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This Week at Ramsey Farms

Hey there! :) Welcome to this Sunday's weekly post - kind of a journal of sorts. I am so pleased to have such a strong, vocal, encouraging, and inspirational support in our efforts of simplifying our lives, urban homesteading/farming, and in our dream of the big farm! I anticipate a lot of fun, exciting, and exhausting things to happen in our lives and in our farm this year and thank you for being with us for this journey. 

I'd love to have you "follow" our blog! Just like a friend on Facebook, followers of the blog get notices of new posts and well, you just get to show your support. So anyway...if you look on your left (on the PC page, not sure on mobile...but find it) you can click to follow this page.  Thanks!! :) 

Last Sunday
Today was a gorgeous 60 degree, sunny day. We worked our booties off out in the yard though! :) We got lettuce and carrot seeds planted under cover in row 1. I planted lavender seeds under plastic 2-liter soda bottle cloches to lock in the warmth of the sun (same concept as the cold frame). And we cleared the spot for row 2.

It's far too muddy to try to do any major digging, however, the raised beds were just perfect moisture and condition for planting. I'm so glad to be able to use more of our compost this year. Not only is it tilled into the soil / southern red clay in the bed but in some cases the seeding trench is lined with this beautiful rich-black soil-like compost and every row so far has been covered in compost. This helps to provide intense nutrients back into the soil and marks the row and well, quite frankly, I think it looks good. I'm glad Chief Farm Hand Chris is so meticulous.

• You know I have pics! lol - You can see them by clicking here!

Caribbean habanero & Sweet basil (from seed) Spearmint x2 from cuttings

Monday
Made a delicious, easy, and quick dinner with chicken, honey, and fresh herbs from the garden including lemon thyme, parsley, Greek oregano, hot & spicy oregano, German thyme, rosemary, and even a leaf or two of spearmint.

• Click here to find the recipe for the chicken and for the kohlrabi-broccoli slaw with which this was served alongside rolls and baked potatoes.

Tuesday
This is becoming a regular weather report! lol Today was gorgeous, sunny, warm, and nearly 70 degrees out! I got to open the cold frame all the way up as it was pushing 90 degrees in there by noon! May I remind you that it was snowing this time last week? Crazy weather!

I'm so excited to have made some new friends across the country in my seed exchange facebook group! I have several packages mailed out that included lemon thyme, cinnamon basil, pimiento, sweet red bell pepper and am getting a few other seeds in return. I can't remember all that I'm getting but I am pretty sure there are leek seeds on the way, which I'm excited to get because I can plant them at any time now (in row 1) under the plastic cover.

Chocolate mint - newly planted root cuttings

Another couple of weeks and we will add the beets!!! YAY! This is such an exciting time of year for me. I don't know if you all get this way over spring or planting or anything - but find something that ignites a fire within you and makes you act silly and dorky! Go on - find your thang! lol ;)

Wednesday
Weather bragging day. Last week at this time, I was stuck inside watching it snow more than I've seen it snow here for probably 20 years! This Wednesday, here I am sitting outside on the back deck in capris, short sleeves, flip flops, and sunglasses working away on the laptop. It is still February and it did just dump over one foot of snow on us last week. Oh, wait...the sun is so bright...I can't see my computer screen! ;)

The high today hit a fabulous 77 degrees and when the sun isn't ducking behind the scattered fluffy white clouds, it's so fantastically warm on my skin. The sky is a brilliant shade of blue ranging from light Carolina blue to azure to deep nearly royal.  I am in heaven right now. Almost.

The cold frame and other covered plantings got a nice drink of water this morning. The cold frame lid is wide open for plenty of those hot, yellow rays of sunshine to inspire the little seedlings to greatness. The green onions are fully uncovered in row #1, which vents it for the other, more freshly planted lettuce and carrot seeds. The caps are off my plastic 2-liter cloches covering the new lavender seeds in the herb garden.

All the little seedlings from indoors are outdoors on the deck railing lustily soaking in rays and fresh air. Hopefully this warm air and sunshine will dry out the sod and ground enough (and rain stay back) so we are able to get the raised bed built and installed for row #2 this weekend!

Made an easy potato-hamburger casserole for dinner seasoned with all the fresh herbs from the garden and some of my dried basil. My daughter used the refrigerator bread and made perfect rolls to accompany our dinner. She is really an awesome baker!

