Balsamic Spice Brandy Cordial Recipe
The winter landscape offers little warming gifts if you know where to look. Balsamic Brandy is a lovely spirit lifter on a cold day whose lip smacking goodness comes from our conifer friends. Most people do not think of spruce, pine or fir needles as a spice for infused cordials but these wonderful trees are […]
How to make Herbal Bath Soaks an easy gift to create
Herbal Bath Soaks are surprisingly effective ways to tame both tension and pain. They take just a small amount of time to make and yet can melt away the worries of the day in only a few minutes. Those that know their secrets, use them regularly. Those that haven’t tried yet, quickly become fans after […]
How to make Holiday Pomanders – Cloven Fruit
The pomanders of my youth were made by pushing an endless bowl of cloves into what seemed to be an oversized orange. These pomanders retain the lovely scent of spiced citrus but have a bit more variety and take much less time to create. This DYI includes instructions to prevent molding. Those of us that […]
How to make Chili Pepper Ornaments
Bright red peppers shine merrily against the deep green of holiday trees. This ornament is basically a tiny ristra for decorating. It is easy to make and can be made more fancy depending on the artistic skill of the maker. The supplies are inexpensive and probably already in your cupboards. My mother made a box […]
How to make Ristras – Chili Pepper Strings
Ristras are traditional way to dry chili peppers for later use. The ristras that are available in farms stands in the American southwest can be up to 5 feet in length. Many households do not need that many peppers. These small ristras are simpler and smaller versions of the larger mesoamerican chili pepper strings. These […]
Branch Harvest Hooks
These hooks are commonly used for gathering elderberries but they have many other uses. Experienced elderberry gatherers know how tall elderberry gets. Some bushes are between 8-10 feet in height. To our dismay, those graceful branches hold the deep blue treasures at the very top of the brittle branches. This is when elderberry collecting hooks […]
Pine Cone Bird Feeder
Here is a simple bird feeder that any child can make with a minimum amount of help from an adult. This is a great activity for large groups of children in conjunction with a lesson on wildlife. I used almond butter that I made in my blender. Cashew butter or peanut butter is fine to […]
Dry Socket – Herbal First Aid
A dry socket is extremely painful. It is the result of a dislodged blood clot after a tooth extraction. Blood clots are nature’s way of cushioning a wound and aiding the healing process. Without the clot, the wound and damaged nerves are exposed to air and the healing process is compromised. There are a number […]
Top 10 Herbal Supplements for Lizards
My daughter had a dragon. I had an herb garden. It was inevitable the two would end up interacting with each other. We’ve had reptilian pets before. We had a turtle named Sport who was rescued from a lawnmower. We had two green anoels who skittered around a glass terrarium. My sons tried to talk […]
Heavy Duty Herbal Dental Rinse for Dry Socket
Dental visits are not fun and oral surgery is at the bottom of the list any one looks forward to. In order to reduce the odds of a return visit, I’m sharing this dental rinse formula for use after a dental extraction. This formula was blended specifically for preventing dry socket, but it can be […]
Honey Bee Water Bowl
Kids love bugs. They are tiny, busy lives that come in an array of shapes and colors. As parents and caregivers, we want our children to learn about the natural world, but how do you talk bees and butterflies into holding still long enough to admire them? A honey bee water bowl is a wonderful and […]
Keeping it Cool in the Coop – The Shoestring Herbalist
Queen Elizabawk was panting. She is a big chicken. As an Orpington, she does well in the cold but isn’t built for heat. Her coop mates fair a little better but in 106 degree heat, they’re only a heart beat away from heat stroke themselves. My chickens have the advantage of being free range birds. […]