Sauerkraut

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I just have to share two brands of sauerkraut that are so good that I eat them for taste, not just as food-medicine. Sauerkraut is a fabulous addition to daily diets because it has probiotics, fiber, and is easily digestible. It also happens to be low-calorie, filling, and a fantastic way to get a different variety of vitamins and minerals into your body instead of relying on the ones that are regularly in your routine. Variety matters when it comes to your best health. I started eating sauerkraut with gluten free crackers a few years ago, and back then it was solely to better my digestive health, but now I have really fallen for the taste, especially of the two brands below.  

Pangea Garlic Dill Sauerkraut 

This one is easily my favorite. I get it in the refrigerated section of my local food co-op, PCC, and it looks like it is in a variety of markets, at least here in Washington. It is made in Bellingham, WA, so the reach might be limited; I am not sure. I hope you can find it though wherever you are because it is so good it will change everything you ever thought you knew about sauerkraut.  

Pickled Planet I-Boost Herbal Krauts 

This Herbal Kraut is a close second in terms of taste. It was the first sauerkraut I had that I genuinely enjoyed the taste, and not only that, but it also has unique ingredients such as horseradish, nettle, and burdock that boost its health promoting qualities. (Hence its name, I-Boost Herbal Krauts.) I buy this one at Whole Foods and it looks like it can be found in quite a bit of the U.S, plus you can order it online. I do not have it in right now, so I will share the product photo from Pickled Planets’ page: 

How to Eat Kraut 

Obviously, eat it any way you like! But if you want to get the most health benefits from fermented foods, switch up the ones that you eat, if not daily or weekly, at least buy varied brands each time you restock. You can return to your favorites often, but eating a variety is truly what is best for your gut’s health. Since I was not a sauerkraut fan in the beginning, the only way I could eat it was with crackers. I would put a tablespoon or two of kraut in a bowl and scoop it up with gluten free crackers as a snack. Now, even though I have grown to truly like the taste of sauerkraut, I still enjoy the crunch of a cracker balancing it out. 

Fermented Foods

We have so many things working against our digestive systems, especially if we adhere to the modern Western diet, such as ultra-processed foods, glysophate, too much sugar and salt, and much much more. Adding fermented foods can help balance out diets and add health promoting probiotics back into our cores. Choosing a variety to eat is the best way to make the most of what fermented foods offer. Other fermented foods to consider include: kefir, kimchi, kombucha, miso, sourdough bread, tempeh, and yogurt.

What are your favorite fermented foods? I’d love to hear about them! Happy Eating!🥣

*I’m not affiliated with any of the products in this post.

Organic Matters

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Glyphosate residue free label

A few posts back I shared some information about pesticides being linked to the uptick in colon cancer among younger people, and how there is a particularly useful ‘dirty dozen‘ list of fruits and vegetables that are the most contaminated. Today I’d like to share more reasons to buy organic foods, and expand the list of foods to always, diligently, buy organic, especially here in America. That reason is: glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide, Roundup. 

Where is it used? 

Unfortunately, it is ubiquitous all over the world. Countries which use the largest amounts of glyphosate are Brazil, the USA, Japan, Argentina, and China. If you do not see your country in that last, don’t get too comfortable because unless you live in Sri Lanka, Togo, or Vietnam, your country uses it too. There are partial bans in many parts of the world, such as in the EU, but those are only partial restrictions, with some countries having stricter bans than others, even within the EU. The crops it is most widely used on are soybeans, corn, wheat, barley, oats, tree nuts, sugar beets, cotton, and fruits.  

Why is it bad? 

Glyphosate has been associated with cancer risk, hormone disruption, neurological concerns, acute poisoning (when being sprayed), and physical irritation. It has long been suspected of being the reason so many people now have a problem digesting wheat (gluten), especially in the U.S. This is likely because glyphosate is antimicrobial, meaning that it kills the good microbes in the gut, just like a round of antibiotics kills the good little critters in the gut. Those microbes in our gut are essential to not only our digestive systems, but also form the backbone of our immune systems, and affect our moods and mental/emotional health, and more. 

