Wild Harvest

As it is: The eclipse, elixirs, and healing

September 7, 2017 in Aromatherapy / Distillation / Gardening / Healing Herbs / Markets / Natural Skin Care / Products / Wild Harvest by Kelli

As summer comes to a close we have been very busy harvesting the herbs and distilling, learning about our new environment and adjusting. The herbal teas, the hydrosols, the oils and the resins provide the elixirs.

The ones for illness, the ones for the soul, the ones for the heart.

Last night (the night of Aug 21st and the Solar eclipse in Leo) I distilled the Rose Geranium and when I started to process the plant I got a clear message to slow down and let the aroma seep in, permeate my mind and I felt my heart open up to myself. I hadn’t known I was closed, I was rushed, busy and tired, and suddenly I felt more acceptance, acceptance of everything. Love was present.

The distillation is aromatically exquisite. The oil this morning was the color of the sky. I hope that others will find healing, love and connection to self through this hydrosol and I will use the Oil in my next batch of Deep Sleep.

Rose Geranium oil in the separator

Rose Geranium permeates the room

Here are a few more things we have been up to!

In the woods behind the house I found this:
Phaeolus schweinitzii. It can be used as a natural dye

Tulsi Holy Basil as it is about to move into the new tunnel in the beginning of August.

Harvesting Bacopa monnieri

Bacopa harvest will become a tincture for our family.

From the garden daily.

Blue Chamomile essential oil

Butterfly on the Gotu Kola

The Mother. The Source.

Gifts

Speaking of Gifts……That will be the focus for the next months, Energetically aligned and Inspirational aromatic and healing salves and oil blends to get us through the fall and into winter! Whether you are feeling sluggish or need to rest, feeling down or need to channel that enthusiasm? Contact me for any custom blends you might be interested in.

Beginnings, endings and continuations

January 27, 2017 in Aromatherapy / Biodiversity / Food / Gardening / Healing Herbs / Wild Harvest by Kelli

Secretly Sleeping in December 2016

I wanted to put together some photos that showed the garden and greenhouse in the beginning as they were being put up. We hand dug all the beds and created the soil. The results are pure magic. We were only caretakers of something already there, even though you can’t see it. Something that is available to all. Nourishing. Healing. Teaching.

Now my journey will take me along again. To build again. To connect again. I think I will miss this more than the many other gardens that I have left behind. It has touched me in a special deep healing way. It has such life, a higher power lives here, even now at the end of January, especially now. Feeding the soil, feeding the birds, resting and preparing to come back again in all its glory. It will keep on teaching, keep on healing, like pure magic.

greenhouse being erected and only two beds dug at the top.

A blessing as always to work together as a family. This represents the deep change that is part of the season.

A blessing as always to work together as a family. Early Spring.

After the first season.

progress

2016

Sept 2016 greenhouse

Harvesting – Acorus Calamus

October 21, 2016 in Aromatherapy / Biodiversity / Healing Herbs / Wild Harvest by Kelli

I am very blessed to have some new connections in my field. I have recently connected with Lisa Jeanine from alchemillasapotek.blogspot.se, who makes spagyric tinctures. This is the traditional and original way the Alchemists made plant medicine. Each tincture contains the complete parts of the plants: the Body, Soul, and Spirit. Processing involves several steps including distillation and calcination and often takes months to complete.

I am sharing and trading many plants and ideas with her. This last weekend she brought me to a place where we could harvest Acorus Calamus root. This is a very aromatic root with unique and even magical properties. It has been on my list of plants to meet all summer.

A plant for finding your voice.

Soft, spongy and light. Acorus Calamus has been the easiest root to process. This root can also be distilled to obtain a fragrant oil.

Lisa and I at the pond. — Lisa and me at the pond, with our helpers.

Also on this day we visited Lisa’s friends and well known establishment urnatur.se.

What a treat for the kids and me! With hectares of handcrafted treehouses fitted with beds, cottages with the best living roofs I have ever seen, kitchens with handcrafted features and much more, the walk around the property was truly like, as they say on their website, a poem. I felt like the forest was hugging me back, speaking of calm and freedom. This place is truly unique, a celebration of nature. I hope to return some day.