Some Exciting News and a Product Update

Some fun and exciting news. .. 

Today, we will be be delivering some product samples to a local honey company! We are sure hoping that the products do well for them, and that this becomes a lasting partnership. That makes this That makes this a good time to answer some questions that we get a lot, just for your information!

These are stick lip balms. This version is a Chocolate Hazelnut Honey variety. The ones in a stick are a little harder than those in a tub, but generally the same ingredients, We have a host of different kinds that we can make, but usually make them to order. What you see here has honey, beeswax, cocoa butter, hazelnut oil, dutch cocoa, glycerin and vitamin E.  Good stuff. Some of our best sellers are actually tub or glass vial roll-ons. We do a lava lights one in many flavors, and some with chocolate cherry, chocolate mint, mocha, etc. If you are looking for a flavor you love, or specific essential or extract oils, let me know, I may just have a great recipe.

This basket happens to contain two types of soap and some lotion bars.

The soaps, because this is for a group that specializes in honey are two types of our oatmeal, goat's milk and honey recipe. The oatmeal serves to calm and cool sensitive skin. The goat's milk is tremendously nourishing, and goat's milk, as it is close in composition to human breast milk, is better utilized by our skin to nourish and repair it.  The honey is great for those with sensitive skin or acne or rashes. Surprising, but true! There are a variety of oils used, including cocoa butter, and several others. Specific recipes can vary a bit by the requests in a given batch. Don't hesitate to put in a request for a whole small batch just for you! This basket has a plain (unscented with essential oils) version as well as a holiday spice variety, which has clove, cinnamon, orange and nutmeg essential oils mixed in at trace to help get you ready for the holiday season. I even threw in one peppermint soap. True peppermint essential oils are outstanding for opening up the sinuses when you have allergies, and the good stuff won't set off those of us with sensitivities to chemicals. Some folks like the spearmint or eucalyptus for this, but the peppermint is the most popular these days.

What can I say about lotion bars? GOOD STUFF! Typically, lotions take some wonderful oils and do a few things. The first, the frequently use alcohol so that it evaporates and make you feel as though it is soaking in, though it is actually drying your skin. Second, they almost always thin the oils with water, then thicken them with corn starch derivative to keep them thick as well as oodles of preservatives. Since it is the chemicals and preservative that my family cannot handle, and I take issue with genetically modified corn, we take a different approach. We begin with local beeswax, filter it an extra time, and then add pure cocoa butter, and a variety of pure oils and butters, essential oils for aromatherapy and vitamin E for a natural boost to the skin and to help with shelf life. Again, oils can vary greatly. While coconut oil is a fantastic base, some folks who have sought us out because they know we are glad to individually formulate cannot have that, or cannot have another oil. So these recipes vary some, and we try to keep a couple different recipes in stock.

I know, that is a LOT of information!. But feel free to ask ANY questions you may have. That is why you would work with a small local company that specializes in serving the individual needs of the customer in a natural way that supports the health of the customer and sustainable agriculture!

Saturday Coop Tour with Friends!

Let's face it, life gets the best of all of us sometimes. But a friend of mine, Kate, invited me along on a coop tour last weekend. It is one of those things that is easy to fall be the way side when the schedule is crazy, but when you are going with friends, you set aside the time.  So Kate, Charlene, and her son and I hopped in Kate's car and headed off to check out backyard coops around town. 

There were some very creative ideas, and some fun things to try...

This one was built out of an old trampoline. The trampoline mat was reattached at the top.  The chicken wire that enclosed the coop, was carried up and folded over to overlap with the edge of the trampoline mat for full enclosure.  The trampoline is partly opened up so that it is a bit larger and goes flush with the wall behind it, where wood was used to hook in the chicken wire.

They have had hawks, but only during free range time, so they make sure the chicens are always supervised during that.

They had some cute ideas for reusing materials for play areas outside of the chicken house, and roosts and play places.

This was at the botanical gardens. THey recently acquired chickens, working with all donated materials and volunteer labor for painting and putting together things. Love the Arizona flag!

This house has an alliance with a group that deals with water management. The water collection cistern is made of concrete and rebar and chicken wire, as would be done in remote place like remote villages in Africa.

This had the drain valves, and everything.

The placard posted...

This house had a wide variety of displays, including a tippy tap, which is essentially a recycled jug filled with water and a bar of soap tied to a tree for hand washing in remote areas without plumbing, or out in the fields.

Rather wild, there was a neat little metal shed built in the middle of the back yard, and outside was the tippy tap above, inside they had set up for composting using a composting toilet.

These are photos of that setup, you can click on the photos to enlarge them if you would like to read the notes they had posted.

I have to admit, I like the idea of having a box like this one, which could protect seedlings as well as baby chicks getting a little outside time  (if given some shade). 

