Herbal Blog Party!

Spring is a great time of year to start planning or expanding your herb garden, and Corey at Aquarian Bath is having a party! An herbal blog party that is and has invited the following bloggers to share their ideas, and gardens.

Take a minute to visit:

Tina Sams of from the Essential Herbal gives us a tour of emerging Spring herbs in Pennsylvania. Her Anise Hyssop photo is featured in this blog post. ~Cindy Jones of Sage Script also shows us what herbs are coming up in Colorado, and discusses plans for herbal planting.~Sarah Head of Tales of a Kitchen Herbwife in England shares a richly descriptive post on the first medicines of spring.~Lady Barbara of Lady Barbara's Garden in Oregon takes us on an exuberant Alice in Wonderland stroll finishing up with a treasury of Violet Magic.~Beth Brynne of the Garden Meanderings blog in Western New York also discusses emerging Spring Plants. Visit Maggie McMillan's lovely farm. What beautiful animals she has. Maggie shares about making biiter Dandelion coffee and Dock syrup.~Yael Grauer of Dirt Time is also "Embracing the Bitter" this month. Check out her post on Horseradish. ~Karen Vaughan of Acupuncture Brooklyn discusses the challenges and opportunities of Spring Time Urban Gardening.~Here at Aquarian Bath, my contribution to the blog party is Shapshots from my Spring day in the Garden at Fair Share yesterday. You will definately want to check out the new and unique "US mint" bed we started yesterday.

Happy Gardening
Karen

Spring has Arrived in the Ozarks

Today it seems like everything decided it was time. Forsythia, Dutchman's Breeches, and Bloodroot all were blooming on the county roadside. Tomorrow I'll try to take some pictures.

Earth Hour

On Saturday, March 27, at 8:30 PM your local time, turn your lights off and unplug your appliances for an hour. You will be joining with millions of people and thousands of municipalities around the world in a dramatic demonstration of unified global cooperation for a sustainable environment. www.earthhour.org

Snowing hard now

It's snowing pretty hard now, a blizzard, even.

Kitchen Cosmetics Blog Party

As winter drags on in most parts of the country our skin is probably suffering from dryness. Here are a few links to blogs with simple recipes that you can try at home to help your skin get through winter.

Cindy Jones from Colorado Aromatics at Sagescript Institute posted a recipe for a yogurt facial that is easy and soothing. You will find several good options for herbs to add to this right on your spice shelf such as parsley, thyme, even turmeric. http://sagescript.blogspot.com/2010/01/kitchen-cosmetics-blog-party.html

Mountain Mary posted some recipes for salt scrubs. Exfoliating is a great way to get more moisture into the skin.
http://mountainmarys.blogspot.com/2010/01/kitchen-cosmetics-blog-party.html

Maryanne Kudera posted a few recipes here; one of which uses 'old champagne'. Personally, I would never leave champagne around long enough for it to get old but you might try it.
http://maryannkudera.blogspot.com/2010/01/kitchen-cosmetics.html

Maggie at Prairie Land Herbs posted a recipe for a lemon egg shampoo. Soon our chickens will be laying too many eggs for us to eat so I'll try it then.
http://prairielandherbs.blogspot.com/2010/01/first-up-obligatory-weather-related.html

Cory Trusty of Aquarian Bath posted instructions for making an herb infused vinegar and them some great recipes using it. http://aquarianbath.blogspot.com/2010/01/kitchen-cosmetics-do-it-yourself-body.htmlThis time of year winter makes itself known by giving us dry itchy skin. Besides the wonderful skin care products offered by Colorado Aromatics and other small independent companies, there is also alot that you can do for your skin from your kitchen using simple ingredients. My all time favorite is the yogurt facial.

Happy Father's Day ~

This weekend is Father's Day .. a day to celebrate and honor the men in our lives.
I was not fortunate in this lifetime to know my Dad ... however, my Grandpa and Uncles were very loving and positive roll models for me.

