Life and Being Sidetracked

 

I am posting this on all of my blogs in hopes that it inspires me and lets others know I am still around just have had some major things in my life come up, change or whatever. Life is really like a box of chocolates. hahaha

Life has a way of sidetracking a person and I feel many would agree the past 3 years has been interesting to say the least on many levels. Creativity has been on hold while my life has been in constant flux of change some bad, but mostly good. Loads of changes with me, my farm, and the things I am doing. Some things get neglected or put on hold while the priority stuff that comes up always something new of course gets done first. I have decided to do some more inner work. When is a Scorpio sun ever not doing inner work most of us are always dying and rebirthing. Out with the old and in with the new. A common cycle for us as a water sign so it seems death and rebirth. My Taurus rising does complain about it though liking more stability and all. haha

I have been working in the greenhouse and landscape industry for the past year that has taken up a lot of time from about April to mid October 50-60 hours per week. Plus trying to work the farm and animals, be in a relationship (long story kind of), and have time for me to decompress from all of it. It was something I needed to do and so I did. Prior to this year 2022 I had worked at a small greenhouse. Thanks for the opportunity Jean. I needed to do more for income to help get necessary work and repairs done. Owning a place either in town or out in the country always needs upkeep and repairs which takes resources like money, time, and skills. I feel most would agree we are sometimes short on all three things. 

Life is changing I found a new greenhouse and landscape job also inspires my creative side which is good. I really like the people I am working with another positive. I should be working more 'normal' hours with the option of some overtime if I would want it. This is a plus and I like the flexibility also. I am off until end of march for sure. I will be doing some resting, reorganizing, inner work, and some creative stuff. 

I am still growing, harvesting, drying, wildcrafting herbs when I can. I did not have a garden this year no time really. I had enough from the previous year so it is all good. As far as health goes I am grateful for mine. I am in way better shape than most and even people younger than me. I have a few wounds, etc from past injuries, but they are all healing. I still try to eat healthy organic and whole food. Sometimes I fall off the bandwagon. I don't fall too far. Perimenopausal life has been interesting and I am learning a lot for myself at least to help with all the ups and downs of hormones, lovely symptoms, etc like hot flashes. My skin is getting older and dryer. I never thought that would happen the drier part. I am having to take some vitamins to help. 

I finally got my eyes checked and new glasses after 12 years. The doctor was surprised how good my eyes were. I laugh I don;t understand why it is such a hard concept to grasp about health and diet. *shrugs* hahaha My hear vision sight is getting worse no bifocals yet I can read normal just not really small stuff up close like I use to. 

I am thinking about making some cream and lotions for my skin and such. I still drink my herbal teas. I am always switching things up as needed. I still have my regular herbs I use daily like sage, ginger, rosemary, reishi, and green tea (Oolong). I am looking into some specific herbs too for dry skin, stress (which is less now due to changes in my life), eye health, etc. I keep active which is also helpful and working more on the positive attitude also. The past three years and things going on I don't worry about the outside world so much. I just do my thing. It is my little world around me that needs adjusting. I take stands more which some people don't like. I set-up boundaries for myself and I am not planning on taking on anymore people who need way more help in healing than I can do. I will say this I can provide the tools, but in the end the person has to do the work themselves. No one is going to save us perse, dig us out, do it all for us. Health is not just physical but emotional and spiritual also. Something i have known for years and still need practice at it. I am getting better at putting myself first instead of my usual which causes me more harm than good. I don't mean at the expense of others either. There is a fine line between self respect, boundaries, selfcare and just being selfish where a person will cause others harm in some way to get what they want. 

My plan is to share my herbal adventures more here and even start to teach classes locally. Some of my organizing and planning this winter. Until the next post. Happy Holidays and good health to everyone. 

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Past year...

I have done very little gardening this year less than usual anyways. I have had a lot of repairs, mending, etc to do on the farm and it has occupied most of my time. Plus trying to dig up a huge  patch for a garden with my walk behind tiller takes way too long. I was able to acquire a tractor tiller this year to also help with digging. Now I can do some cover crops for soil amending. I am excited about that.

It is soup and harvest season being fall. We did get about 200 lbs of potatoes. Will try to save some for seed next year. Mom and dad got a bunch of apples. I have made apple crisp, pie, and turnovers. Will be working on some cider vinegar I think and freezing some for later use. I made some potato soup with the freshly dug spuds and local fresh milk from Middendorf's dairy. Yum!

I was able to find a bread recipe that has made bread making less of a chore and more successful. It stays really soft even after freezing and thawing out. I will try to share it on here soon.

I resurrected my kombucha 'mushroom' after months of neglect. I did learn one thing. If you are not able to keep up with making kombucha place the scoby in a jar with a tight lid and let it set. It does not dry out and no other external 'things' get introduced while it is resting. It will pretty much just rest, but will go back to work once a new brew is made. It can be stored at room temp or in the fridge both work without issues just make sure you place a lid on it not the usual towel, etc for brewing. :)

Liana

Drying and Storage of Herbs

I really need to get back to blogging again. I guess this find will spur me forward. :)

I ran across a post on Pinterest I found a bit misleading. They have posted about a new herbal apothecary shelf they put up in their kitchen/house. They go through all the herbs they have on it and the hanging herbs they have drying. It looks great there was two problems with it. Her herbs were stored in clear glass jars out in the light and she had tied up and hung herbs from it for drying. Two big no nos in the herbie world, at least according to those who are seasoned herbalists. I am one of those who likes my herbs to look good and still retain their flavors and smells.

Just for reference purposes. I take no credit for the photo.

