So on Monday, while my husband was sacrificing blood, sweat and energy (I didn’t see any tears) in the fields, tilling, then seeding next years garlic bed with a cover crop, then weeding and fertilizing all of the vegetables that we have planted, I spent my time pickin’. With apologies to my daughter Kara, the musician, who is probably wondering what stringed instrument mom has decided to take up, I’ll explain that my form of pickin’ involves harvesting plants or parts of plants.

Some of the plants I harvested will be used for food, and others will be used for teas, tinctures, and oil infusions which will then be used in my skin care products. Here is a list of Monday’s Pickin’s and how I will use them.

Stinging Nettle – Nettle is a great antihistamine and is used to treat allergy symptoms. I dry the leaves to make tea, and I also have some that I have made into a tincture. Fresh Nettle Leaves can also be added to soups, stir fries, and my sister even made a pesto with them. I always use gloves when pickin’, cleaning, and chopping nettle and I would not eat raw nettle (unless it has been dried). It is good to know, though, that if you get stung by nettle, drinking some nettle tea will take the sting away. Nettle is another “Wonderful Weed”.

Lemon Balm – Lemon Balm is an herb that is part of the mint family, and it has a wonderful lemony fragrance. I planted a couple of plants several years ago and found that it is very prolific, in fact it has taken over areas in the yard where I have not planted it. It has become a weed. As a tea or tincture lemon balm is know to aid with sleeplessness and anxiety and be good for digestion. Added to creams or ointments lemon balm is said to be good for treating cold sores and insect bites. This is the first time I have harvested lemon balm. I am currently making lemon balm tincture and will dry some, as well, for making tea and infused oil.

Lavender – Lavender is an herb that is most known for its wonderful fragrance and relaxing properties. The following link describes more about lavenders benefits http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_lavender.htm

 I discovered that one of my lavender plants, that I thought had died, was instead producing beautiful, fragrant flowers, so I decided this was the perfect plant to harvest from. The rest of my lavender plants at the farm are in full blossom and being heavily foraged by the honey bees, so I will leave them alone for now. The lavender blossoms are being dried, and although they could be used for tea, I will probably just continue to add them to my soap.

Garlic Scapes – If you have read my previous post you will know that garlic scapes are the long stem that grow up on hard neck garlic varieties. If left intact they will eventually produce a flower head on the garlic and then go to seed. Most garlic growers cut the scapes as they are beginning to form. It is thought that doing this produces larger garlic bulbs. Letting garlic go to seed is not necessary for reproduction because the bulbs can be split into cloves which are then replanted to produce next years bulb. Although most people are still not familiar with eating garlic scapes, in recent years this trend is becoming more widespread. When eaten raw they have a full garlic flavor, but this quickly fades the longer the are cooked. In the past couple of years I have made pesto with them and added them to a few dishes. This year I have made a garlic scape/dill cheese spread, pickled garlic scapes, grilled scapes, and, since they are only available for a few weeks of the year, I put the rest in the freezer to have throughout the rest of the year.

Blue Berries – It’s good to know that we don’t have to travel the world over looking for the best super foods, this one grows right where we live (Michigan). Check out this link to learn about the health benefits of blue berries http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=8  The blue berry bushes that we planted three years ago are doing very nicely and are a little more productive every year. So far we have harvested a couple cups of berries, but we will continue picking small amounts daily to get them before the birds do. If not eaten fresh the blue berries will be frozen for future use.

Wild Rose Petals – One of the wonderful discoveries when we purchased our property (the farm) were these small rose bushes that grow wild along some of the wood line. They produce delicate, pink flowers that have a true rose fragrance. This is the first year that I have harvested any of the flowers, but I have found in drying them that they retain their wonderful scent. If you visit our farm when they are in bloom it is likely that my husband or I will pick a rose and hand it to you to smell because we enjoy them so much. I plan to use these dried rose petal either in an oil infusion or directly in a soap recipe.

Not everything that needed it (currants, raspberries) was harvested on Monday, but the day grew hot, and I, not having as much stamina as my husband, opted for a refreshing swim in the pond.

