So....the last 2 weeks we have been engaging in some MAJOR farm cleanup. Why are all farms filled with old junk, cars, stuff, cement, bricks, and just general JUNK? We rented a rolloff box....



And some major equipment, because we needed to dig up some random, huge, HUGE chunks of concrete....



and pretty much filled the rolloffbox. I'm going to be REALLY interested to see how heavy that is! but it feels good to get rid of that junk. Now we can till/plant a big area behind our barn - we'll probably just seed it to pasture for now, as we don't really need any more space for herbs at the moment. (Maggie's secret plan to get some alpacas or other fiber animals is one step closer to fuition, hee hee hee!!!)


Stu and Beaker "helped" us clean up the farm...mostly by sleeping in the shade and watching us work. They're hysterical, and growign like CRAZY. Stu (the duck, the brown fellow) is getting his real feathers in! I'll try and get a picture. He looks sorta ratty right now, pooor fellow - I bet it itches when those feathers come in!

I'm working on our new website and shopping cart....and I've got ALOT of help!!!

So apparently...Beaker (the yellow fellow - the one we rescued from a busy town highway) is NOT a duck. let me preface this by saying we know NOTHING of birds...especially farm birds. But one of our great customers (thanks Hanna!) clued us in today to the fact that Beaker is NOT a duck. So we think maybe he's a goose...or possibly even a swan?? Any bird people out there that can help us out..let us know! But, let me tell you - these guys are a hoot, and they're growing like crazy. More blogging about them over on Maggie's personal blog! (In this picture, btw, they're like 2x the size they were last week, and they're hanging out in our herb shop. Yep, they think that's where they should be. *sigh*)

We had a GREAT class today! About 20 people showed up for Herb Gardening talk given by Donna. Here we are before class...chairs set up ready to go!

And here we are during class - Donna is up front in the green t-shirt. We had a perfect day! Mid 70's, sunny, with a light breeze. Lovely!


Then Donna led everyone around the garden and showed them our perennials coming up...and last but not least, everyone chose 3 herb plants to take home and plant. I know Donna had a great time - I hope everyone else did too!



Speaking of classes - we still have 4 spaces left in our Hot Process Crock Pot Soapmaking class coming up next Saturday!

Also, in actual PLH related news: We're cleaning up the farm (pics coming soon), and....we have loads of new classes to sign up for! Our June/July/August class schedule is ROCKIN. Online (non-local) customers - we have at least one online class for you scheduled for this summer....I've been busy, busy, busy adn haven't been able to get the info online but I WILL Do it this weekend at the latest, and I'll post here when it's on. It's gonna be soooooo awesome....

Local folks - wanna learn to knit, crochet, dye, spin, play with lavender or sage, garden naturally, or do a bunch of other fun stuff? Take some classes!!!!!!!!!

So, the other day, I found a baby duck. So we got him a friend (ducks need friends) but, in the intervening 4-5 hours where we had just the one rescued duck (during which we hauled him around tucked into sweatshirt hoods and pockets, because he didn't want to be alone), he apparently imprinted on humans because...now he thinks we are his parents! Beaker is the yellow fellow - the one found running, all alone, on a busy highway in Adel. The brown one, Stu (I call him Disco Stu - simpson's fans will get the reference) was purchased at a local farm store (for $2 - he was on clearance!). Beaker loves people and follows us around, and gets most frantic when he can't. Stu loves BEAKER and follows him around. It's a whole thing. Anyway, I have loads more pictures to follow but for now - aren't they adorable??

Its' a tough, TOUGH job to be a prairieland herbs cat....
especially on a warm, sunny summer day.

We have fresh morel mushrooms at the shop...this weekend only!!!

We are ready for our open house! We're stocked with herb plants. We have gorgeous roving from Abi. We have jams and jellies to clearance out (so we can make new this coming harvest season). We have TONS of popcorn, and, are ready to go!

We took the morning to help a friend burn her 10 acre restored prairie (with wetlands area in the middle). it was FUN!! here's a few good pics. :)

We've got some scent blends marinating to test both in candles and for our new "Guy line" (men's products)....we'll keep you posted! :)

Some days, we have more office "help" than we know what to do with. Mo (black and white kitty) loves to lay right in front of the printer, so we have to scooch him over every time an order needs to be printed (every few minutes). Violet (calico) loves to sit on top of the printer and attack the papers as they come out. They are a very effective duo!

