And I love how many different colours, shades and hues it comes in. From the palest yellow, to the deepest orange. This past year, we even introduced various rose gold colours

The really cool thing about calendula though is how useful it is.

Our favourite thing to do with calendula is to infuse a carrier oil with it, and use that oil in skin treatments.

Calendula is fabulous for treating anything red, itchy, and irritated.

Calendula oil is often used in diaper rash creams, and is wonderful for treating eczema, rosacea, and dermatitis.

Calendula oil can also be used on cuts and scrapes to keep them clean and promote new tissue growth, while reducing inflammation.

Some studies indicate that calendula oil, when ingested, also helps soothe ulcers and symptoms of IBS. More research is needed, though.

We used to use olive oil as the carrier oil, but now use grapeseed oil. We just find it lighter and useful for both topical and ingestible purposes.

Calendula is an annual, however if you grow it once, chances are you will not need to reseed the following year. It is incredibly prolific! Drought-tolerant. Cold tolerant. Honestly, just keep dead heading it for flowers all summer long!

You can find our calendula oil in our online shop and add it to your own skin care regimen. We also use calendula oil in Synergy Skin Therapy!

Have you tried calendula oil before? Let us know your thoughts!

However, boosting your immune system can be done naturally, and fairly simply. All it takes is dedication to altering a few lifestyle habits.

1. Get More Sleep

This likely isn’t news to you. Getting 7-9 hours of sleep (some people need more, some need less) gives your body the chance to rest. Your body also takes this time to create infection-fighting molecules (read more here), so when you don’t get enough sleep, you are minimizing your body’s ability to fight off infection.

Being hydrated or drinking water also likely comes as no surprise as a way to boost your immune system. The why, though, is that lymph, a fluid in your circulatory system, carries infection-fighting immune cells through your body, and lymph nodes help filter them out. The lymph is made up mostly of water, so being dehydrated means that these cells are not carried as well or as quickly through your body, leaving it more open to infection. Read more here.

if you have a hard time drinking enough water, our hydrosols make for delicious water additives, plus they offer the added benefit of containing antibacterial and antiviral properties. Hot tea can also be a soothing option, and you can choose one with added benefits, as well. For example, a tea with echinacea would help increase the number of white blood cells in your system, which help fight infection. 

3. Maintain a Healthy Diet

Consuming more fruits and vegetables is always a good idea. Not only will you be organically increasing your intake of vitamins, but some fruits and vegetables can help keep you hydrated, too.

Vitamin C in particular is important for a strong immune system, as it helps white blood cells function. Our elderberry syrup is an option, as well, as elderberries are known for shortening and lessening the symptoms of cold and flu – plus, they have high levels of vitamin C.

4. Exercise

Getting your blood up is yet another way to help your immune system. Moderate exercise improves your circulation, which means infection-fighting cells circulate faster, when compared to an inactive person. Exercise has also been shown to lower stress levels, and stress has been shown to suppress immune function. Read more here.

5. Supplement for Additional Prevention

Vitamin D is often forgotten as an immune function defense. While it has links to aiding in mental health disorders, Vitamin D deficiency “is associated with increased autoimmunity as well as an increased susceptibility to infection.” (read more here) You can increase your vitamin D intake by consuming foods rich in vitamin D like salmon, herring and sardines, egg yolks, wild mushrooms or mushrooms treated with UV lights, and fortified foods like cow or soy milk, and some cereals. Vitamin D intake can also be increased by 20 minutes of sun per day, and, of course, a Vitamin D supplement.

We mentioned the importance of Vitamin C in #3, and there are even more supplements you may add to your diet. Echinacea, for example, has been proven to lessen the symptoms and shorten the duration of colds and flus. We have echinacea in our Immuni-Tea, Echinacea Hydrosol, and Echinacea Tincture. You can read about an echinacea study here.

It’s really quite simple, isn’t it? Of course, as many things are, it’s easier said than done. Even committing to improving on one of these five points will help you improve your immune system naturally. And what better time than now? At the start of a new year, during a global pandemic and, if you’re in Ontario, lockdown?

The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. The purpose of this website is to promote broad consumer understanding and knowledge of various health topics. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.

It’s that time of year, the January blues, or blahs, when the cold, reduced daylight and post holiday void leaves many people feeling a little empty, drained and, yes, depressed. We all have so much to be grateful for, any combination of friends, family, health, safety, warmth, good food and countless other blessings of this first world we live in.