Until next time 🙂

I notice that many skin care product companies give statements about animal testing, so I thought that I would add mine. Several varieties of my soap have been tested on my dogs, Scout and Trooper, but never before they have been tested on my husband. But in all seriousness, my husband and I are always the first ones to try any new batch of the soap, and probably one or two other family members sample them before I sell any. I do like using them on my dogs; I have found when bathing Scout and Trooper with a bar of my homemade soap that it is easy to work into their hair/fur because it lathers so nicely, rubbing a bar of soap on them makes it easier to control the amount of soap applied to any given area, and this soap rinses out of their hair/fur much easier than any dog shampoo that I have ever used. These truly are family friendly products

Shea Butter is an ingredient that I use in both a face, hand and body balm (Ruth’s Favorite) and in my sunscreen. Don’t feel bad if you don’t know what shea butter is because my computer doesn’t know either. Every time I type the word shea it shows up as a spelling error. If, however, you do an internet search for the benefits of shea butter, you will come up with many articles about shea butter. Here is just one example  http://www.stylecraze.com/articles/best-benefits-of-shea-butter-for-skin-hair-and- health/   You will learn that shea butter comes from the nuts of the Karite Tree that grows in Africa. It can be used in cooking, but in the U.S. it is mainly used in skin care products. It has many healing qualities, antioxidant qualities, as well as anti-inflammatory properties. It is said to be a “super food for the skin.”

I have found unrefined shea butter to be very clumpy and difficult to spread on the skin. However, once it is combined with bees wax and other oils, it makes a wonderful balm. I find that shea butter adds a silky feel to the balm and a pleasant scent as well. Both of the products that I make which contain shea butter are well suited for use by the whole family including on baby’s bottom. 🙂

Many handcrafters use shea butter as an ingredient in their soap. I did a test batch of soap using shea butter as one ingredient, and although it was a nice soap, I did not find the results to be superior to the other oil combinations that I use. Thus, because shea butter is a more costly ingredient, I have decided that it is better used in balms and sunscreens.

While I had intended that my next post be about shea butter or sunflower seed oil, two oils that I love to use in my  products, I think the topic of microbeads is too important not to address. It was only after reading this op-ed,   http://candicemiller.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-miller-cosponsors-legislation-aimed-at-banning-microbeads-from written by U.S. Representative Candice Miller, that this topic really came to my attention. I’m certain it has been an issue for quite a while, and my excuse for ignorance about the topic is that I tend to focus more on the good things that I can add to my products than the bad things that are being added by manufacturers of skin care products.

To sum up what I learned from Candice Millers column, I’ll tell you that microbeads are tiny pieces of plastic that manufacturers have been adding to soap and other skin care products since the 1990’s. Apparently the microbeads are added as exfoliates. They are also added to some toothpaste. Although they do not seem to pose any immediate or long term danger to the user, there are unintended consequences  which are having a negative impact on our environment. These tiny pieces of plastic, after being used to wash, scrub, or brush various parts of our body are being washed down the drain, flushed through sewer systems and, since they are so small, they get a free pass through the filtration system at the water treatment plant. They are then released into whatever body of water the water treatment plant empties into and are free to live out the rest of their lives. I also learned from this site http://www.beatthemicrobead.org/en/science that these plastic particles are not biodegradable but will only break down into smaller plastic pieces, so apparently they will live forever. However, this is not the end of the story. These, seemingly innocent, plastic pieces swimming in our water ways will apparently bond with other potentially dangerous pollutants such as pathogens or PCB’s, and because of their small size, perhaps the size of fish eggs, they are being mistaken for food by some aquatic life. They, along with whatever other pollutants they may have picked up on their journey, then have the potential to infect the human food chain as we enjoy our fish and sea food dinners.

To me the harm that these plastic particles are causing is far greater than any good that they might do, since they are a completely unnecessary ingredient in any skincare or hygiene product. There are any number of natural ingredients that may be used as exfoliates.

So what’s being done about this? If you clicked on   http://www.beatthemicrobead.org/en/history you may have read about global initiatives to get companies to stop the use of microbeads in their products. If you read Candice Miller’s article you will know that there has been federal legislation proposed which will prohibit the sale of these products after Jan 1, 2018, some states have or are enacting similar legislation, and that some manufactures have agreed to “phase out” these products.

