Hamida the Herbalist: Basic Herbs for Home Use - Part I

Hamida the Herbalist: Basic Herbs for Home Use - Part I
just saving this post with a link to an awesome radio broadcast.

Wildenblue Farm Journal: Holiday Recipes#comment-form#comment-form#comment-form

Wildenblue Farm Journal: Holiday Recipes#comment-form#comment-form#comment-form
truffles ladies! need i say more?.... lol

Herbal Roots Zine is giving away a copy of Wildcraft Game!

Herbal Roots Zine is just a wonderful tool I use with the children for learning about our natural world. Kristine Brown does just an amazing job illustrating this monthly pdf magazine and it is always just chock full of fun activities, crafts, lore, puzzles, coloring pages, word searches, etc of each months featured herbs. I strongly recommend it for anyone with children in their lives, the beginning herbalists, or just anyone who loves beautiful art and verse:) This week Kristine is giving away a Wildcraft Game from Learning Herbs for one lucky winner. Thank you for all you do Kristine:)

Why don’t you try Herbal Roots Zine today? You will love it!

Caring Chamomile

This spring the children and i chose chamomile as one of the plants to study this year. we found it growing wild all over our town, but especially in spots that had been disturbed. tenacious chamomile could be found growing in many well trampled spots and rock covered driveways. one of those driveways was my son tommy’s. we talked about how it wouldn’t be good to use chamomile from this particular spot, since the car fumes would be all over her. it was so cute to hear all the grandchildren point her out and talk about her every time we were outside and during our many summer walks, they took great pride in identifying her almost everywhere we went. we also talked about how some people are just so anal they think that any plant that has the audacity to just pop up where ever it wanted, is considered a plant that needed exterminated and used all sorts of chemicals to destroy dear chamomile. my 10 year old granddaughter taylor drew the adorable picture at the top of this post as her response to that! i hate talking about the meaness people do, such as chemical warfare on dandelions and chamomile, but so heartening to have to the children express their dismay and to know that they are growing up with a different mind set:) we talked about how chamomile just loves us know matter what and was always there for us even though we might walk or drive on her. how she could help lighten our hearts when we felt down. we learned that she will help our stuffy noses and colds, and help us feel relaxed when upset or nervous, and help our tummy troubles or scrapes and rashes.

this is a picture of the 8 year old even and breven both enjoying a cup of chamomile tea and our own honey. they decide to make themselves some chamomile tea as evan had a stuffy nose. breven’s favorite fruit is pineapple, so he really enjoys chamomile light pineapple taste and smell.

the boys then decided it would be nice to make a salve using chamomile, organic coconut oil and our beeswax. this salve can be used for scrapes and rashes but they wanted to make some especially for christmas presents for their 21 month old cousin dylan and 10 month old cousin ariana, to help soothe any diaper rashes they might get! isn’t that too cute? first the boys put some chamomile in the melted coconut oil to infuse

 

then they started some beeswax melting in a double boiler arrangement

when all was infused and melted we made our salve and then poured it into little containers

while we had the beeswax melted the boys decided to make a couple of ornaments for presents also

now chamomile was not a new thing for miss lily lynn (age 5). i had the joy of being able to mind lily during the years before she started school and so she has been enjoying her special “flower” tea for years

notice the foil on lily’s cup? we always put something on top of our cup so the good steaming essential oils stay right in the cup while brewing:)

well i hope you have enjoyed seeing the various ways the children and i have enjoyed dear chamomile and have inspired you to make her one of your allies also! sweet chamomile is a good friend to all of us of any age and very safe and effective. i invite you all now to click on this link and read how my dear friend lisl has shared even more about chamomile with us!

big herbal and honey hugs and many blessings to all of you who visit comfrey cottages

My arsenal and defense herbs against this cold!

whoops, almost forgot to give elderberry some credit here also

 

on thursday i woke up with a scratchy throat, stuffy/runny nose, some deep cough, and loose stool. not surprising as i have been in intimate contact with at least 4 people with colds/flu/fevers/strep, for the last 2 weeks. i wasn’t too upset though, as i felt comfortable with knowing what helps me during times like this. i am very, sensitive to any doctor/pharmacy meds is another reason i drifted towards herbal medicine a few years back. in the first picture you will see all i have been using and here is why

chamomile is lovely for colds and stuffy nose. i feel bad already, i don’t need something harsh and chamomile is so very gentle yet firm in her actions for me. she also helps with stomachache and sore muscles that accompany colds/flu things. figured with that loose stool,  and mucuous drainage, i would already have her on the job for that aspect also. she calms my restless feeling,

lemon balm she is another lovely helper that smells wonderful, is great for cold and flu and is calming. i don’t know about you, but i get vaguely anxious when my body is invaded. i can be fairly private and these uninvited germs  disturb me mentally also. she is wonderful in case i get a small fever also. she helps with viruses.

