Cleavers Lemonade: A Powerful Spring Tonic

Want to put some spring into your step?  Then blend up a fresh batch of cleavers lemonade!  It's guaranteed to infuse your body with powerful phytonutrients...not to mention the mental boost you'll get from that psychedelic color!  WOW.

This took me all of about 10 minutes, and just think how much fun you can have with the kids?  Cleavers grows almost everywhere and it's considered a noxious weed, so you shouldn't have too much trouble locating some.  Just be sure to make a positive I.D. on the cleavers, cause you DON'T want to fade off into the wild like the guy in the movie did.  Man, that sucked.

So here's what you do.  Chop up 1 fistful of freshly picked cleavers (clean aerial parts only) and toss them in the blender.  Add about 2 or 3 cups of filtered water and puree for 15 seconds.  Strain the juice through a fine sieve into a pitcher.  (Give the plant pulp to the chickens or dump it in the compost pile.)  Add the juice of 2 ripe lemons (with pulp if you like, no seeds!) and enough honey or agave syrup to sweeten to taste.  Pour the sparkling emerald mixture into glasses and top with lots of ice.  Share your healthy brew with someone adventurous and know that Euell Gibbons would be proud.  Who knows, you might even start juice feasting some day! (that's feasting, not fasting)

None of these measurements are written in stone by the way, so use common sense and adjust the recipe to your liking.  For variety, try chickweed or other edible weeds.  If you can't beat 'em, eat 'em!

Wildflower Forecast

This is the year we've been waiting for! Widespread fall and winter rains should make for an excellent wildflower season in much of Texas, according to Dr. Damon Waitt, senior botanist of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin. To the untrained eye, this may look like just another clump of roadside weeds...but every wildflower enthusiast in Texas knows this is our beloved state flower, the beautiful bluebonnet, waiting to burst into bloom.  Have you spotted any yet?  The spectacle is just around the corner and it promises to be awesome.  Thank you Lady Bird!

For those who need a bluebonnet fix right now, the Wildflower Center has a live video of a patch of bluebonnets about to make their debut.  Yep, a live BBCam!  Only in Texas, y'all.

(photo courtesy of the Image Archive of Central Texas Plants)

The Daily Texan

Just a quickie to say that I was featured today in The Daily Texan in an article about making soap.  The picture was taken at the Hope Farmers Market last Sunday.  There are a couple of inaccuracies, but hey...free publicity is GOOD publicity!  Thanks Susannah and Rachel!

Where Have All The Snowmen Gone???

It snowed in central Texas today!  That's BIG news...but this had to be the world's tiniest snowman.  You probably can't tell.  He's real cute and all...but he only stood a few inches tall.  Nice try Jory, but size really DOES matter.  After all, this IS Texas!  I guess he made a nice enough hood ornament though.  It's getting kinda dark now, and he'll probably be gone tomorrow.  R.I.P. tiny dancer.

Jackie and her crew managed to build a little bigger snowman earlier today (or was that a snowwoman?), but I'm sure it too will silently slither away.  Where DO all those snowmen go anyway?

Do you have a snowman story?  I'd love to hear it.  Just be gentle with us native Texans.  We don't have a whole lot of experience with these things ya know.

A Farm Fresh Garden Salad ... Manor Style

Look what I made today from 100% locally grown produce from the Manor Farmers Market!  A fresh garden salad featuring organic spinach, tomatoes, red bell peppers, green onions, and pastured eggs from happy chickens.  There's nothing terribly unusual about that combination...but I actually KNOW the farmer that grew each one of these ingredients.  Can you say that about your food?  I love selling soap at the farmers market because I get to cash in on the huge health benefits of eating locally grown organic produce AND I meet some incredibly nice people..  It don't get no better than that folks!  Have you visited your local farmer's market lately?  Inquiring soapmakers want to know...

Our Newest Online Retailer Makes Buying Cosmetics a Healthy Choice

Repurify.com joins the effort to eliminate toxic chemicals on two fronts. First, they provide a one-stop online shop for only the purest cosmetics, personal care, and baby care products from a number of specialty producers. Second, they devote a portion of their profits to supporting objective research and further development of safe, pure products.

This young company bridges the gap between small producers of pure cosmetics and the people who want to find and use those pure products.  The site makes it simple for shoppers to buy pure, safe cosmetics, personal care and baby care products to reduce their families’ exposure to potentially toxic ingredients and process by-products.  On a mission to make the world a purer place, Repurify’s co-founders Hunter Thurman and Matt Hunckler wanted a better way to find pure products for themselves and their families. When they saw the size of the problem, they took up the challenge. 

I'm Gonna Promise You A Rose Garden

Since we sold out of our Wild  Rose Soap du Jour so quickly, we've decided to add Wild Rose to our regular line.  I can't wait to tell my artist friend in Drippin' who's been asking me to make this soap for years.  David ...this one's for you!  And all you floral lovers can jump up and down now too I guess.  Jory just finished pouring 100 lbs. of the stuff and the shop has been magically transformed into a rose garden.  I get the cosmetic and therapeutic benefits, but in case you can't tell, I'm not wild about the scent of roses...but the soap's pretty in pink.  Our new employee Jackie (aka Jory's girlfriend) thinks it's the BEST!  How about you?  Do you adore the scent of roses or not so much?  Hoping for a dozen roses for Valentine's Day?  Do roses remind you of your dear old Grandma?  Know any good rose jokes?

psst...This beautiful soap will be up for sale in a few more weeks, but I'll give you a shout out.  Promise.  Until then, go hug the ones you love.... or a rose bush or something.

ps...Thanks to my friend Kate Fullilove for sending in this link to lame rose jokes!  Hahahahaa!