Even Hippocrates has been attributed to the famous line, “All disease begins in the colon,” and whether or not he said that it’s true that traditional healing systems mostly operated under that principal. This MindbodyGreen article explains the antimicrobial news a bit more, and it is a great read, but I don’t think it goes quite far enough to connect all the dots.  

Common Food Allergens (connecting the dots) 

When we look at the crops that are most widely sprayed with glyphosate, we see that many of the most common food allergy/intolerance foods can be found on the list. The 9 most common food allergens are: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, fish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Take a closer look, and notice that glyphosate can also contaminate dairy products and eggs because they often share farms with crops that are sprayed. Similarly, glyphosate can contaminate fish and shellfish due to the runoff in waterways, and it can also contaminate peanuts, and sesame seeds due to the soil absorption from the spray on nearby crops or on them directly. That covers the complete list of allergens!

When discussing foods that people tend to have intolerances to, meaning the foods irritate them but there isn’t a full allergic reaction, they are often the same foods as the top allergens, but corn is also a big one on that list, which is widely sprayed with glyphosate.  

What to do? 

The best way to avoid ingesting glyphosate residue is to buy organic foods, including all bread products, oatmeal, granola, oils, packaged foods, rice, eggs, and, well, just everything you eat. Support organic farmers by joining CSAs, going to farmers’ markets, and making sure everything you buy at grocery stores has at least an organic seal. (Summer is a wonderful time to visit local farms which often host community events.) There is a glyphosate free label that you can look for, but it is not used widely yet: 

Full Circle

One thing that the Slow Foods Movement emphasizes is that there shouldn’t be a separation between the agricultural industry and the food industry. We think of agricultural ‘crops’ and ‘products’ and governments pass laws and regulations concerning growth and profits. The food industry tends to be thought of in terms of grocery stores and restaurants with regulations around cleanliness and shelf life. The fact that those ‘crops’ and ‘products’ are actually the very same foods that we buy at stores and in restaurants somehow seems to get lost, not to even mention the fact that our health is intricately based, fundamentally, on that same food. We are what we eat, after all. While what we eat, foundationally, comes from farms.

It’s important to note that what is good for us as people is also good for the environment. Clearly spraying toxins on earth is polluting the soil, water, air, as well as the foods we eat. It’s creating food that is less alive and nutritious, and causing disruptions in long time ecosystems.

Other Resources

Another way to protect yourself is to buy a water filter, which is something I still need to research a bit more myself before deciding on which one to buy. In fact, I really need to do a lot more research on glyphosate in general! I just got a book from the library about it, but I wanted to share some info here before I get sucked into my summer quarter schedule since I rarely find time to write when I’m teaching a lot of hours. If you are interested in taking a deep dive into glyphosate (in a safe way!), these articles by EWG are a great place to start. This article also has some really interesting information, and calls out some specific brands/products to avoid. Food Tank is also full of amazing articles and they have a podcast too.

Stay Healthy and Curious🌿and have a Happy Summer☀️


Remedy Docuseries

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Cows on a beach

This free docuseries has some great information about traditional healing methods and most of all, herbs. What I like best about this series is that it makes it clear that whatever health issues you might be having, even smallish things that you just have dealt with for years, there are herbs and natural remedies out there to help assist you move back towards better health. I highly recommend checking it out, even if only an episode or two in the series sound interesting to you.

I’m not affiliated in any way, just sharing because I think it can be beneficial for many.

Here’s the link again: Remedy Docuseries.

