For less dense cornbread, use all unbleached flour. If you use sorghum rather than honey, the bread is a littler darker and heavier in flavor.
3 to 4 tablespoons fresh calendula petals OR 2 to 3 tablespoons of chopped dried calendula petals
2 cups of buttermilk
1 ½ cups cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
¾ cup whole-wheat flour
¾ cup unbleached flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 extra-large eggs
¼ cup vegetable oil or melted butter
¼ cup honey or sorghum
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Soak calendula in buttermilk while assembling remaining ingredients. Oil a 10-inch skillet or baking pan. Sift cornmeal, flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk eggs, then add calendula-buttermilk, oil and honey and whisk together for 1 minute. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and blend well. Pour batter into prepared skillet or pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cornbread cool for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting.
7 Ways to Cultivate Connections with Plants
by Candice Brunlinger
One of the truly magical things I have seen throughout the years I have been studying and using medicinal plants is the powerful and deeper level of healing you can receive when you have a connection with plants. In my personal experience and from what I have seen in people I work with, the most significant shifts in healing most often occur for those who find ways to mindfully connect with the plants they use, are respectful in the way they use the plants and show gratitude for the healing plants provide. 
Humans have a long history with plants. We are completely dependent on them and would not be able to survive without them. Ancient and historical texts, herbal folk lore, botanical pharmacopeias and healing traditions suggest we have inherently known that plants are highly evolved and have a life force, intelligence and spirit. Modern day research and case studies on plants now suggest what many cultures, both ancient and modern, have acknowledged and practiced. There is a whole field of science called Plant Neurobiology for studying plant behavior, plant communication and how plants sense and respond to their environment.
"Plants are as sophisticated in behavior as small animals
but their potential has been masked because it operates
on time scales many orders of magnitude
less than that operating in animals"
[1]
Plants provide many ways of healing. We can use plants in the form of food, tea, infusions, extracts, essential oils, supplements or personal care products to receive physical healing where the constituents or chemicals in the plants interact with our body, cells and organ systems. Then there is another realm of plant healing working with the plant spirit or essence. This is when we might use flower essences, aromatherapy, carrying the plants on us, smoldering plants, or meditating with them to receive a deeper level of healing generally addressing our emotional state and spiritual health. Plant spirit doses tend to be very low such as 1-3 drops of a flower essence or tincture extract, eating a small pinch and/or surrounding yourself with the plant. Both approaches are beneficial for overall healing and for cultivating connections with our plant allies.
So, how can we connect with plants? Well, first of all, every person is different and has a different way of connecting with plants and may receive healing from the plants in varying ways. Every person will have a different experience and each experience you have with the same plant may also vary. I will be sharing with you the 7 main ways I like to connect with plants both physically using my senses and spiritually using meditative practice. I will also share with you how I have incorporated this practice daily into my busy life.
Keep in mind there are numerous exercises and ways of connecting some of which you can refer to from the recommended resources at the end of this article. I hope to inspire you to deepen your connection to your body and the plants around you so you may experience the additional healing benefits of being connected. If this practice is new to you, start with some of the simple exercises connecting to the plants physically and taking the opportunity to learn more about the plants which interest you. Then, when you are ready, start incorporating exercises to strengthen your spiritual connection to the plants. As you continue this practice you will find your own ways of connecting and developing a strong relationship with the plants you use.
- Surround Yourself with Plants
Find a little time each day, even if it is only 5-10 minutes, to connect to nature and plants. Go for a brief walk or hike, go to the park, visit college and community gardens, participate in community gardening, grow your own plants indoors or outdoors, etc. If you have a desk job keep at least one plant in your workspace that you can connect with and even look at periodically while working. Put plants near windows throughout your home. If you do not have yard space grow some plants in pots on your deck, balcony or porch. You can even use hanging baskets and racks to hold pots which hang from the roof, railings or fencing.
Trees are powerful plants to be around so spend some time sitting under a tree. Eat a meal, read a book or take a nap under a tree. Climb a tree and take in the scenery. Hug a tree and feel its essence flow through your body. There is nothing like the feeling of giving a tree a long grateful hug.
Taking a few moments with a living plant when you are feeling stressed or upset about something can help you feel more relaxed and release the stress. Enjoy your ritual when you water and care for them. Take time to touch and stroke the leaves, smell their flowers, groom them as needed. Plants love when we talk and sing to them so feel free to bust out in your favorite tune, confide in them and say thank you as we walk by and admire them.
2. Grow Your Own Medicinal Herbs
There are many benefits to growing your own herbs, especially herbs you like to use regularly. One benefit is growing your medicine is more cost effective as you can harvest what you grow so you do not have to buy as much. Growing your own medicinal plants also gives you the opportunity to get to know how they grow and what their personality and doctrine of signatures are like. As you water and help the plant grow you are given the opportunity to connect with the plant through observation and using your senses (more about that below).
