Merging and Emerging

In the spirit of my Return to Simplicity I am moving my Still Room Herbs blog here. 
Less is more this season. 
New ventures are unfurling ...
 

a new season is emerging ...

Sprouting

Even on a wintry Wednesday, I see signs of spring sprouting in my world.  Cilantro and dill self-seeded in my garden and are just the perfect size for snipping and adding to soups,salads, and salsa.

Bronze fennel is beginning to put forth ferny branches.
Lemongrass which was cut back hard at the beginning of winter is showing some greening here and there.

Earlier this week it was warm outdoors, so I cut back the sage which had grown leggy and wild, trimmed the roses, and tried to free the Mediterranean garden from the grass that invaded over the winter.  Still lots more pulling and digging to do there, but I did uncover a hidden lemon thyme, a surprisingly healthy and fragrant marjoram, and a dianthus already in bloom as I yanked out pesky grass and weeds.  Sweet discoveries like that make weeding worthwhile!

Today it is back to winter weather, so I'm planning to enjoy a cup of tea and doing some plotting and planning for my new garden area complete with a small greenhouse and potting area.

What is happening in your world today?

Herbal Blessings,
Catherine

Snippings

Simple pleasures from the herb garden-
sprigs of lavender, sweet marjoram, and rose scented geranium ... springtime to my soul!

After a bit of a funky, stressful morning, I slipped out the back door with a cup of green tea to collect my thoughts and found myself picking a pinch here and there of the herbs that have braved the winter weather.  After just a few moments of enjoying the scent and sight of these glorious greens, the not-so-great mood lifted and I was snapping photos (rather sad ones I'm afraid due to a worn out camera), sniffing sweet smells, and planning new planting schemes.
Herbs are great therapy!

Weekend Blessings ... I'm planning on a little seed sowing (indoors) myself.
How about you, what is on your agenda for this first weekend in February?

Simple Herbal Gifts

Dream pillows are simple gifts I make for Christmas gifting.  I use Dream Herbs  Pillow Mix from Mountain Rose Herbs but you could easily mix up your own blend using your favorite relaxing herbs such as lavender, rose petals, hops, chamomile, mugwort, and a few drops of rose or lavender essential oil.
I tuck the dream herbs mix into drawstring muslin bags or sew up simple pillow shapes that can be slipped into a pillowcase.    
Add a tag wishing your loved one Sweet Dreams and you have a simple gift that will be a sweet reminder of you each time they put their head on the pillow.

Herb infused oils also make excellent gifts.  Sweet Almond or Olive oil infused with calendula, lavender, or other herbs of your choice can be placed in decorative bottles and given as body/massage oils.   A few drops of a coordinating essential oil added to the oil will give you a sweet smelling perfume oil to share.

Bath salts can be as simple to mix up as adding essential oils to sea salt, though you can get creative and mix in other ingredients like epsom salts, baking soda, even a small amount of liquid soap to make foaming bath salts.  Peppermint oil makes a nice Christmas scent, or how about frankincense and myrrh, or my personal favorite lavender and rose geranium?   Put the salts in a pretty container, label, and add a pretty shell or vintage spoon to scoop out the salts and you have a great gift for someone special.

These 3 simple herbal gifts can be customized with different herbs and essential oils to please most anyone on your gift-giving list.

And don't forget herb plants or seeds for the herb lover on your list!  These are almost always at the top of my own wish list.


Next week I'll share some tasty herbal treats for gifting.

What is your favorite simple herbal gift to give or receive?

Wishing you a peaceful holiday season,

Catherine

Soon ...

our resident toad that loves to soak in the dog's water bowl

I'll be back soon ... fall is coming (so ready for this) and I'll have more time (and energy!) for posting here.
While I'm here ...
My herb garden has suffered this summer- heat, neglect, and a very naughty puppy have made things quite the challenge.  But, a new season is at hand and I'm ready to 'begin again'!
How about you?
How did your garden fare this summer?
Planting anything new this fall?  I've got plans to move my raised beds from the back yard to the front (out of digging dog's reach!) and I'm dreaming up a foundation planting scheme- rosemary, lavender, thyme, and ________ (what else?) .

