potions

I remember when I was a little girl, I would spend an afternoon going through cabinets and cupboards looking for odds and ends to mix together. Dusty spices, mysterious powders, an egg, juice and milk and water, sugar sprinkles, whatever I could find. So it never surprised me when Zach would go suspiciously quiet for a long time down in the starboard hull and I would suddenly smell a very strong scent of peppermint and lavender. I peek around the corner and I see him kneeling on the toilet seat with a mason jar and open containers of baby shampoo, essential oil, hand soap, and running water. I smile and tiptoe back to where I was and leave him to his potions.

It was a natural progression to get him involved in making some potions that the family can actually use now and again. He knows how to collect plantain and dandelion greens, we gathered jewel weed and comfrey from the Fairy Forest, a dash of calendula flowers and oil and beeswax and suddenly we're mixing up our own green balm/ owie lotion.

 

 

 

I love having this around because not only does it really help with the scratches and bites that tend to cover the kids this time of year, but being family made from stuff we know Naia can stick her chubby little fingers in there and rub it all over herself and I don't have to worry. (I used this recipe as a guide.)

We also made poison ivy spray from the jewel weed. 

And of course a little late summer sickie bug swept through the family requiring the first batch of elderberry syrup for the season.

Kids are so naturally enthusiastic about mixing and making, and there are so many great resources for learning about herbs like Herbal Roots Zine and Herb Fairies. Next up we're going to experiment with making our own teas. We'll let you know how that goes.