Florida Herb Society Meeting

Last night I attended the monthly meeting of the Florida Herb Society for the first time. I was interested to see what the group is about and to also, hopefully, meet other people with some of the same interests I have (I think some people would say: make friends). The meeting was structured a little bit like a union meeting (which kind of cracked me up): the president used a gavel, there was a report from the treasurer, and the secretary read the minutes from the last meeting. There were a lot more people there than I expected: I'd say there were a good 30-40 people there. I say people, but really there were two men and the rest were all more or less senior citizen women with the exception of one of the guest speakers and the VP of the group who were closer to my age. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed that there really wasn't anyone there that I could relate to age-wise, but everyone seemed nice.

They had two guest speakers scheduled: Deserie Valloreo of Herbalwise was scheduled to discuss Herbs for Vibrant Skincare and Kathy Oliver of My Mother's Garden discussed helpful and harmful garden bugs. Deserie provided a great handout and demoed how to make a hydrosol/toner (see the end of this post for instructions). In addition to Kathy's talk, she also had herbs for sale from her organic nursery. I picked up some Texas tarragon and Lemongrass. Texas tarragon is a culinary herb with a lovely, light scent that will be good with poulty, pork, or shellfish. Lemongrass is commonly used in stir fries or Thai food, but it's also great for skincare (as an antiseptic for oily skin) and as a medicinal herb (it removes harmful metals from the body).

I still have A LOT (tons, in fact) to learn, but this meeting (particularly the skincare stuff) taught me that I actually know more than I realize. Despite either knowing much of what was discussed or knowing that I could read it in a book, it was nice to get out and be social even if it wasn't with my peers. Next month they have an herbal vinegar hands on workshop scheduled and even though I pretty much already know how to do this, it could still be fun.

Here's a brief description of the hydrosol/toner demo from Deserie:

Use distilled water combined with your choice of herbs to make an infusion.
Strain your floral water into a spray bottle.
Add 1 or 2 drops of alcohol (preferably vodka since it's pretty much scentless) for every ounce or so of herb water.
Add 3 or 4 drops of your choice of essential oil.
Shake, spray, enjoy!

Simple Joy Sunday

Finding the Simple Joys that kept me happy this week...

My Thai Basil started to sprout! I've never had much luck growing from seed in the past, so this is kind of huge for me. I have three small pots all growing. It looks adorable!

There were actually a couple of days this week that I got a really good sleep. That's been very hard for me to come by lately so this was much appreciated!


Not only did I finally manage to order my herbs this week, but some already arrived! I ordered the bulk of them from Mountain Rose Herbs and the few things they didn't have in stock I got from Rosemary's Garden. I ordered the herbs that I was studying in my first herbalism lesson plus I got some others to make a memory tincture (figured it would help while during the herbalism studies!), a nervine tea (anything to help the nerves while I'm still at the somewhat hateful job), a facial cleanser, an astringent, shampoo... I think that's everything... Anyway, the order from Rosemary's Garden was a little more expensive than Mountain Rose Herbs, but it arrived stupid fast, looked like a present, and is quality stuff. I should receive the Mountain Rose order by the end of this week.

I'm pretty much self-proclaimed undomestic when it comes to cooking, but I keep trying different things anyway. Friday night I tried the Spiced Pear Sconelettes and Ginger Butter recipes in this month's Ready Made magazine. It was fun to do and I must say, didn't come out half bad. I also used the rolling pin (believe it or not, a first for me) and the food processor (which I've always been a bit intimidated by for some reason).

The gorgeous weather we're having this weekend is making me so happy! We've had a crazy October with 90 degree temperatures, but this weekend is in the 60's and 70's. Of course next week it will be back in the 80's again.

I made some hair gel yesterday! It's made simply by simmering flax seeds until the water becomes gelatinous. I used it once and it seemed to be a light hold gel. I'll try it again, but instead use a bit more and see if it makes a difference. If this works, not only will I be able to use yet another completely all natural product that I make myself, but it is way less expensive than store bought hair gel and I'm helping the planet by not buying another plastic container to sit in a landfill. Taking only about 10 minutes to make, I'd say it's worth it.

Soap making didn't turn out right again yesterday. I followed the directions exactly. I'm guessing that I either didn't stir it long enough for it to thicken (after 1/2 an hour and no change, I got frustrated and gave up) or that maybe it cooled down too fast. I understand that using a stick blender is much easier than having to stir it manually, but I'm not ready to invest in more stuff to do this when I'm not sure what the problem is yet. I'm thinking that I may have to find a class at some point so I can find out for sure what I'm doing wrong. Regardless, I was trying to learn how to do something new and that always makes me happy.

Today, I'm planning on making some beef stew in the slow cooker and we have a ton of apples leftover from a thing at work so Scott will probably make some apple crisp. Healthy, homemade food equals happy.

As always, check out more Simple Joy Sundays over at Cool Zebras. What were some of your joys this week?

Friday Finds - A Magickal Kitchen

I would love to have this print by Emily Balivet in my kitchen. Although, I don't necessarily consider myself to be a Wiccan or Pagan, I do feel like I have witchy tendencies.

Mackial Things Are Crafted In This Kitchen - 8x10 Print by Emily Balivet

For the discreetly witchy inclined, a Kitchen Witch is a great accessory. Yes, she represents the modern Pagan's Kitchen Witch Tradition, but she's also well known in folk lore of many countries for bringing luck in the kitchen.

Kitchen Witch by Reid's Weeds

My playing with herbs lately makes me feel like I'm brewing and concocting on a regular basis. It feels very much like I should have a cauldron.

Medium Witches Cauldron by White Magick Shoppe

Mrs B's 31 Days of Halloween: Emily Balivet & The Whimsical Witch Entries

If you have checked it out yet, you must! Mrs B is having such a fabulous month of giveaways on her blog.

Today, I'm entering to win "Pagan Delights" - Mini Gift Cards ACEO: Set of 9 From the original paintings by Emily Balivet.

I'm also entering to win an Herbal Adornment of Witches Black Salt - used for Protection and Banishing Negative Energry from The Whimsical Witch.

Check out Mrs B's blog for details on how you can enter for these and other amazing prizes each and every day in October.