Harvested some echinacea this afternoon, plus some chocolate mint to dry for Winter teas. The echinacea did poorly in the garden this Summer, but the mint looks healthy. With our off again, on again rains the plants did tolerably well, but some things suffered.
I just told my husband that there are few things I enjoy doing more than writing and/or working with my herbs. It's not the weeding, or poking around outside either...it's more the hanging up to dry, and putting things up in my vitamin cabinet. Makes me feel faintly mystical. And partly it's the connection with my ancestors. I just love that.
One of my German maternal grandfathers, way back when, was an herbal doctor. I'm talking WAY back when, like in the 1700s in North Carolina. There's a story that he helped heal someone who'd been scalped. Likely there are more mundane tales about what he did, but that's the one I find repeated in family papers. Not sure of the turn-out of that situation, but it makes for a good story. Plus, my dad's mother was big into herbs and passed her Nicholas Culpeper herbalist book down to me. Now, that's a treasure. The fact that we inherit urges and talents from ancestors bodes well with me. 'Course I'm talking about the good traits. Not touching on the iffy ones. ;) As to the herbs, doesn't hurt that there's a good dose of Chickasaw Indian sprinkled around in my genes.
Off now to putter and think about things. Daisy my Pug sits against my feet, so all is well with the world.
I just told my husband that there are few things I enjoy doing more than writing and/or working with my herbs. It's not the weeding, or poking around outside either...it's more the hanging up to dry, and putting things up in my vitamin cabinet. Makes me feel faintly mystical. And partly it's the connection with my ancestors. I just love that.
One of my German maternal grandfathers, way back when, was an herbal doctor. I'm talking WAY back when, like in the 1700s in North Carolina. There's a story that he helped heal someone who'd been scalped. Likely there are more mundane tales about what he did, but that's the one I find repeated in family papers. Not sure of the turn-out of that situation, but it makes for a good story. Plus, my dad's mother was big into herbs and passed her Nicholas Culpeper herbalist book down to me. Now, that's a treasure. The fact that we inherit urges and talents from ancestors bodes well with me. 'Course I'm talking about the good traits. Not touching on the iffy ones. ;) As to the herbs, doesn't hurt that there's a good dose of Chickasaw Indian sprinkled around in my genes.
Off now to putter and think about things. Daisy my Pug sits against my feet, so all is well with the world.
