A few snapshots from last Saturday. Donna and Zach, our faithful summer minion, um, er.....slaveboy, no wait.....WORKER, that's it....anyway, Donna and Zach are painting the walls of our shop! For those of you that have never visited - our shop is awful tiny. It's 20 feet by 30 feet, and Donna and I built it ourselves (with help from a retired electrician/handyman friend). It holds our office, kitchen, and entire retail area. So...there's alot of stuff in a very small space, which makes painting really interesting. We move things from a section of the wall, paint, wait for it to dry, paint again, wait for it to dry again, then move everything back. Repeat.

Zach was, I believe, mildly horrified to have to paint walls PINK, but he did the job with enthusiasm and gusto.


John was constructing a manger for the mini-horses (six of them sharing the one existing one we had was just tooooooo many!).

Which ended up looking a bit like a coffin!!!
And last but not least....meet our new puppy, a rat terrier mix, named Monk! He loooooove the other doggies and kitties, and was terrified of Beaker until yesterday, when the 2 of them started this new game where they sort of harass each other. He goes up to Beaker and barks, Beaker lowers his head and sort of "fake" chases him off. Repeat.

(To be clear - Beaker is FULLY CAPABLE of chasing this little guy down and pinching the dickens out of him if he wants. He's a goose that's large and in charge. This truly is a game the 2 of them have devised).

Let's put aside the fact, for a moment, that it is 8:00 on a Saturday night and I am on my computer, updating our website and blogging. (I'm sipping Templeton Rye, a fantastic locally-produced whiskey, while I'm doing it, which I am pretty sure adds at least 10 "cool points" to my mojo-meter....)

ANYWAY. We have so many amazing things going on this month for our 10th birthday bash. I just gotta get 'em online. So, we're starting with this fantastic, LIMITED EDITION natural perfume, made by our friend Tina at Faerie Made Soaps. This girl is rockin' with the natural perfumery. (Also she is celebrating her sixth year of business. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!) This perfume is called "Soleil" - we have 30 of these in stock, and when they're gone, they're gone. So, if you're into a sexy, sultry blend of coriander, citruses, vanilla, jasmine and more...welllll.....stock up on this fantastic perfume. You won't be sorry.

Fall 2008 Prairieland Herbs Class Schedule is NOW ONLINE! We're accepting signups now.
We've got a GREAT selection of classes. You can learn to make soap, use exotic dyestuffs to dye silk scarves (like the ones above), learn how to make your own natural non-toxic home cleansers, or make your own fantastic customized shea butter moisturizers. Class space is limited on most, so....sign up now!

Luxury Soap of the Month has arrived! This month's selection - a sunny, bright, lemon-verbena-based soap that is sooooo citrus-ey it makes your mouth pucker. We have about 50 bars on hand and when they're gone, they're gone! ENJOY!

Stay tuned....big news ahead. Did you realize that Prairieland Herbs turns TEN this month?! We have all kinds of surprises and specials planned......

Yesterday at noon, we were ROASTING. Hot sun, nearly 100% humidity, just.....HOT. Today it's about 65 degrees, overcast,with a breeze,and we are wearing jeans and long sleeves. Ah, it must be nearing fall!


Anyway - we wanted to share this great recipe with you. It was given to us by our friend Jen -she uses it as a treatment for psoraisis on her scalp, and says it works beautifully! We know many of our customers have skin conditions, so we thought we'd share the recipe with you. And wasn't it kind of Jen to share her recipe?? We sure think so!

here goes:

Jen's Hair Oil (treatment for psoriasis)

1 oz jojoba oil
5-7 drops each juniper, tea tree, rosemary, and thyme essential oils

Combine ingredients; apply as necessary to scalp.

We do have all the essential oils that you need for this recipe, on our website. Her recipe specifies jojoba oil, but i do suspect you could use olive oil as the base as well....

This recipe will be permanently archived on our website - here.

Another hard day's lounging at Prairieland herbs.....mmmm laptops are warm, says Sassy!

