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If you are looking for something healthy to pass around this Halloween and want to forgo the raisins in fear that your house will be toilet papered later on…then the gals at Ideal Bite have a solution for you. Organic candy!

Endangered Species Organic Milk Chocolate Bug Bites

Organic Lemon Lollipops by Candy Tree

Endangered Species Chocolate Chimp Mints

Enjoy!

I ran across this tea recipe the other day and not only is it completely delicious and perfect for chilly Fall and Winter days, it is supposedly a great tea to drink if you have a cold or flu bug. It comforting and healing! Not to mention it makes the house smell divine

Apple Honey Tea

3 or 4 organic apples, unpeeled, cored and sliced
6 cups cold water (filtered or spring is best)
1 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice (organic)
1 Tbs honey

Put the apples and the cold water in a crockpot and simmer for two hours. Remove from heat and strain. Add the lemon juice and honey and drink hot. You can make this tea in advance and store it in the refrigerator and heat up a cup at a time.

Drink up!
Tiffany

This week I will be starting an online class hosted by the University of Georgia. The class is self paced and will invlove taking tests after the completion of each syllabus. Once the course is completed you recieve some sort of certification.

I am really looking forward to the class and taking notes since I have big plans for canning and preserving next year after my first foray with a serious garden! So I imagine that this winter will involve a lot of planning and preparing, as well as gathering all the materials needed for canning my own food. I can’t wait to can my own salsa, tomatoes, tomatoe sauce, and fruits galore. Of course my learning experience will benefit my children too, who will learn the value of hard work and the pay off later.

For more information on canning visit The National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Tiffany

I have wanted to make the switch to shampoo bars for some time now. I despise the cocktail of additives and chemicals commonly found in conventional shampoo and lets face it…our skin is the largest organ on our bodies, whatever gets put on your skin gets absorbed into your body, into your bloodstream and into your organs. If you just read the ingredient label on the back of a shampoo bottle, I doubt you will find many things you would like to be hanging out in your bloodstream.

I also despise the wastefulness of plastic shampoo bottles, which must be manufactured, packaged for shipping, and then will ultimately end up in the garbage. A huge volume of money is spent in this industry which could be curbed would just a little conservation.

So, step away from the shampoo bottle and nobody will get hurt. Why not try a shampoo bar instead. They last just as long, if not longer then conventional shampoo, they are 1/4 the size, and the only packaging they may have is good old biodegradable paper. I did a little research on the different types of shampoo bars available and found quite a few that sound great. Being a work at home mother myself though, I usually opt to stay away from mass produced items, and go with a smaller, perhaps mom-based operation.

Yesterday I placed an order for several all natural shampoo bars from Blue House Soaps and they shipped in one day! This particular store also has some amazing goat’s milk soaps that I am eyeing as well

I can’t wait to get the whole family sudsing up with our new shampoo bars!

For more information on the ingredients found in conventional shampoo, here is a great article about the No Shampoo Alternative.

Tiffany

This morning I woke to find that humanity has suffered a great loss. Carla Emery DeLong, bestselling author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living and tireless crusader for the homesteading movement, passed away of on October 11, 2005. She was taking part in a national speaking tour when she had a heart attack.

The Encyclopedia of Country Living has inspired so many, myself included to live a more self sufficient life and support the homestead movement. Losing one of our greatest teachers is a big blow. Thankfully we still have her written works and one of the all time best books about homesteading available.

For more information about Carla…her life…and her work, please visit her Web site.

Thursday is Farmer’s market Day in my small town. Every thursday afternoon we make the 10 mile trek to see what the 20 plus local participants are offering up at the Farmer’s market. It is a highlight of every week. We usually pick up some great seasonal items such as pumpkin pie, fresh squash, apples, and the last of the year’s sweet corn. This is something my children even enjoy doing; talking with the locals, getting sample apples, and helping me carry our finds to the car.

I also love Farmer’s markets for other reasons too. Farmers markets support a sustainable food system by offering regionally-grown produce. They also help small family farms (our niehbors) stay in business; the surrounding land is protected from development, and we get fresh food that does not travel far. Plus, many of the market participants offer organically grown produce!

Farmers markets can be found in cities all across the US. For a complete listing of markets in all 50 states, please visit the US Department of Agriculture’s Farmers Market Online Directory.

Enjoy!
Tiffany

Well, it is that time of year…time to plant your bulbs. If you want some amazing spring flowers, like tulips, daffodils, irises, or hyacinth, then it is time to get them in the ground and help jump start their growth cycle with some cold weather. Ideally the bulbs need 4 to 8 weeks of exposure to soil temperatures below 45F. Getting them off to a good start means that they will come back beautifully for years. For me there is rarely anything as satisfying as seeing bright yellow daffodils and smelling sweet hyacinth in the springtime.

Happy Gardening!
Judi

Here are some links to places where you can buy your bulb supplies:

I stumbled on a great find today! Mother Earth News, which is one of my all time favorite natural living magazines, is offering a smoking subscription deal right now. If you subscribe online ( and save paper) then they will discount the subscription to $14.95 a year. In top of that, if you pay by credit card immediatley and don’t make them waste paper by biling you repeatedly, then they will give you a one year subscription for $10.00!!

Wow, I couldn’t let a deal like that pass me by Check it out at Mother Earth News
Tiffany