Thursday
Another gorgeous North Carolina day! It was slightly cloudy/overcast but a nice, mild 65 degrees by 11:00 am so I had the cold frame vented until the sun came out more. My four year old son and I repositioned the plastic cover on row 1 so that the green onions are fully exposed and the rest of the seed rows are still covered by just one ply of the opaque plastic. I also rearranged the plastic cover on the sweet peas and separated a big pile of sod from its dirt and made some plant markers today. All the seedlings indoors went outside for the day and since the low tonight is 60 I will probably leave most of them out there. We wound up with a high of 78 degrees today!

Today was my little boy's day to learn how to make bread with the pre-made fridge bread. Last night's was so delicious that every piece that my daughter baked was gone before sunup. My son wanted a "butter-jelly samwich" so I told him he had to help make bread.  It took only a few minutes to knead it, separate into roll size pieces, and shape into balls and he had fun helping. We allowed them to rest for 30 minutes then bake for 20. The tough part was making him wait about five minutes for the bread to cool enough to cut and make him a peanut butter and pear jelly sandwich. He reveled in the idea that what he was eating he had made with his own two hands. Great experience for a four year old!

My daughter also made bread today - her first batch of sour dough bread that turned out perfect! (Remember the sour dough starter I started on January 2, it's almost two months old now but getting that nice sour flavor even though I do keep the starter in the fridge.) We ate the sour dough rolls for dinner along with an easy, hearty, homemade three-bean and rice soup.

Friday
Thunderstorms this morning but still a nice warm day! After I finishing my day job work, I made a nice, moist white bread. My little boy wanted "flat bread" for sandwiches so I made a loaf of bread for slicing plus a dozen rolls for dinner. We had honey-herb chicken, rice, and sauteed fresh asparagus using a recipe from one of my seed-trading friend's site Baked Lava. (Check out her site - it's really cool. She is traveling and cooking meals all over the world from her RV!) Oh my gosh - the entire meal was so good but we found ourselves simply crunching asparagus spears at the end of the meal until I had to force a stop! Delicious! Thanks Laurrie for sharing that! :)

Saturday
YAY for weekend garden workdays! Have you ever patched a pair of jeans? My good old comfy work jeans have a nice rip in them in a spot that requires covering. I tried. It didn't work. So I had to elevate (or demote?) another pair of jeans to red mud work duty.

Chief Farmhand, Chris built the raised bed frame for row 2 and installed it yesterday all while I was messing around with wardrobe malfunctions! I finally got out there and he referred to me as 2nd shift. Sorry, dude. I did get a lot of work done though. I separated sod from usable dirt (still more to go), cleaned up my herb garden, separated daffodil bulbs and planted them, reseeded lettuce for the third time in the cold frame (so ready for fresh salad!), pulled out two cabbage plants that seemed to have rot down in the cabbage head, tended to the other gardens, and helped Chris however he needed me to. It felt much warmer in the sun but our high today was 64.

• I will be uploading new pics to the Garden album from yesterday so be sure to check that out.

My teenage daughter didn't want to help in the garden, so she stayed inside and baked. Doughnuts early in the day and 40-minute hamburger buns for dinner later. She did a really awesome job on the sandwich rolls that we used for hamburgers (homegrown-herb-seasoned, of course), kohrabi-broccoli leaf slaw, and our daughter also made the fresh herb-seasoned roasted potatoes. We had a wonderful dinner. Chris and I had a bottle of wine and I was out for the night! :) Sunday is another "farm" workday, so exciting to prepare for more planting coming up on March 1!!

Other Posts this Week You Don't Want to Miss

• The Ramsey Farms version of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscano sausage/potato soup
• Honey-Herb Chicken and Kohlrabi-Broccoli Slaw
• Garden Planning - Our garden on paper

I hope y'all have a really happy week! Remember that only YOU are in control of how you feel and how you react to the world. If you don't like the way things are, do something to change it. Don't whine and don't make excuses - this is your one and only life - live it & love it. :) Smiles, Ramsey

Potato Sausage & Kale Soup

This soup is a take off of The Olive Garden's Zuppa Tuscana. I've put my own spin on it over the years and this is one of our favorite go-to soups for wintery days like we had here last week! We make this all the time as it is so easily flexible to use what's on hand. Enjoy! ~R

Photo Taken: Feb. 13, 2014

Ingredients

• 1 lb. sausage (hot or mild, though we like it spicy!)
• 1-2 lbs potatoes, washed, peeled if desired, and sliced
• 3 green onions, chopped
• fresh or dried hot pepper, chopped, to taste (any variety)
• 4 slices bacon (opt.)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 32 oz. chicken broth (or combination of broth, water, beer)
• 48 oz. water (or combination of broth, water, beer)
• 8 oz. heavy cream or milk
• kale or other raw leafy greens (broccoli or kohlrabi leaves, ex)
• kosher salt & black pepper, to taste
• herbs: dried basil, fresh lemon thyme, German thyme, oregano, and rosemary