Some quotes for Father's Day:

'It is not flesh and blood ..
but the heart which makes us ..
fathers and sons. '
- - Johann Schiller

'Sherman made the terrible discovery that men make about their fathers sooner or later... that the man before him was not an aging father but a boy, a boy much like himself, a boy who grew up and had a child of his own and, as best he could, out of a sense of duty and, perhaps love, adopted a role called Being a Father so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a Protector, who would keep a lid on all the chaotic and catastrophic possibilities of life. '
~ ~Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities

"My father didn't tell me how to live;
he lived, and let me watch him do it."
-- Clarence Budington Kelland

In honor of Father's Day ~

Blog Watcher's Special:
Free Shipping on all orders $50.00 or more
on UPS Ground in the continental USA.
This offer is valid thru June 22, 2009
Enter this in the 'comment section' when checking out.
We will only honor those that enter this code:
FD09 Free Ship

Our Father's Day Give A Way ~

1 - (4 / 5 oz bar) Working Man Hands Handmade Soap
1 - (4 / 5 oz bar) Scandanavian Woods Handmade Soap
1 - 4 oz Peppermint Hydrosol for a cooling after shave spray

Please be sure to put your name and email address so that we may contact you.
Pass this on to those that you think may enjoy our Give A Way.

- until next time,
Rosanne
www.sunrosearomatics.com

Roses are Blooming

I am very excited that the first roses started blooming This week. This is when I gather all my baskets to start picking roses and rose buds to dry and use later for Colorado Aromatics products and crafts I might do later. Some roses will be ground and used in bath salts and scrubs, some will be saved to use in potpourri. The buds will be saved for later use. One thing to do with buds is to string them like a necklace and put them on a lampshade. The warmth of the light will help release the scent. Later when more roses are blooming I'll harvest them for a small distillation run.
Cindy, Sagescript

It's almost February - where has the long dark winter gone?

I know that the northern readers are wanting to come down here and give me a talking to about my thinking that winter is almost over. My tongue is planted firmly in my cheek, because I know the worst is yet to come. I like to think about spring though. It makes winter more bearable.

To be honest, I'm not much of a seed starter. Lancaster County is awash with greenhouses, herb farms, and the month of May (and parts of April and June) is crammed with herb festivals and herb farm open houses. It is a gardener's dream, and when I read of the people in other parts of the country who have nothing much except a hardware store or big-box store selection, I appreciate it even more.

So mostly, that is how my garden comes to life. Mostly I transplant what others have started and nurtured to a point that it might actually survive me.
What manages to survive my forgetfulness usually falls victim to the roving gangs of bunnies or the insatiably gnawing hunger of the unstoppable groundhog. Then there are the giant deer hoof prints I find in the garden, and the birds that sit waiting for the berries to ripen. But never mind that. If I think about that too much I might give up - and gardeners NEVER give up. So where was I?Oh. Right. We were talking about seed starting. There are parts of the country (and thriftier people than I) where seeds are the way to begin the garden. Many people wouldn't think of purchasing adolescent plants, and if they are vigilant, seeds will pay them back many times over.

We were talking on the Yahoo Group for The Essential Herbal Magazine, and some of the favorite seed sources can be found below:

Fedco Seeds

Horizon Herbs

ArborDay.Org

The Rosemary House

Botanical Interests

Heirloom Seeds

Rare Seeds at Baker Creek

Seed Savers

Landis Valley Museum Heirloom Seed Project

Abundant Life Seeds

They all have lots of great information, and I could spend several days just visiting seed websites. I DO grow most of my vegetables from seed. Things like eggplant, where I only need one or two plants, and melon, which takes forever to grow, I will buy the plants. Everything else in the veggie garden is from seed. Come to think of it, this should be a post about PLANTS! Maybe later.

