Summer Solstice
Written by owners/mother-daughter team Vickie & Steph
The beginning of summer
Summer Solstice occurs with the Sun’s entry into the astrological sign of Cancer. June 21st, the sun rises and sets at its most northerly point on the horizon and makes the highest arc across the sky.
This is a good time to celebrate the changing of the seasons. Light a fire with Sage included in the twigs, smudge your home with Sage. Incense to burn would be Cedar, Pine, Sage.
We are thoroughly enjoying the longer days. Northern Indiana has kicked off summer fairly humid and the gardens are loving it. We’ve got loads of herbs going that we are excited to harvest this fall as well as attempting some new veggies like Brussels sprouts and my first time growing garlic!
As for the shop, if you’ve been in to see us in the past couple months, you’ll notice that we moved everything again. This is how we work - constantly moving and evolving so nothing becomes stagnant and we never stop growing. But the fun this is, you’ll never know what you’re going to see next. Thanks for joining us on the journey!
Cold Cucumber Soup
Time to lighten up your diet and opt for Cucumber, Peas, Nectarines, Blueberries, Blackberries, Squash, and Corn, any fresh produce you can get your hands on! All great to eat raw or cooked. Here’s an easy recipe for cold Cucumber soup:
3 Cucumbers, coarsely grated
2 Potatoes, chopped
1 small Onion
1 cup white wine
1 cup rich chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 cup cream or yogurt
salt and pepper
Fresh herbs such as Dill weed or Lemon Balm
Cook Potatoes and onion in the wine and stock until tender. Remove from heat and let cool for about 10 minutes.
Pour this through the blender with one half of the Cucumbers. Blend only for a moment to liquify.
Stir in the rest of the Cucumber and the rest of the ingredients. Salt to taste and use a teaspoon of one of the herbs for flavoring.
Mix well and chill. Serves 4-6
(Jeanne Rose)
herbal facts & Folklore:
Looking for Fern seeds at midnight on June 20th when they should be glowing in the dark. Wrap the frond of a Male Fern around your finger for good luck and healthy abundance. Drink Osmunda regalis (royal fern) tea for eternal youth.
Wear a sprig of Thyme for courage.
Wearing a piece of iron is said to negate wickedness.
Wear Mugwort in your hair and place under your pillow for vivid dreaming.
St. John’s Wort - used for protection
Chamomile - a wreath of like a Daisy chain to protect house against lightening strikes
Endive see - used as a love potion
Madonna Lily - a symbol of purity
Water Lily - English flower of July
Lotus flower - represents summer and esteemed in China as the symbol of Perfection and Purity
Mountain Clover - revered symbol for fertility, domestic virtue, the Trinity and being a good luck token if given to a woman.
Known herbs associated and used this month are Chickweed, Violet, Lettuce, Honeysuckle.
Plant a small herb garden dotted with your favorite flowers.
New stones arriving
Rainbow Fluorite towers, Aventurine carvings, palm stones, trinket bowls, Tiger’s eye, and other surprises are all landing in the shop soon and we’ll share as we receive.
We did put out more Fluorite geometric cuts, Carnelian towers, Honey Calcite towers and some MASSIVE dream Amethyst towers.
Tarot Cards and more
We got an array of tarot and oracle cards! Right now we snagged one deck of each so we could check them out ourselves and see what you all liked too. They’re all priced $25-40 and when we pick out more, we’ll post individually on our stories.
A few more banana leaf journals available and more handmade and recycled leather ones coming in a couple weeks.
Large tapestries, a few plant hangers, and intention candles are also
We have plenty of mortar and pestles, incense burns of all sorts(genie lamps and your classic wooden ones), sage sticks, and at this point 20+ types of unique incense.
Cotton tote bags were also restocked just in time for the beach! Pretty much every color in the rainbow available and easy to wash the sand out of.
Skincare
Loads of soap curing on the rack and we have a fresh batch of CBD balm contains 500mg of beautiful full-spectrum crude CBD. We got around some more bath bags, salt soaks, and herbs to refill the wall because holy cow, it emptied quick!
Jewelry
I will be focusing on making more pendants and earrings at the bench this month and finished up a couple beautiful pieces - including this geometric Moonstone pendant pictured below. I want to dive into some choker lengths and began brainstorming on a talisman piece for myself centering around a stunning Moldavite my mom gifted me for my birthday!
Summer Hours:
Tuesday thru Saturday
11:00 to 4:00pm
140 1/2 Harrison Street
Shipshewana, Indiana, 46565