Every day now we are harvesting orange Calendula and yellow St. John’s Wort flowers in the garden. We harvest them in the sunshine. We harvest them in the rain. We hold them in our hands and marvel at their beauty. 

Then we dry them. The healing flowers will be used in our herbal creations. The calendula in salves and lip balms. With the St. John’s Wort flowers, I am planning on making some oil, which I’ve never done before and am excited about. (I’ve been told it turns a very beautiful red color.) The more we harvest from these plants, the more they produce. It’s a wonderful thing.
 Bracken loves to help harvest the bright yellow and orange flowers. He holds them in his tiny hands like treasures. The other day I waded through the thick sea of green St. John’s Wort, to pluck the yellow flowers. I carefully handed each flower to Bracken and he placed each one in our basket. (Later I found a few other treasures he placed in our harvest basket, like a stick and a clump of moss. That made me laugh.)

Bracken’s sweet little toes (with everything sticking to them since it was misting out.)

Helping hands

St. John’s Wort

Calendula
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Our daily walks around this place with Bracken bring new things as the season shifts. Mushroom hunting. Stopping to smell a lilac. (Later a honeysuckle…then a rose.) Checking on seedlings. Strawberry picking. And now flower gathering. I love the gifts that each season brings and it’s amazing how quickly they can happen day by day, when we pay attention and take the time to notice.
Right now, I’m grateful for these herbs, not only for the healing that they bring us, but for the beauty and joy they bless us with as well.