Cheers to good health!🌿✨

Carlo Petrini: Slow Food Founder Leaves a Legacy for All

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Lilacs on a dinner table

Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food Movement, passed away recently on May 21st. He led the global conversation regarding how to make food good, clean, and fair for all. He was one of the first to recognize that fast food culture was the antithesis of those values, and he worked to educate others of the problems inherent in the glorification of speed and the policies that support it, as well as elevate those that use sustainable and traditional practices. His work lives on in the Slow Foods Movement, Terra Madre, and the University of Gastronomic Sciences, and through all the lives touched by his clear, visionary mind and his heart for sharing his forward-thinking astuteness. 

With Bread

In speaking about Carlo Petrini, another Slow Foods and slow living advocate, Carl Honoré, praised him as a wonderful companion in a BBC interview. Honoré explained that the word ‘companion’ comes from the Latin words, com, meaning ‘with’, and panis, meaning bread, and originally referred to breaking bread with someone. Nothing delights me more than a satisfying etymology, and this one is my new favorite!

Freshly baked sourdough einkorn bread
Freshly baked sourdough einkorn bread

There’s a reason food is central to our gatherings and celebrations, sharing that moment with others creates a bond that is unlike any other and speaks to something deep within us. We have the choice to slow down with people in our lives every day and resist the culture of speed with its thin values. After all, where do we end up by speeding through life? Most of us are aiming for longevity, not brevity. 

Slow Values

Since the Slow Food Movement began, there have been many offshoots, some directly connected to the original movement, such as, slow wine, slow fish, slow food editore, and others that have arisen through inspiration, such as slow living, slow travel, and slow flowers. The word ‘slow’ implies depth, understanding, and authenticity, in a quickening world that relies on superficiality and illusions. The Slow Foods Movement is mourning its founder, but it’s stronger than ever and certainly more necessary. Where do you want more slowness in your life? I hope you find it and better yet, I hope you create it.

Australian shepherd walking along a path
Slow walk with my dog

There is no doubt, Carlo Petrini leaves a legacy with the Slow Food Movement that reaches far beyond food.

Bon appétit, lovely companions💜

Avoiding the Risks of Pesticides

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Bananas

Recent research has shown a link in pesticides and the rise of early onset colon cancer. This can serve us all as a reminder that pesticides have very real risks and damaging effects on our bodies and our lives. There are significant reasons to eat organic foods, and this seems like a good time to review EWG’s Dirty Dozen list for 2026, as well as their ‘Clean Fifteen’.

EWG

As a reminder, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which I have shared here before, tests fruits and vegetables each year to gauge how contaminated they are. The list of the most contaminated foods is called the Dirty Dozen and it changes slightly each year. These are the foods to prioritize buying only organic options because they have the most toxic residue on them when grown conventionally. The Clean Fifteen is the list of the produce with the least amount of toxic residue when grown conventionally. The lists on EWG’s website have more information, so I recommend checking that out, but for the TL; DR:

The 2026 Dirty Dozen

  • 1. Spinach
  • 2. Kale, Collard Greens, and Mustard Greens
  • 3. Strawberries
  • 4. Grapes
  • 5. Nectarines
  • 6. Peaches
  • 7. Cherries
  • 8. Apples
  • 9. Blackberries
  • 10. Pears
  • 11. Potatoes
  • 12. Blueberries

The 2026 Clean Fifteen

  • 1. Pineapples
  • 2. Sweet Corn (fresh and frozen)
  • 3. Avocados
  • 4. Papaya
  • 5. Onion
  • 6. Sweet Peas (frozen)
  • 7. Asparagus
  • 8. Cabbage
  • 9. Cauliflower
  • 10. Watermelon
  • 11. Mangoes
  • 12. Bananas
  • 13. Carrots
  • 14. Mushrooms
  • 15. Kiwi

Eat well and thrive, including strawberries, (as long as they are organic)🍓🌿✨.

Vanilla Pound Cake Muffins

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Vanilla Pound Cake Muffins

Yesterday morning I was craving something different, but I didn’t feel like going anywhere so I needed to work with what I already had in the kitchen. To be honest, I’ve been having a hard time enjoying the usual foods that I eat after returning from a trip to Europe. The food there is so much better in so many ways, plus I didn’t have to make any of it so I was constantly being gifted the experience of new ingredients put together in ways that I’d never have thought of, and these new concoctions thrilled me, even when they weren’t something I’d particularly want to recreate myself.

