Cedar House Farm
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Six Culinary Herbs to Incorporate into Floral Arrangements
Foliage truly anchors an arrangement. It draws all the elements together, frames your focal flowers, fills in the gaps, hides mechanics, and often provides flutter AND fragrance all in one stem. Better yet, when you use culinary herbs as your foliage, you gift yourself (or the lucky recipient) something that’s not only beautiful but useful too. Here are my favorite culinary herbs to use as foliage: -
Garden Journaling and a Holistic, Organic Pollinator Garden
Each year, I document in a garden journal all the details about what I grew, harvested, and enjoyed most. I write down my failures and well as my successes. What I fell in love with and want to grow more of, as well as what doesn’t make the cut for the next growing year or doesn’t grow well on our property’s unique microclimate. Garden journaling is a calming therapeutic process that I truly enjoy. -
Homemade Calendula Salve
Last summer's calendula has been put to great use. In addition to saving hundreds of seeds, I have enjoyed making infused calendula oils, lotion bars and salves. To infuse oil in this way is to infuse it with history. Calendula salve is a wonderful skin care remedy to have on hand in your home, as it can help sooth dry skin, rashes, bug bites, minor cuts and scrapes, and minor burns too. It is versatile and gentle enough for all ages to use, making it great for gifting as well.
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Calendula Borage Lotion Bars
Nourish your skin with these bars, packed with the soothing properties of calendula and the moisturizing benefits of borage. These compact bars are crafted to provide a convenient and mess-free way to hydrate and rejuvenate your skin, with a luxurious texture that melts upon contact. -
Rose-Infused Sugar
This rose-infused sugar is a lovely addition to your pantry for adding to teas and coffee (hot or iced), and your favorite herbal cocktails, in or on the rim. It is also delightful when sprinkled on top of your favorite baked goods, particularly shortbread cookies and sourdough scones, for a light floral fragrance and scent.
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Growing, Harvesting, and Preserving Calendula
Calendula (Calendula officinalis) is well-known and most widely used for its anti-inflammatory properties, helping sooth skin irritations and heal wounds. It is also a pain reducer. The beautiful colorful petals of calendula are not only edible, but rich in flavonoids. It is mild and safe to be used topically on children. -
Growing, Harvesting, and Preserving Bee Balm
A member of the mint family, with over 15 different species, bee balm has a long history of medicinal uses. It prevents infection by constraining the growth of infectious agents. It is also used as -
Catnip Cold Care Tea
This catnip tea recipe is an immune boosting blend with calming properties that should be taken at night to promote a restful night's sleep. -
Five Medicinal Herbs to Grow from Seed
With all sorts of viruses knocking on our door, autumn is the perfect time to grow herbs that you can use to create remedies to help with the aches, pains and sleep deprivation associated with winter colds and flus. There are many herbal allies that are very helpful during this season. I chose these five because they not only support the body and strengthen the immune system, but this set can also provide an opportunity to nourish yourself both mentally and can be mood-lifting during these longer, darker days of winter. -
The Benefits of Lemon Balm
I am a huge fan of lemon balm and am on a personal mission is to inspire everyone to grow and use it. A member of the Lamiaceae (mint) family, lemon balm has vibrant green heart-shaped leaves with toothed margins and a bright lemony scent and flavor. -
Tips for Drying and Freezing Herbs
Grown, gathered and dried. Yesterday was for harvesting herbs from the garden. I do this every couple weeks throughout the summer. It’s a quiet, slow, fragrant task that I truly enjoy. Here are a couple tips to keep in mind when storing your kitchen herbs: -
My Pollinator Garden
I have what is sometimes referred to as a pollinator garden. It is filled with colorful and fragrant flowers and herbs that attract and feed pollinators such as honey bees, native bees, moths and butterflies. When I harvest, I make sure to always leave plenty of blooms to keep them busy and happy. Yesterday, we watched countless butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, bees, robins, chickadees, and a pair of Stellar Jays visit our garden, so it’s working.
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