Nourish and Thrive
{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…
{This post is sponsored by Mountain Rose Herbs} I have a thing for shortbread cookies. I also have a thing for edible flowers. So it makes total sense to combine the two in my mind! Dried lavender is an edible and medicinal flower that I always make sure to have on hand, because I use…
You have most likely seen usnea, also known as Old Man’s Beard, when you are out in the forest. I see it all the time hanging in long strands from conifers when I’m hiking here in the pacific northwest. What you may not have known is that usnea is a super medicinal lichen! I love…
{This post is sponsored by Mountain Rose Herbs} If you or someone you know has an unruly beard, then this post is for you! Last year I made a Rosemary Pine Beard Balm that was hugely popular (and popular in my Etsy shop as well!), so I thought I’d come up with a new and…
{This post is sponsored by Mountain Rose Herbs} What if I told you that roasted dandelion root tasted almost exactly like coffee when brewed? Even more so when you add a pinch of roasted chicory root! I’ve heard this time and time again from people or read it on the internet, but I never actually…
Fall is the season for apples, and apples and ginger go together spectacularly. Ever since I first made a ginger bug, I knew that I wanted to make ginger beer with it, as that’s its traditional use. But then I got the great idea to make fermented apple ginger beer, and I knew that was…
Elderberry season is always an exciting time. I love watching the local elderberry trees come into flower in the summer, then slowly start producing berries as fall approaches. Fall is by far my favorite season, so this is the beginning of wonderful things to come in my mind! Elderberries are amazing for the immune system,…
Most of us in the fermenting world know all about kombucha, whether we’ve made it ourselves or just purchase it at our local health food store. What I’ve only recently learned is that kombucha is also great for the skin and makes a wonderful soap! It’s also the perfect way to use up any extra…
We all know that fall is all about pumpkin spice everything, but why don’t we have a zucchini spice craze in the summertime? I’m about to change that! Zucchini is abundant in gardens everywhere, and can be used in yummy baked goods like this zucchini spice bread. When I was first searching for a zucchini…
