​I have been quiet this winter. The winter that didn't feel like a winter. Winter is for home, tucking in, re-grouping and rest. While I have done a lot of home and tucking in, there has not been so much rest. Last fall I completed my master herbalist and then after that I completed my Aromatherapy Certification. I spent most of the fall and early winter working on case studies and writing research papers. Meeting with people and making products. I was lucky to have the best case study mentor - she is an author and scientist I really respect and I felt it really allowed me to take off in my interest which is the in-depth organic chemistry and chemical profiles of essential oils. I love plants and botany and soil and growing things. But I also love facts and data and science. I love looking at a problem and scanning my brain for all matching components and the chemicals present in plants that make them work so well with our bodies. They are quite amazing, actually. So I went down the rabbit hole of organic chemistry, physiology and GC-MS reports and I am now out the other side.

Which brings me to the non-rest portion of the winter. I really love making custom products for people and working directly one-on-one to create unique products for specific issues. And I love creating and making. I am lucky to have a wonderful space to have my own herbal studio and I've been planning planning planning. I am launching my aromatherapy and herbal health consultations practice with custom blending for each individual, as well as launching a general aromatherapy product line this spring. I've been designing, planning, calculating, testing testing testing, working. And it is getting close. So close! When I combine that prep work, garden seed starting, and some design projects I have taken on, there has been no time for the winter blues. Which is exactly what I had planned. 

And speaking of garden planning!!!! I am very interested in hydrosols and I am hoping to distill my own hydrosols this summer. Small-scale, of course, but still! A still! Something small and portable and that is in my backyard percolating away. I can't wait. I have so many plantings planned for this summer (both for my own herbal cabinet as well as food plants for the food pantry) that I know I will have enough to experiment and learn about the process of distillation of hydrosols. One thing I love is learning new things.

And design! I volunteered with Herbalists Without Borders International and I just finished re-designing the website and will continue to do website and print work for them as we go along. HWB is a great group of people and I have really enjoyed working with them - it inspires me to do more with my own knowledge to commit to find more ways to support my own community. I have been a designer for so long and I have always continued volunteering with my skills and have enjoyed working with small businesses who are environmentally conscious, community focused, and justice oriented - it is a good fit for me and works well with our life and family vision. 

I cannot believe it is almost spring. Spring is the time for new beginnings, coming out after a long winter and new life. It is the perfect time to launch Wholly Rooted handcrafted botanicals. So keep an ear and an eye out. I have a lot of good stuff coming soon and I am excited to share! ​
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Can you believe it is finally seed season again? Ah, the trays of soil, the hundreds of little packets and grow lights. I have done less hard core planning this year and more seed organizing (my time has been spent working on a new biz). We hope to have about the same amount of growing space total as we had last summer (crossing fingers), so I have hundreds of seeds in my little seed box, organized by seed starting date ready to go.  

My first big check is always what did I put in ground here at the house last summer and the summer before. Our first summer in this house was all waiting for grading and driveway and all of that, so it was a wash, but last summer I did a lot of planting. There were also many things I grew out at the goat farm garden all summer that I brought home and put in ground in the fall as well. I also have some things in buckets in corners along the house (eep) waiting for spring to get planted in.

I hope/plan that for the summer we will again have space at the goat farm, we will garden into our landscaping more at our house, and ... we bought a wooded lake lot last summer (see below) where I am planning to plant endangered/rare woodland medicinals. It is too far away and too shaded/wooded for any more organized plantings, but it is good for plants that can just be left alone and not watered by hand. 

Last summer was the big #happyflowerproject where we grew flowers for the food pantry all summer. We plan to grow things for the food pantry again, but expand to food and other plants and not just flowers. And I am planning on growing even more medicinal plants and have bigger harvests! So first. In ground at the house - most planted last summer: ​

I also have lemon, lime, lavender, rosemary, pomegranate, ashwagandha, and cuban oregano that have been inside all winter and will go out to the deck for the summer. 

I plan to grow most of the flowers from last summer in smaller quantities plus more at the house. One thing we plan to do this spring is fence our yard. We have neighbors who let their cat roam - and it uses my garden beds as a litter box and dumps half eaten carcasses daily throughout the yard all summer where I always go barefooted. So, fence. And that will help keep any future neighbors from drifting anything into our organic garden. I enjoyed the flowers more than I expected last summer - I am a practical midwestern gal after all. But they were all so beautiful and loaded with pollinators that I am keeping them this summer. 

And of course medicinal and tea herbs. I grow most of these every year, but I am increasing the plantings at the home garden as I expand all of the beds.  

Of course the culinary herbs are important too. These I mostly grow at home so I can snip daily at all mealtimes. 

Veggies & annual fruit. We are increasing veggies this summer. We will still have our CSA for our own family, but will donate more food from our gardens to the food pantry!

And of course some greens - I'm starting out with only a few and I add them all summer. 

Last year I grew dahlias from seed, so we dug up over 125 tubers last fall and have them in the cold waiting for spring planting. We also managed to plant over 200 tulip/narcissus/hyacinth bulbs and I am very excited that we will have an early burst of color! With the fence will also come some fruit  and shade trees which are much needed atop our windy sunny hill - and I will start planting those in early spring.

All of this makes me sounds like I have it all together. ;) My box system of dated folders counting back from last frost date really helps keep it simple. I can just load all the seeds into their starting week folder and pull them out every week as I start another round of trays. 

So that is the basic list of what I'm growing this summer! I love that I can increase the varieties every year without really adding that much extra work. One step at a time. This still doesn't include any woodland plants I want to put in at the lake, but I am thinking things like goldenseal, black cohosh, oregon grape, woodruff, eyebright, elderberry, slippery elm, hawthorn, possibly some plants in desperate need of habitat and care. The lake lot is much bigger than our home yard here, and it is in an obscure and low traffic area. It seems perfect for that!

So really all I wanted to do was post a lot of photos of the garden to remind myself that YES the never-ending winter has an end in sight and spring and summer are coming. And of course I tucked in some seed lists and all that in between. See how I did that? 

Did I forget anything? What are you growing this year that you are excited about?

Herbal Bath Salts combine the ease of fragrant bath salts with the healing benefits of herbs. I like bath salts for many reasons. I have one son who has eczema flares in the winter - and salt/herb/eo baths have helped keep those to minimum for the past few years (along with a rich body butter). My other son has mast cell issues and severe food allergies and we have found that the mineral rich epsom salts help keep him from having as many skin reactions. As he is older he prefers to shower now, but still has a soak when he has been having a rough week health-wise. 
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Herbal Bath Salts are easy to make and very customizable. Many places sell dried herbs - or you can use what you grew/dried from your own garden (bonus!). Here is a base recipe using herbs known for their calming and healing properties - plus a few ideas of how you can customize your own.

