I started my journey with lavender several years ago. I had purchased and planted seven different types including Provence and Munstead. Several of them were not hardy and are long gone. Figuring I needed a little help with lavender I enrolled in an online lavender course – From Soil to Sachet – taught by Susan…
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Purslane from our yard
Although it’s been growing in my yard for years, I first heard about purslane while watching Dr. Oz on Oprah a couple years back. According to Dr. Oz, purslane is high in Omega 3 which we all need. Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is also high in beta-carotene, as well as magnesium and potassium. It was used…
Read MoreSun Printing 2
Last summer I had so much fun with sun printing. If you’ve not read my project from last summer, check it out here. I liked those pieces, but wanted more vibrant color so I headed off to Blick’s to buy some Seta Color Transparent paints. There, I sat on the floor trying to decide on…
Read MoreCherry Cherry
Asparagus harvesting is over (we got 20 pounds from our little patch!) and now it’s on to one of my favorites – cherries. Much to our surprise, when we moved in that our property had a cherry tree. We added three more, one of which has since died. This year is the first year that…
Read MoreHammered Leaves Art
This is a great time to try this art. The leaves are full of moisture and just right to be hammered. Before choosing leaves the fabric needs to be prepared. Here are supplies you will need for this process. 100% white cotton fabric (yard) washing soda (available at most grocery stores) alum (aluminum sulfate) found…
Read MorePlanting the Church Garden
Hubby and I started a food pantry garden last spring through our church, American Baptist East. It was very successful in spite of the lack of rain and being a new project. You can read more information on this garden on Dave’s post. This spring the garden was under water for several weeks and with…
Read MoreMore Color Here
It is so busy here with all of the gardening and crafting and writing, but I just had to take some pictures and show you some of the color here at Happy Acres. Here are a two of my irises that have never bloomed before.This one I bought several years ago and moved it from…
Read MorePlantain Anti-Itch Balm
Now that I have that wonderful plantain infused oil, it’s time to make some anti-itch balm. I’ve put 4 ounces of plantain infused oil into my double boiler. To that oil I added approximately 1 ounce of beeswax. After the beeswax dissolved, I removed it from the double boiler. The more beeswax you use, the…
Read MoreBlackberry Fruit Leather
Last year I tried my best to use up our blackberries. We froze a lot of them and put them in smoothies. I also made jello, syrup (which I’ve already made two batches this spring from last year’s harvest), popsicles, and cobbler. But leather – no. I made apple leather – do that every year…
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