One of the things I love about herbs is that many are just wonderful to add to your daily diet, adding not only taste but nourishment. Sometimes they are just fun, and lately, I've been experimenting with making my own herbal powders. It's as easy as drying the herb and using a pestle and mortar or a coffee grinder to reduce them to granules.

It's important to note that when you do dry and powderise a herb, it looses some of it's nutrition because more of it is exposed to the air. When I do intend to use the powder, I grind enough for a few days or just for that day, leaving the dried herbs in a jar. Like this smoothie or porridge mix that I'll be taking camping with me.

Nettles are in season at the moment so I've been drying them for tea, so they form about a third of this blend. Rich in lots of nutrients, I love nettle at this time of the year - it's good for hayfever, but it's also just an all round nutrient boost. Broccoli leaves also get dried and powdered, and kale. For sweet food like porridge or smoothies, I balance out the green taste with strawberry powder that I dehydrate - honestly, if you want to make your house smell freaking amazing, dry strawberries. For those of you that know me, of course I add calendula to the mix. The sky is the limit with herbal powders - it's a matter of finding what herb is going to benefit and nourish you, and blending into a powder that tastes good as well. I've recently fell in love with lemon balm again for it's calming qualities - it's nice just on it's own!

Now - to my smoothies! I've been adding maca to balance my hormones, linseeds and an LSA (linseeds, sunflower seeds and almonds). A banana for creaminess. Some of my liquid yoghurt (which is basically coconut milk with culture, fermented - but being coconut milk, it doesn't go thick like yoghurt but still is tangy and has the probiotics I need) for tang, and some lime or lemon juice (I'm a fan of tang, but the extra vitamin C boost is so good - plus my trees are dripping with fruit!). Then I add a big spoonful of powder, and if I have it, a knob of turmeric. Today I also ground some rosehips, but my spice grinder struggled to grind the seeds - no matter, in a smoothie they slide down easy enough..and rosehips are full of vitamin C and fibre, so why not?