Dried Chamomile Flowers

When I planted my garden in early May I also planted some Organic Chamomile flowers in the little "fairy garden" that we have (The fairies seemed to have mysetiously flown away....hmm).They have started blooming and they are so cute! They look like mini daisies except they smell way better.

So I decided it was time to look up some ways of how to dry and use them!

To dry your Chamomile:
All you do is tie a bunch of them up with a little bit of string and hang in a cool dry place for a few weeks. I only just hung mine today, but they are supposed to smell amazing as they dry. I put mine in our pantry. Since we will be out of town for over a week, I thought if it gets hot here, that will for sure be the coolest place in the house. Basements or laundry rooms are other good spots. Once they are dried, you can store them in an airtight container for up to a year.

Here they are hanging in my pantry.

Sad little bunch. Need to plant some more!

When they are dry, there are all sorts of cool things you can do with them!

What to do with dried Chamomile:
1. Brew some tea. If you have a tea ball or even just some cheese cloth and some string, you can brew up some yummy Chamomile tea with a little honey and lemon. It helps relieve stress, aids in digestion, relieves upset stomachs, reduces menstrual cramps, helps pregnant women with morning sickness (What? miracle flower!), and can be used as a mouthwash (when cooled) to keep gums healthy. Pretty awesome.

2. Take a bath. Tie up a bunch of dried Chamomile (either by itself or with some dried rose petals) in some cheese cloth and place in your bath for a soothing, gorgeous smelling bath. Chamomile has been shown to help with burns (including sun burn), rashes (including eczema), wounds and other skin issues. Wow.

3. Cook with it! I found recipes online for Chamomile Lemonade, Honey Chamomile Cupcakes (um, holy delicious!) Lemon Chamomile Shortbread, and more! And since it is so good for you, heck don't feel guilty if you eat all the cupcakes.....well maybe a little.

4. Make beauty products with it. When the girls were babies I was dead set against Johnson and Johnson or any other typical baby washes. The chemicals that are in there and what they can do to a growing body is scary! So when they were young I made a home made shampoo/ body wash that was gentle enough for them and it smelled so good! I used a recipe from the book Do It Gorgeously by Sophie Uliano (my green guru). If anyone wants the recipe you can email me, but I probably shouldn't post it on here!

5. Aromatherapy. Another way I thought could be cool to use it is to make a little eye cover and place some dried Chamomile in there with some dried lavender. Then every night you would be soothed to sleep as you smell the calming, lovely scents. You could also make a sachet of it and place in your lingerie drawer. Getting fancy around here!

Now that I know all these cool uses for it, I wish I had planted way more. Time to go buy some seeds!