Tag Archives: lemon

August 2, 2023 · 6:34 pm

Herbs and horror stories

Merry meet all,

I can’t wait to tell you all the good news! My short fiction horror story, Skin, will appear in the November issue of the Horror Zine! I am so happy. I am so excited! I now have one more amazing reason to love fall. I never imagined I would get that story published. I got so many rejections but it proves that perseverance and faith pay off. I will post the link here when it is available. I am very happy about that. And no wonder. 

It is so hot here today, as I type at my Mom’s keyboard. I am determined to reach up to 900 blog posts. I’m getting there. My kitty Penny loves it here. She is here somewhere, covering the furniture and chairs with all her abundant cat hair. 

I love herbs. I am sure that anyone who has been loyally following this blog, and I hope some of you do, would know I am a fanatic for herbs. I brought more herbs home recently. I got black petunia flowers, a tricolor sage, another apple mint, calendula, borage and lovage. My garden is beautiful. The apple mint is growing well so I added a second apple mint. The lemon balm patch is huge. I plan to divide it this fall. Then I will have more room in my garden for other herbs. My green pepper plant is starting to show peppers. No tomatoes yet but I am sure they will show up. I bought copper ties to deter the slugs and placed the ties at the bases of my beans, pepper, squash plants. I also added them to the black petunias. I hope the copper ties help. 

This weekend, I plan to make jam with all the frozen fruit in my freezer. Blueberries, strawberries, haskap berries and rhubarb lie in wait. I look forward to that. I also have frozen orange rind. Mm I can imagine the taste already. 

The purple coneflower is coming along and will soon be in bloom. I am not 100% certain yet what is going on with my elecampane plant. I cut the lovage back and I noticed new growth. The mint herbs I have: apple mint, peppermint, spearmint, after eight mint and strawberry mint are growing well. They will make nice tea herbs. The lemon balm intends to take over the garden and makes no mystery about it. The nettle is growing well but I didn’t get much mugwort this year. The comfrey is growing well but I need to tie up the canes. I spied a few Chinese lanterns are growing well. The blueberries will be ripe soon and so will the raspberries. My garden receives more sunlight because the hurricane broke a tree branch. I believe that is why my garden is so beautiful and fruitful this year. The sage and oregano are growing well too as are the lavender and rosemary. 

My garden surprises me every year. I regularly water my garden, protect it, and fertilize it. I add plant supports and I usually just stand back and let my garden do its thing. I love gardening and watching my plants become beautiful and vibrant. I suppose I could bring in the lavender. I will bring in the rosemary, since I have a grow light kit. I plan to harvest a lot of dandelion roots this fall and use my dehydrator to dry them. 

I really want to see the upcoming horror movie, The Last Voyage of the Demeter. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1001520/ I really can’t wait and I have saved up for it. The other movie I want to see is the new instalment in The Conjuring franchise, Insidious: The Red Door. Yeah I love the movies so much, of The Conjuring and Insidious. I want to write more horror stories (well, see top paragraph for a good explanation of why.) Pretty darn nice to get it published! I never expected that. Yeah I have to keep writing. Moments like that renew my enthusiasm and give me one more reason to keep living and keep going. It’s a bad idea to quit writing, no matter how hard, because one day that editor may send you an acceptance email. So please, persevere! Prove your mettle! 

And stay cool during all this great hot summer heat. It won’t last. Fall is around the corner!

Blessings, Spiderwitch

 

 

 

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May 22, 2022 · 11:44 am

Scandinavian Dandelion Syrup )O(

Merry meet all,

Today an overcast sky darkens the gorgeous verdant green grounds here. The trees and plants are so bright green, resplendent against the dark sky. I just strolled through the garden, marveling at how fast everything is growing. They get big overnight, it’s amazing. 

The other day I concocted a brew of Scandinavian Dandelion Syrup. I am so proud of myself. It’s an actual syrup. Now I feel like a true herbalist! I have tried so many times and wasted so many herbs to make syrup. I finally did it! Here are some tips on how you can brew this awesome potion too!

Put on your herbalist hat and get outside! I took a bag and a pair of scissors with me. I ventured out to the nature trail where I collected fifty dandelions. Yep you read that right. You can collect more if you like but not less. I washed them at home and snipped off the green stems. Be sure to leave plenty of dandelions for the bees. Only pick dandelions that are healthy and undamaged. Pat them dry with a paper towel. 

