Rose Hips Jelly

I made this rose hip jelly from this video for the first time last night. (can you say SUPER easy?) I am not sure why I haven't made it sooner. I have used them a bunch in tea but never jelly before now so I'm excited to try something new! Also excited to go find some wild at some point.

Rose hips are the "berry" left behind after roses die. It is best to wild harvest them after the first frost.

To make the jelly all you have to do is basically reconstitute dried rose hips (or use fresh if you are so lucky to have a source), mash it up and add honey to taste! I think I will add just a bit of cinnamon to mine. mmmm! oh so good, I just love the tangy tartness! Oh and if you use fresh hips I think you need to strain out the seeds. You may want to double check on that.

Rose hips contain a very high concentration of vitamin C. So eating a scoop (or three) of this a day is actually immune boosting and will help you keep colds and other winter sickies away. Rose hips actually contain more vitamin C than citrus I have read!

They also are said to be anti-inflammatory in nature. Which is said to help some folks with stiffness and joint pain if you have osteo arthritis (like me). In any case I am willing to try it out over the winter and see if it helps me, so I will report back how this is working for me at some point in the future! I have some issues with my feet and knees that tend to flare up in the winter time due to the cold. So we'll see how it works out for me.

You can purchase rose hips in bulk from your local co-op or health food store or from Mountain Rose Herbs online.

Herbal Honey

I have been making herbal honey this week thanks to this article by a very wise woman/herbalist Ananda Wilson! I am completely obsessed now and have made almost a dozen blends or so thus far!

Herbal honey's are sometimes called by the proper "herbalist" name of electuaries. They are basically herbs and roots steeped in honey. A sweet way to take your medicine if you will! Many times these herbs are unpleasant on their own so this is a way to mask the taste. Other herbal honey blends on the other hand are just scrumptious to make! I am having fun trying to think up new blends to mix up! They are so cheap and easy to make! Plus they go great with herb tea or you could just eat it by the spoonful! If you do holiday gift giving they would make great gifts with some tea!

So far I have started;

catnip~ (nervine, mild analgesic)
ginger~ (upset stomach)
anise~(for digestive issues, heartburn, tastes yum!)
milk goddess blend- anise, coriander, blessed thistle, fenugreek, fennel~ (for promoting lactation for breastfeeding)
lavender~ (nervine)
cocoa/peppermint~ (just because it sounded yum!)



also, (not pictured);
lemon balm
rose
chai
chamomile
licorice
bee balm (pictured in an older post)


and in the works in the not so distant future (as soon as I get more jars, herbs and honey!);

pumpkin spice~
lavender cocoa~
rose/peach~
rose chai~
some type of immunity boosting honey~
vanilla bean and cinnamon honey~
lemon~ (Which is my ABSOLUTE favorite kind of honey! I am just unsure whether to use extract, essential oils or rinds for this one..hmm..)


To make herbal honey you will need some glass jars w/ tight fitting lids (canning jars work well), herbs, honey and cheesecloth/fine mesh strainer.

Put the herbs in the jar (I filled mine about 1/4 of the way), fill the rest of the jar with honey and stir with a butter knife, add more honey if needed, put the lid on. Let sit for 2-3 weeks. When it is done you will strain it through the cheesecloth/strainer and use the strained honey. You can heat it up a bit on the stove beforehand over low heat to make this easier. (Be sure to compost the herbs!)

The only problem I had was my ginger honey seems really watery. I had to actually pour off some water after the first day. I used fresh ginger so next time I will try dry and compare the two!

November Goody Bag Giveaway!

It's been awhile since I've done a giveaway so I am really excited to do one for November!

I am always trying other herbalists products and I love turning others on to the goodness of my favorite handmade herbal products!

Leave a comment by midnight November 10th on this post for a chance to win these goodies from one of my favorite herbalists who is the mastermind and creator behind Good4youtea! The winner will be chosen at random out of a hat and announced on the blog shortly thereafter.


