“How lovely the silence of growing things”

One of the best aspects of creating what I do is getting to spend time in the garden. Obviously I am there to harvest and nurture my herbs and flowers for my products, but also for my sanity.

Each year I take time to plan what new herbs and flowers I might want to introduce into my gardens. I usually just walk around the greenhouse and see what inspires me and sometimes I create a whole product from that one interesting flower. When I was in Colonial Williamsburg this past Spring, I came home with at least 10 seed packets of various 18th century favorites. Growing Colonial plants is such an easy way to connect to the past and to our history.  My best find was probably the Horehound plant, which was used to make cough drops (and can still be found in Ricola products I noticed).  It can be seen in the below picture (the plant in the back).

At dusk I try and go out to see what is thriving, what needs some extra love, and what can be harvested for drying. My only companions are usually the bees, rabbits, and some pesky mosquitoes. Thankfully my garden has an arsenal of plants that repel those nasty buggers and a quick rubbing together of lemon balm and lavender does the trick.

 

 

These plants are capable of some miraculous things, especially for the body. It’s a wonder that more people are not aware of how such a simple and natural element can do so much good.

When life is tough and things don’t seem to go quite as planned, this is my remedy. The quiet and calm of that magical space clears my head and puts things into perspective. I can walk back out into the real world with a new plan and better understanding of what I want from the future. We all have our simple pleasures, and this is one of mine.

-Lauren