Hello Everyone!Wow this soap challenge is sure proving to be fun! Lots of great soap going out, I cannot wait until the posts start popping up with thoughts on the recipes and scents! Following is an updated list of scents/ styles available presently...
Lavender
Goat's Milk Chamomile
CocoMango
Coconut Lime
Strawberries and Champagne
Vanilla
Orange Dreamscicle
Shea Butter Lilac
Tangerine Glycerine (certain allergies do better with glycerine based soaps)
Holiday Spice
Coffee with Orange Clove and Cinnamon (sloughing bar,not for you face =) )
Peach
Peach-Cinnamon
Goat's Milk Lavender
Coming later this week- Jasmine (debating goat milk in this one)
and Goat's milk peppermint... or honeysuckle... or irish rose... oh, goodness!
more to come, if you have a special request, let me know...
So how do you take me up on the challenge? Either post tot he facebook link of the this blog post, or to his blog, as to whih you would like to try for your challenge soap. Then message or email me as to where to send it.
Monday, August 29, 2011
New Friends
This Mama has been hiding behind some nesting boxes on the North end of the main garden for a few weeks. We have been working hard to keep the stray cat away from her, though she must be doing quite well at it herself
Tonight as I was feeding, I noticed a broken eggshell and was a bit concerne about te cat. But I could still see the Mama underneath in her hiding area in the shadows. As eveing feeding time was finishing up, she brougt her babies out. I guess it was a good thing Charlie had had to mix in some mash feed...
I counted four or five of the little traditionally colored Phoenix babies. I called Charlie and the kids on their way to football practice. The children had really been hoping for babies from the incubator by now, but mother nature always seems to work her own charm and remind us that we are not in charge!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Poultry Pranksters
This week Charlie has been trying to help me out by letting me come home and get ready for the big Shannon Slumber Party show coming up this weekend. He picks the kids up from school, and does homework with them and he and Bailey watch WYatt's football practice. Because I am home, I feed for everyone else.
The goats have been better behaved than usual. Normally they try everything in the book when Bailey is gone at feeding time, and the bucks are even learning, too.
Today I got done with feeding and collecting egg, and was walking across the back porch to check the last couple hiding spots. The phoenix chickens hung out under the tree to watch me. Jalympics wasn't in her summer nesting spot, and I pick up the two green eggs in her place. I heard chicken cackling behind me.
"No ladies, I didn't fall for it." Two Americaunas waddled toward me. "Jalympics the Rhode Island Red has yet to leave me one green Americauna egg, let alone two." The two of them seemed to chat among themselves then led me to where Jal was sitting with her own egg.
"Nice try, girls." THey seem rathr proud of their little prank, even if I didn't fall for it. They didn't even ask for their eggs back. Goofy hens.
The goats have been better behaved than usual. Normally they try everything in the book when Bailey is gone at feeding time, and the bucks are even learning, too.
Today I got done with feeding and collecting egg, and was walking across the back porch to check the last couple hiding spots. The phoenix chickens hung out under the tree to watch me. Jalympics wasn't in her summer nesting spot, and I pick up the two green eggs in her place. I heard chicken cackling behind me.
"No ladies, I didn't fall for it." Two Americaunas waddled toward me. "Jalympics the Rhode Island Red has yet to leave me one green Americauna egg, let alone two." The two of them seemed to chat among themselves then led me to where Jal was sitting with her own egg.
"Nice try, girls." THey seem rathr proud of their little prank, even if I didn't fall for it. They didn't even ask for their eggs back. Goofy hens.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Natural Soap Challenge
Hello Everyone
I have been making handmade, all natural artisanal soap for several years now. I began because I wanted to learn, and got more heavily into it because of our elder child's allergies. I know my skin was getting better and healthier with the care of these better ingredients and nutrients, but subtle changes were easy to ignore.
Over time, Charlie has gotten used to the fancier bars in the shower, and he rather likes the orange creamsicle bar I make, and even the peach cinnamon and holiday mulling spice bars, but lavender is about as feminine as I go in our shower. I like the coffee soap for sloughing off dead shin and the vanilla and goats milk soaps, as well as the many other seasonal scents I work with.
This past April, when we were packing for Pima County Fair, there was an old bar of store bought soap in the container. Holding to the example of not being wasteful, I left it there and we took it to fair. As the fair went on, through the dust and muck and gunk, Bailey and I noticed how our skin felt crackly and I began to break out. I thought about the soap, but thought I might be oversimplifying things, and thought we would see when we returned home.
On the days I rotated home for farm and work during fair, my skin was noticeable better. When we returned home and all climbed ino our regular shower, Bailey and I noticed her skin felt better and the hives were less.
This is all anecdotal. In other words, this is not at all scientific, but our skin markedly improved, however coincidentally, on the homemade soaps. This led me to the question, "What would other people who use regular soap say if they tried my soap for two weeks?"