Cruise Camp

We were on a Rhine River cruise, and I had never before traveled on a ship. The closest experience that I can relate it to is going away to summer camp as a kid, which I loved but only did a small handful of times. In both instances you meet people from various places, eat and experience new things every day with them, go to bed tired and wake up too early to start the next day full of new experiences with these new friends, then you all go home your separate ways with some photos, memories, and promises to keep in touch.

Instead of nature hikes there are city center walks, and instead of crafts there are optional cheese and wine tastings, but it really made me think about how many fewer opportunities we have as we get older to be thrown together with new people for days on end and delight in our commonalities and discuss our differences and experience unusual things together. It’s special, and unique, and I can understand why people get hooked on cruises even though overall it would not be my choice of travel mode.

Strasbourg, France
Selfie in Germany
Cologne, Germany
Amsterdam

Back to Muffins

These vanilla muffins were basically the same as I’ve made before, except this time I didn’t reduce the sugar as much as I used to, and that is what gives these the pound cake effect rather than the other, plainer, version. (Those are also good, just different.) I also changed where I baked them by instead of using the middle rack, I moved the rack up a notch, so they were slightly closer to the top of the oven. Both tweaks made a difference where the complete outside of all the muffins had that pound cake topping encasing them which made these such a treat.

Just like with the original vanilla muffins I have posted here, the basic recipe I loosely follow is for blueberry muffins on the back of a Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour bag.

Vanilla Pound Cake Muffins

2 Cups Bob’s Red Mill GF 1-to-1 Baking Flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup regular or vegan butter

3/4 cup cane sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1+ tsp vanilla extract (here’s how to make your own!)

2 eggs or egg replacer

1/2 Vanilla Oat Milk

Start by preheating oven to 425 degrees and prep your muffin pan with either paper liners or spray oil. Add the dry ingredients (besides the sugar) together in a bowl and stir. Cream the sugar and softened butter together with a hand mixer. Add the vanilla and mix again. Add the eggs (or egg replacer) and mix, then add the dry ingredients a bit at a time while mixing, rotating with adding the half cup of oat milk. The batter looks like a cake batter. Scoop the batter into a prepared muffin pan for 12 normal sized muffins. Put the pan in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 375 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes, then let them cool on a cooling rack for at least five minutes before digging in.

Vanilla Pound Cake Muffins

They taste delicious alone but really shine with strawberries, especially with a scoop of vanilla yogurt.

Happy middle of May. I hope you have some sweetness this week.

*This post includes affiliated links.

Revisiting Adaptogens

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Jar of homemade blend of adaptogens

A few years ago, you couldn’t walk down a functional drink aisle without seeing a plethora of bottles boasting adaptogenic herbs such as ashwagandha or maca. Those products still exist today, but the popular herbal trends have moved toward mushrooms while adaptogens have moved into the background. The next new trend will surely bubble up and over throughout grocery and supplement aisles, but just as it’s important to have a staple wardrobe that can ride the fashion trends through the yearly changes, having a foundational wellness practice will serve you lifelong through ages and stages. Adaptogens are still a fantastic place to start when looking to integrate herbs into health and wellbeing daily practices. 

Why start with adaptogens? 

Adaptogenic herbs are a classification of herbs that hold specific similarities in their actions and interactions with humans. Adaptogenic herbs have traditionally been viewed as ‘causing no harm’ (*more about this later) because they adapt to what the individual body needs and always move that body toward balance. For example, Tulsi is an herb historically known to regulate blood pressure, which is most often used when people have high blood pressure, but people with low blood pressure can also safely use it without fearing the herb will dip their blood pressure further down. It adapts to what the body needs and balances it without causing further issues. These herbs also help the body adapt to stress, meaning physical, emotional, mental, and environmental stress. Aptly named classification of herbs, am I right?! Balance is the ultimate goal in herbalism.  