Hope your summer has been filled with abundant harvests and herbal blessings!

Catherine

Summer Garden~ Pineapple Sage

One of my summer garden favorites- Salvia elegans, Pineapple Sage

A tender perennial in my area, it seldom survives the heat of August; but just maybe this year it will persevere.  Thus far it is lush and lovely, though no longer blooming.  The red blossoms are loved by hummingbirds as well as humans, and make a sweet addition to a summer fruit salad.  I like to add a few leaves and flowers to a pitcher of herbal sun tea.  Pineapple Sage also makes a sweet smelling addition to a floral arrangement (in my case, a few flowers and herbs tucked into a Mason jar).
For other delicious uses for Pineapple Sage, check out this post at The Essential Herbal Blog (my favorite herb magazine)!

What herbs are thriving in your summer garden?  

Summer's Perfect Pair

fresh basil

red ripe tomatoes

Juicy, warm from the sun, tomatoes
fresh picked basil
organic extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper


slice or halve tomatoes depending on size and variety
chop basil and sprinkle over tomatoes 
drizzle with olive oil
season with sea salt and pepper to taste


Enjoy!

Still Room Herb Walk

Like to take a virtual herb walk with me?

I wandered about this morning and snapped photos of many of my herbs to share with you.  

As you can see some are established in beds and borders, some are happily thriving in containers, and some are just getting started as tiny sprouting seeds or small seedlings.  I've had lots of fun plotting and planting this spring, and look forward to harvesting and preserving lots of herbs in the still room in the coming days.  I'm not sure if fuschia is technically an herb, but it is so beautiful I had to include it in our walk!  Another favorite this season is patchouli.  It smells wonderful and I have high hopes for it.  I can't forget Tulsi, also known as Holy Basil.  I fell in love with Tulsi Rose tea earlier this year, and planted lots of Tulsi seeds in anticipation of enjoying my home-grown Tulsi tea this fall and winter!  

What's new in your herb garden or still room this season?
What herbal products or preparations are you planning to create with your herbal harvest?
I'll share more of my plans in the coming days.
Until then ...

Blessings & Bliss,
Catherine

May Day Musings

Ask of Her, the mighty Mother.
Her reply puts this other
Question: What is Spring?-
Growth in every thing -

Flesh and fleece, fur and feather,
Grass and green world all together,
Star-eyed strawberry breasted
Throstle above Her nested

Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin
Forms and warms the life within,
And bird and blossom swell
In sod or sheath or shell.
~  Gerard Manly Hopkins, The May Magnificant, 1888 

Remembering this herb jar I made one May Day and thinking I'll recreate one to celebrate today.  I have lavender, roses, and rue in bloom. Those along with a few pretty wildlings growing beyond the fence and a few sprigs of lemon balm and mint will make a pretty May Day bouquet.  

I find it interesting that May 1 was once considered the first day of summer.  I like that, summer it is!  We should celebrate with a picnic and some summery treats-  Lavender Lemonade and Lemon Thyme Cupcakes, I think.  

How about you, what do you do to celebrate May Day?

Sweet May hath come to love us,
Flowers, trees, their blossoms don;
And through the blue heavens above us
The very clouds move on.
~  Heinrich Heine, Book of Songs

Nettle & Honey for Allergy Relief

A repost from the archives with an update at the end.  


Allergy season is upon us.  
I have a simple herbal tonic that I make every year to help prevent and alleviate the misery of sneezing, itchy eyes, and so forth that plagues members of my family. 

First I make a nettle infused vinegar and then mix that with local honey to make 
Nettle Vinegar & Honey Allergy Tonic. 


