Carly's Herbal Adventures

Have you been longing for spring as much as I have?  It isn’t the dramatic bloom of May; it’s the quiet, mud-caked realization in March that the light has changed. The sun hangs a little longer in the sky, casting a pale, buttery glow over the kitchen floor, and suddenly, the heavy wool blankets and dark cedar scents of winter feel like a suit of armor we no longer need to wear.​Welcoming spring isn't just about a date on the calendar. It’s a sensory shift. It’s the desire to scrub the corners of the house, to let the air circulate, and to bring a bit of the outside in. For me, this transition is best marked by two things: a bit of personal grooming to shed the winter skin, and a slow, intentional hunt through the local thrift shops to refresh my booth space.

Brookville, Indiana, with its historic Main Street and proximity to the scenic Whitewater River valley, has always understood the value of tangible, enduring things. It is a town where history is preserved in brick and mortar, and community is built on face-to-face connection. The day before Valentines this past week, this classic American landscape welcomed a new business that perfectly captures a modern yearning for the authentic and the analog The Green Shelf. It’s a new independent bookstore that opened its doors, but it promises more than just shelves of bestsellers. It offers new, used and classic fiction, a bit of nonfiction and plenty of lovely live plants. The shop aims to cultivate a unique atmosphere by combining the printed word with the vibrant life of potted plants, creating a hybrid retail space dedicated to growth—both intellectual and botanical. It was wonderfully cozy and fun.

Finding a wellness practice that feels both grounded and expansive can be a challenge. Many manuals on the subject are either overly clinical or so abstract they become inaccessible. Essential Kundalini Yoga strikes a rare balance, positioning itself as a practical bridge between physiological health and energetic clarity. By focusing on the "Technology of Awareness," the authors provide a system designed to recalibrate the nervous system for the modern age without needing to look back at the distant past for validation.

Infusing oils with herbs is one of the simplest yet most transformative "chef secrets" you can bring into your home kitchen. Whether it’s a vibrant green basil oil drizzled over a summer caprese or a deep, woodsy rosemary oil used to roast winter root vegetables, these infusions act as concentrated flavor carriers.

​Gardening is often categorized as either a grueling chore or a scientific endeavor involving pH levels and nitrogen ratios. In The Crafty Gardener, Becca Anderson strips away the clinical rigidity of modern horticulture and replaces it with something much more inviting: whimsy, soul, and a touch of DIY magic. This isn't your standard "how-to" manual for growing prize-winning tomatoes. Instead, it is a celebratory compendium of garden lore, seasonal recipes, and creative projects that transform a backyard plot into a sanctuary. Anderson approaches the garden as a canvas, urging readers to view their green spaces through the lens of both an artist and a folklorist.

During this last snowstorm, I spent some time sorting my seeds and planning my garden for the coming year. One thing I thought about was, since my garden now is space-restricted, how can I pack it with the most punch? I love flowers. But what flowers can I have that do double or even triple duty? Not just to admire the view, but to harvest for dinner and for medicine.

If you grew up in a household with Northern European roots, you might remember a curious figure dangling above the stove or perched near the window: a small, often "homely" doll with a pointed hat, a wooden spoon, and a broomstick. This is the Kitchen Witch, a folk talisman believed to bring good luck and ward off culinary disasters. 

The chickpea pasta has loads of protein, so I wanted to try it out. I was craving buttered noodles and this is what I came up with. This recipe is —simple, sturdy, and surprisingly rich. Whether you're using rigatoni made from chickpeas (for that extra protein hit) or adding whole chickpeas to traditional wheat pasta, this dish relies on the "emulsion magic" of butter and starchy pasta water.

There is a specific kind of magic attached to driving through the rolling hills of southeastern Indiana. The roads curve alongside rivers, farms stretch out in patchwork quilts of green and gold, and the small towns you pass through feel anchored in a different era. On a recent crisp afternoon, my GPS was set for one such town—Brookville, Indiana—and specifically, a destination that promised warmth, discovery, and perhaps a piece of history, a little independent bookshop.My pilgrimage wasn't just a casual stop; it was fueled by a very specific obsession of mine. I am a hunter of old recipe books. For years, I have collected vintage cookbooks and battered recipe files. I’m not talking about pristine, glossy celebrity chef tomes. I’m looking for the plastic-comb-bound booklets put together by the "Ladies’ Auxiliary of 1974," or the grease-stained index cards found in rusty metal boxes at estate sales.

Comparing Two Herb Cookbooks