Salves are probably the easiest herbal skin care product to make at home. They’re fantastic for healing and soothing all kinds of skin conditions. If you’re new to this diy lifestyle you may find yourself asking, “Yeah, but what IS a salve?” What is a salve? A salve is basically an ointment that is applied […]
Using Honey for Allergies – breaking down the evidence
As a family who keeps bees I’m often asked about using honey for allergies – mainly, does it work? The simple answer is “it depends.” There are a lot of variables to consider when deciding to use local raw honey as part of your seasonal allergy protocol. The basic thought process of using honey for […]
How to make a drawing salve for thorns, splinters, and other working outside hazards
It’s dewberry season around here which means we have stained fingernails and small thorns in our hands. We should wear gloves, I’m not sure exactly what it is about gloves that we don’t like when we pick berries but there’s something…and so we don’t wear them. We just deal with dirty looking fingernails; eventually they’ll […]
Growing and Using Passionflowers aka Maypop
Soon after my husband and I got married, he brought home a beautiful purple flower that he had found on a pasture fence line. It was a passionflower, Passiflora incarnata, which is also known as maypop in areas where it grows wild. We’ve been growing and using passionflowers ever since. Beautiful flowers aren’t the only […]
Making herbal tea blends – what you need to know
We are a tea loving family. In fact, I joke that growing up while other kids drank Kool-Aid® or Tang®, we drank tea (meaning sweet iced tea, I am from the South, you know). As a young adult I was introduce to herbal teas and fell in love with them, too. At first I would […]
DIY Body Butter for Healthy Skin
Dry skin is something that drives me crazy but putting chemicals on my skin is something I’m not willing to do to moisturize it. I’ve been on the hunt for a homemade moisturizer for quite a while. I’ve tried several recipes and techniques; some have been super oily and didn’t absorb well, others had water […]
Pink Lemonade Herbal Bath Fizzy
A few years ago we tried to make bath bombs and let’s just say they were one of my more epic DIY fails. We had fun, but they didn’t work the way Martha said they would. The problem was you had to add water to them to get them to stick together and the water […]
Homemade Vapor Rub for the Cold and Flu Season
When my big kids were little we used to use something we called “nose medicine” when we were stuffy, most people call it Vicks® Vapor Rub. It works great, but we decided to stop using it for a several reasons. Now, I make homemade vapor rub salve for our family using essential oils, carrier oils, […]
8 Tips for Ethical Foraging and Finding Wild Edible Plants
I was first introduced to foraging (finding wild edible plants) by my husband who happens to be an Eagle Scout. Early in our marriage he found a an empty field that used to have a nursery on it and it was full of blackberry brambles. Carl loves to explore and every where we have lived […]
How to Make and Use Infused Oils
In fusing herbs in oils is such a great way to add flavor, scent, color and health benefits to oils. I’ve been making infused oils for quite some time and thought I’d share with you my no-fuss way of infusing the oil. But first let’s chat about why you would even want to infuse oil. […]
