Cleavers are growing around here. They're edible, high in vitamin C and silica; I like them chopped and added to soups. The leaves are also useful for the lymphatic system. Out in the field, it's useful for sunburns or fresh wounds--just don't use too hot of water to infuse them into before making a compress and of course if you're dealing with a burn, let the infusion cool down (a lot!) first. Second pick are greens picked both from the garden and the field. I thank God for all the food growing all around me!

Got comfrey? One of the many medicinal and nutritive plants to be grown on the homestead used both for leaf and root. It's true that comfrey contains varying amounts of PA's (the root more so) and thus might seriously harm some folks with liver damage (especially with long term use), but skeptical herbalists disagree about tossing out hundreds of years of effective, traditional use. I suggest doing your own study and/or working with a clinical herbalist before using any herb internally. Comfrey is one of many on the regulatory agencies list to be cautious with. For more info, search Paul Bergner for his take on the comfrey controversy. Do you use comfrey in any way?

I'm so thankful for the home garden. Lots to eat already, and more on the way, Lord willing (please keep the deer away). I'm hoping this will be the year to put in a drip, although spending time in nature with a watering wand isn't a bad use of time. This year I'll be experimenting with letting my favorite salad greens go to seed to save them. I've never done that. But once upon a time, I'd never kept a garden, either.

Thanks to @Dikaios1517 it looks like I am zappable again (anyone care to test that?) 😊 Still working on being able TO zap. Not that I have a lot to worry about. I mean, I just accidentally gave Alby half of what I owned 🙄 But I'm here trying to learn. And that counts, yes? Meanwhile, here are some walking Egyptian onions. This is year two. First of all, green onions forever more. The small bulblet onions set on top, which you can totally eat of course, but once they are heavy enough will brings the stalks to the ground where they will root and grow another plant, thus "walking". You could also divide the plant and grow them elsewhere in your garden. Another great plant for your perennial garden!

Here's some fresh salad from the garden. Just looking at it makes me feel better. Now, before I lose all hope in participating in BTC please help me! I am *trying* to link a wallet with #alby. I even bought the $36 annual fee Hub (stupidly with my wallet instead of a cc but I didn't notice until it was too late and I think I fixed that but it's too late for the initial and argh!). I am on a vicious loop in Alby that keeps sending me to "link to your own wallet" (which I hit)...then I hit the "pro cloud/pro" which tells me I now HAVE a current plan....and then....nowhere do I connect?...back to "link to your own wallet"....again and again 😖😫 I find this whole process incredibly non-intuitive and difficult. HOW do I now connect everything to reestablish my ability to send and receive zaps again? If any of you professionals (ie. you know what you're doing) really want to grow this thing, it would be helpful to offer in person help/classes through the library or parks n rec, that sort of thing. I bet there are a LOT of people like me who Just Can't Get It (but want to) 🫣 #grownostr forever a #newbie

I invested in a Light Phone to help me opt out of having a smartphone that makes me feel stupider every day. All this does for me is text and call. I didn't even add the extras such as directions, because I miss having good directional sense. I still have my SIMless smartphone at home on wifi for apps (such as this one), but slowly I am peeling those away either onto my desktop or to analog. So far, my favorite is to be out and about and to make contact and communication with other people who aren't nose down into their phones. Nice little tool, so far.

Lovage is a great garden addition for both culinary (strong celery flavoring) and medicinal (a warming diuretic for cases such as edema or UTI) purposes. Worth researching if you haven't met this humble plant IMO. Growing medicine in my garden makes me happy.

Took a walk in one of the pastures I am fixing up and found an old plastic soda bottle. Upon digging, discovered a garbage dump. Two black full trash bags so far and no end in sight. Not. Happy.

My happy place: picking dandelion flowers in the sunshine, then picking off all of the petals to make a lovely soft jelly with.

Loving the spring greens. Here I foraged dandelion, nettle, sorrel and plantain, picked kale and chard from the garden, and then added some baby spinach I had in the fridge. Seasoned and then cooked down with a little water and tomato sauce 😋

The sun finally showed up and I am happy to see it ☀️ Also happy to have the garden mostly planted; here's hoping the deer will continue to avoid the buffet while better fencing gets installed this year. My scrappy use-up-extra-yarn sweater is coming along, and now that the planting is in a good place perhaps I can finish it. I took some time to fly away with some friends, which was fun (highly recommend, if you can do it). Meanwhile, I've been making some changes. Like trading my smartphone for a Light Phone, and my desktop computer for a Daylight. My daughters and I are challenging each other to read an entire book every two weeks, and I'm loving that as my "reading" had become lazy due to the screen-scrolling kind. Also closing up my online client clinical herbalist practice, and choosing to keep my handful of local see-in-person clients instead. It's mostly a slow-go spring endeavoring towards an even more slow-go livestyle, and I'm happy with that pace thus far 🌿

Nettle's up, oh happy spring! That means it's time for me to get my green starts outside, another measure of happiness. I left my lemon verbena out all winter and even my chopped down celery. It all survived, even the celery (!) and is making a come back. Can't wait to check out my bioreactor compost later this summer after its yearlong stew.

Working on the second sleeve of my use-it-up scrappy yarn sweater. Spring is almost here so I better hurry it up!

Green tea with lemongrass and mint this morning (coffee comes later) as I work in the dark before the kids get up, listening to a sermon, heating up the home. The rest of the day is always beyond very full; this is my time to charge my batteries. Good morning everyone, hope you have a great day. #coffeechain #artstr #art #momlife #artjournaling #grownostr

Back when I was a young woman, I kept bees for a season. I didn't have an extractor so I just made due. I think about doing this again but sometimes it's the whole "starting over from scratch" that gets in the way. Anyhooo. I think I fixed the Alby zap thing by logging in. Maybe? It's giving me an option to connect my wallet to it. Yes? Good idea? Oy, this learning curve. Keeping bees was easier. #grownostr #asknostr #homesteading

T'was an enjoyable afternoon 🌱

Making an blend of honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, echinacea and elderflower for someone with a lingering cold. And marmalade, just because I love it so much in the winter 🍊Meanwhile, the kids are doing an art project and I'm giving myself permission later this afternoon to sit and do nothing except knit knit knit and watch a movie with them all. I think running around nonstop does nothing to keep those colds from settling in so I'd rather just avoid them to begin with. Hope you're all having a restful winter.

Starting the first sleeve. Not much, except destruction, happens in a day. Choose to build. #grownostr