Be like a Calendula

What is Calendula?

Calendula is a magical herb with bright orange or yellow blooms. I call it the “Happiness herb,” since it promotes a lightness of being and a happy heart. It’s a favorite cure-all in the herbal world, and can promote healthy gut function and immune system. Calendula is also used in balms and salves to heal wounds and promote healthy skin.

In New England, Calendula blooms in the summer, with new blooms appearing almost every day. In the mediterranean where this herb originates, it can produce flowers every calendar month. Hence its name, Calendula, from the same word origin that gives us the word “calendar.” The blossoms open with the sunrise and close at night when the sun goes down.

Be like a Calendula.

Wake up with the sun, then go inside yourself and prepare for sleep when it sets.

This is a picture taken in early November at Muddy River Herbals in Canton, MA. Even after a frost, many of the Calendula plants continued to bloom, with plenty more buds waiting to blossom. How resilient!

Calendula flowers are edible, and can be used in a number of ways to boost your happiness and health.

Here are three of my favorite ways to use Calendula in my daily routine.

• Sip an afternoon cup of tea blending 1 part Calendula flowers with 1 part Oat Straw.

• Sprinkle a heaping spoonful of Calendula flowers into soups and stews for an extra boost to the immune system in the Fall and Winter.

• Add a few a fresh petals to scrambled eggs for a summer meal.