Here are some more body care goodies from our friends at Fawn Lily Botanica! Handcrafted in the Pacific Northwest, these artisan lip balms and bar soaps are made with luxurious organic oils and butters in small batches.

Extremely rich, creamy, conditioning and smooth, these botanical lip balms are a treat for the lips! Choose from 5 luscious botanical combinations in a 0.15oz tube…

3mint + cocoa
hibiscus + ginger + rosehip
spiced chai + coconut
nourishing herbal
lavender + meadowsweet

These artisan cold processed soaps are cleansing, yet gentle, soothing, nourishing, and moisturizing. They have a smooth and creamy lather which leaves skin feeling silky smooth and clean without being stripped, dry, itchy, or irritated. Choose from 5 botanical combinations in a 5oz bar…

lemongrass + matcha green tea
chai spice
ginger honey
woodland
soothing herbal

Here’s a shot of Mason working on a new sign for our recycled garden booth!

We are so excited to debut it at the upcoming Mother Earth News Fair! We took an old door skin, traced a stencil of our logo, hand painted it, and the last step now is to cut around the mountain.

If you are able to attend this inspiring sustainable living fair - and we really hope you can - be sure to stop by our booth to check it out in person! Plus, Mason will have some free herbal goodies for you to take home. See you there!

We have a special gift to help you celebrate Herb Day this year!

In honor of this extraordinary community event, Mountain Rose Herbs will send out a free online packet called Herbal Medicine Making 101. Simply visit this link, enter your email address, and select the “Herb Day Newsletter” box. If you already subscribe to our regular newsletter, you are good to go! Then on May 4th we will send you an email filled with free lessons including…

How to Make Tinctures

Herbal Oils & Salves

Infusions & Decoctions

Medicinal Vinegars

Syrups

Liniments

Infused Honey

and more!

Click Here to Sign Up!

More about Herb Day:

The eighth annual Herb Day will take place Saturday, May 4, 2013. Herb Day is an international celebration of herbs and herbal products that is packed with events aimed at educating and sharing ideas about the many ways herbs bring joy and well-being into our daily lives. We celebrate herbs in food, beverages, medicine, beauty products, and crafts, along with the art of growing and gardening with herbs. Herb Day is a grassroots movement and its events belong to everyone who chooses to participate. Although May 4th will be the focal point of our celebration, we encourage you to commemorate Herb Day any time of year!

The HerbDay Coalition consists of the American Botanical Council, United Plant Savers, the American Herbal Products Association, the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, and the American Herbalists Guild.

Dandelion Flower Fritters

Spring is such a magical time!  Plants which lay dormant throughout the winter become alive again with fresh and vigorous energy, actively emerging up through the earth, pushing out fresh new shoots, proudly displaying vibrant tender tips, and bursting into colorful blossoms.

Dandelion flowers are one of my favorite springtime herbals.  Not only are fritters a perfect way to use Dandelions before they burst into seed, but their mild and slightly bitter flavor is dangerously addictive!

Ingredients
-  Dandelion flower tops (Taraxacum officinale)
-  1 organic and free-range egg
-  1 cup organic milk
-  1 cup organic flour (Brown Rice flour can be used for a gluten-free alternative)
-  Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

How to:

1. Gather Dandelion tops during the day, when the sunshine has opened up the bright and cheerful flowers.
2. Rinse in cool water to remove any critters or debris, and allow to dry while preparing the batter.
3. To make the batter, combine egg, milk, and flour in a bowl and mix until all lumps are gone.  If you prefer sweeter fritters, add a little maple syrup, honey, Cinnamon, or a dash of Vanilla extract.  To make more savory fritters, try adding Rosemary, Oregano, Basil, Chives, Sage, Thyme, Tarragon, ground Peppercorns, salt, or even a little parmesan cheese.
4. Prepare a skillet on the stove with olive oil over medium heat.
5. Take one of the flowers, hold it by the greens at the base, dip into the batter, and twirl until the flower is covered in batter.
6. Drop it into the skillet, flower side down.  Continue dipping and dropping until the skillet is full.  A second method is to remove the “petals” (each yellow petal of the dandelion is actually an individual flower with a single petal and reproductive parts), sprinkle them directly into the batter, then cook just like pancakes.
7. When the fritters are lightly browned, flip them over, and brown on the other side. When finished, remove from the pan and plate.
8. For a sweet treat, drizzle with maple syrup, honey, jam, plum sauce, or powdered sugar.  For a savory snack, dip into aioli or a sauce made with tahini, mustard, curry, hot chili peppers, or anything else you wish!

