Surprises...YES

I am very excited about the coming month of June.  There are surprises and huge ventures on the horizon.  It is an Herbalists dream come true.  I can't wait to share the excited news with everyone.  Today has started out such a beautiful day here in Northeast Tx.  It has been cool and breezy.  I tried watering all of my herbs today with the sprinkler and that water was blowing everywhere.  I have been drenched several times. 

                                                              Curley Parsley
The basil has so many flowers on all of the different plants.  I have been cutting the flowers back to encourage growth.  The Marigolds are reseeding and little tiny plants are coming up.  It has been so nice seeing such prolific growth on everything.  I did have to fight a giant wolf spider for the water bucket, but I won!

I made an herb salad this weekend.  It was very tasty.  I put some fresh zucchini, onions, tomatoes and lettuce from my garden, then added finely chopped basil, oregano, garlic chives, balms, mints, and everything else that looked good in it.  It was like a different salad with every bite.

My daughter wrote a couple of books this year..Slammed and Point of Retreat.  If you haven't read them, go to Amazon and look them up.  She has over a hundred 5 star reviews and is doing very well with them.  They are awsome books.  Her family lives next door to me, so I am waiting on my Grandsons to show up (like they do most days), and begin their Lego adventures in the play room.  I can't tell you how many Star Wars Lego constructions I have to admire on a daily basis.

                                                    Having fun at Nannie's
My fish are looking at me........they are hungry!

Well, I am taking many classes to become an Homeopathic Practitioner.  There are so many good schools to choose from when taking Herbal classes.  I encourage everyone to find classes that strike a passion in you and go ahead and sign up and go.  Just think of where you will be 5 years from now if you could get certified in something you love to do!

Time to study,
remember to remember today,
vannoy

Thyme to Tincture

Hey!  I have been having the best time.  I made up a bunch of tinctures a month or two ago, and was in the mood this weekend to decant them and put them in those cute little tincture bottles with medicince droppers.  I had the cutest labels made for the bottles.  The ingrediants are what has me really excited.  I am making a medicine cabinet for my family that is going to have tinctures for EVERYTHING in it.  So much better than store bought meds, and works so well and is so good for you.
My first tincture was simply Red Clover.  My husband loves red clover tea, he loves the taste of red clover and also the benefits.  It grows wild around here so me and the grandsons spent a few mornings gathering the flowers when I decided to make him some tinctures.  It turned out the prettiest blush color.  He was very happy about this gift.

My next tincture was called "nannie's brew".  It has Lemon Balm, Bee Balm and Thyme.  They all help reduce stress and promote relaxation....which I NEED.  I grow the Balms as they do what their name implies....... they are a balm to my soul.  The tincture looked like gold. It was so clear and beautiful, like champagne.  I think I'll have 1/2 a dropper full tonight in my tea.

                                                                  My Bee Balm
My next tincture is called "crazy stuff".  It is for crazy, insane, hectic, anxiety ridden days.  It has St. John's wort, Chamomile, and Valerian.  Now who could be anxious after taking a dropper of crazy stuff like that???  That is definitely a tincture to take at bedtime.

                                      My Lemon Balm and Bee Balm on the drying rack
So now that I have some of my tinctures decanted, it's time to make some more.  I am going to make some for the fall, like for colds, flue, hayfever, sore throats, ear aches, etc.  I will be ready when the family starts asking for medicine.  I will also throw a few in for viruses, stomach aches, arthritis and cramps.  I can't wait to go out to the garden tomorrow to see whats ready for me.  I saw that the Echinachea is beginning to flower as is the chamomile.  The yellow roses are abunant along with the Thyme.  I can't wait to throw a few things together and get 'em going. 

So it's Thyme to go now,
Remember to remember this Memorial Day,
vannoy

Sunday...Funday!

I am having a lot of fun today with my herbs.  Actually, I have been having fun all weekend.  The first thing I did was to make a homemade "Solar Powered Beeswax Filterer".  It looks like it is going to work out great.  I can't wait till the end of the day to look at the results.

