often need a little of come wintertime.
Now as fruits are ripening, is the time to make your Cordials.
Cordials traditionally are long macerated, and include a mixture of herbs and fruits. You can also make a non-alcoholic alternative with vinegar: a shrub.
Too big a fruit set to handle, too busy to coordinate sharing your harvest right now? A cordial is an easy way to save it for later.
Thank you for reading!
With love,
Madalyn and the Cabinet