close-up of picked redbud flowers and jar of jelly being lifted from boiling water

How to Make Redbud Jelly

Here’s a bright and colorful springtime jelly recipe, made with the edible flowers of the Eastern Redbud tree, Cercis canadensis. Step 1: Picking Flowers Pick fully-opened redbud flowers, making sure to collect fresh, brightly-colored flowers off the tree. Try not to use faded or wilted redbuds in your jelly. Destem the flowers with your fingers….

henbit, creeping charlie, and purple dead nettle flowers side by side comparison

(NEW Printable!) Differences Between Henbit, Creeping Charlie & Purple Dead Nettle

Here’s a free printable to help you tell the differences between three commonly confused spring weeds: Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule), Creeping Charlie (Glechoma hederacea), and Purple Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum). The quick reference chart has a summary of key identifying features for each plant. For more in-depth info and closer-up identifying photos, plus some ways to…

plate with mango butter and beeswax, with spring weeds lip balm tubes

Spring Weeds Lip Balm

Here’s how to make an effective, all-natural lip balm using beneficial weeds right from your backyard! You can mix or match any of the following plants to make this recipe: Oil Infusion You will need: How to make it: Spring Greens Lip Balm Recipe Use a kitchen scale to weigh out the ingredients for this…

spoon of ground ginger and ginger salve on a blue and wooden background

Ginger Pain Salve Recipe

Here’s how to make a warming ginger pain salve for achy joints, sore muscles, and arthritis. Ginger is one of my top favorite herbs! It’s easily available in local stores and when taken internally, it helps ease nausea, indigestion, inflammation, motion sickness, colds/flu, and more! Here we’re using it externally as a warming agent that…

spoonful of grated fresh ginger and a jar of ginger honey syrup

Easy Ginger Honey Syrup

This tasty homemade ginger syrup is made with just two easy-to-find ingredients and is a snap to mix together! It’s excellent for: Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is anti-viral, antibacterial, and antifungal – so it’s also great for taking as a preemptive measure if you’ve been exposed to a stomach flu or other particularly nasty bugs. Making…

a jar of homemade ginger tincture surrounded by fresh ginger root pieces

How to Make a Ginger Tincture

A ginger tincture is super easy to make and is useful for treating: Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is also antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory. The best part is that you can usually buy fresh or dried ginger right from your local grocery store – so it’s a readily available and accessible remedy for most of us! More…

man's hand holding a bunch of homegrown asparagus spears

Growing Asparagus From Seed

Here’s how to grow your own asparagus plants from seed! These perennial plants will provide homegrown food from your garden for years to come! Surprisingly easy to start from seed, asparagus plants have a 3 to 4 year up-front time investment while they’re establishing themselves in your garden, but it’s well worth it. If you’re…

pine needle closeup, chopped in a jar, and pine trees growing outdoors

Foraging & Using Pine Needles

Here’s how to identify pine trees, plus some uses for pine needles, including infused oil and salve, pine needle tea, and a sore throat elixir. Pines (Pinus spp.) are evergreen, resinous trees that are found pretty much everywhere; there are almost 50 species growing in North America alone! Native North Americans used decoctions from pine…

tin of pine needle salve on a snowy surface with pine needles

Pine Needle Chest Rub Salve Recipe

Pine is a traditional herbal known to be warming and helpful for respiratory congestion. Today, we’re going to turn your locally gathered pine needles into a chest rub salve using pine-infused oil and (optional) essential oils. Pine needle infused oil has traditionally been used to help with congestion, and when optionally combined with essential oils,…

jar of honey and pine needle elixir natural remedy

Pine Needle, Honey & Brandy Elixir (cough & sore throat remedy)

Here’s how to make a pine needle, honey, and brandy elixir – a natural remedy for coughs and sore throats that combines the respiratory benefits of pine with the throat-soothing and antimicrobial properties of honey. Pine trees (Pinus spp.) have long been used in traditional medicine, especially for respiratory conditions and immune support. The needles…

Squares of rosemary scrub cubes beside a jar of fresh chopped rosemary

Rosemary Mint Sugar Scrub Cubes

These cute little individual scrubs are made with melt and pour soap base and are used to help polish away patches of dry flaky skin. Shea butter softens your skin, while granulated sugar acts as a natural exfoliant for calloused or rough spots. They’re infused with rosemary, which naturally promotes alertness and better circulation, and…

Fresh nettle leaves in a handmade vine basket and a jar of chopped stinging nettle leaves

Stinging Nettle Tincture + Uses

Here’s how to turn stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) leaves into a tincture that may be useful for allergies and inflammation. You can also tincture different parts of nettle, for different effect. For example, the root can be tinctured for prostate problems, while nettle seed tincture may be helpful for kidney problems. Today though, we’re focusing…

fresh alpine strawberries on the plant and harvested

How to Grow Alpine Strawberries

Learn how to grow, harvest, and store delicious alpine strawberries, and fill your garden with these small but tasty everbearing treasures! These fragile, fragrant heirloom berries will provide wild-flavored strawberries all summer long, and they’re prolific little things- in our garden, they happily keep on producing right up to the first frost! Alpine Strawberries differ…