Garlic Scapes

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This post has absolutely nothing to do with soap or skin care products. It is totally the opposite of Don’t Eat It. But keep reading because you might learn something.

I now have garlic scapes for sale.

What are garlic scapes???

They are the seed heads produced by hardneck garlic varieties. They appear in the spring, and if left to grow they will flower and produce dozens of tiny garlic bubils (seeds). Most growers cut the scape off the garlic plant in order to allow the garlic to put more energy into growing a bigger bulb. If cut early the scapes are tender and delicious. They are said to have many of the same health benefits as garlic bulbs, and although they possess a milder flavor when cooked they are a culinary delight. They are great roasted, grilled, stir fried or used raw in dips, salads and pesto. To discover great garlic scape recipes simply do an internet search for garlic scape recipes. They are only available for a short time in the spring but can be preserved by freezing or pickling.

If you are interested in purchasing garlic scapes send me an email a ruth20012001@yahoo.com put “garlic” in the subject line.

Coconut Oil

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Coconut oil: There is a lot to be said for coconut oil and unless you have been living under a rock for the past couple of years you have probably heard or read something about it. There have been countless stories, on television, the internet, and in health and cooking magazines, all proclaiming the hundreds of uses of coconut oil. So since they have probably said it all, I will simply say, I love coconut oil for many things.  When my husband says that something (usually mechanical in nature) needs lubricating, I will often joke, “get out the coconut oil.” Just in case you have just climbed out from under your rock, and happened to find my website, here is one article from natural news.

http://www.naturalnews.com/036156_Coconut_oil_superfood_healing.html

Most of the articles I have read do not go into detail about types of coconut oil, but here is a link the explains the difference in types of coconut oil.

What Type of Coconut Oil is Best? How to Choose a Coconut Oil

If you are not interested in reading the article for yourself I will summarize it by saying, if the label says “coconut oil” then it is probably a mass produced, mechanically refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD)coconut oil. While not necessary unhealthy it probably has lost a lot of the nutritional benefits during the processing.

“Virgin” coconut oil, on the other hand, has been cold processed and retains the nutrition value.

So if you are eating coconut oil for maximum health benefits you will want the much more expensive “virgin” coconut oil. However, in my opinion, it is not cost effective to use virgin coconut oil in making soap, when the less expensive RBD coconut oil will provide the desired effects while keeping products more affordable. So while I do not use virgin coconut oil in my products, I do use a food grade RDB coconut oil.

In soap making,  Soap-Making-Essentials.Com says:

“Coconut oil probably takes top spot as the most used soap making oil and for good reason.

Not only does it produce a rock hard soap with a fantastic lather but this oil is wonderfully moisturizing and adds a barrier to the skin protecting it from the elements.

It’s cleansing ability is amazing and is one of the few oils that produces a soap that will lather in salt water.”

I have discovered all of this to be true (not sure about lather in salt water, I haven’t had the occasion to test it.) I have experimented with making a soap that has only coconut oil as the only oil. The result is a soap that is so hard that it can not be cut. It will break into funny shapes with jagged edges. It does however provide great lather and cleansing power. I have a customer who uses this in her homemade laundry detergent. I have been testing it as a stain remover/pretreatment for laundry and am having great results.

I also use coconut oil in my balms. It is a wonderful moisturizer and protector for the skin and just feels sooo good.

So to answer two questions about this ingredient in my products:

Is coconut oil natural? Yes.

Can you eat coconut oil? Yes

Thanks for reading 🙂

Bees Wax

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It was not my intention to start with blogging about bees wax as an ingredient in my products, but it seems very appropriate since we harvested honey this week, and I am now cleaning the bees wax so that it can be used for making balms. Up to this point I have been purchasing the bees wax that I use in my balms, but now I am excited to say that I will transition to using our own wax when it is available.

Question: Is bees wax a natural product?

