Colorado Cupboard

Colorado Cupboard is a unique gift shop in Longmont, Colorado where I sell some of my products. Located at 2001 North Main Street it is far enough north that it is convenient for travelers on highway 66 on their way to Rocky Mountain National Park. At the Colorado Cupboard you can find food items including reheatable meals, jewelry, art and gift baskets. All the products at the Colorado Cupboard are locally made so offer a uniquely Colorado experience. I sell skin care products there including lotions, balms, soaps and bath salts as well as flavored black teas, culinary herbs (Herbs de St. Vrain) and dream pillows. You can also find my newly developed natural mosquito repellant there, NoSkeeto! Owner Dayna Nixon can also make you a gift basket with any combination of locally made items. Their website is: http://www.thecoloradocupboard.com. Do stop by if you are local or visiting Colorado and support the local economy.

The Unlikely Lavender Queen Review

I was very excited about reviewing Jeannie Ralston's book "The Unlikely Lavender Queen" for no other reason than that it dealt with the subject of lavender. I soon found however, that this book is much more than Jeannie's memoir of her lavender farm, it is a book about life, change and acceptance.

As a high profile New York writer and editor, Jeannie Ralston was not excited about moving to Texas after marrying photographer Robb Kendrick. She lived for her trips back to New York. She soon found that Texas was not the only surprise Robb had for her. There was the second move to acreage in more rural Texas and the remodeling involved in their new house. As if that weren’t enough, after a visit to Provence to photograph lavender Robb was inspired to see if lavender would grow in Texas. With him being out of town often for jobs, Jeannie soon found that she was responsible for the lavender and decided to jump in with both feet. Through her skillful writing and storytelling we learn how she became not just comfortable in her new environment but also learned to love it. Could it have been the lavender that changed her?

Jeannie and Robb soon found the lavender business to be too overwhelming with their family life. In 2006, after being in business for 5 years, they sold Hill Country Lavender to their assistant, Tasha Brieger. They are now taking on new adventures in Mexico.

Roses Roses

Roses are blooming and nothing could be prettier. I have several large rose bushes shown here on my property line. I have no idea what they are but they are slightly aromatic with beautiful buds on them. I also have several somewhat aromatic roses in front of my house. Their color is a beautiful pinkish red. I am cutting flowers and buds from both of these roses to dry for later use. Because I am interested in distilling roses I just bought several roses that I am told are very aromatic. One is the Kasinlik rose that is grown in Bulgaria for oil. Another is a David Austin Golden Celebration. This one and a Mr. Lincoln I planted right off of my deck so that I can enjoy the aroma with my morning coffee or evening dinner. A fourth one I bought unfortunately the clerk at the nusery pulled out the tag so I don't remember what it is. I resisted the pressure at the nursery to buy their super duper organic fertilizer. I'll fertilize these roses with manure from my chickens instead. Using what we have on the farm is important to me.

With these four highly aromatic roses I am hoping for enough blossoms for distilling next summer. Until then I will be collecting petals and buds for crafts. Last year I strung small rose buds on a string that I draped over a table lamp so the heat from the light released the aroma of the roses. This year I will dry petals for potpouri. Dried rose petals add a nice flavor to black tea. You can also make a strong tea from the petals to use to wipe the face clean at night. Rose can be very hydrating for the skin. Two things I've not done with roses is make wreaths or rose beads. These are crafts I might try during the winter months when I am longing for the aroma of roses. Until then I will enjoy cutting and drying fresh roses!

Skin Care from your Kitchen and Herb Garden

I'll be teaching a class this Monday night, June 23 at the Gardens on Spring Creek. This is a new botanical gardens in Ft. Collins encompassing 18 acres. We will discuss various herbs that are used for skin care such as calendula, plantain, lavender, chamomile, rose, fennel and lemon balm. Students should bring a washcloth as we will go through a 5-step process of skin care including cleaning, facial steam, facial mask, astringent or toner, and moisturizing. If you live in Northern Colorado you might want to sign up for this class.
For more information go to: http://fcgov.com/horticulture/.

Preserving Chives

Have you ever tried to dry chives for culinary use? Well I have and they taste alot like paper when they are dried. I guess they have to be freeze dried to preserve the flavor. What I do now is to cut the fresh chives with a scissors into small pieces and put those into a sandwich bag for the freezer. Kept this way the flavor will be preserved and you can use them all winter (if your bag is big enough). Be daring and toss some chive flowers in there too. Keep them in the door of your freezer so they are handy as you prepare meals.

Plantago (Plantain) in the Garden

I’ve never done much with plantain because I didn’t have a lot of it in my yard. After moving here though I have found it growing prolifically throughout disturbed soil. There are two varieties of this herb that is sometimes called rib grass. Plantago major has roundish leaves that lie close to the ground while Plantago lanceolata has narrow leaves that stand upright. We have the lanceolata variety here which I find much easier to harvest. Plantain has many benefits. It is great for cuts and insect bites gotten outside where it is easy to pick a leaf and wrap it around the injury as a dressing. For this reason it has been called ‘nature’s band-aid’. An added benefit is that it stops bleeding and is anti-inflammatory. It is also good as a tea for lung problems such as bronchitis. Seeds of this plant can also be used as a mild laxative as would psyllium be used. It has also been used as a diuretic and for diarrhea. Its use as an antitoxin is less common. It is not native to North America and the Native Americans would refer to it as “white man’s footprint” knowing that Europeans had been there with seed. I’ve been picking and drying this herb a lot lately and plan to use more of it over the coming year, probably adding it to my ‘Knuckle Balm”.

