Smoke Signals

Grandma:  "What is it?" Kids:  "Just more of Dad's bugs." (☉_☉) The Chief has been growing from seed, raising and cultivating our food & medicine for more than 15 years.  He is the green thumb, not I.  He prefers to be recognized as a seed sower, and by the size of our family, this rings true, in more ways than one.    So this is why you can find our home literally filling up with ladybugs, fruit flies (to feed the ladybugs), worms (yup- we have a worm farm), praying mantises, green lacewing eggs, assassin & pirate bugs.  Oh MY! ...Just when you think the mini fruiting chamber (mushroom cultivating) in your bedroom is getting a bit wild.   What do all the bugs have to do with growing food and medicine you may wonder. Well we are only as healthy as the food we eat, no? The food we eat is as healthy as the soil it feeds on and the environment it thrives in. In other words, healing the land is part of healin...

Recently I had a customer who was not happy with her shampoo bar. (｡•́︿•̀｡) This is why it took me so long to formulate one.  Honestly, using natural products altogether can be a bit of a learning curve as most of us are just so use to the way mainstream products seemingly leave our hair & skin. I blogged a bit about shampoo & conditioners here while I was trying to decide whether or not I wanted to offer them for sale.  As we moved forward my thoughts were this; 1.) I do not want my customers to be dissatisfied with their purchase. 2.) Yet I do want folks to go all natural, for the sake of their health, for the sake of holism.   3.) However, a shampoo bar may not be for everyone. After my first dissatisfied customer I quickly realized, 4.) Education is the answer here. So onto the point of this blog post.  Hopefully it addresses all of the above. What is the difference between a soap bar and a shampoo bar? Soap bars have skin ...

We are continuing our series of blog posts on FDA approved chemicals that may increase aging. If you missed #1 you can find it here .  Yeah, it's true.    As you are selecting these products to aid your skin, they may in fact be the thing that is making you feel and look older.    FDA APPROVED INGREDIENT #2  Paraben Parabens are a class of widely used preservatives in cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. Chemically, they are a series of parahydroxybenzoates or esters of parahydroxybenzoic acid. These CHEAP preservatives are commonly used to increase the shelf life of a product. They keep products looking and smelling great for longer space (than is natural). First introduced in the 1950s, parabens were to keep the product from spoiling by preventing it from being able to grow mold and or bacteria. Today, however, we have remembered to appreciate mold and bacteria.  And we know that all are not bad.  In fact if it ...

FDA APPROVED INGREDIENT #1 Sulfates Sulfate is a salt that forms when sulfuric acid reacts with another chemical. It's a broader term for other synthetic sulfate -based chemicals you may be concerned about, such as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES). Introduced in the 1930’s, sulfates revolutionized the health and beauty industry.  Sulfates were powerful, inexpensive and easy to acquire. Best of all, they were responsible for the foaming lather we’ve come to associate with being clean.  The effectiveness lies within their ability to lift the grease and grime off of skin and hair, dissolve (emulsify) it and then rinse everything down the drain. picture courtesy of beautybyearth.com Sulfates are powerful, cheap and everywhere  – not just in lathering shampoos, body washes, face cleansers and toothpastes, but also in household cleaners, laundry detergents and dish soaps. In fact, because they are so effective, sulfa...

It is trending, ditching the plastic.  Just as smoking tobacco has become "dis-tasteful" to some, plastic has become to others.  ...But unlike tobacco's counter part, it is only natural to desire to see cleaner beaches, roads and forget about how much trash is put out each day. The Native Americans had many practices set in place with their respect and wisdom for the land and its resources. And as history goes, the industrial age brought great expansion and has inevitably landed us to today where technology allows for us to see just what all our advancements have actually done. It is kind of a catch 22 in a way.  And now we are found in a cusp, so to speak.  Are we going to continue the way we have been going for the last century? Many find this revolutionary.  Opportunities arise for catching the wave.  But for some it brings a tidal of anxiety and uncertainty. As a family that continues to grow, we get all of the above.  We do. And hav...

"Do you sell deodorant?" Me; "No. Sorry."  And for the past year I ponder about it.  ...... Should I ?

No, this is not about your "dirty dozen" whole foods list.   It may be relevant to say we have a background with eating very near 100% organic for a few years, at one time, on our journey.  We have a background with being members of an organization called C.A.R.E. (including binding contracts) in order to purchase raw milk and raw milk products as well as grass fed beef before it was legal to do so. These were the measures "we as the people" had to undergo in order to eat REAL WHOLESOME food. This was 12 years ago.     This picture was 8 years ago. And I am more than thankful at the strides "we the people" have made for the sake of our families, communities and eco-system.  But this post is unfortunately not about the achievements that has come about from these efforts.   SORRY.    ヾ(_ _*) Albeit much good has come from all the meetings, legal work and work arounds, those who have an agenda to conquer and enslave will...

We are still getting bouts of snow flurries but on the opposing days I can feel the sun warming and delight in it brightening our rooms. And with the excitement to plant a few of us including myself already have poison from clearing the field. Isn't fascinating, how plant life can make their own food?!  And to me it is even more dynamic that we in turn can thrive off of them.  What a wonderful design, the symbiotic relationship this whole realm is, no? Thus, I enjoy teaching photosynthesis, often, to our children because this process is just that cool.     _へ__(‾◡◝ )>  (My little girls brought me these the other day, you should have seen how enthusiastic they were.) ꒰˘̩̩̩⌣˘̩̩̩๑꒱♡   The sun for a lot of people however is something to avoid, when we are talking about skin that is.  I'm not sure when it happened but at some point the sun went from being worshiped to being demonized. I can remember my grandmother con...

Black Beauty is the most concentrated activated charcoal bar soap we offer. Completely black, this is a very popular item when we are at the market, as activated charcoal has been getting a lot of publicity lately in mainstream media. Known for its natural detoxifying ability, activated charcoal is used in many personal care products found in even the most notorious shopping stores such as Wal-Mart. Why all the rage? Many of our customers report that it is the only thing that helps with their dry skin and acne. In my post, “ Is your skin trying to tell you something ?” I go into some of the reasons this detoxing ingredient, activated charcoal works, especially today. And I get to the why this ingredient may be of help to so many even though the root cause can be varied from individual to individual. What sets our activated charcoal bar soaps apart from the rest are the additional ingredients found in our formulation of each activated charcoal soap bar. It's not only t...

Shampoo, no-poo, or co-washing?!? What does all this mean and what is the best natural hair care method? Do we really need shampoo? What about just using conditioner? All those plastic bottles not only contribute to the waste epidemic but what about all the money wrapped up in this one simple daily practice? Do you think I can write this entire post in questions? My opinion ( which has not been evaluated by the food and drug administration, I assure you ) is this; Shampoo as infrequently as possible. -No I'm not kidding.- Even the mildest shampoo strips oils, that's what it is formulated to do. Therefore one who has dry hair, doesn't need more drying. And if you tend toward oily hair, frequent shampooing creates a cycle in which the scalp increases production of oils (Sebaceous glands secrete an oily or waxy matter, called sebum.) in response to every washing away of it. Subsequently this leads you to believe that you should be washing y...