Directions

1. Saute sausage; drain fat. Refrigerate sausage while you prepare other ingredients.
2. Saute bacon, onions, garlic, and peppers in large soup pan, until soft.
3. Add broth and water (80 total oz. approx.) to bacon, onion, garlic, peppers. Bring to boil.
4. Add potatoes, cook until soft, about 30 minutes.
5. Add heavy cream (or milk), cook until heated thoroughly.
6. Stir in sausage. Heat thoroughly. Add kale or other greens and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Serve as-is or add sour cream, curry powder, and or hot sauce! Serve with crusty bread & a salad for the perfect meal. This soup is wonderful on cold winter days but tastes good all year round to me.

Honey Herb Chicken with Kohlrabi-Broccoli Salad, Rolls, and Potatoes

Honey Herb Chicken

Ingredients

• Chicken breasts
• honey
• kosher salt and black pepper
• fresh herbs from the garden including lemon thyme, parsley, Greek oregano, hot & spicy oregano, German thyme, rosemary, and even a leaf or two of spearmint.

Directions

1. Add chicken breasts to oiled glass baking dish. Top with lemon juice and honey. 
2. Add black pepper and kosher salt to taste. 
3. Using herb shears or just tear with your fingers, cut up larger herb leaves, remove stems, etc. and sprinkle over chicken. 
4. Bake at 450 for about 35 minutes (depending on cut and thickness of chicken) until it reaches at least 165 degrees internally and the toppings are brown and crunchy. 
5. Served this with baked potatoes, homemade rolls (refrigerator bread), and kohlrabi slaw.

Kohlrabi-Broccoli Slaw

• 1/2 head green cabbage, chopped finely or shredded
• 2 kohlrabi bulbs plus leaves, chopped finely or shredded *from my garden!
• 1 small head of broccoli plus smallest tender leaves, chopped *from my garden!
• 2 Tbsp. white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• salt and pepper, to taste
• sugar, to taste (I use about 2-4 Tbsp. is my guess. I like it sweet!)

Toss all ingredients together and let chill for at least 30 minutes. Enjoy!

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It's free and you'll never miss an article! :) Thank you for your encouragement, inspiration, and support in our dream. Best wishes, Ramsey

Ramsey Farms Planting Calendar - UPDATED!

2014 Garden Plan Timeline

I'm a planner by nature. My Chief Farmhand, Chris is a hard worker by nature. It's why we make a good farm team. But my nerdy Excel spreadsheet tendencies don't stop just because I want to be a farmer! lol

If you keep up with our blog, you know we are trying a garden planning software for the first time this year (you can see a clip of our landscape plan and the plant list/planting calendar from that software to the right) and I still have another list that is basically a calendar of planting dates by area.

There are some who can just toss some seeds in the ground and be bountiful, but we've put more thought and process to what we're doing. We did a lot of research this past autumn and over the winter about the raised beds, vermiculture, the cold frame, companion planting, crop rotation, compost, and more and now all that self-education and ideas are in a plan that's relatively easy to follow and hopefully maintain.

The fun part is that it is flexible too because like everything, you can have the best of plans but need to be able to just roll with the flow when you need to...just like life! :)

Enjoy seeing our tentative plan below and let us know how we can help you start your own gardening! Click the comments button at the bottom of the article and leave your questions & comments. Thanks!

CF- coldframe 

KRB- kids raised bed
HG- herb garden
B40 - Refers to the "back 40" foot row at the back of our property
all else is "main garden", row 1 & 2 are already built so they may be referenced specifically
Yellow highlight indicates seeds not yet on hand/in stock