Sleepy Time Bath Blend
Approx. 4-6 baths

• 1 cup/225 g Epsom salt
• ¼/55 g cup Himalayan pink salt
• 2 Tbsp jojoba wax
• 1/4 ounce dried lavender buds
• 1/4 ounce dried chamomile
• 1/8 ounce dried calendula petals
• 14 drops lavender essential oil 
• 8 drops red mandarin essential oil (or, try sweet orange)
• 3 drops neroli or petitgrain

Mix the salts together in a large bowl with the dried herbs. In a small vial or cup mix your carrier oil with the essential oils. Drop a bit at a time into the salt/herb blend as you stir well. 
Store in an airtight container. To use, scoop ¼ to ½ cup per bath into a re-usable muslin pouch, and steep in the tub as you fill it. Soak and enjoy!

Optional add-ins or substitutions: dried plantain, lemon balm, lemon verbena, coconut milk powder, dried orange peel, or rolled oats. If you collect your own garden herbs, just be sure to dry fully and remove from stems before weighing. Also, you can use just the salt & herbs and skip the essential oils.
Other essential oil and herb combos that are nice (just blend into the carrier oil and add to the salt mix) as alternates:: 

• Floral:    rose petals + rose absolute or rose infused carrier oil (try adding powdered coconut milk to the dry blend)
• Breathe Easy: 14 drops black spruce, 8 d atlas cedarwood (or himalayan), & 4 d lavender essential oil, with 1/4 oz lavender buds 
• Earthy: 10 d sandalwood, 8 d sweet orange, 2 d jasmine absolute, 1/4 oz dried orange peel, chopped    
• Optional: Swap out some of the epsom salts with dead sea salt - it is wonderful for the skin. 

To make as a gift, put your blended batch into a nice glass jar and attach instructions and a muslin bag or scoop. Attach instructions - use 1/4 cup or more per bath - and gift away!
You can also make individual tub bags -  measure 1/4 cup portions into unbleached biodegradable large empty tea bags. I really like the x-large natural iced tea bags because they strain finely so no bits end up in your bath and they are compostable. You can simply sew or sticker them shut at the top and put into a pretty box with instructions. Craft stores also sell wedding favor bags which are a good size - and they can be cleaned and re-used. The key is to store the pre-filled bags in an airtight container so that they don’t start to dissolve from the moisture in the bathroom. 

The salts will sink to the bottom and settle if you use a single large jar, so be sure to stir or shake before scooping into the tub. Be sure to keep the lid on tight for a whole jar or store the pre-filled bags in an airtight container to keep from dissolving in the bathroom moisture.

Herbal Bath Salts 
Instructions: Scoop 1/4 cup per bath. ​

​Tip: Don't use bath salt blends for tiny ones. For toddler baths you can use a small pouch of only dried calendula or lavender – using 2 Tbsp of dried organic herb is enough for a shallow bath – and skip the salt and essential oils. Those gentle herbs will help sooth any bottom or skin rash, while remaining safe for wee ones. The easiest way to do this is pour 1 cup of almost boiling water over your herb pouch in a heat safe bowl, and let steep until room temperature. Remove the pouch and pour this *cooled* infused water in with your toddlers bath water. This way you have the full infusion added to a bath at a safe temperature.

I cannot believe it is November. It has been so warm here in Wisconsin. Flowers are still blooming, I am still watering pots, and we have been outside with green grass, short sleeves, and iced drinks. It is unbelievable, but I keep hearing that little voice saying only a few weeks until G's birthday and Thanksgiving, and only a few more weeks until winter solstice and Christmas --- you are soooooo behind on gift making. Why yes, yes I am.

I am sure you are all much better than I, and have been cranking away at handmade gifts and goodies for months. I seem to transition from all of the garden work season to holiday making season and when garden work continues for so long the rest gets pushed off. I have so many great recipes for hand made goodies in my pile of things to blog that I never blogged, so I think I will share them over the next few weeks. Since some are old and some are new and some were for our home projects, I won't out our gifts to any family members (which is always the worry this time of year), and I will also motivate myself to get rolling on the making. After I water all of my pots with iced tea in hand, of course.

The in-between of handmade things - from small kids (find something safe! and easy! and cute!) to teens (I know what I want to make and don't need your input, thanks!) - is the tween and early teen crafting making phase. The phase where the project needs to be interesting and cool enough for them to want to join you and actually do it all themselves thankyouverymuch, but short enough to not seem like some mad mom thing. They want to make gifts for people and they want to feel involved, but they want to be interested. This melt and pour herbal soap falls into that category. My tween (soon to be 12) son loves working with me on all of my aromatherapy projects and assignments. He wants to know about the chemistry and whip things up and use all of my special measuring devices that I reserve only for that stuff (so!many!cool!measuring!devices!and!stir!rods!). My 13 year old son is in the wellllllll maybeeeeeeeee but I'm pretty busssssssyyyyyy phase, but even he enjoys something that resembles a DIY:Sci science project. No, it isn't dangerous and doesn't blow up, but the big grated ball of m&p is microwaved until it is a liquid and you get to pour it into molds, so that is fun. And they have something to give that they made.

Melt and pour has a bad rap for being meh, but there are some very good quality organic versions out there (and palm free options!) and it is great for the tweens as it doesn't involve the lye and caustic chemicals of processed soaps, but it is something that they can make and customize. Or, you can make it yourself. No tweens needed. I like the addition of dried herbs from our garden in m&p soaps. They add some skin nourishing properties, they give it more of an earthy homemade feel, and they look nice. 

herbs: This recipe combines lavender and calendula, both of which are soothing, relaxing, and healing. Combine ingredients to suit what you have in your herbal cabinet – try adding items such as dried rose petals, dried chamomile, or dried mint leaves. Tweak your fragrance to match your additions.

molds: You can use soap molds of course, but don’t be afraid to get creative. Using muffin tins or silicone candy molds work great and give a great variety of patterns. I used a metal mini cake mold for this batch.

Ingredients:
16 ounces/475 mL of organic m&p soap*, grated (try a natural glycerin, aloe, or hemp type - choose your favorite)
3 Tbsp honey (optional)
4 Tbsp dried calendula petals
2 Tbsp dried lavender buds
1 Tbsp apricot kernel oil or avocado oil
1/8 tsp vitamin E (from bottle or pierce a vitamin E capsule)

You can make the soap using only the base, oils, honey, and herbs. But to add some additional fragrance, you can add a blend of essential oils. This mild earthy citrus blend goes well with the calendula and lavender and has a nice uplifting aroma.

 8 drops bergamot essential oil
30 drops mandarin
45 drops lavender
13 drops cedarwood

or if you like a more floral blend, try

45 drops lavender
25 drops sweet orange
8 drops sandalwood
7 drops neroli
3 drops ylang ylang

Don't panic. If you are thinking you want to make this but using only two essential oils - you can't go wrong with lavender + sweet orange. 

Directions:

Oil your molds if using metal tins, or follow instructions if using soap mold or silicone.

