vegetarian tortilla soup

Another soup to open up those sinuses. For the recipe- READ MORE.

get well gremlin softie (free pattern)

The Get Well Gremlins are finished and I have 2 little ladies who are quite excited about them! They are kind of a twist on a dream pillow but you don’t use dry herbs as the stuffing. Each gremlin has a pocket to hold a cotton ball or........READ MORE.

goldenrod history and medicine

Happy Autumn! Our field is ablaze with gold from the tall goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) growing everywhere. I love the golden color of this plant and it has an interesting history in the USA. After the Boston Tea Party.....READ MORE.

red clover tea (nitrogen)

One of our favorite teas from our yard is red clover tea. Not only are the blossoms tasty to munch but they make a wonderful cleansing tea. We are studying the many benefits of clover to our gardens..........READ MORE.

Elderberry Syrup for Immunity and Flu

The American Elder, or common elderberry, (Sambucus canadensis) is a shrub that grows up to 13 feet high. It is a member of the honeysuckle family and is found in moist places along riverbanks, roadsides, woods and thickets. We are lucky to have it growing in our brush pile among the blackberry brambles and young volunteer walnut trees in our backyard. It was a favorite herb of Hippocrates; love making medicinals that the great Hippocrates would make for his patients! The berries of the elder are very nutritious. They provide large amounts of potassium, beta carotene, calcium, phosphorus and vitamin C. It works amazingly well on colds, excessive mucus, sore throat and the dreaded flu.



Last year when Fauna came down with the flu she took a couple tablespoons the first day and it zapped the fever and all symptoms within 24 hours! Usually, when Fauna gets sick she is sick for 3-5 days. Really amazing stuff!




I use Rosemary Gladstar's recipe for elderberry syrup because it doesn't use white processed sugar or alcohol. And it is quite tasty!

What you need:
1 cup fresh or 1/2 cup dried elderberries
3 cups water
1 cup raw local honey

Glass jar with lid

Steps:
1. Heat the berries and water to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 30-45 minuets.
2. Mash the berries, strain, and add 1 cup of honey. I add a half cup of the purple liquid to a measuring cup, then pour in honey until the total volume is 1 1/2 cups. Then stir to mix well, and add to the rest of the reserved liquid.
3. Bottle and store. Keeps in the refrigerator for 2-3 months.
4. Enjoy a tablespoon daily to keep the immune system strong. If sick, take more often at first signs of the flu. If you drink peppermint tea along with it, you increase the fighting punch!

*Caution, I am not a doctor and don't pretend to be one. I am 100% sure of the identification of the plants I harvest and research like mad before posting a recipe. Some books say Elderberry leaves, seeds, bark, stems and root are toxic. Only the berries, which must be cooked first, and the blossoms are edible.Use your best judgement when using plants from the wild.

100 Species #2 Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is also known as spotted touch-me-not. This incredible plant is usually found near posion ivy and stinging nettle. This is very important to know because the juice from jewelweed's crushed leaves can stop posion ivy itch and stinging nettle burn. Also, it can be used as a preventitive to posion ivy; should you touch poision ivy, crush up a jewelweed leaf and apply it to the area.

Plant Type: This is a herbaceous plant, it is a annual which can reach 60 inches in height. The stem is somewhat translucent.
Leaves: The leaves are alternate. Leaves can reach 3.5 inches in length. Each leaf is toothed, thin, glaucous on the underside and may be partly ciliate.
Flowers: The flowers are irregular in shape and are about 1 inch long. They are orange and yellow with darker splotches. Blooms first appear in early summer and continue into late summer. The flowers have a wet, delicate appearance. The sack like back of the flower is actually the larger of three sepals which has a turned down spur to 0.4" long.
Fruit: A dehiscent capsule that pops open at maturity dispersing the seeds.
Habitat: Low or moist openings in woods and bottom lands.
Range: From the Rocky Mountains east and in the Pacific Northwest.
Medical Uses: Juice used to treat many types of skin eruptions and injuries and is especially touted as a cure and even a preventative for poison ivy. The Cherokees would rub "the juice of seven blossoms" on the rash. They also used the plant as an ingredient in an aid in childbirth and as a tea to treat measles.
-From 2bn The Wild.com


Fun Stuff: Children LOVE the seeds of jewelweed. Pick the seed capsule off the plant, rub it between your fingers and POP! The seeds should shoot out. Depending on the ripeness of the capsule, the seeds could shoot out with just a brush of your hand; hence the name "Touch-me-not." Also, if you are by a creek, pick off a leaf and put it under the water (bottom side up); the oils of the jewelweed produce a very pretty, silver shimmery color that glistens in the water.

Here is a sonnet by Sir Thomas Wyatt, about his beloved untouchable Anne Boleyn. The latin term "Noli me tangere" translates into "Touch-me-not."

'Whoso List to Hunt, I Know Where Is An Hind'
By Sir Thomas Wyatt

Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,

But as for me, hélas, I may no more.

The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,

I am of them that farthest cometh behind.

Yet may I by no means my wearied mind

Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore

Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,

Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.

Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,

As well as I may spend his time in vain.

And graven with diamonds in letters plain

There is written, her fair neck round about:

Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,

And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.

Herb Tea Junkies!!!!

We are quite the herb junkies over here! We love herbs and use them for medicine, health, crafts and of course tea. There is nothing better than a nice warm cup of tea on a cold winter day, especially when you're under the weather!

We plant an herb garden in the spring that gets bigger and bigger every year. I love to dry the herbs and use them for teas. As our garden becomes bigger we will make more and more of our own teas, but for now we must also buy some. My two favorite tea companies are Traditional Medicinals and Yogi Tea.

Traditional Medicinals has a great line of teas "Just for Kids." They are very tasty and they always calm the ailment they're made for.

They also only use organic and natural ingredients!

The little ladies and I thought it would be fun to take apart some tea bags and use our 5 senses to study them.

The little ladies already knew that tea was simply dried parts of different herbs. They drink it every day, but didn't realize all of the different combinations that can be made to make different tasting teas. So we started really basic. Fauna crumbled up the dried chamomile from the summer garden to make a one flavor tea.

Araina crumbled up the feverfew.....

Then we ripped into the tea bags, I made sure they labeled each tea bag they were investigating. Here's some of the beautiful gems we discovered......

Raspberry Zinger was the prettiest! We found hibiscus, rosehips, chicory, orange peel, blackberry and raspberry pieces in this pretty tea.

Traditional Medicinals Just for Kids throat tea was the tastiest. We found marshmallow root, sage, calendula, licorice, cinnamon and wild cherry bark in this tasty tea.

My favorite PMS tea is Dong Quai Tonic from Yogi Tea. This is the BEST tea and does wonders! This one had the strongest smell. We found cinnamon, orange peel, ginger, fennel, chamomile, dandelion, anise, stinging nettle, dong quai and black pepper in this very medicinal tea.

Great for the tummies, ginger Yogi Tea. This is beautiful under the microscope, you can see the crystals!

Yummy Trader Jo Organic Mint Melange Tea was another strong smeller! We found peppermint, lemon grass and spearmint in this tea.

The girls picked their favorites, sketched and wrote down the ingredients into their nature journals.

Then we each had to have a cup of tea. Ahhhhh.........Yummy!!!!