I wait and I wait. And I patiently wait, until out of thin air, the little brown paperbag-like sheathes slough off the tips of the branches and float away.... revealing the new little spruce needles that are the most beauteous little tender chartreuse new born tips of deliciousness. Seriously. They're like little slightly sour lemony chewy gumballs. Not as astringent and definitely more palatable than the more aged needles. I'm not certain I can even describe it correctly. It has a piney/balsamic character with a sweet almost fruity lemony woodsy-like under tone. They some how remind me of the little yellow sour grass flower forest, (Oxalis I think they were) those clover blossoms that grew all over the side yard and I would pluck them by the handfuls and chomp and suck the sour juices from their stems. Kinda like that but not as sweet and juicy. And I guess not so puckery. Well, they have a wild, sour-wood flavor all of their own.

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Lilacs. Lilacs everywhere. Ahhh, Spring lilacs. Yes, it’s true, the smell of dreamy lilacs in the breeze just doesn't last long enough. So that’s why I love to preserve its floral essence in a delectable, wiggly jiggly, spreadable, sticky sweet jelly. It’s perfect smeared atop some crunchy buttery toast or biscuits, but I like it on warm lilac muffins with steamy black tea.

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My boys kept me super warm last night with their perfectly running fevers and kept me up with their irritating coughs. So I'm off to give hugs and make soups, and syrups, and herbal pastilles and sleepy teas and probably some kinda cookies, maybe big soft ginger molasses cookies....because you've gotta have lots of herbaly goodness and hugs and kisses and cookies when this kinda madness goes down.

Herbal medicine is the medicine of the people, and plant medicines are not only simple, but safe, effective, and pretty much free. Our ancestors used plant medicines, and our neighbors around the world use plant medicines, and you can use plant medicines for healing just the same. It's super easy and super fun and I even let my littles help sometimes.

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"One may live without bread, not without roses."

The rose hip, or rose haw, is the fruit of the rose plant, and typically is red or orangeish, but ranges from dark purple to black in some species. Rose hips begin to form in spring, and ripen in late summer through autumn.  And me, I like to get them while I can, and eat them up!

Rose hips are a very rich source of Vitamin C and are free for the picking. Three average hips have as much Vitamin C as a medium-sized orange so they are definitely a good fruit to incorporate into the diet. The food value is found in their skin and their taste is similar to that of an apple. If you plan on harvesting, pick only the ripe berries that are vivid red and slightly soft. They have a much better flavor if picked after the first frost…preferably late August through October. You can harvest them from your garden, but they’re more plentiful from old-time shrub varieties such as rugosas and wild rose bushes. To collect your own, and to encourage your roses to develop them, don’t trim the blossoms and leave them to naturally fade and fall. Or you can buy dried cut and sifted rose hips ready to use.

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"Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired."  ~Robert Frost
 
What better day to be irresistibly desired than on Valentines day, the day of lovers. The day to express love for each other whether it be giving flowers, poems, offering confectionery or sipping luscious love elixirs. I remember reading something once ...something like: Sometimes we make love with our eyes. Sometimes we make love with our hands. Sometimes we make love with our bodies. But always we make love with our hearts.  I couldn't agree more and what better than to have around a delicious sensual lip smacking love potion to share...to make you more 'touchy feely'.

Chocolate, roses, patchouli, warm baths, sensual oils, love potions and liqueurs are some of my favorite things and I've decided to share one of my favorite recipes with you. You can enjoy this irresistible elixer anytime of the year but it makes an especially lovely gift and love potion to share with your lover. Damiana love elixir with vanilla and rose...because you can never make to much love....right!
 

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I'm thrilled to finally be adding some new herbals to the website that I spent all Spring, Summer and Fall growing, loving, tickling, singing too, harvesting and now are ready to be shared! 

Even though I had to leave behind my ever so loved food and medicine garden in California, I was able to harvest a little bit from almost everything before setting off on this new journey. And now, as I cozy up for the Winter I'm busy planning out my new garden space where there is sure to be an abundance of herbals in the years to come.

So here's a peek at some of the newly added herbal goodies below: garlic mullein flower oil, fire cider and a few new tinctures here on local harvest as well as my website.... natural medicines made with love from me and my gardens.

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It's good to be home! They say one of the most stressful events in ones' life is moving, and I must say those are some very real words.  It's been scary, exciting, nerve-racking, silly, gorgeous...you name it. From California to Colorado. I'm so excited about my new little herb shop though and I'm diving right back into it. This long awaited move and journey of a lifetime is just beginning.

As for now, I'm just about to begin my new studies at the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism where I plan to expand my herbal knowledge and meet some amazing herbalists along my path. The last couple of years, (since my time at The East West School of Herbology) I have wondered where my journey was going to take me, and here I am. It feels good.

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Mallow is one of the earliest cited plants in recorded literature. Horace mentions it in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: "Me pascunt olivae, me cichorea, me malvae" ("As for me, olives, endives, and mallows provide sustenance")

Know your weeds: Look down, because Common Mallow (Malva neglecta) probably grows around you. The flowers, leaves, young shoots and roots are edible, either raw or cooked and are very nutritious. The seeds alone contain 21% protein and 15.2% fat.

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“A glass of absinthe is as poetical as anything in the world, what difference is there between a glass of absinthe and a sunset.” - Oscar Wilde

I tend to have interest in anything historical and/or herb related and I'm a great fan of herbal liqures, wines, beers, sodas etc. I’ve made beer, I’ve made wine, I’m working on sodas and I’m intrigued by liquors. I’ll probably never make this but non-the-less very interested by the medicinal history. I’m also deeply intrigued by some of our most controversial and self-impoverished artists, writers, poets, musicians, free-thinkers, and the like and find it fascinating that this herbal drink was the "beaverage du jour" or drink of choice among these great thinkers in the mid to late 19th century. It inspired many and appeared in works by Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh, it was drank by the scandalous playwright Oscar Wilde, the eccentric Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, the poets Charles Baudelaire and Edgar Allen Poe, and the famous 20th century author Ernest Hemingway, just to mention a few....intriguing right? I’d say so.

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I'm absolutely in love with my herbal pantry. This cupboard is probably my favorite place in the house. It's silly, but I find solitude here. I just can't stop myself from peeking in, reorganizing or smelling it everyday.

I find and save jars, bottles, and tins so I can fill them with my beautiful herbs. Every one has a story, and I can remember where I found each and every herb and the bottle. Every year my pantry grows - it' like my sweet little child.

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