Gardening

New Tea Tree oil salve at the Knivsta market Thursday, August 18th

 in Aromatherapy / Gardening / Markets / Natural Skin Care by
Calendula and Tea Tree oil Salve

Calendula and Tea Tree oil Salve

It is time to put our feet back into shoes again so I felt inspired to make a strong calendula salve with tea tree oil.  This is great for keeping away or addressing any fungal issues lingering between the toes and healing up blisters and cuts from a summer of outdoor play.  Of course it’s great for many other applications as well because Tea Tree is an anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral essential oil that is highly tolerated by almost everyone.  If we use an organic and sustainable source then we have highly effective medicine to work with.  Calendula is also an effective, non toxic, herbal medicine.  I hand pick and process this organically grown flower in several different ways and for this salve I used two different preparations in oil in order to give it a double impact.  The first is a 4 week midsummer sun infusion into Safflower and Jojoba oils and the second is a 24 hour warm infusion of fresh flower into Safflower oil.  These are blended with a small amount of lavender essential oil and a strong (20%) amount of Tea Tree oil.   Apply this salve to minor cuts and scrapes.

I will have this salve at the market Thursday in Knivsta and Saturday in Uppsala along with many other great herbal preparations grown and produced here in Sweden.

2016-08-10 Things that are new including second plantings.

 in Gardening by

We stay very busy but we have a good rhythm and we work together. This year we have some new stuff happening. We have a second crop of Lemon Sorrel that should last through the winter into the spring. We have a second crop of Chard (mangold) coming along very quickly and this will last until the hard freezes.

newest crop of Chard to last until the hard freezes reach into our thick remay

Newest crop of Chard to last until the hard freezes reach into our thick remay

And I have several new herbs that I have never grown before and these have been a huge blessing to me.  I tend to grow what I, my family, or my friends need.  Often when I hear about an herb and am interested in it, it seems to somehow to appear in my life.

Wood Betony Stachys Officinalis

Wood Betony (Stachys Officinalis)

Blue Vervain Verbena Officinalis

Blue Vervain (Verbena Officinalis)

Roman Chamomile

Roman Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile)

These last 3 are wonderful nervines, a class of herbs that I am learning more about the energetics of.

2016-08-03 High-quality dried Organic Herbal Tea Blends

 in Gardening by

Four new tea blends, made from 100% organic herbs, grown and hand-harvested in our gardens:

1. Tulsi, Mint and Lemon Verbena – uplifting and energizing
2. Mint and Gotu Kola – support the mind
3. Lemon Balm and Marshmallow –  nourishing
4. Swedish Wild Rose petals, German Chamomile, Calendula petals, and Lemon Balm – relaxing

New Moon, New Stuff.

New Moon, New Stuff.

2016-07-27 This is the Tulsi we distilled today

 in Aromatherapy / Distillation / Gardening by

I come out in the mornings and harvest tulsi for the tea we make each morning. Some mornings I am greeted by such phenomenal growth I spend an hour or more tending to this amazing aromatic and healing plant.  I am given many insightful moments this way.  Tulsi is a devotional plant, used in many ritual ways, but devotion I can understand.  It makes me want to sing and I understand that there are songs written and sung for and about her.

This is the Tulsi I found this morning. If you would like to share it, please try the hydrosol.

morning Tulsi blessings

Morning Tulsi blessings

2016-07-26 Family time, lots of harvesting and a couple of distillations

 in Aromatherapy / Distillation / Food / Gardening by

The kids don’t always participate in garden work but today was a blessing as they were all about it.  Harvesting is their favorite; they can see, touch and taste the many things we have.  We even get help with research when needed, like today when I didn’t really know what to do with the stevia plant that I picked up this year at the garden show in Stockholm, and my son read all about it and helped us to decide how to process it.

Here is a list of what we did this morning together and then afterward we continued to distill and process herbs for the entire day.  At this time of year, we do this several times a week with various plants and crops.

  • Two kinds of mint were harvested and put on the drying racks.
  • Lemon Balm was harvested and put on the drying racks.
  • Lemon verbena was harvested and some put on drying racks and some in a 5 liter distillation. A Lemony Fresh stress buster!!
  • Stevia harvested and will become a tincture tomorrow.
  • Roman Chamomile harvested and into a small distillation.  This Roman Chamomile hydrosol is very special; yes it’s relaxing but the aroma is soothing, almost smooth like butter.  We might end up with 10 or so bottles for sale.
  • Gotu Kola harvested from the greenhouse plants that are for sale.  My own crop lives indoors and takes up half of the sunny south side window sharing that space with the Rose Geraniums.

Tomorrow I will get up first thing and harvest Tulsi.  She really likes the attention.

The day before yesterday I blended new batches of Garden Herb Tea and a Relax/Peace tea to clear the drying racks.

my daughter harvesting from the pots of gotu kola. A great way to snack.

My daughter harvesting from the pots of gotu kola.  A great way to snack.

One of the larger pots of Gotu Kola after the harvest and the bounty.

One of the larger pots of Gotu Kola after the harvest and the bounty.