Nourish and Thrive
As many of you know by now, making my own homebrew, specifically mead (honey wine), is one of my favorite things to do. I also love infusing flavors into different mediums, including alcohol. When I don’t have the time to brew up some wine or mead, I like to make an infused wine to extract…
One aspect about foraging that I absolutely love is when I discover a plant that I’ve seen for years, since childhood even, is edible and medicinal! This was the case with pineapple weed, also known as wild chamomile. When I learned several years ago that it can be used in the same way as its…
Dandelion wine is an old school recipe that has been around for centuries. The yellow petals have a honey-like flavor and they make a delicious wine! I prefer to make dandelion mead, as I feel like it is even more flavorful that way. Mead is simply wine that is made with honey instead of sugar….
When out foraging for edible and medicinal plants, it is just as important—if not more so—to know how to identify the poisonous plants that grow in your region. Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) is one of those that everyone should know how to identify, as it can be quite prolific in some areas. To the untrained…
When I first began delving into making herbal bath and beauty products myself many years ago, it all started with homemade herbal deodorant. It’s the perfect beginner recipe for DIY beauty products, mainly because it’s simple to make, but also because it’s good for your health. The best part is that this homemade deodorant recipe…
A cup of hot chamomile tea is the perfect way to end to any day, as it helps to calm the mind and relax the spirit. I know that I enjoy it most evenings. Beyond its ability to tame frayed nerves, chamomile has many other benefits, both for the garden and for us. I love…
Spring is the season of new beginnings and new growth. As the temperature starts to warm up and everything begins to thaw from the winter, spring foraging options increase! This is the time of year for fresh salad greens, tasty spring flowers and shoots, medicinal plants, and a few edible mushrooms. This list of what…
Permaculture is a word that brings to mind beautiful and large swathes of property filled to the brim with fruit trees, perennial food forests, and natural water sources. While this is a dream that many of us have (myself included!), it can feel like a difficult reality on a small suburban lot. Surprisingly, it isn’t…
{This post is sponsored by Flower Child CBD} Cannabis is now legal in some form or another in 29 states, with many other states likely to follow. If you are lucky enough to live in one of those states, or in a country where medical cannabis is legal, you can use it just like you…
{This post is sponsored by Mountain Rose Herbs} I wasn’t allowed to drink much soda pop growing up (thanks Mom!), but I did have the occasional root beer when we went out to eat. It was always my favorite with its distinctive flavor that was so different than the regular boring colas. Little did I…
You know that spring has sprung when you see the bright yellow blaze of forsythia blossoms across the neighborhood. Forsythia is a shrub that barely gets noticed until spring arrives, and then it’s the star of the show! I was pleasantly surprised and excited to find out that forsythia flowers are edible, especially since I…
Foraging is one of the most rewarding things that you can do, especially when you find a huge patch of a highly nutritious plant such as chickweed. While it’s always fun to find and identify a wild edible plant here and there, it can be a rare occasion to be able to harvest enough to…
{This post is sponsored by Beesponsible} With the bee population at risk due to overuse of pesticides and other factors, it’s important to plant flowers that bees love – and that aren’t treated with pesticides, of course. Having a little pollinator garden is nice, not only for the bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects, but…
Chives are often one of the first plants to pop up in the springtime and they are a welcome sight after a long and cold winter. I love growing chives for many reasons beyond putting them on a baked potato with sour cream (but that’s an excellent reason to grow them, too!). They are great…
{This post is sponsored by Mountain Rose Herbs} Natural lip balms are easier to make than you may think, and they are especially nice when using nourishing herbal ingredients. When your lips are dry and in need of some extra moisturizing, this rose hip lip balm is the perfect thing to have on hand! Rose…
One of the first flowers to emerge in late winter and early spring are wild violets. We get them all over our backyard, so finding them is pretty easy! Since we have so many, I decided that I better do something with them, and making wild violet infused vinegar seemed like the best idea. It’s…