Spirulina: Superfood for the New Year
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttI was thinking about my typical resolutions for the new year: lose weight, get more exercise, spend more time with my family—resolutions that almost everyone ha...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsYaupon Leaves Are Safe, but Don’t Eat the Berries
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttThe botanical name for yaupon (Texas holly) is Ilex vomitoria. The “vomitoria” part refers to the belief that some Indian tribes used yaupon tea as an emetic. I...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsYaupon Tea
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttFew people know this interesting fact about yaupon (a.k.a. Texas holly): this relative of the South American maté (Ilex paraguayensis) provides the only wild te...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsYaupon: Texas Holly
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttIt is the holiday season now and shiny green holly with its bright red berries is here. In Texas, we have a holly that grows wild: yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), an u...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsRosemary—Part 3
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttOne way to use the marvelous rosemary herbal butter discussed in the previous blog is in Madalene Hill’s and Gwen Barclay’s delightful and easy recipe from thei...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsRosemary—Part 2
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttThere is no better place to look for recipes using rosemary than Southern Herb Growing by Madalene Hill and her daughter, Gwen Barclay. Herbal Butters Herbal bu...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsRosemary—Part 1
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttAnother herb (not a weed!)—used often in the south as ornamentals in the garden or even as hedges—is rosemary. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is one of my ve...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsAll About Dandelions—Part 3
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttConsuming dandelion in the spring helps to counter the ill effects of a winter of eating only cooked, heavy foods. The bitters help the body to cleanse itself. ...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsAll About Dandelions—Part 2
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttFor its medicinal purposes, dandelion is a powerful diuretic. Usually when a drug stimulates the kidneys, one experiences a loss of vital potassium from the bod...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsAll About Dandelions—Part 1
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttNow that it's fall, I’m thinking ahead to seeing the bright, yellow dandelions in the spring. What a happy plant! It keeps popping up even when we try to g...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsOde to Aloe Vera
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttI thought I would muse about one of my very favorite herbs: aloe vera. Here in Texas, aloe is a garden staple. I know some of you nurture it in your kitchens, r...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsKitchen Gardens: Chervil
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttAnother herb discussed in Mary Cambell’s 1971 book is chervil. Now I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a great cook. It may be because I’m a chemist that I have ...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsKitchen Gardens: Sweet Basil
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttI think I connected to the book Kitchen Gardens because the author, Mary Campbell, pulled much of her herbal information from the classics. This was 1971, befor...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsKitchen Gardens: Herb Butter Recipe
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttIn a charming gem of a Betty Crocker book called Kitchen Gardens by Mary Mason Campbell, the author takes you through planning your garden, working a healthy ga...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsKitchen Gardens: Intro
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttWhen my girlfriend, Connie, retired and moved to Pennsylvania, she gave me a wonderful little book called Betty Crocker’s Kitchen Gardens by Mary Mason Campbell...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsPlants and Pets
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttI really enjoy sharing how the plants are there to help us—if only we would use them. Often we see our dogs and cats outside, browsing on this plant and that. I...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsPets as Herbal Teachers—Part 6
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttI have talked about one herbal combination that I’ve used with both people and animals for joint health and arthritis. The main ingredients are alfalfa, horseta...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsPets as Herbal Teachers—Part 5
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttI want to share the fact that herbs work great with tropical fish as well. For the last 15 years, I have kept a 30-gallon freshwater tank. When I started I had ...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsPets as Herbal Teachers—Part 4
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttI’ve talked about dogs and natural health, but now I want to be sure to mention my two male cockatiels, Dino and Chip. Although I didn’t hand feed my little boy...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsPets as Herbal Teachers—Part 3
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttPetie, Sam’s older brother, is another rescued pup from my vet. (For more about Sam, see Part 2 of this series.) Now 9 years old, Petie is still quite the chara...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsHow to Give Herbs to Pets
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttI would like to share how to give encapsulated herbs to animals. If your dog or cat isn’t fussy, you can just pill them. Use a pilling device, or just push the ...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsPets as Herbal Teachers—Part 2
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttHere’s another case of one of my pets being a wonderful herbal teacher: my dog, Samantha. You can see her picture on my website. Sam is a recued dog from my vet...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsPets as Herbal Teachers—Part 1
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttI was thinking of all the teachers I've had over the years who helped me become an herbalist. My animals (dogs, birds, and even my fish) really taught me a...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsBeing a Good Herbal Client
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttToday I want to begin to talk about what I appreciate in an herbal client. One thing I appreciate is when herbal clients don’t wait too long before contacting m...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsBeing an Herbalist
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttWell, it's been a busy time here in central Texas, what with the beginning of the spring semester at Texas A I think that most people have this ability, th...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsRule #10 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttThe last Golden Rule from Dr. Ritchason — Hering's Law of Cure — is a tricky one to understand, but one that is fundamental to how healing naturally occurs...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsRule #9 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
Wendy Keeney-Kennicutt“Exercise regularly the rest of your life.” The 9th Golden Rule is a mantra touted by everyone, but it still is difficult for many of us to keep up with. I know...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsRule #8 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttGolden Rule #8 says, “Eat as much raw food as possible.” Basically, many of the nutrients in our fruits and vegetables—including enzymes, vitamins, phytonutrien...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsRule #4 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttWell, I’m sorry, everyone – I was so into the later rules, I missed the 4th Golden Rule: "Have moderation in all things." Don’t go nuts, in other word...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsRule #7 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
Wendy Keeney-Kennicutt"You must take responsibility for yourself and your health." That is the 7th Golden Rule of Health. North Americans are pretty good at this rule. I...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsRule #6 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
Wendy Keeney-Kennicutt"Live closer to God" is Dr. Ritchason's 6th rule of his Golden Rules of Health. I know that everyone's spiritual journey is different, but I...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsRule #5 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
Wendy Keeney-Kennicutt“Make peace with nature” is the 5th rule of Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health. People have all kinds of epiphanies. It was a major epiphany for me when I r...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsRule #3 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttRule #3 is that nothing in the human body heals in less than 3 months – then add one month for every year that you have been sick. Herbs and supplements, combin...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsRule #2 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttThe second rule in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health is that it takes 5–7 times the normal amount of nutrition to build and repair than it does to maintain...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsRule #1 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttRule #1 is to stop putting poisons into your body. I'm not refering to poisons in the general sense with skulls and crossbones on the label. I'm refer...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and PlantsDr. Ritchason’s 10 Golden Rules of Health
Wendy Keeney-KennicuttFor my first blog, I would like to share one of my favorite herbalist’s set of health rules. I will discuss each of them in my blogs to follow. Dr. Ritchason...
Read more...CategoriesHealing Herbs and Plants