Answer:  Absolutely! It doesn’t get more natural. I would not call it organic because I could not guarantee that my bees have not been foraging in a neighbors field that has been sprayed with round up, unless of course, I owned 3 square miles or more around each hive that I could assure has in no way been treated with chemicals.  I would, however, consider bees wax as natural as the air we breath.

Next question – can you eat bees wax?

Answer: Yes!! It use to be natural to buy honey that was still in the comb and it would be eaten comb and all. Now days honey in the comb is more of a specialty item, but that is certainly one way to assure that you are getting raw honey. Below is a link for just one of many articles out there about eating honey comb.

http://honeycombs.blogspot.com/2010/10/is-honeycomb-edible.html

In making my products I use bees wax as a binding and thickening agent. The higher the percentage of bees wax in a product the more solid the product will be. But for more potential benefits of skincare products with bees wax you can check out this article from natural health.

Beeswax In Skin Care Products

Some people use bees wax as an ingredient in their handcrafted soap to make a harder bar of soap, but after experimenting with this in my recipes I did not find it necessary.

Next time I will write about the one ingredient that is in almost every product I make.

Until then I wish you well 🙂

What are you putting on your skin?

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Seek Truth In All Things

Disclaimer: I am not a scientist, a dermatologist, an expert in nutrition or an expert in anything else for that matter. Mostly what I have learned has been through books, internet research (I concede this is not necessarily the most reliable resource), trial and error, and some of it is just common sense.

What you put on your body is probably as important as what you put in your body because many nutrients as well as toxins can be absorbed through the skin (to me this would be common sense).

Since many of us don’t even read the ingredients of the (packaged) food we eat, I have to ask, have you ever read the ingredients in the soap, shampoo, lotion, face cream or other skin care products you use? If you have succeeded at this than you are a better person than I, or at least you have better eyesight than I do. My attempts at  reading ingredients only serve to frustrate me because the printing is impossibly small and the words are usually things I have never heard of.

My answer to this has been to begin making my own skin care products. The ingredients are simple and while the term natural could be disputed, there are very few ingredients in my products that could not be eaten.

So continue following my posts and I will talk about some of the ingredients I use, why I use them, and what benefits they have for the user.

Thanks for reading. 🙂

Why Buy Handcrafted

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Handcrafted items are items or products that have been made by hand rather than being mass produced by machines. In my opinion there are many advantages to purchasing handcrafted items.

When buying handcrafted items you are usually buying something that is made by person who specializes in his/her craft. They have studied and practiced the art and  have become at least proficient if not a master of the craft. The crafter usually has chosen their craft because they enjoy it and find satisfaction in producing a high quality product made with tender loving care.

When you buy a handcrafted item you can and should get to know the person who made the  product. This allows you to ask questions about what goes into the product (materials or ingredients, time, processes) and you can determine whether or not you are getting you money’s worth. People usually love to talk about what they do and what they know. So ask questions.

It is easier to find exactly what you are looking for rather to make do with what is available. If you are looking for something made in a specific size, pattern, or to meet a specific need you are better off finding a handcrafter who will make what you want, than to spend your hard earned money on something that is not what you want.

When you buy from a handcrafter you know where your money is going. If you buy locally you are supporting your local economy.

An advantage to buying/using handcrafted soap is that the glycerin that is naturally formed during the soap making process is retained in the soap. Generally soap manufactures remove the glycerin from the soap and use it for other things.  So when comparing the cost of a bar of handcrafted soap, to whatever you may be using now, be sure to account for the added value of the glycerin.

There are a couple of potential disadvantages to purchasing handcrafted items. Many times the handcrafted items will be more expensive than the mass produced item. This is understandable considering that the handcrafter is not purchasing materials in high volume, also it  takes him or her much more time and effort to produce the product than if it were done by machines. But often the quality of the handcrafted product far out weighs the added expense.

The other potential disadvantage to purchasing handcrafted items is that you won’t find them in you big box stores. You will probably have to go to a specialty shop, a craft sale or seek out the handcrafter through other means.

Overall I believe there are great advantages to purchasing handcrafted items.