Friday, June 24, 2011

Full Moon Herb Harvest

The day after the beautiful full moon we had last week I got busy harvesting herbs in the garden. A good part of the morning was spent getting offerings ready and conducting rituals, with Airmid being the focus.

{makeshift altar to Airmid behind the shade bed}

I like to harvest herbs for fertility, healing, blessings, and general protection around the full moon whenever possible. By the end of it all I had almost six baskets full of various herbs.

{spearmint, peppermint, lemon balm, chives, lady's mantle, sweet woodruff}

After prepping herbs for later use {mostly hanging or in paper bags to dry}, I made a few different concoctions.

{herbal honeys & vinegars}

I made a few other pretties besides the pictured ones, but that will be another post. The pictured ones are dandelion vinegar, chive blossom vinegar {I got the recipe from a local dietitian Nancy Guppy of Chapman's Landing Cooking Studio}. Also pictured is a lemon balm/hawthorn/heather sedative honey {lemon balm from my garden, the hawthorn was wildcrafted last year, the heather from Richters, and the honey from Board's Honey Farm} and an elder flower & berry anti-viral honey {both the flowers & berries from Richter's and the honey again from Board's}.

If you have never made an herbal honey before and want to give it a try, check out this helpful video by Susun Weed.



Sláinte!

Laurel
post signature

5 comments:

Bek said...

Like Susun says, they look so pretty anyway, aside from their usefulness! Very inspiring just to look at your photo there :)

perma_culture said...

Your garden is so magical! =^)

nefaeria said...

Thanks Beks & Permie! :)

Elizabeth S said...

You truly are a plant whiz!

nefaeria said...

*blush* thanks Elizabeth. I don't think I am a whiz though, I just listen to them. :)