Dr. Orna Izakson

09/05/2026

Two years ago on the tundra.

09/03/2026

A little bit of big news here: I'm expanding my practice to Connecticut, joining the dream team at Fairfield Family Health!

I will continue to serve Alaskans and Oregonians as always. But now I'll be available to folks in Connecticut, as well.

And when I say dream team, I really do mean it. Check them (us!) out at the link in the comments. 

Introducing Dr. Orna Izakson:

Sleep is central to nearly everything we treat, and it's something all of our doctors work on closely with patients every day. I'm excited to share that we're now able to offer even more specialized support in this area.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Orna Izakson, ND, RH(AHG) to Fairfield Family Health as a consulting physician. Dr. Izakson is partnering with our practice to add an additional layer of expertise for patients navigating complex or long-standing sleep challenges, working alongside your current doctor as part of your care team.

Dr. Izakson brings more than 20 years of experience as a naturopathic physician and registered herbalist. What makes her a valuable addition is her advanced, specialized training in cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and circadian sleep-wake disorders through Stanford University's Sleep Health and Insomnia Program. CBT-I is one of the most effective, evidence-based approaches for chronic insomnia.
Her consulting role may be especially helpful for patients who:

✔️Have lived with insomnia for years despite their best efforts

✔️Have been on sleep medication long-term and would like to safely reduce or come off it

✔️Would benefit from a focused, CBT-I–based approach in addition to their current treatment

If sleep is an area where you'd like additional, specialized support, particularly CBT-I, talk with your doctor or reach out to our team; we can help determine whether a consultation with Dr. Izakson would be a good fit as part of your ongoing care.

09/01/2026

Today’s episode of the solid beautification project:

The one problem with this one is you can’t see how beautiful the red Butthead lettuce is, since it’s underneath so much other goodness.

Included in today’s salad:

🥗 Red butterhead lettuce
🥗 One Persian cucumber
🥗 One scallion
🥗 Two cloves of Blanak 🧄, from my friends Steven Routon
🥗 One grated purple carrot
🥗 Sheep-milk feta.
🥗 Tomatoes, both from my garden and the store.
🥗 A little bit of purple basil from my garden.
🥗 Petals from three calendula flowers 🌼, from my garden
🥗 Not pictured: crumbled Freddy Guys Hazelnuts I Oregon

All dressed with good olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Most of the veggies here come from Winter Green Farm or Full Circle unless otherwise noted.

The lettuce comes from my local farmers market, so I trust that it’s safe.

how are you enjoying the late summer harvest?

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08/25/2026

Today in my garden.

Thanks to Dr. Sarah Kashdan for the inspo.

08/22/2026

Work, work, work.

(Although, to be clear, I actually *am* working, thanks to the magic of the internet.)

08/21/2026

New on the blog: I make a pledge, for reasons.

A lot of written content is now weird and wrong, often because it was made by AI. My pledge to you: You won't find that here.

08/19/2026

Here’s an important thing I learned from being a science and environment journalist for many years: science shows or demonstrates, it doesn’t “prove.“

In this, language matters.

Using one set of terms is a green flag that the person or entity telling you something is legit.

The other term is a red flag, either of incomplete understanding of science or straight out grift.

We can do better.

08/17/2026

New on the other blog.

On New Year's Day, I had a chance to pick 30+ pounds of fresh Meyer lemons. The question then became how to preserve them, especially when favoring the savory.

08/16/2026

New on the blog.

One of the best known and most popular herbs for sleep is valerian (Valeriana spp.) I never use it. When I teach about sleep herbs, whether it's to patients or colleagues, I always put valerian in the "herbs to watch out for" category. Why? Because not all herbs work (well)…

08/15/2026

Fab day at the Clatskanie Garlic Festival, one of my favorite events of the year.

It was wonderful as always garlic geeking with Steve from Steven Routon, and agonizing over which of Darrow’s beautiful braids to bring home with me.

I also met Jasmine of the Clatskanie Farmer Collective in person, after seeing her on reels for the last two years. She correctly identified me as Tilthworks, biggest fan. 🧄😇😎.

You can see my garlic haul (and braid choice!) at the end of the reel. Not pictured are the delicious black garlic goodies I gathered (including balsamic vinegar and spicy honey) or the several random jars of ghee.