October = Dahlias
Calendula Salve
This year, I am collecting and drying calendula flowers again to make salve. I am air-drying the flowers on paper plates in a darkened room for about three weeks and then transfer them to a large mason jar for storage.
I still had dried flowers from last year (about 3 cups, loosely packed) and decided to use them up first. To make the calendula oil, I added 16 oz. of sweet almond oil to these dried flowers, covering them about 3/4 in the jars. I let them extract for seven weeks (six would have been enough), from August 7 though today, September 26.
I then strained the oil through a sieve, this time omitting the cheese cloth, as I wanted to try to minimize loss by absorption. The flowers absorb a good amount, as does the cheese cloth. From my initial 16 oz. of oil, I got around 13 oz. The flowers were densely packed in the extraction jars, so I decided to just dilute the calendula oil with pure almond oil to bring the volume back up to 16 oz.
Over a water bath, I melted 2 oz. of beeswax and 1 oz. of shea butter. Once melted, I slowly added the 16 oz. of calendula oil, making sure to not heat the oil too much. Just enough for it to melt. I then added 16 drops of essential lavender oil and filled the salve into 8 2 oz.-tins. Ready!
September Greens, September Flowers
Early September Plot in Pictures
Today’s Mini Bouquet
A Medley of Summer Harvests
Here are a few pictures of some of my harvests from mid-July through the end of August. Notably absent are tomatoes, despite having 12 (!) tomato plants. Thanks, rats and birds 🙁
August Mini-Bouquet
First Dahlia
A couple of days ago, I finally cut the first dahlia of the season. I had planted them kind of late (May 28), but they have come up nicely. I have seven dahlia plants total in my garden plot. Looking forward to many more dahlia bouquets in the months to come.
I made the small bud vase myself at JP Clay where I have been a member since January.
It’s a “Slow-Roasting Tomatoes” Kind of Day
This cool and rainy August Sunday was the perfect day for slow-roasting a sheet of (mostly) cherry tomatoes. I convection-roasted tomatoes (plus unpeeled garlic and thyme) at 270F for 2 hours until they had a slightly dry/jammy consistency, then packed them in olive oil and let them cool. They will be stored in the freezer for a few months.
First Tomatoes
Finally, my first vine-ripened tomatoes of the season! I already picked two blushing, green ones to ripen on the counter, but these two are the real deal. One Mountain Sunrise and one Caiman. These are the first two that I harvested after covering whatever the rats left on the vines with those wire mesh bags. It seems to be working. I hope to get at least a few handfuls from my 12 plants.