I have chosen my herb of the day (maybe WEEK in this case) and it is Garlic.  We have been doing the mowing, weedeating and other landscaping activities in our yard and have mown around a LOT of garlic.  My husband's grandmother planted it here at the old homestead many, many years ago and we just inherited it.

Garlic has been widely known for centuries as an antiseptic, lowers blood pressure, and good for all respiratory ailments.  Garlic is used in cooking for its sweet, spicy, oniony flavor.  These flowers first appear inside thin paper, pointed coverings.  My daughters used to refer to them as "hats" when they were younger.  The garlic is actually under the ground and we dig it up in the summer.  We leave plenty of garlic in the ground so it can spread and give us more garlic the next year. 


Yesterday I made a tincture out of St. John's Wort, Chamomile and Valerian.  I had some of the herbs leftover so I made some tea and I had a cupful last night and slept like a BABY....it was great.  It tasted good too.  I really didn't expect it to taste that good due to the bitter taste of Chamomile, but it did.  Then this morning I woke up so energetic and have been running every since.

I plan on repackaging my dried herbs today to put them in glass containers outside of the light.  I am really getting a lot of dried herbs now and want to be sure to store them safely.  I love my herbs.  I hope you love your herbs too.  Today I am also going to research and make a linimint for my achey wrist.  I'll let you know how it turns out.
It's Thyme to cook lunch,
vannoy

Happy Mother's Day!  It has been a good one.  I had a relaxing and calming day and visited with my mother.  I got some really good presents from my daughters, one of them is a secret and I can't tell you about it yet and the other is an autographed book from E.L. James (Shades of Grey)!  I am lucky most of all to have two very wonderful daughters who make me very proud.

After I visited with my mom, I organized my herbal preperation space and then took two tests for my Homeopathic Practitioner Certification (90 and 95! dang Ginsing!)

I have been working and experimenting on Tinctures.  So has my daughter.  I have one that is for stomach pains, one that is for upper respiratory, one that is for calmness, one that is for energy and one that is "nannie's brew" and several others for different needs of our family.  The tinctures are in various stages of their processes.  I have most of them steeping in vodka, which is drawing the essential oils out of the herbs for about 6 weeks (some people leave them steeping in the agent for up to a year).

You can also use Apple Cider Vinegar or Vegetable glycerin as a drawing agent for herbs.  Those would work better for children or persons with a religious aversion to the alcohol.  But once they are steeped, strained and bottled, you would only take them by the eye dropper full when needed, so there would be no getting drunk!

Pic shows Thyme on the left.  I will get another better pic when it flowers.

My herb of the day is THYME.  Yes, I love and adore Thyme.  My favorite is Lemon Thyme.  Thyme has so many medicinal and culinary uses and even uses for beauty.  Thyme is delicious on salads, sandwiches, fish, chicken, pork, vegetable dishes and sometimes I just go out to the garden and graze on a piece or two of thyme.

Thyme when used in cooking aids in digestion.  When used in a tea or tincture, Thyme will soothe a sore throat and cure a hangover!  Thyme is so pretty with its delicate little leaves and tiny clusters of flowers.  It grows so easily and needs no other care than an occasional watering. 

Well, I will write about another favorite herb of mine tomorrow....until then...
it's thyme to cook,
vannoy

My first day as a blogger

Hi everyone,
This is my new blog about Herbs.  I have been an herb lover for over 25 years.  I love to use herbs in cooking, cleaning products, cosmetics and medicine.  I have had some huge successes with herbs, especially with my family and friends.  I love herb gardening and every aspect of herbs from seed to connsumption.  I will try to keep you posted with the recipies of some of my fav's.  Since it is midnight here, I think I will sleep on it and say a few malas about what herb I will talk about first.  Can you guess what it will be?
See you tomorrow with an herb update!
Thyme to sleep,
vannoy