We are told and it has been scientifically shown that gratitude practiced daily in journal form can improve positivity, mood and well-being significantly. We are told we must feel the gratitude, in our heart and with warmth, for this spark of warmth is what it means to be alive and feeling and human. And this is something I do, daily, faithfully and I am certain it helps…

Full disclosure, I am challenged with changing moods. When my energy is high, I am fully alive with a vitality and love I want to share with others, and help as many people as possible. When my energy is lower, like now, it is tougher to feel this way. Intellectually, I become diminished and have difficulty feeling worthy. I am cognitive of and grateful for much, yet I can’t feel it in my heart at the present moment.

One of my sports coaches told me when I felt I couldn’t do something, he would say, yes you can, but not at the present moment. Because moods fluctuate, I know this will pass and I will return to my higher energy self.

In the meantime, I will practice my gratitudes, even though I can’t feel them or their warmth in my heart, because I know this will change and my thinking will return to a more vital and productive state. Even the positive psychologists have shown that faking gratitude is still beneficial to your mood and your health. I do believe this…. That we are all exactly where we need to be. Fake it until you make it and in the interim your life will continue to unfold just as it’s meant to.

With love, Dr. Steve

I’ll be honest, I didn’t give yarrow much credit. Sure, it’s pretty enough, with its tall, feathery stalks, and cute, pink flowers (ours are pink but apparently they’re more often near white), but I thought it smelled funny, and didn’t seem particularly interesting.

Let me tell you just how WRONG I was. After researching it myself (admittedly my mom, Dr. Diane did all the research before), I learned that yarrow has a bunch of cool nicknames, including Soldier’s Woundwort, Old Man’s Pepper, Herbal Militaris, Nosebleed, Devil’s Nettle, and Thousand Leaf. Each name has its own unique story of course, but I’ll try to keep things short. 

Even its latin name has a cool story behind it. Supposedly, Achilles had a strong affinity for yarrow, after being shown its many uses by Chiron the Centaur. He supposedly used yarrow on wounded soldiers on the battlefield to staunch bleeding, and help heal the wounds quickly. Even if he didn’t, Spartan warrior use of the herb is indeed documented, which is pretty neat.

Probably the neatest thing about yarrow is its ability to control bloodflow. While it’s mostly known for stopping bleeding, as written in the history books, and thus the name “Nosebleed”, it can also improve circulation and bloodflow, including helping to heal bruises and reduce inflammation.

Yarrow is even suggested to reduce varicose veins, as it disperses the blood congestion and tones the walls of the veins. Indeed, it is also said to help with menstrual cramps and painful periods – more on that later.

There are yet more wonderful things about yarrow, like how its antispasmodic properties aid the gut in digestion, and how it can normalize the acid production in your gut, but I’ll leave that stuff for you to research on your own so I can finally get to the point of my story.

A few weeks ago, I got whacked in the face by a horse. It was an accident, but it sucked, and resulted in 3 stitches along my eyebrow, as well as a very sore and swollen brow bone. The even more unfortunate part was that I had to leave for a wedding in Nova Scotia the next day. Had I not been traveling, I would have immediately tried our herbal products, but polysporin, tylenol and advil were the name of the game until I came back.

By day 5, about 50% of the swelling had subsided, but the bruising was moving down from my browbone, to all around my eye. As you can see in the pictures, it was all colours of the rainbow; red, yellow, blue, purple, probably a little green in there if you look close enough – haha. I’ve had a black eye before, and the last time it lasted almost 3 weeks, going very, very dark under my eye for a while.

Monday morning after my trip, my mom gave me some calendula oil for the stitches, and yarrow hydrosol for the bruising, and I will admit to thinking “what the heck can rubbing what basically looks like water all over my eye really do?” The answer is, apparently, a lot.

I applied the calendula to the wound and yarrow hydrosol around my eye three times a day for four days, and I was shocked by the results. By Friday, no one could see the bruising unless I closed my eyelid to show them what little was left of it. Now, I’ve been putting both yarrow and and then calendula oil on what is left of the wound, and it’s coming along nicely. Yarrow also has analgesic effects, so that’s an added bonus! 

So then today, I started getting my monthly cramps and was about to get pretty cranky about it. Then I thought “heck, if yarrow actually does what it says on the outside of my body… maybe it works on the inside too.” So I mixed half a dropper of yarrow hydrosol with a glass of water, drank it, and I swear I haven’t had cramps for the rest of the day. No advil needed here! 

I must say, I’m pretty impressed by this handy little herb. I had some yarrow hanging to dry in my apartment, so I’ve now stripped it so I can make tea over the winter. It’s mixed it with some goldenrod which will help with congestion and flu-fighting. I’ve got a new crush, and its name is Yarrow.

You can find Yarrow in our online shop in hydrosol form, and in our Immuni-Tea. Diluted Yarrow Hydrosol is what I use on a monthly basis to eliminate menstrual cramps, and also what I used for pain-relieving and bruise-dispersing effect.

