December 2012 Volume 4 Issue 12 zine Planting a Seed of Knowledge for a Lifetime of Herbal Wisdom Noticing Nutmeg 1 Written and Illustrated by Kristine Brown © 2012 Kristine Brown q Written and Illustrated by Kristine Brown r Herbal Roots Zine is a monthly activity magazine created to teach kids about medicinal herbs. All writings and illustrations are created and owned by Kristine Brown and are subject to copyright laws. All rights reserved. Please do not distribute this packet outside of your immediate family or use any part of it for resale value. Libraries are welcome to print out a copy to place in a binder for their loan system. Commercial and classroom rates are available. All information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition. Text and Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Kristine Brown Herbal Roots zine 8801 State Route 162 Troy, Illinois 62294 [email protected] Herbal Roots zine ISSN 2166-4668 (online) http://herbalrootszine.com/ https://www.facebook.com/herbalrootszine 1 Written and Illustrated by Kristine Brown © 2012 Kristine Brown Table of Contents Note to Parents 3 Calendar 6 Herb Spirits 7 All About...Nutmeg 9 Scramble, Search and More 12 Herbal Botany 15 Herbal Lore 17 Songs and Poems 20 Herbal Recipes 21 Coloring Page 25 Herbal Crafts and More 26 Maze 29 Herbal Journal 30 Crossword Puzzle 32 Resource Page 34 2 Written and Illustrated by Kristine Brown © 2012 Kristine Brown Note to Parents Dear Parents, Another year of herbal learning has come to an end. As the weather outside grows more blustery, we look inside our kitchen cabinets for herbal inspiration. Nutmeg is a perfect choice for this time of year! Traditionally added to foods in the wintertime to help spread “good cheer,” Nutmeg not only adds a great flavor to foods but also has antidepressant properties. This month we’ll dive into the world of Nutmeg, making some traditional recipes that taste great and offer some herbal comfort as well as making some herbal remedies to use specifically for the medicinal effect. Although Nutmeg is used throughout the world for medicine, I do want to offer a word of caution from using too much at once as Nutmeg can cause some unpleasant side effects such as nausea, vomiting, headaches and more if too much is consumed at a time. The recipes in this issue are well below the limit of these effects but please do exercise caution when first using Nutmeg if you have not used it in the past. For more information on the more potent side of Nutmeg, you can go here: http://www.erowid.org/plants/nutmeg/nutmeg_article1.shtml. Don’t let that scare you away from using Nutmeg though! It’s a delicious addition to your culinary and medicine cabinets with many benefits well worth exploring. In addition to this booklet (which we recommend you print out a copy per child who will be using it), this month you will need (see the Craft and Recipe Sections for specifics on each): Ingredients Whole Nutmegs Raw Honey Whole Milk Egg yolks Heavy cream 3 Written and Illustrated by Kristine Brown © 2012 Kristine Brown Note to Parents Whipped cream Apricot Kernel or Sweet Almond oil Nutmeg Essential oil Supplies Small bowl Spoon Wash cloth Saucepan Whisk Mugs Nutmeg grater Mini Crock pot Cheesecloth and strainer Bottle Label Tea cup Tea ball Directly after this note is the calendar. If you’re not sure how to incorporate Herbal Roots into your daily learning routine, use the calendar as a way to get started. Subscribers have found this to be a great starting point whether they are homeschoolers trying to fit Herbal Roots Zine and herbal learning into their daily school routine or public/private schoolers trying to fit a few minutes of herbal learning into their hectic after school routine. My hope is that this calendar will be a starting point to get kids exploring herbs on their own and learn to bring a bit of herbal joy into their everyday lives. Be sure to check in with our blog! Every Monday we offer a giveaway. You can sign up for a chance to win all sorts of great items including wooden animals, clay pendants and a free issue of Herbal Roots Zine. Also, to new subscribers, I’d like to suggest investing in a binder of some sort to put these monthly sheets in. One per child if possible so they can each have their own little herbal book. They’ll be pasting actual samples of the herbs in here along with keeping a journal of all their thoughts and explorations of each particular herb. That will create a 4 Written and Illustrated by Kristine Brown © 2012 Kristine Brown Note to Parents wonderful memory to last through the schooling lifetime! They are building an herbal foundation of knowledge to be used for the rest of their lives. These are real herbs that can be found almost anywhere or grown very easily. Having this knowledge is very powerful and will stay with them for a lifetime! A great way to introduce Herbal Roots zine is to have them decorate a cover page for their own binder. You can also download a ready made binder cover on our website at: http://www.herbalrootszine.com/freebies/. You might also consider having them make a Herbarium if they haven’t already. Directions can be found on our website. Look for the link on the left hand column of the page! Most of all, have fun. Learn, explore, discover, taste and dream. The herbs are playful and we should be too. Until next month, Peace and Herbs! 