peppermint just tastes good! but also will help if i get headachy or get tummy pains.

these three lovelies i use by taking a tablespoon of each in my large teaball, and pour 3 cups of boiling water over them (i had to use a bowl as no cups this big), put a plate over and let steep for 20 minutes. this gave me enough infusion to divide between 2  1/2 qt mason jars. one of which i immediately put in frig. and the other i put in my basket as i had to go tend my sick grandson dylan this day.

i then made another medicine using : 1 tablespoons each of licorice root and slippery elm bark and echinacea. 3 cups boiling water, lidded, but i let this steep 25 minutes before straining.

licorice root is good for mucous congestion,coughs, sore throats, bronchitis. also great for calming spasms if my cough got that bad.

slippery elm bark. also wonderful for coughs and bronchitis but also just a wonderful stomach/intestine helper. calming inflammation and swollen glands too. my glands are a bit tender. slippery elm bark is very nutritous food and is one of the reasons george washington and his men survived at valley forge. i also saved the life of a very, very close to death kitten with slippery elm gruel. but that is a story for another day. i can’t say enough about how i love slippery elm. so soothing, so nourishing.

capped this one off and put in my basket also.

horehound and honey taffy with slippery elm bark powder infused throughout are just so wonderful to help control coughing and to soothe the throat. into the basket they go too.

i made one more hot infusion of elecampane and mullein. this combo is a bit stronger acting on me than the licorice root and slippery elm bark. and i was only going to use this one if i had manange to get things flowing too much and i need to bring in a tiny bit of astringent action.  i love elecampane honey and hops honey so had them both read in case things worsened.

so off i went to watch dylan, really feeling a bit nasty, you know, that kind of all over dirty feeling you get when you start a cold. so i sipped on the chamomile, lemon balm and peppermint infusion at least hourly, but also as thirsty. sipped small sips of the slippery elm bark, licorice root, echinacea infusion hourly , sucked on the taffy as the throat needed or i felt that feeling in my throat you get when you want to cough. massaged comfrey/mullein oil in my glands of my neck.  actually felt pretty good by afternoon. gotta tell you the very first sips of the echinacea,slippery elm, licorice root infusion almost immediately started bringing the phlegm up out of my lungs to be spat out. i mean quick action for me. i soon was also having to blow my nose and started breathing clearer right afterwards.

well, this is saturday and i am still here. i haven’t got any worse, and for the most part feel pretty good. i feel better than when i woke up thursday for sure. have had the occassional deep cough that wants to get a bit spasmatic and save the elecampane and mullein for those times. pretty rare though so i think i will make it. i think for the most part, my milder gentler defense herbs are going to keep the worst of it at bay. i feel calm and assured. i will just keep these treatments up and update if i need to break out the big guns. resting and eating right also:)

btw, these are just what work for me and my system. we are all different and these might not work for you. just thought it would be fun to actually keep a diary of a cold and what works for me:)

now for on to what i have got accomplished while fighting this cold. i managed to make a lovely beeswax and organic coconut oil salve and a salve with comfrey oil, beeswax, calendula and a bit of  lavender buds. also some cool ornaments:)

also started a little closet shelf with a grow light for my aloe and want to put in a parsley, chives, and  whatever else will fit for winter use

and last but not least. my little buddy dylan. brought up this old bouncy horse from the basement for him. he is still a bit small to get on it so put it close to the sofa with his step stool on the other side. was hoping at least this might help him get a bit of exercise rocking back and forth since we can’t play outside. he has had a bug for a week. poor buddy:(

 

 

big herbal and honey hugs to all who visit comfrey cottages:)

Turmeric (Curcuma longa)

 

Another great article to check out written by one of my fav herbalist,lisl:)

i love the color, smell, and flavor of turmeric and use it often in cooking. thinking i might have to find a fresh root sometime from somewhere. :)

Help Keep Bees In the News

Big thanks to Gerry at The Global Swarming Bees blog for this heads up!