You will need the following:
apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg’s, but any good quality acv will do)
dried nettles (You can use them fresh, which some say work best if they are available. I don’t have that option, and dried has always worked well for me.)
local honey (honey produced in your area will contain small amounts of pollen to the flowers growing near you … probably the ones making you sneeze!)
a clean canning jar with a lid ( I use a wide-mouth quart size, but you could start with a pint. Also, I use a plastic lid for vinegars … if you don’t have plastic lids, then put a piece of plastic wrap between the jar and the metal lid.)

To make nettle vinegar:
add about 1 cup of nettle to your jar, I just toss in a handful or so (less if using a pint jar)
add enough vinegar to cover nettle by 2-3 inches (you will need to add more as the nettle soaks it up), stir and wait until the nettle settles, adding more vinegar if necessary
Cover the jar with a lid and set it in a sunny spot for 2 weeks or more. Shake jar a few times a day. 
Once your nettle vinegar has infused, strain it through a coffee filter or piece of cheesecloth into a clean jar and it is ready to use. 

If you don’t have weeks to wait for the vinegar to infuse, you can make it more quickly by heating the vinegar/nettle mixture over a very, very low heat for a few hours. Do not boil or even simmer, just heat it enough to be quite warm, a double boiler is a good way to do this, or if your crockpot doesn’t get too hot (mine does even on low), use that. Let cool before straining.

You can use the vinegar as is, or make it even more effective by adding local honey. 

Add an equal amount of local honey to the nettle vinegar, stir well, cover, and you have Nettle Vinegar and Honey Allergy Tonic!  

It is a simple herbal remedy that gives great results for my family. 

I take a tablespoon or so two or three times a day mixed in a small amount of water.  

A simpler route is to make a quart of nettle tea and sip on that throughout the day; but the honey and acv are very helpful for allergies, and do improve the flavor quite a bit. Nettle tea is not the most palatable of herbal infusions in my opinion.  

Nettle vinegar can also be used in salad dressings and most anywhere you would use apple cider vinegar.  It makes a lovely hair rinse when diluted with water, too.  More reasons to make up a large batch while you're at it!

Note: As always with any herbal information, this is for your educational benefit only, etc., etc. ... Please consult your physician regarding any serious health matters. 


How do you treat allergies? Please share your own herbal remedies!

* I have found another must for allergy season this year!  Seasons of Discontent tea from Mountain Rose Herbs tastes delicious and gives relief from those nasty seasonal allergy symptoms.  I make up a quart jar in the morning and sip it throughout the day.  It is a lovely mixture of allergy relief herbs with a touch of stevia for sweetness.  Try it, I really believe you will enjoy it and its benefits.  

Blessings,
Catherine

Springtime Thoughts

I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden. ~ Ruth Stout

Spring is in the air here at The Still Room.  

Lavender, sage, and rue are in bloom much to the butterflies and bees delight, as well as mine!  

I planted basil, dill, parsley, Greek oregano, sweet marjoram, thyme, and rosemary in the raised beds and scattered an assortment of herb seeds throughout the front gate garden.  

I am beyond blissful at the prospect of harvesting armloads of herbs and flowers from this new garden spot. 

I'll post photos when I can (a new camera is on my wish list).

 Still much more to do, but the work is pleasant and the rewards are great. 

I've got tiny Sweet Annie, Tulsi basil, and others popping up in starter trays ...

What's sprouting in your garden these days?  

Herbal Blessings,

Catherine

Foiled Plans

Best laid schemes of Mice and Men oft go awry,  said Robert Burns.
And my plans for the Lavender Love Link-up did just that.
Rather than dwelling on my foiled plans, I'll just say it wasn't to be at present and plan to try again sometime soon.  Perhaps next week ... I'll wait until I have the post up to announce it though- March has indeed 'come in like a lion', and I feel a bit like a leaf blown about by those fierce winds.  Yet, I know that 'All shall  be well,  and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.'
And in the meantime, I turn to my beloved herbs- lavender and geranium essential oils are my trusted friends when life is blowing me about in a turbulent wind.  A cup of chamomile tea is a great help, as well.
Things will calm down. I will refill my cup with a good, dose of sweet solitude.  And if technology will work with rather than against me once again, I'll be back online regularly and we'll have a great time reading each other's post about sweet Lavender!

