chelsealise

That’s a Wrap!

Well, friends, it’s been one heck of a season, and believe it or not, I round it out by planting garlic today. A little late – and with snow on the ground – but I’m happy to have finally got them in. Thankfully the ground was still soft enough to put a pitchfork through theContinue reading “That’s a Wrap!”

Preparing our Hives for the Colder Days Ahead

This post was originally written for Everything Herbal, an herbal education blog. Now that snow covers the ground where we live, I know that even though I can’t see them, the honeybees are still working hard within the hive’s four walls. Up until now, on any day warm enough to do so, they continued toContinue reading “Preparing our Hives for the Colder Days Ahead”

I made ketchup!

If you’re like us, living in temperate parts of North America, you may also be getting creative with how you’re using up the number of tomatoes taking over your fridge. As soon as we had our first couple of frosts, I went to work pulling off all the tomatoes that I could get my handsContinue reading “I made ketchup!”

Rosehip Syrup & Late Tomatoes

We’re just under a week away from the first day of fall and I’m still plucking tomatoes almost daily. Like most people I’ve spoken to, tomatoes ripened late this year, even for those of us who started from seed indoors in February. I did, however, speak to a market gardener who told me they’ve givenContinue reading “Rosehip Syrup & Late Tomatoes”

Fall, in the Middle of Summer

As I notice some of our deciduous trees begin to have their leaves show specks of autumn, I thought the sharing of this piece may be fitting. Many thanks to guest writer, Bella Donna, for sharing. I’m sure this has happened for eons, but for me a most recent discovery. I’m outside in the middleContinue reading “Fall, in the Middle of Summer”

The Season of Doing

It’s been some time since I’ve sat down to write, but so much has changed since I last did, and I’m sitting down now with lots of updates to share. Our garden is now in full swing – housing lots of different heirloom varieties, from flashy butter gem lettuce to dragon tongue beans – andContinue reading “The Season of Doing”

Spring has sprung!

This weekend, with snow melting and uncovering most of our working land, we haven’t stopped moving! It’s safe to say, we had been itching for long days spent outside, getting our hands dirty again. And that’s exactly what we did. You might remember from previous blog posts, the old rickety barn that always sat betweenContinue reading “Spring has sprung!”

Winnie, and herbal nervines for dogs

After bringing Winnie, our newly adopted ten-week-old Australian Shepherd, home with our beloved Beagle, Dot, we were soon surprised to find that our two-year-old beagle had started frothing at the mouth, and behaving completely out of character from her typical jolly self. She was avoiding eye contact and shaking nervously whenever Winnie would come nearContinue reading “Winnie, and herbal nervines for dogs”

Winter’s Coming

As I kneel down next to the bees, who are buzzing around half-empty trays collecting what’s leftover from this year’s harvest (we leave the trays outside once we’ve collected from them, to help supplement the small number of flowers so late in the season), I can’t help but anticipate winter. The air, although warm forContinue reading “Winter’s Coming”

Let’s talk about Turkey Tail

Amongst all the mushrooms making an appearance in the wellness world these days, Turkey Tail often isn’t one of them. Though it is one of the most studied mushrooms in the world and has a wide range of benefits – both for the ecosystems in which it is found and for human consumption. If you’veContinue reading “Let’s talk about Turkey Tail”