 

Help the Honeybees Go Postal

This just in from our comrades over at "Down to Earth":

December 25, 2010 is the 200th birthday of L.L. Langstroth, the "Father of American Beekeeping." The US Postal Service Stamp Advisory Committee will be considering a Langstroth commemorative stamp at its January meeting.

Find out here how to help get a stamp to honor L.L. Langstroth and keep bees in the public awareness:)

it will only take a moment folks. just send an email to LLL200@scifri.org with your name and zip and your comment how you would like to see this stamp next year:)

big herbal and honey hugs and blessings to you all:)

Mullein

I adore mullein! Do you? I love her shape, her flowers and her very lovely flowers. I sure got funny looks with many cars slowing down to see what I was doing the year I went to the old railroad tracks here in town and started digging up several mullein plants to transplant to my yard:) I have since had her happily seed in several spots and have had the chance to work with her for respiratory complaints and found her so very helpful. Kiva Rose has wrote just a beautiful article about mullein and has explained just how wonderful she is for many other complaints from arthritis, to incontinence. Please enjoy this beautiful article!

Plant Journeys: Hooked on Hickory

Plant Journeys: Hooked on Hickory
i am so grateful to ananda and her plant journeys! i am learning, and spreading on to the children, all she so graciously shares on her blog. i encourage all of you to become followers of plant journeys also.

American Gothic: Leslie and Gerald Style

Yesterday my husband Gerald and I both had a day off at the same time. He needed to go to Iowa to his buddy’s house he buys pigeon feed from. We headed out early under bright beautiful skies. After we got the feed we decided to just nose around a bit and kept driving down the highway, stopping here and there to browse antique malls and get something to eat. While cruising we happened to see one of those brown highway markers that indicate historic sites (we stop at a lot of those we see when we journey around), and this one said The American Gothic House. We take the off ramp and end up in this little, lovely town called Eldon. Wonderful town with lots of things to do there btw. Anyway, we found The American Gothic House visitor center and went in. Really super fun folks! I suppose most American’s are familiar with the painting called the American Gothic, but I never knew the story behind it or anything about the artist really. I am just going to include this link if you are curious about all the background yourself. After touring the place I was reminded just how many times this particular painting has been used as magazine covers, used to advertise products like Neuman’s organic food line and other things. This painting has really became part of our American culture!

The visitor center had costumes you could slip on and for $2 (what? that is right only 2 bucks), they would take your picture in front of the house! Now who could resist that? Not me!!! Well, enjoy my pics of my journey to this American landmark and take time to visit the link if you like, it is great!

A couple of friends said that our pic should be our Holiday Card this year, I wonder….

Herbal and Honey Blessings to all of You

Pokeweed

I am going to be posting pokeweed, and other herb/plant, nice links on this blog for linda and i's own plant journeys. feel free to follow this link to the herbwife's kitchen post on pokeweed if you care to! chronic joint paint and lymphatic sluggishness are two things rebecca mentions poke might be useful for in that article. her whole site rocks if you are ready to get lost a few hours:)

Free Online Tool to Help with Identification of Lots of Plants, Insects etc.

Wow, this site has alot of great information on it! It is called Discover Life
It provides free on-line tools to identify species, share ways to teach and study nature's wonders, report findings, build maps, process images, and contribute to and learn from a growing, interactive encyclopedia of life that now has 1,291,237 species pages.
I love the bee section of course:)
Their plant profile section rocks also

Allergies to Animals? Seasonal Affect Disorder?

And oh so many things may be helped with this lovely wildflower! Goldenrod! Please enjoy this wonderful article by herbalist Kiva Rose.

Washing beeswax

You are probably asking yourself, what in the world is she talking about! Well, let me tell you:) I posted about how I harvest honey in this post. In one of the last pictures I show you that there is a nice big bunch of wax left over from draining the honey. This wax is still quite tacky and sticky to the touch even after being allowed to sit for along time. I am always sooo busy with family that I actually let mine sit in the bucket for two months before I got back to it, and it still was! When the weather is good and the bees are flying, you can set this wax out for your bees and they will certainly go over it and do a good job of getting any residual honey off it they can! But if you still find it sticky or the weather is not such that the bees can help you clean it, you will need to wash it before using it for other things, like making salves. Trust me, I tried a small bit melted down, without washing it, and mixed in a bit of olive oil, as an experiment, and it just doesn’t work right! So… off to washing!

Get a big bowl or pan out and put the wax in it then add warm, not hot, water to it and swish it all around. I next use one of my honey strainers, but you could use cheesecloth or other small weave strainer, and put that strainer over another container to drain.