There are many plants which are stronger and more flavorful when used fresh. I love being able to use fresh spices such as rosemary, sage, oregano, marjoram, thyme, parsley, dill, fennel, etc. in my food and culinary infusions. I love drinking tea made with fresh nettle, tulsi, lemon balm, chamomile, or mint. Eating fresh wild edible greens such as nettle, chickweed and dandelion are an amazing way to receive medicine from our food. It is also very convenient to be able to freshly harvest skin healing herbs such as chickweed, plantain, calendula, rose and comfrey for general first aid situations or to use to make your own bath and beauty products.
It is very empowering to grow and harvest your own medicine. In our society many tend to rely on a doctor or medical practioner to heal us. We have become detached from our personal power and being aware of the power our body has to heal itself and how plants can be used to stimulate, encourage and guide that healing process. When you grow, harvest and prepare your medicine you are embracing that inherent power and healing from within. As you smell, taste and handle the plant through its stages of growth and as you process it into medicine, you get to connect using your senses and build a relationship with it. This connection can provide a deeper level of healing. Plants evolve and adapt to their environment for survival so when we are growing our medicine, touching and connecting to the plant, it adapts with us and grows medicine specifically for the healing we need.
3. Be Connected to Your Body and Environment
This is a common principle in many meditative and spiritual practices from all of the world as well as most martial art forms. When we are connected to our body and then feel grounded and connected to our environment with awareness, we are stronger, more focused and confident, are able to easily adapt and our senses are more heightened. When we are in this state we can foster deeper relationships to the plant spirits and receive more emotional and spiritual healing from the plants.
Simple Breathing and Grounding Exercise:
Sit or stand comfortably. Make sure back is straight, shoulders and arms are relaxed. You neck should be relaxed with head slightly tilted forward to straighten the back of the neck and open the vertebrae. Place your awareness in your belly and position your hands on your abdomen to help keep your focus on your core. Take a few slow and deep breaths focusing on each breath. Expand your belly with each inhale and feel the chest open. Contract your belly with each exhale as if it is helping to push out all the breath from your lungs. As you become relaxed continue your "belly breathing" and you may start to feel a tingling wave slowly flow from the top of your head and down your body. This is your energy force or what is commonly referred to as your "higher self" coming into your physical body. Once you are grounded you can check in with your body and emotions. How do you feel emotionally? How do you feel physically? Are there any areas of your body which are tight, sore or in pain? Does your attention keep gravitating towards an area of your body? Just take time to be aware of your body and how you feel.
This exercise is great for enhancing awareness and focus, helping you feel grounded and confident, easing stress and anxiety, heightening the senses, etc.
"Every breath is a giveaway dance between you and the plants.
Breathe this in. Plant Spirit Healing vibrates like a harp string,
shimmers like a spider web, and is destined to be a warp thread
in the re-weaving of the healing cloak of the Ancients."
4. Touch and Observe Plants
Touch is a powerful way of connecting. Imagine how you feel when you hold hands or embrace someone you care about in a hug. Skin to skin contact is a great way to physically connect with someone. Now think about how that also applies to plants. Gently feel a plant and notice its texture. Is it smooth, silky, waxy, fuzzy, rough, gritty, etc.? How do you feel when you are touching it?
Observe the colors of the plant and how it grows. Are there any shapes or patterns? What conditions or environment does the plant seem to prefer? In what ways is it adapting to its environment? Does it need anything like water, grooming, foliar spraying, nutrients, etc.? Just take a moment to observe and notice the plant.
You can make these observations when you handle dried herbs as well. I love the sensory experience from handling and smelling herbs whether I am pouring herbs in to jars, mixing herbs in a bowl to make a blend, sprinkling herbs in to my food or bath, or making decorative arts, crafts and gifts using herbs.
One of my favorite projects I started doing with my son is making cards and wall hanging art using dried herbs. We would first color or paint the card/paper. When it 
dried and was ready we took various types of glue and would make beautiful collages arranging the plants over the colored background. With each plant we glued we would observe its color, texture and smell and talk about how it made us feel.
Tips: Glitter glue was good for gluing very light and small plants such as calendula, lavender, rose and corn flower petals which yielded the pretty glitter around and between the flowers. Regular Elmer's glue which dries clear is good for most other plants which are not too heavy or big. We used super glue or a hot glue gun for heavier objects such as cinnamon sticks, star anise pods, twigs, cones, large seed pods, etc.
Pressing and drying leaves and flowers is another great way to use your sense of touch to connect with plants and from there make creative and decorative art and crafty projects.
