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It’s been a while since I have posted on the web – so much as changed for me and I really appreciate the patience of all the customers that have been so patient. I spent some time in Colorado this summer working with friends and family on several projects – one of them is beekeeping. When I originally started Botanical Earth, I used beeswax and offered honey scrubs, soaps and balms all using beeswax. As my clientele became more focused, many asked for vegan only products which I accommodated. While I tend to be a raw foodist (people do so like to put a category on things) I also love honeys and certain milks if harvested correctly and compassionately. It was easier to make Botanical Earth just vegan but recently I have been unhappy with my sources of candelilla wax and several other vegan sub ingredients, so am going to tell you about my honey fetish!
My mother (pictured below) is a beekeeper in Franktown Colorado and is my supplier for fresh, ethically harvested beeswax and honey for my products. Starting in the spring of 2011, I’ll join the beekeeping trend in my family. My step-father’s family from Switzerland who I grew up with were beekeepers so I have grown up eating all sorts of tasty treats with home harvested honey. Yes BE peeps, I love honey mead, honey cakes and honey in any form and I also love bees. I love when you can feel their little suckers tap away for the sugar on your hands – I have no fear of these little friends that are so vital to our food source. I was going to have my hives brought from Colorado this week as my mother had some she wanted me to take over but the State of Missouri requires permits and inspections, and it’s not the time of year to open up hives and have to checked….so come spring, I’ll have “the girls” with me here in Missouri. Did you know the bees you see flying around are all girls?
Well, just wanted everyone to know that our product line will be increasing, and the lip balms are going to contain beeswax from now on. For all my vegan customers, know that I love my partners in pollination and treat them with the utmost in care and respect. I, nor any member of my family, have EVER feed our bees High Fructose Corn Syrup as an over wintering food! Can you believe beekeepers do that?? It’s cheap and easy. I love my little bee friends and will not feed them petroleum process syrup ever – hey, there’s a reason I make sugar scrubs with Turbinado Sugar! My mom loves to come and pick up 50 lb bags to feed her bees. Natural sugar, natural bees, natural products.
Happy Fall everyone!
A friend was over the other day and had never seen this done. I clean my copper bottom pots like this all the time with salt and lemon juice around the house.
#1 – Start with something that needs to be cleaned. I’m using one of my sauce pans. Since I do this all the time, the build up isn’t too heavy. I do wash the pan first with soap and water to remove any grease film or burnt build up – so it’s a clean pot with a tarnished copper bottom.
# 2 With a freshly cut lemon wedge, or a splash of lemon juice concentrate, cover the copper area. I use the actual lemon to do the washing – just squeeze the juice and smear it around.
You’ll start to notice a reation right away the fresher the lemon juice. The photo was taken about 3 seconds after the lemon hit the pan.
Some people even use ketchup because of the acid, but lemon works so much better. The lemon will also help brighten brass too if you have some items looking dull.
#3 – Now use simple table salt as a mild abrasive. Sprinkle just a bit to start and if you are using the lemon wedge, just smear it around again. Use a soft cloth or sponge too if you prefer. Do not use wire scrubbies, and I don’t even like the plastic nylon scrubbys for this – gentle the better. Focus on any tough areas. You don’t need fancy salts – they don’t work any better.
So there you have it – clean and uncleaned with just a bit of lemon juice and salt. Repeat if necessary for tough spots. Rinse with water and dry with a soft cloth.
Don’t throw the lemon away! Fill a small bowl with water, drop the lemon in, and place in your microwave for a minute or two. The moisture for the water will help loosen any splatters in the microwave, and it will smell lovely from the essential oil in the lemon rind!
Now, compost your lemon rind, you’re done cleaning.
Monday is my big cleaning day for the week. While I wash dishes every day, vacum and all the normal stuff around the shop and house, Monday is the day I take care of things like ironing, pantry, and deeper cleaning. I take a lot for granted and a friend mentioned I should post how I clean things since a lot of the methods are eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic cleansers. So now, Mondays will be posts on cleaning or house tips - in the Tips and Tricks category.
Everyone has probably seen the FDA notice about bagged spinach possibly having e.coli, and you’ve probably seen it removed from your local market. Updated Info on 9/18 – find out more on the recall at http://www.vegetablegrowersnews.com/pages/news.php?ns=210 )
People were all over that notice, but today I received my bi-weekly newsletter from the Organic Consumers Association….
Did you know the US rice supply could to be contaminated with an illegal, gentically altered rice seed? Japan has banned US rice imports and the countries of the EU are finding US imports contaminated. These are things that you don’t hear about on the regular evening news broadcast. If you are interested in the subject, you can read the full article here at the Organic Consumers site.
If you want to read the Organic-bytes issue from Sept. 15th and see what you think, go to http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_2399.cfm
Sometimes you just want to ask the people in charge “what are you thinking…..” UGH.
Paperwork….paperwork and just a bit more paperwork. That’s all that there seems to be some days. I contacted the people at QAI about a year ago, and they sent all the paperwork for Botanical Earth to get started in having a finished product certified organic. I completely believe I have to put my money where my mouth is and do this. It’s not easy at roughly $2900 per product, yes that is 2 thousand 9 hundred dollar per recipe – any change, and it’s another $1900. So needless to say, I’ll be starting out slowly with only one product at a time.
The biggest delay in starting the certification process is actually having some of our suppliers (previous suppliers I should say) to show documentation of the ingredients being certified organic. A lot of people say their ingredients are organic, but few say “certified” and even less will document with batch numbers that the ingredient is really organic. I was told by one supplier that “Hey, if it’s on the web site that should be good enough for you.” Well, it’s not good enough for certification. I need to prove to QAI that we make products with documented certified organic ingredients, I have to purchase in some really, really big quantities. Quantities like 2500 lbs of coconut oil at a time, so that’s more money …… Is it any wonder only big companies have the certified organic seal on their products?
Well, I will have one product at least by 2007 – that’s my goal and I am sticking to it. Colin has already drawn up the site map for the inspectors to check the shop and to show that our organic ingredients are separate from our non-certified ingredients, and I am writing the protocol for making products to show how we ensure that only organic ingredients are used and not mixed with non-organics when handcrafting our products. A wee bit time consuming, but worth it in the long run.
And then that is just for US certification. For the EU and Japan, it is another application. The product, recipe and ingredient listing is sent to each country for a chemist to review. So I guess I will be in paperwork dreamland for a long time to come…….oh goody.