While you're thinking about gardening, consider our book, The Essential Herbal ~ Under the Sun. There are several articles on different types of gardens, how to create good soil, how to care for seedlings, and get rid of pests.
We also have the CobraHead tool available on our website. This is one tool you don't want to be without when you are out there doing battle with the dandelion, the sour dock, and the bladderwort. This baby is ergonomically designed to help you get more bang for your buck. Less wasted energy, more effect. And it is one of the few tools that can take me through season after season without rusting, bending, or breaking.

And before the season gets started and you need something for those tired muscles, head over and get your supply of Gardener's Soap, Arnica Rub and Gardener's Tub Tea from our sister site: The Sibling Group!

Credit for the pansy picture goes to Deborah Stiffler. Deborah, of Scent-sational submitted this photo for the cover of the May/June '07 issue of The Essential Herbal.

Operation World Smudge

Yesterday I received an invitation to join Operation World Smudge. Anyone can participate. Maybe you'll want to, too! Here's the info:

Smudge where you are! Participate from home!

Smudging is a Native American tradition that involves the burning of herbs such as: sage, sweet-grass, tobacco and cedar for the purpose of purification. Join in the WORLD SMUDGE event and smudge your home, office or land on Inauguration Day. Help clear out the old administration and prepare a clear space for change.

Creative Work Spaces

Okay the holidays are over, winter has decided to visit North Georgia, so there is not a lot to do outside. This years Burpee Catalog came in the mail yesterday, and I have plans with a hot cup of coffee and a recliner later this evening pouring over the tomatoe section. I will report on all the great new vegetables and flowers tomorrow on my gardenchick blog www.gardenchick.com/garden-blog

HOWEVER, today was the day to start crossing off the to-do-list, which is part of my 2009 goals. Today, clean and organize my office. I plan on making this years garden, and my Gardenchick business my priorities this year. I don't know about ya'll, but I can't think in clutter. I also have to have inspiration around me. Since I collect junk, what a great place to put it all together in my office downstairs. My son has almost finished painting (who would have known that the earlier green on the walls would have needed THREE coats of light yellow to cover it up.).

The computer hutch is filled with my gnomes, the 1950's pixies I just love, and old concrete dwarf I paid a whole dollar for at a flea market. On the top shelf you will see a picture of my mother and her sister in a cornfield (1930's). The red cabinet holds some 1950-1960 paint by number pictures, an old rose care kit, and other odds and ends.

But just in case you thought I had conquered the clutter I included a "left to do picture".

Karen

http://www.gardenchick.com/

It's all a blur....

I know, I know.....the yellow leaves of the last post have long dropped off and blown away and we are nearly dipping our frosty toes into December days. The last few weeks have been simply a blur of big activity around here. I have no other excuse other than to admit that my creative focus has been bound in production to fill holiday demand and scheduling out classes for all of 2009. I am thankful that I have big orders to fill and that demand for classes has grown. Oh so thankful.The sense of urgency that comes naturally with the changing seasons from fall to hunkered-down winter is layered with holiday cooking, days "off" in the middle of the week, unexpected visits and a break with the normal rhythm of my days. Wrapping up another year of classes collides with a jump in the truck and a weekend of driving to bring the wayward Iceman from the North for a quick week at home. All the while, mulling over important travel details with darling daughter as she prepares to maneuver through three airports to arrive on a sunny summer Australian beach a few days before Christmas. The blurry image above is my first published attempt with my new camera after attending the class to understand it's workings. I was practicing my action panning shot without a flash...a challenge even to those with more experience than I. Anyway, it does artfully depict the crazy scene around here, so I chose to post it. Fast, blurry and challenging !! Over the years, I have learned to adapt to the balance that is required with operating a home-centered business. It takes alot of juggling, compromise and multitasking skills. But sometimes it's just worth getting up in the dark hours before the rest of the world, to get things done, think uninterrupted thoughts and feel that tiny creative spark that comes with quiet rewarding work. It makes it that much easier to share an hour cuddled up with a kid who has a story to tell, a neighbor who needs a helping hand or to follow a cooking muse in the middle of the day. The days can be mighty long but the benefits and rewards are so worthwhile. It's the best of all worlds and I can never say I've led a boring, unfulfilled life.