Want FREE prairieland herbs products....AND to visit a super-cool and really interesting blog??

Check out our friend Sara's blog - Walk Slowly, Live Wildly. We've had the pleasure of meeting her in person, and I really DO love her blog. informative, well-written, thought-provoking....yep, great stuff.

She's (lucky for us!) a fan of our products, and so she's doing a little give-away of the items seen above. Check out her blog, click around, bookmark it so you can come back and visit it again later, then enter yourself in the product giveaway. How cool is that?

I just made a fresh batch of Magic Mud (our fantastic luxurious facial masque/cleanser that's loaded with green clay, ground herbs, jojoba microdermabrasion beads and pure essential oils of carrot seed, sandalwood, palmarosa and jasmine absolute), and.....we made at least 30 little mini-jars to give out as free samples. We have them in the sample basket at the shop, so if you're in the area and want to try it, come on it. Internet customers, if you are placing an order in the next few days and want to get one of these little freebies with your order, simply make a note of it in the "customer comments" section of the shopping cart. Offer good until the muds run out :)

5:02 PM - Just leaving work...we have EIGHT Moroccan Rose soaps left!!!!

It's elderberry season! I'm about to gather elderberries and make my yearly batches of elderberry jam and syrup, yum yum!! Check out this great recipe for elderberry mead on our website.

And here's some great information about how healthy elderberries are for you!

and check out this great site about nothing but elderberries. fantastic information, great photos, and the recipes! wow!

$5 shipping sale!!!! Head on over to our website. Any size order shipped for only $5! (In the US only. sorry, international folks....)

Fantastic food blog - Zoe Bakes. (Thanks Jill for pointing it out to me!)

Also. When my computer blew up a few months ago, apparently I lost some updated changes to our website. Thanks to our customers for alerting us that the Magic Mud had mysteriously disappeared off our website! Rest assured. We are still making it, and it is back online!

The other page that mysteriously disappeared was our Tooth Powder recipe. It is back! Enjoy!

Our neighbors at Picket Fence Creamery are holding an old-fashioned bean-walking party. Here's what they say:

"..It became too late for us to plant corn here, so we are instead raising non-GMO soybeans. We managed to get the fields cultivated once, but due to the wet conditions were not ever able to get back in for the second cultivation. So...we are extending an invitation to anyone out there in Picket Fence newsletter land...to join us this Saturday morning to relive that wonderful summer rite of our youth - bean walking! We've had several "volunteers" sign up, and some are bringing their older kids to give them "the experience" of how they spent their summers! Bring your water jugs and your gloves, and stay for an hour and all morning. When you've had enough, we'll treat you to all the chocolate milk and ice cream you can eat! We'll start at 8 a.m., and will be walking till noon. Hope to see you Saturday! "

If you're interested in helping, give them a call at (515)438-COWS!

In other news: We recently bottled up about 45 free samples of our Facial Serum for Oily/problem skin, and about the same amount of Hempchouli shampoo bars. If you're ordering in the next few days or so, and want to try a free sample of either or both of those products, simply make a note of that in the "customer comments" part of our shopping cart, and we'll add those in for you.! (offer good until the samples run out).

Our friend Tina, of the Essential Herbal Magazine (great magazine, go subscribe if you haven't already! ) has a wonderful blog post up about her Winter Tea. It's the time of year to be gathering and drying herbs for winter, and this is a really easy, delightful, and whimsical way to enjoy your herbs as tea all winter long!

Roe at Sun Rose Aromatics has a great blog post about my favorite, easy way to dry herbs. If you haven't tried it yet, I highly encourage you to do so. It is easy, nearly foolproof, and makes your car smell great. :) enjoy!

Last week, our fantastic farrier, Kim, came to trim the horses' hooves. This is a regular occurrence, for their health and safety. She's so great! A real animal lover, and an expert at her job. How many times do you suppose that such an operation is overseen by a Canada Goose?


