Product Review- Argan Oil

Good morning, friends! Hope everyone is having a beautiful day! It's sunny and bright here and they tell me it's supposed to get up to 53 degrees today. Doesn't feel much like January, but I'll take it! 
In yesterday's post I told you that I had been doing a lot of work on myself this year. Well, one of the changes I've decided to make is to switch all the products I use on my hair and skin to natural ones that aren't filled with toxic chemicals. Each week I will tell you about a natural product that I've switched to or a new one that I'm trying out. I may even add in recipes for products that I'm making myself. 
The first thing on my list of natural beauty goodies to share is argan oil. I love this stuff! If you have thick curly hair that needs a bit of taming this will be your new best friend! 
The argan tree is native to Morocco and the oil is produced from the kernel of the argan tree using press extraction to obtain the oil. Now, admittedly argan oil is a bit pricey since it is one of the rarest vegetable oils. However, it doesn't take much to do the trick and it's so good for your hair whereas products such as gel or mousse can be drying and damaging, that the price is totally worth it.
I've tried all kind of natural products to tame my hair including coconut oil and even olive oil, but they've all given me the grease ball look. Not so with argan oil! Use it sparingly and wisely and it will give your hair amazing shine and definition. 


Oh, and if you don't like it on your hair, it also makes a great skin moisturizer. It is also commonly used in culinary applications as well. 
So, there you have it! Need to tame a crazy mane? Check out argan oil! You won't be disappointed!

Monday Rundown

Hello friends! Hope you have all weathered the holidays well! We had a few days of the flu and such, but are seemingly on the mend. I have been planning our garden for next year and will soon be ordering seeds and starting seedlings. I am currently working on a post on choosing seeds and should have it up in the next few days.

This past weekend Will and I cleaned up what was left in the big garden and picked up the sticks that the wind has scattered around the yard. We have a nice pile in the middle of the garden ready for a small fire. I'd hoped to do the burning on Saturday, but the threat of rain has delayed it. I'm thinking maybe we might even wait until Candlemas as a nice fire would be holiday appropriate.

I've not been working as much as I would like on the website, but instead I've been doing a lot of work on me. Appropriate for the new year, don't you think? Here is one of the awesome courses I've been taking. This woman is amazing! Her words are exactly what I need to hear! If you're interested in coaching or e-business, I encourage you to check out her stuff!

After working through this course I think I've got my work cut out for me this year! What are you doing out there in blog land this year, folks? Hope whatever it is that it is spectacular! If you need a little oomph! check out this course!

The little one is calling now and it's almost time for bed, so I'll be signing off! Have a great week!

Monday Rundown

At The Cottage

So, I failed to write last week's Monday Rundown post, but I have a good reason! As I hinted a few months back, our family has been going through some major changes.  I wasn't ready to talk about them before, but I think that now is finally the time.

In light of the major stresses of this past summer our family decided it was time for a change. We were doing far too much for far too little reward. So, in the interest of putting our family on a better footing and preparing for a more secure future we decided that Jacob would go to North Dakota to find work.

In case you haven't heard, North Dakota has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation due to oil discovered in the Bakken Shale Formation. So, on October 1st, Jacob packed up what he could carry in his truck and headed up to North Dakota. He made it to Williston, the epicenter of the oil boom, on Wednesday the 3rd, applied for jobs, had several interviews, found a job and started work the following Wednesday on the 10th. It was that fast.

Now, it's not been easy and it's certainly been sad not having Jacob around, but thankfully, we were able to go visit him last week. Thus the reason I failed to post. See, I told you it was a good reason!

So, now a little about our trip. We really had a great time! Will and I rode up on Amtrak's Empire Builder line and we even had a sleeping car. It was so cool! Here's Will with Elly and the bed pulled down and ready to go to sleep. 

 

 We also got a chance to do some sightseeing while we were there. It was cold, but not too cold so we went to visit Lewis and Clark National Park and trudge around in the snow. The picture below is of Lake Sakakawea. It was cold, but not nearly as frigid as it appears!

 

 

The hotel we stayed in had a pool and hot tub, so we got to do some swimming and lounging around. However, the best part of the trip was making pasta with sauce in our room. Jacob helped Will cut up the tomatoes for the sauce. It smelled just like home and I think it gave us all a great feeling of family closeness, even though we were so far away from home. 

So, there you have it, that was our week in review! If you have your own Monday Rundown post a link in the comments! I'd love to hear about your week! 


On The Website

I haven't had much time to work on the website lately, but I'll take this chance to remind you about your opportunity to participate. I can prattle on about our family and what we do all day, but that's not what the website is about. My vision for it is that it is a place to exchange ideas about urban agriculture. That is why I have built in two special pages for you to share your stories and recipes. The cool thing about submitting your story or recipe is that once it is submitted other folks can comment on it and add their own ideas and thoughts about your ideas as well. So, if you get some time, I would be overjoyed if you would share your story with us. You can share your urban ag story, no matter what the size, even if it's just your sprout jar in your kitchen at:

Share Your Story!

Or if you have a great recipe that you've come up with on your urban farm with your own produce or urban farm produces, you can share it at:

Share Your Recipe!

I think that pretty much covers it! Hope you all have a great week!

Our First- {this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Ritual courtesy of soulemama.

Monday Rundown

In an effort to make this blog more about our family while promoting the website as well, I will now be doing a Monday Rundown post entailing the happenings at our home and on the website. So, here it is, the first Monday Rundown!