I think it is really pretty when folks use sticks for roosting poles. I have never had much luck with finding the right sizes for doing that in our own coops, but I expect that the varying size of the stick/ branch allows for more comfort for the chickens who are growing.

This house also had an interesting system for allowing free ranging with the chickens trained to the house/ cabinet for laying.

The largest roosting area is directly over the compost pile. I know how much ours love to get into the compost when the are out on free range. This gentleman had set them up to use the poop from while they are roosting in the compost, then allow the hens to till the compost for him.  While I like the idea, we have had trouble with bugs insode bricks before, so it would take a little more engineering for our house.  Perhaps there is more to his sustem than just what I see.  Funny how thinks work out a little differently at every person's yard/ farm, isn't it?

The area from the outside. The cabinet for laying is on the left, the compost area is on the right, that is a door to it you see at the bottom right. They also had employed a large metal treadle

 feeder. He had nothing but good to say about it, 

He had lots of beds. Some of the folks had used every inch of urban backyards for sustainable living.

This is the outside of the outhouse I showed earlier.

They had used the springs from an old mattress as a bulletin board...

Home made trellis with a trough garden our front.

At another  home, garden boxes from old pallets were used to house compost and separate different gardens. The nice thing about this with the inground beds is easy covering for frost.

Hoop covers with a raised bed of bricks.

more of the same

a large commercially made cistern

Separate side by side coops for older and younger hens

This house had lots of neat stuff too!  There were two side by side coops again, one for the younger chickens. There was a door between, set just high enough the little ones could be introduce to the big chickens but easily run back to their own area if they felt threatened.

There was a gravity fed nipple water system. We had lots of talks about cleaning the systems and freeze prevention.  Also note, they were using sprouting seeds in a "salad bar" style concept. Of the two folks we saw doing this, the ones in the sun seemed to be doing the best. Interesting for Arizona, also interesting in that we had just had our first big freeze at this time.

They had hay suspended on blocks for the chickens to play with.

THe nest box design.

The hoe lon the far right allowed entry from the coop to the box. The door in the middle can be closed so that broody mama could be left alone, but could get out when they wanted by pushing the door open.

The water system.

The tree growing out of the top.

What a wonderful day! Thanks so much to Kate. I would never have made it out the door by myself, but had a great time with you all!

Patriot's Dream Farm Contest!

Fall giveaway coming here!

These two little cuties would like to share our new giveaway with you!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It has been a rough week around here- big storms that brought more wind than rain, a challenging hatch, and more. So since we believe that you make your own happiness, we are throwing a giveaway!!! Four awesome prizes, we will highlight this week, including a handmade bar of soap and a tote bag, a lotion bar and tote bag, a pair of earrings and a feathered hair clip!

To get things started, these are the tote bags, and the winner will select their own variety of soap or lotion bar! I will share photos of the other prizes in the morning!

Fundraiser Basket

I often get requests for donations for baskets for charity groups to auction off for fundraisers.  I have supplied blue ribbon cakes and delicacies for food auctions, jewelry for black tie events, and other things.  I get a lot of requests, so I put a cap for each annual quarter on donations, but recently I had two very special requests in just about a week.  I got both of the baskets out this week, though they are for separate occasions and groups, and the events are a little apart.  I hope to share their information through the Facebook and google plus pages, too, as they are certainly worthy of everyone's support!

This basket left Thursday for a 60's themed dinner dance at Dove Mountain, where they are auctioning off these baskets during the evening, with all of the proceeds going to the Marana Community Food Bank.  The economy has been very tough for many folks who never would have otherwise been at risk, and with the belts already tightening, the sequester is right around the corner.  

The food bank is able to purchase six times more food with every dollar than we can, so your dollars go farther than your cans, even though we really love our canned food drives.  No matter how you do it, please do remember your local food banks.

Anyhow, I hope the basket, with its bath salts and soaps, lotion bar, etched glass and lip balms will bring in something good to help the food bank.I know you are seeing a lot of ways to support altruism and community activism on the blog these days, with more to come this week.  So please share your favorites.  How do you like to help out the world around you?

Heaven is in the Eye of the Beholder

This may seem like a strange title- and to be quite honest- it is.  But read along, then tell me what you think.

I pulled over a couple weeks ago to take these photos along the side of the road on the way home from the farmers market in Marana, looking West as the sun set behind the mountains of the Tohono O'odham Reservation, casting the last glowing light of day across a farmer's fields.

Then this afternoon, I turned off of the highway coming from town to the farmer's market at the Marana Healthcare center where I can be found most Tuesday afternoons, I saw a large sign in a farmer's field near the highway.  At first, I saw the word heaven on the sign, and thought it must be referring to a conversion to organics, until I turned straight on the road and got a good look at the sign out of the corner of my eye.