Melt your m&p soap base. There are two ways you can melt your grated soap base. You can melt gently in a double boiler on your stove, or you can microwave in a microwave safe bowl, stirring !very! !gently! (to help prevent foamy bubbles) every 30 seconds or so until melted. When melted, quickly and gently stir in your honey, vitamin E, and base skin oils. Pre-heat your honey a bit so it will stir in - if you pour it in fairly cold it will clump and sink. Add your essential oils, and finally add in the calendula petals, stirring carefully and gently to not add bubbles. 

Pour this mix into the molds gently to avoid too much bubbling. After cooling for only a minute, sprinkle the lavender buds over the top. They will sink in, but not all the way to the bottom this way. If you wait too long they will just sit on top, not sink and harden into the soap. 

You can gently remove any bubbles at the edges using a skewer or chopstick, so that the bar will dry smooth. 

Let the soap harden and cool fully before removing from the molds. If you are using metal tins, let the soap cure/dry in the tray so that they shrink enough to pop right out the next day. If you are using soap or silicone molds, remove from the mold to cure/dry on a tray for a day or two before wrapping.

Package the soaps in a little box or wrap with ribbon or string. Gift away (and keep a few for yourself!). 

*Not all melt and pour soap is alike. Look for organic vegetable glycerin melt and pour. It doesn’t have any harsh petrochemicals and is a gentle and environmentally-friendly base. There are palm oil free versions, and even aloe, honey, or hemp! You can choose an organic goat milk type of m&p as well (although herbs won’t show as much). We stick with non-animal based soaps since my son has severe dairy allergies and cannot even bathe with them. 

Resources:
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Dried herbs:

Mountain Rose Herbs

Bulk Herb Store 

Soap Bases:
US
Bulk Apothecary 

Brambleberry

UK 
http://www.justasoap.co.uk/soap-making/melt-pour-soap-bases/

So ---- today is the day for our launch of Kitchen: DIY! This is a FREE 30-page book with some of our favorite kitchen DIY projects. Brice (my husband) and I have written many articles on home projects and this is a compilation of some of our favorites we wrote together. We are always asked about our hydroponics system and we go through how to choose and setup a system that is right for you. Another favorite is how to roast your own coffee - in a roaster or even on your grill or over a campfire (plus...recipes). How to sprout and which seeds are the best to start with. How to get started growing mushrooms - what are the different types of starter setups from tabletop to logs - and what types of mushrooms can you grow (plus...recipes). Brice also has a great article about grilling with hardwood charcoal and not the little chemical bomb briquettes. Of course this is filled with photos and recipes and detailed information with resources! Happy DIY'ing.

>>If you are on a non-Apple device, you can download a PDF version here!
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Be sure to keep an eye out here - I will be launching another ebook The Gluten and Dairy Free Pantry: Recipes and Fresh Ideas for Your Whole Foods Kitchen in the next few weeks!

I realized that I haven't written about our garden in many months. Once planting season begins it seems that summer rushes by, noted only by how many days has it been since it last rained, and what is ready to pick, always hot and sunny but urgent in the need for constant weeding and tending. 

Interestingly, our garden(s) took on a whole new level this summer. I don't usually like to tell people of any of our charitable projects. Doing nice things or donating to help someone get on their feet or working and volunteering to help people is something we should all do without any expectation of attention or praise. Because it is the right thing to do.  But when my children are involved on this level, I like to recognize them for their kindness, generosity, and loving hearts. They are amazing humans.

Back in March while we were starting seedlings, my boys had the idea to grow flowers for the food pantry. Our community garden keeps a bin up front for the local food pantry so that any extras in the garden can go right to them. The local food pantry also has an extra large plot there managed by volunteers to grow as much fresh produce as they can as well, so they pick up the extras in the bin when they are there. We have always put our extras in the bin, but growing flowers and making bouquets so that families could have something fresh and colorful on their tables in addition to the food sounded like a fantastic idea. I wrote a letter to our local Badger Prairie Needs Network and asked if they would take flowers if we grew/bunched/delivered them. They said yes! The boys wanted to call it the Happy Flower Project (#happyflowerproject).

After getting the YES from the food pantry, we went into overdrive choosing flower seeds and starting a few hundred extra seedlings. I quickly realized that our very small community garden plot wouldn't hold that much and that our home garden wasn't developed enough yet for that many more plantings. But we really wanted to make our flower project for the food pantry work! Gulp. I kept growing those seedlings, thinking we would find a way. In May, just as I was hardening off hundreds of flowers, a local unschooler mom wrote to ask if I knew Janelle, who had garden space to spare and was looking for some people to fill it. I wrote to her and we went out to see her lovely valley where she organically raises goats and has a large organic garden plot. We were SO LUCKY to get space there, and we planted so.many.flowers. in late May and early June. My husband, as always, jumped into our family project and helped with everything. In addition to all of the flowers, we planted many medicinal herbs and two vines of cucumbers and heirloom pumpkins in that patch. This space is twice the size of the other community garden plot, and the soil is wonderful (and the goats eat our weeds by the bucketful). 

Every Friday we go out to the farm garden to pick flowers for a few hours and transport them in buckets of water back to our house (the garden is about 15-20 minutes from home). From there we divide them by type and then create mixed bouquets. We rubberband the ends and put the bunches into fresh buckets of water. After that all that is left is that we load up our car and deliver all of the flowers to the Badger Prairie Needs Network so that they have fresh flowers for busy Saturdays! We have been filling a dozen mason jar vases each week so that the community meal tables have fresh flowers (as well as the registration desk and waiting areas). The garden has been producing more and more each week and we have been able to make dozens of bouquets - filling several buckets - for visitors to choose from each week. We are hoping to increase our bouquet count each week for a few more weeks before they start to slow down for the season.

My kids know all the hard work required in doing these bouquets, but also get to carry buckets of those flowers and a crate of filled vases into the food pantry every Friday, knowing that people have been so happy to see fresh flowers that they can take home for their table. It has been eye-opening for them to see how our local community of individuals, businesses, restaurants and chefs work together to help over 300 families in our school district alone. How chefs donate their time, how local businesses and restaurants donate all of their extra produce and meals, how local stores donate their dents and bakery items. How gardeners bring in giant bags of produce. How many volunteers donate their time to clean, prep, cook, stock, make, and feed so many people in our community. They see how even in our small town we are all a part of something together, and that it is important. 

The #happyflowerproject has been a nice experience for all of us this summer, and I am so glad we jumped in head first and that so many things came together for us to make this happen. I hope the weather allows us to keep this going for as long as possible! So I am tooting a horn for my amazing kids with their kind hearts and commitment to our community. And their recognition that flowers can make people smile.
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​I'll share more about what we ended up growing in our 3 gardens and what we plan to pot to overwinter and which varieties we are growing again next year - but for now, just my boys. <3 ​

​#happyflowerproject





Edited to add: I have had several people write to ask how we "do it all" with mast cell disease, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and asthma (etc.) on our plate. And the key is, we pick our own projects, we create our own parameters and expectations, and we deliver based on our own timeline. We accommodate ourselves. We create our own opportunities together as a family, and we do what works for us! (And, my kids are amazing.) ❤️

I love lavender. I used to be so sensitive to it that I definitely couldn't handle any artificial lavender anything, and even the flowers would be too intense for me. As I have cleared out all artificial fragrances in all of my home/body/bath products for years now and have gone exclusively natural and organic, I have found that I can now tolerate real lavender and even love it. I grow a lot of lavender every summer and dry it in my dehydrator for use in recipes - both for culinary and bath/body herbal use. A favorite way to use lavender is by infusing honey with it. There is some magic alchemy that lavender gives to the already aromatic honey. It is a great flavor combination. Lavender also works well with citrus. Since I love making all of my own beverages of course I have a favorite lavender lemonade recipe. 