Sandalwood essential oil is truly exotic. This pale yellow oil has soft, woody notes that are extremely tenacious and somewhat balsamic. It has a long history in religious ceremonies and rituals, and is prized worldwide for an intoxicating aroma found in the heartwood of the tree.

There are many sandalwood oils on the market, so which one should you use?

Indian Sandalwood, Santalum album, is traditionally the most widely used sandalwood oil. The popularity of this striking scent has sadly caused over-harvesting of the trees which are now a threatened species. Each tree needs to mature for at least 10 years before they start producing oil and then the whole tree is harvested for production, making it a very resource intensive product.

Australian Sandalwood, Santalum spicatum, is widely used by aromatherapists and perfumers as an ecologically responsible alternative to traditional Indian Sandalwood. It is very similar to Indian Sandalwood in aroma and constituents, and makes a wonderful substitute for any recipe that specifies Indian Sandalwood.

The Australian Sandalwood essential oil offered by Mountain Rose Herbs is Certified Organic, and is produced with sustainability in mind. For every tree that is harvested for production, 12 seeds are planted, and for every tonne of deadwood that is collected, 400 seeds are planted. The oil is also created using renewable energy and water recycling!

Click here to learn more about our wonderful Australian Sandalwood oil.

This is really terrifying…

The first genetically engineered salmon – dubbed “frankenfish” – could be in grocery stores and restaurants as early as 2014. The FDA is expected to approve this genetically engineered salmon after a 60-day public comment period – which ends today!

Consumer and environmental activists oppose genetically engineered “frankenfish” for many reasons, including the potential danger it poses to human health, to the environment, and to the U.S. fishing economy.

Well, well…a bit of time has passed since the Rootstalk Festival happened back in 2011, but we are SO excited to finally bring you a new video series from the event featuring some of our favorite herb walks and storytelling moments. These videos are fun and informative, and really make our hearts smile to experience this wonderful gathering all over again. Such sweet memories!

Next up is herbalist jim mcdonald’s entertaining exploration of a favorite spring herb: nettle! There are so many different ways to use nettle and you’ll probably learn some new preparations from jim during this in-depth 25 minute video. He’ll teach you about nettle sting therapy, share his secrets of raw spiced nettle treats, his favorite herbal combinations for nettle infusions, using nettle seeds, and more interesting tidbits. Plus, he also gives a great description of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and how nettle can be helpful. There might even be a surprise guest star herbalist in the crowd…

Thanks to LearningHerbs.com for putting this together for us all to enjoy!

Rosemary Gladstar writes, “Spring is here! It’s time to come out and play. To review our lives, and make new plans…to dream alive! It’s also a time of renewing and re-nourishing our precious bodies.”

In this free online class, Rosemary will cover the importance of wild greens, both nutritionally and energetically. Dandelions, plantain, nettle, chickweed and many more favorites will be covered, as well as her favorite ways to prepare wild greens, and ethical wild harvesting.

We hope you’ll join us Thursday night for this free online event in celebration of the upcoming 11th International Herb Symposium, which Mountain Rose Herbs and LearningHerbs.com are excited to sponsor again this year!

 Plus, you could win these goodies…

You won’t want to miss Rosemary’s wisdom or the amazing giveaways during the teleseminar including this herbal gift set from Mountain Rose Herbs: Tea-to-Go Glass Infuser, Evening Repose Tea, Peace Tea, Blossoms of Health Tea, Dandelion Tincture, Elder Berry Tincture, and Skullcap Tincture!

Sign Up Here!

Wild Greens & Spring Remedies Teleseminar

Thursday, April 25th 2013

8:30pm Eastern

(7:30 Central, 6:30 Mountain, 5:30 Pacific)

The newest addition to our pet care line is here!

This Flea and Tick Treatment for Cats is a natural and botanical way to keep your feline friends tick and flea free and their skin and fur healthy. No harmful chemicals, no essential oils, and no water needed! Sprinkle a small amount of powder on your cat (or into your hands), gently massage into the fur and skin for deep penetration, then brush or rub with a dry cloth to remove any excess powder. It’s that simple!

