Category: Herbs

Essential Oils and Flower Essences

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarGood Witches Homestead

Essential oils and flower essences bestow a concentrated dose of plant energy.
In most cases, however, you may want to work with the whole plant. You may find that if you wish to work with a particular plant, you’re obligated to grow it yourself. This may be for a variety of reasons.
* Some plants are rare to an area. You may need to nurture some indoors or order from a specialist nursery.
* What you desire may not be marketable: the alchemists treasured fresh morning dew caught upon the leaves of lady’s mantle. They called it “water from heaven” and prized it as an ingredient in many enchanted potions. If you want some {and you very well might; it’s reputed to provide a beautiful complexion!}, you’ll have to grow it and gather it yourself.
* In some cases, it’s best to have your own fresh stock of plants, to…

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Primrose; The Flower of February

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarGood Witches Homestead

COMMON NAME:  primrose
GENUS:  Primula
SPECIES, HYBRIDS, CULTIVARS:
P. denticulata-lavender, purple, or white flowers; grows to 12 inches. P. japonica ‘Millar Crimson’-flowers whorled around 24-inch stem; blooms May-June. P. polyanthus-best known; colors are red, pink, blue, gold, and white, all with small yellow eyes.
FAMILY:  Primulaceae
BLOOMS:  spring
TYPE:  perennial
DESCRIPTION:  Primroses form an attractive rosette of crinkly, light green leaves. The flowers are generally brightly colored and occur in tight bundles on individual stems above the leaves.
CULTIVATION:  Needing partial shade, primroses thrive in well-drained, rich soil. They are indigenous to cool, moist meadows and woodland environments  Duplicating these conditions as closely as possible will create the best growing conditions for primroses. The soil should not be allowed to dry completely. To retain vigorously blooming plants, divide clumps every four to five years. Seeds should be sown in midsummer for bloom the following spring.

Primrose is beloved…

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5 Things You Didn’t Know About Cardamom

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

f you have ever tasted Biryani (Indian flavored savory rice) or kheer (Indian rice pudding) or the famous Finnish pulla, you would probably identify the aroma of cardamom. The sweet and mystical spice was used by the Greeks and Romans in their perfumes and the ancient Egyptians as mouth fresheners. Even today, Cardamom (green) is one of the most expensive spices. It’s not just native to the South-East Asian belt, it’s increasingly used in Europe as well.

1- Cardamom, ginger, and turmeric belong to the same botanical family Zingiberaceae: cardamom is part of the Zingiberaceae family and is sold in pods, seeds, and powder form. The pods can be split open to expose the aromatic seeds. Both turmeric and ginger are roots, or rhizomes, while cardamom is the seed of the plant. It pairs very well with turmeric and ginger. Turmeric imparts a deep yellow color to curries, ginger…

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Herb of the Month; Cardamom – The Queen of Spices

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Cardamom is the Queen of Spices and has grown lavishly under the tropical canopy on hillsides in the Ghat Mountains on the Malabar Coast of southern India to be harvested by hand and shipped around the world.  The cardamom familiar to India and the western world is called green cardamom and it, along with several other types such as giant cardamom, black cardamom, and bastard cardamom, have been used for cooking, perfumery, incense, and medicine since very early in history.

Ancient Egyptians used it frequently for perfume along with frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon, and cassia, and had a recipe for an ointment called “Oil of Lilies” that included the scent from 1000 lilies. It is often mentioned as one of the ingredients of the ancient incense kyphi. Cardamom essential oil is one of the oldest essential oils known in perfumery and in the apothecary. Cardamom is the third most expensive spice after saffron…

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Aromatic Herb for February; Tansy

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Tansy {Tanacetum vulgare}

Tansy is an upright herb with a crown of bright yellow clustering flowers. It is a member of the Asteraceae family and is also known as common tansy, bitter buttons, cow bitter, mugwort, and golden buttons. It grows to a height of three feet and produces pinnate, lance-shaped leaves that are uniformly toothed. Its button-shaped flowers sit atop erect, reddish stems.

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Native to Europe and Asia – and of possible Asian origin – the plant was likely first cultivated as a medicinal herb by the Greeks. In the eighth century, it grew in the herb gardens of Charlemagne and at the Abby of Saint Gall in present-day Switzerland, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At that time, it was used to treat…

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Home Brewed ‘Love Oil’ for Valentines

The Beautiful Herb That’s Amazing for Your Heart; Red Clover Benefits

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Finding a three-leaf clover may bring good luck, but taking red clover as a healing herb may bring even better fortune!

People have appreciated the therapeutic qualities of the red clover’s pink and red-hued blossom for generations. Women, in particular, have passed down its secrets as a remedy for feminine issues, whether premenstrual syndrome or menopause symptoms.

In modern times, scientific research has backed up its traditional uses, including supporting bone strength, blood health, hair growth, and mental wellness. For women, red clover might also offer support for symptoms of menopause; for men, it’s believed to encourage a healthy prostate.

What Is Red Clover?

Red clover (Trifolium pratense) — also known as cow clover, meadow clover, or wild clover — is a legume found in Europe, Western Asia, and northwest Africa. Red clover contains isoflavones. Isoflavones are a type of phytoestrogens, which are chemicals that are similar to the hormone estrogen…

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Learn About the Incredibly Nourishing Oil for Hair, Skin and Nails: Hemp Seed Oil

Herbs that Boost Collagen Naturally

Lavender for Body and Soul

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarGood Witches Homestead

Lavenders have everything for the modern garden as an amenity plant. They are
evergreen, fast-growing, compact and fragrant. The origins of its name are
probably from the Latin word Lavare indicating the plant has another use as it
means to be washed and suggests it was regularly used to perfume bathing water.
There are numerous references to other qualities of lavender in Roman times – such
as a cure for mild epilepsy and as a laxative. The production of lavender for
aromatherapy, perfumery and alternative medical purposes are now well developed
in countries where various species of lavender are found naturally i.e. from the
The Mediterranean to the Middle East, India, North Africa, and Asia.

Climatic Factors

Lavender production requires dry roots and shoots, free draining soils and
reasonable light levels. Low fertility sandy soils are ideal with a Ph range of 6.0 to
7.0. When selecting suitable sites frost…

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