Week #2

News from the garden-
Deer have found the peas.  I should still get a decent amount, but they ate off the tops of some of the plants.

This week's boxes will have peas, basil, lettuces, chard, kale, carrots and maybe a few onions.  This is more of a challenge than I thought it would be.  Surely a learning experience.

My herbs beds are growing like crazy.  Unfortunately, the good growth has overshadowed my little rosemary and thyme plants and they're stunted.

Looks like rain this morning.  Better get out there and get some things done.
From Glory Farm

Flowering Herbs

A friend was over last night and said "I love your flower garden".  I don't have any flower gardens.  She was looking at one of my herb beds.  Who needs a flower garden with these beautiful blooms--

                                                                Soapwort

                                                        Yellow Yarrow

                                                             Motherwort

                                                            echinacea

                                                                 Bee Balm

                                                       St. John's Wort

                                                        Oregano

                                                              Dyer's Broom

                                                          Pink Yarrow

                                                         Calendula

                                                     Chamomile

                                               Elecampane

Everything seems to be blooming at once.  Gardens are growing.  Harvest time is here. 

Wild Hops

Last fall I discovered a patch of wild hops back in the woods.  I didn't get them picked in time, but this year I plan to harvest them and make a tea with them.

Here's a close up-

I think that they are almost ready to harvest.  The cones should feel papery and light and a bit dry.  If they have an odor and are slightly sticky they are ready.  Once I harvest them and dry them in my dehydrator, I'm going to use them for tea.

Hops aid insomnia, promotes appetite, (like I need that?), can relieve arthritis pain, relieves gas, and helps women produce more milk while breastfeeding. 

One more thing to add to my medicine cabinet.  Oh, hoppy day!

Jewel Weed

This stuff grows all along the edge of my yard.  They say that where jewel weed grows, poison ivy is somewhere close by.  Haven't seen the poison ivy. 
Jewel weed helps with the irritation caused by poison ivy. It helps with other skin irritations as well, such as ezema and rashes.  We break the stem and use the juice in the plant to put on the skin.
When I was young, my mom called this the touch me not plant.  When you touch the seed pods of the jewel weed it bursts open.  We had a lot of fun doing this when we were growing up.  (We weren't allowed to watch TV, what can I say?)

Here's a seed pod.

Here's the seed pod after I touched it.
Go find some jewel weed and have some fun.

Making Tea

Sometimes I think I'm hard to live with.  Last weekend I wouldn't have wanted to be in the house with me.  :)

So once clear thought returned, I decided to make some tea.  Not that it will really help, but maybe a placebo effect is all I need.  I threw together some rasberry leaves, red clover, bee balm and stevia.  I had heard that red clover is good for PMS.  I did a little research on each of the ingredients and found that:

Red Clover:  May reduce cholesterol, reduce bone loss, and help PMS.

Rasberry Leaves:  May alleviate cold symptoms, help get rid of cancer and cold sores, and have Vitamin C, Vitamin A, calcium and phosphorus. (Also good for pregnant ladies.)

Bee Balm:  Tastes good :), May helps treating colds, headaches, fevers and help digestive problems.

Stevia:  I put this in just as a sweetener but it also may help treat high blood pressure, digestion, heartburn, and osteoporosis.

( It's best to check with your doctor before using any herbal treatments.) 

The tea tastes good and I guess it's good for me.  I think I'll rummage around through my dried herbs and see what other concoctions I can come up with.

From Glory Farm

Horsetail

Picture from http://www.liveandfeel.com/medicinalplants/horsetail.html

We have horsetail growing wild all along the edge of our yard.  I decided to look it up and see if it is good for anything.  Wow, I think it does everything but wash dishes. Oh wait, it does wash the dishes!  It contains large amounts of silica and it used to be used to scour kitchen utensils, works well, if you find it while out camping , to scour your dishes.

Crushing the stems and applying this to a wound, stops bleeding.  Horsetail tea has been used to treat mouth infections, digestive problems.  Small amounts are said to help with headaches, arthritis, and stress.

Google this herb and you'll find many more uses.

Herbal Teas-Christmas Gifts

I've been drying herbs all summer in the hope of putting together some herb teas for gifts.  Yesterday I ground up my concoctions and tested them.
First I ground up the herbs and berries-

This is the strawberry tea, strawberries, strawberry leaves, red clover, currant leaves and stevia.

Then I put it in tea bags-

Ironing the bags shut-

I printed out some tea bag holders off of the internet.

Last, I put the tea bags in the holders and Viola! Christmas gifts.

I made peppermint, citrus, strawberry and licorice.

The Strawberry was great, I hope the rest taste as good.

These will go in the gift baskets that I plan to make up for Christmas presents.