California Poppy Photos: Don't Worry, Be Happy :)

Monarda Punctata: Flower Portraits of a spotted bee balm

Pungent

Aromatic

Antiviral

Dispersive

Effective prepared in honey

Easy to grow

Medicine for ears, nose & throat ailments

Helps drain congestion & moves circulation

Excellent diaphoretic

Oh so pretty with Mugwort

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xoxo

Join me on Facebook?

Funny how doing more in nature gives us more to write about, and less time to write about it.

I've been posting *lots* of beautiful photos lately of my time learning at Goldthread Herb Farm & Apothecary. Won't you join me in the facebook community? It's a nice way to stay connected.

https://www.facebook.com/ThePlantWhisperer

Green Love,

a

Calendula at Peak, Lavender Distillation, and Summer Lush

In 5 days I will be turning a sun's cycle again, and will enter into my 37th year on this glorious, mysterious, wild earth.

It's this time in the year that I feel the best. It's summer, the plants are exploding in joy and fragrance, the bees hum as the bury their little faces into flowers over and over, and the rivers gush and dance along the rocks, glinting reflections of sun and moon and magic. The air is brand new in the morning; cool and dewy and pregnant with promise, yet it rolls like tumbleweed into the day, bringing sultry humidity and fierce heat like a giant sky God pounding his chest in glory.

This is the time of fruition, bounty, heat, and full presence, and I've been feeling it for sure. I've been busy learning, observing, getting dirty, getting hot, dunking in the river to cool off, and working all the in-between times that I'm home.

Here are some highlights from my recent herbal adventures:

Calendula: 

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Lavender Distillation:

Inner drum, filled with Lavender blossoms

Outer drum, with water being boiled to generate steam

Lavender Essential oil, collecting at the surface

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Sage Harvesting

<3 My friend Dena

Sweet feet playing in the Sage

Goldthread students bringing in the harvest. Lemon Balm I think.

Lavender Flower Hydrosol

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River & Forest:

Enjoy the beauty of this Earth we call home.

xoxoxo

Ananda