Pioneer Woman at Heart

  A new "first time" for us was to make a cold infusion with cleavers.  It is a bonus weed that we get this time of year when we weed the flower beds and the vegetable garden.  Heck, I see it growing in the asparagus, so I'll be pulling more of it this weekend (in between rainfalls).  If you harvest wild medicinal weeds/plants, I would love your feedback on this.  I believe I dehydrated it many years ago, but it's best when harvested fresh.  I have only one friend who also harvests this, but sadly, she does not live very close to me. Side note: I made a face wash back in 2018 with cleavers, but never kept up with making it and using it over the years. Rain returns starting tonight, and on and off all weekend.  Woke up to 49°F, and again we have not planted the vegetable garden yet. Still on time, but slightly late if we can get it done soon.  However, we were unable to obtain organic sweet potato starts, so no sweet potatoes will be planted (as of...

Regarding my recent sprained toe...  I unfolded each piece of gauze to prepare and make the poultices for my toe area. (looks like ants are chewing holes in the leaves) I harvested some comfrey from our "weed" garden, to make poultices.  I only had 2 x 2 gauze, but it worked for my toe.  I used my new smaller food processor this time, and it worked great (comfrey leaves, a bit of water, and flour {can use arrowroot, or whatever for a thickener}). The plant is springing up pretty well, and was large enough to get enough leaves cut for the poultices.  I used a freshly made poultice right away, and froze two more.  The frozen ones work to also reduce the swelling. I also used my homemade comfrey salve, and the bruising is very quickly healing, and pain was gone after day one of poultices.  Thankfully, it was a sprain and not a break. A strong thunderstorm, with rain and wind, moved into our area last night.  Only about half the mowing was completed before...

  The teaser 60-70°F days, we have been having, are bringing up sprouts of comfrey in my "weed" garden.  However, the rabbits (or something) is finding it tasty, so I best get to the hardware store and add more fencing to it.  We left a space, where we ran out of fencing last year, and completely forgot about it until this spring.   Comfrey is great to have on hand for medicinal needs, and yes, it is invasive, but the rabbits may keep it from getting too big, ha ha!   I make comfrey salve using this "weed" and I dehydrate it as well.  We've made numerous poultices with it over the years, and so glad I learned about it. Kitchen Down!   The current repairs are being done in the kitchen, so it is hindering any cooking or baking.  I will be glad when it is all done either way.  It's also helping push me to finish other projects in the mean time. I'm still planning a "coffee with me" meet up at our homestead, but not until we don't ...

  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...

                        (old photo of picked plantain, but I used both broad leaf and narrow-leafed plantain for the salve)   I completely forgot to share our newest addition to the medicine cabinet  - plantain salve.  It's a homemade drawing salve.  Plantain  (a weed that grows wild) is what saved me when I had a very nasty spider bite years ago.  I asked my husband to go outside and pick it, macerate it, and make a poultice.  I used it until I found a decent doctor (which was hard to do at the time). I used 1/2 cup infused oil (used grapeseed oil to infuse it), and 2 Tbsp. of beeswax.  Heat together until the beeswax is melted, pour into jars and cool completely.  You can add essential oils too, but add them after you take the melted oil/beeswax off the heat. By the way, before this was made, and I needed a drawing salve, I used a mix of homemade calendula oil, some store purchased...

  Hot mess express checking in for a quick minute.  October has been, and still is a crammed month of commitments, projects and whatnot.  More so on the commitments (preventing other work to be done). I feel like the days are so out of control, but I dug out my new jars and recipes.  I realized I had not dehydrated comfrey or plantain, and needed it for one recipe.  Of course, we just mowed too. The kitchen is full of baskets of herbs and medicinal weeds, which are all waiting their moment in the dehydrator. Our weather changed rapidly, so I am working quickly.   Sticky notes to the rescue!  Without them, I would be a double hot mess express.  I finally made a phone call for a quote, that should have been done a year ago.  I was to complete that job today, but someone took the wrong vehicle to work this morning. Purging continues, but not as productive as it should be.  Garage clean out remains on the to-do list (did I mention too m...

