Sweet Marigold Buns

A Little House on the Prairie Unit Study Lesson for Your Homeschool

One of the most beautiful lessons we can offer our Homeschool children is the understanding that learning doesn’t live only in books, it lives in gardens, kitchens, and shared family experiences. This week, our homeschool journey brought us straight into the heart of Prairie Herbal Remedies through a humble yet powerful flower: calendula. This week we are making Prairie Sweet Marigold Buns.

Catch Up! If you haven’t read all about our first week on the prairie, I would encourage you to go and read my Little House in the Big woods post. This covers everything we did from making nightdresses, to prairie cooking and making button strings. It also gives you a good idea of everything we achieved with our own little house on the prairie renovations!

Calendula on the Prairie

Calendula, often called pot marigold, was a staple in pioneer gardens. Thomas has been growing calendula for some time and is well versed in the antiseptic and healing properties of the flowers. On the prairie, calendula was commonly used for skin conditions, minor wounds, burns, rashes, and inflammation. It was gentle enough for children and effective enough to be trusted medicine.

In the days of Little House on the Prairie, families relied heavily on plants they could grow themselves. Calendula thrived in prairie soil, making it an essential part of daily life and wellness.

Food as Medicine on the Prairie

This week, Thomas took our study one step further and baked Prairie Sweet Marigold Buns using a recipe from a garden herb book. Dried calendula petals were folded into the batter, filling the kitchen with the most heavenly scent—warm, floral, and comforting.

The taste, however, was even more remarkable. Delicate, lightly floral, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious, everyone agreed these were some of the best cupcakes we’d ever eaten.

This moment beautifully illustrated a key truth of Prairie Herbal Remedies: medicine didn’t always come in unpleasant forms. Healing foods and medicinal plants were often incorporated into daily meals, blurring the line between nourishment and medicine. It’s a powerful lesson for any Little House on the Prairie Unit Study.

Check out week two! Last week we focused on Farmer Boy. This is the second book in the Little House on the Prairie book set. During the week we did lots of prairie cooking (hasty pudding, making a sour dough starter and some prairie bread) and also made some button lamps, a prairie ladder, and some peg hooks. Gary and the little ones did some gardening in our prairie garden and we tried to make some more of our rag rug.

Prairie Sweet Marigold Buns Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ cup dried calendula petals (food-grade)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a cupcake pan with liners.
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
5. Stir in vanilla extract.
6. Alternate adding dry ingredients and milk to the butter mixture, mixing gently.
7. Fold in calendula petals last.
8. Fill cupcake liners about ¾ full.
9. Bake for 18–22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
10. Cool completely and enjoy as a beautiful example of food as medicine.

Check out week three! We focused on The Little House on the Prairie. This is the third book in the Little House on the Prairie book set. During the week we did some of prairie cooking (soda biscuits) and also made some curtains, hay sticks and a hammock net. Gary and the little ones did some gardening in our prairie garden and we tried to make some more of our rag rug.

Hands-On Homeschool Activities

1. Grow Your Own Calendula
Plant calendula seeds in your homeschool garden or a small pot. Observe growth and keep a nature journal.

2. Herbal Medicine Notebook
Create a page dedicated to calendula: drawing the flower, listing uses, and noting historical significance.

3. Prairie Kitchen Day
Pair these cupcakes with another pioneer recipe like cornbread or butter churning for a full immersive lesson.

4. Science Connection
Research why calendula has antiseptic properties. What compounds make it healing?

5. Literature Tie-In
Read a chapter from Little House on the Prairie and discuss how the Ingalls family relied on plants for survival.

Reflection Questions for Students

• Why do you think calendula was such an important plant on the prairie?
• How does making food medicinal change how we think about health?
• What skills did prairie families need that we might not practice as often today?
• How does growing or making something yourself deepen learning?
• Can you think of modern foods that also act as medicine?

Last week, we focused on ‘On the Banks of Plum Creek’ and the children learnt about herbal medicine, stained a rocking chair for the corner of the house, made some baskets and began a productive Little House vegetable garden. And lastly, we made some home-made yogurt and a blueberry pie.

Sweet Marigold Buns: Final Thoughts

Lessons like this remind us that Homeschool education is at its richest when it engages the senses, history, and heart all at once. Through this Little House on the Prairie Unit Study, children don’t just learn about Prairie Herbal Remedies—they taste them, smell them, and remember them.