Category: Herbs

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Chamomile, A Flower or a Weed

Is Chamomile a flower or a weed?  I guess that depends on who you ask.  Even some in the herbal community will call it a weed.  I never thought of it that way, although my husband does.

When I first planted Chamomile, I thought it was so pretty and it smelled remarkable.  On top of that it’s full of uses, the best of which is drinking it in tea form.  At that time, I had no idea how it spread.  Even so, I think it’s great, BUT, you have to learn to control it.

CHAMOMILE, THE FIRST YEAR

Years ago I planted Chamomile in a raised bed.  It was a circle bed about a foot & a half round.  It grew so pretty and made so many flowers.

I picked and picked and dried the flowers and used them for many different things.  At the end of that year, we had to move the bed.  I was going to lose my Chamomile, but I knew I could always plant some more.

The following year, I found little plants along the driveway and the patio.  I was so excited, I really didn’t lose all my Chamomile!!

CHAMOMILE, THE SECOND YEAR

So I protected them by not letting my husband mow them down and I picked and picked the flowers again.  I was happy.

CHAMOMILE, THE THIRD YEAR

Then came the third year.  I found Chamomile in every corner of my yard.  The leaves are so feathery, the flowers are so pretty and smell so good and it makes magnificent tea, so no worries.

This time I had to really work to convince my husband to leave various patches alone so they could grow.  I even had to make a deal with him that he could cut that area down, if he would leave this area alone.  And I continued to pick flowers.

Some people may say that makes for a nuisance weed, I just think it makes the yard look nice.

There are so many things you can use Chamomile for, that I just can’t imagine ever thinking of this plant as a nuisance.  Besides the fact that it smells divine, it taste great as a tea.  For those teas that don’t taste so good, but are good for you, all you have to do is add a bit of Chamomile to make it palatable…to “help the medicine go down”, as they say.

Share in the comments what you use chamomile for.  I’d love to know!!

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DIY Teacher’s Gift

My grand-daughter is in kindergarten this year and she LOVES school!!  Makes me so happy.  I know it probably won’t last, but a grandma can wish, can’t she?  Anyway, I thought it would be kinda cool if she could make presents for her teachers.

I have to admit, as easy as it was to put this together, it is kinda girly.  She also has 2 male teachers.  I haven’t yet come up with what to get or make for them, but I’m working on it and I’ll let you know what I come up with.

So this year, we made sachets and bath tea bags for the lady teachers.  Just guessing the guys may not enjoys these so much.  I bought pretty bags for the sachets and I have small muslin bags I bought several months back for a “just in case I need them” kinda thing.

So I went to our local organic store and bought several different herbs.  I bought lavender, catnip, orange peel, rose petals, chamomile and red clover.  

I’ll tell you how we combined the herbs and in the coming weeks, I’ll go over each herb and tell you the reasons why I chose each one.

Sachets

I found these bags in the wedding craft section of Wal Mart and had way more than I needed.  That’ll leave me some for another project some time.  I like that kind of excess.

For the Sachets, I used lavender, rose petals and orange peel.  I loved the colors, the combination of the smell and the different types of textures each showed through the bags.

First I poured the herbs in red plastic cups so my grand-daughter could spoon the different herbs from them easier.

I held the bags for her and had her use a plastic teaspoon, putting 3 spoonfuls of each of the herbs lavender, orange peal and rose petals into each bag.  That didn’t fill up them completely but made it a nice each size.

Now you have to realize some spoonfuls were way bigger than others.  I tried to keep it pretty even, but sometimes, it was “just good enough”.  

Every time we finished one, she was very proud.  She couldn’t believe how good it smelled.  I was a little shocked myself.  I wasn’t sure if I would need to add essential oils or not, but truly it wasn’t necessary.

I put each one in a plastic baggie to help contain the scent, for one because it’s so long until Christmas/Yule and for another, it’s just so strong!!  I think they turned out great.

Bath Tea Bags

Next we did this bath tea bags.  These are made to put into your tub to steep, just like tea, and then soak in them.  

Did you know you can soak in the goodness of the herbs through your skin and get good out of it just like drinking the tea?  Well, it’s true.  You can drop these tea bags into your bath and get the same goodness as if you drank it.

For these I used chamomile, red clover and catnip.  These herbs help support relaxation and are good “for what ails you”.

These were just a little smaller than the other bags and a little harder for a 5 year old to get the spoon in, so I actually did most of these.

I have to admit by this time she’s had enough too.  They can only sit still for so long.  We made 10 of the sachets and 10 of these.

Now she’s worried we’ll forget her guy teachers.  I’ve assured her we won’t.  Now I just have to come up with something just as cleaver for them as we did for the ladies.

I bought some of these bags at Mountain Rose Herb and I’ve also gotten some of these from Bramble Berry.  Both places have great things for different purposes. 

When buying herbs, make sure you are buying from a place you trust, whether that’s a brick and mortar or an online store.  I have sources for both and trust them, using them over and over.

So let me know what you think.  Have you done something similar?   If so, let me know what you did different.  Leave pictures and links in the comments so we can see your creations too.  I know I’d love to see them.

Keep a watch out for future posts on each of the herbs used in this project.  I’ll explain why I chose them and how they can support you.

Until next time….

Health Wealth & Blessings ~Tracey~