Fall fun

I know a number of people on the Merry Blogsters live in the Northern States, and I don't MEAN to rub it in but......it has been beautiful weather here in North Georgia (temperature high 50's, lower 60's). It was perfect weather to go out with my granddaughters and enjoy this fall weather. We have a beautiful maple tree that has just turned a golden yellow, and "blessed" us with a yard full of leaves. The girls and I went out to play in the leaves, and another one of their favorite things to do in the garden, "hunt for worms". If it makes everyone shivering from the cold feel any better, the forcast is for temperatures overnight in the low 30's with a possibility of snow flurries in the morning. Hope you enjoy our pictures!

Karen, Mackenzie, and Kendall

www.gardenchick.com

www.gardenchick.com/garden-blog

Tea Swap

Its getting cold here and they call for snow. I am getting that tickly feeling in the back of my throat that warns of a cold coming on so I thought I'd have a cup of tea. We sometimes do swaps here at Essential Herbal and recently did a tea swap so I looked through the teas I had for an appropriate one. Oh, so many good ones to choose from. I settled on Debra's because I knew the echinacea, astragalus, rosehips as well as the other ingredients would do me well on a day like this. So I brewed my tea and settled in at my computer for more work. However, now, hours later, I can't feel that tickle in my throat any more.

Cindy Jones

http://www.sagescript.com/

Do You Recycle?

Part of being green and sustainable is recycling and reusing. This is being made easier with a variety of websites dedicated to the cause. At Earth 911 you can look up information for your city on what can be recycled or disposed of and where. In fact, you can put in a specific item you need to get rid of such as used motor oil or electronics and then be directed to a location near you. It also carries news articles related to recycling. http://earth911.com.

We are probably all aware of thrift stores such as Salvation Army, ARC, and Goodwill as places to find a variety of used household items and clothing. Thrift stores have been around for along time and have provided me with many needed items at a discount price. These organizations are also been a valuable resource when cleaning out my closets and drawers and hopefully my children’s used clothing have benefitted others. I have been on several phone lists for thrift stores that call me about every 6 weeks to see if I have anything to pick up. Its convenient for me and provides an incentive to clean.

Restore is a store run by Habitat for Humanity and sells (as well as accepts) various household and building items for resell. I have bought many items there for the yard and office including fence posts, office chairs and room dividers. They usually have shelves and shelves of nails and screws as well as paint. Go here to see if there is one in your town: http://www.habitat.org/env/restores.aspx

The Freecycle Network was established to keep things out of the landfill and is an example of one person’s trash can be another person’s treasure. They have more than 4,000 local groups that are run as Yahoo Groups. If one person has something they no longer want and are willing to give it for free to someone else who needs it they can post it on their local Freecycle group for someone else to take. Go here to find a local group: http://www.freecycle.org/.

Craigs list is a site where anyone can post free classified ads. There are sites for over 500 cities. Many things on Craig’s list are free or at least inexpensive. I have used Craig’s list to find inexpensive yard tools and free firewood. www.craigslist.org.

I am posting these links and more when I find them on the right border of my website to make it easier to find them. Let me know if you know of any other useful ones.
Cindy
Sagescript

Pictures from the fair - Sonny and Andrea are engaged!

Today we were summoned to the renaissance faire. It was a simply gorgeous day.

The immense straw man greeted us as we entered, in stark contrast to the queen growing by the side of the mansion. Heh heh... I have gardening gloves just like the queen's!
Our kids work there, and one of their best friends, Sonny, met his sweetheart there last year. Today he proposed to her on stage during the Queen's Court intro to the day. We were happy to go witness it. He did a fine job of it, too. Sonny approached the stage filled with confidence. We were all so happy when these two finally decided to stop the wild flirtation and finally date. They make a very sweet couple. They changed quickly and surely from 2 single people into a couple who are very much ready to make a life together.Andrea came forth, and Sonny gave her several dozen roses before dropping to one knee. He'd written what he wanted to say to her. I think the queen may have been in suspense, but how could any woman turn that down? Look at him! The ring was his grandmother's.And of course, she said yes. To my stunned surprise, I looked beside me to see my sister and daughter both in tears. I must be getting salty in my dodderage.