In addition to the 40,000 herbs and flowers, we also have a small, very overgrown vegetable garden that is mercilessly pumping out giant zucchinis. Every 2 days, I pull about 7 honkers out of there! It’s a lot of zucchini.

I’ve made zucchini soup, zucchini pizza crust, and then decided to do a zucchini loaf. I’d never actually made a strictly zucchini loaf – usually it had banana in there too. And then I got the bright idea to flavour it with some of the sweeter herbs in the field.

I ended up making two loaves, one with anise hyssop and the other with lemon balm. Usually, when I go off recipe, it does not work out well for me, but I’m happy to report that this was one of the few times where I definitely improved the recipe!

For the herbs, I used about 6 stalks, stripped the leaves and flowers off, and chopped the leaves and flowers until fairly well minced. I wasn’t too concerned about the odd larger piece here and there – if it was going to bake zucchini skin, surely an herb leaf wouldn’t be noticeable.

The Lemon Balm Loaf is probably my preferred choice of the two, but if you have Danish roots, or just like a zingy licorice, you’ll love the Anise Hyssop loaf.

It’s also worth noting that I ended up using about 2 cups shredded of zucchini, as it turns out my version of large zucchini is considerably different than the original author’s. My zucchini yielded 5+ cups of shredded produce!!

Other things to note are that you do NOT want to squeeze any water out of the zucchini. Leave it all in there. Makes the loaf super moist, and makes life easier, too! One last note is that the amount of sugar used could be decreased fairly significantly. My loafs taste like dessert, and I’m not complaining, but you could easily leave out 30-40% of the sugar and it would still taste great.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini – lightly packed -do not drain liquid (I used 2 cups though)
• ¾ cup of herb of choice (anise hyssop or lemon balm), chopped, lightly packed
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil -or your preferred cooking oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, add the grated zucchini, chopped herbs, sugar, brown sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.
3. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir just until no dry flour remains, trying not to over mix.
4. Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Bake for 50 to 54 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the bread should come out with moist crumbs on it.
5. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before slicing.
6. Store covered in the refrigerator. 

Lovage is seriously the perfect touch to your backyard Caesar and it’s fancy enough we can pretty well guarantee you’ll impress all your friends with your herbal expertise! Lovage is similar to celery but has a bit more kick and its leaves grow on hollow tubes which make the perfect spicy straws! 

And don’t stress, if you’re not keen on the clamato juice just replace it with tomato juice … we won’t tell.

The Lochland Caesar Recipe:

1 oz. vodka or gin (or more.. like we said…we won’t tell)

1 Dash of hot sauce

1 Dash of worcestershire sauce

8oz of Clamato Juice or Tomato Juice

1 Lime wedge

1 tablespoon of Celery salt

Ice cubes as needed  

1 Lovage straw and garnish

Wet the rim of the glass with a lime wedge and celery salt.

Add preferred type and amount of alcohol, and season with pepper, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce to taste.

Add Clamato or Tomato Juice and top with ice.

Garnish with lime, Lovage leaves and a Lovage straw!

Optional: horseradish, lime juice

Check out our Heavenly Herbal Spice Mix which also features Lovage!

Cheers,

Mariah!

Ah, to unwind and let go. It sounds so nice, doesn’t it? And yet, often, so much easier said than done. Even here on the farm, one can get caught up in everything that’s happening and everything that needs doing. The head becomes overwhelmed and the nights become restless. And as much as our Tranquili-Tea helps, it can only battle the mighty brain so much!

You hear it again and again, to take time for yourself, to breathe, to be mindful, to be “in the moment”, but it’s something you may not realize the value of until well after you’ve done it. Last night, for example, I practiced some yoga. I’m not very good at it. I follow an instructor on youtube, and I love her, and I love the privacy of practicing in my own apartment – I’m so inflexible that I get really self conscious in a group of people.

Last night was the last day in this youtube instructor’s 30 day program – which, of course, had taken me well over 2 months to complete. This final session was half an hour long, where the instructor actually took off her microphone and practiced wordlessly. You were welcome to follow along, or do whatever felt right or good. It was my first time practising without verbal instruction, and there were for sure a few awkward “oh, yeah!” moments, but for the most part I really did have that half hour to feel what I was feeling, do what felt good, to challenge myself, and to truly listen to my body.

After the half hour, and covered with a nice sheen, I was pretty proud of myself – I’d only looked up a few times, and felt *mostly comfortable doing my own thing. Shortly afterwards, I went to bed. Now, on a good night, I wake up once to go to the bathroom. Ever since I can remember, getting up in the middle of the night has been the norm. Over my entire life, I would imagine there are less than 100 times I’ve slept the entire night through. Although undiagnosed, I’ve also suffered from mild to moderate anxiety that, as a child and youth, often manifested as waking up at 4:30am and vomiting for a couple hours. So last night, despite the busy spring it’s been and waking up multiple times other nights feeling very nauseous, I slept through the entire night.

