Herb Garden ... and other happenings

Herbs

I finally planted some of the herbs in my medicinal garden. The lemongrass is really taking off. This is especially good news because when I received my seed packet it had a little sticker on that said “because of low germination rates this season, we have added extra seeds”. What didn’t do too well was the dandelion, valerian, and hyssop. I have to say I find it kind of funny the dandelion didn’t grow. Really??? Dandelion, isn’t it just a weed? I have fond memories of making dandelion flower necklaces with my sister when we were little, and now years later I can’t get to to grow. I’m not giving up on it yet. The hyssop has a few small sprouts, but it took a long time to come out. I did get one valerian plant, and it seems like it’s doing okay, so we’ll see what happens. I also grew 5 different kinds of echinacea, some are growing better than others.

Something is eating the mugwort. I’m guessing it’s the chickens, but I’m not sure. It seems to be the only thing that’s being eaten, so I’m a little relieved. The lavender is tiny with no flowers at all, but boy does it sure smell like lavender.

Soap!

I’m getting better at making soap. I had the hubby make me a wooden soap box because I wanted to have bar soap instead of the small round ones I’ve been making. I made an avocado oil soap, and it came out really well. As I don’t have any more avocado oil, I made coconut oil soap today. No, the coconut oil wasn’t made by me … not yet, it’s our next project. But, I did combine it with a hibiscus moringa tea I made. The tea was a beautiful red color, but when I mixed it with the lye it turned it this not very nice yellow brown color. Luckily when I mixed the oil with it later, it came out a nice light cream color. I sprinkled the top with dried hibiscus and moringa leaves. I ended up buying two soap molds from Amazon. While my husband’s mold was nice, it was a hassle to line it with wax paper so the soap wouldn’t stick. I’m still keeping it because it had a nice rustic look to it, but I’m kind of excited to see if this molded soap comes out.

Avocado oil soap

Coconut oil with hibiscus moringa tea Soap

Goats

We’re working on the taming the goats. Clyde is tame, he’s a little too friendly sometimes and his horns are getting bigger. He’s not so sweet with Bonnie, and will push her away when it’s feeding time. Bonnie is still timid. I did get her eating out my hand today and snuck in a few quicks pets when I got a chance. She’s coming around. Bailey, our pup, LOVES the goats. She sneaks in every time we get in the pen and gives Clyde some sweet kisses when she gets a chance. Bonnie is not a fan, and keeps her distance from Bailey.

What’s in season?

Right now, we’re eating pineapples, white mountain apples, papayas, avocados, bananas, pipinola, pumpkin, eggplant, and lots of greens (I know I’m forgetting things). Our cloves and allspice are being picked and dried.

Fresh dried cloves (they smell heavenly)

The avocados are just starting to ripen, a few more weeks and we’ll have a lot. The coffee is starting to turn red, it’s July!! Just a few cherries, but it’s starting. We have lots of eggs from the ladies. And all of duck babies are growing. This year, we had one crested duck in our batch. She’s a gray color and her tuft is perfectly round, it looks like she’s wearing a hat, slightly tilted off to the side. My husband calls her Gertrude.