hi there, as someone who treasures the small amount of st. johnswort that grows on my land, i can only say-- it's an amazing medicinal, and make especially beautiful oils which can then be turned into healing salves. every year i harvest the fresh flowers and upper leaves and cover them with olive oil, leave them on the window sill for a month or six weeks, depending on whether i forget them, then strain them and bottle either to use as oil, or to save to combine with others in salve...
Sparing use as a salve seems good to me, but I wouldn’t take it orally….and while small curated populations of the plant make sense, I am inclined to agree that it should not be permitted to spread throughout this country (gorse and blackberries have done that very effectively!) especially given the toxicity to livestock (and hypericum’s ability to grow where nothing else can….
After such a fantastic learning experience with you and the cohort year (the healthy gourmet food alone is worth the price of admission), I am sure to have been among first to register for 2024. J'ai très hâte de vous y (re)voir, India!
Sounds so enticing…but I’ll be seeing you in Scotland ! For a few minutes reading this I toyed with the idea of joining you in France and following on to Scotland for a doubly abundant experience but then realized I was perhaps getting a little greedy 😬
I'm catching up on my reading and really enjoyed the magical unrolling of your dyed fabric. I also enjoyed your thoughts on hypericum perforatum. I collected some on a whim a few years ago and it made an electric yellow on my cotton linen blend. I was very excited. It's a pleasure to spend time reading about the things that you like!
We have invasive St John's wort around here in the summer. I've played with it a little, but your bundled dress inspires me to try it again come summer. Is that a wool dress?
hi there, as someone who treasures the small amount of st. johnswort that grows on my land, i can only say-- it's an amazing medicinal, and make especially beautiful oils which can then be turned into healing salves. every year i harvest the fresh flowers and upper leaves and cover them with olive oil, leave them on the window sill for a month or six weeks, depending on whether i forget them, then strain them and bottle either to use as oil, or to save to combine with others in salve...
You make a good point.
Sparing use as a salve seems good to me, but I wouldn’t take it orally….and while small curated populations of the plant make sense, I am inclined to agree that it should not be permitted to spread throughout this country (gorse and blackberries have done that very effectively!) especially given the toxicity to livestock (and hypericum’s ability to grow where nothing else can….
After such a fantastic learning experience with you and the cohort year (the healthy gourmet food alone is worth the price of admission), I am sure to have been among first to register for 2024. J'ai très hâte de vous y (re)voir, India!
Merci, Babi! je serai ravie de te revoir aussi !
(I am never quite sure if my French is correct, but I try…)
C’est parfait Mesdames 🥰
Sounds so enticing…but I’ll be seeing you in Scotland ! For a few minutes reading this I toyed with the idea of joining you in France and following on to Scotland for a doubly abundant experience but then realized I was perhaps getting a little greedy 😬
Bless, what a sweet idea. It’s happened before…Scotland to Ireland though. I look forward to meeting you at lovely Ardtornish!!
I'm catching up on my reading and really enjoyed the magical unrolling of your dyed fabric. I also enjoyed your thoughts on hypericum perforatum. I collected some on a whim a few years ago and it made an electric yellow on my cotton linen blend. I was very excited. It's a pleasure to spend time reading about the things that you like!
And it’s a joy to have you drop in!
'The world is blue ... ' p 29 in my edition, India. Chapter: 'the Blue of Distance'
We have invasive St John's wort around here in the summer. I've played with it a little, but your bundled dress inspires me to try it again come summer. Is that a wool dress?
It is silk broadcloth…wool would yield the most intense prints though
the blue of distance (chapter)...p.29 in the paperback...
🙏🏾💙