Tip: Add the honey to the lemon mix when slightly warm so that it will stir in and not sink the bottom. Whisking while slowly pouring it in helps too. 

Lavender Infused Honey:
To make lavender honey, gently warm your 1/2 cup of honey (LOW - no boiling!) with 2 Tbsp of dried lavender buds added. Let sit for 20-30 minutes on *very low* heat and then strain. The honey will be infused with the lavender aroma and flavor. 

More about: 
Kombucha
Lavender
Lemons

 I love strawberry season. It lasts only a few short weeks, but it sure is good while it lasts. We are not growing strawberries this year  - well, we are, but they are not big enough to fruit this year - but they can be found all around here. Strawberries are at local farmer's markets, roadside stands, u-picks, and in CSA's. We have picked up strawberries every time we see them, knowing that in a week or two they will be gone. I love making some jam and drying some for granola, but really, sorbet is a must. It is the perfect thing on a hot day.

Making an unheated dairy-free sorbet is really the best way to get the full amazing strawberry flavor. I know many recipes call for syrups with water, but really, who wants watered down strawberries. I want it to taste like an explosion of strawberries in my mouth. I don't like using white sugar and my body doesn't like me using white sugar, so I have experimented to get a scoopable sorbet using a natural sugar. This recipe uses raw honey and a wee bit of limoncello to keep it from freezing too solid (I love our homemade limoncello!!!!). This remains scoopable and a vivid red with the full pow of fresh strawberries. This *only* uses 3 Tbsp of limoncello per full quart of sorbet, but if you wish to have no liqueur in this, you can use 2 tsp of vanilla instead of one (vanilla extract also uses alcohol, which is what helps keep the sorbet from freezing into solid ice chunks) - but it WILL still be hard to scoop since you won't have the same recipe ratio and nobody wants several tablespoons of vanilla extract in their sorbet to compensate. Don't add *extra* limoncello though, as too much alcohol will make it more of a slushie. This recipe really is a great balance of flavor and freeze consistency and sweetness.

​Strawberry season doesn't last very long, and while we *could* buy strawberries from the grocery store all year 'round, we all know nothing tastes as good as locally grown strawberries in season. This recipe really takes advantage of the natural sweetness and amazing flavor or summertime fruit. I think I have a sorbet recipe for just about every single berry all summer long, but strawberries are the first berries after a long winter and spring, and the taste is just...summer. I sometimes try to tuck a quart of it down at the bottom of the chest freezer so we can find in the fall and get all excited that we still have strawberry sorbet in October - but it never lasts that long. That is partly because I just have horrible secret agent stealth skills, and partly because it is so good and who wants to save some for later when you can have it now, when it is hothothot outside. We had strawberries in our CSA yesterday, and picked up a few extra quarts, so I am going to go make some more sorbet!

Once the gardens start producing, it can be a challenge to keep up. My dehydrator is going pretty much full-time, drying herbs, flowers, and veggies for use all winter long. Some herbs, such as basil, don't dry very well, so I make plenty of pesto to freeze. While I love pesto, I don't want my basil options to be so fixed all winter, so freezing more simple combinations means that I not only have plenty of pesto, but also have plenty of options for soup, stew, stir fry, rice and more, all fall/winter/spring. Freezing basil to preserve for winter is easy. I like to make herb pastes, which keep their fresh vibrant flavors and aromas and are super quick and easy to prepare. My husband thinks I missed an opportunity to name this recipe "Frozen Basil Bunnies" - but it isn't just basil that this works for, it is great for any fresh herbs. Although I agree that Fresh Herb Paste isn't *quite* as memorable as Frozen Basil Bunnies. Say that fast 10 times. 

Basil is my first frozen paste because it is the herb that needs freezing the most, and I grow a LOT of it. It is so simple. Take 4 cups of freshly picked, packed basil leaves. Put them in the food processor with about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil and about 1/2 tsp of fresh sea salt. I don't want to add too much salt so I have room for seasoning in recipes, but a little helps keep the vivid color and flavor. Whiz the basil/olive oil/salt in the food processor until fully blended. You may need to scrape the bowl down with a spatula in the middle of it to get all of the leaves. Depending on your type of basil and how packed it is when measuring, it will need as little as 1/4 cup of olive oil. The measurement is flexible just like the recipe. Add just enough oil to get it to fully whiz in the food processor! If you want fresh paste, voila, you are done. Put it into a canning jar in your fridge and use over the next week or so. You can also freeze it for longer storage.  The recipe is per 4 cups of herbs because that fits into a food processor, but it whizzes down into a smaller amount, so you can keep going in batches to make as much as you like. I did 5 batches of basil paste and still have more left. Lots. O. Basil. 

To freeze, take your paste and spoon it into ice cube trays or silicon molds and put into the freezer until frozen solid, and then pop the cubes into a freezer baggie until you need them. I like freezing in about 1/4 cup quantities as that makes it easier to only defrost what you need, rather than thawing out an entire jar. I like silicon molds because I can do bigger than an ice cube amounts. Mine are all in bunny shapes because while I have personally selected all of my herbs-only molds for my lotion bars and body bars, all of our food use silicon molds have been selected by my 11 year old, who only buys cute animal shapes. ;) So we have a whole bunch of basil bunnies in the freezer. 

You can do this with mixed herbs as well, of course. I made several batches that included parsley, sage, basil, rosemary, thyme, and cilantro. It is the same recipe, just vary your herbs based on your supply! Try different combos - just be sure to label! 

I love growing a lot of herbs, and I love preserving them too. Since our growing season in Wisconsin is fairly short, finding many different ways to preserve things so we feel like we have a wonderful variety the rest of the year is key. 

Looking for other ways to preserve your herbs? Try my veggie bouillon recipe - I love making a lot of this in the summer to use all winter long. SUCH an amazing flavor!

Pea season has arrived! I love the fresh green flavor of peas and pea shoots. I love to eat snap peas raw, pickled, sautéed, and steamed. I love to eat pea shoots in salads, wraps, stir fry, and tacos. We get peas and pea shoots from our CSA, but this is one of the things I also grow because...well...we just can't get enough. Pea season is short and sweet, and I like to make the most of it.

