sarah@summersunherbals.com
GARDEN DESIGN & CARE
Gardening is one of my greatest joys in life. All my gardens are enriched with glacial rock dust and plenty of compost and manure – a combination that allows plants to grow with amazing vital force. I’m all organic, all the way. Improve the soil, improve the earth. I can help you create a stunningly beautiful nutritive or medicinal garden, or improve your existing garden areas. It’s also easy to grow many herbs and greens in pots. I can show you how. Everyone needs a garden!
ROSES are some of my favorite plants!
I’m a “rose afficionada,” first learning about Rosa’s extensive healing abilities from Kiva Rose. During my clinical herbal studies, I wrote my thesis on roses, and learned a lot more! Now I grow heirloom roses for their fragrance and medicine. These “old roses” are much more vigorous and hardy than more modern varieties, are more vital and fragrant, more disease-resistant. Some roses, like the Apothecary Rose, have been grown for their beauty and medicinal properties since the 13th century.
What else do I grow and use medicinally? My gardens hold an extensive collection of my favorite herbs, including Penstemon, Lavender, Thyme, Mints, Passionflower, Mallows, Echinacea, St. John’s Wort, Lemon Verbena, Lemon Balm, Violets, Sage, Motherwort, Plantain, Wood Betony, Hyssop, Wild Indigo, Oregano, Angelica, Oat, Lewisia, Rudbeckia, and others! Love them! All organic, of course. Creating a growing environment that is appropriate for each plant is the key to successful gardening. I seem to have a knack for it.
Skin care products and nutritive blends made from formulations and infusions of these herbs and greens are healing and so delightful! I’m no spring chicken, and I’ve been making my own and my friends’ moisturizers, toners, hair mists, and fragrance sprays for more than 25 years.
As a Clinical Herbalist, I make products for people, dogs and cats that harness the most healing and appealing qualties of the herbs I grow and gather. I especially love the process of distilling hydrosols from fragrant, medicinal flowers and herbs. The end result is a very potent, yet gentle, solution that holds the magical healing energy of the plant in each drop.
Oz & Lily, my wonderful friends
NUTRITIONAL CONSULTS
for DOGS, CATS and HUMANS
I know a lot about how to create health for our animal friends, having worked as a nutritional canine/feline consultant for more than 12 years. One of my dogs is immune-impaired due to a birth defect, and I’ve learned a lot from her. Thank you, Lily! You, too, can create vibrant health and longevity for your beloved dog or cat – and for yourself.
Gina, beloved feline
Chandra and Lily in a rare still moment – Might have something to do with the special treat I was talking about.
I’ve been feeding whole foods and nutritive herbs to my dogs and cats for more than 15 years. My motto, “Greens with every meal” was something I first applied to animals, and later to myself and everyone else! We grow a lot of organic greens in our gardens – Arugula, Kale, Sorrel, Beets, Chard, Collard Greens, Chickweed, Watercress, Violet, Mustard Greens, Lettuces, Spinach, Oat Grass, Wheat Grass, Plantain, Nettle, Lambsquarters, and the list goes on! Crazy about greens!
Contact me at: sarah@summersunherbals.com
Sarah, I love your website !!
Thank you, Gena!
Our dog has hot spots for years. Tried everything! She is on special vet food and we know she is allergic to chicken and mugwort. Probably other things also. Is there a particular plant based food that is helpful to dogs to prevent hot spots? Garden greens? She scratches and hot spots bleed and if they get infected has to have antibiotics. She is in misery go much and nothing works! Special foods, shampoo, sprays etc. She is a 10 pound, 5 year old Bichon. Rescue dog! Thank you so much for any information you have. butterfly5100@verizon.net. Also, I thought there was a column on line that had a list of what was blooming each month at the Gardens. Do you know where that is now? Thank you very much!
Have you tried freeze dried or dehydrated foods at all? What I have found is that heat-processed food (dry or canned), because it has no enzymes and is hard to digest, is almost always the main culprit behind allergy issues and hot spots.
Check out my Dog and Cat page for food recommendations, as well as one of my relevant articles.
Greens are very healing for dogs! My dogs have greens with every meal.
I don’t post a garden blog every single month, but there is a lot of info about what is happening in my gardens.
Thanks so much for inquiring, Shirley. Best to you and your dog.
I thought of one more resource that could be helpful: I made a video of how I make a whole food breakfast for my dogs.
Prescription dog food is one of the worst offenders in regard to causing allergies. Switching to a whole food diet immediately could make all the difference. I’ve heard this same story hundreds of times, and a whole food diet = dramatic improvement 99% of the time.
Please let me know if you have further questions or concerns.