So there we have it. If you are interested in trying our soap for two weeks (though a bar will last you much, longer) it is on me. What I ask in return, is that you comment on this blog post as to your HONEST opinion and experience with trying the soap. Interested? Comment here, email me, or message me through facebook as to what scent you would like, and whether you have any special requests (shea butter, no nut oils, etc) I make many kinds, and have batches starting tomorrow too, if I am out of the scent you are looking for. Also let me know the best way to contact you to get the bar to you. You are perfectly welcome to try your kind and your child, sibling, etc. try a different kind. I am just really interested in your feedback!
Thanks to all, and I look forward to seeing you feedback!
I have been making handmade, all natural artisanal soap for several years now. I began because I wanted to learn, and got more heavily into it because of our elder child's allergies. I know my skin was getting better and healthier with the care of these better ingredients and nutrients, but subtle changes were easy to ignore.
Over time, Charlie has gotten used to the fancier bars in the shower, and he rather likes the orange creamsicle bar I make, and even the peach cinnamon and holiday mulling spice bars, but lavender is about as feminine as I go in our shower. I like the coffee soap for sloughing off dead shin and the vanilla and goats milk soaps, as well as the many other seasonal scents I work with.
This past April, when we were packing for Pima County Fair, there was an old bar of store bought soap in the container. Holding to the example of not being wasteful, I left it there and we took it to fair. As the fair went on, through the dust and muck and gunk, Bailey and I noticed how our skin felt crackly and I began to break out. I thought about the soap, but thought I might be oversimplifying things, and thought we would see when we returned home.
On the days I rotated home for farm and work during fair, my skin was noticeable better. When we returned home and all climbed ino our regular shower, Bailey and I noticed her skin felt better and the hives were less.
This is all anecdotal. In other words, this is not at all scientific, but our skin markedly improved, however coincidentally, on the homemade soaps. This led me to the question, "What would other people who use regular soap say if they tried my soap for two weeks?"
So there we have it. If you are interested in trying our soap for two weeks (though a bar will last you much, longer) it is on me. What I ask in return, is that you comment on this blog post as to your HONEST opinion and experience with trying the soap. Interested? Comment here, email me, or message me through facebook as to what scent you would like, and whether you have any special requests (shea butter, no nut oils, etc) I make many kinds, and have batches starting tomorrow too, if I am out of the scent you are looking for. Also let me know the best way to contact you to get the bar to you. You are perfectly welcome to try your kind and your child, sibling, etc. try a different kind. I am just really interested in your feedback!
Thanks to all, and I look forward to seeing you feedback!
The Power of Human Energy
This morning was the second in a series of three farming workshops I have been attending at the Marana Heritage Farm. Thanks so much to Cie'Na and her group for hosting them! Last week was mostly introduction and touring an some best practices discusison for getting larger scale production to market. This week we started to get work done.
We began our day with more introductions and a discussion of our connection to food, with our morning stretch and a cool activity I plan to share with our 4H group. Then we got to learn more soil preparation, along with larger scale seed starting and transplantation of cuttings.
We separated into two groups, one beginning on a tiller, the other beginning with hand tilling and irrigation. The flat irrigation was neat to learn for larger scale work, and I am gla to know these systems are all prety much the same, with minor to major tweaks for different production scale and water pressure.
But our group was away from the tiller first, and we rolled back some sheeting used to solarize away a bermuda grass problem, and learned tilling with the pitchfork and wide fork. The tilling has been running behind schedule around here, because I thought I had to have o time to do it all while I had a tiller rented. But the pitchfork can do it all, and provide a nice workout while I am at it. I didn't realize how easy it was to use water to enable the pitchfork to get deep enough in our Arizona soil, so I am SO excited to move forward without worrying about tiller rental, and with human power rather than burning more fossil fuel!
The wide forks are essentailly extra wide pitchforks you have to use two hands and both feet to drive into the ground. Bailey doesn't know it yet, but there is a welding project in that one for her so I can ramp up production and add the second garden back in next season! Yup, tilling by human power- better for the environment, and very doable!
We began our day with more introductions and a discussion of our connection to food, with our morning stretch and a cool activity I plan to share with our 4H group. Then we got to learn more soil preparation, along with larger scale seed starting and transplantation of cuttings.
We separated into two groups, one beginning on a tiller, the other beginning with hand tilling and irrigation. The flat irrigation was neat to learn for larger scale work, and I am gla to know these systems are all prety much the same, with minor to major tweaks for different production scale and water pressure.
But our group was away from the tiller first, and we rolled back some sheeting used to solarize away a bermuda grass problem, and learned tilling with the pitchfork and wide fork. The tilling has been running behind schedule around here, because I thought I had to have o time to do it all while I had a tiller rented. But the pitchfork can do it all, and provide a nice workout while I am at it. I didn't realize how easy it was to use water to enable the pitchfork to get deep enough in our Arizona soil, so I am SO excited to move forward without worrying about tiller rental, and with human power rather than burning more fossil fuel!
The wide forks are essentailly extra wide pitchforks you have to use two hands and both feet to drive into the ground. Bailey doesn't know it yet, but there is a welding project in that one for her so I can ramp up production and add the second garden back in next season! Yup, tilling by human power- better for the environment, and very doable!
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