As the days grow shorter and colder it is natural to den up like a bear, our ancestors would sleep longer hours in the Winter embracing the natural rhythms of the season. In our modern society many have forgotten these rhythms. We constantly have our foot on the gas pedal of life. Especially during the late Autumn and Early Winter we are busy with family gatherings and celebrations We forget to slow down to the natural rhythms of the Season and to turn inward. Through out the Winter season, Prairie Star will be focused on different self care practices you may enjoy, becoming more aware or present with the Season's natural rhythms. Two self care practice that teaches the art of...
This Summer, my partner and I traveled through back highways in three states filled with prairie and grasslands on motorcycle. Starting in Central Time Zone, we spent hours on the road until we reached our destination in Mountain Time. I often joke how we travel through time to visit our family and the special places in South Dakota. This was our first visit on two wheels and I learned first hand what saddle sore means. We would start off early in the morning when it was cool but by 10 AM it was roasting. To occupy my mind helping me to endure the Summer heat, I practice a meditation. Closing my eyes and becoming still, heightens my awareness, I focus...
Plants of the Prairie are powerful. Plants that possess such great health benefits also have high value within the herbal/natural medicine industry...this is why we must be diligent and understand the importance of species used, as well as monitor the specie's population and source our herbs from cultivated resources, rather than wild-crafted.
In past weeks, we’ve talked about our practices for wild-crafting, or harvesting plants in their wild habitat. That’s one of the ways that we bring plants into our lab for producing our products. This week we’re talking about our efforts to bring bio-regional plants into our educational garden, our residential landscapes, and public education projects.
We at Prairie Star are very grateful for Lance and the Golden Hills RC&D and their partners for the wonderful effort made in Prairie restoration and conservation. As Ralph Waldo Emerson so accurately describes in Nature and selected Essays: " In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature.”, we encourage you to go outside, become involved with conservation projects in your area.
