Fragrant Lilacs ~ Chickweed

 

I haven't had time to porch sit, so I have not smelled the lilacs wafting through the country air.  I noticed a bit late this season, but they also bloomed early.  

A few years ago, a pine tree died and fell down, breaking off half of our lilac bush.  It's still blooming, but barely. 

Lilacs smell so wonderful.  I remember, as a young teen, my Grandma bringing cuttings from her lilac bush. 

You can make a lot of things with lilacs, but I have yet to try any recipes.  You can make syrups, infused sugars, jelly, teas, tinctures, and even body care.  Do you make anything with lilac blooms?

There is a possibility to plant another lilac this spring, but the rain is still an issue.

I had "plans" to do some weeding, but we are saturated here still.  Rain is not ending today again either.  I think we may even see rain a bit Thursday, but hopefully not. 

The rain is giving us chickweed, and we are enjoying pesto.  I mixed other greens in this batch too.

Fragrant Lilacs ~ Chickweed ©  April 2026 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Sprained Toe ~ Weather Woes and Garden Prep Flooding

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 rain arrived.  I have yet to harvest more dandelions due to the abundance of rain.  The last dandelions all went to seed very quickly.

I'm hoping we will get more chickweed, as I have yet to weed three more flower beds (actually four, but we have a plan to work on that one this year). Anyway, I typically pull the chickweed to save, as I weed the flower beds this time of year.

Our cold weather apparently does not want to leave yet.  We will be dipping to the 30's for three or four nights.  I'm just hoping it's not a hard freeze. 

The abundance of rain is a problem for our vegetable gardens.  One, it's too wet to even walk in, which means zero tilling or weed pulling to prepare the beds, and two, we've not been able to even obtain tomato plants this spring (yet).  I do not start my own tomato plants, because we plant so many (and indoor space is limited to start every single plant).

Rain is in the forecast yet this morning, and more tomorrow.

Sprained Toe ~ Weather Woes and Garden Prep Flooding ©  April 2026 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart