November 2008

Are There Herbs in Your Cleaning Products?

November 18, 2008 · 1 comment

Have you seen this in stores yet?

It is a liquid dish washing soap with fresh-from-the-garden ingredients! My dear friend Susan, just dropped off a bottle of this Mrs. Meyer’s Lemon Verbena Dish Soap. She found it at Whole Foods and knowing that I have a thing for lemon verbena, she bought it for me.

I think I love this soap. It’s label says it is an “Aroma-therapeutic Household Cleaner.” It is made with pure essential oils and only has “naturally occurring, hard-working-yet-gentle-cleaning agents”.

The only thing is…It does NOT smell like lemon verbena! It smells more like lemon grass with a hint of pine. (Which is still good.) Can I really tell the difference between lemon grass and lemon verbena? OH YES I CAN! I grow both and their scents are very different. Although, not lemon verbena, the citrus scent is pleasant and a nice change from the artificial scents of regular washing liquids.

As I read the ingredients label, I notice that of all the essential oils listed, lemon verbena is NOT on the list! How strange to label a product as “Lemon Verbena” and then not use the essential oil in the ingredients. But no matter. It is still filled with very appealing oils.

Here are some of the ingredients: Deionized water, plant derived surfactants, pure essential oils of lemon, lemongrass, peppermint, clover, geranium and fir needle and even aloe vera gel. The best part is that it seems to work well at cleaning my dirty dishes.

You can order online here or you can look at their store locater here. (NO, they are not a sponsor and no, I don’t get anything for referring you. Just passing on the info!)

Thank you Susan for thinking of me!

Other related Garden Fresh Living posts:

Lemon Eucalyptus Oil as Mosquito Repellent

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Check out my Guest Post at Napa Farmhouse 1885!

November 16, 2008 · 4 comments

This week, I was honored to participate as a guest blogger over at the NapaFarmhouse1885 blog. Owner, Diane Padoven, and I became friends through Twitter and when I saw her website, I was instantly enchanted with her writing and her eco-friendly products. She sells potting benches and other cool garden accessories made from reclaimed wood as well as cute aprons and even vegetarian dog treats!

Have you ever noticed how fragrances (from the garden or otherwise) can stir up old memories? Well, my guest post is on fragrant holiday memories and how those snapshots in time stick with us forever. Are you reading this Mom? The post is about you!

Please check it out here and leave a comment if you can. This year, I hope some wonderful holiday fragrances will help you capture new memory snapshots of your own…

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Fireplace Herbs

November 12, 2008 · 7 comments

As you cut back any herbs in your garden in preparation for winter, save the cuttings and branches from the most fragrant plants such as bay, mint, lavender, lemon verbena, rosemary and sage. Why? Because after they dry, you can bundle them into small packages and then use them as fragrant fire starters through winter.

You can also combine the dried herbs with evergreen sprigs such as balsam, cedar or pine for even more holiday fragrances.

As you cut back the herbs, tie the bundles with rubber bands for hanging. (The stems shrink while drying and the rubber bands will keep them from falling out.) When completely dry, remove the rubber bands and tie the bundles with cotton string or raffia for burning. (Don’t use pretty ribbon like the photograph unless you are giving these as gifts.) Use the bundles as kindling every time you want a fragrant fire.

With lavender, I dry the bundles and then remove the lavender blossoms for later crafting. (You just rub and the dried blossoms fall off.) What is left are just the stems which are still very fragrant.

I keep a basket of these stems near the fireplace (but not so close that they can go up in flames) and use them all the time. The fragrance is subtle, but nice!

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MORE on Backyard Farmers

November 10, 2008 · 5 comments

Well, there are apparently MANY people successfully managing companies like MyFarm. (See my post from yesterday on how this company sets up and maintains urban farms in people's backyards).

Here is information on Your Backyard Farmer in Portland. These two women have been setting up backyard farms for several years and many articles claim that they were the first to come up with the idea. See this Edible Portland article and The Portland Tribune. They charge about $40 per week to come maintain the farm and harvest the vegetables. They have been booked for two years straight and have a waiting list for 2009. There is apparently a big need for this service.

I realize that people hire these companies because they do not have the knowledge and/or time to garden themselves. But my first thought when I read about this was that it was unfortunate that the clients were missing out on the journey. The food was just delivered on their doorstep and they were not getting to experience the garden. However, after more reading, I discovered that the clients do indeed enjoy the journey. Many of the clients come out and help when the farmers are working in their backyards and many others decide to maintain the gardens themselves after the first year. They change the service to a consulting service so they still receive guidance. They just needed the help in getting it all started.

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