Poison ivy home remedy

When we woke up this morning both children had red itchy rashes from poison ivy, perhaps a souvenir 

from our recent trip, reminders of good times comes in all sizes:)

Anyways, before we had breakfast we went straight to the yard to find some plants to help with the itch and the subsequent spreading of these rashes.

We are fortunate to have three excellent choices right in our back yard.

Jewelweed

 A wonderful plant with many benefits, which grows in shady spots usually by water, here it is growing by the creek in the back yard. It is great to use fresh, simply break off a stem and rub between your hands and smear the "sap" straight onto the rash, it stopped the itching almost immediately, and it works to dry out the blisters as well. It is also great to put on before entering an area where you may encounter poison ivy and in this way use it as a preventative, or right after you know you have been in contact with the poison ivy to prevent breakout.

 A good wash within 20 min of contact also works as the oils of the ivy has not yet bound with the skin.

Comfrey 

Which is one of my favorite plants. It has so many medicinal benefits, great as a topical solution for any skin condition, great internally in teas as well as tinctures for a number of reasons (check link if interested), grows fast and can be cut down several times over the course of a season, which makes it a great mulch plant, and the list goes on, I love plants that have such a wide range of uses.

Keep in mind before planting, that the long tap root, is not easily removed, and once planted very hard to   move should you regret the chosen location, a new plant will grow from even the smallest piece of root left behind, this also makes it very easy to propagate, but do not be light about where you plant it. 

Common plantain

Another common garden weed with tons of benefits, don't you just love how almost every plant 

around us, serves as food or medicine or both. When I first arrived in these mountains, this was one of the first plants I was made aware of, it is a well know remedy for stings, and we even used it a few times just this past week on our trip, as several children and myself got wasp stings, simply pull off a leaf chew it up in your mouth and apply on sting, it works amazingly every time. It has numerous other benefits as well, check link if interested. 

So here is our basket full of plants, another love of mine, as you may have noticed; baskets full of 

greens, herbs and/or flowers 

back inside, having already applied the fresh sap of the jewelweed to the rashes, we broke open the rest of the stems of the jewelweed and ripped the leaves of the plantain and the comfrey 

put it in a big pot, added water and boiled for I'd say about 45 min, let it cool a bit and strained

we made some into ice cubes, which feels great on a burning itchy rash, and filled some into little spray bottles to carry around with us, for whenever we do not have the fresh stems on hand, and besides the children love anything that comes in spray bottles:)

The rest will be stored in the fridge, and shared with friends

and just because it feels right to end with a flower shot whenever possible, here is another of the thistle that so fascinated me on our trip to Virginia

may your day be poison ivy free:)

Berries for jam

Back in Asheville and full of inspiration, we had some different kitchen projects planned for today, but having just returned we headed for the country to get fresh milk, eggs and greens, lots of orange and blue flowers in the mountains today, day lilies and chicory. So beautiful...

On the way up to the farm Kaleena eyed some berries and out we went, she wanted to pick enough to make jam, and she was determined. The focus of the day became finding different spots where the ripe wild raspberries grew, there were some yet not quite enough for yam, so we thought to check on the mulberries and found just enough that together with a few blueberries we also found, we gathered a jar full, enough for one glass of jam. 

We found this caterpillar cocoon growing on the mulberry tree, they always amaze us.

I have been told by several organic gardeners to leave them as they attract birds and provide excellent food for them.

Our berry harvest

our basket full of goodies

And here are the berries ready for mashing, just the job for two little children

stirring in the sugar, we usually use honey, but for todays surprise batch we treated ourselves to a sugar jam. We use Pomona's Universal Pectin which is free of preservatives and requires much less sweetener than other jell agents, and the pack has recipes inside.

and here it is, 1 and 1/2 jar, what a bonus, such an unexpected berry bliss surprise.

served on fresh farm bread with a glass of cold fresh milk

yum..

one more flower, just becauce...

~berry blessings...~

The beautiful children

Well, our trip has almost come to an end, tomorrow bright and early we will pile back into the car and make the four hour journey back to Asheville.

What has impressed me the most this past week is the beautiful children.

Such joy, such creativity, such beauty.

Their friendship has grown stronger as they have run in the fields, gathered food from the wild, build fires...many of them, gone swimming in the creek, build houses in the tall grasses and under the bushes, gone hiking and berry picking and everything in between.

I am once again reminded of the treasure it is to live in the country.

The children were certainly dirty 95% of the time, their hair a mess filled with seeds and grass, and their clothes  and faces stained with mud, and often wet as well, and yes there certainly was also a massive amount of laundry accumulated, as well as constant messes here and there.

But to see the shine in their eyes as they full of joy run across the grasses into the woods to later emerge with a tiny birds nest, or a handful of carrots or berries or peas to be cooked on the fire, or a little red newt or some other fishy creature, and to watch them work as a team while building a fire or preparing a meal or taking care of one of the littler ones who got a splinter, 

has all been just magical for me to behold.

To be sure, seven children do put forth an intense amount of energy, and the week has not been without conflicts, between the girls and the boys, the littles and the bigger, yet the conflicts were always short lived and before long they were amazed by some common interest or find and all was forgotten, yet again the beauty of children.

I give thanks for this week among friends, submerging ourselves into the freedom of being, and the appreciation of nature. I again remind myself that all the recent turmoil of our lives is for a reason and that all is moving along as it should. And although our future journey will likely bring us oceans apart from the dear Watkins family I trust that the bond the children, and the mamas for that matter, share will keep bringing our families together for years to come.

~With love and gratitude~

Words to ponder

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness That most frightens us. We ask ourselves Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of spirit. Your playing small  Does not serve the world.  There's nothing enlightened about shrinking  So that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine,  As children do.  We were born to make manifest  The glory of the spirit that is within us. It's not just in some of us;  It's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine,  We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we're liberated from our own fear,  Our presence automatically liberates others. Marianne Williamson Shine on, and have a happy sunday:)

Lots of dough

Last night we made pizza with the children, and they were all so excited about the process,

the kneading, the rolling and the adding of toppings, and although the dough was a bit heavy, as we had no white flour and used only whole wheat and buck wheat flour, it was greatly enjoyed by all.

We had a lot of left over dough and decided to bake the rest over the fire today, check here to see how to
bake your own "snobrød"
The children got busy building the fire,

finding sticks, as we had no bamboo handy, and carving them to take off the bark

and of course baking them over the fire

they all loved it!!

and later we went on a stinging nettle hunt down an old country lane..

Another wonderful day spent with friends in nature
:)

This Moment

A friday ritual inspired by Soulmama

A single photo, no words

A moment I want to pause, treasure and remember

May your weekend be filled with special moments..