Pioneer Woman at Heart

  A "first" time experience for us this year.  Cold infusion with our homegrown spearmint.  I have always brewed teas with fresh spearmint, and never even thought about a cold infusion.   I read, according to the Herbal Academy, that a cold infusion brings out a more crisp, cleaner, and sweeter mint tea.  Heating it brings out more bitterness.  Who knew?  I love learning new things. Spearmint Cold Infusion  ©  June 2026 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

  The rain brought me some dandelions.  Flowers were picked and are drying.   Once dry, I will be infusing an oil with them. The rain brought us more asparagus.  So happy about this.  You can see the fencing that someone mangled while mowing.  Grr. I need to get that fixed, and I need to weed it. New recipe tried.  I had one last box of organic pasta to use, and made a salad with arugula.  We have never (believe it or not), had arugula before.  The only change I made, was that I added a drained and rinsed can of chickpeas to the pasta water and cooled them with the pasta.  Oh, I used olive oil vs. avocado oil in the dressing too.  Recipe is is a Mediterranean pasta with arugula and feta, from Peas and Crayons (online). We liked this recipe.  I have a small bit of organic arugula planted this year.  We will see if it grows well here. Garden work is keeping me fit this summer. I have discovered the scuttle hoe and love ...

  I am still getting a few stalks of asparagus, and now a few dandelions each day.  I picked one stalk of asparagus on June 8th, and so far that was the last.  Best year for it yet.  I continue to collect dandelion flowers. The heat is here now.  It was in the upper 90's yesterday and we finally got a good downpour to give the gardens a good dose of Mother Nature.   The heat will heat up even more over the next two days, so I am praying all the new plants and flowers/seeds will be handling it well.  Not sure it will happen, but the forecast is to be in the lower 100's over the next two days. Soon to be back on the crochet hook . . . I have had another request for these hand crocheted baby washcloths.  I was actually ready to retire the yarn, finish the current crochet project request, but will keep the yarn. It will be a nice all-summer project, that is light weight to work on, during hot days.  The yarn is cotton, 2 ply, and a discontin...

  Our yarrow is going to flower, so it is next in line for the dehydrator.   We have used our homemade yarrow salve many times, and it's definitely a keeper salve.   I've saved some to dry for tea, and other uses. I think it was last year, or the year before, where I found out that yarrow deters mosquitoes.  I added it to our homemade but spray. Speaking of bug bites, I went out one day while gardening, and forgot to use our bug spray.  I was got bitten by something that I never saw before.  Sort of like a fly, but different colors.  It left a bad red spot that was large.  My homemade plantain salve worked very well to treat the redness and swelling (works as a drawing salve).  Much easier to apply and re-apply than a poultice, but a poultice would work much faster. We planted more in the herb garden, but the rain has not arrived.  Yet.  Hopefully soon.  My green onions could use a good ol' dose of Mother Nature. Dehy...

Exciting news!  We have opened the blueberry-basil vinegar I canned last fall.  We love it.  It's perfect for salads!  I'm so glad I made the vinegar.  I have not yet drained the vinegars that are being infused with chive blossoms just yet, but those will also be used for salads and marinades this summer.  Yum! Joining Sandra today at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for today's Happy Homemaker.  Enjoy.  It's my last time participating in this. If you didn't see it until now, I did a spring clean on my blog, and so far love it.  What do you think? More organizing?  After using up some older note paper, I have splurged, and obtained a magnetic meal planner pad, with perforated grocery list that tears off.  Talk about getting organized.  Too often, I will sticky note the heck out of the kitchen with meal ideas, and then get so off track.  Not anymore. Has anyone noticed on blogger, that when you have a draft post in the works, an...

Pardon me, while I down coffee with the hopes to revive my tired self, and gather my scrupples.  One can easily forget the amount of physical labor it takes to plant a vegetable garden, until it's planting time again.  Wowzer.  Nothing like popping a few arnica capsules, after rubbing arnica salve into my knuckles and very sore hands, and all before heading to the garden.  Kicking myself for not dehydrating enough dandelions to make dandelion salve, but weather was against us this spring. Allergy season this year is the worst year ever.  My eyes feel like daggers stabbing them most days, and my nose is so dry, I have to use a spray with aloe to survive outdoor work.  The cotton wood is terrible, and looks like a fuzzy white blanket over the grass top.  Thank goodness for nettle tea for some relief.  However, it's not been enough.   One day we battled awful wind while gardening, and I developed a really bad earache.  I have not had a...