https://alchemistmother.comPlants for the kitchen, the body, the home — and the stories we inherit. Herbal recipes, nonalcoholic botanical drinks, traditional preparations, plant stories and films.https://alchemistmother.com/journal/the-week-before-pokrov/https://alchemistmother.com/journal/the-week-before-pokrov/Fri, 02 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0000Bringing in the last of everything before the cold — and an old feast that marks the turn of the year.https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/rose-hip-apple-cup/https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/rose-hip-apple-cup/Thu, 01 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0000A warm, spiced cup in the spirit of mulled wine — with rose hips and apple, and no wine at all.https://alchemistmother.com/garden/garlic-before-pokrov/https://alchemistmother.com/garden/garlic-before-pokrov/Thu, 01 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0000Planning the garlic bed: three varieties, forty cloves, and a promise to mulch properly this time.https://alchemistmother.com/garden/last-calendula-before-frost/https://alchemistmother.com/garden/last-calendula-before-frost/Tue, 29 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Frost forecast for Thursday night. Picked every open flower in the bed — two full screens.https://alchemistmother.com/films/candied-peel-film/https://alchemistmother.com/films/candied-peel-film/Mon, 28 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Four oranges, a pot of syrup, and a rack by the stove. Candying peel for the winter jar.https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/candied-orange-peel/https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/candied-orange-peel/Sun, 27 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Slow-simmered peel for the winter jar — for baking, for chocolate, for eating straight from the rack.https://alchemistmother.com/journal/on-not-calling-it-medicine/https://alchemistmother.com/journal/on-not-calling-it-medicine/Thu, 24 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Why this notebook separates what tradition says, what I have seen, and what science knows — and why that matters more than ever.https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/rose-hip-apple-pastila/https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/rose-hip-apple-pastila/Mon, 21 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Baked apples and rose hips cooked down and dried slowly into a chewy fruit paste — an old Russian sweet, made at home.https://alchemistmother.com/garden/rose-hips-can-wait/https://alchemistmother.com/garden/rose-hips-can-wait/Fri, 18 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000The rugosa hips are fat and red, but I'm leaving them for the first frost.https://alchemistmother.com/films/elderberry-syrup-film/https://alchemistmother.com/films/elderberry-syrup-film/Thu, 17 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Gathering the last elder clusters of the year, and cooking them down into a dark spiced syrup for winter.https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/elderberry-syrup/https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/elderberry-syrup/Wed, 16 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Dark, spiced, and kept in the fridge for winter — the most traditional jar in the cupboard.https://alchemistmother.com/journal/drying-herbs-in-a-small-kitchen/https://alchemistmother.com/journal/drying-herbs-in-a-small-kitchen/Wed, 09 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000No attic, no drying shed, no problem. How the harvest gets dried between the stove and the window.https://alchemistmother.com/garden/drying-rack-september/https://alchemistmother.com/garden/drying-rack-september/Tue, 08 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Everything on the rack at once: lemon balm, calendula, orange peel, and a few bunches of thyme.https://alchemistmother.com/garden/lemon-balm-cut-back/https://alchemistmother.com/garden/lemon-balm-cut-back/Mon, 24 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000The third and final harvest. Cut it to a hand's height and it'll come back in spring.https://alchemistmother.com/journal/keeping-the-failed-batches/https://alchemistmother.com/journal/keeping-the-failed-batches/Tue, 18 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000Burnt syrup, mouldy oil, peel that turned to toffee. Why the mistakes go in the notebook too.https://alchemistmother.com/films/calendula-harvest-film/https://alchemistmother.com/films/calendula-harvest-film/Sat, 25 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000Picking calendula every other morning for a season, drying the heads, and starting the year's jar of oil.https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/calendula-oil-and-salve/https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/calendula-oil-and-salve/Fri, 24 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000Summer flowers steeped in oil on the windowsill, then set with beeswax into a simple salve for hands and skin.https://alchemistmother.com/journal/lipa-the-tea-tree/https://alchemistmother.com/journal/lipa-the-tea-tree/Thu, 02 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000On the linden, the most ordinary and most beloved tree of the Eastern European kitchen.https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/linden-honey-lemonade/https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/linden-honey-lemonade/Sun, 28 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000A cold, pale-gold lemonade made from linden blossom and lemon balm — the taste of an early summer evening.https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/winter-forest-tea/https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/winter-forest-tea/Mon, 02 Feb 2026 08:00:00 +0000Linden, rose hip, lemon balm and orange peel — a jar of summer's flowers for the darkest evenings.https://alchemistmother.com/films/pine-vinegar-film/https://alchemistmother.com/films/pine-vinegar-film/Wed, 21 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000Collecting fallen pine after a January storm, and steeping it into a household cleaning vinegar.https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/pine-needle-vinegar/https://alchemistmother.com/recipes/pine-needle-vinegar/Tue, 20 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000A jar of forest for the kitchen counters — a simple household cleaning vinegar steeped with pine and citrus.