You have probably seen lemon balm growing whether you knew it or not. In the mint family, lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is a perennial herb that spreads rapidly and has become a fairly common “wild” plant. When I’m out foraging and I see what looks like a plant in the mint family it is more…
How to Make Wildflower Mead
Here is a great recipe for how to make wildflower mead (honey wine) using foraged flowers from your yard. The finished mead is dry, with a hint of sweetness and a wonderful floral aroma. A must make mead recipe when wildflowers are plentiful in summertime! Simple Mead Making Ebook Want to learn more about making…
Updates and Recent Happenings: A Red Raspberry and A Kitten
Hello there! Did you notice that I missed a post this past week? I had one all planned out, a good one at that (Wildflower Mead!) but our internet went out for a few days so I wasn’t able to get it finished. Fear not, it will come out next week, and it’s a good…
Foraging for Cattails
Hello, my friends! Today we’re going to talk about foraging for cattails. I would be surprised if you didn’t know what cattails looked like. I think that it was one of the first wild growing plants that I could identify when I was a kid, along with dandelions and clover. Besides being easy to identify,…
Updates and Recent Happenings: Lavender and Kombucha
Well, here we are. Summertime has hit Southern Oregon and I am absolutely loving it! Newest arrivals on the homestead are lavender and kombucha, read on for more! I have been working like crazy at my new job, but honestly it has made me manage my time even better than I did before, so the…
How to Make an Herbal Salve
Making your own all natural herbal salve is so easy! This salve is the perfect beginner herbal medicine recipe for a beginning herbalist. Use it on minor cuts, scrapes, bruises, bites, stings, rashes and dry skin. It has powerful healing benefits with all of the medicinal herbs it contains, and smells divine! Learn how to…
Updates and Recent Happenings: Sprouts and Slugs
Well how is everyone doing on this lovely Friday? We’ve had quite a cloudy and rainy week here in Ashland and it’s brought us numerous sprouts and slugs (see below), but this weekend is supposed to be sunny and warm – I can’t wait! I know that we need the rain and I appreciate any…
Growing and Foraging for Comfrey
If you’ve done any reading on the subject of permaculture, then you have for sure heard of comfrey. This plant has become the permaculturists darling for good reason, as it has a multitude of benefits including, but not limited to, natural fertilizer, dynamic accumulator, living mulch, companion plant, compost activator, and numerous medicinal uses. Unfortunately…
Tropical Permaculture
Hello! As you may have seen in my Updates and Recent Happenings: Costa Rica! post, Joel and I have recently returned from the wonderful Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. Even though we were there on our honeymoon, we still couldn’t resist the urge to learn as much as possible about all of the awesome tropical…
Updates and Recent Happenings: Normal Life
Whew! Although I absolutely love traveling, it’s so nice to come home after being away for a while. (Here’s all about our Costa Rica trip if you missed it). What’s even better is to come home to beautiful springtime! When we left over a month ago spring was juuuuust barely starting to show itself, so…