Now make sure and do not put either the first pans water nor this water down your drain! There will be enough of the wax in the water to slow your drains or even plug them!

You might have to do this wash/swish/drain procedure a couple of times to get your wax nice and clean but it is worth it because then you will have nice clean wax to start any of your future projects with!

My next step was to melt the wax. You will need to do this in a double boiler type of arrangement.

That picture shows freshly washed wax in the upper pot and in the bottom pot I just put a canning ring in the bottom to raise the upper pot off the heat, and then put some water in the bottom pot. Simmer gently, making sure there is enough water in the bottom pot not to got dry (you might have to add some periodically) and watching that it doesn’t go dry, nor bubble high enough to get water into your melting wax.

(Please overlook the dirty stove! Even when I clean it, I soon do some other thing that messes it right back up! You get to see the good, the bad and the ugly here!lol)

Even after washing the wax you might be surprised at the amount of debris that is still in it! The wax I did looked just gorgeous, but after it was melted, I strained it through cheesecloth and still got quite alot of debris from it! This is the set up I have. I just tie a string around a cheesecloth topped bowl to strain the melted wax.

And this is a picture of the debris!

Since I am just doing this for home use folks, I am sure there are other ways to do big batches. Since I like to leave my honey in the frame until I run out, I was just working with wax from 8 honey frames I had extracted. After it had been melted and strained I poured it into containers to set into blocks I could then use for making healing salves.

I know the top of the cooling wax looks dark in the mold pans, but that changes as it cools!

So that is washing and melting wax!

Big herbal and honey blessings to all of you who visit Comfrey Cottages:)

 

The Essence of Herbs: Frankincense: Humanity's Ally for Millennia

The Essence of Herbs: Frankincense: Humanity's Ally for Millennia
have ibs? how about a brain tumor or other cancer? this article is very informative, interesting and well written! i am not suggesting that frankincense is any sort of cure all, i just wanted to share with you all! you rock lisl thank you for sharing

The Apron Goddesses: Special Giveaway from Aprons By Julie: Pick Your Favorite!!

The Apron Goddesses: Special Giveaway from Aprons By Julie: Pick Your Favorite!!
now i don't know about you, but i just have to wear an apron in the kitchen, and also in the garden:)

Vegan Epicurean: Folate and Colon Cancer

Vegan Epicurean: Folate and Colon Cancer
really great article!

A video of feeding honey back to the bees:)

thought it might be fun to film the bees enjoying their tribute today. many people say not to do this as it can encite robbing and fighting amongst the bees. i hope this video shows that this is not the case with my bees. they have a riotous, joyful time and the house bees waiting for them in the hive are just vibrating when they receive the honey from the forager bees! i can not only sense through seeing their behaviors, my own being vibrates and glows right along with them! i realize that laying out these combs like this invites other creatures big and small and would not be able to safely do this in a more rural setting. as it is, i put up the frames at dark and re-give them during the daylight hours. i have done this for several years without mishap. something you would have to decide for yourself if you chose to feedback honey the way i do it. i let them be like the bear and glut their fill before winter and then offer it to them this way again in the spring, to help strengthen them. i consider it a gentle, organic way to feed my bees.  enjoy, they and i most certainly did!

 

Herbal Honeys, Bees and Organizing

Today is simply a gorgeous day! The sun is strong, the winds mild and just a sprinkle of rain once in awhile. I did go out this morning and say hello to the world. Patted our maples, noted a darling pine sapling that must be relocated next summer. She is two now and strong enough to handle the move well. Also noted the things i can get a last harvest of and jotted down the things that would need divided and shared with others. I have to get back outside before tomorrow and “weed out” (not a phrase i am found of), a few more of our prolific violet friend. A couple of years ago i went around and transplanted violets all around our little pond and she loves it there! She keeps popping up anew and i might actually get a few more leaves of new growth to save and use. She reminded me of herself today while i was organizing the cabinets. There she was time and time again. In jellies in the food pantry, and in the medicinal cabinet as well. Not to mention she has been replicated through art in many of my everyday usage items like teacups etc. I wandered to the back of comfrey cottages gardens to say hello to the bees and to bring them a gift. I had a hive not make it last winter and i am certain it was due to them getting too wet in the fall,and not disease. i had saved back all their brood box frames that had honey in them. A good idea to always save back such honey as a rule, in case your bees need the honey fed back to them. I fed them back two of these frames today just for fun really. Oh, it will used by them, for certain, but i had fed them back the honey super that was just full of mostly uncapped nectar over the course of this last week, so i really don’t think they are light on winter foods. I did it just to share the joy of sunlight with them and to pay homage to them. I love my beautiful sunshine bees. They are in for another treat soon as i strained off some lemon balm honey and i have a plate of the strained balm and i am going to go out and share that with them when i am through with this post!

