Wild Harvest

2016-07-19 St. John’s Wort

 in Wild Harvest by
St John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) infusing in organic safflower oil

St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) infusing in organic safflower oil

We get very few days away at a time from the garden, especially when there hasn’t been any rain and when it drops to 11C at night we need to close the greenhouse at night.  We were lucky enough to go to one of my favorite areas and this time stay over a night with good friends on the Baltic coast at Strömsborg.  This is a wonderful place for me to collect St. John’s Wort and get a little sunburn.  On a small island I collected enough flowers for a 1,8 liter jar.  So wonderful, warming and thrilling to see the red begin infusing immediately.  I love this healing oil, so multi purpose.

St. Johnswort at Strömsborg

St. Johnswort at Strömsborg

2016-07-15 Morning wild harvest

 in Wild Harvest by
Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) and Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) and Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)

We have so many herbs growing around us here. This morning the kids and I set out in the morning to harvest meadowsweet for a planned yarrow/meadowsweet co-distillation, which is wonderful for scrapes and very nice for oily break-out-type skin. There was so much lovely red clover that we decided to collect a little of it too. Red clover is a great addition to tea blends for women.

2016-06-20 Summer Solstice

 in Aromatherapy / Distillation / Wild Harvest by

The summer solstice is an important point in the year at our latitude. There is light in the sky all night, and the plants seem to reach a critical point in their lifecycles; virtually everything wild blooms, and cultivars seem to double in size overnight.

Wild Rosa dumalis

Wild Rosa dumalis, June 20, 2016

This year on the solstice we walked all around the area where we live collecting wild roses (Rosa dumalis). These roses can be found all over the Swedish countryside, and they clearly love the solstice sun. We harvested and distilled the fragrant flower petals, and are very thankful for this midsummer gift from nature.

Rosa dumalis ready for distillation

Rosa dumalis ready for distillation, June 20, 2016

2016-06-03 Scots Pine and Norway Spruce Distillation

 in Aromatherapy / Distillation / Wild Harvest by
Norway Spruce (Picea abies) and Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) saplings- June 3 2016

Norway Spruce (Picea abies) and Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) saplings- June 3 2016

Scots Pine ready for distillation - June 3 2016

Scots Pine ready for distillation – June 3 2016

We live near the edge of the forest, and today we found a stand of Scots Pine and Norway Spruce saplings in the meadow. Last year we distilled needles from an adult Norway Spruce, and we were eager to try again with more of our local evergreen species. These saplings were the perfect choice: very green and fresh, with vibrant aromatic constituents and growing in a spot they might get mowed down.

 

First we distilled the Scots Pine, after chopping it into small bits by hand. The whole house smelled wonderful during the distillation, and the hydrosol came out great.

The Norway Spruce was next, and again we prepared it for distillation by chopping it into bits, with both needles and branches included. The two hydrosols smell very different.