Putting Flowers to Work
One of my experiments this last year has been doing very “minimal” gardening. Most of the time this means I throw seed down, water when I remember, and see what grows. It’s a very inefficient way to garden, but it also means the strongest seeds survive.
This mentality started last Fall when I had a newborn and a toddler who was turning 2 soon. Instead of doing a winter garden, I threw some seeds down that I had an excessive amount of and waited to see what would happen.
The chosen seed happened to be Calendula. And over winter it grew quite prolifically (thanks Bay Area weather!), mostly greenery and as the weather warmed up the flowers started blooming.
Pretty soon I was overtaken by the flowers, and as the growing season got closer I wanted to make room for more plants.
My solution: make the most of these flowers instead of just mowing them down into mulch.
Minimum input, maximum output
Turns out, they make pretty beautiful bouquets! So when I opened up the Springtime farm stand in April, you better believe I was selling Calendula bouquets. And they were a hot ticket item!
I also learned how medicinally wonderful Calendula is. And maybe I’m late to the party on this knowledge, but I hopped on the bandwagon real quick!
Here’s a little background on this beautiful, resilient flower.
It’s considered one of the oldest flowers to be planted and cultivated in the gardens of many
It has been recorded as used for medicinal poultices to stop bleeding and culinary dyes since the early 1800’s.
It’s considered anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory
Historically used for cuts and wounds to aid in healing
Moral of the story
Sometimes doing the absolute least can be a creation within itself. I learned so much about this flower, and have since put it to use in many ways. Both monetary and for fun.
You’ll find a new line of bar soap that is infused with our homegrown Calendula! We are also looking to add it into our line of products in other ways too, so keep an eye out this summer.
And it seems like no matter what I do to keep it at bay, it just self seeds and continues to grow - looks like it’ll be a staple in our minimalist garden now.
I’m not complaining.