So what should be done about this? Well in my “ideal world”, when the issue of this negative environmental impact was brought to the attention of the manufactures, these companies would have had the integrity to immediately halt production and sales of any products containing microbeads. This would indicate to me that it was an honest mistake, that the company wanted to prevent any further damage and was willing to put the welfare of the environment ahead of their profits. Since it is quite apparent that we do not live in my “ideal world”, we must also look to the other responsible parties, the users, to stop buying and using these products. This would also be an effective way and (since lawmakers feel the need to allow a 2-3 year  phase out period) a quicker way to prevent this problem from getting any worse. As a single consumer you or I may not mean “boo” to the manufacturer, but as a society, with our collective pocket book, we could speak volumes to these manufactures. Just stop giving them your money in exchange for these products!!!

I understand that it is difficult to know what you are purchasing, since it is extremely frustrating to read product labels, not only because of the impossibly small print, but if you can make out the words you probably don’t know what they are. Maybe this should be a red flag. Don’t buy it if you can’t read the ingredients on the label would be a good rule of thumb. According to  http://www.beatthemicrobead.org/en/science  “the microbeads used in personal care products are mainly made of polyethylene (PE), but can be also be made of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and nylon.” These ingredients would be the indicators that there are microbeads in the product.. Another option might be to purchase local handcrafted products, where you can know the producer and speak to them directly about the ingredients and the process used to produce the product, or you may even choose, as I have, to learn to make your own skin care products.

So in closing I am asking you to be the answer to the problem. Help protect our Great Lakes and other bodies of water around the world by simply not using products that contain microbeads and by sharing this information with others in hopes that they will do the same.

Have a great day!

It’s been 4 years since she left and I miss her so much. Since then June 30th has always been a difficult day, as have Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and Mothers Day. It’s also difficult when the kids (who are now all adults) do something exciting, and my first thought is, “I should call mom,” because even the little things that they did were exciting to her. Her grandkids were her greatest joy.  I am sure she is so proud of all of her grandkids and great grandkids.

As I  look around I don’t see anything that I own that mom actually bought for me, but the gifts she gave me are countless and more precious than anything money could buy. The afghan that she crocheted for me 25+ years ago hangs over the back of my recliner and on the chilly days when I nap in my recliner it warms and comforts me. I often use the potholders she crocheted when I pull something hot out of the oven. Some of the doilies that protect my oak furniture from scratches, and the blue and silver fun fur scarf that keeps me warm in the winter, are also among the tangible reminders of my mom. Better yet is the connection I have with my mom when I crochet. Mom taught me the basics of crochet many many years ago. I did not do a lot of crocheting while she was alive, but since her passing I have increased my skills and crochet quite often.

Cooking and canning are other skills that I learned from my mom. I don’t remember her ever giving me lessons with step by step instructions, I guess it was just by being there, and helping while she was doing it, that I learned. I, along with my husband and children, am grateful for this

I inherited her love for flowers and when I see violets, sunflowers, or trilliums I think of my mom. Mom left earth before getting to visit our farm, but two years ago when two sunflowers came up, side by side, in a highly unlikely place, near the front of our property, I was sure mom must have planted them to let me know she was there.

I am not sure why it is, but anytime I am up and out early enough to see the sunrise I feel her presence and I say “Good morning, Mom”. This usually makes for a great day.

Some of the other gifts I received from my mom are the abilities to love deeply and to take care of other people. I have her calm and gentle nature, her strength to endure hard times, her ability to “make do” with what she had, and her love for family and food.

I am not the only one who has reaped these benefits, as I have three sister who each received their own similar set of gifts from mom. They, my sisters, are probably the greatest gift that she gave me.

I was blessed by her physical presence for 46 years of my life, but even in her death I continue to be blessed through the gifts she gave me. Although it will again be a difficult June 30, I will honor My Mom by using the gifts she gave me.

Thanks Mom. I Love You!

((Hugs)) To My Sisters, My Dad, and Everyone Else who is missing Mom today.