Summer is my favorite time of the year. I love spending an entire day out in the garden weeding, watering, planting & harvesting. The longer summer days are a little more forgiving, allowing space for experimenting & learning.
Over the last four years, we’ve been slowly growing & expanding our garden to fit our family’s needs. We’ve added a fresh cut flower garden & plan to introduce an asparagus patch along with a wide variety of berries this fall!
This summer I am slowly cultivating a culinary & medicinal herb plot. We usually sneak in herbs among our perennial flower beds next to the farmhouse & annual herbs around the tomatoes, but this year I am excited to dedicate a space just for them.
Basil
Hyssop
Bergamot
—–
Here’s a list of what’s currently growing:
– Basil
– Rosemary
– Lavender
– Thyme
– Oregano
– Lemon Balm
– Sage
– Chamomile
– Hyssop
– Bergamot
I am excited to experiment with the use of hyssop & bergamot in the future. Not only will they be wonderful dried, I’m excited to see their benefits for our garden pollinators! I just harvested chamomile from our herb plot & have begun drying it for a tea blend & infused oils.
The garden is such a wonderful space to explore & learn. I hope to add more herbs as my little space grows.
What are some of your favorite herbs & their uses? Please share in the comments!
love,
natalie
Every Wednesday afternoon at three o’clock, I pick up my nephew from preschool. When we get into the car, Oliver always asks, “Aunt Natalie, what’s our fun plan for today?!”
Our bit of time together is my favorite. I always pull together a fun, seasonal activity we can enjoy together. On warmer days, we head to the splash pad or down to our neighbor’s creek. Spring days have us outside planting seeds & flying kites. On rainy days, in particular, you’ll find us inside crafting.
Last year around Easter, I filled little plastic eggs with sour worms & gummy bears. We boiled eggs from the farm & dyed them with the traditional kit found at the big box store. I hid little eggs around the farm & we went on an exciting egg hunt together!
This year, I wanted to dye eggs with more natural, plant-based dyes. Making my own dyes felt a bit daunting (though I am always wildly inspired by my friend, Amy, of Second & Edgemont) so I grabbed the Natural Egg Dye kit from Whole Foods made from fruits, herbs & veggies. It’s about $10 & is super simple to use.
It’s so important to start with good eggs when dyeing. If you do not have backyard chickens, I’d recommend connecting with your local farmer or grabbing a dozen from the natural foods store. I am particularly impressed with Whole Foods’ commitment to sustainable farms & happy chickens. I grabbed a dozen of their 365 Everyday Value white eggs & they worked great mixed with our own farm fresh brown beauties!
Before picking up Oliver, I boiled our eggs & set up our supplies. A bit of parchment & white paper worked well to protect our thrifted farmhouse table. I poured the natural dye colors into mason jars, a wonderful no-waste solution for dyeing. Once we arrived back home, I simply added hot water to each jar & we began dyeing!
There are so many techniques you can try to make your dyed eggs extra special. I love this feathered egg tutorial from 3191 & hope to do this activity with Oliver next year!
This time around, we simply drew on our eggs with crayons. Oliver used every color of the rainbow to make little scribbles on his eggs before plopping them into the dye. I loved using white – the wax prevents color from seeping into the shell so you can draw sweet little patterns on each egg. The possibilities are endless!
Once we were finished, we placed each egg into an old egg carton & admired our handiwork. I’ve been enjoying boiled eggs for breakfast every morning since!
Such a wonderful afternoon spent with Oliver & an easy, seasonal activity to enjoy with the littles.
I’d love to read your favorite techniques for naturally dyeing eggs! Please share in the comments!
If you’re on Instagram, head on over to my account & enter to win Easter goodies from Whole Foods. This blog post was in partnership with Whole Foods Fayetteville & they’re graciously gifting a @nataliecreates follower within Northwest Arkansas a bundle of spring goodies!
love,
natalie
When we opened the doors to our Freckled Hen Farmhouse shop, we knew we wanted it to be a place that inspired folks to learn new skills & invest more deeply in their homes & interests. Luke & I have been absolutely amazed by the response to our workshop series!
We are so thrilled to introduce a new workshop for spring – a fun & informative garden workshop at our farm!
You’re invited to our farm, Freckled Hen Farm, just outside of Fayetteville on Sunday, April 30th, for an afternoon of gardening!
Luke, our farmer & horticulturalist, will walk you through the basics of gardening with hands-on demonstrations & plenty of time to answer all of your exciting gardening questions.
It’s going to be such a rich afternoon of soaking up the beautiful farm while learning hands-on skills that you can bring back to your own garden & families!
Topics will include:
– Seeding & transplanting
– Soil health & amendments
– Building a garden bed
– Crop rotation & crop planning
– Mulching & weed control
– Organic pest management
You’ll spend the afternoon with Luke & (me!) Natalie in the garden for on-site demonstrations along with hands-on activities + detailed handouts with planting schedules & crop management tips.
We’re excited to also give you a tour of our hobby farm, including an overview of our free-range chickens & goats.
Just a few basics…
– The workshop will be held from 2-5pm at our farm, Freckled Hen Farm, on April 30th.
– Registration is $40 per person & spots are limited.
– This is a beginners course so no previous gardening knowledge is required.
– The workshop also includes light snacks & drinks for your enjoyment.
– Freckled Hen Farmhouse tools, seeds & supplies for the garden will also be offered so bring extra cash if you’d like to purchase Luke & Natalie’s favorite farm essentials! Enjoy 10% off with every purchase.
We so look forward to having you at our home & farm on April 30th!
love,
natalie