Caution: Do not touch plants and use caution when observing plants if they have spines, thorns, cause skin dermatitis or allergies. Also, be extremely gentle as some plant are very fragile and can be damaged when handled.
5. Taste Plants
Tasting plants activate a physiological response throughout the body and can be used to encourage healing. For example, foods, herbs and spices with a bitter taste stimulate liver and digestive functions. As you develop your physical and spiritual connection with plants take a moment to be aware and in the present moment when you taste a plant. Observing how the taste of plants affects the body is a great daily exercise to stay connected to ourselves and develop a connection to the plants we taste.
Any edible plant can be tasted in food and meals, medicinal herbs can be made into tea to drink, take a nibble of the plant or dried herb and chew on it, or take a few drops of a tincture, glycerite, vinegar, oil or honey infusion. How does the plant taste? Is it bitter, sweet, sour, pungent, spicy, salty, earthy, etc.? Does the flavor evolve in the mouth? How does the texture of the plant feel? Is it moist, drying, astringent, chalky, gritty, etc.?
When I am cooking I like to take little pinches of the herbs and spices as I use them or nibble on the edible greens and food as I prepare it, focusing on the flavor and how my body responds to it. When I harvest plants to use I first observe and connect with them, offer my gratitude and nibble on a small amount, paying attention to the way my body, mind, emotions and spirit respond to the plant.
6. Smell Plants
One of the reasons I am so fascinated with aromatherapy is how immediate the biological and emotional response is to smells. When we stop and smell a flower our shoulders immediately drop, when we smell some lavender or other calming scent we become more relaxed. When we are lethargic or tired we can smell uplifting oils to feel more stimulated. When we smell something toxic or harmful we generally have an aversion to the scent or it may give us an instant feeling of nausea or a headache. There are many ways we react to smells as the properties in aromatic oils permeate through the olfactory membranes in our nose and are immediately absorbed into the blood stream as well as the nervous and neurological systems.
For a deeper spiritual connection try the following exercise using our sense of smell:
Find a place to sit comfortably and relax using the belly breathing grounding exercise mentioned above (or any other grounding exercise you prefer). When you are relaxed and grounded take a deep breath of a scent from a plant. It can be a living or freshly harvested plant, dried herb, diffusing the essential oil, smoldering a bundle, burning some clean plant based incense, etc. With each breath you take notice the subtle shifts in your body and emotions. Notice how the scent smells. Is it floral, fruity, spicy, etc.? Do you enjoy the smell? How does it make you feel emotionally? How do you feel physically? What does it make you think of? Does the scent trigger any memories?
You can feel a lot even when you do this exercise for only 30-45 seconds; however, if you incorporate this as a mindful meditative practice for 5-10 minutes, 3-5 times a week you can develop a greater connection to your body and the plants.
7. Learn About and Immerse Yourself in a Plant
I would recommend choosing one plant to study every week or month depending on how much time you have to work with the plant. First, choose a plant that interests you and is something you think will benefit you. Research and learn about it. Avoid using commercial websites, sites with companies selling products or general informative sites such as Wikipedia, ask yahoo, etc. Utilize credible sites and resources from herbalists who have been in practice for years and preferably one who resonates with you and has a similar approach to using plants as there are many schools of thought and approaches to using herbal medicine.
After you study the plant and learn the safe ways you can use it, purchase a small to moderate amount of it. Find as many ways as you can to incorporate that plant into your life over the next week or month and use your senses to learn and connect with the plant. If it is safe to consume it try to make and drink a tea preparation of that herb every day. Do various tea preparations to note how different lengths of steeping times affect the flavor, texture and effects of the tea. Try a solar or lunar infusion by letting the tea infuse in the sun or moon light. Is there a difference between steeping the herbs in cold water for hours and short steeps with boiling water? If the plant can be added to food, try incorporating it in as many meals as you can.
If you can apply the plant on the skin find fun ways of applying it topically on the body. Rub the scent of a plant on your skin, make it into an oil, liniment, vinegar or witch hazel infusion for topical healing, make your own herbal beauty care products, add the essential oil, herb or tea into your bath and soak in the plant healing and breath in the aromatics of the plant.
If the plant is safe to burn you can smolder dried bundles, sprinkle the powdered herb onto charcoal to burn incense or add the herb into fire places, wood stoves and fire pits. Add a small amount into a bag and carry it around in your pocket and place it under your pillow or on your headboard while you sleep. If you enjoy using flower or tree essences add a drop into your water and drink it throughout the day or apply a drop under the tongue or on meridian points for meditative practice and developing a deeper spiritual connection to the plant spirits.
Keep a journal where you write down the plants you connect with, how you connected with them and your overall experience. One of the interesting aspects of this practice is going through and reading your journal entries describing what you learned from making these connections, seeing how you have personally grown through this practice and reminding yourself of the many lessons and healing experiences you received.
