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September 4, 2025

Happy Thursday, Reader!

Oh, goodness! I know it's Thursday, and I'm a day late with this week's note. I'm not late very often, and I hope you'll forgive me.

Today, I've got a great recipe for Nasturtium Pesto for you!

This idea came out of our live herbal coaching session yesterday in our incredible herbal membership, the Confident Herbalist Tribe, and I thought I'd go ahead and share this with you, too! We welcomed many new members into the Tribe in the past few days, and students are now taking exciting steps along their special and unique herbal paths and adventures.

We're all entering a new seasonal shift right now, and personally I just love this movement from Summer to Fall. I also love the Winter shift into Spring, but honestly, the move into fall is such a relief. Slowing down a little, fall scents and flavors, natural soaps and candles, pumpkins (I LOVE pumpkins), blooming mums, sunflowers, AND a new crop of nasturtiums.

Nasturtiums, if you have them growing this year, bloom beautifully this time of year because they're cool season annuals. They have a great burst of renewal right now in many places! And they're just so lovely.

Their little leaves look kind of like lily pads, and the red and orange flowers are just gorgeous. I love growing them in my lettuce beds because they tend to keep pests from these garden plants. Nasturtiums have a trailing habit, and there's nothing more romantic and beautiful than how they grow over the sides of a container or bed.

Nasturtiums are super high in vitamin C! They're also jam-packed with lutein, which is a carotenoid and has powerful protective effects on eye health. In fact, it's thought to be a natural sunblock for eyes, even from short-wave blue light. Take internally as a tea or edible for this reason.

Medicinally, they have gentle antibiotic action and can be a helpful addition to your natural cold and flu care regimen (I hope you have one!).

For the hair and skin, they're helpful too! They stimulate gentle circulation to the scalp which promotes hair growth. For this, you would use Nasturtium Tea.

So if you get a chance to eat (or drink) some, you should do it!

Enjoy this delicious and easy pesto recipe.

**Don't have nasturtiums? Try substituting with dandelion leaves instead! Or, feel free to combine the two.

Nasturtium Pesto Recipe

You'll need:

3 cups combined nasturtium leaves and flowers, packed

3/4 cup cold-pressed olive oil

1/2 to 3/4 cup nuts of choice. Walnuts are GREAT in this recipe, but feel free to try pine nuts, cashews, even some almonds.

A little mineral salt

To make:

• Wash and dry the leaves and flowers. If the leaves are large, chop or just tear into halves or fourths
• Place all ingredients, and blend until smooth
• Store in a jar in the refrigerator. If they brown, it's ok.

Dandelion Pesto Recipe with Pictures

​Here's the article for my dandelion leaf pesto you may enjoy, too! Dandelion is another plant that tends to have a bit of a resurgence in the Fall. So if you're seeing dandelions around, grab some leaves and make something delicious!
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Dandelion flowers won't be great in this pesto, so just use the leaves and enjoy the most phenomenal nutritious sauce!

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Dandelion Flower Lotion

If you're seeing dandelions this fall, and you want to make an incredible and easy, luxuriously moisturizing lotion, you may enjoy this article, too. For this lotion, you'll use the dandelion flowers, which are high in allantoin, which make it incredibly healing and strengthening to the skin.

​Dandelion Flower Lotion Formulation​

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BEST Essential Oils for Energy and Mental Clarity

Have you been feeling tired lately? Or just stressed out, causing scattered thoughts? I've got a great solution...essential oils.

Because the tiny odor molecules enter the bloodstream via inhalation, gently working around the limbic system in the brain to create an enhanced emotional experience and improved thinking as well as a nice burst of calming yet uplifting energy, blending some of these together can create a lovely diffuser option! Find out more here:

​Essential Oils for Energy and Mental Clarity​

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Have fun making some herbal and aromatic things this week! I'm definitely excited about doing some making....

Hugs, Health, and Herbs,

Heidi

P.S. Do you have my Five Favorite Fall Diffuser Blends? It's FREE, and perfect for setting a great fall cozy mood in your home while also boosting health!

P.P.S. And please forward this along to a friend!

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Today's note is proudly sponsored by the School of Botanical Arts & Sciences! If you're ready to become an herbalist, we've got something for you and yours.

Are you a home schooler of tweens and up? Our Family Herbalist programs are perfect for you to guide your child through. In fact, one of our students' high school daughters earned science and health credits from our course. Depending on your state's requirements, herbalism is a great idea for the homeschool crowd, and as you know, we teach from a Christian faith-based point of view.

​Check us out, if you haven't had a chance yet!​

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