The Autumn Weather ......................................

has been wonderful. I've been exploring the woodlands , the ferns are so beautiful with the falling leaves nestled around them.

The chickweed is emerging from it's summer hibernation and I'm looking forward to chickweed salads and pasta.

As I was walking through the woods , I decided to make a living wreath with the grapevine wreath I made last week. So I gathered a few older honeysuckle vines , a beautiful fungi covered limb and a rotted log with moss on it. When I came out of the woods , I gathered daisy flea bane , goldenrod and lady's Finger. I also gathered some puffy looking things from the grasses growing in the field , not sure what they're called. This is the wreath I came up with , everything held up pretty good except the daisy flea bane , but it can be easily replaced , since the field is full of it.


There was another black walnut tree near the creek , so I gathered up a few more nuts.


I've also been picking the newly sprouted dandelion greens this week , freezing a few for winter. Soon I'll be digging the roots to make tincture.

I've also been melting and straining the raw beeswax I bought back in the summer when Curious J and I attended the bee show. Got it cleaned and put in a jar to store.

I've gathered Plantain .........................

and made salve this week ..................

and stripped a quart of rosemary. It's been a busy week , but I have more time to spend on the herbs now that garden season is over and I'm loving spending time outdoors in this weather. I do have a few potatoes that I need to can soon.

Hope your weekend is Wonderful !

~ Peaceful Autumn Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

Wild .................................

I've been really busy the last couple of days. I was going to do a garden update , but my batteries are dead in my camera. So I was looking back through my picture files to see if there was something I would like to share and found this drawing I did the drawing earlier in the Spring. It features chickweed , dandelion , echinacea , plantain and white pine. These are a few of my herbal allies and the drawing is called " Wild Herbs ". I've been gathering plantain (Plantago major ) to infuse in oil , I'll be making plantain salve in a few weeks. Plantain is a wonderful herb with many healing properties , it's great for bug bites and bee stings. You can read more info about here .................................................................

~ http://www.altnature.com/gallery/plantain.htm ~

Plantain is a safe herb to use , but make sure you have a positive i.d. of the plant before using.

Disclaimer - These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. The information on this web site is not intended to prevent, diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.

~ Happy Herbal Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ ~ Spring Cleaning ~ ~

I've been busy the last couple of days , it's time to finish my Spring cleaning. I sure do wish I had completed it in the colder months , but things came up and I put it on hold , so now I'm back to cleaning. I spotted a small patch of mold in the bathroom and thought I would try to find a natural remedy instead of bleach to take care of it. While I was searching the net for info on natural mold killers , I found this great info about making your own natural cleaning kit. Thought I would share this link , it has some wonderful homemade formulas for your Spring cleaning needs. Click here ~ http://www.care2.com/greenliving/make-your-own-non-toxic-cleaning-kit.html ~.

I'm out of my pine oil and need to make more , but I had plantain oil on hand , so I've been using it to polish the furniture with. I have used vinegar to clean my windows for quite a few years now , but I think I'm going to try that formula and see how it works. I plan to put together a cleaning kit like that one soon , it's pretty neat.

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Wild Herb Harvest ~

~ Prunella vulgaris ~

aka

Self Heal or Heal All

~ Plantain and Red Clover ~

~ Self Heal ~

I've been gathering wild herbs this week , plantain , red clover and self heal. Self heal ( Prunella vulgaris ) is a new herb I've discovered this year , it grows along the edge of the woods here. I'm very impressed with it's medicinal properties , definitely adding this one to my medicine chest. Click here to read more about this great herb http://www.altnature.com/gallery/healall.htm .

I started a blog about wild herbs last year , but didn't keep it updated , so I closed it. I've opened it again to help me with my studies , if you're interested in learning about wild herbs , click here ~ http://herbalspirits.blogspot.com/ ~ , you can also find it listed on my sidebar under Herbal Blogs.

~ Herbal Blessings ~

JoyceAnn