We decided to go up into our mountains this year and cut down a Christmas tree. I will be using the needles for medicine, but I also wanted to make an easy vinegar spray that smells good too! I just threw in fresh orange peels, fir needles and you can add whole cloves too if you like. Cover with white vinegar, label and strain in 4 weeks. Place in spray bottle and use as needed. These ingredients all have a wonderful aroma and antimicrobial properties! So if you bought a live tree this year save those needles for a natural cleaner and dry some extra to throw into your tea to help with any respiratory infection.
Organic Emily is Moving!
It is with sadness and excitement that my husband and I will be moving our family in the next few weeks out into the country. Our home is for sale by owner. We will be moving to the Sanpete county area. I hope to continue herb walks, workshops and other classes in our new area where we will have more land and access to the mountains once our new home is built. Look for updates on classes in other areas including lots of hikes this upcoming year.
If you or someone you know wants to buy my home please reach out to me through my contact page. It sits on just over a quarter acre lot. The landscape is water wise on automatic sprinkling system. There are over 140 medicinal herbs in the garden beds, vegetable garden area, a large chicken coop and a large RV pad along the side of the house. The home is 4100 sq ft all updated with hand scraped hickory floors, some carpet and stone tile in the wet areas, butler pantry 21 x 7, sun nook off the kitchen, large workshop in the back (24 x 26) with 240 volts running to it. 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, lots of storage space, 2 extra rooms that can be used as a workout room and library or music room. Asking price is $668,000. Here is the link to the listing.
I will still be placing bulk food orders and taking orders for Christmas on the medicinal herb kits and body care products. We will most likely have a drop off sight for bulk orders. If you are interested in buying items for Christmas please get your orders in to me as soon as you can. Much love! Organic Emily
New Batch of Herbal Salves, Oils and Lotions
I have put a lot of research, energy and travel into making my new salves, oils and lotions better than ever with a bigger variety than the past to meet specific needs with the highest quality plants grown and foraged! Check out my page for more info and prices!
Contact me with any questions!
Announcement on Star-West Botanical Orders
New changes have been updated to my Star-West Botanical tab located at the top of my home page. I no longer have the items with prices listed. Prices change too often and items fluctuate too much in availability. From this point I will have each person who wants to order go to their website and send me a list of available items with sizes to be ordered through my contact page.
I increased the amount of time I order each year. I will be ordering quarterly, in January, April, July and October of each year. They have a wonderful variety of herbs, spices, tea blends, tinctures, essential oils, body care products and more. And you get a bigger discount ordering through me!
Check out my updated page for more info!
Fever Tea Bath Bags
Fevers are an essential symptom during an illness. They usually work in a beneficial way for us to kill pathogens we don’t want inside our body. It’s important to understand when we should intervene and when we should work with the fever to help recover from an illness faster. I recommend reading this blog post form Dr. Lawrence Palevsky, Pediatrician, whom I have a lot of respect for before reading on. It has brought me and many of my loved ones with children peace of mind when our children have been ill.
https://www.northportwellnesscenter.com/practitioner/lawrence-palevsky/if-your-child-is-sick
From the article above you should now have a better understanding of what signs and symptoms to look for when you or your child has a fever, what kinds of things you can do as comfort measures and when you should go to the doctor. These fever tea bags are a great comfort measure and contain herbs to help a fever work better for the person who is ill. Many of the herbs are diaphoretic herbs that help break a fever through sweating, including elder, yarrow and spearmint. The lavender and chamomile are cooling, soothing and anti-inflammatory. It is important to make a strong infusion with the herbs. Save some to drink and use the rest in a bath.
Fever Tea Bags
Use equal parts: about 2 tablespoons for each bath
Elder flower
Yarrow
Spearmint
Lavender
Chamomile
3×5 or 4×6 muslin bag
Place the herbs inside the muslin bag and cinch closed. Make an infusion by boiling 4 cups of purified water. Turn the heat off and place the muslin bag filled with the herbs into the pot. Cover with lid and steep for 30 minutes. Reserve one cup of the tea in a mug. Pour the rest of the tea in a warm bath with 1 cup of Epsom salts. Soak for 30 minutes while drinking the reserved cup of tea. Remember to get in with your little ones for lots of skin to skin time like Dr Palevsky mentions in his article. Once out of the bath be sure to have warm towels close by so not to lose any heat. Wrap up in more blankets and apply a little lavender essential oil onto the back of the neck and feet.
Foaming Castile Hand Soap
I just switched to an all natural homemade foaming hand soap for all my bathrooms. These make great gifts and are super easy to make.
Recipe
1 foaming dispenser bottle. I like this one. because it foams up nicely, producing a rich lather.