*Caution 

Herbs can interact with pharmaceuticals in unpredictable ways, so if anyone is on any sort of pharmaceutical, they should consult with someone who understands herbs and potential interactions before assuming it is safe. This likely means a naturopath or an herbalist found on the AHG website (in the U.S.), or a registered herbalist or other practitioner in other countries. Also, anyone can have an allergy to any plant material, so keep that in mind as well. The last caution with adaptogenic herbs has to do with the most common one, ashwagandha. It is generally avoided by anyone with thyroid issues, especially hyperthyroidism, because of how it acts through the thyroid. It’s important to note that this is a caution due to looking at how the herb acts, not on reported issues.  

Adapting to Stress 

We likely all have at least one thing in common; our lives are stressful. Life has always included stress, but modern life is stressful in a multitude of ways, layered upon each other in a competitive sandwich of threats, demands, responsibilities, and anxieties. Adaptogenic herbs can help make this sandwich more palatable by helping the body move from constant fight-or-flight high-cortisol mode to a more relaxed and responsive baseline. Adaptogenic herbs have traditionally been used in the following ways: physically, to improve energy and stamina; mentally, to improve mental processing and learning; emotionally, to regulate moods, reduce anxiety, and lower stress levels.  

This all matters at a fundamental level which is hard to overstate. Having a body amped up on stress affects all areas of life, including sleeping and eating, moods and energy levels, immune system function and mental processing, and that’s just the start. All of these dictate our baseline health, how we feel day to day, and how we grow and age over time. When looking at long term health, stress, and inflammation are huge markers that reflect our present and likely future states. 

Endocrine System 

Adaptogens have wide reaching overall health promoting affects because they work mostly through the endocrine system. The endocrine system is responsible for stress response and management, and our hormone production and movement. Hormones are the body’s messengers responsible for regulating moods, growth, sex, sleep, energy, metabolism, stamina, and more. They move throughout the entire body and are involved in almost every bodily system, making them key players in all aspects of health and healthy functioning. Considering the snowball effects of stress and unbalanced hormones on health, beauty, and aging, it is easy to see why adaptogens have a long history of traditionally being used as longevity herbs that promote overall health, improved immunity, beauty, and well-being.  

Five Common Adaptogens: 

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) 

  • Ayurvedic herb with the name meaning “smell of a horse” because it imparts strength and vitality 
  • Traditionally used for energy, stamina, and coping with stress, as well as for helping with sleep issues 
  • Also used as a restorative after illness or trauma, or for failure to thrive (children) 
  • Used to benefit cognition and focus, lower blood sugar levels, and reduce cortisol 
  • Also used to help with anxiety and depression 
  • Capsules 
  • Extract 
  • Powder 

Schisandra (Also spelled Schizandra) (Schisandra chinensis) 

  • Has all five flavors: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and pungent (TCM) 
  • Known to be a powerful adaptogen (stress and energy) 
  • Used for liver protection and to tonify heart, lungs, and kidneys 
  • Traditionally used for blood cleansing and nourishing and in blends for longevity and beauty  
  • Although you can find capsules, schisandra is an herb best tasted when taken because of its unique 5 flavors aspect. 
  • Powder 
  • Extract 

Eleuthero, often called Siberian Ginseng (Eleuthero senticosus) 

  • Used by athletes and students in Russia and China as a powerful adaptogen for stress management 
  • Known to fight fatigue and improves cognition 
  • It has anti-inflammatory activities and boosts immunity 
  • Powder  
  • Extract 
  • Eleuthero can also be found in many blends in extract and capsule forms.  

