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It has been a busy time and I realized I have not posted anything in a very long time! Family things, vacations, school starting for Camille, working on my courses, starting some canning and a bit of re-organizing has taken over my days with my away-from-home job at night. However, I have recently observed some typical signs of the upcoming fall season and I have mixed feelings. Living in RI I am fully accustomed to the changes of the weather each season and have my loves and hates with each of them. One thing for sure is that the tease of the next one is always exciting! Colors are moving in and replacing the lush green of summer, tomatoes are in full swing, cucumbers are finally giving us a rest, apples and pears are getting ready to be plucked, Goldenrod is blooming and the garden itself takes on a whole new look. I have canned my Black and Blue berry jam and have frozen, skinned tomatoes waiting for the last one to arrive so I can make sauce to enjoy for the next year. I have a bone broth made and canned for the winter as well as pickles doing their thing. Harvesting of herbs is ongoing and pretty soon the roots of Echinacea and Dandelion as well as Horseradish will be in the works come October. Summit Valley Herbals has had classes and the rest of the site is being carefully planned, products and labels are being redone and new classes are forming for the winter season! Please follow me on Facebook so you know right away what is happening and when; you don't want to miss anything! Enjoy your time (and the pictures) while you are here!           
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Our"baby" ducks have grown considerably in the two short months they have been alive. The video below shows them now. They have learned to forage and cool off and swim. We even put one in our pool with us every so often! Dan is getting the duck pond area ready for them so they are safe from predators - they will be so happy in there! Until then, the kiddie pool works wonders. Happy Summertime!!!  I don't do too much talking about Summit Valley Herbals on this blog but I have exciting news!
You can now purchase some of my products at a local store! The store is RE:discover which is in Harrisville RI and it is a wonderful store so please head over there and see what they have going on! My product line will vary and be updated every so often so keep checking in! There are tons of things happening on the farm but I need some more pictures and more time to get a good blog entry - check back soon!!! We put the babies in the water yesterday for the first time. I have to say some took the water with only a little help and others needed more time. Camille was very patient and helped them out one at a time. I posted a video below as well as some pictures. In the video Camille can be seen briefly - she is holding her favorite one who happens to be the smallest (of course) and was shivering cold so she was warming him/her up - you just can't see the little thing. Speaking of swimming, our pool is almost ready! It is already summer now and it seems odd because Camille is still in school making up snow/ice days from this past winter - two more days and FREEDOM! Also our cherry trees are in fruit mode! I have a picture of them as well. Ready for picking! Happy summer!!!      Just a little bit of random today. I spent sometime outside today and had my camera so I took video of my ducks and their first time outside on the grass. Two weeks old and getting big already. Need to be outside in the fresh air! Aren't they cute??!! Also, during my time in the garden I took video of my view. Lots of rain lately so lots of water. So peaceful today, no one driving by and all I hear are the birds and the "rubber band" frogs! Can you hear them?  I also did my share of harvesting from my herb garden. It ended up with Chocolate mint, Sage, Lemon thyme, Thyme and Oregano. They are now drying up! These will mostly be used for culinary purposes. Much fresher, tastier and cheaper than the dried herbs you get at the supermarket!  One more thing today - I harvested from the Stevia plant we have. I took the fresh leaves and placed them in a jar with grain alcohol where they will sit for two days. After that time I will gently boil off some of the alcohol and reduce it down some to make an extract. It can be used after that to sweeten many things!
Spring is in full swing and there is so much happening and growing! Our garden, thanks to Dan who works tirelessly, is looking gorgeous and has lots of goodies popping up! We have begun to exhaust our asparagus which was divine and we have been picking romaine lettuce as well. I have started the annual drying of the herbs and expect tons this year. So far I have harvested, and am drying or freezing, Oregano, Sage, Thyme, Lemon thyme, Chocolate mint and Chives. The Catnip, Lemon balm, Bee balm are not far behind! There is also some wild crafting of the local Plantain and Chickweed! And of course we all know that with Spring comes babies of all kinds. We have ducks this year! There are 16 of them and they are a few days old and finding their way around the water and food pretty good! So far all look happy and healthy! I am thinking this is also a great time of year to try new recipes! I have been using my Nutri Bullet and love it! I can't wait for more stuff to start growing in that I can add to my extractions. What have you been trying that is new? I go outside and gather Chickweed and add it to my salads...yum! The Dandelions were great this year and we ended up with fritters and jelly and infused oil! Dan has since made May wine with our Sweet Woodruff; very sweet and herby tasting! And at Summit Valley Herbals I am planning more educational gatherings and am in full herbal-product-crafting mode with fresh and freshly dried herbs infusing in oils by the sun waiting to become great healing products! Like us on Facebook to keep up with the giveaways and educational gathering news and to look for new, seasonal items!                      I have a goat whose name is Buffalo and when he makes his “FEED ME!” sounds you’d think there was a cow nearby. But it is his sound and we love him for it….