At The Cottage

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We spent the weekend hanging lights, decorating the tree, baking cookies and drinking hot chocolate. The decorations look great, now I just have to put up the boxes that they were stored in.

Handwork Season is in full swing. I've been working on a set of dolls for Will and will post them on Wednesday's WIP post. I've also been trying to put together batik napkins for Christmas gifts, but time in the studio seems to be at a premium these days. In addition, while it's more of preserving season activity than a handwork season activity, I made some lotion bars this weekend as well.

The garden is looking tired with only a few plants hanging on here and there. The chicks from this summer have grown into 5 roosters and 2 hens and have become difficult, if not impossible, to contain. Thus, they have decimated all of my fall vegetables, except for the parsnips, which they can't get to. I'm hoping to get the roosters butchered soon, but there is never enough time in the day.

On The Website

I've been plugging away at the website, albeit slowly. I just put up a page for Family Rhythm. At the bottom of the page you will see a sign up for our Family Rhythm newsletter. This newsletter will be sent out at the beginning of the season as listed on Seasonal Rhythm page. It will include ideas for celebrating all 4 types of rhythm and focus on seasonal activities that you can do at home.

We will also be sending out a monthly urban farming newsletter as well. You can sign up for it on any of the website pages using the sign up form in the right hand column. 

I think that pretty much sums it up! Hope you all have a wonderful week!

An Update

There have been so many things I have wanted to share on this blog, but I wasn't sure how to come back to it, but I guess now is as good a time as any.

First, let me address some things that have been left unfinished. Last time I was here I was working on a series of posts on rhythm. I had to take a break from them for a while, so they are still not completely finished. However, once they are finished I will not be posting them on this site, but don't fret! I have something even better planned for them! They are going to be offered as a free e-course!

Which brings me to my next topic. Although, I have been absent from this blog, I have actually been working on other projects in the meantime. I am currently putting together a website on urban agriculture. I have taken a lot of tutorials and other information on this blog and put it into website format so that it will be easier to access. I am also putting some of it into e-course format including the rhythm course mentioned above and I'm also finishing up an urban agriculture quick start guide.  The website is still very much a work in progress, but if you'd like to check it out, it is here:

Urban Agriculture Info

Now, looking forward, I will be using this blog as a more personal family chronicle of what we are doing around here, while any type of informative posts will be put on the website. I hope you will stick around as the website comes together. I have great things planned for it and for this blog as well! 

Seed Saving

As you're thinking about what kinds of goodies to preserve for the winter, don't forget that you can save your seeds as well so you can cut down on your seed purchasing costs next planting season. There are a few different ways that plants produce seeds so saving seeds can be different for each plant, but there is nothing difficult about saving seeds once you know what you're looking for.

Squash, Melons & Peas

Some plants make it super easy to know how to save their seed. Cantaloupe, watermelon, zucchini, peas and most squashes are pretty straight forward when it comes to seed saving. All you have to do is open them up scoop out the seeds, wash them off and dry them out on a paper plate. The picture above shows the peas separated from their pods.

Tomatoes

Others are a bit trickier. Tomatoes come to mind. In order to save tomato seeds you will need to use the following method. Scoop your seeds out and place them in a mason jar with enough water to cover them up well. Place a coffee filter over the top of the jar and secure it with a rubber band. You will need to leave this set to ferment over a few days. This process allows the mucousy covering around the seed to rot away so there is nothing to impede the growth of the seed the following year.

After the jar has set out for a few days you will need to dump the contents into a fine mesh strainer and rinse your seeds to remove all of the pulpy material. Once the seeds are well cleaned place them on a coffee filter on a paper plate to let them dry out before you store them for the winter.

Lettuce & Cole Crops

The last group of seeds that I want to talk to you about was the most daunting for me in the beginning. They include lettuces and cole crops. Don't make the mistake I did of letting these intimidate you! They are super easy to collect, although, you have to be willing to allow for the space and time to let them go to seed.

Most lettuces, if allowed to bolt will produce flowers which when allowed to dry will create small seed heads that can be collected and the seeds freed by lightly rolling them between your fingers over a piece of paper. The seeds will drop onto the paper and you can separate them from the rest of the flower to store over the winter. This year I got a bit lazy and instead of pulling things out of the raised beds when the spring season was over I left them in the beds, let them go to seed and put the seeds right back in the ground for the fall season. 

Cole crops are even easier! When they are left to go to seed they will produce seed pods that can be simply plucked from the plant, cracked open and the seeds inside can be collected and saved. The picture below are the seeds pods from our Chinese Cabbage plant. All cole crops will have similar looking pods.

Here are a few tips to remember when starting your personal seed banks.

• Make sure the seeds you save are heirloom seeds so that you can be sure you will be getting the same plants next year.
• Label everything! Including the plates, coffee filters and jars you are using to dry your seeds out. Include the type of vegetable, name, year and if you know where it came from originally include that too.
• There are many templates out there for seed packets so print some off or create your own. Use your imagination to decorate them and include the kids!
• Talk to your neighbors and friends and let them know what kind of seeds you have and see what seeds they have that they might be willing to trade so that you can add some variety to your garden next year.
• If possible space different varieties of the same type of vegetable as far apart as possible in order to avoid cross pollination which can create plants that might not be identical to their parent plants.
• Always gather the best looking seeds from the best vegetables from your crops in order to ensure that you are propagating strong healthy new plants.