St. John's Wort is ready to harvest now

We harvested St. John's Wort in our last herbal class. Just like with other herbs remember not to overharvest. We took part of a flowering tip with some leaves from scattered plants in a huge area, and made a tincture & an oil.

Infusing Wine with herbs

In the summer I often infuse some white wine with herbs. I made some white wine from scratch 2 years ago using green grapes & peaches. It still tastes a little 'new', aka not so good. When I walked outside the other day I saw the climbing rose had quite a few roses on it. I poured some of the wine into the mason jar above & added all the rose petals. It tastes amazing!

So I got out the other 20 bottles of peach/grape wine & a chopstick & pushed a bunch of herbs in each bottle.

For those taking my herbal course you'll have a good idea what herbs to use. For flavor I am thinking the rose petals will be great. And I made a few with lavender flowers (which will be great for relaxing before bed, lavender makes you sleepy). I also added: comfrey to some bottles, plantain, yarrow leaves & flowers, calendula flowers, borage flowers, lemon balm. Lots of these are for immune system, and some are for relaxing the nervous system. At some point I will strain the herbs out of each bottle, and also at some point, lavender or rose petals will be added to each one because I love the flavor.

I did try making some herbal wines using just herbs - no grapes. They are NOT so tasty. I think I like this method the best.

Pictures taken by our house.

BABY SWALLOWS

BABY SWALLOWS

in a nesting box in the big maple tree

CHAKRA BALANCING CLASSES & AN HERB WALK

The little hummingbirds flew off the morning after the last photo`s were taken.

Here`s a few classes open to anyone for July:


I am opening up a couple of classes this month to everyone.
Usually some of these classes are just for my reiki students.
Email me to register for any of these classes.

SATURDAY JULY 10
10:00 - NOON (depending on how many students, could be 11:30)
$30
CHAKRA BALANCING CLASS
I am running a series of chakra balancing classes & have 2
scheduled at this time. Chakras are main energy centers in the
body & become out of balance: over or under active, causing
physical or emotional problems. These classes can help you
become more aware of your chakras
& doing some work to bring them back into balance.
We will do some reading & journal work (I never ask my students
to share what they write), learn to use a pendulum to balance
the chakra we are studying, and use a tuning fork for restoring
balance.
At that point, the class will be over & my reiki students will
stay to receive an attunement & to give & receive reiki sessions.

SATURDAY JULY 17
HERB WALK
NOON - 1:30 (approximately)
$25
If you are interested in looking at about 30 herbs growing in my
yard & learning a bit about each, also get to know me as an herbalist
a bit better if you are thinking about taking my herb course
next year. We will walk around & look a the plants, learn a bit
about their uses, and have an herbal infusion after from freshly
picked plants.

SUNDAY JULY 18
SOLAR PLEXUS CHAKRA
10:00 - noon
$30 for non reiki students
same as above chakra class, different chakra.

Baby Hummingbirds testing their wings

These little guys are growing up!

2nd picture: testing out there tongues in slow motion!

3rd pic: testing out their tiny wings.

4th pic: testing out the tongue again, tasting the maple tree.

Harvesting Herbs in June

Since our herb class is have a short break & we won't meet until July, thought I'd add a bit of info on what's going on with the herbs out there, maybe you'll find a project or 2 with the information I'll be posting.

Lots of herbs are ready to harvest or use right now.

The comfrey (pictured at the right) is just at the end of blooming, you'll find a lot of the stalks are starting to fall over & smother other smallers plants next to them. Time to cut some it back. Some of my comfrey leaves are HUGE this year.

Comfrey Root: I am finding the frozen grated fresh comfrey root excellent for so many things. I won't harvest any more root until fall, but I'll put this information in here anyways. I took fresh comfrey root last year & just grated it & froze it in baggies. It has been a life saver with some external skin problems, and with an eye infection. I just crack a bit of it off, add a tiny bit of water, blend it in my blender & strain it. Remember to make it fresh every day.

Comfrey Leaf: I am cutting off some of the big flower stalks & drying them whole to use in the winter for any colds or lung problems. Remember some people are sensitive to the leaf used externally, causes itching. The root usually works better for those people. Anyway, I use comfrey leaf tea in the winter for lung problems. If you have an abundance of comfrey leaf, it is excellent added to compost to help break it down. And the flower stalks are beautiful in vases in the house.

Valerian is in bloom: the flowers smell amazing, I always bring some in & put them in vases.

Keep collecting lots of spring nourishing herbs for use in winter as a green powder or in infusions. I just dry the herbs, keeping them whole, and will grind them or use them in infusions whole in the winter. I collect a few comfrey leaves, tons of dandelion leaves, nettles, plantain leaves. I also do dry some cleaves & chickweed even though they are really not so useful dried.

Yellow dock is blooming now. Remember, we just use the root, the leaves are a bit high in oxalic acid which can contribute to aching joints.

Yarrow is in bloom, collect & dry leaves & blooms. Keep some dried for teas in the winter for colds. Tincture some for the same use. And use it in salves to help stop pain & bleeding.

You may notice as the days get warmer that the chickweed is a little harder to find. I have some with huge leaves in a shady damp area of the yard. It is right next to the miner's lettuce, so I just go down there each day & pick a bit & eat it on the spot.

Cleavers is about to get those nasty sticky little burs on them, which makes my dogs look like they have little green beards. I usually pull it up at this time of year (it will still come back). Remember it is not so useful dried, so use it fresh to tincture, this is pretty much your last chance until next spring. I have also been using it juiced. If you remember it is great for cleansing the lymphatic system, which is why I've been feeling a low grade germy feeling, as it is pulling out toxic matter from my lymphatic system.

If you have lemon balm, this is a pefect time to tincture some fresh for help with sleep during the winter. And lavender if you have it. Sometimes I make a tincture with lavender & lemon balm, both help you sleep & this tastes great. We'll be working with that next class I think.

If you have Calendula, use the petals of the flowers on your salads. Same with nasturtium flowers.

This is a great time of year to make another salve, her are some ideas of herbs you may have in your yard that can be used: calendula, comfrey, plantain, wormwood, heal all, lavender. Look back in your notes or in one of your herb books & see what the properties are of some herbs that you have growing in your yard, make an infused oil & then make a salve from it. Add some essential oils if you have them, tea tree or lavender are wonderful in healing salves.

Remember to take a minute before harvesting any plants, think of what you would like for this plant to help you heal, pick it with intention, leave an offering of intending thanks or reiki.