Tulsi, also called Holy Basil, (Ocimum sanctum)

  • Known to be calming to the nervous system and healing to digestive and respiratory systems 
  • Also traditionally used to protect the cardiovascular system 
  • Considered a potent anti-inflammatory and anti-aging and to prevent hypoglycemia and migraines 
  • Can lower cholesterol levels and repair skin damage and eases fevers 
  • Tulsi makes a delightful tea and can be found in various tea blends, such as this chai, which is a fantastic way to take it.  
  • Extract  

Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) 

  • Used for centuries in TCM, Russia, and Scandinavia, and recently has become popular in the U.S. and Canada 
  • In the Soviet Union it was used to support Olympic athletes and cosmonauts because of its reputation for boosting stamina and supporting both mental and physical performance 
  • Rhodiola is often found in blends focused on brain health and performance 
  • Powder 
  • Extract 

How to take adaptogens 

In general, adaptogens act slowly and deeply, therefore they are to be taken over a long period of time. It is almost always best to taste herbs, so capsules are the least recommended way to take them, but it’s better to take capsules than none at all. The other reason capsules generally aren’t the best option is because they take a bit of effort through the digestive tract, and knowingly or not, most people do not have optimal digestive systems, therefore, extracts, teas, and powder delivery are generally preferable. Expect to notice changes gradually, 6-8 weeks after the start of adding them to your daily regimen. It’s a good idea to use different adaptogens over time, so starting with one herb or a specific blend for 2-3 months, then moving on to a different one is ideal. They can be found in pill, tea, powdered, and extract form, and it’s always best to follow the directions on the bottles or your natural health practitioner’s guidelines. Personally, my favorite way to take them is to make blends of the powdered herbs and add them to my morning protein smoothies. There are also extracts of blends, such as this adapt care blend, or this bundle of simples in extract form. 

Summary 

To recap, adaptogens can benefit the following: 

  • Anti-aging 
  • Beauty 
  • Brain function 
  • Energy 
  • Growth 
  • Metabolism 
  • Mood stabilizing 
  • Sleep 
  • Stamina 
  • Stress management 
  • Sex function/desire 
  • Weight management 
  • And More… 
  • Adaptogens affect all these aspects of life, and more, to varying degrees, depending on the specific herb. 
  • Herbs with adaptogenic properties have affinities for certain parts of the body or bodily systems, but all have key actions through the endocrine system. 
  • To be considered an adaptogen, an herb must be at low risk for causing harm, meaning most people can take them without risk of negative side effects. (Always discuss with a health professional, especially if you routinely take pharmaceuticals as herbs and pharmaceuticals can interact in unwanted ways.) 

References 

As a reminder, I’m an affiliate with Mountain Rose Herbs and recently became an Amazon affiliatiate, but all statements and opinions are my own. 

Optimal health to you and yours! ✨ 

A New Leaf

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You may have noticed that I have recently changed the name of this website. I needed a new name to represent more of what I want to share right now, so Blossom Herbs has now become Blossom Roots. The focus will remain on the traditional uses of herbs, natural foods and products, and sustainable food systems. Replacing the word ‘herbs’ with ‘roots’ better represents my perspective and reason for showing up here right now. Herbs are still the main vehicle for exploring our shared humanity and evolution with the plants and peoples of this planet, but it’s the shared humanity and evolution themselves that motivate me to write and create videos and classes. Like herbs, I’m interested in balance, and right now our world is mightily imbalanced in a way where nature is forgotten, traditional knowledge is ignored, and people are estranged from one another both in global contexts as well as in personal lives. We are social creatures and our shared humanity as earthlings born of this lush, fragrant, magical planet is being, purposefully or not, shredded into sides, algorithms, deception, and manipulation. Perhaps counterintuitively, we can take back our autonomy by leaning into communities, creating connections that foster authenticity, feedback, and hopefully, shared food. We cannot move backwards in time but we can bring the best of the past with us forward into the future, that is, unless we completely lose our connection to the past. We have choices, every single day, to choose between creating the world we want to live in and gift to the following generations, or choose merely to survive in a world that isn’t supportive to us or our values. We get to choose. What do you choose?

