HERBAL MEDICINE: TINCTURES

October 1, 2014

For a simple elderberry tincture recipe click HERE. Unfortunately here in Minnesota the elderberry season is over.  I was lucky to find a bush that hadn't been picked over by the birds but not lucky enough to have my tincture ready before my youngest caught a respiratory infection :(  Elderberries, when taken orally,  are best for treating both influenza A and B.  A...
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HERBS HERBS HERBS

September 7, 2014

Maya and I attended the yearly Herb Festival in Cannon Falls this weekend.  It was great to see Lise Wolff again (I have taken classes from her in the past) and it was fun to learn new things. I only had one negative experience, a single instructor that clearly didn't belong there (had her group drinking essential oils, putting several undiluted eos on the skin, referred to Robert Tisserand as...
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I AM STILL A MUD PUDDLE GIRL

August 23, 2014

Back in 2007 my friend Carrie over at Under the Willow presented me with a digital Mud Puddle Girl award (see original post about that HERE). What is a Mud Puddle Girl you ask... well, this is how Carrie defines it: she can play just as hard as any little boy, catch fish in a pond, hold bugs, hug a very dirty dog, climb trees, ride a bike, and run in the mud.   Carrie had...
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GARDEN TALK TIME

August 16, 2014

The garden is doing pretty good this year... in some areas.  Not sure what is up with the shallots and onions, I'm thinking it is poor soil quality, but everything else is doing great.  Since the backyard was regraded we've been spreading wildflower seed and planting a few things here and there and things are starting to really grow.  This is what it looks like right now: The...
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SURVIVED MY FIRST YEAR OF HOMESCHOOLING

May 5, 2014

Ok, I've survived nearly 9 months of homeschooling and although I've doubted myself A LOT throughout the experience and needed the reassurance from good friends like Teresa to keep me from throwing in the towel, I have found I really enjoy it. There is this immense satisfaction knowing that when my child learned to read, tell time, do fractions and tell me all about Egypt, etc... that I am the...
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PROCESSING WOOL: PART 2

April 20, 2014

I finally moved on to washing the raw wool. The first bag was pretty clean. I wish I knew who I bought that particular bag from because that person takes immaculate care of their sheep. The second bag was pretty awful in terms of lanolin - maybe it has to do with the type of sheep??? I have no idea. So... part one: pick through raw wool to get rid of particles like hay or poop. Part two: wash wool.  I...
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I DID IT! I MADE MAPLE SYRUP!

April 11, 2014

After 30+ years thinking about it, I finally made some maple syrup. Don't laugh but here it is. This came from a silver maple tree in the city so we get the added taste of pollution too. Haha! I boiled down nearly 2 gallons of silver maple sap and what you see above is what I ended up with (there would have been a little more but I ruined the 2nd half I boiled by getting distracted on the...
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