Doc's Blog!
Want To Be Truly Self-Reliant? Don’t Miss This Essential Element!
More and more, folks are going back to the important things in life. There is a trend toward self-sufficiency and independence. For some this is due to a concern that the current systems of delivering goods and services are not sustainable in the event of a significant emergency or catastrophe.
For others, it has more to do with disillusionment with the modern lifestyle. They are weary of the constant chasing of meaningless, temporary things. They see through the farce promoted by pop culture and commercialism that acquiring more-and-more, better-and-better stuff or higher-and-higher popularity and approval on social media and such really have no bearing whatsoever on true happiness.
When I was a young veterinarian in Minnesota years ago, I had a lot of Amish clients. I tended their cows and chickens, and took care of their beautiful draft horses. Once I asked one of my good Amish friends why he didn’t have electricity on his place. I was just curious about the history, cultural or religious history of the practice. He looked at me and replied, “I don’t know the man at the electric company“. What he was saying was, that he wasn’t willing to allow the welfare of his family, his business and his entire livelihood to be dependent on people and machinery and systems with which he had no connections and over which he had no influence or control.
On another occasion I was in a feed store where a number of farmers and ranchers were shooting the breeze. One fellow who was a cattle broker that bought and sold cattle said “I grossed over a million bucks this year and I still had to go to the bank and get a loan so I could pay my taxes!” The other fellows commiserated with nods of understanding. Sitting on the edge of the group was an Amish friend of mine. “A million dollars” he said, “That’s a lot of money. My little farm only brought in about 14 thousand this year.” He let the other fellows chuckle about that pittance of income for a minute and then said, “Of course, I’ve got most of that in the bank.” You see almost all of his family’s needs for food and clothing and shelter were being provided for by his hard work and lifestyle choices. A lot of people are seeing the value of re-considering that sort of freedom and independence. We’re starting to realize as a culture that chasing money to buy things that don’t matter is silly and that maybe past generations were on to something.
This past week I attended a conference of modern homesteaders up in Northern Idaho. The folks attending really were the salt of the Earth…just great people. They really are committed to things that matter and are giving up on things that just don’t. They are striving for independence, self-reliance and a simpler, more meaningful life and I applaud them for it. Maybe if more people were willing to really look at the true sources of joy, and the true meaning of success, our broken world could get put back together.
After my lectures, a lot of those good folks came to me and said they’d really never considered how important understanding the use of herbal medicines was as part of their ability to take care of themselves and their loved ones in the context of a simpler, more meaningful life that wasn’t dependent on external systems. Having a cow and some chickens and a garden are all great. But what would they do if that cow got mastitis or those chickens got influenza? And wouldn’t it be wonderful if that garden wasn’t just full of food but also contained amazing healing resources in the form of medicinal plants?
My sweet wife and I raised 15 children. During the years of that adventure, We only had two or three doctor visits total. That isn’t because we don’t like doctors or don’t respect their abilities and contributions. It’s just because we never needed them. When my kids got sick, they’d go to the herb cabinet or out to the garden to pick the remedy. It was just part of their lifestyle. If they were hungry they picked the fruits and veggies. If they had a bellyache or a sore throat, or some other malady, they used the medicinal plants that were growing all over the property.
Having access to and understanding of medicinal plants is an extraordinarily empowering thing. It really is a critical piece of any real self-sufficiency plan.
For many years, I’ve taught folks how to access that amazing blessing. In The HomeGrown Herbalist School of Botanical Medicine , we teach the principles of how the body functions and how plants can impact and improve those functions. We also teach how the processes of disease and injury affect the body and how medicinal plants can promote health and healing.
Have a bellyache? Take some peppermint or chamomile. Have a sore tooth? Apply some cloves. Having an asthma attack? An allergic reaction? An infection or wound? There are plenty of plants for all of those things as well as about any other malady.
If you’d like to learn more about medicinal plants, I’d love to join you on that journey and I invite you to join our community of learners. In addition to the lessons in the school, there is also a student forum where we talk about cases and plants we’ve discovered in our yards and new and remarkable things we’ve done with these amazing green blessings. I hope you’ll join us.
Doc Jones
The HomeGrown Herbalist School of Botanical Medicine
Everything Preppers Need:
This is a great reminder! Though I have been a member of the school, it’s been a while since I actively learned anything new. Now we are slowly building a little bit of a homestead and hosting a lot of people on our property all the time, it’ll be good to refresh and start a new medicine cabinet. I am missing my old one, that we had to leave behind due to our emigration, but I am much looking forward to build one up again. 😊
Thank you, Doc Jones, for another fantastic blog post. I very much enjoyed hearing about your experiences working with the Amish community.
I dream of attending the Homegrown School of Botanical Medicine! I would love to learn about the body systems and how the plants work. I don’t think there is anyone else who has your combined knowledge of veterinary medicine and naturopathy to draw on!
We’d love to have you aboard. Holler when you’re ready to enroll. :0)
https://homegrownherbalist.net/about-the-school/
I recently adopted a 9YO terrier from the humane society. She was diagnosed with keratoconjunctivitis sicca and I must put Optimmune ointment in her eye twice a day and the vet there is recommending to remove the eye. I would much rather she keep her eye (if possible) and would definitely rather use something natural as it seems when I forget to use the ointment, her eye seems more clear and less crusty. Do you have any advice as to whether there is an herb I can try? Thank you!
keratoconjunctivitis sicca can have a number of causes. The Eye support formula may the support the eye structures in trying to do their job, but it’s likely that the ointment is going to be necessary.
https://homegrownherbalist.net/?s=eye+support&post_type=product&title=1&excerpt=0&content=1&categories=1&attributes=0&tags=1&sku=1&orderby=date-DESC&ixwps=1
…Within the last day or two, I was just thinking – what do I really want to be doing with my time? And the top thing to come to mind was HGH school. I want to be learning more to be able to help myself and others when needed. But I have to get over this hurdle of figuring out how to be recognized by the new system.
Being off-grid and unable to watch videos at home is hard, life is so busy,…the library is open only during daylight hours, and those daylight hours a precious working hours when you don’t have electricity and have so much to do.
So, thanks for the reminder. This needs to move up my priority list, even if it means losing some daylight working hours.
Hi Deanne,
I’m going to make audio files of all the lessons that are easy to download so that you can listen to them while you’re working and won’t have to go to the library to enjoy the school. :0)
That is great news. 🙂 I can’t listen to audios at home either, but maybe once I get into the new system, I can get them on a thumb drive and listen on a little dvd player my son had in his truck, which I power with a car battery. 🙂
What did you say you could use for asthma please? Thank you!
Have a look here: https://homegrownherbalist.net/?s=azma&post_type=product&title=1&excerpt=0&content=1&categories=1&attributes=0&tags=1&sku=1&orderby=date-DESC&ixwps=1
The modern homesteading conference was an exhilarating experience ! We didn’t have a chat, but I did have the opportunity to meet your lovely wife. A few years ago, I started planting medicinal herbs, but really added to the medicinal garden exponentially this year. Along with that, I joined your school and have been soaking it in slowly. Your blog post is a timely reminder that homesteading is as much about community as anything else, and having a tribe of like-minded folks is a source of peace and joy, knowledge and resource. Thanks for all you do!
Suggestions for a dairy cow with mastitis starting?? We’ve lost one quarter to a sudden severe case in the past, and natural options didn’t cut it- but I really want to try natural again before turning to antibiotics which we’ve never done!
Shoot me an email Bambi
https://homegrownherbalist.net/contact-us/