Busy Bea

Venersborg Community Club

The events hosted by the Venersborg Community Club at their 100 year old school house are definitely planned by kindred spirits. Seed exchanges, wreath making parties, Sweethearts' Dances, Homestead Days...Next up is Apple Fest this Sunday, October 23. I'll be there cutting (and sampling) some of the more than 200 (!) heirloom varieties.

I was lucky enough to be invited to demonstrate soap making at their recent Homestead Day. It was an opportunity for folks to share some of the skills that would have been vital to the community when the schoolhouse was built a century ago. I had a chance to learn a little about spinning and wool, ogle Brenda's Heirloom Hens and the beautiful quilts made by the lady set up next to me in between demos, but missed so much more like the pickling demonstration.

Oh, I also got a lesson from Jacqueline Freeman of Friendly Haven Farm on how to make real whitewash for the chicken coop. Jason got a chance to ask questions about the finer points of goat keeping, check out the school house's old school construction, and take some of his panoramas. Bea made delicious strawberry jam with other children and helped to ring the school bell! There was a nice article and photo gallery in the Columbian about the day.

 

Homemade Laundry Powder

Mix up some laundry powder to have on hand for very heavily soiled loads.

5.5 oz grated bar soap
1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

Mix everything in a food processor and store in a moisture proof container.

Makes 3 cups (about 40 loads) Use 1 to 2 tablespoons depending on size & soil level of load.

adapted from www.duggarfamily.com/recipes

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap 1 and 5 gallon recipes

To make just 1 gallon:
1 cup hot tap water
1.5 oz grated bar soap
1/4 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
2 Tablespoons 20 Mule Team Borax

Add the grated soap to the hot water in a saucepan. Stir it over med-low heat until melted. Add washing soda and borax and stir until dissolved. Fill a 1 gallon jug half way with hot tap water. Add the soap mixture. Shake it up and then fill to the top with more tap water. Let it sit overnight to thicken. Shake before each use.

1 gallon = 128 oz = 16 cups = 32 half cups (extra-large top loader) = 64 1/4 cup (recommended top loader) = 128 1/4 cup (front loader)!

To make 5 gallons:
4 cups hot tap water
5.5 ounces grated bar soap (save your slivers for this)
1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (not Baking Soda)
1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

Add the grated soap to the hot water in a saucepan. Stir it over med-low heat until melted. Add washing soda and borax and stir until dissolved.

Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full with hot tap water. Pour in the soap mixture and stir with a whisk, immersion blender, or paint stirrer drill attachment. Add more hot tap water and stir again. Cover the bucket and let it sit overnight to thicken. Transfer to gallon jugs and shake before each use.

5 gallons = 640 oz = 80 cups = 160 half cups (extra large top loader) = 320 1/4 cup (reg top loader) = 640 1/8 cup (front loader)

adapted from www.duggarfamily.com/recipes

Laundry Talk

My homemade laundry soap recipe was by the Portland Tribune today. Also in the Sustainable Life section is an investigative report about cold water washing. They felt the three detergents they tested did well in cold water for all but the greasy lip stick stain. I'm on the fence about cold water washing. This time of year I wash dark colors in cold water and that's about it. Experience tells me that despite the detergent or soap used, my clothes get cleaner in a warm or hot wash. My friend Michelle came up with a good illustration of this: does soap rinse from your hands more readily in warm or cold water?

Something not addressed in the investigation is what constitutes 'cold'. Some new and fancy washing machines have thermostats that heat water to the correct temperature for the selected cycle. Hot is upwards of 130 degrees Fahrenheit, warm somewhere from 90 to 110, and cold is actually between 60 and 80 degrees.

Most of us are relying on less sophisticated machines. In our older machines hot is whatever temperature our water heaters are set for. Warm is a fifty-fifty or sixty-forty mix of what is coming from the water heater and what is coming out of the cold tap. Sometimes, specially in winter, the cold water coming through the pipes is well below the 60 degrees needed to wash clothes effectively. I wash more clothes on the cold setting during summer than I do in winter.

I've decided to write about the topics covered in my laundry classes so check back soon for more laundry talk. 

 

Foodclubbers Make News

Our food club and the folks who helped us get started made it into the Oregonian today. Check out the fancily aproned beauties cheerfully doing the loathsome task of dividing tahini.