Put all the dandelion flowers in a pot. Bring the dandelion tea to a boil then let it simmer for half an hour. Tip: Let the dandelions steep in the pot in the fridge overnight. It makes for a richer, more healthy tea. In the morning, strain the flowers and toss the flowers to the compost goddess. Chop up 1 rhubarb stalk, two apples, add the juice of a lemon, and let it simmer. Strain the tea again. Toss the fruit to the compost. Now you make the syrup. Measure how much tea you have and that will tell you how much sugar to add. Be sure to strain the tea well. I had two cups of the tea so I added the same amount of sugar. Let it boil but not scald on the stove. The tea will smell amazing. The sugar will dissolve. Leave it on the stove and occasionally stir until the liquid has evaporated but again, don’t scald the pot. Turn the heat off and allow it to cool. If you scald the mixture, it will change color and you don’t want that. The mixture should thicken as it cools. 

Pour the syrup into a sterile jar and leave it to thicken into the jar. The syrup should look and taste amazing! Now that I have enjoyed my own homemade syrup, I may never buy processed syrup again! I had so much syrup I split it with my Mom. The photo above shows the jar of syrup. See the gorgeous color? I am so proud to have brewed a jar of syrup! You will fall in love with it too. 

Store the dandelion syrup in the fridge. Pour it onto roasted root veggies or pancakes! Enjoy!

Blessings, Spiderwitch

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March 28, 2022 · 4:26 pm

Seeds of hope

 

Merry meet all,

I’m busy sprouting seeds. I have sprouted way too many seeds but this does mean that I get a better harvest come autumn. !! I have sprouted brandywine tomato, Scotch Bonnett peppers, kale, leeks, german chamomile, lavender, cucumber and purple echinacea. I can’t wait to grow them in my garden! I have too many starter seeds here. The more, the merrier. 

Tomorrow I plan to sign up for the Botanical artwork class at the Herbal Academy. I’m buying the sketchbook for the course too. I want to get the apothecary labels for bottles and jars too. I can’t print in color. I want to order rue and yarrow seeds. Yarrow is good for our health and rue is witchy and guards the home!! 

I also want to grow lemon basil, and start growing the witchy seeds I ordered months ago. Black cumin, howden pumpkin and vietnamese cilantro are just a few. It sounds so tasty! I have a few big starter pots sporting my tender seedlings. I don’t have enough starter pots for the seeds. I have successfully pre-germinated chamomile seeds on a damp paper towel in an old pet food bowl. It worked!! There are so many tiny chamomile seedlings I can’t even count them all. They will grow into the beautiful daisy like apple scented herb we all know and love. It is too exciting!

I sterilized a pot from the garden and washed it well. I use bleach to kill any possible insects/ insect eggs that may have hibernated in the pot over winter. Then once clean, I filled the pot with soil. The pot was 12 inches in diameter. I put pre-germinated parsley seeds, and added sage seeds, basil, dill, radish and carrot. Mmm I can just taste it. The pot sits on my kitchen counter. I just can’t wait for the seeds to germinate and fill the pot with their earthy goodness. I may move the pot out once the warm weather arrives. But for now, the pot is indoors. It is too cold yet. I want to plant  potatoes in a grow bag. I can start that in mid-April. I have to grow the tubers at my Mom’s to protect them from ravenous raccooons. The masked thieves just bite a potato then toss it. It’s wasted. Nope not this year. I will be ready for those bandits. 

I want to start nasturtium seeds early this year. If I wait till later in the summer, they will take forever to get growing. The time to start seeds is now. I have lovely scarlet runner beans in air dried brown pods. I plan to grow those this year too along with green beans and purple beans. The purple beans turn green when cooked! 

That is a good start to spring! Beginning a plant from seed saves you tons of money later. It can be expensive to buy lots of transplants. There is a time and place to transplants though. I do it too but later in the season when the perennials have filled the garden. I know what to plant and where I can plant. Put your intention into the seed starting! Happy planting!

 

Blessings, Spiderwitch

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August 6, 2021 · 5:01 pm

Witch’s Herbal Potions

Merry meet all,

I know I haven’t posted much here lately. I sprained my wrist, the hand I write with – so that would have been a challenge. I had to rest and that was hard for someone with my strong spirit. Now I’m still healing but more rested.  I am back at blogging! 

Prior to my injury, I was in the midst of conjuring witch’s herbal potions. I did complete the herbal tea I had made earlier. I bought a cool jar to keep the herbs in at Michael’s arts and crafts, a local craft shop that sells art and craft supplies. I love that store. I made about 4 cups of herbal tea. The ingredients include lemongrass, dried ginger, dried lemon, roman and German chamomile, mugwort ( a pinch), rose petals, red clover, lavender, lemon balm, lemon verbena, and mint. The scent is divine. I dried the herbs on my own DIY herb drying rack I made myself. I will post about that project below. The herbs are not crumbled. They keep their flavour and oils that way. I think they are drying and crumbling to the bottom of the jar. The scent is divine. 