Here are a bunch of pictures, in no particular order, from our Soapmaking 101 Class last Saturday. We had 6 people - 3 guys, and 3 girls, which we thought was really cool (we usually have far more women than men at our classes!). I think they all had a really good time!

BUSY day yesterday!!!

We had 100 lbs of shea delivered - 50 for us and 50 for Karla, our soapmaker friend. We get it from agbanga karite, they have lovely fair trade butters, oils, black soap and more. This is what 50 lbs of shea butter looks like - I put a 4 oz. bar of soap next to it, for perspective. Who knew owning a herb shop meant quite so much heavy lifting???



With that shea, I made tons of patchouli body balms. These are for soul-flower, and then I turned around and made another batch, just as big, for us. We LOVE shea butter. So creamy, so moisturizing!!!









Then I made some Just Plain Shea balm, and these samples - these are lavender body balm samples, I think about 100. These will go in our sample basket, and be given out to any customers that walk in the door, or shipped out with our orders.








Donna did TONS of orders - this is her, working in our teensy weensy office. Doesn't she look nice?? She remembered we had a photographer coming to take photos of us and our shop today. I, however, did not, so I wore grungy clothes and had a bad hair day. *sigh*







I got a picture of the photographer taking photos of our stuff too. :)

Weather here is crazy. Last monday, this:
Excellent blizzard pics

This Tuesday? 78 degrees. People running around in sandals, with not-yet-melted snowdrifts all around.

CRAZY!

But, the catnip and thyme are greening up! We'll have some pictures soon!

Well, I think the needlefelting class on Saturday went really well. Everyone seemed to have a good time! Here are some pics of the grand event. Diane, who taught the class, has agreed to come back maybe in the summer or fall to do this class again, or maybe even something else related (felted jewelry anyone??? :) )

Okay! We have revamped and added to our class schedule. Here are the updates:

Crochet class moved from March 24th to March 31st.

Now we have SECOND Soapmaking 101 class open on March 24th (We think the March 17th one is full; we are just waiting for final confirmation/payment from one person).

Clear as mud? :)

WOW! You guys sure love learning how to make soap! Our Soapmaking 101 class is nearly full - we're waiting on confirmation from one person who verbally signed up. SO! If you are interested in learning to make soap...but 1) haven't yet signed up, or 2) want to take the class but that date/time doesn't work for you....let us know. If demand is great enough we will see if Karla can fit in another Soapmaking 101 class. Otherwise, I won't be until June...kind of a long time to wait!

On a related note, there's still spaces available for the Milk Soaps and Hot Process Crock Pot Soap classes. And, we MAY have one space available in our rescheduled March 10th Needlefelting Class...... please email us or call if you are interested!

Our Needlefeling class is rescheduled for Saturday, March 10th, from 1-4. I hope all our original participants can make it!

We had us an honest-to-gosh blizzard! Well, technically, it's still going on. EVERYTHING is closed. By everything I mean businesses, schools, county and national governmental offices...yep. everything!

So - Donna is at work (after trudging through much snow to get from the house to the shop), answering emails and packing up everyone's FREE FACIAL SERUMS (if you aren't subscribed to our enewsletter, you should be! So we can notify you of freebies and specials!)

I (Maggie) am home, working on very exciting things like 1) updating our wholesale price list, and 2) writing press releases. Oh, and updating this blog. I admit, a fair amount of knitting is getting done too. :) But I'm knitting the hat we're going to be making in our March 24th Knit/Crochet an Earflap Cap so it's "real" work....right??? I will post a pic when I get it finished. it's so cute!

In other good news, Karla, our self-proclaimed crazy soaplady , is also snowed in at home (she lives further to the north than we do, so she's even more snowed in!) and making soap like a madwoman. yay!!!

I took these pics from my house. Please note - while they do not look blizzard-worthy by themselves, understand that these are in my VERY PROTECTED backyard. I'm in a very protected part of town, AND have a 6 foot privacy fence. So just imagine what it's like out in the country where Donna is! Snow is blowing everywhere, visibility is practically zero, and the roads are drifted like crazy.

Ahhh...March in Iowa. You gotta love it.