The little ones frisked around, as their mommas got their feet cared for first. The baby horses are alot like human babies - really curious, affectionate, and they really like to TASTE their world. Delilah, the oldest one, is especially bad about that - she LOVES to nibble! Anything. clothes, arms, hair, tools - anything she can get her baby teeth on.


A closeup of Kim working on the hooves.


These are Baron's tiny little hooves. I LOVE the coloration. Aren't they fancy??


The dogs love to hang around and get bits of horse hoof to chew on. EEEWW!!!

It's here, it's here, it's here! The August Luxury Soap of the Month - Moroccan rose. *swoon*
If you love florals - REAL florals, not synthetic scents, this is ABSOLUTELY for you! We only have about 50 bars of this soap so I do expect it to sell out pretty quickly. Visit our website to purchase!

In other news - we did the farmer's market yesterday, and had a great time. John likes to bring his spinning wheel and spin while we're there vending; seeing and hearing people's reactions is absolutely priceless. I will have to write up a whole blog post just that, sometime. Anyway. After the market we delivered orders to some local stores that carry our goods: East Village Books, the Living History Farm gift store, and Heart of Iowa Marketplace. So if you're in the Des Moines area looking for Prairieland Herbs goods, check out any of those stores!

Last but not least; it's 97 degrees here, and a heat index of over 105 is expected today. HOT, hot hot. Stay cool and safe everyone!

I spent 5 minutes walking around the farm yesterday getting pics. So here is a 5 minute tour of the farm! Go was having a nap by the doggie soaps.


John was working on making a gate for the horses new paddock.


Beaker was supervising everything from one of his favorite locations: underneath a car.


Jake(the boy) was trying to get this ancient and terrifying machine started, while....


Jake (the dog) watched from the nearby shade.


Don, (Donna's dad) was surveying our weed patch.


Future smudge bundles are drying nicely in our drying shed.


The little herb plants (destined for distillaion) are doing their best to grow, but with this crazy weather, it's nearly impossible. They're TINY.


But the crabapples look SPECTACULAR. they're huge!

We've been getting emails about our violet jelly, lately, so I'll answer some of the common questions about it here. :)

1) what does it taste like? Well. it tastes sweet, like regular jelly, with floral overtones, but not as strongly floral as, say, roses.

2) how do I use it? You can use it like any other jelly - on toast, or warm biscuits with butter (MMM). It's beautiful in thumbprint cookies, or delicious on waffles or pancakes or crepes. It can be slightly warmed, and poured over fresh fruit, as a delicious glaze. You can stir it into tea or coffee, as a flavored sweetener. Last but not least, you can use it with cold meats, or on sandwiches of all sorts.

ARGH. STORMS.

We had HUGE storms here last night. I don't know how much it rained, but it seems like it rained for hours. When donna checks her rain gauge, I'll give you an estimate of how much rain we got. But basically, this rainy wet weather is awful for our crops. We're having a horrid year for growing things. Because of the damp spring, we didn't finish our spring planting until July 3rd. (yes, really). None of the plants we put in the ground have actually DIED due to weather, but they are just sort of sitting there, not really growing. It's difficult to watch. (Of course, the weeds are thriving. isn't that always the way?) I'll post some pictures pretty soon, but for now, you can read this July 2008 crop update from Small Potatoes Farm, an organic CSA a few miles from us. They basically get the same weather we do, so you can see how it has affected their crops.

As promised - pictures of the storm damage from last weeks 80-100 MPH straight line winds. This is donna's deck, which basically just disconnected from her house, because of the horrible winds. It was leaning WAY more, but as you can see was propped up on poles, and is in the process of being fixed.

We spent most of Tuesday cutting up huge branches that were downed, and hauling away branches of all sizes into this huge brush pile. it's hard to see the size of it, but it's about 6 feet tall. We'll have a heck of a bonfire when it all dries out.

The neighbors trampoline blew about a half mile away. We found their slide, lawn chairs, and a few kids toys caught in various trees and bushes. Crazy weather!



Sassy adores spending time outdoors. isn't he handsome?
And, now Violet thinks she is a candle, I guess. She is a goofy girl.