onions that walk - and (rose) hips that talk.

after what seems a long hiatus - of almost no crafting - and after many a full day of 12+ hours working at my real job(s) as a mad gardener and market coordinator - i have finally settled into fall.  into a new home.  and have started planning out my own home perennial gardens, harvesting whole native perennial plants to divy up to the various school gardens around, and gleaning crafty bits to prepare for fire-side crafting this winter.

yesterday i ordered egyptian walking onions.  which are pretty dang incredible because 1.) they are beautiful and 2.) they walk.  and in so walking, they replant themselves.  along with that same order to southern exposure seed exchange i ordered a loverly bouquet of native and herbaceous seeds that looked lovely - including borage, wild bergamot (ie what gives earl grey tea it's earl grey-ness), thai red roselle, hungarian blue breadseed poppies, soapwort (the roots of which produce a natural soapy lather), purple coneflower/echinacea, and pacific beauty calendula.  o-so stoked about making many lovely teas, growing lovely flowers, and crafting new soaps!

and then today i bought some citronella plants to keep us a wee bit less buggy this fall time.

but last week i harvested gi-normous rose hips from the woodway elementary school garden.  to the children, rose hips are also known as little pumpkins on a stick.  rose hips are awesome because:

• they are one of the most concentrated sources of vitamin C available
• they also contain vitamins A, D and E, as well as iron and antioxidant flavonoids that may reduce the effects of aging and help prevent cancer
• the iron in rose hips make them an excellent supplement for menstruating women
• they have a tart-sweet taste 
• they can be used to make tea, jelly, jam, soup or oil 
• they can easily be gathered for free!

so expect to see more rose hips in wildcraft & co.'s crafting scheme.  also to come, more local beeswax in the form of candles and lotion.  hurrah for local!