When spring has arrived and the forsythia flowers are in full bloom, head outside with a container. It’s time to pick those lovely blooms to make some delicious jelly! Forsythia bushes (Forsythia suspensa, F. spp.) are non-native shrubs that produce bright yellow, edible flowers in early spring. They’re commonly found planted around homes or in…
These two plants have the same common name, but are very different! One plantain (Plantago spp.) is a leafy weed used to make things like a lovely first aid salve, while the other (Musa × paradisiaca) is a starchy fruit that looks like a banana. At a Glance Don’t want to read through the whole…
Rosewater’s an easy enough project if you have a bunch of roses to spare and just a little patience. And since the method to make it’s the same for any number of fragrant plants, why not indulge in a little experimentation? Rosewater Rosewater (or the closest one can get without having specialized equipment) is pretty…
Learn how to make your own celery salt – it’s super easy! Do you need some things to do with extra celery? Here’s a way to use up a lot of it- celery shrinks pretty dramatically when it’s dried, and even more when it’s rendered into a fine powder, so you can fit a lot…
Learn how to make beautiful redbud jelly using foraged redbud flowers, reduced sugar pectin, sugar, and lemon juice! Redbud flowers bloom for a very short time each year in early spring, so if you want to make redbud jelly, you’ve got a narrow little window to do it! Collecting & Preparing Redbuds This recipe uses…
Hear me, ye who be blighted by the heavy gloom of winter’s passing; there be four things you must find to lift your curse most foul- Just kidding. No curses being cleaned here, just faces. You will need: Violets Thyme A few sprigs of sage Forsythia flowers (if you don’t have access to forsythia, dandelion…
Want a tall, bushy green plant loaded with tons of ruffled white flowers that the pollinators absolutely adore? Kilimanjaro white marigolds might be just what you’re looking for! The 2″ creamy flowers have open centers, unlike many marigolds, where the petals are so strongly ruffled that the pollen of the flowers is simply inaccessible to…
This yarrow salve was designed for calloused and dry feet, but it works just as well for hands, too! I created it after reading a folklore book one day, which had a tidbit saying that yarrow (Achillea millefolium) has ties to Achilles’ spear, and promptly ran with the idea. In traditional herbalism, yarrow is used…
It’s a common point of confusion for many people – What’s the difference between calendula and marigolds? They’re basically the same thing, right? Can’t I just substitute one for the other? Calendula and marigolds are two very different plants with different actions, and trying to substitute one for the other isn’t advised. We personally blame…
This recipe uses an infusion of fresh-plucked flowers to make an exceptionally sweet floral jelly- a small-batch recipe and no real canning involved, so it’s an easy one for beginners! You will need: Preparations: Start by collecting your flowers from unsprayed, healthy plants. A lot of flowers. So many flowers. You will need more than…
Spilanthes is an herbalist’s best friend! The flowers, which look rather eyeball-like due to their shape and coloration, have natural medicinal properties and are a vital part of our herb garden. We always have a jar of spilanthes tincture in our medicine cabinet! It’s tied with lemon balm tincture for most used herbal remedy in…
On this sunny morn, we have some lilac suckers that need dividing. Lilacs have the glorious ability of multiplication through taking a root and deciding to grow a baby on it. Normally, that baby would be stuck right there, in the shade of the parent plant, never to journey off on its own, experience new…