Jalapeño Overload

Every fall with the threat of frost looming I frantically try to use up the last of my pepper harvest. What were just tiny seedlings a few short months ago are now 4' tall shrubs with thick stalks and branches hanging low, heavy with their hot fruit. I have a habit of planting way more than I need and jalapeños are no exception. 

Good Morning!

The first product in The Hippie Homesteader line that I would like to feature is WAKE Essential Oil Room/Linen Spray. I use this spray daily as part of my morning routine. I will spray it in my kitchen or bathroom as I prepare breakfast or get ready for the day. I often use it as a body spray when I'm in a hurry so I can take the sweet scents with me. It just gives me that extra boost, helping me feel refreshed and giving me a burst of energy to start the morning.You can also find WAKE as an Essential Oil Serum that you can use as aromatherapy and as a skin conditioner and perfume. WAKE smells fresh, sweet, and citrusy with a hint of spice.

Who is The Hippie Homesteader?

If you've been reading my posts you're probably starting to wonder 'Who is this hippie?' So let me take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Amanda and I'm just a new age hippie chick doing my best to live a healthy, sustainable, green life. I live smack dab in the middle of my town in Southern Wisconsin on a 1/3 acre city lot with my doggy friend Bob. I raise vegetables, chickens, and beef cattle (they live at my moms farm, although I would love it if I could have them here, save me on lawn mowing). I make my own breads and pasta, and I don't own a microwave or dishwasher. Now that's not to say that I don't order pizza delivery or hit the Taco Bell drive thru on occasion. Nobody's perfect.

Also, over the years I have studied herbal medicine and aromatherapy and started developing my own health and wellness products. This mostly started as a necessity. I have a variety of allergies and sensitivities to common cosmetic ingredients. Plagued by chronic itchy skin I developed my own soaps, lip balms, salves, room sprays, and serums. I loved creating products with herbs I had grown in my backyard and infusing them with my energy. There is kind of a running joke with my friends and family that my secret ingredient in my foods and products is love. So cliche I know, but it really is what drives me. I love to create, I love to prepare foods and products with my own two hands and I truly believe that the loving energy I feel is somehow transferred to what I make, and in turn makes it better.

The Mystical Dragonfly

Along with my mantra "Don't pull that weed" I need to add "Don't kill that bug!" Many insects that roam my garden are considered to be beneficial. The elegant dragonfly is one such insect. They may look intimidating due to their size but these creatures help keep the mosquito population down and feast upon a variety of other insects. They do not sting or bite people or pets so they are always a welcome guest in my garden space.

Don't Pull That Weed - Plantain

Second in my "weed" series is the hearty plantain. These little plants seem to pop up everywhere. They look to thrive in dry hard soil, or even where there is no soil in the cracks of my driveway. Much like the purslain, the plantain has also made a home in my garden this year, as if begging me to try it out. The larger leaves can be a bit tough but if picked young they are nice and tender. It is said to be high in iron and can be sauteed and tastes a bit like asparagus or swiss chard.

But better yet these little plants make fantastic medicine. The juice from the leave reduce pain and swelling treating everything from sunburn, bites and stings, to sprains, sore muscles, and arthritis. It is recommended to chew the leaves then apply to the affected area, making a spit poultice if you will. Glamorous? No, but if you have a bee sting that's probably the least of your worries. You can also make an infused oil from the leave, I plan to do this so I have it on hand year round. Just another little gift from nature.

Until next time!
The Hippie Homesteader
www.TheHippieHomesteader.com

Don't Pull That Weed - Purslane

So often when we think of gardening we envision perfectly spaced vegetable plants dotting beds of fluffy black dirt where no weed would even dream of laying down roots. I have been to gardens like this and I leave scratching my head, how on earth do they do that. Let me tell you my garden has never and will never be so perfect. We tend to be a little more free range here at the Hippie Homestead. I pull weeds to give my seedlings a fighting chance and to keep things as tidy as possible but there are just some "weeds" that I just can bring myself to uproot.

Starting from Scratch

As soon as the snow begins to melt I start getting the gardening itch. Of course that is also about the time the seed catalogs start showing up at my mail box. I always have to hold myself back a little and remind myself that the tiny seeds I tamp into the dirt today have a long time to wait before they will be safe from frost in the garden. This year I held off till the first week in March to start my planting ritual. And now as my little seedlings have already out grown their first planter and it is currently snowing outside my window I am beginning to wonder if perhaps I will soon be living in a tomato jungle.

Nobody here but us chickens...

No homestead is complete without a handful of chickens running around. Not only do they give you fresh eggs almost daily (as if that wouldn't be enough on its own) but they are also great garden helpers, eating pests, scratching up garden beds, and providing fertilizer. Though sometimes chickens get a little overzealous in their weeding task and take out carefully planted seedlings. Oh well, their hearts are in the right place.

Happy New Year

 Yes, I realize that I am a few months late to be welcoming in 2016 but January 1st just never feels like a new year to me. Stuck in there right in the middle of winter, I'm barely over the Christmas hoopla and now I'm supposed to be thinking about new beginnings and resolutions for this new year? No, it's dark and cold and feels old and the same, not new and exciting. But today, today is a new beginning. Today is like hitting the reset button. Everything is equal and fresh. We are moving forward into a new season of warmth, light, and fertility.