• 1/20: Seeded CF celery, lettuce mix, mesclun mix, radishes, carrots, and spring onions
• 2/9: 2nd seeding of leaf lettuce in cold frame
• 2/15: Planted white onion sets (row 1) and sweet peas - under cover (KRB)
• 2/16: Leaf lettuce & carrots - under cover (row 1) and lavender-covered (HG). Reseeded celery (cf)
• 2/23: Reseeded CF lettuce.
• 2/25: Sowed cilantro and chamomile under plastic cloches (HG) and lemon balm (under cloche) in a pot next to the HG
• 3/1: Reseeded lettuce, carrots, and onions (row 1) and celery (CF) - only where no visible growth
• 3/8: Uncover lettuce & carrots (row 1). Plant leek seeds (row 1). 
• 3/12: Started harvesting radishes from CF!
• 3/15: Seeded beets (row 1), reseeded & uncovered chamomile (HG), reseeded lettuce & Mesclun mix (CF), reseeded lettuce (row 1). Harvested early mesclun mix for 1st salad of the spring season!
• 3/21: Harvested and reseeded all radishes in CF
• 3/27: Planted potatoes (KRB)
• 3/28: Seeded beets & carrots (B40)
• 4/1: Planted nasturtium (under cover KRB). Uncovered cilantro, chamomile, and lemon balm (HG)
• 4/3: Reseeded lettuce (row 1), reseeded lavender, chamomile, lemon balm
• 4/5: Reseeded carrots (row 1) and radishes (cf), seeded Little Gem Butterhead lettuce and scarlet globe radishes (row 2), seeded cherry belle radishes (b40).
• 4/6 Planted: Borage (in pots), radishes (b40)
• 4/13: Beefsteak tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, basil, geraniums, hot peppers (red hot chili, jalapeno, Caribbean habanero), sweet peppers (piminto, red bell, orange bell, yellow bell), okra
• Seeded: bush beans, Great Northern dry beans, corn, cukes, sunflowers (b40), marigolds, summer squash, zucchini (row 3)
• Have Stevia plants in pots

Future:

• 5/1: cantaloupe, winter squash (row 4) decided to leave garlic in and not plant these
• 7/16: Will we be in North Carolina after this or will we start our Georgia garden? The first things I plan to plant in GA is bush beans, bell peppers, and cucumbers! I've started a plan but it's mainly daydream until I can put boots to ground and shovel to dirt.
• 8/1: bush beans, borage, cukes, dill, summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes, beets
• 8/15: leeks, head lettuce, green onions, radish, cilantro
• 9/1: carrots
• 9/15: leaf lettuce

Tentative Georgia Planting Calendar - Fall/Winter 2014

• By August 10: Bush Beans, Bell Peppers
• By August 15: Cauliflower(?), cucumbers
• August 1 - 25: Summer squash and/or zucchini
• August 1 - September 1: Broccoli, kale
• August 1 - September 20: Beets
• August 1 - October 1: Cabbage
• August 20 - September 15: Carrots
• September 1 - October 1: Lettuce
• September 1 - October 15: Radishes, Spinach(?)
• September 1 - October 31: Leeks
• September 1 - December 31: Green onions
• October 1 - November 15: Garlic
• November 1 - December 31: Asparagus(?)

This Week at Ramsey Farms

This Week at Ramsey Farms

Sunday 2.9.2014

We spent most of the day until sunset out in the garden last Sunday. The temps were in the low 60s but the sun was high and bright. We got row 1 completely built, filled in with soil and compost, smoothed and raked, and the first 7' section to be planted covered in 4 mm opaque plastic to help warm the soil. Removing the good, usable soil and dirt from sod is not an easy task and neither was tilling the bed by manual force with our shovels! (I have finally figured out why Chief Farm Hand Chris is so skinny lol). 

• See Garden Pics HERE

Our teenage daughter helped out by doing some inside chores and making her first batch of bread on her own! She made the 40-minute hamburger buns (recipe here). They were super delicious, she did a fantastic job, and I bet she's scared I'm going to hand over this daily job to her! I might.

Teen Daughter's 1st Hamburger Buns (All By Herself!)

Monday 2.10
Ugh the crazy NC weather strikes again! Today's weather? Cold, gray, dreary, and rainy! :( The high today was only 47 but felt like the 30s all day. My dear daughter and I covered the sprouting crops in the cold frame with a sheet of large-bubble wrap and sheets of newspaper. Let's see if it is enough to protect the babies from the 30 degree low and snow in tonight's forecast.

• Check out all the pics of our newest garden project, the cold frame, by clicking here.

Tuesday 2.11
Snow! It started coming down about 9am or so and didn't end until about 4pm.  I picked up the little one from preschool at 9:35 and the eldest child got home about one o'clock.
I harvested the last kohlrabi while it was covered in snow. Chief Farm Hand, Chris, left work early and got here just in time for an hour or two of snow play with our four year old. Then while I finished up work, Chris made homemade potato and sausage soup that simmered for a few hours then he added fresh kohlrabi leaves to it! (See the recipe here!) Yum, served up with his first batch homemade bread on his own using the 40-minute hamburger buns / rolls recipe! Such a delicious dinner - thank you sir!

• Got about 1.1 inches of snow today!
• Check out the pics of the Garden in the snow!