So, i suppose i should have been outside more today but i chose to open the windows wide and pull aside all the curtains and straighten my various cabinets before i got to work on a few things that needed done.

This is the cabinet i store mainly the dry herbs, roots etc.

and in the bottom of it i store the kitchen appliances and tools like the sprouted. all the dried beans, grains, flours etc plus the seeds for sprouts

this cabinet is mainly for the herbs and things i use for culinary reasons, foods as medicine reasons, smudging, and glycerites, vinegars, etc etc you get the idea

  

that is my beekeeper suit hanging on the door there. plus lily’s little blue apron:)

to the left on the cat ledge, violet joy supervised. the milk jugs on the floor are kept refilled and the lid left off of them so the chlorine can evaporate. cats are healthier with dechlorinated water. we almost lost of kitty earl of eight a couple of times before i discovered that trick! now he is thriving and healthy.

and the yellow cabinet. this has all the jars full of herbal oils and tinctures waiting to be used and to be stores in some of the containers you see. this cabinet has alot of containers and also where i keep the seeds i have collected for next year. i found this cool metal cabinet for a real deal at 10 dollars. the downside was the paint the peeps had on it just smelled foul, so hubby and i stripped it and he repainted it one of my favorite colors:)

and david gould, my friend, if you will note the bag hanging to the left of the screen, it is the wonderful bakery bag you gave me last christmas. big hugs to you and liz:)

now that i have taken the time to sort out from the helter skelter of summer, and organize, i can work more efficiently and know what just i do and don’t have on hand.  the whole experience was just grand with the sun shining through the windows, the breeze gently carrying the scent of the outdoors and our pine, and the whole aromatherapy experience of being immersed in dozens of herbal and spice smells at once… well i was just giddy i swear!

this is a picture of the lemon balm honey and the hops and honey straining.  i feel so empowered making lovely, healthy things for myself and my family and close friends. i am certain this hops infused honey will be a great treat and benefit for someone this winter with bronchitis. and the lemon balm will be a special joy on some wintery day when someone is feeling a bit blue or non vibrant. i am thinking it will be a great benefit to one who is in the process of recovering their strength from illness also.

the next cabinet has my microwave on top of it, but the drawers and cabinet is used for mainly my canning things. I am a bit ocd in always sterilizing every container, even when they are not going to be used specifically for canning foods.

this taking time to organize and take stock has really helped me already, while in the process of doing it. i managed to strain off some honeys, catch an awesome herbal buzz through all my senses and feel some satisfaction with my learning process this year, as many of the herbs in the herbal cabinet and on the seed shelf are the results of my own gardening or wild harvesting this year. i love my wild harvest friends val and katee:)

my lovely val shared some pears with me last sunday. I have been eating a few but they were going soft quickly so decided to make a nice pear jelly which i infused with star anise, cinnamon, and tarragon. very nice! did the trick of replacing some of the juice and sugar in the recipe with honey again and really love the results:)

well i am off to check on the bees and offer them the strained lemon balm:) i have a friend stopping by at 6 to get some of my feverfew to try for her headaches. I am going to offer her a healing touch session as the same time so i must go rest up a bit too!

herbal and honey blessings and hugs to all who visit comfrey cottages. and please do share your pics of where you store your things sometime! i love to have visuals when i am sending blessings to you all:)

Herbs and Hypertension

Herbs and Hypertension
thank you karen vaugh for sharing:)

Fig Poultices for Breast Health

Fig Poultices for Breast Health
jessica and katee, i hope you both see this:)

I Am In Love with a Fictional Man…The Harvester

I have read this book yearly whenever i am in a sweet mood it seems. the harvester by gene stratton-porter is one of my most loved books. it should appeal to many of you. the central character david langston has spent his entire lfe in the medicine wood living and harvesting with the seasons, so lots of good herbie related passages throughout. while for those who like a little romance and beauty, which again speaks to all of us with the love of nature and sweet innocent love. david has spent his life studying and cultivating herbs and plants and sells them to hospitals in the hopes of lessening the pain in the world. he is a noble man and this is an inspiring book, with a many love stories, interspersing and freely vining throughout the story.  the spots where we folklore and fairy lovers will smile are in passages such as this