Can they dew it?

Olivia has been organizing fantastic bulk buys of local fruit for our buying club. I ordered a flat each of apricots and peaches with visions of a winter's bounty of organic unsulphured dried apricots dancing in my head. These drying racks are my first solo carpentry project. It took over a week of sunshine to dry tiny red currants. I'm wondering if it is possible to really sun dry fruit in this climate. An electric dehydrator may be in our future, but I hesitate. I am certifiably kitchen gadget crazy and shouldn't give in to this base desire willy-nilly. This year alone an apple peeler, cherry stoner, blender, rice cooker, meat grinder, pasta machine, mandoline, potato masher, skimmer and others have come to live with the toaster, stand mixer, cuisinart, crockpot, grain mill, and ice cream maker. I had planned to dry blueberries and cranberries for a year's worth of muesli as well as sun-dried tomatoes. Is an electric dehydrator a need or a want? We could make salmon jerky with it....

Buy Soap

Our premium cold process soap is made by hand in small batches using organic extra virgin olive oil and locally sourced beeswax with pure essential oils and other natural ingredients.

All cold process soap retains the natural glycerin created by the saponification process. Olive oil soap rinses cleanly away leaving behind no oily or greasy film. Most olive oil soap is made with the lowest 'pomace' grade oil which is treated with solvents and not intended for human consumption. Our soap is made with oil of the highest grade available, organic extra virgin. In addition, we add locally sourced beeswax to our bars. Our soaps are mild and suitable for sensitive skin.

Currently in stock, as of 12/12/10:
 

Lavender Everyone's favorite. Reassuring lavender essential oil is heavenly in these olive oil and beeswax bars. Generous 4oz bars available at $5.00 each. 

Geranium and french green clay Geranium essential oil lends a rose-y fragrance to these gorgeously green facial bars. Generous 4 oz bars are available at $5.00 each.

Geranium Just balancing geranium essential oil in these soothing bars. Generous 4 oz bars are available at $5.00 each.

Anise A great kitchen helper, anise essential oil neutralizes the fishy, garlicy odors it encounters. Approximately 4 oz bars are available at $5.00 each.

Lemongrass Brighten your day with a citrusy burst of pure lemongrass essential oil. Generous 4 oz bars are available at $5.00 each.

Ginger and Lime A warming combination for chilly days. Generous 4 oz bars are available at $5.00 each.

True Olive Oil Castile Soap  This is it, the real deal: no beeswax, no essential oils, just organic extra virgin olive oil. For your household, crafting, and skin care needs. Need soap for felting, homemade laundry soap, tooth soap? Generous 5oz bars are available at $5.00 each

Little bits. Assorted blocks of soap each weighing 0.5 - 1 oz each and perfect for guests, children, what-have-you. Sold by the pound ($20) and half pound ($16.00).

Our packaging is minimal and (mostly) sustainable. Our cards and labels are made from elephant poo paper.

Place your order by emailing kristinasalmiklotz@gmail.com. Local (Portland-Vancouver) pickup available at no charge. We ship via USPS Priority Mail Service.

Little Wonders

    

Our container garden is fruiting like crazy! The 15 or so tomato plants are heavy with green fruit, but when oh when will they ripen? We purchased all our seedlings at the Urban Farm Store this year. They had a lovely variety of heirlooms and others that struck our fancy. We went heavy on the dark purple and paste varieties. The sweet and hot peppers are profuse, as are tomatillas.

The ever bearing strawberries are still putting fruit in our morning yogurt. My favorites are the mingnonettes. I would like to quadruple our supply for next year. We have half a dozen corn stalks in a maybe 40 gallon container with the pumpkin vines. They are all very happy. I'm pleased as punch that the corn is doing so well. It was really an afterthought.

I've been picking all the cucumbers at 1-2 inches and picking them as cornichons. Yum! I think we'll head out to Sauvie Island Farms later this week for real pickling cukes, more beans to dilly, and whatever else we can find. Bea and I spent some very satisfying days there last year. 