Wednesday 2.12
Almost all the snow that fell yesterday had already melted away by this morning. Schools were closed and most businesses closed early today (including grocery and liquor stores!). It started snowing about 9am then it began to pour snow by 10am and continued pouring snow all day. Late in the evening it switched to sleet then freezing rain. We did get the cold frame's plastic lid cleared of snow before the ice started falling and I pushed snow up against the sides to further insulate.

The kids made homemade hot chocolate mix and doughnuts. I boiled chicken thighs to later make a big pot of  homemade chicken 'n dumplings! I will have to share this recipe with you sometime, too. Even my picky daughter will scarf down two bowls of this in a hurry!

• Got about 6.25 inches of snow today for grand total so far of 7.35"!

Thursday 2.13
My first thoughts after getting out of bed and looking out the window this morning? "I CANNOT BELIEVE IT IS STILL SNOWING!" Sometime while we slept it began pouring down snow again! I think the total in the backyard was about 8-9". The raised beds disappeared under that much snow and it nearly covered the cold frame.

Today we built snowmen, had snowball fights, made snow angels, ate snow cream, and attempted sledding using all I could find - a smooth plastic trashcan lid. LOL! It did not work well at all. But we had fun trying. We saw a tow truck towing a tow truck that got stuck trying to get a car out of a ditch! Chris and some other neighbors helped our next door neighbor get his car unstuck when he tried to venture out. Chris and our son shoveled the driveway.

I used a kid's plastic shovel to gently remove the 6" of ice and snow that accumulated on the cold frame lid to prevent it from breaking the plastic. I admit, I took a quick peak inside and under the newspaper inside to see that the green onions are doing really well. It was about 40 degrees in there during my sneak peak. I am sure it got pretty cold inside the cold frame during this storm, but the plants that are inside won't mind that too much. I'll be happy to get a good look at everything inside when it warms up tomorrow.

• Another 5-6 inches of snow fell today! The grand total is...12.35" of snow fell in my backyard.

Friday 2.14 Happy Valentine's Day!
Temperatures warmed up today! It was sunny and the high got to 54. I set out in

my knee waders to the cold frame. Inside the cold frame, it was about 50 degrees. I removed my newspaper and bubble wrap insulation and let the water pour onto the soil for a moment. All is well in there! The radishes have huge leaves, the onions are getting taller, and the carrots have sprouted during the snowstorm! It got warm and sunny enough to push temps to over 70 humid degrees in the cold frame while snow lays on the ground all around it! We propped open the lid about 5" to vent it and control the temperature. Check out the pics on the cold frame photo page.

Soggy melting muddy mess

We are supposed to planting spring onions in row #1 and sweet peas in the kids' raised bed this weekend. Not sure if that will happen, if the snow melts it should not be a problem since I covered those beds in thick plastic last weekend. The sweet peas will remain under cover by the plastic for two weeks anyway and spring onions enjoy the nippy cold. Chris and I rolled back the plastic sheeting on both of those beds to remove the thick layer of snow and replaced the plastic to keep heating up the soil. I'm excited and do need to go buy more onion sets so hopefully Ford's Seed Store will be open for business tomorrow and the weather will bend to my will! ;)

We all enjoyed a nice Valentine's home-cooked dinner of grilled lobster tail,
steak, sausage-stuffed mushrooms, baked potatoes, fresh baked bread, wine, champagne, and chocolate. My dear son gave both my daughter and me a pink rose (such a little sweetie)!

Saturday 2.15

Today was my first venture out since the snow started falling Tuesday! :) We trekked over to Ford's Seeds & Plants and got white onion sets, Detroit dark red beets, and cilantro seeds. I couldn't resist and bought myself a hot pink cyclamen in honor of Valentine's and
to give me a bright burst of color in the house to celebrate the coming of spring! (Even though it's still 32 days away.)

The soil under the plastic in the two spots I want to plant today is nice - not too wet or dry, despite the 12" of snowfall and now the great lakes melting everywhere. I am bound & determined to put green onions and sugar snap peas in the ground today! SEE GARDEN PICS!


Later in the evening...
I did indeed plant my onions and peas today as planting conditions were ideal in the raised beds that have been covered in plastic (and snow) for a week. It will drop below freezing tonight, so we covered the onions back up with the plastic as well as the peas. The peas will stay under cover until mid-March. Also got some chocolate mint root transplanted to a pot and transplanted my rosemary cuttings from the water glass on the kitchen table to pots.

