Milky Oats Across Oceans
My reputation at Arbor Vitae, the school I did my clinical studies at, is as the "Milky oats dealer." I don't brag about much, but I do make the creamiest, sweetest milky oats tincture I've personally ever tried, and once people taste it, they always come back for more.
So what's so great about milky oats anyway? To me, a huge dose feels like an herbal benzo (I'm talking a shot glass full, as my friend Zen likes to serve up when I come to visit).
I am a person who tends toward a frazzled state; when I get stressed, my short-term memory disappears, I misplace things, my words fail me, and I start to feel a bit feral. Milky oats cuts down on the static playing in my brain, allowing thoughts to move smoothly from one part to the other.
It's the herb that is safe for almost everyone to take and which most people need because it is known for its benefits for burned-out states. Do you know anyone who in this world of overwhelming amounts of violence, manufactured conflict, and always-expanding economic inequality feels a little burned out? I sure do.
So what are milky oats anyway? The low-glycemic, nutritious breakfast that you either love or hate is a grass that, on its way to producing grain, forms a chrysalis of white goo. That seminiferous substance:
Increases MAO and dopamine access, improving mood and cognitive function
Creates mucilage, soothing the gastric system
Doses you with a strong nutritive mix of silica, manganese, iron, and zinc, increasing energy
Has beta-glucans that reduce cholesterol
Reduces inflammation and oxidation
Contains an alkaloid called gramine with mild relaxant properties
Has a combination of nutritive and relaxant properties that is deeply supportive for withdrawal from alcohol and drugs, recovery from illness, as well as headaches, perimenopausal, and PMS symptoms
While the alkaloids of milky oats are better extracted in alcohol, vinegar, or glycerol (in that order), oat straw—the stalk and leaf—can make an incredibly nutritive tea that is especially great for bone health, skin, nails, and connective tissue.
In a month, it will be milky oats harvest season, and I will go around popping them like pimples and getting high off putting dozens straight in my mouth.
When H.E. and I decided to make a tincture as a benefit for our Cuban friends surviving through the oil blockade and continual threat of invasion by the US, milky oats had to be the base of it. While we are having very different experiences on opposite sides of this conflict, the jittery feeling of being out of control while conditions deteriorate is an experience we share. We count our blessings that food, transportation, and shelter continue to be stable resources for us, and we do what we can to provide that to the people who shared their lives with us.
This tincture! It tastes and feels so good. The milky oats are combined with lemon balm, which brings glee to my heart, catnip, which settles a nervous stomach, and ginger, which warms me from the inside. I paired hefty doses of it with psychedelics and had the most lovely, gentle day.
It comes with a little zine we made that shares some information about solidarity work with people in Cuba. Your $40-100 donation gets you a 2oz bottle of Hesychia tincture—named by one of our Cuban friends after the Greek goddess of peaceful contemplation and negotiation, the desperately needed opposite of how world leaders are acting right now. With your donation, our friends will be able to buy solar-powered lights and chargers, food, and medication for themselves and their communities.
Email me at matchmakersgarden@proton.me and I will send you info on how to donate and collect your address!