The Mint Needle

 What do you do when you want to make homemade soap but don't have the time to invest in 'methods' and lye? You go the half homemade route! That's right. Half homemade. I did this when an over~abundance of dried calendula had me thinking, "a soap of this sort would be great for the skin." But, I didn't have all the tools down and the methods are still being studied. So until I could do things the right way, I found my fix with these items: coconut oil, raw honey, calendula petals, and ivory soap. (I chose ivory for the lack of perfumes and dyes, and I like that it is air whipped, but any soap will do.) All I did was shave my soap bars using a grater. I added two heaping Tablespoons of coconut oil and honey. I nuked it for 20 seconds, mixed and added my calendula petals to pull out the extra fluid. You might end up microwaving for an extra set of seconds, but do not exceed 20 seconds at a time. Timing really depends on the strength of your microwave a...

There are soo many things that I want to share about summer harvesting, I just don't know where to start. I write today's post about a little yellow flower we've been busy picking. It's usually called pot marigold. But the interesting thing is... it's not even really....a marigold . I'm talking about calendula. For centuries, countries in Europe have been using calendula flowers for it's healing capabilities. It is known to reduce pain & inflammation of the skin. Often, it is seen to treat wounds that have difficulty healing. It helps leg ulcers, ear infections, bladder infections, menstrual cramping, tonsillitis, gum, & tooth infections. I think you get the hint that it has huge antibacterial properties. Hip, hip, hooray for calendula!  The flowers can be made into tinctures, teas, salves, & ointments. But....if you decide to use it for a skin wound, use it only in tea form only. You could do this by placing a couple of...