Making a simple baked pasta tonight for dinner! Yum, it's gonna be so good! And tomorrow there will be leaf lettuce seeds going into soil in row #1 and you know I am excited about that!! :)

Be sure you didn't miss any other posts this week! :)

• DIY All-Natural Underarm Conditioner & Deodorant 
• Recipe for Brown Sugar Chili in the Crockpot

Rosemary cuttings potted in soil

~ Have a wonderful week, get outside in the sunshine, take time to see the sunrise or sunset, start some pepper seeds inside, hug your kids, count your blessings, call your mama! :) Best, Ramsey ~

Ramsey's Brown Sugar Chili

This is so good, you'll  just want to dive into it. Imagine a cold, windy day and this is cooking in the crock pot all day making the house smell so yummy and your mouth watering every time you step inside from a hard garden work day.  This is our favorite and time-tested chili recipe around here. It's a flexible chili and what I actually use in it depends on what we have on hand. Enjoy it!

Ramsey's Brown Sugar Chili

Prep Time: 10 minutes ~ Cook Time: 15 minutes plus 3-6 hours in crock pot ~ 6-8 servings approx

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 pints diced tomatoes with juice
• 2 bell peppers (optional), diced
• 1 hot pepper (or more - optional), chopped
• 1 carrot, diced (optional)
• 1 celery, diced (optional)
• 3 green onion (stem and all), diced
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• about 24 oz. beans (kidney beans, navy beans, black beans are all good varieties - I like a combo of all 3)
• 10-15 oz. water or broth
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 T prepared yellow mustard
• black pepper
• salt (optional)
• other optional herbs & seasonings: (fresh or dried) basil, oregano, thyme, crushed red pepper to taste

Directions

1. Saute garlic in lightly greased skillet for 3-5 minutes, add onion & continue to saute over med-low heat for 1-2 minutes.
2. Add ground beef (you may also use ground chicken, pork, turkey, deer, etc) to skillet. Brown until no pink remains. Drain grease and return meat to skillet.
3. Over low heat, add mustard and brown sugar. Cook for another 3-5 minutes.
4. Add meat to your crock pot crock. Add tomatoes, peppers, carrots, celery.
5. Drain & rinse beans then add beans to crock pot.
6. Season with black pepper, salt, and your other fave herbs & spices.
7. Add water or broth until just covered (add more for soupier chili) - you can also add beer or wine as your liquid. I think beer goes really well in it! 
8. Set crockpot to cook for 6 hours on low or 3 hours on high. Serve with rice or potatoes and or a fat grilled cheese sandwich or just by itself! I love it topped with a little cheese, hot sauce, and sour cream and a big piece of crusty bread for dipping! :)

"Whenever I meet someone who does not consider chili a favorite dish, then I've usually found someone who has never tasted good chili."

- Jan Butel, author of Chili Madness, published by Workman Publishing, 1980

DIY All Natural Deodorant / Under Arm Conditioner

I call this "under-arm-conditioner" because it is basically a really fantastic moisturizer/skin conditioning lotion that also happens to help you not stink! :) Win-Win! While not all things will work for all people, I personally love this stuff and it works for me! It passed my 2-mile walk in the 90 degree southern summer heat test and the full 24-hour test as well and the skin of my under arm area has never looked or felt so soft and smooth.

It's only been in the past nine or ten months that I truly paid attention to the chemicals used in personal care products like shampoo, body wash, and even deodorants. What's in your deodorant? Do you know? Check out this link. This will take you to the list of ingredients in the last deodorant I recall purchasing but you can look up your own products including makeup, hair care, and more. It's pretty astounding and hopefully will get you to thinking about what it is we are putting onto our skin, hair, and children's bodies.

As human beings, we are actually supposed to sweat! ;) It's our body's way of ridding itself of toxins and keeping your body temperature cool. We just don't have to stink in order to sweat, perspire, or glisten.

There are just a few simple ingredients in this all-natural deodorant.

• Coconut Oil ~ The lauric acid in coconut oil kills odor-causing bacteria. It is an anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-yeast. It has been reported to eliminate or alleviate fungal infections, acne, eczema, keratosis, psoriasis, & rosacea. Contains large amounts of vitamin E for skin conditioning and protection. Some people simply use coconut oil as a deodorant on its on.
• Shea Butter ~ Full of vitamins A, D, & E, a superb moisturizer with exceptional healing properties for skin, shea butter is well known to help improve and treat blemishes, wrinkles, eczema, dermatitis, insect bites, sunburn, frostbite, and skin allergies.
• Baking Soda ~  Sodium bicarbonate neutralizes odors & absorbs moisture, helps regulate pH balance. A light dusting of baking soda is all some people use for deodorant (or a touch up during a hot day perhaps?).
• Essential Oils ~ Add nice scent and add additional anti-bacterial impact.

