Herbtastic

Herbtastic Learning and sharing all about plants and herbs. Offering plant walks and plant based workshops.

Another way to fill the house with natural fragrances are by doing simmer pots. Just look in your cabinets or forage in ...
12/13/2025

Another way to fill the house with natural fragrances are by doing simmer pots. Just look in your cabinets or forage in your backyard. You may find something good to use.
This time I have juniper branches with some juniper berries, cinnamon stick, cranberries, and apple peels. So simple. Put them in a pot and cover with water. Simmer. The beautiful fragrance will fill the rooms.
And one more important thing is that most of them have volatile oils that are antimicrobial and protects from bad pathogens. Evergreens are also know as antifungal as well that will destroy some unvanted molds and fungi in the air.
Let simmering begin!

Tell me if you make simmer pots and what are your favorite combinations.

The sweet smell of elderberries while making elderberry syrup is filling up the rooms. No need for candles. This fragran...
12/11/2025

The sweet smell of elderberries while making elderberry syrup is filling up the rooms. No need for candles. This fragrance is so beatiful and strong. It is like turning stove top simmer pot to fill the rooms with beautiful fragrance just you get something good after it has simmered.
And those great flavanoids that are from elderberries, and if you also added rosehips then from them as well, will be the ones that will work against the viruses this winter. Just look on their rich and beautiful color. You see them in that deep purple or dark red. Did you add some cinnamon too. That sweet and aromatic herb will give not just beautiful flavor but also will bring antimicrobial properties into your syrup.
And after all do not forget to add the honey. It is soothing, sweetening, and most important protecting from all those virus attacks as well.

Do not forget to make your elderberry syrup this winter. It is one if the symplest and delicious ways to keep your immunity alert against those cold virus pathogens.

If you are interested to make one this winter and need some direction then let me know that. I am planning workshops for next year.
If you want some but you do not have time to make it, I am taking orders as well.

With all these big celebrations and all kinds of foods, it is easy to upset stomach. I am not sure how about you but if ...
12/05/2025

With all these big celebrations and all kinds of foods, it is easy to upset stomach. I am not sure how about you but if I get a lot of variety of food I do not feel well for couple of days.
We just had Thanksgiving and Christmas is on the way. It is time to get that gut ready. One of foods that I add every day is something probiotic rich. And it is a game changer for me. ( I do drink some gut friendly teas too.) And probiotic rich means fermented. There are so many possibilities:
Yoghurt
Kefir
Sauerkraut
Sauces
Kombucha
Fermented sodas
Fermented vegetables
Kimchi
And many more. If you know me you know I enjoy plain kefir. But I know it is not for everyone. How about different ways to use it. Like in kefir cheese.
I enjoy adding some nutritional greens or vegetables like this time radishes from my garden. Yes I know....I have good crop growing still because they are cold weather vegetables. But you can add spinach, argula and other greens. Do you want something wild to add? Maybe some purple dead nettle shoots are again in your yard or chickweed that loves this cold and moist weather. So simple but delicious.

This was a perfect root day. Fall is perfect time to dig roots out. All the benefits are back in roots and sugars are bu...
12/04/2025

This was a perfect root day.
Fall is perfect time to dig roots out. All the benefits are back in roots and sugars are building up. That is why marshmallow root has more mucilage in and dandelion is sweeter. (You would be surprised how seet it is!)
Today 3 kinds of roots were harvested and chopped up.
Marshmallow
Dandelion
Chickory

Now just to get them dried.

Fermented Cranberry sauce was delicious and fun time. We tasted fermented cranberry sauce, zested orange peels, and blen...
12/03/2025

Fermented Cranberry sauce was delicious and fun time.

We tasted fermented cranberry sauce, zested orange peels, and blended cranberries.
Now just waiting time to ferment them IF we can wait so long. I will be honest I am so happy I have one at home already. It ended up on the bagel with cream cheese.

Thank you everyone who came. It was fun time. And I enjoyed teaching and working together with you all but I think the best part is our conversations and spending time together.