This giveaway includes:



A sampler salve set of 4 mini chapstick sized salves;

♥ Mini Rosey Salve: a spot treatment for beautiful skin and chapped lips. Ingredients: fresh wild harvested comfrey leaves infused in organic olive oil for 3 weeks, infused again with organic and fair trade green tea leaves and rose petals, organic jojoba oil, organic apricot kernel oil, organic cocoa butter, beeswax, and the organic essential oils of lavender, sweet orange and galbanum. Flavor: lavender and orange essential oil.

♥ Mini Butterfly Salve: a wild harvested all purpose healing chapstick and outdoorsy spot treatment for bug bites and plant boo boos. Ingredients: fresh plantain leaves (Plantago major) picked at the perfect time, infused with organic olive oil, added to local beeswax, organic unrefined shea butter, with lavender essential oil. Flavor: lavender essential oil.

♥ Mini Salve-ation: an all purpose healing remedy for chapped lips and a spot treatment for dry skin. Ingredients: extra virgin olive oil infused with calendula, violets, oat tops and chamomile, beezwax and orange essential oil. Flavor: orange essential oil.

♥ Mini Tiger Balm: great for a swelling mind and during a cold. Rub on temples and forehead. Also a great minty chapstick. Ingredients: organic extra virgin olive oil infused for 8 weeks with freshly wild harvested St. John's Wort, & organic essentials oils of lavender, peppermint, clove, eucalyptus, rosemary & a hint of thyme. Flavor: peppermint and thyme essential oil.



Also...


A Tea Remedy Sampler Set!

3 tea bags each of the 7 following remedy teas. 21 tea bags total!

♥ CHEER UP: For the common cold, flu, a cough, fighting viruses & bacteria. Ages 4+ Ingredients: Peppermint, Echinacea angustifolia root, ginger, lemon balm, elderberries & flowers, orange peels, thyme, cloves, catnip, yarrow & feverfew. (NO CAFFEINE)

♥ NATURAL MYSTIC: If you have a cough this remedy can help an upset in the lungs. Ingredients: Peppermint, hibiscus, schisandra, ginger, cinnamon, eucalyptus, elecampane root, anise seed, thyme, hyssop, marshmallow root & licorice root. (NO CAFFEINE)

♥ ONE LOVE TEA: The ultimate tea for oneness and longevity! Drink Daily. Ingredients: White tea, ginger, gotu kola leaves, Eleuthero root (Siberian ginseng), dandelion root, rosemary, German chamomile, turmeric, cat’s claw bark (Uncaria tomentosa), calendula flowers and feverfew. (CAFFEINATED)

♥ SATISFY MY SOUL: A spicy ginger blend with detoxifying roots. Ingredients: Hawaiian yellow ginger, nettles, dandelion root, burdock root, cinnamon, lemon peels, cat’s claw bark (Uncaria tomentosa), stevia, cloves, black pepper & cardamom. (NO CAFFEINE)

♥ JUDGE NOT: An cooling earthy dandelion skin detoxifier & mineral rich tea. One of my most prized medicinal blends. Ingredients: Dandelion leaves & root, nettles, yellow dock root, burdock root, gotu kola leaves, milk thistle seeds, vitex berries, calendula flowers & stevia leaves. (NO CAFFEINE)

♥ SUN SONG: An amazing everyday longevity tea. Ingredients: Licorice root, cinnamon, Eleuthero root (Siberian ginseng), peppermint and spearmint. (NO CAFFEINE)

♥ PURE BLISS CHAI: Ingredients: Yerba mate, green tea, cinnamon, chicory root, nutmeg, ginger, clove, stevia, black pepper, cardamom & star anise. (CAFFEINATED)



Original artwork, descriptions and photos by Jess Morgan.