Across the top, the sign said, "We're moving earth to bring you heaven."

And at the bottom: The shops at Tangerine.  Tangerine being the road that intersects the freeway there.  While I would love to see smaller, organic farms infilled with the communities they serve replace the large factory farms, I definitely DO NOT want more shopping malls at every highway off ramp.  Not that anyone asked me, but it makes me even more determined to move forward with the sustainable farming project!

Well, I hope we will all do our best to support our local small farmers and keep our food system more secure.  If you are growing and contributing to the local farmers market, we salute you, and hope you will continue to do so!  All the best to all of you, and here's to hoping those new shops will feature local goods at least!

Giving Tuesday

Hello, it has been a while!

Life has kept me running, and of all of the things I have thought about sitting down to write, this is the first time in a bit I have actually set down to do so.

Following Thanksgiving, many observe Black Friday, a shopping frenzy.  I have never enjoyed shopping, so I am glad to sit it out and enjoy the family time of the Thanksgiving Holiday, though this year I did set up at a farmers market.  Cyber Monday is a great time to get the word out about the craftsmanship of our little business, so I try to participate.  But did you know this is said to give way to Giving Tuesday?

Many of my friends have their dedicated charities.  Our friends at the Hen House spent a good bit of time working toward raising money for a cancer hospital, and rumor has it they will be unveiling their next charity after the first of the year.  They are such a neat, creative bunch, so I am looking forward to watching them continue to make a positive difference for years to come!

Here at our house, we all have favorite causes and efforts.  Charlie and Wyatt love to go out on the Hunters Who Care desert cleanups.  I enjoy doing little things to support the work that my friends and family do for their favorite causes.  And I really enjoy the mentor work I do.  Bailey Noelle cannot turn down any request for help.  Often at the expense of things she really needs to do, she is always right there to help a friend, teacher, or community member.

So how will we look to Giving Tuesday?

To be honest, it will be a very busy day.  But maybe that is when we need to practice this the most.  The kids will think about what they would like to add into the drive the 4H club is working on,  So tha twill be good to put on the list for tomorrow.  And the farmers market for tomorrow is one run by the Community Food Bank, so 10% of the proceeds there will go to the food bank.

So, tomorrow, we will make an effort to give back.  But not only tomorrow.  So if tomorrow is a start for you, take time to think about what matters most to you.  And please don't feel as though your contribution always needs to be money.  What we give of ourselves is often the most heartfelt and precious.  And, if you have a favorite charity or way you give back, this is a great time to share in the comments or as you share the post.  Just food for thought, and a chance to see all of the amazing things folks are doing.  You all inspire me to do more and be more.  SO thank you all for that.  In this time of year, and all year long.

I look forward to the new inspiration of this discussion.  Love to all.
Erin

Cool Story... Had to Share...

I have begun doing a few little giveaways- from folks throwing their name in a hat at the farmers' market to random winners commenting on the farm page on facebook or comments with the most likes- that kind of thing.  It is a fun way for people to get to know the crazy variety of things we work with here at Patriot's Dream.

I decided to run a Tuesday night contest, and there weren't that many folks jumping in, but I figured we all needed a little pick me up with the insanity of debate night politics in this crazy world.  And folks showed me there still is hope left- just maybe not where the politicians might want us to expect to find it!

I put up a post for folks to comment with their favorite way to do something special for themselves- this can help folks get cool ideas from each other (me included) and remember things we haven't done in a while.  I would do a random drawing in the morning from comments, with extra entries for folks who took the time to share the post.

This morning, I put all of the names in a bucket, and asked Bailey to pull two names out.  She pulled out two names, and was excited to get to post them on the page.  Then I just needed to wait for the folks to message me their address so I could send them out.

I checked the messages later in the day, and found two from Colleen.  The first was a thank you, followed by a second email, noting that one of the moms who had commented really seemed to need a treat, so could I please send the prize to Jessica K.  I had already been drawn to the same post, and the way other folks posting had noted words of encouragement to her.  But this was pretty cool.

Lately, I have been working with my cousin who is trying to give back to an organization which helps her own family, in the hopes that more families can have the great services she has cherished.  She is busy and crazy as it is, but she is still trying.  I also saw a fb note from a friend, going through her own health battle, supporting another friend going through a heath struggle.  Another cousin spends time, despite working and going to grad school, helping at a horse rescue, but had never mentioned anything about it until the rescue posted a thank you.

And complete strangers doing little things to make someone else's day better.  I am sure you guessed they are all three getting prizes.  And thank yous, for all of them, for helping us all have a little renewed faith in humanity.


Thanks guys!  Have a great rest of your week!