Blog
Herb Walk Talk
Here is a video of excerpts from the herb walk we hosted a while back. Enjoy!
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Herb Walk
A couple weeks ago we collaborated with the Farm at UCSC to host an herb walk discussing some of the herbs that are used in our formulas. Our Educational Specialist, Jasmine Wiest, along with David Shaw, founder of Santa Cruz Permaculture & UCSC Common Ground Center as well as having been a professor of Agroecology since 2004; and Cameron Salomon, founder of Kindred Herbs lead the walk.
Pipevine Swallowtail Butterflies
One of my mom’s favorite pet projects was the propagation of the Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies, a native butterfly. I remember helping my mom collect the leaves the caterpillars pupate on, then feeding them sometimes three and four times a day depending on how large they were. It was wonderful to be in her garden when the butterflies were emerging from their chrysalis. Here is a video my dad made about the Pipevine Swallowtail years ago, with a compilation of over five years of photos.
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BHP Activities
We’ve had an eventful spring here at BHP. Now that my dad and I are working together to produce the herb formulas, we’ve been discussing what we want to do for our fresh herb sources. When he moved to Ohio, one of the requirements for the place he chose was adequate space for a garden. We did some planning over the winter and now that the growing season has commenced we are getting our infrastructure in place. I’ve been documenting the process and we finally have enough complete to warrant a blog post!
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Using Herbs in Our Diet to Enhance Our Health
Most of us try to live a healthy lifestyle: eat a good diet, exercise regularly, and tread lightly on the planet. Even so, sometimes it can be hard to incorporate herbs into our regular routine and keep it up when we don’t have a pressing health issue. Adding fresh herbs to our meals is a wonderful and delicious way to make this easier.
Keep Yourself Healthy Over The Holidays
As much as we would wish otherwise, the holidays end up being a stressful time for many of us. In many ways, it feels like it has gotten harder with the advent of social media and platforms such as Pinterest, where we all can feel like we are hopeless crafters together. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of Pinterest and I have found many inspirations for projects, but it is so easy to get discouraged when my results aren’t anywhere close to picture perfect. (Enter, Etsy.) For me, once the result becomes more important than the experience, it is easy to lose the pleasure of the holiday.
Special Kit for Back to School
We start school early in my part of the country, and my daughter is already in to her second week of school. It’s been a rough transition this year, with a longer school day and more expectations in second grade. Her biggest complaint each day when she gets off the bus, is how loud the other children in her classroom are. We did our best to get her on a realistic schedule prior to the start of school (while still cramming in as much fun as we could) and are still finding out a way to strike a balance between the responsibilities and letting her blow of steam and just be a kid for a bit.
Happy Spring!
As I’m sure most people know by now, my dad has sold his house and is making the move that both my brother and I have made to Ohio. I am very excited to have most of my family local to me once again, and thrilled that my kids get to grow up with a larger circle of family close by. Even with his scheduled move, we are committed to keeping Benedictine Healing Products open and located in Santa Cruz, and we have spent the better part of the last three months figuring out the best way to accomplish that. We understand that we have a base of very loyal customers who depend on and value our handcrafted products from our family run business and we’ve made these decisions with all of you in our minds.
Staying Healthy Through The Holidays
As much as we would wish otherwise, the holidays end up being a stressful time for many of us. In many ways, it feels like it has gotten harder with the advent of social media and platforms such as Pinterest, where we all can feel like we are hopeless crafters together. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of Pinterest and I have found many inspirations for projects, but it is so easy to get discouraged when my results aren’t anywhere close to picture perfect. (Enter, Etsy.) For me, once the result becomes more important than the experience, it is easy to lose the pleasure of the holiday.
A Message From The Camino
Many of you may know that our wonderful co-worker Sue is currently on pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago and has been since early September. For anyone following her instagram feed @suegeorge322, you will be familiar with the beauty of her photos and her inspiring messages as she moves along her path.