photo source-Wikipedia

Lavender and Lemon Love

Lavender and lemon are a fabulous pair.
There is something amazing that happens when you mix these two together.
Either in aromatherapy, 'cookie therapy' (hey, cookies always make me feel better!), or in a simple herbal tea- lavender and lemon are a winning combination.

lavender lemonade

Since Spring is in the air in my world, and things have been just a little over the top in the busyness factor- today's post is short and sweet.  But, I do want to share a link to a recipe that is on my Kitchen Adventure list and sure to be my go to recipe next time some Lemon Lavender 'Cookie Therapy' is needed.  These Gluten Free Lemon Lavender Cookies sound perfect for an afternoon tea time treat.

I didn't forget about the Lavender Love Link Up  I promised in my last post ... way back in the early part of February (time flies these days!).  Life just overwhelmed me with more needful things for a while.
But, let's plan this little online lavender festival of posts for next week shall we?  You write a post sharing your favorite lavender recipe, craft, growing tips ... whatever as long as lavender is the topic, and I'll put up a Lavender Love post with a linky at the bottom so we can easily find each other's posts.  Please tell your herb loving blog friends about the Lavender Love Link-up, too.  I always enjoy reading other people's posts about herbs.  Herbie people are as varied and interesting as the plants we all grow and love!

Mark your calendar and be sure to join the Lavender Love Link Up on March 8th.
And to sweeten things up even more, I will be sending a little lavender scented treat to one of our participants.  More details on that next week! 

Herbal Homekeeping ~ Lavender Love

Lavender is one of the best loved herbs, and for good reason.
Lavender, named by the Romans from the latin- lavare, meaning to wash, is used for many cleansing purposes.  Used in the bath or laundry, lavender gives a soothing, clean fragrance.

Lavender sachets or bags- a small pillow filled with dried lavender, is a pleasant way to scent linens or clothing.  A lavender sachet can be laid between folded towels or sheets to scent them and shoo away pests like moths.  A sachet tucked into the lingerie drawer gives a sweet fragrance to your clothing.
Another use for the lavender sachet is to toss one in the clothes dryer to scent the laundry.  When using them for this purpose, I add a few drops of lavender essential oil to the dried herb before stitching the sachet closed. When the fragrance starts to fade, I just add a few more drops of essential oil to the outside of the bag and let it sit for a few moments before tossing it in with the next load of laundry.

Linen water is another homekeeping item that is frequently scented with lavender.
Here's my recipe for a very simple linen water-
Mix 1 cup distilled water with 20 drops lavender essential oil in a spray bottle.
Use to freshen linens or when ironing.
Some people add vodka or other alcohol to this mixture, but I have not found the need to do so.
I use mine up quickly, so it doesn't have time to get old or otherwise funky.
It also makes a sweet smelling room spray.

Below is a photo of a small lavender harvest from last summer.  Last year was a pitiful garden year due to extreme drought in my part of the country; but even so, the lavender bloomed off and on and I was able to harvest a few stems for drying.  
From the dusty shelves in my photo, I see that I need to find a recipe for lavender furniture polish!

There are many, many uses for lavender, and I'll share more with you next week.  

Do you grow lavender?  If so, what variety is your favorite?


If you have a favorite recipe or tip for using lavender, write a blog post about it.
I will add a link-up to next week's post and we can have our own online Lavender Festival!

Blessings,
Catherine

Thinking Spring

Spring weather is popping in and out at my house these days.  These warm, breezy days bring out the gardening bug in me quickly.  I am ready to plant a new herb garden; but first a garden spot has to be established and the soil prepared.  I prefer no-till or lasagna gardening, but since we are going from established yard to garden, tilling is the quickest and least expensive way to get started (at least that's my husband's perspective, I'm still not convinced ... we'll see who wins this one!).   Once we have the soil prepared and garden beds installed, I let things be and only cultivate with hand tools, letting nature's gardener's (worms and other soil dwellers) do the tilling and soil turning for me!  It is much healthier for the garden and the environment.

