California Native Bulbs

Stopped by Tree of Life Nursery today and picked up some bulbs for next summer.

Allium unifolium (one leaf onion, oneleaf onion)

Calochortus luteus (yellow mariposa, yellow mariposa lily)

Calochortus superbus (yellow mariposa)

Dichelostemma ida-maia (Firecracker brodiaea, firecracker flower)

Triteleia ixioides (Golden brodiaea, pretty face, pretty face)

Calochortus venustus (Butterfly Mariposa Lily, butterfly mariposa)

Dichelostemma ida-maia x multiflorum (Pink Diamond, Firecracker brodiaea, firecracker flower)

Press n' Dry

 Pressed Columbine flowers and leaves!

 Sliced and drying Cumquats that i'm going to make solid perfume with soon.

Drying Chocolate Mint.

DIY balm

A few days ago I made my own blam. Next time I will probably use Jojoba oil instead of coconut oil because though I loved the results, the coconut oil over powered the sent of the herbs and ended up smelling like coconut cookies, which isn't a bad thing, but I really was hoping for the minty Yerba Buena and apple-y Chamomile to be the main scent. Oh well! Here is a step-by-step of my process.


Ingredients:
-coconut oil
-unfiltered bee's wax
-Marshmallow root
-Yerba Buena (Satureja douglasii, California native)
-Chamomile
-mint oil

Step One:

Crush up 3oz of herbs of your choice.

 Marshmallow root, Yerba Buena, and Chamomile

 Chamomile

Yerba Buena

All crushed up

Step Two:

Mix herbs into a pot with one cup of coconut oil and heat on low (NOT BOIL) for 3 hours, stirring every so often.

Step Three:

After the 3 hours have elapsed, strain the contents leaving only (or mostly only) the coconut oil herby liquid. While no longer being heated, add about a 1/4 or less cup of bee's wax and stir till fully melted.

Step Four:

Now choose some hella cute jars to put it all in. Those little jam sample jars you see at breakfast places (like the one with the black lid below)  work perfectly.  I'd use more of those if I had more. Anyways, pour the liquid into the jars through another strainer and funnel. 

Step Five:

Finally, put them in the fridge until they are cool and you're done!

Now just label them and enjoy :)!

 (I know, I spelled Chamomile wrong on the jars :| )

Bulbs

Flowering season is pretty much over for all my bulbs, but I'm so excited for next year cause I have some new ones.
Heres a list of all the bulb flowers I have:
Ornithogalum dubium - Sun Star
Narcissus papyraceus - Paper Whites 
Narcissus asturiensis - Miniature Daffodil 
Muscari neglectum - Grape Hyacinth 
Polianthes tuberosa - Double Tuberose 

 Narcissus papyraceus - Paper Whites

 Muscari neglectum - Grape Hyacinth

 Ornithogalum dubium - Sun Star

Narcissus asturiensis - Miniature Daffodil 

Polianthes tuberosa - Double Tuberose 

Pressed leaves

Trifolium pratense, Red Clover, from my garden dried in a book and pressed in glass in a drift wood frame (:

Summer projects

This Summer I plan on making lots of different herbal soaps, lip balms, salves, alcoholic infusions/liquors & candles. I have a bunch of other herbs in my garden that I'm planning on drying and using as well :)

"Make Your Place: affordable, sustainable nesting skills" & "The Mental Health Cookbook: Creating a connection with food and herbs"

Bergamot Mint drying on paper towel

Camomille, Jasmine, Chocolate Mint, & Lavender

2lbs of unfiltered, unprocessed bee's wax

Valarian Root Valeriana officinalis

Marsh Mallow Althaea Officinalis

Japanese Honeysuckle Lonicera japonica

Woodland Strawberries

First two Woodland Strawberries of the season. They are about the size of peanuts.

Fragaria californica 

!!! >:(

Something, I don't know what, pulled up ALL 6 of my beet plants last night. Beets that I had spent a month and a half germinating and weaning and just planted in the ground last week. I am so pissed! It could have at least left one survivor.  UUUUURRGGH!!


* 2 survivors were recovered from the wreckage.

MINT!

Mint is one of my favorite herbs. I have been collecting as many different species as I can find for a few years and now have about 9 different species.

Mints Species!: 
Mentha citrata - Bergamot Mint 
Mentha × gracilis - Ginger Mint 
Mentha × piperita - Chocolate Mint (steril hybrid)
Mentha niliaca - Egyptian Mint 
Mentha spicata - Spearmint  
Mentha × piperita - Peppermint 
Mentha spicata var. crispa - Curly Mint 
Mentha arvensis - Banana Mint 
*Mentha longifolia subsp. schimperi - Eastern Mint  

Others in the Lamiaceae family:  
Nepeta reichenbachiana - Cat Mint 
Clinopodium douglasii - Yerba Buena (Cal. Native) 
Clinopodium chandleri - San Miguel Savory (Cal. Native) 
Pycnanthemum californicum - California Mountain mint (Cal. Native)  

Pictures coming soon!

*I spent months trying to track down the exact species name of this mint. I cloned it from a plant in my friends yard and discovered that it is fairly rare and originates from somewhere in the Middle East. It has a very intense, almost pungent minty sent. It is quite prolific, as is common to most mints, so I keep it in a pot. It's flowers are white to light light purple and grow on a 3 to 4 pronged spike inflorescence. Very popular with the bees.

More wire garden markers

I'll eventually paint these too ( :

Wildflowers!

Just sowed in a bunch of wildflower seeds today in front of my Woodland Strawberry patch ( :

Native California seeds including:
-Abronia villosa - Desert Sand Verbena
-Baileya multiradiata - Desert Marigold
-Linum perenne - Blue Flax
-Lupinus bicolor - Miniature Lupine
-Nemophila maculata - Fivespot
-Phacelia campanularia ssp. vasiformis - Desert Bluebells
-Salvia columbariae var. columbariae - Chia
-Sphaeralcea ambigua var. ambigua - Apricot Mallow
-Amblyopappus pusillus - Pineapple weed
-Eschscholzia californica - California Poppy

Non-native seeds including:

-Trifolium pratense - Red Clover

-Helianthus - Dwarf Sunflower

-Aquilegia - Columbine

-Papaver orientale L. - Oriental Poppy

Lupinus bicolor - Miniature Lupine

Baileya multiradiata - Desert Marigold

Nemophila maculata - Fivespot

Amblyopappus pusillus - Pineapple weed

Salvia columbariae var. columbariae - Chia

Sphaeralcea ambigua var. ambigua - Apricot Mallow

Phacelia campanularia ssp. vasiformis - Desert Bluebells

Aquilegia - Columbine

Trifolium pratense - Red Clover

Wire garden markers

Copper wire painted with red acrylic paint : )