Pioneer Woman at Heart

  First year to infuse dandelion flower oil (wild dandelions from our own homestead).  First year to make our own dandelion salve.  It's in trial period.  We have both used it and so far really like it, but we'll have one more person testing it out for me.  I'm getting so much better at keeping notes this year. I used an assortment of vessels, as that is what I had on hand.  I love the smaller tins for travel, or to give as gifts.  I just ran out of tins and used whatever glass jars I still had in my herbal supplies. I already have a new "first" time salve to make next spring as well.   The rain is finally done (at least we hope so), but the wind blew right in last night.  Good grief.  Maybe it will dry up the soggy ground, but our nights are to dip to the 40's.  Fall weather can be so iffy in our area. Dandelion Salve   ©  September 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...

  Any foragers here?  I have a few reference books, but zero information in them in regards to if Purple Dead Nettle and Henbit both have the same nutrition/medicinal benefits to the body.  Anyone? I know, it's crazy question, and there are not many homesteading blogs still blogging anymore these days. Spring rain is great for a lot of things, but it is always the reason we get stuff planted so late.  The gardens are soaking wet, and this is what most of the vegetable gardens look like.  Not kidding.  They are too big to cover for winter.  We use a lot of space.  They are full of purple dead nettle and chickweed. The last few warmer days should start to dry up the gardens for us. I have added spring chickweed to salads and other meals in the past, but according to my blog (and other notes), we have not yet tasted purple dead nettle. Foraging was pretty easy (just look at the above photo, ha ha!). I did a lot of reading, and yes, I have a few forag...

The recent rain brought us some of these golden goodies. It's dandelion season.

The weather warmed up nicely, and after getting our last kid (doeling) disbudded, I headed to the flower beds.  It was a perfect time to pull all the grass weeds I left there last fall (gulp).

I've been watching the location of the sunrise each morning, and it's getting closer and closer to "porch time" once again. Until then, I continue to clean and organize.  I'd like to do some stencil painting in one room, but I'll have to wait for open-window weather.