Another amazing day! It rained a bit last night and this morning and was overcast when I milked, a lovely morning to be sure. but a few hours ago the sun came out and is shinning brightly, there's a cool breeze and lots of crow talk. It does feel like Fall :)
I started on herbs yesterday and will continue working on them for the next few weeks. Many are dry and ready for putting up, many more are drying and many ready to be cut and drying. I'm also gathering seed heads.
There's not nearly as much of anything here this year but still certainly a bounty to be thankful for. Not much Anise Hyssop but a good bunch of seed heads. Some things like the Mugwort isn't quite ready for seed but I have been harvesting it for drying for some time now. I'm glad I cut some Yarrow early to dry because a larger tomato plant fell over it and it didn't get enough sun so is a little feeble.
I bought some organic rose hips awhile back to use in teas and the size difference compared to the wild rose hips I gather is amazing!
I was very impressed with the Calendula, it dried quickly and didn't shrivel up as much as I thought it would. The Dandelion and Comfrey root took all summer to dry but I did get a good batch of each. Not as much wormwood as i wanted but a good amount and there will be at least one more harvest of it this month.
One of the main things was the Chamomile, I use more of it than anything in my teas and it's never done well here. This year I didn't expect to get any and thought I would have to be buying it. But it came up and did better than expected. the flowers are smaller this year than most years but I got a lot more than i expected and it smells wonderful :)
I had two bummers, the Cinnamon Basil and the Lions Tail both got some mold. this is the first year drying either one and I dried both by hanging, there's still more in the garden so I'll try more on the drying racks.
I also mixed up some mints but that's no worry. I'm just storing it all together as Mixed Mints.
Bright beautiful Calendula !
So, what I have already dried and stored
Calendula
Chamomile
Dandelion root
Comfrey root
Wormwood
Rosehips (wild)
Mixed mints
Peppermint
Yarrow
Sage
Oregano
Thyme
Mugwort
What I have currently drying
Oregano
Mugwort
Thyme
English Mint
Ginger Mint
Soapwort
Catnip
Mullein
What seeds I have gathered
Anise Hyssop
Echinacea
Cinnamon Basil
Prairie Sorrel
Several Mints
Mullein
What I have left to harvest
All sorts of things :)
Next year, or when I can, I'm going to try and plant a gourd garden. I've grown them a few times, just one or two types grown on a fence or something, and they did ok. But I always use all the garden space for food and medicinals. However, gourds can be very handy! This year i ran out of pot scrubbers, I used those little square plastic sheets you can cut to size, and I had no way to get to town for more. I asked on SimplyBeing for ideas and there were several excellent ones. Someone mentioned a natural scrubber of reeds or twigs and it made me think of loofas. I have loofa for use in my soaps, and one to scrub with in the shower :) and thought to try that. It works wonderfully ! It seems like I may have tried the same thing many years ago in Florida, but I'm not saure. Anyway, I tried it a few different ways and came up with cutting them in circles works best for me. they soften with use and get very easy to use. I have 3 different ones, 1 I save just for cleaning animals bowls, 1 I cut the back down a bit on to use on flat things and 1 I left the back on for extra scrubbing.
2 comments:
I tried growing loofahs this year, but the ducks kept eating the plant. Will have to find another location next spring -- I use them to clean my eggs before putting them in the carton. What do you use your dried wormwood for? I have some growing and need to clip it for drying, but wasn't sure what to do with it.
I had to fence in the gardens because of the hens and ducks.
I use wormood in a mix for worming the animals.
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