It's been so long..............

I have been waiting to have fresh St. John's Wort flowers again for 2 years.  Two years ago all my plants died so I replanted.  Last year the plants got really big but hardly any flowers so I think I got 4 ounces of oil from them.  Hardly enough to keep an herbal business running for a year.  This year they are in early and back with a passion!  I had already started an 8 ounce jar last week but here is what I pulled today:

And we have only just begun!  I filled a QUART jar and topped it off with the small jar I already started.

This should be ready after 2 weeks in the Kentucky sun.  If I get another quart (which I think I easily will) I will be set up well for the year!  And I saw this while I was gathering my flowers:

A ladybug napping on my clary sage, surrounded by yarrow flowers.  I will be distilling clary sage this weekend.  Probably right before I go to bed. 

And I need to gather elder flowers this week and run the lemon balm.  I am going to be busy!

I'm freezing but My House Smells good

This has been a kinda weird weekend.  I was supposed to meet up with EtsyLex friends for lunch but got some horrendous tummy troubles at 9 AM so I spent most of the day in bed and in the bathroom.

This morning I got up early, feeling much better (thank goodness) to take my daughter's best friend to a class at Locust Trace.  That place is very interesting-the only negative plus in the country for energy use.  They not only are self-sustaining on energy they actually SELL energy to the electric company.  Anyway, she took a class to get certified as an animal rescuer.  It's near our largest park in town so I took a look around there to see if they had any of the elusive white cedar trees and, sure enough, they did.  So when I went to pick her up this afternoon I went back out there armed with clippers and a shopping bag and loaded up.  Now I don't have to use the stuff I got from Gretchen so sparingly.

I also trimmed our overloaded double knock-out rose bush.  I do love that plant but the canes are not strong enough to support the weight of all the leaves and flowers it produces.  Needless to say, I am on my second rose distillation.  I still can't believe the mild, sweet smell from knock out roses.  I need cold cream soon so it will be made with some homemade rosewater.

This still was SO TOTALLY worth the money!  It so satisfying to be able to make my own hydrosols.  It helps me get better use out of my garden and has inspired me to explore native plants more than ever.  Not to mention the money I save!

Roses and Specials

My anniversary specials are still going on.  I'm starting to feel unloved :(  I have gotten lots of orders but no one has used a coupon code yet.  That's more money for me but I do like to give deals too!  And there are several chances to win some free stuff so go check it out here.


I have just started a distillation of roses.  I gathered up all the roses I could find in my garden and crammed the still with petals.  I won't be selling this-not expecting it to be particularly fragrant.  And when my aromatherapy roses bloom this summer i will have a limited quantity of that so I will be hoarding rosewater unless my rosa rugosa bushes produce lots of roses the first year.  I need to go outside and work on my garden but it looks like rain and the forecast says scattered storms. 

Tomorrow I will be pulling up thyme and making a distillation from that.  I think that would make a pretty good household cleaner.  maybe a small spritzer bottle of the hydrosol in my purse to disinfect toilet seats at least.

HerbalCandy

I made my first batch of herbal candy yesterday-elderberry.  I really can't believe I never thought of this before.  I think I thought it would be more complicated than it really is, but I am going to keep doing this.  I made the elderberry with my Dad in mind.  I usually keep him stocked up with elderberry extract because he loves it.  It is pretty tasty and it protects you againt flu viruses, but it also helps heart health and strengthens blood vessels-like all berries.  I used a 2 cup sugar recipe so it was just sticky enough that I dusted the candies with powdered sugar to keep them from sticking together.  We have all sampled it (and some of my daughters friends) and everyone loves them.

Now I have an infusion of Swedish Bitters herbs on the stove and I am trying a recipe with less sugar and corn syrup.

What a great way to take medicine-even kids will take medicine like this, or even picky husbands.  I will also make some with Hawthorne berries and some with German Chamomile.  Just for fun I may also do Lipton Tea and Dunkin Donuts coffee. 

For now I have tons of orders to do and I have to get items together for the big November giveaway from Teambluegrass!

Any other herbal candies you might be interested in?  Just leave me a comment below.