Just when I thought I was in shape, I was not.  The very first day outside weeding reminded me of that, ha ha!  Boy, oh boy, you do get a work out outside.   Did anyone else venture out this month to start the garden process, clean up beds and such?  Did you slide out of bed, like a sloth the next morning, and drag yourself to the ever needed delightful coffee you preset to brew the night before? Only to find out you have more muscles than you thought?  And can barely walk, let alone lift your arms? Note:  The above was drafted up prior to my foot fracture ha ha!   The arrival of April has pushed all of our "projects" (indoor anyway) on the back burner for now.  It's that time of year to till the garden ( done ), start weeding and mulching flower beds and the herb garden ( in the works ), and planting the garden.   Our homegrown asapargus is starting to come up!  I have my husband on picking duty for now.  Yum!  No as...

Note: This was another resurrected draft post, so the photo is older, as well as the content, but sharing for those who may not know about plantain.  I have also dehydrated it for a medicinal tea.   I have ground plantain, and applied it to a wasp sting, and it removed the pain and redness within 20 minutes of applying the ground up plantain.  It truly is a wonderful weed to have available. I know plantain is great to add to some healing salves as well. Sharing the post today, as it was buried amongst the land of the blog drafts.  The timeline is a bit off, as we are just now nearing spring weeds, but finally sharing.  The blogpost prior shows a comfrey poultice .  Apparently, I never took a photo of the plantain poultices I froze. ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ Plantain has finally been harvested.  I allow some to grow in my flower beds too. It grows wild here. I made several poultices, and have put them into my freezer for safe keep...

  I've narrowed down my draft blogposts.  I went from 80-some down to 38.  I have resurrected another draft.  The odd part, is that I made this salve years ago, and never posted this draft.  I have no idea why I didn't.  It was drafted up, but the date is not showing up. All I know is that this was the 2nd version of comfrey salve and I like it much better.   You can make comfrey salve a few different ways.  You can check recipes in library books or on the worldwide web too.  Many vary, but I have been making salves for a while, so I  know how thick I want it.   The first recipe I attempted created a very hard salve.  It was too hard to even use.  I was a beginner salve maker at that point. You can also use an oil of your preference for making the infused comfrey oil prior to your salve making.  I, for the most part, use olive oil, but I have used grapeseed and jojoba oils, depending on what I am making them for....

I resurrected a blog draft from April of 2019.  The only thing in the draft was a photo of wild growing stinging nettle.  The only thing I can think, is maybe I was sharing what it looked like? Always do your research before foraging for this weed.  You can also buddy up with someone who is familiar with foraging and learn that way too. I know I dehydrated some in the past for teas, and did you know that if you blanch them, you can ice bath them and freeze them for eating in future meals? You do need to have very thick protective gloves on to harvest this medicinal weed .  It's prickly spines will leave a nasty, itchy rash on you if you do not.  Just ask my husband.  He was mowing in shorts one time, and brushed against some growing here on the property.  I had to lather him in chickweed salve. Chickweed is another weed to talk about when it arrives this spring/summer. I wrote up a post about how I made a tea infusion for hair and nail heal...

Resurrecting a blog draft from May 1, 2019.  I don't know how I let so many drafts get buried, but it come in handy for entertainment this winter. Here is the draft posted, but with an update. Migraines are not fun.  I've had about two in my lifetime, and they were terribly painful and nauseating.  Youngest Daughter seems to get them too often, so I'm trying to make sure she is hydrated, exercising etc. I did much research for topical treatments.  One we are trying is organic peppermint oil mixed with a carrier oil, rubbed on her temples.  I also put it on her chest for her to inhale. Topical treatment is all I'm researching, because if you've had a migraine, you are so nauseated you cannot drink teas etc.   I read that a lack of magnesium can also bring on a migraine, so we keep almonds and pumpkin seeds on hand to enjoy weekly.  I have known that peppermint, holy basil (Tulsi), and chamomile teas help reduce inflammation of  a he...