It makes me realize that there are certain sounds that I absolutely love, make me feel I am where I am supposed to be. There are also sounds I hate; the ones that make me wish I was somewhere else! Sounds I love (a short list): A horse – pretty much anything about them - blowing out their nostrils, running, a whinny, a nicker… A rooster – just in the background, it is a comforting sound… The rain – when I am home I love the sound of rain and thunder… Fire – no doubt one of my faves… Pots and pans – the sound of someone (even me) cooking real food at home… Chickens – the little clucking the do when they are happy just scratching and pecking at the grass. Oh, and the babies… Bees – the humming makes me think of them being busy and making honey… Sounds I hate (short list): Construction – needs no explanation… Excessively barking dogs – really, it’s OK to tell them to stop… Motors – really anything like dirt bikes/4-wheelers/motorcycles that just keep running and lingering in one spot…it's OK just going by... Cash register – it’s taking my money so I really don’t like this one… I am definitely a gal who loves silence and nature, maybe it is because of the various jobs I have held where noises, and people talking, are in abundance. What about you? That is Chickweed to the rest of us! I have come across quite a bit the pretty little plant throughout my yard. Just a few spectacular things about it: ~Has high levels of iron, magnesium, calcium, zinc and vitamins A, C, and fiber. This makes it a wonderfully nourishing infusion and addition to salads for those feeling weak, recovering from illness or lacking in nutrition. ~Has been used to treat/dissolve warts and some cysts. ~Does wonders in healing cuts! Make sure that wound is sparkling clean before using chickweed salve! It can also be used as a poultice while outside if you have a sting or bug bite - just chew and plop onto the affected area! ~Is used to treat coughs, dry coughs, scratchy throats and hoarseness. With my harvest today I made infused oil, tincture in 50% alcohol and a salad!    Hey friends! If you are like me, you now have an abundance of dandelions and violets in your yard. DO NOT KILL THEM WITH CHEMICALS OR RUN OVER THEM WITH YOUR MOWER!!!! :) There are so many things you can with those babies. I chose to make jelly today! I combined the dandelions and violets and added some lavender from last year's garden. YUM! Here it is! One quart dandelions/violets/lavender mixture. 2 Tbs fresh lemon juice with some zest 6 cups sugar ( I use vanilla sugar) Vanilla bean pectin water Now I am not giving instructions on canning so I assume you can do that on your own...if not, do your research first! Boil your flowers in about 5-6 cups of water for about 15 minutes to make a very strong tea. Strain and use that liquid to mix with your lemon juice and zest and vanilla bean and pectin (I used about 43 grams of powdered pectin) and bring to boil. Add your sugar and boil for about 5-10 minutes stirring frequently. Make sure you get your gel stage by doing a spoon test. Remember to remove the vanilla bean before canning. Once you've taken your cans from the water bath, waiting for the pings is the most satisfying thing to a canner! :) I have also included a picture of dandelions infusing in olive and sunflower oils. Wonderful summertime moisturizer! There you go! Enjoy!           It is well into Spring now and there is so much going on here at SVF! Lots of blooming and planting and manure! We had a batch of eggs that were incubating but we were unsuccessful with those so another batch is warming up as we speak and due around May 4th or so. We'll let you know what happens! I have taken a bunch of pictures today and posted them below. These lovelies are starting to bloom, grow and make their appearance so enjoy! Hover over the picture to find out what they are! I will be adding more soon! Please remember to "Like" Summit Valley Herbals on Facebook to keep in touch with what's going on over there because we have herb talks coming up and sales and give-aways in the works!!                     |
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February 2024
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