5 Written and Illustrated by Kristine Brown © 2012 Kristine Brown December 2013 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Make Time for Draw Review Giveaway some a botany Nutmeg in Nutmeg Monday* the Craft with the Nutmeg lesson! section. Massage See page crossword. Oil. 16. 9 10 11 12 Have 13 14 15 Tell a you been Treat Try some Giveaway friend journaling yourself Nutmeg about your with a Monday* Nutmeg’s Nutmeg Nutmeg Tea story. exper- face mask. Today! iences? 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Share Make Word Giveaway Sing the your some search Monday * Nutmeg photos on Eggnog! time! song. our Flickr page.** 23 24 25 Add a 26Trouble27 28 29 Nutmeg sleeping? Did you How have Giveaway to your Nutmeg unscramble your Monday* pocket Milk to all the views on for safe the words? Nutmeg travels. rescue. changed? 30 31 Giveaway Monday* *Go online to Herbal Roots’ website at: http://herbalrootszine.com to see what’s new there! Every month I’ll be giving away a copy of Herbal Roots and many more goodies including plants, clay pendants and wooden critters made by local mama artists. **Have any pictures to share? Post them on our Flicker page at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/herbalrootszine. We’d love to see what you’ve been up to! ***See the resource section for links to great articles on this month’s herb! 6 Written and Illustrated by Kristine Brown © 2012 Kristine Brown Herb Spirits Visualizing herbal spirits can help you understand and remember the herb better. Before you read anything about Nutmeg, take a few minutes to fill out this page with your thoughts and feelings. After you have learned all about Nutmeg, fill out the second page with how you view Nutmeg after learning about her. Compare your answers and see how your understanding and knowledge of Nutmeg has changed and grown over the course of this issue. There are no right or wrong answers. Part 1: Fill out BEFORE you learn all about Nutmeg. j What color is this Herbal Spirit? _______________________ j What body type?(long, lean, plump, wispy, stout, etc.) ________________________________________________________ j Any particularly pronounced features? (eyes, ears, feet, belly, fingers.....?)___________________________________ j What personality? (fiery, calm, flighty, aggressive, grounded...)_____________________________________________ j Age? (baby, youth, adult, crone...)_______________________ j Ethnicity? ____________________________________________ j Gender? (male, female, gender neutral) _________________ j Herbal Spirit energy (cooling, warming, drying, moistening?_____________________________________________ j Element? (fire, water, earth, wood, metal, air, etc.) ________________________________________________________ 7 Written and Illustrated by Kristine Brown © 2012 Kristine Brown Herb Spirits Part 2: Fill out AFTER you learn all about Nutmeg. j What color is this Herbal Spirit? _______________________ j What body type?(long, lean, plump, wispy, stout, etc.) ________________________________________________________ j Any particularly pronounced features? (eyes, ears, feet, belly, fingers.....?)___________________________________ j What personality? (fiery, calm, flighty, aggressive, grounded...)_____________________________________________ j Age? (baby, youth, crone...)_____________________________ j Ethnicity? ____________________________________________ j Gender? (male, female, gender neutral) _________________ j Herbal Spirit energy (cooling, warming, drying, moistening?_____________________________________________ j Element? (fire, water, earth, wood, metal, air, etc.) ________________________________________________________ j j j j How did your answers change?___________________________ How did they stay the same?_____________________________ Did any of your changes surprise you?____________________ Why or why not?_________________________________________ 8 Written and Illustrated by Kristine Brown © 2012 Kristine Brown All About…Nutmeg! Nutmeg is often used in sweet, spicy dishes such as custards, pies, cookies and other treats as well as some savory dishes. We traditionally use Nutmeg this time of year for more than just his good taste; Nutmeg was added to food intentionally to spread ‘good cheer’ as he has an antidepressant effect on people. Nutmeg is an evergreen tree known botanically as Myristica fragrans. He is in the Myristaceae family. Nutmeg is the seed of the Nutmeg tree. Mace also comes from the Nutmeg tree and is the red coating that wraps around the hard shell of the Nutmeg seed.