What a silly thing to get excited about, sleeping the entire night, but if you also have issues getting a good night’s sleep, you know what I’m talking about. Life’s stressors can manifest in so many ways. Some people lose hair, some people lose sleep, some people lose or gain weight, some are irritable and some are just plain emotional. One can only imagine the immeasurable number of remedies out there to conquer stress – I know I’ve researched many, and a there have been a couple that I believe have helped me.

As someone with a Life Coach for a Dad, and parents who regularly went away on yoga and silent retreats, I’ve known for a while now that things like journaling, meditation, practicing gratitude and basically taking time for yourself to be mindful are all keys to unlocking your own wellbeing. However, being in my 20’s I just didn’t care that much. I didn’t want to do the work. I wanted the ease of popping a pill – who has time to write in a journal, or do yoga every day? But slowly, I’ve come to see how helpful these things can be in slowing down my hamster wheel brain. That’s not to say medications don’t have their place, because they absolutely do. But, personally, they seem a heck of a lot more effective if you’re also doing other work to change how your brain functions.

We’ve been talking about hosting meditation walks, yoga classes, and other such wellness-based class on the farm. As much as I said I don’t personally like the idea of yoga in a group, I love the idea of a group of people unwinding, folding into their minds, and attempting to be the best version of themselves. This particular youtube instructor says to acknowledge how you feel that day, accept it, embrace it, and move on. In fact, I just read a particularly in depth article that said even just naming the negative feeling you’re having, makes you feel it less. As an example, saying you feel sad, rather than you just feel crumby, will help you feel less sad.

Anyway, I’m getting off topic here, but as we on the farm continue on our journey to be the best version of ourselves, we hope that you will join us this summer in doing so. Stay tuned for meditation walks and yoga classes in the herb and flower field, and maybe even a simplified life coaching session. Are these things that would interest you? Let us know in the comments!

Peppermint is well-known around the world for being just that, a flavour of mint, associated with toothpaste or chocolate, and maybe a tummy-settling tea. But the truth is peppermint has so much more to offer than simply wonderful flavour.

1. Peppermint Can Improve Dental Health

Have you ever wondered why mouthwash and gum is peppermint flavoured? Peppermint itself has antibacterial properties (menthol) that fight the growth of dental plaque, which in turn can improve your breath. Using peppermint hydrosol as a mouthwash is the most effective way to use peppermint as a breath freshener.

2. Peppermint May Ease Digestive Issues

You may have heard that peppermint tea is good to drink after a meal or to settle your tummy, and I’ll tell you why. Peppermint has been shown to relax your digestive system, which reduces spasms in your gut and thus, gut pain. Peppermint oil has been shown to reduce nausea and vomiting, as well as aid in IBS symptoms. Peppermint oil has also been shown to reduce the length, severity, and frequency of abdominal pain in a study done on over 2000 children.

3. Peppermint Fights Colds and Flus

Peppermint is also great for fighting colds and flus, as it has antibacterial, antiviral, and anti inflammatory properties. The menthol in peppermint improves the perception of airflow through your nose when it’s feeling stuffy, so it makes you feel like you can breathe easier. And of course, warm liquids have been shown to temporarily reduce cold and flu symptoms, making peppermint tea a top choice when you’re feeling under the weather.

4. Peppermint may Increase Energy and Improve Concentration

Peppermint oil has been shown to increase energy, reduce midday energy lags, and improve concentration, thanks to its ability to increase blood flow, and its stimulating scent.

5. Peppermint as a Muscle Relaxant

However, as peppermint is also a muscle relaxant, it can be effective in reducing the intensity and length of menstrual cramps. Peppermint oil both inhaled and applied to the temples and forehead has even been proven to reduce tension headaches and migraines.

How can you use peppermint?

There are a few simple ways to introduce peppermint into your daily lives. Peppermint tea is a great option; oil is released from the leaves when steeped, although the quantity from dried leaves is significantly less than in fresh. Peppermint capsules can be found at your local health food stores, or you can try a peppermint hydrosol, also known as floral water.

Hydrosols are the water soluble parts of a plant that is produced when distilling for essential oil. While containing the same properties that make the essential oil beneficial, they are much milder than the essential oil. This means they can be sprayed directly on the skin, or diluted in water for ingestion. As a mouthwash, they can be used at full strength.

Do your body a favour and introduce some peppermint into your life. Or, as a certain girl band once said, spice up your life!