For the past 10+ years since we sold our shop at the faire, visits have been a quick walk around the grounds and out. It hasn't been fun for my sister and me. Today was different. There were some beautiful things to see, some old friends to visit - although it was crowded so there wasn't much time to visit. Below you'll see some of the things that caught my eye.
A Harvest Moon Table A Most Fine and Bountious Harvest Table
Our friend Fenris the potter is an artist in so many different mediums. These altars are his work and they are truly divine.
A corner, almost out of sight held this vision.
One of the celtic bands that took the stage today. These drummers were absolutely incredible and drove the crowd wild. The bag-piper held his own quite well too!
The kids - Rob, Sonny, and Molly. Now for some reason THIS picture might make me tear up. They are all grown now. Seeing them in our old stomping grounds, forging (heh heh - little pun, sorry) their own way is odd. They relate in completely different ways to the things that we used to tell them about. It's just ...odd.
The fountain in front of The Globe, dressed for Autumn.
Another, more primal, straw man.
Maryanne (normal) and the kids (who've been too long at the faire).
The grounds of the shire were decorated to welcome the harvest more beautifully than they ever even came close to during our days there. We were very saddened to see that the giant ginkgo tree at the top of the hill was gone. On days like this, we'd look up and see the brilliant blue autumn sky (forever named "Emil blue" for Don Juan's shirt our first year there, which matched the sky, and Don Juan was portrayed by a gorgeous young man named Emil). The clear, pure yellow of the ginkgo leaves would contrast so strikingly with the sky that it would take our breath away.
Still, it was just beautiful, clear, cool, and crisp as any Autumn day could be. Fare Thee Well...

Early Morning Aromas

This morning I woke to an odd smell. At first it smelled like burning plastic so I hurriedly threw on my robe and went to check the stove and breaker panel. Sometimes Gab will get up at night and cook something and it was possible she left a burner on. And Zack will even forget he was getting ready to cook something and leave the stove on. No fire alarms were going off, but I couldn't sleep without making sure anyway. Went downstairs, nothing. Checked every outlet and every plugged in electronic device and nothing was hot. So I went back to bed for a few more hours until the alarm would go off and wake me at 5:30. As I got back under the covers, it occurred to me that I had eaten a pasta dish heavy with garlic right before going to bed, so maybe it was just me smelling like that...but I sure hoped not.

The alarm went off and the smell was still there and I still had not placed what it could be. Got dressed, started my coffee, and opened the door to tell the dogs hello - whoa! There was the source of the smell! Badger had gotten skunked and as the odor wafted up to my bedroom it smelled less and less like skunk and more and more like burnt rubber. I remembered now that I've smelled that before, haha.

Pictures Around the Garden

This is my favorite time of year; things are growing and the eating is good. The work load has slowed down some and there is more rain so it is not so hard to keep things alive. It gave me enough time to work on building a raised bed I will use next summer for herbs. I went through the garden to take some pictures to share.

Comfrey that has already been cut back once for distilling.
Elderberries that are almost ready to harvest for syrup and for tincture.
Larkspur, most of which has gone to seed and safely saved for planting elsewhere next year.
Holy Basil which is growing quite slowly.
My new raised bed which is one out of three that will go in this same area. Next year it will be overflowing with herbs.
Cindy

Sagescript Institute, llc

A find on the trail...

We were just walking up the hill and a beam of the setting sun seemed to draw my attention to something that I could hardly believe was some type of caterpillar. It was wound around a branch in a fir tree.

Here's a picture of our "find":

I took a shot of it next to a lighter to show the size.

We think this is the front/head end.

And this is the hind end.

So, my DH identified our bizarre visitor as an Imperial Moth.

