Walk With Us: Memoirs & Meanderings

In our family, we are very fortunate to have several generations to learn from, spend time with, and love. My Grandma, Patricia, is the most wonderful woman. The feisty octogenarian has spent her life working hard at her career, tending a farm, raising children, gardening, and volunteering for local organizations. Now retired, grandma is a self proclaimed "Lady of Leisure." When I first heard her say that, I pictured a Jane Austin heroine sprawled on an overstuffed sofa with a book in hand and surrounded by chocolates and steaming mugs of tea. Turns out, that was exactly what she meant. Just when...

Hint- In cooking, herbs are meant to be used to enhance your dish, not dominate it.

Tip- As guests arrive for a visit, the first thing you will hear as they enter your home is what a wonderful aroma. Cooking with herbs enhances the aroma, but if you’re not cooking that day, try heating up a small saucepan. Add two cups water, two cinnamon sticks, a teaspoon of whole clove, a piece of orange peel, a pinch of lemon balm or verbena, or any other herb that makes you happy. Heat to a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool on the stove. Your house will smell fabulous, and welcoming to others.

My herbal journey began early, as I am the daughter of Barb Keith, a wonderful culinary herbalist. You can learn more about Barb in Cooking with Mama, an earlier article. My family is the result of hundreds of years of tonic inventing, hospital building, apothecary owning, plant loving, healer ancestors.

While my mama's passion is cooking and creating amazing herbal dishes, I am drawn to the healing properties of plants. When in school, I remember classmates asking if I knew a plant that could help a sick belly, a headache, a bruise. I would rush home and pull mama's herbals from the shelf, and before long I knew the answers to their inquiries.

We thought it would be fun to highlight what our team members feel would happen on our perfect day and what that might look like, in the hopes of giving you a glimpse into who we are so you can get to know who's behind the medicines we make. We also hope you will jot down your favorite things that would make up your own perfect day, with the goal being to work a little toward that each day, even if that means to simply notice that which you enjoy occurred, even if only for a fleeting moment. Because while a perfect day may not be truly realistic, it's the little things that bring happiness and joy in life.

To those who have decided to learn more about herbs, I encourage you to write things down!

This advice comes in many forms, but most important is keeping good informative labels on your bottles and jars. It is easy to ignore this step when you get started. You've spent the spring and summer growing and tending plants, spent the autumn harvesting and drying, and now you have the jars full of herbs...

Nothing jolts an herbalist into action like the two words: Frost tonight.

We have an annual tradition in our family, whoever hears those two words in the weather forecast first is responsible for calling and texting the family so we can all jump up and shout, "FROST TONIGHT!”

Though most of us have been harvesting and wildcrafting through the summer and autumn, first hard frost marks the last opportunity to gather any tender plants we might want to dry for winter and spring use.

After the call we all grab harvest baskets and shears and head to our gardens to fill...

We all can feel the wheel of the year turn from summer to autumn, the air is a little crisper and cooler, leaves are changing to bright colors, porches are full of pumpkins and gourds, and we are pulling out our chunky sweaters. Though beautiful, fall isn't just sipping hot coffee, wandering around apple orchards and eating pumpkin everything. As the seasons shift, we are bombarded with all the stress that comes with it. Kids are back to school and there are lunches to pack, alarm clocks to set, ball games, practices and band rehearsals to remember and homework to finish before bed. Summer sunshine allowed us to spend plenty of time outside, and now kids...

Farmer’s Markets are my happy place. There is nothing nicer than rising early on a Saturday morning, throwing on a wide skirt and big hat, and driving to the market with tote bags in tow. While I always find delicious treasures in my local market, the start of the autumn season transforms the local gathering. Harvest season brings such an overflowing abundance of produce, herbs, honey, maple syrup, meats, baked goods, fresh cut flowers and crafts. Towers of multicolored pumpkins, a rainbow of tomatoes, piles of beans, potatoes, and sweet onions. I can spend an entire morning flitting from table-to-table shopping and visiting...

"It sounds like a bunch of bull, meant to make people spend more money on fancy crap." Despite being raised by a wise herb lady, I actually said these words when I watched a deluge of TV commercials advertising the newest trends in body care products years ago. I'm sure you will remember the flawless faces filling the screens for the latest wrinkle cream or long manes of hair whipping around or ladies grinning near hysteria while lathering brightly colored body washes. "Paraben free!" all the beautiful people exclaimed...

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a curious person. Growing up, I was often labeled, with much chagrin, the black sheep or was called a modern hippie by family members. Perhaps… But what I know to be true is my journey was a very unlikely one. I grew up in a conservative waspish family, and was raised by a single mother who struggled with stability and mental illness. I became very independent, finding solace in computers and technology, and camaraderie from people I met online, eventually growing to become an accomplished designer, writer and photographer...

“It’s just tea. What does it matter if it’s in a bag, or a silly ball? I can’t live without my Lipton’s iced tea,” said the lady in the grocery. “What’s the difference?”

Well… It may not seem like it, but there’s a world of difference in big box store tea brands versus organic loose leaf teas. The win is that they are in bright packaging, they’re easy to use and can be a little cheaper in price, but the loss is huge when you consider that convenience isn’t always what’s best...

Summer days spent in the grass under a shade tree, barefoot firefly chasing, and joyously soaking in the heat and sunshine never fails to remind me of my Mamaw. When little, I spent many lazy hot days with my grandparents in Cambridge, Ohio. In their words, their little house was, "deep in the holler," surrounded by forest, ponds, fields, and streams. All the wonderous things that call to a child on warm days.

My Mamaw Keith was a tiny woman...