Herbs for Your Windowsill

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Like the idea of growing your own medicinal plants? Look no further than your windowsill or patio garden for these four standbys of ours: lemon balm, sage thyme, and peppermint. These herbs are familiar to us from grandma’s recipes and as lyrics in songs, but they may be less familiar as medicine. Lemon balm, also known as “hearts delight” and the “gladdening” herb, has long been treasured for its ability to soothe the nerves and uplift the spirit. An old Arabian proverb says that “balm makes the heart merry and joyful.” From ancient times, though, sage was used for digestive troubles, heartburn, depression, and even dementia. Thyme is excellent for treating sore throats and bronchitis. Make thyme tea with honey to soothe those colds and coughs. And women listen up, for bloating and digestive issues associated with our monthly cycle thyme is an excellent soother and diuretic. Another great herb for digestion…

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Lemon Balm Infused Oil

Herbal Bouquets for Mother’s Day – Traditional Medicinals

Good Witches Homestead

In the English and European Victorian era, gifting herbs and flowers were used to relay secret messages. When you received a flower bouquet, you would sit down with your dictionary and try to decipher what it meant; honeysuckle for devotion, aster for patience, and roses for love. Fast forward to modern times, important life milestones like births, graduations, buying a new home, and career changes are almost always accompanied by flower gifts. While today it’s not our first choice of communication, a flower bouquet can make a lovely homemade and eco-friendly gift for just about anyone in your life, and can certainly contain an intention.

Plants and floral bouquets have a long-standing tradition as Mother’s Day gifts, and with good reason. There’s a simple and well-understood joy that comes from a vibrant and beautiful bouquet on the kitchen table. We have all felt it, botanical bliss; it’s like a type…

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May 2019 Newsletter, The Oregon Lavender Association invites you to enjoy lavender all year round!

Good Witches Homestead

Announcements and Events

May 2019

This is an exciting month for lavender lovers and farmers! Our plants are greening up and sending up shoots! We will even see flowers from our featured lavenders this month, Lavandula stoechas, and maybe flowers from the early blooming L. angustifolia varieties, such as French Fields, toward the end of May!

There aren’t any events going on during this month, but June will be packed. Here’s a sneak peek of some June festivals and events so you can get them on your calendar:

Clackamas River Lavender Festival at Eagle Creek Lavender
June 22-23, from 10-4 Join us for our Festival at Eagle Creek Lavender on the Clackamas River. Live music, savory food, U-Pick fresh lavender, gift shop with lavender products, artistic vendors and awesome classic cars on display. A bargain at $5 per car for parking. No pets, please. 27525 SE Starr Rd, Eagle…

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Dandelion Lotion Bars

HerbDay 2019

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

HerbDay is always on the first Saturday in May!

The 14th annual HerbDay will take place Saturday, May 4, 2019. HerbDay is an international celebration of herbs and herbal products that are packed with events aimed at educating and sharing ideas about the many ways herbs bring joy and well-being into our daily lives. We celebrate herbs’ use in food, beverages, medicine, beauty products, and crafts, along with the art of growing and gardening with herbs.

Herb_day

HerbDay is a grassroots movement and its events belong to everyone who chooses to participate.
Although May 4th will be the focal point of our celebration, we encourage you to commemorate HerbDay any time, any day, any time of year!

The HerbDay Coalition consists of the American Botanical Council, United Plant Savers, the American Herbal Products Association, the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, and the American Herbalists Guild.

HerbDay 2019. May 4, 2019. Austin, TX…

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Spring Greens and Spring Awakening

Good Witches Homestead

Spring has arrived in our mountain forest. The emergence from the long cold nights of winter gives way to spring and the eternal reminder of rebirth and renewal. Dandelion flowers are everywhere, basking in the warming of the earth, opening to the sun. I’ve been gathering the young leaves for cooking and adding to smoothies. The grosbeaks have returned and our bears have awoken; hungrily eating the young grasses and soaking in our pond. This year the “fever” has been strong. I’ve cleaned the closets, put away winter clothes, worked compost into the garden beds, sowed seeds, and bulbs, put out the hummingbird feeders, spent hours brushing out the horses, changed the shavings in the coop, and am hiking longer.

This strong drive seems ancient. Many cultures believed springtime was the optimal season for “cleansing” – home, land, mind, and body. People would eat the early bitter greens, aiding digestion…

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The Finesse of Grossing Mommy Out

Good Witches Homestead

Little Granddaughter has developed a way to utterly gross out her mommy, but also adds to the many reasons why we are an herbalist. Herbal infusions come to play and thank goodness she takes her herbal vitamins every day.

We also raise and rescue German Shepherds, Bones is a rescue, but maybe in this video, Bones again needs rescuing from one very precocious Granddaughter…

Herbal infusions, which are basically strong teas, are incredibly useful for providing the body with easy to assimilate nutrition. It is best to use gentle, nutritive and tonifying herbs which act mostly as food for the body. Examples are nettles, chamomile, oatstraw and raspberry leaf. This type of herbal preparation is used for extracting and making bio-available the richness of vitamins and minerals found in many plants. It is important to note that herbs work overtime to bring about health and increased vitality. They do not offer quick fixes, but…

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Herb Fairies: A Magical Tale of Plants & Their Remedies

Good Witches Homestead

Herb Fairies is a children’s herbal learning system that engages kids through stories and encourages them to learn more by providing exciting hands-on activities. Download our Herb Fairies cookbook as our gift to you.

Source: Herb Fairies: A Magical Tale of Plants & Their Remedies

Herb Fairies will only be open till this coming Tuesday, April 30, but might close earlier if we run out of box sets.

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Mountain Rose Herbs ~ How to Make Natural DIY Cleaning Products

We all know that many conventional cleaning products contain harsh chemicals that can be harmful to both our bodies and the planet (not to mention the budget-busting expense and all the waste produced by those empty plastic bottles and extra packaging!). We’ve been creating our own cleaning formulas for years, and we love how easy and inexpensive they are to whip up.

Great to have on hand year-round, these homemade cleansers can easily and naturally replace that questionable collection of store-bought formulas in your cupboard. With just a few basic ingredients like vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, and essential oils, you’ll be on your way to (really!) cleaning up your act —while reducing waste and saving money!

DIY Kitchen & Bathroom Spray

Ingredients

8 oz. distilled white vinegar
6 oz. distilled water
2 oz. vodka or rubbing alcohol
10 drops organic lavender essential oil
5 drops organic rosemary essential oil
5 drops organic lemon essential oil

Directions

Combine all ingredients in 16 oz. spray bottle and shake well before each use.
Use this aromatic solution for kitchen counters, cabinets, refrigerator shelves, glass, blinds, tile, sinks, tubs, and fan blades.

Read the entire post here: Mountain Rose Herbs ~ How to Make Natural DIY Cleaning Products