From Garden to Jar: Why Calendula & Chamomile Have Become My Favorite Skincare Ingredients

If you've ever wondered why so many of my products include herbs and flowers, the answer is simple—I don't just buy ingredients... I grow many of them right here in my PEI garden.

One of my favorite parts of summer here on Prince Edward Island is spending time in the garden. There is something incredibly calming about walking through the rows in the evening after work. Watching tiny seeds become thriving plants never gets old.

My vegetable garden isn't just about growing food anymore. It's become part of my skincare journey too.

There's something deeply satisfying about planting vegetables that will feed my family while also growing flowers and herbs that eventually become ingredients in selected soaps and skincare products.

Knowing that you planted it, cared for it, harvested it, dried it and eventually turned it into something useful makes every finished product feel even more meaningful.

Why I Love Calendula

Calendula is one of my favourite flowers to grow—and those bright orange blooms are pretty hard to miss in the garden.

Calendula has a long history of use in traditional skincare and is particularly popular in products made for dry and delicate skin.

But one of my favourite things about it is what happens after I harvest it.

I dry the flowers and slowly infuse the calendula into oil. Over time, the oil takes on a beautiful golden colour and becomes an ingredient I can incorporate into selected tallow skincare and handmade soap recipes.

I love being able to look at a finished product and know that some of what went into that jar started as a tiny plant in my own garden here in PEI.

And yes... the flowers are absolutely gorgeous too.

Chamomile: More Than Just Tea

Most people think of chamomile as something you drink before bed.

I think of it as another beautiful botanical that can be incorporated into handmade skincare.

Chamomile has a long history of traditional use and is popular in gentle skincare formulations. I can dry the flowers and use them to create botanical infusions that pair beautifully with ingredients such as grass-fed beef tallow and plant oils.

It's another example of why I enjoy making products from scratch: I get to see an ingredient through so many stages, from growing in the garden to becoming part of a finished recipe.

The Garden Doesn't Stop at Flowers

My garden is slowly becoming my own little natural apothecary.

Alongside tomatoes, peppers, beans, onions and fresh vegetables are plants that can eventually make their way into some of my creations.

Some of my favourites include:

🌼 Calendula for beautiful golden botanical infusions.
🌼 Chamomile for gentle botanical infusions.
💜 Lavender for its familiar floral aroma.
🌿 Lemongrass for its fresh, uplifting scent.
🌱 Sage for its earthy herbal character.
❤️ Beets, which I can dry and turn into beetroot powder to add natural colour to selected creations.

Every season teaches me something new. Some plants thrive, some struggle, and every harvest feels like a small accomplishment.

From My PEI Garden to My Skincare

One of the reasons I started making skincare was because I wanted to understand more about the ingredients I was using.

Today, that curiosity has grown into something much bigger.

I love knowing where some of my ingredients come from. I love harvesting flowers with my own hands, drying herbs I've grown from seed and experimenting with botanical infusions that I can incorporate into selected Christa's Creations skincare and soap recipes.

Not every ingredient I use comes from my garden, of course, but being able to grow even some of them adds something special to the process.

For me, it isn't just about the finished jar or bar of soap.

It's about slowing down.

It's about spending an evening in the garden after a warm PEI summer day.

It's about preserving food for my family, drying herbs for later and finding new ways to use what I've grown.

Every flower, herb and vegetable tells a little part of the story behind Christa's Creations in West Point, Prince Edward Island.

And honestly... I wouldn't have it any other way.

What grows in your garden?

I'd love to hear what you're planting this summer. Whether it's vegetables, flowers, herbs or just a few pots on the deck, every garden starts with one seed.