This year I am growing a new (to me) variety of pea called Magnolia Blossom Tendril Pea. It makes a lot of tendrils and fewer leaves, allowing more air flow in the peas. The flowers are so beautiful, and the plants are huge producers! My husband has been traveling for business most of the past few weeks, so he is missing out on the peastravaganza. This recipe is quick and easy and super delicious. It takes advantage of those freshly picked peas that are so tender they don't need to be boiled or overcooked at all, and are crispy and perfect with a few minutes in the skillet.

I am also growing Blue Spice Basil this summer and it has quickly become a favorite. It has a rich, exotic, spicy sweet fragrance that is AMAZing (and the bugs don't touch it). It worked so well with the toasted sesame oil and ginger that I am dehydrating a batch to see how it holds up when dried. Most basil doesn't dry well and so we freeze it or make pesto to preserve it. This basil has such a different thick hairy leaf and sublime fragrance that I am curious - I would love to have a lot dried to use all winter. We shall see!

​I am sure I am going to be sharing more pea recipes before our short season is over (peas make the best quick pickles!). Having pea season peak just as all of the herbs are cranking means that there are so many opportunities for different flavors and combinations. Fresh herbs and peas really do go well together as they all have that fresh green garden flavor that can't be beat.

My husband will be gone for a few more days so the pea stir fry today was all mine. He had better hurry though, it has been hot and peas won't last forever!

about the ingredients: 
Snap Peas 
Pea Shoots
Blue Spice Basil 
Magnolia Blossom Tendril Pea
Brown Sesame Seeds


​

I love the beginning of CSA season. Spring arrives late in Wisconsin and it takes until June for the vegetables to really start rolling in, and it coincides with my burst of rapidly growing herbs which I planted a few weeks ago. Pesto is a favorite way to combine different flavors and use the herbs in abundance with all of the fresh vegetables. The key for me of course is the combining of different flavors. I like pesto, but we have a dairy allergy in the house AND I don't like drowning myself in mono-flavors. I love making different types of pesto so that there is fantastic variety not only for immediate consumption, but also enough to freeze/preserve for winter. This pesto is a favorite. I grow many types of basil, and no matter what type I have on hand, it works.

This recipe is dairy free and combines fresh zesty flavors such as lime, ginger and garlic. I am also using cashews instead of pine nuts. Not only are they easier to find, but they are nutritious and I always have some on hand (I'm addicted to date/cashew truffles and cashew cream). You will be amazed at the flavor and want to make extra to freeze for winter!

I made a single batch of this today, which will likely only last me a few days. So I am sure I will make some more as my genovese, persian, blue spice, thai, lemon, lime, lettuce leaf, and emily basils grow, grow, grow!

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bonus: This recipe is delicious and easy to prepare, but also packed full of good vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, fiber, and protein. Yum+. 

Cashews
Garlic & Ginger
Basil
Lime

I have always been happy drinking water all day. My husband, however, likes having iced beverages with many flavors, and isn't much of a water drinker. So these days I make shrubs, switchels, fruit syrups to use with carbonated water, and of course iced teas. I prefer mixing some herbal goodness with my drinks, so this recipe combines the great properties of turmeric, ginger, hibiscus, citrus and rooibos with some fresh local honey to make an extremely delicious tea. This has so much flavor and is so refreshing - and with no caffeine we can drink it in the evening as we sit on the deck admiring the sunset.
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I love drinks that are not too sweet and that are very refreshing. Today is going to get into the 80's and I have already been outside watering the garden, opening up the greenhouses and watering all of the seedlings. The first thing I wanted when I came inside was a cold glass of iced tea. Yum. This is one of my favorite cold drink recipes and the smell and taste of it just feel like summer to me! 


More about these ingredients:
Green Rooibos Tea Benefits and Use
Health Benefits of Hibiscus
The Amazing and Mighty Ginger
6 Health Benefits of Turmeric
8 Healthy Lime Facts

We have long winters here in Wisconsin, so when things start to grow, it is exciting. We also don't have long seasons of items once they do appear. Asparagus, rhubarb, strawberries - all are in and out quickly, so we tend to do as much as we can while they are here. I love asparagus. My husband didn't used to like it so much, but it has grown on him as I experiment and find more flavors it blends with. Asparagus and chives are amazing together. And the smoky richness of sesame oil, the salty flavor of soy, and the crunchy bite of black sesame all meld together to make an awesome asparagus dish. I usually make this as a side dish, but it is also fantastic over a bed of lettuce (or arugula!) with a little soy/sesame oil dressing drizzled over the top. 

This recipe is quick and easy, but has a lot of flavor. A great way to combine the ingredients of spring into one fantastic dish. ​

Chive Blossom Infused Vinegar

Chives are a mid to late spring herb that are often overlooked. Chives are delicious in salads, egg dishes, sprinkled over soups, and more. Don’t forget the blossoms either. The delicate pinkish purple flower heads have a lovely onion/garlic flavor. Chive vinegar is a quick, simple way to capture some of that.
​

Directions:

Pack a ½ pint jar with (clean) chive blossoms, along with a few chive stems.

Pour over any type of mild white vinegar you like – you can pour over room temperature vinegar, but warm the vinegar first for best results.

Make sure all blossoms are fully covered.

Let sit for a few days in your fridge until the blossoms have turned the vinegar a lovely shade of pink.

Strain out the old chive flowers (add a few fresh ones for decoration if you wish), store in the fridge, and use in salad dressings!

Spring may seem slow to start some years, but when the first greens, herbs and veggies appear we can't get enough. Here is to spring, and fresh food from the garden!

​I like quick pickles. I don't have a ton of time to make dozens of jars of the same thing endlessly, and quite honestly I get bored with flavors and really like mixing it up, using what is fresh on hand, and having small batches of a variety of quick pickles to liven up meals, crudités, salads, and of course for snacks. At any given moment year-round I have a few jars of something in my fridge. Right now I have pickled cucumbers and garlic in a slightly sweet brine, and pickled daikon which are amazingly peppery and crunchy. Spring onions are one of the first things in spring that we can find here in Wisconsin, and I like pickling them so that I can spread them out throughout the summer. I like the small green brilliance of their flavor in a pickle and they work on salads, burgers, or with a plate of hummus and tomatoes. 

Or try this: Add some additional zesty flavor by reducing the white vinegar in the recipe above to 1 cup and add 1/2 cup umeboshi plum vinegar. 

Another bonus of having a fresh pickling brine is when all of your salad greens start coming in full blast you not only have some pickled scallions to put on your salad, but you have a tasty brine to use for salad dressings. Simply mix a little pickle brine with extra virgin olive oil, s&p, and a tiny bit of grainy mustard. Stir and boom. Delicious dressing. 

I know most of us have the image of a farm woman in her hot kitchen with 422 pounds of one kind of cucumber frantically pickling and canning until 3AM. But these days we can get such a wide variety of seeds and can easily grow such a diversity of herbs, fruit, and vegetables, that we don't need to mono-pickle. Small batch pickling is a quick, easy, and delicious way to preserve the extras, the favorites, and the flavors of the season!

Spring comes so slowly after a long winter, but jumping back into the garden and kitchen to start preserving again feels good. After a long winter it feels pretty much like a big TA-DAAAAA! 