“the harvester broke from a tree a large fan-shaped fungus, the surface satin fine, the base mossy, and explained to the girl that these were the ballrooms of the woods, the floors on which the little people dance in the moon light at their great celebrations. the he added a piece of woolly dog moss, showing her how each separate spine was like a perfect little evergreen tree. that is spine where the fairies get their christmas pines, he explained.

do you honestly believe in fairies?

surely! who would tell me when the maples are dripping sap, and the mushrooms springing up, if the fairies didn’t whisper in the night?….”

here is a nice link about the author

so go out and find a copy of the harvester! i am sure it is reasonable at amazon and also through library loan systems. go on, i dare you not to fall in love with david langston also!lol

Herbal Roots Zine: Giveaway Monday - November's Issue

Herbal Roots Zine: Giveaway Monday - November's Issue
if you haven't got to know kristine's lovely herbal roots zine yet, i strongly recommend you do:)

Making Elderberry Tincture and Other Things…

a couple of the jars i made of elderberry tincture today while watching Disney’s Earth video.  i had watched it once before and all i can advise is, if you haven’t seen it, you should! marvelous music, wildlife video and earl ray jones narrates. what more could you ask for! it was fun to sit and tease the frozen elderberries off their stems while watching this wonderful movie! i had harvested these elderberries awhile back and just did not have anytime to do anything with them besides the elderberry honeys i did. so froze the rest of them, right inside my carrying basket, in the basement deep freeze until today, when i took out some more to work with. i still have ALOT in the basket and will be doing more things so stay tuned for when i next have a spot of time. here is a pick of my frozen berries

you can see in that deep freeze some goats milk i have frozen for lovely cheese this winter, and also some jars of lemon balm tea, which will be a ray of sunshine one day soon:) you can just see the elderberries peaking out so you can imagine how many i got that day of harvest! i love that carrying basket! my husband won it at a turkey unlimited event i think

the other day i went to the recycle center and since we don’t have glass recycle here, someone had left all these lovely wine jugs! i grabbed them and they have been riding in my car for a week. i just today have a spot of time to myself to have hauled them inside and given them a good cleaning. i will fill a couple with water and store in our basement for an emergency and just cap and save the others until needed for whatever project i think up i need a container like that for!lol

my friend garrett has a lady ginkgo tree and has always complained about the smell of her ripened fruit. i have always tried to tell him that he shouldn’t cut her down, but after working with her fruit getting the nut out, for an hour, i wouldn’t really want to open any window during the fall if she was outside my window. garrett brought me a nice big bucket full and i spent a nauseating hour hulling them yesterday. they smell like vomit, no kidding just horrid.

but surprisingly, the nut, after being rinsed repeatedly and then baked in an oven at 275 degrees for 25 minutes, taste and smell fine! they did smell some though while cooking i will admit. my poor daughter michelle,  my oven is out so i baked them in her oven and i smelled up her whole house! thanks michelle for putting up with your mom!lol anyway, the nut itself cracks very easily and inside the nut meat is a pretty green. they just taste a bit bland, maybe just kind of green, you know what i mean, and a texture a bit like a bean. i will let you know when i try adding them to different dishes and how that does. for now, i think i will just crack one or two a day and nibble on them. lisl meredith heubner did an excellent article on ginkgo and i encourage you to read it. i followed her lead on this , my first time harvesting them. if for some reason you can’t read the link for her article, she said to tell you to just friend her on facebook and then you could read it under her notes section of her profile.

been busy with the end of harvest also. lemon balm honeys, comfrey, lady’s mantel, pineapple sage, thyme, and the last of the chamomile drying. a few infusions with the pineapple sage, which is very yummy . going to freeze a few of those in the deep freeze for later:) i used a recipe tina sam’s of the essential herbalist blog had posted.  that magazine is invaluable! other than that, been saving a few seeds from the garden some butterfly weed seed, marshmallow and others. dandelion trying to help with the butterfly weed seed!lol

and a little surprise. chickweed planted herself in this old watering can! had to hurridly pull out the copy of herbal roots zine, for march as that issue of this monthly herbal pdf kristine lovingly creates, had chickweed as the star of the month. for those of you who don’t subscribe, i highly recommend kristine brown’s wonderful herbal roots zine!

so much more i could tell you but night is coming too fast these days and i still am trying to get alot done today!

big herbal and honey hugs to all who visit comfrey cottages!