When Life Gives You Lemons

Today is bring your dog to work day......Kris took Levi to the office and Kita stayed home to help me work

I've wanted to start using these delicious lemons from our backyard for something other than just juicing! Although they liven up any juice or tea.......

Known for it's health benefit for generations, lemon helps to strengthen immunity, cleanse stomach and purify the blood.
Lemon juice is especially useful for people having heart problem, owing to it's high potassium content.
It controls high blood pressure, and helps with respiratory issues and throat infections.
Lemonade also helps you stay calm and cool:)



Other than our loads of lemons we have beautiful roses surrounding the house in full bloom,
so we started brainstorming......


I had wanted to harvest the rose petals to use in teas
but I started thinking they would make a delicious lemonade!

We set out the petals to dry a bit and to let out any inhabitants.....


Tip #1 make sure you grate and squeeze your lemons BEFORE harvesting rose petals...just in case you get pricked! Lemon juice in tiny cuts = mucho pain!

Rose petals infusing in the sun for rose flavored water

      

Break time!
Kita likes the shade from the lemon tree:)








And for extra Rose flavour and health benefits we decided to add Vitamin packed Rosehips to our Lemonade!


For this Rosehip Lemonade recipe you will need:

11/2 cups of fresh lemon juice (7-8 lemons)
5 cups of water
1/3 cup or 6 tblsp of honey
2 tblsp rosehips
3-4 teaspoons of rose water (optional)
*flavor to taste
rose petals for garnish

Combine water, rosehips and honey in a saucepan, heat over med-low heat for 30 minutes to infuse the rosehips.
(At this point you could add whatever flavor you want to your lemonade....just replace the rosehips for green tea, black tea, mint, or a fruit infusion)

Let cool, strain rosehips, then add to pitcher of freshly squeezed lemon juice, add rose water to taste
Serve with rose ice cubes if you are feeling really fancy!

YUM!


I have a lot of other recipes I'm thinking about that use lemons, like:
- Lemon sugar
- Lemon herb pesto
- Lemon echinacea ginger super immune elixer
- Several lemon infused honey's





And I have to use all this zest!!!!

So check back for our ongoing lemon thriller!!!

Planting Time!

Late start on planting this year, April 4th already! Back in Victoria I would have my seeds in the basement germinating already.

Don't hate.....I know most of the country is still under snow!:)

But it's super warm here in Cali already so I can start planting outside now...except for those seeds that need to be kept in the dark.

Finally got some supplies....

Un-packed my seeds......

And planted!

I'm keeping these little guys in the fountain to protect them, it gets a bit windy sometimes.

Always good to plant on the new moon...you can go really into planting by the moon phases but I keep it simple and try to plant on or just after the new moon.
Every time I stick to this, plus say a few words and give an offering I get the strongest healthiest plants.



I also got a few starters from the gardening store as I'm not great growing tomatoes from seed!  But then of course I got carried away....do not let me into a plant, herb or shoe store! Dangerous!!!

Tomatoes, Cilantro, Onions and some Borage seeds

Peppers-Piquillo (mild red) and Garden salsa
(med-hot). We eat a lot of salsa

There's also some mixed beans in there

I also picked up some native Coyote mint (monardella villosa) which will have pretty pink flowers and makes a great tea for sore throats and respiratory ailments....and much more

And I couldn't resist this Blue sage (salvia nemerosa) it reminds me of Skullcap (scutellaria laterifloria), my favorite herb <3

I love all sages...I left a beautiful sage garden back in Victoria.

I'm also planting California White Sage (salvia apiana) and Purple sage (salvia officinalis purpurea)

Levi checkin out the new plants....



We also got some Blackberries, Kris' fave.....acorn quash, sweet peas, sugar peas, and sunflowers....and I don't know how many seeds around the house.....I might have to get Kris to build me some stacking garden beds cause I've already filled the pots!

Super excited about growing in California......we'll see what comes up!!!

How to make an Infused Oil and why

What is and infused oil and why do you want to learn how to make it??

An infused oil is a "carrier" oil that has been permeated "infused" with another material usually plants or herbs.

You can use this technique for making flavored oils for dressings and sauces or to make yourself a nice massage oil or healing oil.

I usually use First Cold Pressed organic olive oil, especially for culinary infusions. This extraction method is done using lower temperatures and leaves the oil unrefined (no added chemicals) and will last longer before going rancid.

How can you tell if your oil goes rancid or spoiled?? Generally smell and taste
If it tastes bad it probably is!

Always keep oils from heat and light to last longer and use within 6 months

To make a culinary oil go out and pick out some nice bottles (if you want them on display) I generally use mason jars as I keep mine in the cupboard so they last longer and they are easy to use....unless I'm in the mood to be fancy, (which does happen from time to time).




I love roaming the Sally-Anne for unusual bottles and containers. Just make sure to clean them really well so not to contaminate food! Also make sure they are dry as any water left in the jar can create mold



Next buy nice fresh dried herbs for a reputable sources with no additives. If whole lightly crush before putting into the bottle.

I usually keep a bottle of rosemary infused oil readily available and I use it on pretty well everything. Plus the health benefits of regularly adding spices to food help fight off colds flu's and disease. You can also use fresh garlic, dried chili peppers, and vanilla!

Try making several small bottles of different flavors to try, that way you will use them quickly before they go off.

After adding the solid material of your choice next fill the jar with oil and place in a paper bag in a sunny location for 2 weeks.

This is the solar method, the paper bag keeps the oils out of the direct sunlight and it does not heat the oils too much.

You can also use the stovetop hot water bath method but be careful not to heat the oils too high or you could burn the oil.

I prefer the solar just because I like doing things the old fashioned way!
Unless I am in a hurry to make a medicinal oil.
Plus I like to think the sun adds a little extra flavor!  



You can start to use your infused culinary oils right away if you like a light flavor, the longer the herb is kept in the oil the stronger the flavor will be. You can also strain out the herb if your oil gets too strong.




Now onto my personal fave's....massage oils and medicinal oils

If you read the tops of the jars in the pic above then you saw Arnica and
white willow written on top. I make these in large batches because they are main ingredients for my famous salve "Wolfsbane Salve" that everyone loves so much.

These oils need to be strained before using, which is simple enough....I first use a stainless strainer then further strain though a muslin cloth.





For massage oils you can use other lighter oils like Grapeseed or sweet Almond oil which absorb nicely into the skin.




Arnica is a great oil to have around as it is great for sore achey muscles, stiff joints, sprains and injuries. You can apply it right to bruises and swellings for quick healing and pain relief.

St John's Wort is another great oil to use if you suffer from nerve pain, sciatica, or injuries with nerve damage. a great healing oil, St John's Wort is also used for burns, wounds, sores, eczema and ulcers.
It's also great on a sunburn, which I happen to be using it for right now!:(

You have to use the fresh yellow flowers of Hypericum perforatum for true St John's Wort oil and not from the many common garden variety shrubs out there.



You will know in about 2 weeks if you have the right flowers as the oil will turn a beautiful red color.
This oil is left in direct sunlight to mature not in a paper bag.

There are many uses of making your own oils and there's a lot of information out there.
If you have any questions on infusing oils or how to get the materials or for a specific purpose message me:)

Coming soon.....videos on how to make medicine stuff!!!!