I have a few winter sown herbs popping up in raised beds and containers- dill, cilantro, and comfrey are all showing signs of life.  The scented geraniums are enjoying sunny days outside, as are the bay and lemon trees.

It is time to prune the sage that has gotten ugly and leggy over the winter, and cut back the lemon balm, rue, and mints in preparation for new spring growth.


I'm still perusing seed catalogs, plotting and planning what new things I want to grow this year.  Holy Basil is one new to me herb I plan to grow.  I recently tried a tea made with Tulsi or Holy Basil and it is very nice.  Now I want to grow my own Tulsi tea!  And since rose is the Herb of the Year, I plan to add roses to the garden- some will be container grown, some planted along the fence to climb and vine and do what roses do!

I'm thinking Spring, how about you?
What are you planning to grow this year?  Anything new?
How about starting a new garden?  Do you till or do raised beds, no-till, containers ... all of them?!  

Tell me what your plans are for the herb garden this year!

Herbal Winter Warm-Ups

Wintry weather is making an appearance this weekend, causing me to seek out warming cups of herb tea and other ways to keep the cold at bay. 
A cup of ginger tea is a simple way to bring warmth to a cold body. 
I add a couple of slices of fresh ginger to my tea cup, pour in boiling water and let it steep for a few minutes.  Then I add a spoonful of honey and maybe a squeeze of lemon to the cup.  Simply delicious.

Spices such as cinnamon and cardamom are also good for warming things up.  I often add a dash of one or both of these to my cup of morning tea or bowl of oatmeal. 

And for something a little more filling, how about a bowl of Curried Mixed Vegetable Stew or Creamy Sweet Potato Ginger Soup?  There's just something about a pot of soup or stew simmering on the stovetop on a winter's day to warm things up. 

So tell me ... what are some of your favorite winter warm-ups? 

Within Your Reach

This spoke to me today-


Mend the parts of the world that are "within your reach".  ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Lovely.  And so wise.  If we each mend what is in our reach, we can indeed change the world, one life, one home, one community at a time.
I'm thinking of roses today- of planting a few  to grow along the fence, bringing beauty and healing herbs to my own place in this world.  Of making a sanctuary of sorts right here ... where I live, where I am, working with what is within my reach. 

What is within your reach that you can mend, that you can bring beauty to today?  

Herbal Blessings Giveaway

I'm having a giveaway at The Renegade Farmer this week.  Please stop by and enter the Herbal Blessings Giveaway to win a copy of The Essential Herbal magazine, Peppermint Rose Bath Tea, and another herbal treat or two!

Herbal Blessings Giveaway

If you'd like a great herb magazine to peruse during cold winter's nights, some Peppermint Rose Bath Tea, and another herbal treat or two from me, please drop by The Renegade Farmer and enter my Herbal Blessings Giveaway!  

Simple Home Remedies ~ Elderberry Honey

This herbal home remedy or tonic is one that I make frequently, especially during cold and flu season.
Elderberry Honey is so simple to make, all you need are 3 ingredients:

Elderberries-1 cup fresh, or 1/2 cup dried (I used dried)
Water- 3 cups
Honey- 1 cup

Place elderberries and water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook slowly for 30-45 minutes. Strain warm juice into a quart jar. Pour in honey and stir well. Done!

Store the Elderberry Honey in the refrigerator where it should stay fresh for 2-3 months.

I take one tablespoonful daily as a tonic to help build immunity and keep colds at bay before and during cold and flu season.
When a cold or flu does sneak up on me, I take 1 tablespoon 3 times a day.

As a bonus, Elderberry Honey tastes great!  I sometimes add a spoonful to my cup of tea in place of plain honey just because I enjoy it.  

* I'm not a doctor, please use your own common sense when using herbs or other home remedies, etc., etc.!!! 


I buy my elderberries from Mountain Rose Herbs, my favorite place for buying all things herbal. They also sell Elder Berry Syrup if you'd rather not make it yourself.