Now just one more workshop left for this year. It is another nourishing food making one. Gut Friendly Food Making - Nourishing immunity boosting broth
Sign up and get ready to make, taste, and bring home some good immunity boosting broth.

Started as experiment and will finish as tasty fall soda. Cranberry and apple wild fermented soda. Those beautiful bubbl...
11/29/2025

Started as experiment and will finish as tasty fall soda.
Cranberry and apple wild fermented soda. Those beautiful bubbles show it is ready for carbonation. I cannot wait to try it.
While this was total experiment I know that I still have to stop to play and make cranberry ginger ale.

Have you signed up for these fun workshops? Let's make some good stuff together. Do not forget to put these dates on you...
11/28/2025

Have you signed up for these fun workshops? Let's make some good stuff together. Do not forget to put these dates on your calendar and share with others.
For more information look under events.
I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

Happy Thanksgiving!I am so thankful and grateful for each one of you. Thank you for choosing my workshops and plant walk...
11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving!
I am so thankful and grateful for each one of you. Thank you for choosing my workshops and plant walks. I feel so blessed because of all of you. And because of all of you we have started this wonderful herbal community.

With Thanksgiving aroud the corner, please, share your favorite Thanksgiving food.Thanksgiving is not in my culture but ...
11/26/2025

With Thanksgiving aroud the corner, please, share your favorite Thanksgiving food.

Thanksgiving is not in my culture but when I came here I have always enjoyed it. Big family time and food is so good. But my favorite one is sweet potatoes (maybe because they do not grow on my coutry). While I know the most popular here is sweet potato casserole (and it is good on that day) my favorite is just roasted sweet potatoes with salt, pepper and salt. I even top it with butter pieces. It is so good.

Now it is your turn. What's your favorite food? Bonus points if you have healthy one but who care on that day right? 😀

Cranberry time is here. While most of us enjoy craberry sauce, there are other great cranberry recipes out there.This ye...
11/26/2025

Cranberry time is here. While most of us enjoy craberry sauce, there are other great cranberry recipes out there.
This year I tried a new recipe. It is cranberry and walnut pie. It was delicious. Sweet but not overly sweet and just a little bit tart.
Here is what you need.
Your favorite pie dough
1 1/4 c cranberries
3 eggs
2/3 c brown sugar
2/3 c molasses
7 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 c chopped walnuts

Pre-prepare the pie dough by placing dough in a pie pan and bake it on 375F for 15 min. Take it out and let it cool in the pan. Meanwhile prepare the filling. Put in the bowl melted butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and molasses. Mix it all. Add cranberries and walnuts. Pour the filling in pre-baked pie crust and bake again in oven of 350F for about 40 minutes.
The filling will settle after pie will cool off.
I hope you get to try this recipe and enjoy it.

Do you have any cranberry recipe that you would like to share?

What did people use to eat before convenient and processed foods? This is the question I was wondering in these couple o...
11/24/2025

What did people use to eat before convenient and processed foods?
This is the question I was wondering in these couple of days. And it reminded me of how people used food they harvested, foraged and preserved.
I still remember even from my childhood (thanks to Soviet Union) how we ate with the seasons. Fall was root harvesting time for sure and getting big barrels of sauerkraut and other fermented foods.

And here I have my little shelf of fall ferments - cranberry and apple soda (total experiment at this point), fermented cranberry sauce, and apple sauerkraut fermenting.
Let's fill our bodies with nutritious foods.
Do you preserve food in fall? And do you eat with seasons?

By the way if you would like to make fermented cranberry sauce I have a workshop coming up. Gut Friendly Food Making - Fermented Cranberry Sauce

This was a perfect day for harvesting dandelion roots in our dandelion root chai workshop. Thank you who joined. We iden...
11/23/2025

This was a perfect day for harvesting dandelion roots in our dandelion root chai workshop.
Thank you who joined. We identified, digged, washed, cleaned, and chopped. Then we got dandelion root chai made. Homemade marshmallows were great addition. And what would be chai without cake? That is why we got some dandelion root cake to make it all complete

Next workshop is Fermented cranberry sauce. Check under events for more info. I hope to see you there

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