Each resealable 8oz bag contains: Baking Soda/organic Corn Starch mix (food grade), Diatomaceous Earth (food grade), organic Oats, organic ground Flax seed, organic Catnip, organic Wheatgrass, organic Neem powder, organic Horsetail, and organic herbs mix.

Visit our website to see our full line of pet care products!

That’s one happy meow!

Look who’s leafing out!

We have two little Ginkgo trees that welcome visitors to Mountain Rose each day. They’re just starting to send out the first fan-shaped leaves of the year, and when a breeze whistles through, it looks like they’re waving hello.

As much as I wish I could simply open a book or do an internet search and find all the answers to my Menopausal challenges, I’m learning that my version of what I’m calling my “ transition” is as unique as I am. I am not interested in masking or pretending that I am not getting older, but I wouldn’t mind finding a little relief and learning some new ways to cope with these inevitable changes. Fortunately, there are some wonderful resources available, and I’ve come up with a few of my own solutions for the realities of how mid-life is shaking out for me.

I have always been someone who could fall asleep anywhere and sleep fabulously!  Well, I used to be someone who could sleep anywhere – now with the menopausal journey, I find it harder to fall asleep, stay asleep and keep from overheating into a blazing and cranky beast!  It has inspired me to develop a few coping strategies…

With a little experimentation, I came up with this tea recipe for my pre-bedtime ritual.  While there are some wonderful soothing tea blends available, I wanted something tasty, a little sweet, and calming.  I mix up enough to make a pot of tea, but you could reduce the amounts or mix it up and use a few teaspoons if you’d like to make a cup (I use all dried herbs for this tea, boiling the water on the stove and putting the herb mix into a large infuser. Once I pour the water into the pot, I let it steep about 4-5 minutes):

Sleep and Dream Tea

Ingredients

2 Tbsp organic Spearmint

1 Tbsp organic Chamomile

1 Tbsp organic St. John’s Wort

1 Tbsp organic Nettle Leaf

1 Tbsp organic Rosebuds

1 Tbsp organic dried Orange or Lemon Peel

While I drink this without any additional sweetener, you could add a little local, organic honey.  My grandmother used to give us grandkids a spoonful of honey right before bed, telling us it would give us “sweet dreams.” I’ve since read there is some truth to that folk therapy, as the complex sugars in the honey may help regulate the blood sugar, allowing for a sound night’s sleep without waking with a rumbly tummy.

Lavender Salt Soak

I’ve found a warm (but not too hot, as it can bring on a hotflash or flushing for me) bath soak in salts and organic Lavender essential oil right before bed, further helps relax and prepare me for a decent night’s sleep.  Since I’m not very fussy, I literally toss a handful of Epsom or Dead Sea salt under the running water, along with about 4-5 drops of Lavender essential oil.  Sometimes, I’ll add a little drizzle of some of my homemade calendula infused oil (calendula and sunflower oil) for extra luxurious softness!

Lavender essential oil has become my secret sleep weapon: During my weekly bed linen swap, I sprinkle a few drops of undiluted lavender essential oil over the mattress pad and pillows before re-making with fresh cotton sheets (the flannel ones are temporarily retired as they are just too warm now!) The clean, calming scent of lavender drifts all around me as I drift off to sleep—crossing my fingers I’ll be able to stay that way!

Other great resources for menopausal challenges and relief: New Menopausal Years: The Wise Woman Way  by Susun S. Weed and Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar.

About Kori

This post comes to us from Kori, our Public and Media Relations Coordinator! A West Coast native, Kori is a seasoned nonprofit activist and community organizer.  Having launched six adult kids, she spends her free time in her burgeoning organic and very urban “farm”—taming Heritage chickens, building top-bar beehives from reclaimed materials, baking, brewing, and preserving.

Did you know that it takes 60 whole roses to produce just one drop of essential oil?

The pure potency of each drop makes these precious ingredients powerful tools for aromatherapy and healing. Check out this fascinating infographic we created to outline the production of essential oils and hydrosols, from fresh living plants to distilled aromatic concentrates.

Click on the picture below to enlarge…