DIY Instructions

3 T coconut oil

2 T Shea butter

4 T baking soda

15 drops of your favorite essential oil (optional) ~ I use sweet orange because I like it and plan to add lemongrass or something tropical next time

In a glass bowl or jar, melt coconut oil and shea butter in 10 second increments in your microwave until fully melted. *Be careful, glass and oil will be HOT!* Mix well. Add baking soda and essential oils. Pour into your container and allow to cool. 

I keep mine in a glass jar with a lid. Over the summer, I would pop it into the fridge every few days as coconut oil liquefies at 76 degrees and it was fine. I use a small wooden stick or my fingers to scoop out the mixture (it's a little thicker than lotion) then smooth it onto my underarms with my fingers. It's just like applying cream or lotion to your skin. I allow it to dry/absorb while I finish getting ready then put on my shirt. I have never had a problem with fabric staining or anything.

I love this stuff and have been very happily surprised that it not only works - I smell good and my underarm skin is amazing! LOL Who says that?! It works so well I originally named it, "Holy Sh*t This Stuff is Good Deodorant!" So I hope you'll take the time to learn about what is in your deodorant and maybe try some of this or another alternative. Let me know your feedback - use the "post a comment" option below!

Please visit the following links for more info: http://coconutoil.com/and http://www.sheainstitute.com/

This Week at Ramsey Farms

In the Garden...

Wow last Sunday's weather was FANTASTIC! I believe it got up to about 74 degrees with bright sunshine all day. Chris and I along with our four year old's help, got most of a mimosa tree and surrounding overgrowth of brush cut down and hauled away or ready to be chopped into firewood.  Let me tell you, our little boy is so strong and super helpful! Such a great little worker!

Chris got another section of the original garden fencing taken down. Then we measured - very precisely I might add (with strings and sticks and squares and measuring tapes) the new footprint for this year's garden. This year's garden will take up much more room than last year, so we painstakingly cut and removed the sod (okay, so it wasn't all that hard!) then Chris built 3 sides to the 20x4 raised bed for what we refer to as "row #1" (far left in image below). Then yesterday (Saturday) we were able to finish building the bed and spent all day preparing the soil. Below is an image of part of our garden plan for 2014.

You can see the 2014 garden photo album by clicking here. I will continue adding pics to update.

The rapid radish growth in the cold frame is rather exciting and these crazy weather and temperature changes keep me rather active during the day. I opened it all the way up Monday morning for an hour or two to catch some of the light rain that was falling in a nice mild 62 degrees. When the sun started shining, I closed the lid back up for just a short while. By the time the temp was 69 degrees in the backyard, the cold frame had risen to a nice humid 89 degrees so I vented it a few inches to avoid overheating and scorching those little baby radish leaves. Click HERE to see all the pics of the cold frame (scroll to the bottom of that page to see the most recent ones).

Thursday I opened the cold frame and lightly covered those little seedlings (and seeded soil) with sheets of newspaper and closed it up for the night. Rain was predicted and lows under 29, I think this may be a good way to insulate when necessary.

I have opaque 4-mil plastic covering the kid's raised bed. This is using the sun's rays to heat the soil under it in preparation for planting sweet peas next weekend. The plastic covering will actually stay in place for about two weeks after the seeds are in the ground.

In the Kitchen...

Pita bread before baking

Chili

apple cider vinegar fermenting

Just wanted to share. I fed my kids frozen pizza twice this week. Do you think badly of me?! lol Just didn't want y'all thinking I cooked from scratch every single night. I generally do (except for leftovers), but this week has been so busy with work, taxes, and other non-farm life. I feel less guilty now that I've gotten that off my chest and shared with you all! ;)

We did have some delicious chili and lots of yummy fresh baked bread this week, including pita bread. I hope to share the chili recipe and how to make pita bread (pocket & all) with you later this week...it just got a little too hectic 'round here for me this week! :)  I mixed up a new batch of under-arm-conditioner (a.k.a. deodorant) yesterday and shea butter lotion (slash lip balm slash hair conditioner) as well. Look for those articles later this week too - so check back daily! :)

This Week at Ramsey Farms

Wow the weather was so nice here last Sunday and  Monday! Chief Farm Hand, Chris got lots more brush and overgrowth torn out making room for the new compost bins in our northwestern corner.