1 cup distilled water
1 cup castile soap
1 tablespoon vitamin E oil
1 tablespoon vegetable glycerin
2 tablespoons almond, coconut or grapeseed oil.
30-40 drops essential oils of your choice
Place water in dispenser first, then add the rest of the ingredients. Label and shake before each use. Use within 3 months.
Here are some of my favorite scent blends. Use about 5-10 drops per oil depending on how strong you like it to smell.
Rosemary, Cinnamon, Orange, Clove and Eucalyptus
Lemon, Orange, Eucalyptus and Tea Tree
Eucalyptus, Lavender and Tea Tree
Pine, Cinnamon, Eucalyptus and Peppermint
Natural Disinfectant and Deodorizer
I love how inexpensive and most importantly effective this recipe is. It will disinfect and deodorize anything from vomit to urine and fecal matter. It is a must have in any house hold with kids and pets. I’ve used it on mattresses, carpet and many other surfaces. Just mix together equal parts white distilled vinegar and hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle. Add your favorite blends of essential oils for antimicrobial cleaning power. I like using 10-20 drops of each.
Thyroid Support Perfume
Last year I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroditis. I had to make some life changing choices, from diet to exercise, as well as getting rid of all chemical products, not that I had many, but make up and fragrance were a few I hadn’t altered yet. It is virtually impossible to find fragrance that doesn’t contain some kind of synthetic additive/chemical that can mess with hormones. Another friend of mine was wearing this blend at church one morning and I loved how bright and fresh it smelled on her! It is so simple and very inexpensive, especially if you buy the large Butterfly Express oils… they last forever! These essential oils specifically support thyroid function.
Recipe
1 ounce spray bottle
2 parts sweet basil (10 drops)
2 parts lemongrass (10 drops)
1 part frankicense (5 drops)
1 part clove (5 drops)
Distilled or purified water
Mix all ingredients together in a small spray bottle, shake and use as desired. I like to label the bottle so I know exactly what to put in the bottle when I need to refill it.
Cough and Congestion Balm
Super simple to make, this powerful balm is just as good as any over the counter mentholated topical ointment, except better and more natural. The recipe makes 4 (2-ounce) jars and can easily be doubled. I like using Butterfly Express essential oils because they are high quality and very inexpensive. Be sure to keep in the fridge if storing for longer than 1 year.
Recipe
12 tablespoons coconut oil
5 tablespoons cocoa butter
4 tablespoons beeswax pellets
40 drops peppermint essential oil
40 drops eucalyptus essential oil
20 drops basil essential oil
20 drops tea tree essential oil
20 drops thyme essential oil
20 drops lemon essential oil
20 drops rosemary essential oil
In a small sauce pan combine the coconut oil, cocoa butter and beeswax together, melting on very low heat. Once combined, add the essential oils and mix together. Pour into jars or tins and allow to cool and set up completely. Cap, label and date. Use as needed.
Shingles-Herpes-Cold Sore Salve
This salve works! The key ingredient is Lemon Balm or Melissa officinalis. It kills any strains of the herpes virus from shingles and chicken pox to genital herpes and cold sores. It will definitely shorten the duration of any outbreak. The plants are simple to grow and use. Here’s how to make it yourself.
Recipe
Equal parts
Dried Lemon Balm leaves (anti-viral)
Dried Calendula flowers (accelerates cell reproduction/healing)
Dried Marshmallow leaves and flowers (soothing to inflamed painful tissue)
Fresh or dried St. John’s Wort flower buds (anti-viral and calms burning nerves for pain)
Place herbs in a quart jar, cover and let steep in the sun for 4 weeks or use the stove top method and simmer on very low heat for 1 hour. Be careful not to burn the herbs.
Strain the herbs through a mesh strainer and cheese cloth or other thin cloth. Squeeze the oil from the plants getting as much as you can.
You can see the deep reddish-orange medicinal color from the herbs that have infused into the olive oil. It’s the Calendula and St. John’s Wort that give it this color. You should measure out about 4 cups of oil.
For every cup of infused oil you will need 1/4 cup packed shredded beeswax. I use only one grater for beeswax and never bother to wash it because it won’t ever come clean. Good thing beeswax is naturally antimicrobial. Melt the beeswax and oil together on very low heat until just melted. Check to see if the salve is the right consistency by spooning a little and placing into the freezer for a few minutes to set up. If you feel like you want it to be a little more firm then add more beeswax.
While the beeswax is melting get 16 2-ounce or 8 4-ounce jars ready. Once melted add a few dropperfuls of vitamin E oil and about 60-80 drops Melissa essential oil. I like using the Melissa blend from Butterfly Express. It’s much cheaper than the real thing and does a great job.
I like filling the jars with either a turkey baster or medicine syringe. Label and date. Keep in the fridge for long term storage. Use as needed.