I choose beauty, authenticity, community, and eternal growth. I’m happy you are here.🌷🌿✨

Rose Petal Beads DIY

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Dried rose petals

I’ve wanted to make beads from rose petals for years but for one reason or another, I just never got around to it. Now seemed like the right time to fulfill my hankering for this particular craft after I recently read a blurb about Canadian scientists publishing research linking heart health and mental/emotional wellness. This news reminded me of the organization, Heartmath, which has been studying this very concept for years, with guidelines, apps, and products of its own. The connection between the heart and emotions has long been intuitively understood, with hearts being the most recognizable and universal symbol of love in the world, and anyone who has suffered a break-up or loss can attest to the very real chest pain that ensues. Just as there is a connection between the gut and mental and emotional health, the same is true for the heart, as the Ottawa Heart Institute has recently scientifically confirmed.

What does this have to do with rose petal beads?

Roses are not only the romantics of the plant world, they also have a long history of being traditionally connected to heart health, overall cardiovascular health, supporting aging, and emotional support especially concerning grief and depression. There are traditional uses beyond health that focus on connecting the earthly to the ethereal, most often seen in religious contexts. In the ancient days of gods and goddesses, rose garlands were often put on goddesses’ statues to honor them. In A.D. times, when Mary, Jesus’ mother, took the place of the former goddesses, her statues were the ones graced with rose garlands. These garlands eventually turned into prayer beads which have been part of religious practices since at least ancient Buddhism and Hinduism, but in the Catholic church they are known as a rosary. The rose petal rosaries are therefore the most common use of rose petal beads, but they can and are used in other forms of jewelry and crafts.

How to:

Starting with fresh rose petals is ideal, and if you can gather them in the morning they’ll retain the most scent. I only have dried rose petals right now so that’s what I’m using. To start with dry petals, rehydrate them by soaking them in water for about an hour. Next, drain them, then add them to a blender with a small amount of water to make a paste. I’m starting with 2 cups of petals, and will add 1/4 cup of water at a time. Fresh petals do not need to soak, only rinsed, then put them into the blender with the same proportions of 2 cups petals to 1/4 cup water to start. Add more water as necessary to make a paste. (The traditional method is to use a mortar and pestle instead of an electric blender, but I’ve never been proficient with that particular tool myself. Feel free to get your arm workout in though if that suits you better!)

Step 2

After the mixture is a paste-y consistency, warm it up on the stove to get some of the excess water out. This is also a good time to work the mixture with a wooden spoon a bit more, and if using cast iron, the mixture resulting beads will turn out darker than any other pot or pan material. The goal is just to get excess moisture to evaporate, not to cook the roses at all because then the scent will dissipate before making it into the finished product, which would be quite a shame.

Step 3

Let the mixture cool a few minutes in order to be able to handle holding small amounts and rolling into balls. Keep in mind that the balls will shrink as they dry, so aim to make them twice as big as you actually want them to be when they are finished. If you are planning on threading them, it’s important to go ahead and create a hole by poking through a needle. Since the balls shrink, so will the holes, so making a bigger hole than you expect to need is important, and you can even dry them with needles or thread stuck through them to prevent the holes from closing. While the beads dry, be sure to rotate them around the string or needle to keep them from melding together.

Step 4

Place them on a towel to dry in a place where they can remain for about a week, depending on how much water you were able to get out during the warming on the stove step. Be sure to turn them a couple of times every day so they dry evenly and without flat spots.

That’s it!

Now you can make them into earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rosaries or other prayer beads, or anything else that you want to do with them. Some other home ideas would be to string together a small number of them to place into drawers for scenting, keep some around for adding to ribbons around gifts, or place them in bowls to set out to subtly scent rooms. Let me know what you make if you try this! (My beads are still drying so I’ll update this post with pictures once they are completely dry and ready to use.)

Last Thoughts

Mother’s Day is approaching so it just might be the perfect time to create something unique with rose petals, or if you are getting married soon or have bouquet for another reason, a beautiful way to keep those flowers around forever is to make beads from them. Scent, after all, has the most direct route to the memory part of the brain so that would be such a lovely way to spark memories of a special day.

