Summer Solstice

Gladiolas from the kids' garden

Today was a beautiful solstice day! I love to roll with the seasons so I like to celebrate each of them in some way. So today we all started in the gardens! It has been unusually hot here for the month of June but some nice thunderstorms in the evenings lately have been helping to keep the plants happy!

My youngest talking to the bees this morning on the Bee Balm
 We had so much fun relaxing together! My husband and I drinking coffee, while laughing at one of our dogs, watching the birds, and doing a little pruning and harvesting.

Harvest from the herb garden 
 The best part of the day was a short hike at Medoc Mountain. One of our favorite places to hike around here. It is always gorgeous out there!

A brilliant blue dragonfly who wanted his picture taken! 
 My oldest, that was recently diagnosed with Crohn's disease, loves to hike but since her flare up she has been very fearful to attempt it. She didn't want to come, but I told her I won't let this disease make her stop living her life so she had to go but we would go at her pace. She made it and was so proud of herself when she finished! I was proud of her too! 

My oldest after the hike! All Smiles!!!
 My intention with this blog post was to talk about St. John's wort since this was the traditional day to harvest it, however there was none to be seen on our walk today so I will save it for another day. I hope that you got to get outside and do something amazing for the first day of Summer! I hope your entire season is filled with bright, cheery goodness!! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nettles, The Heart Opener

Image
Nettles at Root House 2018  One of my dearest plant allies is Nettles! Most people think of the sting and the burning itch but if we get past that we find it is such an amazing tonic herb for the entire body. It is high in all kinds of minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and more. Which is truly excellent since most of the soil our foods are grown in is so depleted we need some of these wild redeemers to help us find the minerals we are lacking in our diets. It is a blood builder and a helpful healer of the liver as well as a reproductive tonic. It helps to strengthen kidneys and the adrenals, which like our minerals get depleted in modern culture. Nettles boosts the metabolism and the immune system. I have used it in a tea to help my daughter mend her broken leg faster and it may be mama and child's best friend during growing pains. Nettles is used a lot as a tea and if well steamed or sauteed is a delicious alternative to spinach. Susun Weed talks often of overnigh...
Read more

Herbalist in the Big City

Image
Recently, we had a very sudden move out of state and to a very big city. It was a very complicated situation but very necessary for our family. We had to say goodbye to all our friends and family so quickly. I also had to leave behind my wonderful gardens. I hope that who ever moves in will love them just as much as we did. I was able to take quite a few of them with me. A couple didn't make the transition and so I left because I felt like they would be happier there. It was such a whirlwind! I didn't have time to think until we got here and got unpacked a little. Then everything started to sink in. The beautiful Lemon Bergamot I had to leave behind. All of the plants that made the transition. I was doing a little blessing for them. It has taken me some time to adjust to all the traffic, sirens, pollution warnings, and the cockroaches left by the previous tenants, but I am getting there slowly. More and more I am refocusing on the positives to living here and adapti...
Read more

Raising Wild Children

Image
Resting on some roots while hiking. We are a nature loving family. We love watching the skies for birds and learning about different creepy crawly bugs. Our field guides are always close at hand. We let spiders hang out in windows and watch them do their thing. We eat wild weeds and leaves from trees. The kids love it! They love to show their friends! That amazing spark you see in their friends' eyes when they discover something amazing about nature is priceless. I tend to beam with pride when someone gets a boo boo and my girls run to find some Plantain or when they find a Sassafras tree and nibble a leaf because they taste like a fruity cereal. For the most part they are always open to trying whatever I tell them is safe to eat like Chickweed, Lamb's Quarters, and Sheep's Sorrel. My kids can identify without any help at least 15-20 plants and more than that many animals. That is why when I saw this it surprised me "The average American child can recognize ...
Read more