Finally, all three chickens are all laying.  First off was Heena, a Rhode Island Red. What an exciting day that was! We knew it must be her. She left clues of reddish brown feathers near her brown eggs. Sally Henny Penny, the Plymouth Rock Barred, is, I think, our favorite chicken. I just love to watch her feathery bottom waddle around the yard. She also seems to be the gal most affected by her new bodily function.  She started sneaking into the house  and climbing up into bushes to peek in the windows a few days prior to her first egg. Last but not least, Hammock, an Araucana, took her sweet time, but now supplies the prettiest blue eggs. They have all become a bit more friendly, especially with Bea. She's become quite the expert poultry wrangler. And, my gosh, have they all gotten LOUD! Bea has an idea that they all need husbands now.

Dinner Diary: Fettuccine Alfredo with Elderly Veggies

I splurged on fresh locally made egg pasta from during a quick market stop yesterday. I usually only pick up the half price packages with the bright orange sticker. Tomorrow our food buying club will get a new shipment of organic produce from a local wholesaler and so tonight's dinner is made up mostly of the bits and pieces left from the last delivery two weeks ago. 

To the cooked pasta I added about a stick of bright yellow grass fed butter, 2/3 cup barely pasteurized cream from the same local dairy, half a cup of so-so Italian parmesan, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and not-quite-enough finely chopped fresh lemon thyme from our new plant. To the sauced noodles I added chopped, steamed veggies: two sad carrots, two sadder broccoli crowns, and one zucchini so disgraceful it had to be peeled and the piece de resistance: two jumbo red bell peppers redeemed by a bath of fire. It is my most satisfying dinner this week in terms of taste, ease, and thrift. Jason thinks it's just okay and Bea is offended, as always, by the peppers. She asked for seconds of the broccoli trees, though, which is encouraging.

I've had a little more time lately to put some thought into our meals and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's arrivals. Our family will be on the receiving end of the following organic bounty meant to last the next two, no THREE by the calendar (yikes!) weeks:

4 lbs Japanese super sweet potatoes (baked whole or sliced and baked with cream and fresh horseradish) 
1 lb  green beans (minestrone?)
4 lbs Meyer lemons (lemon bars, lemon curd, and lemon meringue pie for my birthday!)
6 Fuji apples
3 bunches of baby broccolini (served with a marinated, grass fed London broil from our deep freeze)
1 lb carrots (we've discovered Beasy loves carrot sticks!)
2 heads of orange cauliflower 
2 cucumbers (we love them marinated with rice vinegar & sesame seeds)
1 lb crimini mushrooms (risotto? stir fry?)
1 lb mini mixed bell peppers (fajitas?)
4 lbs of Yukon gold potatoes (steamed with local sour cream, yum)
2 bunches of watermelon radishes (grated, with butter and salt on rye crackers)
5 lbs of Roma tomatoes (salsa for the fajitas? fresh cream of tomato soup with dill?)
2 lbs of fairly traded bananas
5, count 'em, 5 lbs of California grown strawberries, 
and 1 coconut and all organic. 

Any other suggestions about what to do with these goodies?

Soap and Laundry Workshops

Workshop Descriptions

Cold Process Soapmaking 

Never buy soap again! In this class Kristina will share the olive oil & beeswax soap recipe she’s been perfecting over the last decade. Learn why she and others favor this high quality, moisturizing, and versatile soap made with easy to obtain natural ingredients. Topics covered will include: budget-wise equipment, why use olive oil, beeswax & lye and how to obtain them, choosing essential oils, the cold process method, getting comfortable with lye, choosing molds, and proper curing and storing. We’ll make a batch of Lavender & Honey Organic Olive Oil and Local Beeswax Soap from start to finish and everyone will take soap to cure at home along with the basic recipe and variations such as anise & poppyseed kitchen hand soap and peppermint & pumice foot soap. Please bring a large bath towel and apron.

Natural Laundry Care

Do you do laundry every day? Learn how to make- in 20 minutes and with $5 worth of materials - enough laundry soap to last you six months! Get tips for saving time and other precious resources and find answers to your most pressing laundry quandaries: Should I really wash everything in cold water? How can I keep my whites bright without using chlorine bleach? Is there a science to treating stains? How do I keep my clothes looking new for longer? What causes static cling? What does permanent press mean anyway? Go home with plenty of tips, recipes, and enthusiasm!