May your spring be full of flowers and your days sweetly scented🌹.

**I am affiliated with Mountain Rose Herbs and could earn a small commission on links to MRH. This does not affect what I share or promote.**

Roots and Blooms

by
Cherry Blossoms in full bloom

Spring is springing in spurts and gusts as it tends to do in late March. It’s hard not to marvel at the small blooms that not only hold on through the rains and winds, but even seem to thrive on brittle branches and in over damp soil. Spring brings promise, hope, and the kind of surprising beauty that is unbidden, so all the more delightful.

Disorientation

I wish I could say my spirit has been soaring along with the eagles and the heron I regularly see on my morning runs, but the truth is that I can’t shake the feeling of disorientation. The petals and colors of spring do lift me a bit, temporarily, but this moment we are living in is so strange, loathsome on many levels, and angering that it feels like our great big gorgeous earth has tipped over into its own shadow, and the future could go either way.

Honestly, I don’t see anyone thriving at this moment. It seems like everyone is in survival mode where energy is getting stuck in fear and anger, and as much as I try to avoid the trap of anger, I must admit that it’s been a valuable force in my runs lately. Anger is energy and creates adrenaline which feels good in ways, so it’s easy to see why some people get stuck in the trap of cultivating it. It can also trigger feelings of being ‘right’ and ‘better’ than others which creates dopamine, and thus a cycle of addiction. If you have ever found yourself jonesing to get on social media and spout ‘truth’ and argue with others, you have experienced this cycle first hand. I’m not saying anger isn’t warranted, but it’s not a creative force, and if we want a stake in creating the future, our own and/or the collective’s, we need to find a way out of anger and into energy that moves forward.

Moving Forward

It seems to me, that requires digging down and digging in. The blossoms that are surviving the spring winds and rains are rooted in soil and on trees that don’t fret and squander resources. In order to blossom, we too must tap into our roots, what we value, what adds to our life, the small and the big things that could be traditions or are unique specialties all of our own. A small thing for me for example, is when I cook a meal, I feel more like myself. It’s not always what I feel like doing, but when I do it, the satisfaction of the process and product feed me in a way that little else does. The act of creating is so important to feeling fulfilled as a human, that I really do think it’s an essential ingredient in turning survival mode into thriving.

Homemade pizzas
Roasting sweet potatoes, garlic, and leeks
Crust rising for the pizza.

In a further effort to root and bloom out of disorientation, I intend to start making herbal concoctions again now that I am teaching less spring quarter. Although there are many aspects about teaching English to immigrants and international students that I love, there is something deeply exhausting about it for me. Any time in my life that I’ve been teaching a lot of hours, my capacity for creativity has fallen dramatically. Teaching English demands creativity too, but in different ways, heady ways, whereas working with herbs is far more of a sensory experience. The intellectual brain is online, but instead of being a key player, it’s more of a supporting actor, which is where it’s most comfortable in my personal noggin. I haven’t decided what my first creation will be in this new season, but once I decide I will share it here and would love to hear how others are connecting to their creative sides during destructive times.

Cherry Blossoms

The blooms picture above, are cherry blossoms. In the Pacific Northwest, as well as in Japan and in many other places, some of the most famous spring buds are the cherry blossoms, which are not only beautiful, but they are also beautifying. Cherry blossoms are used in beauty products all over the world, such as in Stella McCartney’s Restore Cream which touts cherry blossom extract as its most important ingredient. In Japan, they are not only known as beautiful and beautifying, but also as edible. Cherry blossom tea and specialty foods such as candies, mochi, and preserved blossoms are made in Japan as well as cocktails with the blossoms. The University of Washington’s Seattle campus is a draw for cherry blossom lovers all over. You can watch the live cam of them here.

May your spring be full of all the best blooming 🌸🌿🌷.