Benson Bounty

10/29/2025

We make vanilla extract in bulk every couple of years because we do a lot of baking and this recipe gets better with age. It’s best to let the beans infuse for several months before using, so these jars will be ready next year!

DIY Vanilla Extract:

8-10 Grade A Vanilla Beans

1 cup vodka or whiskey; vegetable glycerin is an alcohol-free option

Glass jar with lid

Make a slit down the length of each vanilla bean lengthwise, leaving the bean itself intact. Submerge beans in alcohol of choice, cap with lid, and store in a dark space for several months. We have never used glycerin for extracts but a quick search online brings up many alcohol-free recipes.

Extra vanilla beans from the extract project were infused into both sugar and bath salts as seasonal farm offerings this winter. After infusing the sugar with slit vanilla bean pods for several weeks, we removed the pods and blended the sugar with our dried lavender 🌿 🫘 Bath salts coming soon…

10/28/2025

A couple of our recent herbaceous creations 🌿

➡️ Fresh restock of Flower Sachets; this year’s are packed w/ blended Lavender, Mountain Mint, Sage and Basil herbs & flowers

➡️ *NEW* — Garden Potpourri Soap 🫧 This is the second time one of our popular candle scents became a batch of soap! Created using our Dried Flower Confetti & a blend of Cinnamon, Orange, Pine, Lavender and Eucalyptus essential oils

10/23/2025

YOU’RE INVITED 🎉

Our final 2025 event is next month—BIG shout-out & thanks to The Big Garden for hosting seed-saving & processing demos!
Seeds collected will be donated to Blazing Star Seed Coop & Milkweed Matters 🌺

Can’t wait to see you!

10/23/2025

Repurposed & refilled ♻️—thanks to our Omaha community for returning mason jars! We give them a new life.

Our favorite tools for candle-making?

🔥 An old ID for scraping up wax dribbles

🔥 Wax melter w/ pouring spout + scale

🔥 Heat gun for smoothing out imperfections

🔥 Clothespin or pencil for keeping wick centered

🔥 Homegrown herbs & flowers: aesthetically pleasing + additional aromatherapy

Ever make candles? Add your tips! 🕯️

📸 Video highlights:

- 10 year-old photo ID of Michelle, co-owner & candle-maker at Benson Bounty

- How to reuse old candle vessels: place vessels in oven at low temp to melt leftover wax. Carefully remove old wick while still warm, wipe vessel clean with old rag or paper towel, sanitize further and then refill your new candle

- October’s restock of all candle varieties

10/21/2025

Added sorrel to the perennial garden this year—have you tried this one? We harvested it several times since springtime, the greens withstood summer heat, and there were very few pests attracted to it. Direct sowing is the way to go if you want to add this perennial vegetable to your garden.

Sorrel has a bright, citrusy flavor, and it’s jam-packed full of vitamins and minerals. Pleased with results and wanted to share 🌿

10/19/2025

One of our lean, mean gleaning machines with most of October’s rosemary harvest 🌿

Did you know that everything we grow at Benson Bounty is planted and harvested by hand? ✋🤚 💚 Laid out several more herb harvests on the drying racks this month!

Rosemary in Nebraska can be a little finicky—sometimes it goes nuts, other times it’s slow-growing, and if you’re extra lucky, it’ll overwinter one year. Regardless, we love growing this herb for its aromatherapy uses, its savory aroma in culinary dishes, and its many benefits for well-being.

10/16/2025

Order for fall planting! Jerusalem Artichokes, also called Sunchokes, are a beauty in the garden & a tasty addition to a meal in the kitchen. A native perennial to North America; widely adapted to many regions of the U.S. & a cold hardy tuber here in Nebraska. Tubers are white-fleshed & creamy-skinned; spring or fall-planted and harvested during the cold seasons.

- Grown using organic and sustainable practices
- Tubers are harvested fresh for seed orders
- Volume discounts and nationwide shipping
- Free local pick-up available
- Order online at www.bensonbounty.com

Homegrown ingredients & handmade products, all created at our farm in Omaha, Nebraska! Free local pick-up, nationwide shipping available. Bulk dried herbs, herbal tea omaha, dried herbs omaha, herbs omaha, herbal tea omaha ne, loose leaf tea omaha ne, dried herbs omaha ne, candle classes omaha

10/15/2025

Our friends at Milkweed Matters collect their seed locally & they need your help!

Milkweed pods and seeds from late blooming native plants like goldenrod & asters can be deposited in the yellow tote on the wooden bench in our driveway through October. It’s to your right once you pull down the lane located at 69th & Evans.

10/14/2025

MEOW! Have you tried Catnip in tea or another form?

For years, we have added it to our Calming Tea Blend because it is one of those well-rounded herbs with digestion, anxiety, headache, insomnia, headache, and cold/flu relief properties. More recently, we started offering a bulk 4 oz package of Catnip in our online shop, and it is clear that it is purchased for both human and kitty consumption but has mostly been for cats.

Here is the gift message we recently wrote for a customer after they added plenty o’ Catnip onto their custom housewarming gift basket 😻 🐈‍⬛

May have to include samples of our Calming Tea Blend at our next event!

10/10/2025

Recent website updates include a new search feature on both the home page and in the online shop ✅ The one on the home page searches our entire website, and the search tool in the online shop will search products only.

Curious if we have it? Want that recipe we posted? Interested in reading about native plants? Type it in✏️

10/09/2025

Thank you to PATH - Pollinator Alliance of the Heartland for hosting another awesome Milkweed & Cookies event this fall 🐝 🦋

Michelle had the honor of being one of this year’s presenters. The full talk barely scratches the surface of edible & medicinal native plants & you can listen to it on the Pollinator Alliance of the Heartland YouTube channel 🎧 🌺

Other 2025 presenters are Lance Brisbois, Golden Hills RC&D and Jennifer Hopwood, Xerces Society; 2024 topics are also available—such a great resource for learning more about native plants & pollinators 🌱