Holidays that involve food are always a challenge with allergy kids. Even with the wonderful abundance of (insert your allergen) free treats in stores, it is still a juggle when kids without allergies want things that the other cannot have. The same goes for the spring egg hunt type of activities. We cannot go to any public events, as they have every allergen known to man-kind in little plastic eggs or goodie bags. I like making spring baskets for the kids, which are pre-filled, so everyone gets what they like, and it is safe and not disappointing for the allergy kid. He isn't left out, doesn't have to give anything up after he finds it, and can safely eat everything he has in his basket.

​For groups or parties,  finding fun foods to add to a table can be a challenge. The chocolate spoons are fun and creative and look festive. You can make these with white chocolate or milk chocolate if you don't have allergies, but I make them using enjoy life vegan chips. For sprinkles, I use vegan sprinkles, coconut, colored sugar crystals, or anything else that is colorful and tasty. 

​Chocolate Dipped Spoons{GF, DF, NF}
 
Ingredients:
 
150 g/ 5 oz. chocolate chips  (For allergy friendly find organic vegan or carob chips sweetened with a natural sweetener. The packaging will say dairy free/nut free. I like Enjoy Life brand.)
 
6-8 tablespoons (or about double if teaspoons). If this is for your own family, you can just use your own tablespoons or teaspoons. If you are having guests, visit a thrift store for cute mismatched spoons or buy recycled plastic or bamboo disposables!
 
Toppings: Good toppings include unsweetened coconut flakes, vegan gluten-free sprinkles, chopped dried cherries, or even dried lavender buds. Pick the toppings that are allergy and/or age appropriate. For older teens or adults, try sprinkling things like Celtic sea salt, wasabi powder, or crushed raw cacao nibs.

Directions: 

1. Place your spoons in the freezer. Line a tray that will fit into your fridge or freezer with parchment paper.

2. Melt your chips in a double boiler or in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave.

3. Pull the spoons out of the freezer and when the chocolate is melted and smooth, dip each spoon quickly into the chocolate, fully coating the back and filling up the spoon. Place on the parchment paper lined pan, and sprinkle your topping of choice over the top. Working quickly, fill all of your spoons. 

4. Place the tray in the fridge and chill until hard. You can easily double or triple the recipe, but it is easier to work in small batches, so make a set, chill, and repeat.
 
Once the spoons are chilled it is time to wrap them!
 
Have cellophane covers ready for the chocolate spoons. You can find various sizes of lollipop covers at your local hobby or baking wares shop. Insert the chilled chocolate spoons into the bags, tie off with a cute ribbon or string, and put a flower sticker right over the center.
 
The chocolate will not melt easily after it sets, but it should stay chilled until the party if you are heading outside or into the sunshine.
 
To eat pop that spoon into your mouth like a lollipop or stir into a hot cocoa!

This recipe originally appeared in the Spring 2014 issue of Tend Magazine. 

I have never been a breakfast person. For years I was more of a cup of coffee and run kind of person. But with the advent of autoimmune disease, I have a schedule for my supplements and medications, and eating before I take anything is critical. We also cannot eat gluten, so that eradicates a whole bunch of possibilities. So what is left is eggs, GF toast, GF oats...meh. I'm not a big sweets or bread person. I'm also not a huge fan of repetition. I spend a lot of time cooking dinners every day, so I don't want to spend a ton of time on breakfast or lunch. Amaranth is a nice alternative for breakfast. It is a seed, not a grain, and it is a complete protein packed with all of the essential amino acids, iron, magnesium, fiber, and even calcium. You can cook it, bake it, boil it, or even pop it. This breakfast is quick and easy and has a lot of flavor. And you can add different toppings to change it up - fresh blueberries, sliced bananas, toasted coconut, hemp seeds, warm apples pan-sautéed with a little maple syrup and molasses...the possibilities are endless!

​A bowl of amaranth porridge is perfect for spring mornings - it warms you up, fills you up, and gives you energy to get moving on busy spring days. Kids love it too, and everyone can have their favorite toppings! 

Speaking of pre-filled. I like to make my own seed starting mix from local organic seed starting blend, a potting mix with kelp and compost, worm castings, and a sterile type of renewable coir mix. It is important to me that our potting soils, composts, and seed starting mixes don't contain certain our allergens. I am happy that when I can't find the methods or ingredients on a package or website that my local garden/hydroponics store is always happy to call and ask for me. Because of that, I tend to stick with only a few brands that I know have good practices, pay close attention to all that goes into their mix and their sources, and use hot composting methods where things are fully broken down where applicable. I also like local when possible.  Because of that I tend to buy all of my soil/compost/fertilizer from just one or two local places where I know exactly what I am getting. You can find recipes for seed starting mixes online that will best suit your climate and seedlings. I start with a large storage bin and mix all of my seed starting medium in that right in my garage. I can store it there and it is easy to step out and fill another tray. To keep everything streamlined I really like pre-filling a bunch of trays so I can grab and go. Less mess and less time. As my big bin of seed starting mix gets low, I make another batch. Right up into plant out time where I use a little different blend to fill my pots and containers. 

Most people who garden know how easy it is to start tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, and peas. They have been cultivated to where we can rely on good germination and pretty easy starting. Where I see people get unsure is often when you go into medicinal herbs, prairie or native plants, and more exotic or uncommon flowers and herbs. The packets talk about scarifying, stratification, scarification, and cold dormancy or extended germination. It used to seem confusing, but when I started categorizing my seeds in my box system, categorizing them into the basic types of germination wasn't too hard. I don't like to go overboard, I just like things that work well, simply. These methods may seem picky and delicate and time-consuming, but if you break it down it is pretty simple.  And the bonus is you can grow some pretty cool plants you would never find in a garden center. These native plants, herbs, and flowers are also often those which are great for pollinators, attracting beneficials to your garden.

Most general seed packets will tell you to when to plant in ground, or how many weeks before last frost to start your seedlings and when to plant out. Natives, medicinal, prairie, and many more exotic plants may often require a bit more care to get them going. These seeds also often come in packets with very few seeds, meaning you want a high germination rate/success rate. There are a few common techniques specified on these seed packets, and while they may seem like a lot, it really only takes a few minutes to get things rolling.

​

​Cold stratification means the seeds like a feeling of winter before they are ready to go. Putting the seed packs into the refrigerator for a few week gives them a kickstart. The easiest way to do this is by putting them in a baggie and labeling in/out dates for your fridge.

​

​Another cold stratification is the moist type. I put these in a baggie in my fridge for a few weeks as well, but in a moist paper towel in the baggie, not in the packet. Be sure to note the in/out date on the bag. Some of these seeds like to get a scratch on the sandpaper first too.

​

​Some seeds, like lavender, like cold stratification in a medium such as sand or soil. For these, I put them in a baggie in the fridge at the same time as the rest, I just put them in some potting soil in the baggie and note in/out date. 

