Lovely Fresh Herbs

I happily admit that I’m one of those non-preservative, non-artificial, non-modified foods, organic, vegetarian, natural, recycling, environmental, Eastern medicine types.

For longer then I care to admit to, I’ve made herbal things: soaps, bath stuff, flavored oils and vinegars, lip balms; and embraced Acupuncture (my messed up shoulder and arm are very grateful), herbs, and natural supplements. Prescription medication is always a ‘choice of last result’ for me.

I drive my family nuts.

So anyway, I thought I’d take a few minutes and share a few recipes and resources for those of you that just might want to spoil yourselves…  but be forewarned, once you make these yourself, you’ll never be able to look at a store version again.

Herbal Bath Scrub – In a Bag!
There are two ways to make these, you get to decide which you like better.  Personally, I prefer the bag, but hey – it’s all good.

You Need:

• Either a 3″ x 5″ muslin bag with draw string (Dharma Trading sells these) or
• Cheesecloth about 5″ square (you’ll also need some string or crochet thread to tie it shut)
• Slow cooking oatmeal; 1/2 cup per herbal bag
• Soap flakes; grated natural soap such as Ivory or a nice glycerin; 1/2 cup per herbal bag
• Freshly dried herbs. Okay you can use older dried herbs… I just like drying my own (told you I drive my family nuts) You’ll need between 1-2 tablespoons of the herbs per bag depending on how full you make it.

Making It:
Now comes the difficult part. Mix together in a glass bowl the oatmeal, soap flakes and herbs. Transfer this mixture to your ‘bag’ or the center of your cheesecloth square. Snug the ties on the bag or pull up the corners of the cheesecloth and tie securely with the string.

To Use:
Wet your bundle while soaking or showering and gently rub over your body! It helps clean, removes icky dry/flaking/old skin, and smells wonderful. Just hang it up to dry between uses.

Herb Variations:

• Restful: chamomile, lavender, rose petals,
• Awake: peppermint, mint, orange, lemon, costmary
• Happy: lemon balm, mint, rosemary, basil

Of course you can always use what every herbs you like – this is only a guideline. Another advantage of doing-it-yourself.

Muslin Bags with Drawstring

Variation on a Theme
Want a slight variation on those bags? Well, just leave out the soap flakes and oatmeal and add lots of herbs instead.

Now hang that herb bag under the faucet in your bathtub so the water hits it as the tub fills. You can also use it as a simple skin scrub.

Witch Hazel
Is there anyone that doesn’t have a bottle of witch hazel in their ‘fridge – especially during the summer? It feels so good smoothed over your face in the heat.

Be aware that there really is a difference in witch hazel – splurge and get the $4 bottle instead of the $1.75 one from your local health food or organic store. It seems silly I know, but you will notice a difference.

Get a couple of smaller empty bottles (with or without spray tops) – and divide up the witch hazel into them. Add 1 – 2 tablespoons of dried herbs to the bottles. Experiment! Neem, chamomile, calendula, lavender….  what ever you want to use. Let sit for a day in the ‘fridge before using, then spritz and cool to your hearts desire!

Sources:
Muslin bags and other wonderful stuff – Dharma Trading. I’ve been buying from them for well over 23 years now. http://www.dharmatrading.com.

Herbs and essential oils – San Francisco Herb Co. I have almost as long a track record with these nice folks.  http://www.sfherb.com.

Well it’s time for me to play again – I just have to convince the fur-kids that the herbs are not catnip; they keep trying to steal everything…

–Annie

The statistics on pesticides in conventional cotton are almost unbelievable. The USDAs Agricultural Chemical Usage report from 2008, states that there are 10.2 million acres of cotton in 11 major cotton-producing states, and these acres received 52.25 million pounds of pesticides.

Let’s say that again:  52.25 MILLION POUNDS of PESTICIDES, on 10.2 million acres of cotton.

Cotton uses more pesticides than any other crop; more than 16% of the worlds pesticides.

Many of these chemicals are considered carcinogens. Think about that for a second – we’re sewing clothing from fabric that can cause cancer.

Organic cotton avoids conventional pesticides, and that means we also help prevent the included water, land, air, and worker exposure problems.

And the conventional cotton industry relies on a high level of forced child labor – not necessarily applicable in the US, but in other countries.

Organic cotton is cotton that is grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides from plants which are not genetically modified. As of 2007, 265,517 bales of organic cotton were produced in 24 countries and worldwide production was growing at a rate of more than 50% per year. Naturally colored cotton has also been grown successfully with organic methods.

Organic cotton production in Africa takes place in at least 8-countries. The earliest producer (1990) was the SEKEM organization in Egypt; the farmers involved later convinced the Egyptian government to convert 400,000 hectares of conventional cotton production to integrated methods, achieving a 90% reduction in the use of synthetic pesticides in Egypt and a 30% increase in yields.

Those are amazing numbers!  90% less pesticides, 30% increase in usable cotton, and it’s safer. So why isn’t everyone doing this? Oh yeah, it costs more in the beginning.. silly Annie – money is more important then our lives.

Here – in no particular order, are places you can buy organic cotton online. Or course you’ll find other goodies on these sites too…

Mother Earth says thank you.

• Ambatalia Fabric – ambataliafabrics.com
• Chandler & Greene, Inc.  – chandlergreene.com
• The Moonbath Shop – moonbathshop.com
• Dream Designs Co. Ltd. – dreamdesigns.ca
• Earth Friendly Goods  – earthfriendlygoods.com
• Dharma Trading – dharmatrading.com
• Greenfibres  – greenfibres.com
• Wildrose Farm Organics – wildrosefarm.com
• Green Mountain Spinnery  – spinnery.com
• Harmony Art – harmonyart.com
• NearSea Naturals, Incorporated – nearseanaturals.com
• Mod Green Pod – modgreenpod.com
• Organic Cotton Plus  – ocpstore.com
• Heart of Vermont – heartofvermont.com
• Organic Weddings – organicweddings.com

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I had a phone call today from a lovely lady about our Nutcracker Tree Skirt pattern on our sister site Stitch Em Up. She was having a hard time finding fancy fabrics to make it and wondered if we had any suggestions.

My initial idea of checking out any local, independent sewing and quilting shops was meet with a comment that would chill the heart of any shop. “I did that and they had some wonderful fabrics, but the prices were too high. At least $1.00 a yard more then the regular stores.”

Oh boy. It was time for a short lesson in economics and options. I tried to explain that the small, individual shops didn’t have the buying power the chains did, so they couldn’t garner the same discounts (think Wal-Mart demanding specific pricing). While at the same time this allowed them a much greater freedom to pick different and unusual fabrics, trims and threads.

These shops could special order for her without jumping through hoops, most would be offering terrific classes beyond the basics, there were Quilt Hops, individual attention helping her find just the right supplies, and most employess were as fanatical about their sewing and quilting as their customers.

By the end of the conversation (bless her heart) she was going to head back out to one of the shops this afternoon and pick some fabrics.

Please, please support your independent sewing and quilting shop! I’m not suggesting you completely ignore the chains, but please make it at least a 50-50 proposition. Walking into my local store is like coming home: they all know me, ask about my projects, the fur-kids, my health, and of course what I’m hunting for that day. I’d be lost without them.

We’d be a far poorer society if all we had were big-box retailers and chain stores. Long live the Independent!

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