Fresh News

Oregon PSR Campaign For Safe Food Update

MISSION: Guided by the values and expertise of medicine and public health, Physicians for Social Responsibility works to protect human life from the gravest threats to health and survival. PSR is the medical and public health voice working to prevent the use or spread of nuclear weapons and to slow, stop and reverse global warming and toxic degradation of the environment.

Visit their website here.

Antidepressant Drug Effects and Depression Severity

Last month, The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study questioning the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs. The drugs are useful in cases of severe depression, it said. But for most patients, those with mild to moderate cases, the most commonly used antidepressants are generally no better than a placebo.

[Click here] for the whole article

STOP GENETICALLY ENGINEERED ALFALFA!

USDA just released its draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on GE alfalfa and NOW is your chance to demand that USDA protect organic food from GE contamination.

Tell the USDA Not to Approve Monsanto's GE Alfalfa!

Comments are due February 16, 2010 [Click here]

Organic Bytes: OCA's Bi-Weekly Email Publication

Environmental, Consumer and Health News Tidbits With An Edge!

Organic Bytes, OCA's weekly email newsletter, offers useful news tibdbits, tips and information for the green-minded consumer. Organic Bytes has a readership of over a 250,000 people, making it one of the most popular email newsletters focused on issues involving health, justice and sustainability.

Read past issues here.

Organic Farm Photo Gallery

Please click for more photos of our herbs and Organic, Biodynamic® Farm.

 Upcoming Events

 Farm News

February 2, 2010

We are quickly preparing our greenhouses for spring plantings. The seeds have all been cleaned, and are ready to go. In about a week, we will turn on the heat in the greenhouses and begin warming them up. First herb to plant: Astragalus.

It's been a very mild winter, and the cover crops are growing well. How mild has the winter been? Well, the Valerian is already sprouting! Let's hope we don't get a freeze before spring arrives.

We've been spreading compost piles on the new fields we will use next year. We are in the process of adding new acres to the farm - in more ways than one! In addition to planting new acres where we are, we are aggressively seeking additional land to farm. Oregon's Wild Harvest needs to expand to better meet the demands for the herbs we can grow right here.

In the meantime, we are looking forward to using our new automated planter, which plants four rows of seeds at a time, and can add the Biodynamic® prep as the seed is being planted. Very cool.

   Herbs of the Month

St. John's Wort 90ct

Studies have shown that hypericin and related bioactive constituents are concentrated in the flowering buds of St. John's Wort. We have standardized our harvesting process to retain total hypericin, without compromising other active constituents. We are careful to select only the buds in consideration of this activity. This product meets or exceeds our minimum potency standard of 0.3% total naphthodianthrones as hypericin. [Click here]

Holy Basil, Organic 60ct

As an impressive adaptogenic tonic, Holy Basil protects the body from the negative effects of daily stress and aging by maintaining the intricate balance of our nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. The balance of these systems is important in the maintenance of a normal inflammation response. [Click here]

Green Tea, Organic 90ct

Green tea has been consumed throughout the ages in Asia. Prior to the consumption of Tea as an infusion, it was ingested just like other herbs. Green Tea is produced by lightly steaming the freshly cut leaf, thus not allowing oxidation of the enzymes within the leaf to take place. The chemical composition of green tea varies with climate, season, horticultural practices, and the age of the leaf (position of leaf on the harvest shoot). [Click here]