​

​Scarification is when a seed needs to be scratched or penetrated a bit to begin the germination. A cool and moist scarification germination just means rub the seed on sandpaper, plant at the surface and lightly cover with soil, and keep cool and moist for 1-3 weeks until it germinates. Then treat it as you do the other seedlings until planting out. 

​

​There can also be warm germinators which needs soaking and scarification to germinate. For these, give a quick nick or rub with sandpaper, soak in warm water overnight, and plant, lightly covered in soil. Keep warm and moist until germination occurs, and then treat as you do other seedlings. 

​That may seem like a lot to do, but in reality each type only takes a few minutes. The rest of the time is watering or waiting. I like to print out blank monthly calendars from March through June and keep it in my seed box. I note how each week by week number until last frost date, so it coordinates with all of the folders with seeds. I also can easily write down when to pull the baggies out of the fridge and plant them, etc. It makes it pretty foolproof. I like that I have basically a noted calendar of each year that I can look back on next year too. ​

I'm feeling the effects of March. It is windy and cold, we are cooped up (with one kid after another sick). Everything is muddy over frozen so no hiking or garden work can be done yet. I am definitely stir-crazy. I know seed starting and planning the garden is one of the things that actually gets me through to spring here in Wisconsin. On the one hand I'm starting seeds!!!! On the other hand we still have 3 MONTHS before our CSA even begins. Each little tray of soil and seeds is a lifeline to warm sunny days and green grass and hours spent outside. So even though some of the seeds require a little more care and attention to get going than some of the more common vegetables and herbs, they are worth every moment in potential. I can see bees buzzing, hummingbirds swooping, smell the fragrance as the sun sets and my kids rock in the hammock. It is all good. 

Speaking of good, we are picking up our mason bees and beneficial insects this week. Spring really is coming!

​More seed starting and greenhouse assembling to come. :)

Over the past few weeks we have also been working on getting the seed starting setup going. We have our growing setup in the basement. It is an unfinished space, but we have my art studio, a few couches, craft & art supplies, a treadmill, rugs, a trampoline, and an office down there. With kids running around and a lot of foot traffic, I wanted to tuck the seed starting under the stairs so that it is away from the action but easy to access. We use standard shop lights for our seed starting. I have several types of bulbs, and use warm, cool, and full spectrum grow bulbs so that seedlings get a healthy dose of everything. The nice thing about under the stairs is that it is easy to install hooks to securely hang the lighting, and we have room to put the light timer, a fan, and keep supplies stored safely. We don't have anything fancy, but I can fit over 500 seedlings at a time in here (and I still have several shop lights left over at this point, so plenty of opportunity to expand). I will also have some flats on trays in sunny windows upstairs as we go along, but most seedlings will easily transition from basement to our popup outdoor greenhouses this spring. We have two small popup greenhouses, and then I added a 6'x6'x4' walk in which can hold another 2 dozen or more trays. I should be able to grow a LOT of seedlings in a pretty small amount of space. And my neighbors will only see peeks of the backyard greenhouses for a month and a half or so, before the bigger ones go back in storage.

Growing from seed takes more attention and care than buying plants at a nursery, but you can get SO MUCH MORE variety, grow organic end to end, and save a lot of money when you look at the final output. Seed starting isn't HARD, it just requires organization and a little bit of time and attention. You could easily have just two shop lights with warm and cool bulbs over a few seed trays in your basement or closet and have enough plants for your garden.

So I have my garden notebook setup and ready, my seeds are in their folders, the lights are setup, and I have all of my seed starting medium ready to mix and start. NEXT...seed starting (really)! 

I find myself often attempting to describe garden planning from a purely logical DIY perspective, and failing. As much as I like to approach design with an overall organized and cohesive whole, it really is an emotionally driven thing. In our last house it took years, but I achieved the feeling I was searching for in the garden. It was private, lush, green, and vibrant. It felt like walking through a secret garden, dusk was a magical in-between time of twinkly lights and exotic floral fragrance. It was filled with a palette of colors, buzzing with bees and every kind of pollinator. Birds bathed in the the bath, hummingbirds swooped by our heads, mourning doves nested in hanging baskets. Kids played and ran and hid behind bushes or under the hammock, hands full of sticky raspberries. It was like a secret magical wonderland bursting with warm soil, sticky sweet fruit, and climbing vines. 

So to this garden, where do you begin. We let it sit last summer other than some basic plantings to get the feel. It isn’t a tucked in moist rich secret garden up here. It is wide open, big sky, windswept, prairie grasses, bald eagles, stunning sunsets, starry nights. It is the singing of toads, the buzzing of grasshoppers. It is views for miles of pines, oaks, corn fields, silos and Epic. It is dry, sunny, windy, and alive. Yet I also know as more homes are built it will morph to more closely resemble mowed lawns, fences and afternoon shadows. So the big plan this year is to get a basic outline into which everything will be planted into over the years. We want rain barrels to help with watering up on this dry windy hilltop. We want fruit trees in the ground so that in a few years they will be there to not only give us apples and cherries, but also to give us some privacy and shade. We want some annuals to fill in all of the areas where the landscape plantings are still small and immature. We want to espalier more caning and vining fruit along the south side of the house. We want raised beds for some easy to water or cover spots for strawberries, greens, and delicate water lovers. We want some shade trees that will rustle and sway in the breeze.

In our last house we had some flowers, but without a lot of full sun, we really didn’t have a huge selection, not to mention our space was very limited. In this house we not only want fruiting trees, bushes and canes - we want herbs that can return every year. And I want a riot of color, fragrance, and color. I want mason bees and native pollinators buzzing. And as the sun goes down, I want my kids in the hammock inhaling the rich, exotic fragrances of thousands of flowers. I want bouquets on all of my tables. Annual flowers, and a LOT of them, is going to fill in the gaps until our garden is more established, giving us a magical, enchanting garden, somewhere to sit and walk and lie and enjoy. So with that in mind, we have a few plans. 

The plan Home Garden 2016: 2-4 fruit trees, mason bees, an espalier infrastructure for the grapes/blackberries, 4-5 raised beds on south facing wall (medicinal herbs, tea herbs, cutting flower bed, greens), fruiting shade tree up front, flowering fruit bushes for future privacy as more homes built around us, a larger greenhouse for growing a lot more seedlings (got it last week - will put it together in spring!), 3-4 rain barrels, paths around raised beds, and possibly starting the integrated beds throughout yard for additional herb plantings.  An attractive yet functional good sized composting system. This may not all be done this summer, but we have a master plan. ​

The big seed list. I decided to grow a nice big variety of cutting flowers, medicinal and tea herbs, culinary herbs, fruit, vegetables and greens this year. With more space in this house I can now grow more seedlings (and I now have 3 popup greenhouses). I figure if I start a lot of everything and have extra, I can sell my extras - it will be more rare or uncommon plants that won't be found at local nurseries, so the time/cost/effort of growing extras will be worth it and that way I know I will have enough for my own needs. I prefer to plant in integrated permaculture beds, and will have a lot of these integrated throughout the yard, but will also have a few raised beds where I can more easily control the climate and soil. Here is my list of seeds that I am growing this year. 