Plant Meditation for Cultivating a Deeper Spiritual Connection
When you feel comfortable with connecting to the plants physically and are ready to take your connection even deeper you can incorporate the plants in your spiritual practice. First become grounded and present so your senses are heightened and you are more aware. Either meditate next to a live plant or use your senses such as touching, smelling or tasting a very small amount of a plant to connect with it. Then ask the plant spirit to come to you for healing or guidance. Continue to meditate and observe the various shifts which occur and any information you may receive from the plant. You may feel various sensations throughout the body or on the skin. You may feel cold, warm or hot. You may feel an upward, downward, outward or inward energy. You may be focused on a certain area of your body or feel sensations in your digestion, heart, head, throat, feet, hands, etc. If you are a visual person like myself, you may see colors and shapes or even visions. You can notice how the plant affects you in as little as 5 minutes but if you really want an opportunity to deeply connect then you may need to do this for 15-30 minutes at a time.
There are no right or wrong feelings or experiences. Just observe the subtle shifts throughout your body and in your emotions. The more you meditate with the plants the stronger and deeper your connection becomes. Over time you can cultivate a strong relationship with the plant spirits and it can become easier to listen to them and receive their ancient wisdom and healing through your meditation, dreams, lucid dreaming, or times when you mindfully connect and ask the plant spirit to come to you.
Remember that you do not need to feel like you are too busy to connect with plants or your environment which is easy to do. Smaller, more frequents moments of connections with plants throughout the day can be very beneficial. Do what works for you and your schedule. Some may have 30 minutes every day when they meditate or spend time with a plant. Others may spend just a few minutes observing or talking to their plant or taking a brief moment to smell, taste and thank the plants before they eat or sprinkle herbs and spices into their food. Some may only stop and smell the flowers quickly on their way out the door. Just gradually find more and more ways of feeling connected and the plants will be grateful for the attention and acknowledgement.
"Plant spirit medicine is the shaman's way with plants.
It recognizes that plants have spirit and that spirit is the strongest medicine.
Spirit can heal the deepest reaches of the heart and soul."
~ Eliot Cowan, Plant Spirit Medicine [3]
Are you interested in learning more about plant behavior and communication, plant spirit healing, and ways we can listen, observe and connect with plants? Then check out some of these resources:
Steven Harrod Buhner (Herbalist, Author, Poet)
The Secret Teachings of Plants: The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature
Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm: Beyond the Doors of Perception into the Dreaming of Earth
The Lost Language of Plants: The Ecological Importance of Plant Medicines for Life on Earth
Sacred Plant Medicine: The Wisdom in Native American Herbalism
http://www.gaianstudies.org/Stephen.html
Pam Montgomery (Herbalist and Author)
Plant Spirit Healing: A Guide to Working with Plant Consciousness
Partner Earth: A Spiritual Ecology
Sacred Plant Initiations: Communicating with Plants for Healing and Higher Consciousness
http://www.partnereartheducationcenter.com
The Secret Life of Plants
by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird
The Secret Life of Plants (Video Documentary)
What Plants Talk About (Video Documentary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrrSAc-vjG4
Numen: The Nature of Plants (Video Documentary)
http://www.numenfilm.com/
About the Author
:
Candice Brunlinger has been studying and practicing herbal healing since 2004. Her passions include making herbal medicine, developing connections with plants, cooking, growing herbs, gardening, wild crafting, teaching workshops and classes, practicing tai chi and qi gong and being an "herbal mama". She teaches for the Northwest School of Botanical Studies, has a small clinical practice and an herbal product line, Herbal Infusions. Candice is inspired by plants and integrating a holistic lifestyle. You can visit her blog at http://nourishingherbs.blogspot.com/ or become a member of her facebook group "Herbal Living" at www.facebook.com/groups/herballiving/.
References:
[1]
Plant Spirit Healing: A Guide to Working with Plant Consciousness
by Pam Montgomery
Copyright 2008; Page 24
[2]
Plant Spirit Healing: A Guide to Working with Plant Consciousness
by Pam Montgomery
Copyright 2008; Page 7
[3]
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/41373234-plant-spirit-medicine
Herbs for Pets Sale - Friday May 27th through Thursday June 2nd 
With gardens blooming in the warm summer months, it's a great time to experiment with edible flowers! Sprinkle them over your favorite dishes, brighten up salads, and create exquisite desserts with edible flowers. Some flowers taste like the leafy parts of the plants (rosemary flowers taste like rosemary, chive flowers taste like chives, etc.) and some flowers, like roses, have a divine flavor all their own. Make sure that you're flowers aren't sprayed with pesticides or grown with harmful chemicals. 
Dandelion Honey
Sweet Wine Lavender Cookies