Good luck! :)

This & that from the last week or so

ginger bug for making homemade herbal soda. the first one i let ferment too long so i had to start over! you can read all about making herbal soda's,kombucha and kefir here!









michael moore's materia medica i am studying for one of the SWSBM courses i am taking!








new plant journal for recipes, notes,etc.







bee balm honey i infused over the summer that is almost done and needs straining soon. i let it sit longer than normal as i only had a limited amount of plant material. (next year I am planting a HUGE patch of bee balm wherever we land!)







herbal tarot

(still trying to come up with an herbal ally! thought i'd try the tarot approach)






comfrey roots.

my partner felt sorry for me cause this was all my 9 month pregnant self could dig in the rain, so he dug me up some much larger ones too! (not pictured). I am going to make some kind of concoction for postpartum healing with these. (oil, sitz bath, spray, etc)

Choosing an Herbal Ally

One of the courses I am starting this winter is a new course with some very talented herbalist friends of mine over at Brighids Well Herbs , which starts November 1st. (The course is called "The Magic and Medicine of Plants" and is a 12 month long online intensive- check it out if you are at all interested, it's going to be alot of fun!)

Anyway I was asked to pick a plant ally before the start of class. I am finding it a little daunting as my allies have always tended to pick ME in the past. ...Datura, violet, fairy duster, evening primrose, dandelion, mesquite... I have not been doing much foraging or plant gathering in a long while either so I am finding it a little more difficult. As well as being unfamiliar with alot of my regions plants (I have studied mainly desert plants for 10 years!)

So what is an herbal ally you ask?

In my experience it has been a plant I choose to connect with over a long period of time to study, it is one to use regularly and in many different ways and get to know on a more intimate level than just learning about what it does medicinally but also energetically too. I have devoted journals to my allies in the past and have really learned a lot and much in an intuitive way too. It really is amazing how you can connect with plants like this. An ally is a plant that will teach you as much about yourself as it will about the medicine IMHO so it should be chosen carefully!

The herbs I am currently drawn to aren't calling me in ways I have previously been called in to study a specific plant either. I guess you could say I am a little stumped over this. Though I am confident the right plant will present itself I am a little confused currently. I did have a run in with horsetail last week which drew me in a little so that is a possibility but it doesn't really excite me like my past allies. I also was introduced to Egyptian Blue Lotus this summer by another local herbalist. It is a wonderful would like to learn more about, at least from the one experience I had using it! I am interested in learning and using it more but I am just not sure it's the one..I have been enjoying rose, chamomile, peppermint and lavender this whole pregnancy (My go to pregnancy herbs) but they just seem so common. Though maybe I should stick to something common? Hmmm...

In past courses I have been more hit over the head out in nature doing field work when an ally has chosen me. Feeling a bit of a disconnect right now. So I am working on this. I know it is probably just from being out of the loop with my herbal studies, working with plants and just liing amid the plant world in general! (I'm feeling sooo out of the loop!) I am really SOOO glad I am getting back into the groove now though! I need this!

Maybe I will have to get out my herbal tarot deck and see what is calling me that way?

Anyway I will update here when I finally choose! : ) But this is where I'm at today!

I'm back in the land of the living! (mostly)

This pregnancy has thrown me for a bit of loop I'm afraid! So, my blog and herbal studies have gotten put on hold for awhile. Sorry to have just up and disappeared. I feel really badly about that, but what can you do? Things are going well though and we are counting down the days until our little one arrives!

I am now officially in my last month of pregnancy and feeling pretty great. Just looking forward to birthing day! I am also trying to get back into my herbal studies for the winter as well as some medicine making, studying and writing. I may even stock my Etsy shop w/ some herbal creations in the new year! So stay tuned and I will be blogging here again more regularly now with updates!

Right now I am working on getting a large herb order together (mostly culinary herbs & spices this month as I need to stock my pantry in a bad way!) and getting ready for a class I'm taking to start November 1st. As well as working on my SWSBM coursework. In the coming weeks leading up to my due date I plan on finishing some things in preparation for birth and postpartum as well as starting some herbal medicine making for winter and giftties for the coming holiday months. Nesting, nesting and more nesting! I feel like it's time to start cozying in for baby and the cold months..and I have lots of projects planned to keep me busy through the end of the year anyway!

It's been awhile...

Morning sickness has been kicking my @ss for the last 2.5 months. Ugh! I really have not accomplished a whole lot and my writing has been on hold for sure!

The good news is I am feeling a bit better so am going to get back to my blogging! (And my monthly contest too!)

Stay tuned for details..