2016 Seed List:

I've spent a lot of time over this winter planning the garden and community garden plot for 2016. So I want to write about going from blank slate to the big plan. I'm going to split this into a few posts and end up with the big plan - what I'm planting this year, garden architecture, and seed starting!

If you have known me for awhile, you know that I spent over 10 years working on the garden in our last home. It went from a tiny urban grass plot to a dense and lush integrated urban permaculture garden packed with fruit, vegetables, flowers, herbs, and kids. We outgrew that house years ago, but the garden plus the difficulty of showing a house we all live/work in 24/7 means we stayed and stayed. Last year we finally made the jump and moved into a new green built home about 20 miles from where we used to live. We went from a tiny bowling alley urban garden flanked by 2 houses tucked in at the bottom of a hill to a more suburban garden at one of the highest points in the area, atop a hill, next to prairie and fields. Our "new" yard is still likely smaller than average but we wanted more usable gardening space without really having massive expanses of HOA regulated grass. So, it is about 3 times the size of our previous garden. Woot! We are now in a smaller outlying community with views that seemingly go on forever, a sky full of stars, and never ending amazing sunsets.

The 2015 community garden plan was mostly to get all of my seedlings into the ground and see how the soil is in the plot. We built up the soil with compost and worked hard to keep the most insane weeds I've ever seen at bay. It worked, but we have a better idea of what the soil and plot need for next year!

Next ... the big plan for 2016 for both yard and community garden, plotting a grid, and organizing the seed starting calendar!

This is the time of year that no matter how much water I drink or how much humidity I add to the house, my skin still feels dry. I know that -25 windchills and days with a high of -2 means the humidity drops, but wow. One way to keep my skin from cracking is to moisturize. I have a favorite fragrance free/allergy safe version for us, but I do love the warm heady aroma and skin feel of a moisturizing body oil. This works best when just out of the shower. Or, it is a great massage oil. The fragrance isn't too strong, but is warm and exotic, reminding me of warm humid places. And my skin loves it. It absorbs quickly without a greasy feeling, and it leaves skin feeling soft. 

Body oils are nice to make, as they give instant gratification for not too much work. A body or massage oil is simply an infused blend of oils, or a blend of base oils with essential oils. These luxurious concoctions are great for a romantic massage, as a body moisturizer after getting out of a warm shower, or to add to a warm bath. This oil would also make a great Valentine's Day gift.
 
This basic blend combines essential oils, which give a warm and earthy fragrance, while also softening and supporting our skin. Apricot kernel oil is good for sensitive or dry skin, and is light and emollient. Avocado oil is a healing oil good for dry and sensitive skin.  While it is thicker and creamier than some other oils, it absorbs quickly, so there is no greasy skin feel. Both are great for dry winter skin. ​ The essential oils in this blend are not only warm and fragrant, but are nice on the skin.

I love making truffles. I tend to go in spurts, most often in winter, when I want something small and sweet, but allergy-free and not too much. Truffle bites are perfect. I like that I can go from pulling out the ingredients to popping them in the fridge to set in under 15 minutes. The only thing that is heated is the chocolate!

​These are great quick and easy sweet treats for yourself, or they can be packed up into little boxes and gifted for Valentine's Day. 

​Potpourri
​
Stop right there, don't think homemade potpourri is anything like the chemical laden store bought over fragranced stuff. Making your own is not kitschy; it is a good way to have on-going odor absorption and a light fragrance in areas such as bathrooms and kitchens. Making it is simple. Choose your container, add your base items, and then enhance with a few drops of essential oils. You can stick with base dried herbs, flowers, and spices, but things like pinecones and pine branches also hold oils nicely and add bulk. Be sure not to buy the pre-scented chemically treated pinecones from the craft store. You can find untreated pinecones from online suppliers, or if you collect your own, be sure to clean thoroughly and place in your oven on the lowest setting for an hour or so to dry and de-pest before using.

I dry herbs from my gardens all summer long, so I always have plenty of dried fragrant herbs and flowers to use in sachets, teas, and potpourri. I grow things like bee balm, anise hyssop, lemon verbena, lemon balm, different kinds of mint, rosemary, lavender, and more. I dry them in my dehydrator all summer long and store in airtight containers in my herb cabinet. I also like to dry citrus peels and rounds for use in tea, and those items also work well in sachets. 

I made sachets with herbs from my garden for holiday gifts, but made sure to make a few for our own house. They are tucked into the master closet, the mud room by all the shoes and boots, and in the front coat closet. They help keep things smelling fresh. I may insert them into my pre-teen sons boots once or twice too. Ahem. 

 
Turmeric has been used traditionally not only as a flavorful spice/seasoning, but also for its health benefits. Turmeric contains curcumin, which has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The addition of ginger gives this drink a warm spicy flavor, and is good for digestion and also an anti-inflammatory.  I consciously add anti-inflammatory foods to my diet as much as I can to help support anti-inflammatory processes in my body, and having a drink with both ginger and turmeric is an added bonus. The taste is rich and creamy with a hint of a musky chai-like undertone. It is delicious.  This rich golden milk is great during seasonal transitions when it can go from warm to cold in one day or when you get inside after a cold day in the snow, and a steaming mug of spicy milk tastes and feels wonderful. 

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​I love using turmeric and ginger as much as I can, and this drink is so delicious and rich and spicy. I do like coffee (we roast our own beans) and I love herbal tea (I grow and dry my own herbs all summer long to make herbal tea blends), but I also like having a hot drink that has a different flavor in my winter mug rotation!

Curcumin!
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12676044
http://cms.herbalgram.org/expandedE/Turmericroot.html?ts=1450805564&signature=ac9639920279f278fee0cd0a5d3c813e
​

Most of us are not lucky enough to live where citrus grows locally.  And while eating close to the source is ideal, in this day and age not everything we consume will be from the corner farm.  Salt, pepper, olive oil, coffee, tea…we can make conscious decisions to support fair trade and organic for as much as we can, while still working towards finding local for those things which are available. So for me, citrus is a part of our winter and holiday experience, no matter our climate. I love that sharp blast of citrus as my fingers break the peel on these dark, gloomy days of winter. 

​Citrus in winter is like the sun - fleeting, delicious, and memorable. One way to balance our distance with citrus is to use everything. Waste nothing. When we find it in season in the winter, use it all, enjoy it all. We use the peels and candy them, make garland, and dry for tea blends. 

This recipe is simple to make, but quite a show stopper dessert. It is made in a spiced, fragrant syrup, but it isn't overly sweet. It is nice because it can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for a day or so before serving, so it is perfect for the holiday table. 

​ Citrus is a winter treat, to be enjoyed on these dark winter days.  We boost our mood as well as our vitamins (A, B-6, C, folate), fiber, and minerals (potassium, calcium, iron).  By using the whole fruit, we don’t waste a thing, and get the most from these sunny, fragrant orbs. Yum.