The herbs are bone dry and the jar was bone dry when I added the herbs. The herbs need to be that dry for the herbal tea because otherwise it causes mold. When I was back home with the jar, I washed it thoroughly and let it air dry. When the herbs were truly dry, I added them. I can’t tell you just how good it felt to mix the herbs together in the jar. It looks romantic too. I enjoyed a cup of my own homemade brew yesterday! The flavour brought a taste of summer and a little bittersweet at the same time. 

My second project is more involved than the tea. I am brewing a jar of herbs in oils for my Mom. The ingredients for making the salve are as follows:

Pine Salve

pine needles, pine bark, peppermint, comfrey, turmeric,  ginger,  grapeseed oil, beeswax, tea tree oil + peppermint essential oil

This pine salve aids in the reduction of pain inflammation and sore joints. Pine helps with inflammation, reduces pain and swelling, and is antimicrobial. It increases blood flow, helps with localized pain, and chronic inflammation. The other ingredients aid in reducing pain inflammation. Peppermint is a natural anti-inflammatory, a natural pain killer, and a muscle relaxer. Ginger reduces pain and inflammation. Comfrey contains allantoin which helps new skin cells grow and helps reduce pain inflammation. Turmeric contains curcumin which is a natural anti-inflammatory compound. The salve also contains 2 drops of tea tree oil and twenty drops of peppermint essential oil.

I dried the herbs on my air drying rack. Once I was sure they were dry enough, I added the herbs to a clean dry sanitized jar. I poured the oils over them and closed the lid. Now I wait six weeks for the oils to extract the herbs’ essences. I already bought beeswax and tins for the salves. I will strain out the herbs over a strainer lined with cheesecloth and a bowl. Once I have strained out every drop of herbal goodness from the oils and herbs, I will add it to a pot with beeswax and make the salve. I have to wait a few weeks. I shake the jar a little a few times a day. 

I made jar labels too. I printed out the labels – one, listing the salve ingredients, and the other is a salve label for the jar. I collared them with a beige colour so the labels have that apothecary appearance. I love it. Then I printed out the ingredients and what each ingredients does in the salve. The ingredients all reduce pain and inflammation. I hole punched the ingredients list and what function each ingredient has and tied them together with a bow. I am so eager to make the salve but if I wait, the result will be amazing! My Mom gets the salve with the white lid and I am using the tin with the black lid. 

When the time comes, I will strain out the herbs from the oils. I have a large strainer I can fit over my stainless steel bowl. I also have cheesecloth. I will have to sanitize everything. I will strain out every last drop. I will melt the beeswax over a double boiler and add the herbal oil mixture. I can’t wait. 

I harvested the mugwort from my garden. 2 of my mugwort plants stood six feet high! The mugwort is now drying in my kitchen. 

Air drying Herb Rack

I bought a large 12 – 14 inch embroidery hoop from a local fabric store and cheesecloth. I opened the hoop. I tied 3 long strings to the embroidery hoop and to a loop. I used a curtain hook. Then I laid cheesecloth over the smaller hoop. I fastened the embroidery hoop back together. Now the cheesecloth was caught between the hoops. I trimmed the excess cheesecloth and tightened it. Then I knotted several strings to hang down from the hoop. This project is so easy to do and affordable. I have included a photo of the herb rack below.  I needed to lay paper towel down on the surface to catch all the falling petals and seeds. The cheesecloth is porous and so is the paper towel. It takes 2 weeks or so for the herbs to dry. Now I am drying chamomile and mugwort. I keep the screen door closed with Penny’s queenly scratching post at the back door. This allows for good air circulation for my drying herbs. 

I love my air drying herb rack. It didn’t cost a lot of money. I already had the string and scissors. I have other herbs to dry and store for the coming cold season. We all don’t like to think about that.I bought several new jars at Canadian Tire. I washed the jars and let them air dry. That is a great way to purify your jars. It costs nothing to air dry jars. It is also better than drying them with a towel since the towel may contain germs. I always prefer air drying my jars. I will store my bee pollinated sun loving herbs in the jars. 

I own a few new cool herb cutting tools now. One, the triangle herb chopper and two, my herb snipping scissors. Although I find for snipping herbs from my garden, I much prefer my scissors or boline. I’m also reading a fascinating book The Witching Herbs by Harold Roth. 

Happy potion making!

Blessings, Spiderwitch

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