It's spring--where is your calendula?

Calendula, or marigold, is an invaluable flower to any herbalist. It has soothing, healing properties, making it a great additive in salves and balms. It is also useful as a tea for various internal needs, like digestion. And, according to 17th century herbalists, nothing is better than calendula when you feel a touch of "plague and pestilence" coming on. All in all, it's pretty handy. Besides all this, it's a beautiful flower and easy to grow.

So, here is an example to show you why growing and drying your own calendula is the way to go. The bowl on the right is a sample of some calendula that I received from a mail order company. On the left is calendula I dried myself last summer. And, I must confess, I have not stored it correctly (in a dark place) but instead, it has been sitting on my kitchen counter for the last nine months. The color is still beautiful and vibrant, which makes me wonder how fresh my "mail order" calendula is and how much of its benefits remain.

I only had about 5 calendula plants last year, so I'm planting a much bigger patch of these beautiful yellow-orange flowers this year. Since my patch was so small, I wasn't able to harvest as much as I wanted, but I did have enough for several small batches of calendula-infused oil. And it is so easy to collect calendula petals! When I walked past the flower bed I checked for any blossoms that were beginning to fade and just pinched them off. In fact, I was so diligent in harvesting the petals, that I didn't let any blossoms self-seed. I've read that the plants often seed themselves, so this year I'll be sure to leave a few of them alone so I won't have to plant more the next year.

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My plans for 2019...

...also known as A Loose Idea of How I Imagine the Year Will Go. (Because who actually has things go as predicted? Not this girl.) I started selling at the Monroe farmer's market way back in 2012. That first year I was at the market every Wednesday afternoon. By the next year I was going both days a week--Wednesday and Saturday--and continued to be a "full-time" vendor for several years. In 2018, I decided to slow down. I had to, actually, because I had so many "life" things that needed my attention as well as a number of family commitments that fell during market hours. For someone that once rarely missed a day in a 50+ market season, vending even once a month became hard to fit in. After a lot of recent thought, I've decided not to stretch myself as far as I've done these last few years. I know for sure I won't be vending at any of the indoor market dates through April. But beyond that, all my markets and show dates for 2019 are to be dete...

Soaping with Madder

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Loofah--from vine to soap

If you've followed my blog for a long time, you've already seen a post on one of my favorite things to grow--loofah, but I think it's time for another one. People are often surprised when they learn that loofahs are grown. No, a loofah isn't a sea sponge, but the mature "skeleton" of a zucchini-like plant. Everyone knows they are good for the bath but they also make great natural pan scrubbers in the kitchen. They are so popular that I have to remember to tuck away any that I want to keep myself. I raise three or four plants every year. Like a zucchini or a cucumber, it likes to spread out with little regard to another plant's personal space. Here is last year's crop. Early in the summer, the loofahs remained neatly on the trellis: But then they wandered over to the basil: Cozied among the tomatillos: And hung out with the butternut squash: Harvest time was a regular treasure hunt. But I ended up with about 20 loofahs fr...

10th ave. soapworks

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