I got a little crafty last Sunday! It was nice, warm, and sunny enough out to spray paint....so....I made an awesome piece of art (for FREE!) and got several components of other projects painted and started really thinking about Valentine's Day foods and crafts and activities. I am ready to have a craft & wine party! Who's down for that?

I am finding that spring fever really brings out my creativity. So did reducing my personal screen-time and technology usage. My brain can really be much more clever without the constant influx of phones, facebooks, emails, texts (all right in my hand in that phone), television, and movies. Don't get me wrong! I am not opposed to technology. I'm using it now to write this blog, I use it in my digital camera, my kids love Netflix on their computers, I have a basic cell phone, I couldn't earn my livelihood without technology. But I think at some point the constant digital connection can deteriorate one's natural creative flow. That's the case for me personally and I really like having more time to create and enjoy the life around me without the constant interruption of external and sometimes non-tangible sources. (Do my crock pot and food dehydrator count as technology?)

Valentine's Wind Chime

• I had to re-pot my watermelon seedlings. Those suckers are like 3 or 4" tall and the flat they were in (see photo below) was not deep enough for them. I know, I know...It's way too early to have these started, but I couldn't help myself in my spring fever craze the other week! Plus it was good to at least "test" these seeds in this manner since they are from 2008 and have spent the last five years in the freezer.  There is a greenhouse in our future.  
• And we're growing some green onions from the base of other onions used. The stem/scallion part of the onion will nearly grow before your eyes!! Try it - mine has grown about 3" of scallion since I dropped it in water a few days ago. 
  
• I am also rooting some spearmint and rosemary. 
• Did you know you can make your own rooting hormone from the bark of willow trees?! I must have a willow tree on the Big Farm! :) (I get excited over the simplest of things.)

 

Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Sweet Basil 

Sweet Red Peppers

Green onion has grown over 4"!

Snow Tuesday! We might get an inch of snow a year here and maybe one "good" snow every two to three years. School let out early Tuesday and was closed Wednesday and Thursday with a two-hour delay on Friday.  We got about .07 inches of a light, soft, powder and super cold temps. Made delicious potato-cheese soup in the crockpot (click here for recipe) and sourdough rolls on our snow day Wednesday! The kids made blue doughnuts with pink icing and had a blast playing outside in the unusual winter wonderland. Of course I still had work to do (I do have a "day job" ya know, how else can I expect to buy The Farm? but this week isn't overly hectic luckily (or not).

Following the Blizzard of '14 (I know you Northerners and Midwesterners and anyone else in most of the country is laughing at my blizzard), my Thursday assessment in the garden is that all seems to be in fine condition. No apparent change in condition of the cabbage, few remaining kohlrabi, or garlic. Well other than the ice on them - no change. A few of the kale plants seemed to have experienced some damage prior to the snow storm and have yellowed outer leaves, but some appear to be just fine. I had just done a big harvest of all but the four inner leaves from every plant. My broccoli I raised from seed shows some minor yellowing of the flower buds. The harvested broccoli on which I was waiting for some side shoots don't look too good, but the three remaining whole plants that never grew to full size appear to be fine. Check out the continually updated (including the new snow pics) Garden 2014 pics here.

It was only 34 degrees Thursday afternoon and I had not opened the cold frame in a few days for fear of letting out the precious humidity and heat. I quickly opened the lid and a deluge of indoor-humidity rain watered the little 4x4 garden plot. I snagged the thermometer, closed the lid, the red in the thermometer was dropping fast but it had been around 75 degrees inside the cold frame! I opened the lid just a crack,dropped it on the soil in between seeded rows, and closed the cold frame's lid tightly against the rays of the winter sun on the south side of my property. The snow cover helped insulate the cold frame Tuesday night, but if the forecast is for anything below 32 we cover/insulate the frame. Friday's weather was so nice, sunny, and even warm (57 was the high) that I needed to vent the cold frame about noon or so then close it fully before sunset and cover it up with sheets for a cold night!  It was over 75 degrees inside the cold frame Saturday when outside temps were about 46.  We have radish sprouts! You can check out the soon to be ever-changing Cold Frame pics here. (This was the most popular post on this blog during January, so be sure to check it out and check back often for updated pics!)

We're making apple cider vinegar using scraps, cores, and peels. I am so excited about this since vinegar is a primary ingredient in so many things from cleaning products, herbal remedies, hair rinses, skin salves, and plenty of food items. Never did I consider making my own! (It is a highly addictive undertaking, this "DIY" mentality and the desire to eliminate the chemicals in our home.) I cannot wait until we pick and process apples in the fall - there will be gallons and gallons of vinegar brewing...er...fermenting!