From the Auburn University website (I deleted the pictures that were almost identical to the ones we took above - and we were right about which end was which!):

Imperial Moth
Eacles imperialis (Drury) (Saturniidae)

L.L. Hyche, Associate Professor
Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology
Auburn University
3/2000

The imperial moth is distributed throughout the eastern United States west to Texas and Kansas. The caterpillar feeds on foliage of a variety of broadleaf and coniferous trees. Some common hosts are oaks, sweetgum, sycamore, elm, hickories, walnut, maple, basswood, honeylocust, pines, red cedar, and bald cypress. In Alabama, the caterpillar is found on both pines and hardwoods.

Life Cycle, Description, and Habits

The insect spends the winter as a pupa in the soil; adults emerge in spring. The adult is a large moth with wingspread of 100-150 mm. It is sulfur yellow, marked in varying degrees with lilac to purplish-brown bands and spots. Females lay large yellow eggs or in small groups on either surface of host leaves.

The full-grown caterpillar is 75-100 mm long. It occurs in two color forms, green and brown. In the green form, the head is orange-yellow with vertical black or dark stripes on sides and front. The thoracic legs are yellow. The body is green and thinly clothed with long whitish hairs. The second and third thoracic segments each bear a pair of stubby, rough yellow horns, and rows of smaller yellow spines occur along the body to the rear. The last abdominal segment bears conspicuous yellow and black triangular plates. The spiracles along the sides are large, oval and pale yellow to cream in color. In the brown color form, the body, horns, and spines are tan to reddish brown. When fully grown, larvae leave foliage and pupate in the soil. Two broods may possibly occur each year in Alabama; however, the caterpillar is most commonly seen in August and September.

Occurrence, Damage, Importance

The imperial moth caterpillar is a solitary feeder. It may occur on any of the many host trees, and is usually encountered most commonly in late summer and fall. These large larvae individually can consume a lot of foliage, but are seldom present in sufficient numbers to cause serious damage. Large, colorful, and armed with horns and spines, the caterpillar may look fierce and dangerous; however, it is harmless and does not "sting" or stab man.

The Essential Herbal ~ Sept/Oct '08

The next issue is in the mail, and it is such a great fall issue! We have articles on various herb crafts - from making tinctures to harvest soaps, several great recipes, gardening information, book reviews, and enough projects and ideas to make us almost look forward to the waning sun. Take a look at the table of contents below! TABLE OF CONTENTS

Crossword Puzzle - A little botanical nomenclature.

Field Notes from the Editor

Suburban Herbie, Obsessive Gardening - Geri Burgert

Dia de los Muertos - Betsy May

List Article - Winter Preparations

Simple Tincture Making at Home - Sarah Campbell

Down on the Farm, Seed Saving - Michele Brown and Pat Stewart

Book Review Unlikely Lavender Queen - Cindy Jones

Colours of Autumn, Mrs. S.J. Head

Book Review, The Priestess of the Forest - Sarah Campbell

SouthRidge Treasures, Horseradish - Mary Ellen Wilcox

Tealight Tutorial - Abbie Sewell

The Soap Pot, Harvest Soap - Alicia Grosso

Louisiana Lagniappe, Mushroom & Eggplant Pie - Sarah Liberta

Never Enough Thyme, Sunchokes - Susanna Reppert

Rebooting Your Brain - Susan Evans

Stuffed Shirts - Sue-Ryn Burns

The Twisted Sisters Tour~4 Days, 3 Cities! - Tina Sams

Naked Lammas Ladies in Bloom!

Scattered throughout my gardens are a gorgeous flower that my mother-in-law always called "Naked Ladies". They are a type of Nerine. The strap-like leaves come up in the spring, and die back completely by early summer. Then, at the first of August every year the flower stalks emerge from the ground like smooth green snakes, growing 6 inches a day, gradually opening to these beautiful lily-like pink flowers. Because they emerge at the first of August, I have taken to calling them "Naked Lammas Ladies". Green blessings, Sarah