Raptors at Our Farm

We have seen quite a few raptors here at our farm including owls, hawks and bald eagles and I wanted to share some of the pictures with you. Although its quite exciting to see these great predators, I do worry about my small animals; cat, dog and chickens. We’ve seen this great horned owl in a tree by our house several times. According to Wikipedia the great horned owl is the only owl known to have killed a human. Many cultures have a special place for owls in their storytelling. I’m told in both Native American and Irish cultures the great horned owl was considered a messenger of death or at least ill well but also associated with the medicine men/women. Other stories say that the great horned owl is associated with the soul of the dead. Perhaps it is one of my parents or my sister looking out for me. Owls in general are said to give energy, wisdom and bravery.

The barn owl we found in our driveway. It could not move its legs and so we put it in this cage and my son drove it to the owl rescue group. Unfortunately we do not know what became of it afterward. Other raptors we have seen include falcons and the red tailed hawk. We have also been visited by a blue heron.

Under The Sun

Tina Sams never fails to amaze me. I have mentioned before about her magazine "The Essential Herbal"; now she has compiled articles from the first 5 years of publication and put them into a book entitled "Under the Sun, the First Five Years". The book is organized into chapters on gardening, in the kitchen, just weeds, herbal first aid, the stillroom, traditions, the herbs and herb business. You will find articles about soapmaking and cooking, drinking and crafting and lots of just naturalist experiences. The magazine has been a dream of Tina’s for some time. Writers contribute their time and skills because herbs are their passion. I only recently joined Tina in her venture and am glad I did. Reading the articles in this book is like listening to old friends discuss their lives and their passions. It is a sizable book of 220 pages so it will take some time to read. I would highly recommend going to Tina’s website and ordering your copy (http://www.essentialherbal.com).

Mother's Day Tussie Mussie

I miss my Mom. She died two years ago. When she was alive I remember giving her a tussie mussie one year for Mothers Day. This year I will walk my garden (and look in my dried collection) to see what plants I have to pay tribute to her on this Mothers Day.

Basil for the unconditional love she gave me and my siblings.
Rosemary for remembering her and the lessons she taught me.
Sage for her endless wisdom and to represent my grief.
Scented geranium for our happy times together.
Lavender for her devotion to her family.
Thyme for her strength and courage in raising 8 children.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's!

Cold Sores

As if one weren’t enough, I have two huge cold sores on my lip. My normal procedure for cold sores is to take vitamin C, vitamin B and apply a lip balm that I made that contains lemon balm infused oil. Although I did that yesterday it has gotten worse. Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus. This virus will reside in a dormant state in the nerve tissue. In the case of cold sores on the lips the virus is typically in the trigeminal nerve ganglion (a collection of nerve cell bodies). For some unknown reasons this virus will travel down the nerve to the skin and start to replicate there cause fluid filled vesicles. Things that trigger these outbreaks include stress, sunshine, menstruation, injury or an immune deficiency. In my case it is typically stress that causes a cold sore. In the past few weeks I have been busy planting Nanking cherries, choke cherries, roses, lavender, cedar trees, roses, raspberries and some miscellaneous herbs. I am also finishing up teaching for the semester and getting grades done. Then the normal animal care and family activities that increase towards the end of the school year. Together, these and unnamed things have caused me a little stress.

Since this cold sore has gotten worse overnight I think I will have to do more than my normal regimen. Although there are antiviral drugs available to treat herpes, there have also been an increasing number of resistant viruses as a result of this. I would hate to think that virus’s will develop this life threatening condition that has occurred in bacteria due to overuse of antibiotics. I will pass on the antiviral drugs and try some other herbal treatments I don’t normally use. Perhaps I will apply lavender oil to the sore or Echinacea extract. I might also drink lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) tea or sage tea and have some garlic toast (my favorite cold remedy). I may use myrrh essential oil to relieve the pain as well. And what about relaxing a little? It’s a somewhat rainy day today which decreases what I can do outside so maybe I’ll sit around with my cup of lemon balm/sage tea for awhile.

130 plants

The local conservation district here sells small seedling plants cheap to people with acreage to use as wind blocks or other screens. These are the plants I bought in the back of my pickup truck. They include 50 nanking cherries, 50 choke cherries and 30 red cedars. We got these last week and planting them is taking a bit of my time! It may take a few years for them to actually do any good but don't they say the person who plants a tree believes in the future!

Springtime in the Rockies

I've been meaning to take some pictures of some spring growth around my place. I thought I'd better do it now as we are under a winter storm warning and my plants may be burried tomorrow under a foot of snow. Here are my chives, clary sage and spring bulbs. As I upload these images the hail has begun! Perhaps I will take pictures tomorrow of the snow.