Our new winter egg "basket" as we are in slower egg production, and this helps keep track of the oldest to newest egg. I made another new recipe by The Real Food Dietitians - Banana Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal.  It is very good, but so far I think my favorite is the pumpkin one. My pamper me moment - merino wool socks.  They were on sale for $2 at the farm store.  I could learn to knit my own socks, but I've put that off for so many years now.  You never know.  Until then, I bought these to keep my feet warm during this winter freeze. Entertainer for the Day   I don't know how I get into such conversations, but I do, and I did.  I not only entertained the dentist at my last appointment, but the dental assistant as well. It was freezing cold out, so the conversation started there. I was talking about tending the hens, which led to talking about dressing for the weather.  I mentioned that I always take my cell phone and a house key with me, wh...

  Winter arrived all at once, with rain, snow, high wind (high wind warnings), flood warnings, and now freezing temperatures.  We woke up to 3°F with a wind chill of -18°F.   All is well, other than both of us have been best friends with biofreeze.  I took a fall in a parking lot.  It was the only patch of ice that wasn't salted.  Go figure.  I was stepping out of the truck and wooosh, down I went.  I caught myself with my forearm (on the foot area of the truck) and wailed myself back up, but with a sore bum, neck and arm.  Not to mention bruises.  Go figure, we are out of comfrey poultices in the freezer too. Has anyone made a poultice with dehydrated comfrey?  I'm wondering if it would work too.   Either way, I'm digging out my spikes to put on my muck boots today.  We'll be dealing with sub-zero temperatures for a while.  At least the beautiful sun is shining for us today.  For now anyway. I also spe...

  I have attempted to try this vegetable more than once (back between 2012 and 2015, but could not find it here locally.  Finally, we have found it at one store recently. I roasted it with olive oil and salt and pepper, to get an idea of the flavor we are working with.  I was told it would taste like a golden potato, by roasting it this way.  It did not, but it was delicious, and creamy in the center. I peeled it, diced it and tossed it in olive oil.  I sprinkled it with salt and pepper both.  I roasted it at 425°F for 40 minutes (stirring half way during roasting time).   A rutabaga is a cross between cabbage and a turnip.  It is a root vegetable.  Do you grow rutabagas in your garden?  We are considering it, as we have a terrible time finding it in our stores (or any farm stand) in our area. I have one more to experiment with, and I hope to return to the same store and get a few more. I did not get any answers about the bee k...

  Feeling bad I am schlepping myself around with a stuffy nose, and cough, my husband ordered me to "rest."  Ha!  Well I am trying.  It's definitely not hard to do today.  We are getting more rain, which we greatly need, and it looks very stormy outside.  The kind of weather you want to curl up with a book, and light a candle. I'm living on ginger/lemon tea, doses of mullein tincture and what not.  I normally drink a nettle tea concoction for allergies, but did not get started on that early enough apparently.  The recent smoke haze in the air did not help either.  The air is much better now. I have been doing a ridiculous amount of internet surfing, working on a color scheme for the next blanket (to use up yarn in my stash).  I guess you can call it a stash.  It is really yarn that was leftover from other projects, which I over bought I believe.  Anyway, the one color scheme I really like, involves (gulp) buying ...

  The chicks are about 7 weeks old now, so they got a day of introduction to the hens.   They say your chicks should be as large as the smallest hen, before putting them in the coop together.  I had to laugh, as the hens were scared of the chicks and they were on the other side of the run fence ha ha! My potted comfrey is springing back to life. Updates with the garden(s): -planted about 100 cloves of garlic for spring planting (it was very difficult to locate organic garlic for spring planting too).  As some of you read, voles ate our entire 80 fall planted cloves, so we moved the grow bags this year. -started weeding the herb garden, and I will be digging up all the lemon balm and moving it to the water trough (hopefully I don't kill it, as I use it often, and I need to dig out some chives that moved their way to the green onions -started weeding the larger rose bed (this one is terrible) -asparagus is getting harvested Asparagus is up that we grew from seed l...