My Own Sweet Honegrown Calendula🌼 at Least 10 Times More Fragrant Than Purchased Flowers

lmrebert
lmrebert Posts: 363 ✭✭✭✭

Watching this wonderful Home Medicine Summit has me all inspired and appreciating all my stuff in my little suburban garden. I planted a sweet calendula and it gave me wonderful flowers I plucked at the peak of the day (left a few for the bees) and dried them as I went. I left for a short camping trip only to come back to a terrible whitefly infestation on it... I fought hard for Callie but lost 😞 I had infused the flowers in oil in July and had the time and inspiration today to strain and bottle it. Omgosh! I just cannot believe the beautiful glistening yellow/orange oil it at least 10 fold more aromatic than I’ve ever gotten from purchased flowers. This is a staple in my remedies and I am just feeling so grateful about what my Callie gave me!! In the picture is a new little beauty and I’m gonna watch Dula close!! Has anyone compared something they bought to something they then were able to find and grow for them selves?


Comments

  • maimover
    maimover Posts: 359 ✭✭✭

    I’ve been looking for plants around local nurseries but have been unable to locate; am looking forward to growing some of my own.

  • lmrebert
    lmrebert Posts: 363 ✭✭✭✭

    @maimover i found mine at Clark’s.. it’s a great store with all organic produce you can’t find anywhere else. They sell herbs that are heirloom and I’ve had great success!!

  • chimboodle04
    chimboodle04 Posts: 286 ✭✭✭

    @maimover They are super-easy to grow from seed as well! - just sprinkle some in your garden and they will grow. I have unexpected volunteers pop up all the time from previous years' plants. Baker Creek Seeds online has a nice selection for a good price - that is where I buy mine.

  • merlin44
    merlin44 Posts: 426 ✭✭✭✭

    @maimover I second @chimboodle04, calendula is an easy grow, Baker Creek Seeds is a great company to deal with (they have a beautiful catalog and no GMO's). Calendula- good medicine, beautiful, seeds easy to save so you buy only once.

  • Obiora E
    Obiora E Posts: 517 ✭✭✭✭

    @lmrebert Yes I have. I have done it with biscuits, bread, pancakes, cakes, pies, drinks, fruit, vegetables, and the like. I definitely prefer the food that I make at home to a lot of the the foods from stores and even sometimes made by local chefs!

  • sallyhoward
    sallyhoward Posts: 106 ✭✭✭

    Yes. Home grown anything is so much more flavoursome than store bought!

  • maimover
    maimover Posts: 359 ✭✭✭

    @merlin44 , @lmrebert , @chimboodle04

    thank you for your help. I will definitely check out Clark’s and Baker Creek Seeds. My friend and I grew a garden this year and we’re looking forward to utilizing his greenhouse this winter. We seed saved for the first time and made some interesting discoveries like the onions that went to seed. When they got the top he said you might as well pull it because they’re won’t be an onion under the soil. I suggested we let it go and see what happens. They seeded; so exciting. Neither of us has ever grown onions from seed, always sets so I’m super excited to see if we can make it happen...

  • gennywu
    gennywu Posts: 96 ✭✭✭

    @lmrebert - You asked us to compare something we bought with something we have grown at home. I grow lemon balm in a pot close to my front door. In the evening, I like to pick some leaves (or use dried leaves) for a calming tea. I also have bought lemon balm for tea, but there is so little flavor compared to the home grown. It is definitely worth growing your own. Lemon balm is easy to cultivate but best in a deep pot since it can take over your garden.

  • nksunshine27
    nksunshine27 Posts: 343 ✭✭✭

    @Imrebert i bet your infused oil would go wonderful in homemade soap.

    i just planted caledula seeds i found from the 70's out of the whole packet 4 seeds sprouted and grew i harvested and dried the flowers and let some go to seed so i could plan them again next year and see what happens

  • csinclair461
    csinclair461 Posts: 159 ✭✭✭

    That is so encouraging, I know I have heard it before, but it really makes me look forward to growing my own flowers for medicine next year! Thanks for the post. I know I have found it to be true with my homegrown rosemary too - so much more flavor.

  • alindsay22
    alindsay22 Posts: 129 ✭✭✭

    Last spring I had a new weed take over my garden. I looked it up and it was dead nettle, which is said to have similar properties to nettle. I drink nettle in my tea always as I feel it really helps with congestion. Well, I harvested a lot of the dead nettle, leaving some to reseed just in case I liked it and made a tincture with the small amount of material I had. The tincture has made me start foraging because it was so much more potent than the dry bag of nettles I put in my tea. I have used it sparingly during this last year for nasal congestion and runny noses waiting and hoping it will be back this spring. It works so fast, I just have to touch the tincture to my mouth at this point and my nose opens up. Turns out I have polyps and the tincture is probably shrinking them - fast, really fast.

    I just recently made a wild lettuce tincture that I am about to strain off. People say it's like an opiate and very good for pain. Thought it would be fun to see if it works and to have in the arsenal when the zombie apocalypse strikes.