 When storing herbs on a shelf that is exposed to light one should always use the blue, green, or brown colored glass jars. This helps limit light exposure and slow down deterioration. I have had dried peppermint and spearmint from my garden on a cupboard shelf in a blue quart antique canning jar for 2 years without color and oil content deterioration. The key is fully dried Herb and "colored" glass jar. The jars come in various sizes and shapes, which can be ordered online. I have found most all of mine at various antique and second hand stores or auctions and garage sales. The top edges of the jars can have nicks the lids still fit with not issues. We will not be canning the herbs only storing. :)

As for actually drying the herbs they need to be in a warm, dark place to dry. I have used paper grocery or lunch bags depending on the size and amount of herb I had collected. I find with the crazy weather the past 2 years drying is near impossible unless I use my dehydrator. If the drying process is too slow or there is a lot of humidity in the air no herb will dry properly and will actually mold on a person. You can get an inexpensive dehydrator at a local store for around $20. I have a Excalibur I bought many years ago with temperature regulation, a fan, removable shelves, and a timer a person can set for a few minutes to 24 hours depending on what you are drying. It can be cleaned with soap and water if needed. If you dry anything other than leaves and flowers things can get dirty.

I dry all my herbs at about 90 degrees Fahrenheit and the time setting for drying depends on the herb. Stems usually take longer than leaves just like any berries and fruits. Many people say to blanch some things first before drying or freezing I say it depends. Some berries or fruits have hard skins and those need to 'crack' open before they dry properly into something that can be eaten, cooked with, etc. Cranberries would be a good example of this.

If I have small flowers like chamomile, I will place them in a paper lunch bag to keep my fan from blowing them around. Other herbs, like thyme I may place on some parchment paper on my dehydrator shelf. I can remove shelves in my dehydrator for larger items like rose buds or larger herbs with big stems like oregano, mints, etc. Then I can strip the leaves off the stems much easier and faster once they are dried. I will do that all in a clean, dry paper grocery bag and funnel the leaves into my colored glass jars.

I am not saying a person should not use clear glass jars. I use them quite a bit, however they are stored in a cupboard away from any exposure to house lights or sunlight. Most herbs will last for up to one year in storage. I have some last longer with good drying and storage techniques. If you have good quality herbs no sense in not storing them properly whether you grow yourself or buy them. :)

There are many good books out on the market and good herbalists. I am in the Essential herbal yahoo group who has Tina and her sister Mary, Rosemary Gladstar, and others who are quite knowledgeable about herbs, uses, drying, storage, etc. If you are looking to buy some dried herbs, etc. I think Mountain Rose Herbs is one of the best and a lot of their stuff is organically grown. Here is their link: https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/.

Happy Herbaling,

Liana

Wholesome Foods & Herbs...

My first post here on 'Liana's Food and Herbal Cupboard. I also have a Pinterest board where I will be sharing recipes and what not herbal and food related. Here is the link: https://www.pinterest.com/liana1110/lianas-food-herbal-cupboard/ I post on two other blogs where I talk about crafts/DIY projects and farming each having separate blogs. Yep! I am crazy, but I figured if people are interested in one subject but not the other they can follow one or all three!

Let's get started! I have been working with herbs for over 25 years. I started out small making facial creams and eventually soaps, because I had adverse reactions and frustrations with my skin with store products. This all took a lot of time and space to create. Since herbal soaps have become more available I have went away from that direction and now just buy them. I love goat's milk soap!

What I did keep working on was my knowledge of herbs for health, cooking, healing, teas, and a combination of them all together. It is surprising what we use for spices or drinking beverages can also help keep us healthy or help in healing things not up to par. I do lots of cooking, I drink herbal teas, make ferments, make homemade tooth pastes, mouthwashes, etc.

I have a few herbs that grow in my garden and come back every year. I live in basically zone 3 so I do have my limitations. My perennial herbs are greek oregano, garlic and regular chives, lovage, tarragon, violets, purple cone flower, lemon balm, peppermint, and spearmint. I hope to expand that to others. Biennials like parsley and celery. Garlic is another herb I like to grow and cook with. 

I plant a lot of annual herbs like calendula, chamomile, peppers (chili & paprika), basil, savory, dill, fennel, etc. I also grow many tender types like thyme, rosemary, lemon verbena, citronella, etc. I just keep them in my heated shop that reaches no higher than about 40 degrees and cross my fingers they survive the long winter cooped up.

I have been playing with ginger and turmeric root. I just have to keep my chickens out my pots. haha

I have been making yogurts for quit a while and lately I have been making ginger beer/ale and root beer. I am still working on the root beer recipe. The ginger beer/ale is not really a beer and nothing at all like the store stuff. It has bite and is really good we enjoy it.

I went away from more processed foods the norm we see in the grocery stores when I discovered it was possibly the reasons for me having asthma. I was taking all the medicines what a mess. I went to cooking with whole foods and from scratch literally. I have become a crock pot junky.  It was easy to throw things together and then go to work. Since I worked off the farm plus all the chores I did on the farm. I had to figure out how to cook healthy and try to get things done. I have since retired from the working world so to speak and just run my farm. Eventually, I got off of my asthma medications. I did it gradually and always had the necessary inhalers around just in case.This was about 12-15 years ago. I have been asthma medication free since. :)

The real challenge is trying to find good highly nutritious foods and herbs locally or even online is sort of a hit and miss kind of thing. There is less in the grocery stores, but more available from farmers or other online 'stores'. We do a lot of online ordering. I still look locally for farmers or merchants who carry what we are looking for.  I will pin those I know of on Pinterest.


 Liana