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Here’s To You!

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My grape plant, pictured in June of this year. By the time September arrived, my plant baby was bigger, taller and grapes galore!  Nothing like a cold drink to take you through a hot summer day. I think no one can deny that this year has had its share of  crazy, hazy, hot days. I don’t know what you’re go to beverage is but I do like cold grape or orange juice with flavored seltzer and ice, yum. This year I got the chance to make wild grape juice-from grapes from my garden. Initially I wasn’t sure how sure how to take grapes to juice but I got an easy recipe online. The end product was a great tasting, slightly tart juice-just the way I like it. Next year I hope to be able to make a lot more. I picked out the dark grapes, tossed out the green and white ones. After washing the grapes I put them in a saucepan with enough water to cover them. Once on the stovetop, the grapes were placed on simmer for about 15 min, just enough to break grape skin. Afterwards, I mashed and strained...
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It’s A Hit!

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  Arnica chamissonis Hi Everyone, In last month’s blog I reviewed the hits and misses I had over the last few months. The last activity I spoke about was my attempt to make Arnica (Arnica chamissonis) oil. My dilemma was whether I was going to use my oven dehydrator or a quicker method I read about-picking Arnica flowers and letting them sun dry for about an hour, then using double boiler method to obtain oil quicker. I opted for the double boiler method. Within 3 hours I had a wonderful oil, ready to use!  Sun and air drying the Arnica flowers Using the double boiler method to make the oil-3 hours stove top. This morning I was out in the yard, I deadheaded the spent Arnica flowers, hopefully I will get another batch of Arnica flowers to make more oil! For now, I have a topical oil to address bruises, muscle and tendon pain. It’s a hit! Thanks for hanging with me:). 
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Hits and Misses

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Red Poppy (Papaver rhoeas)   Hey Everybody:) I'd like to follow up with some of the projects I started a few months ago. Some were successful, others not so much. In December's blog, Slap-Happy Gardener , I started infusions for Goji Berry and Chrysanthemum. The result was a wonderful tincture that includes Bacopa-addressing mind and body health. February's blog, You Can Sow It and Grow It , had me sowing seeds in milk jugs and bottles. I sowed Skullcap, Blue Vervain and Dang Shen. Today I have a bustling Dang Shen plant, I look forward to incorporating the roots for tinctures. The Skullcap and Blue Vervain never sprouted:(.  Dang Shen (Codonopsis pilosa) In Mayday! Mayday! It's Mother's Day , I set out to make rose scented oil, using dried rose buds purchased from Mountain Rose Co. As the weeks went by, the oil appeared to be coming along well, then in last 2 weeks of infusion, I notice water condensation in bottle, the oil went rancid. I wasn't discouraged, I ...
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Mayday! Mayday! It’s Mother’s Day!

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(No, this is not a Damascus Rose, this is a beautiful Gardenia flower) Family, flowers, dinners, gifts-All a part of the special day for moms or anyone caring for family or friends. My mom passed way a year ago but I still feel excited about Mother’s Day.  My mother loved flowers, and I still try to keep a bouquet of flowers in the house to brighten up the place. This month I’m trying my hand at making a Damascus Rose oil. This is a beautiful flower with a wonderful scent, I hope to capture some of it in the infusion. Below, you’ll see the items I used and how I attempted to make the oil. I’m using the slow method, letting the rose infuse in the oil for 6 weeks. There are faster ways of making the oil-using the double boiler method, etc., but I’m going to try it this way, we’ll see what happens. I have my Mason Jar, oil (Fractionated Coconut Oil) and Damascus Rose Petals-From Mountain Rose Co. With the amount of rose petals I had-117 grams, I made two batches of infused rose oil. I...
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April Madness

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  Spring is here, gardeners itchin' to sow and get plants in the ground for Summer beauty.  Some of us have already started seedlings indoors. Hopefully for me, my plant babies will do well out in the wilderness-garden. Some pictures of my “kids”, Below, Marigold seedlings.                                                     Beets, Lavender and Brussell Sprouts Bacopa Green thumbs, let’s pray for a refreshing Spring and a wonderful Summer. Thanks for hanging out!
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Yes, You Can Sow It And Grow It In Winter

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  Last month I enjoyed attending a winter sowing class. Our teacher Izzy showed us an easy way to start seedlings in the dead of winter, with few supplies-milk/water jug, soil, tape, scissors, and something pointed/drill.   Check out Izzy’s site for more information and examples of winter sowing.  Izzy’s link Take a look at my venture into winter sowing. Hopefully success this spring, will keep you up.  After class we took our bottles outside to the demonstration garden. The seeds will spend rest of the winter there. Springtime hopefully will bring seedlings! My table’s seeds ready to go outside. Most of the seeds planted are NJ native plants, they’ll be used to this wacky weather. At home, I placed my seed houses on the back porch, the seeds I used, Blue Vervain, Skullcap and Dang Shen (Codonopsis pilosa). Have fun trying this out! Thanks for stopping by.
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Slap-Happy Gardener

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 HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  If you don’t know it yet, I am a slap-happy gardener. I enjoy being in God’s nature, always trying my hand at growing herbs/plants to heal and keep the body moving. Sometimes my planting experience is a success, sometimes not, but the goal is to create teas, tincture, and topical items that soothe, heal and energize body, mind and soul. Today’s project has me working with Goji Berries and Chrysanthemum flowers. Organic Goji berries and Chrysanthemum flowers are easily accessible at health food stores and online.  I used my nut grinder to grind up the Goji berries and chrysanthemum flower tops. Thank goodness for AI I am able to do formulations for making tinctures- me and math have a complicated relationship, lol. Now all I have to do is make sure the herb/fruit infusion stays mixed by giving them a shake twice a day. After about 6 weeks, voila! tinctures I can use daily. Goji berries and Chrysanthemum flowers are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TC...
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