Strawberry Blonde Calendula and other Tidbits

My Strawberry Blonde Calendula is finally blooming. The photo is the very first bloom. They are not as big as the seed packet shows. It is not as pink as the seed packet shows either.

However, after my regular calendula has been blooming for a while, and after taking cuttings, the blooms are starting to get fuller. I picked some, along with some plantain the other day.

What's in the dehydrator?

Yarrow. I have several ways to use this - salve, tea, oil infusions for serum etc.

The full moon from a few nights ago. Beautiful photo.

I have been trying to get around to reading your blogs, but blogger has not been updating my reading list, and it is constantly telling me there have been zero posts on blogs I follow. Hopefully they fix the bugs.

My search is not working properly either. I'm trying to find the oatmeal cake recipe someone posted about.

Strawberry Blonde Calendula © September 2026 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Comments

New Recipe Tried and other Bits

I tried a new granola recipe and boy it's good. First, it's a recipe from Mennonite Girls and Cook, and called "Backpack Snacks" online. It calls for granola, so I used my homemade granola that we love. Picture is the dry ingredients. Second, I pressed the final mixture into a 9 x 9, parchment lined baking dish instead of rolling it into balls. The color of these photos are all different, because of the time of day, and how dark the house was from the thick Canadian smoke that was still outside at the time. These cut very nicely, and were very good, straight from the refrigerator. It was hard to eat just one of them. I will be making this again, and switching out the peanuts with walnuts, and switching out the raisins with dates. Oh my! The binder is honey and peanut butter. These are perfect for your hiking days, camping, your grandkids, or just for snacks when you want one. The rain arrived thank goodness, and washed the smoke in...

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Horsetail Salve ~ A "first" this Year

We purchased some horsetail salve to try last year. It is said to help with severely dry, cracked skin. My husband was the first to try it, with very, very dry and cracked hands from work. He loves it! He joked I could not have it back. I started the infused, horsetail oil the last part of March. Something I learned: horsetail is also called shavegrass. I infused horsetail in oil, and strained it. I then made horsetail salve. I remembered to label my jar with what oil(s) I used, so I can journal this all in my "Herbal Remedies" journal. I often forget to write the oil used. Now, the one we bought, has more in it than I put in ours, as far as ingredients (the purchased salve had lanolin, and aloe). We'll see if ours works just as good. I added the sage essential oil, and vitamin E oil. A "first" time experience for us this year. I bought the larger tins at a seed store in an Amish area last year. They a...

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Chit Chat

The pickings are slim right now, but we'll take anything we are blessed with. I made a salad and cleaned the beans. The rain will give us more for a meal in a day or so. The green beans are every so slowly coming on this season. I made a batch of homemade granola, and instead of my homemade vanilla extract, I used my homemade Christmas Spice Extract. It smelled so good in the oven, and while cooling. I picked some purslane, and am doing an experiment with it this time. Update soon. Chit Chat © August 2026 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

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