There is NO SUCH THING as "therapeutic grade" essential oils.


Let me say that one more time, just to be clear:

There is NO SUCH THING as "therapeutic grade" essential oils.

I explain this to people alot, but I get the sense sometimes that they don't believe me. I understand. Other compaines are claiming that their essential oils are therapeutic grade, and charging more for it. Trust me when I tell you that I know FOR SURE that there is another seller (no, I won't name names!) who purchases essential oils from some of our same sources, labels them as therapeutic grade, and charges an arm and a leg for them. Which I think is silly.

Here is an excellent blog post with more facts.

I only tell this so that you aren't mislead or decieved by other companies. That's all!

We will be vending at the Downtown Des Moines Farmer's Market this Saturday, November 22nd! Our booth in on the 2nd level - skywalk level - on the west side of Capital Square, near the sushi restaurant. If you'd like us to bring anything in particular for you, please let us know by tomorrow afternoon. :)

it's SAMPLE SUNDAY time already, can you believe it?! Visit the updated Central Iowa Small Farms website for complete details! We have AWESOME sales on gift sets, as well as fantastic guest vendors:

Sample Sunday Specials: Pampering Foot Gift Set - Reiki treatment gift set PLUS Prairieland Herbs "Treats for Feets" gift set, only $50! (Regular value - $60)
Gift Sets on Sale!
* Pamper Packs only $10! (Regularly $12)
* Best of Prairieland Herbs only $25 (regularly $30)
* NEW! Lavender Gift Set - $35 (regularly $40)

Limited Edition Holiday Items: "Spiced Rum" soap, and "Spicy" aromatherapy spray, perfect for creating a holiday mood in your home.
FREE giftwrapping!
Kittens for Adoption!!

Guest Vendors:
Nikki Bado-Fralick will have her handmade silver jewellery for sale.
Sally Kilkenny will be vending her amazing award-winning jams and jellies.
Lynn Marie Parkey of Gauranga Reiki will be doing FREE reiki sessions.
Dawn Torrents-Suarez from Morning Rain Massage will do Ear Candling for $25, or $15 with a receipt from Prairieland Herbs or any Sample Sunday Vendors! Chair Massage available, $15 for 15 minutes. All barters and trades will be considered, so bring something cool/handmade/homemade to trade :)
Henna Tattoos FREE for kids, $5 for adults.
Angie Lambert with AKC Collections will have her pillows and crafts made from upcycled and repurposed wool, available for sale.

Here are Jack and Colby (aka "the cheese boys") - 2 of the adorable kittens available adoption from P.E.T.S. They and their siblings will be at Sample Sunday, hoping to find new homes! They are about 3 months old, litterbox trained, neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, etc, and good with other cats, dogs and bunnies. :) They are available for $65, to indoor homes (and you must sign a no-declawing contract).

Last night John and I attended a fun open house at Art 316, a huge building full of assorted art studios. We got to tour 15-20 artists spaces, view their artwork, and check out their fantastic tools and raw materials. I don't know much about art, but it sure was fascinating just to take a peek at their workspaces, catch the "flavor" of the behind-the-scenes everyday workspace of all kinds of artists. Now, I don't consider myself an artsist, but it sure gave me an appreciation of how much fun it is to view someone else's workspace! Now I know why people always want to peek in the Prairieland Herbs kitchen! :) So, I've assembled a few pictures of our everyday workspace, so those of you who aren't here can catch a flavor or OUR workspace. I hope you enjoy! All of the nice product shots you see on our website are John's work. His studio is a room in the basment (shown above), or our living room (shown below).



Donna and Maggie aren't afraid of garden machinery....or of getting dirty. :)



Our yearly calender, above, is ESSENTIAL. Without it, we don't have a clue what we're doing!


The shopping list is also key! There are always supplies to be ordered.....


Our office is tiny, but we do well with the space we have. The brown file folders hold all our labels. We often have "help" in the office....



Donna and Maggie built the shop, with help from a retired carpenter friend. We hired guys to pour the concrete and do the drywall, and enlisted some help with the plumbing and electrical installtion, but truly we had our hands in nearly every bit of building our shop. And, neither of us had any CLUE about building a building, before this adventure. It sure was an education!

Various and assorted pets roam the farm. Our dogs are always with us, cats come and go as they please, and you may see fowl or miniature horses wandering around too.





We teach classes here on the farm. Above, Donna is teaching a gardening class. Below, we see Karla teaching a soapmaking class in our classroom.




Our antique cash register, above, is a source of much comment! It's beautiful, we love it, and yes, it really works. Below is an interior shot of our shop.



Above, soy wax candles are cooling, and you can see beeswax loaves - the local beeswax we purchase has to be melted and filtered (cleaned) before we use it. Below is a whole bunch of patchouli shea butter balms, these were made as samples to be given away.




This is Maggie's kitchen. Oils are above the sink, essential oils to the left. There are also huge bins of salt, sugar, milk powder and herbs, buckets of shea butter and coconut oil, and tons of packaging, all carefully arranged to maximize the amount of stuff we can fit in a very small space.
These fridges hold our herbs, essential oils, and hydrosols.

Our still, set up outside the shop.

One of our main herb gardens.

THis is our packaging area - we have everything we need in a small area! Bags, tape, bubblewrap, many sizes of boxes, labels, shipping scale, etc.

Sometimes, the weeds get out of hand. (Okay....REGULARLY, the weeds get out of hand.)


The UPS guy visits us REGUARLY. This is a large shipment of assorted raw ingredient and packaging supplies.

This is the type of raw materials we get, in fairly large quantities. Above, 50 lbs. shea butter. Below, 11 lbs essential oils.


Sometimes, we have a bit of wine at work. :)

And here is where we dry our herbs, in a converted chickenhouse. :)



This would be a fairly typical day's worth of shipping.

Here's what our fantastic neighbors, Picket Fence Creamery, are cooking up for next week's Sample Sunday!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Join us for a 3-farm tour and

Thanksgiving Sample Sunday!

Nov. 22 Noon to 5 p.m. Admission is FREE

Kids...come out to the farm to see

SANTA CALF!

(A live, Jersey calf complete with a box of FREE TOYS!)

*Pony rides, bottle calves, pigs, and cows!

*Food samples: pumpkin ice cream, cranberry wine, cheeseballs, pumpkin butter, pumpkin muffins, elk sticks, buffalo summer sausage, creamed honey, pasta salad, cashew and almond butters, Pella bakery goods and more!

*Guest vendors: Pella's VanderPloeg Bakery, Rosey Acres Winery, Runnells.

*Lunch: Hot sandwich, $3, coffee, milk, pop.

*Thanksgiving foods: milk, cream, butter, ice cream, home-grown turkey, beef rib roasts, brown sugar cured ham, buffalo and elk roasts, lamb, goose, duck, rabbit, chicken, eggs, Kalona noodles, gouda cheese, maple syrup, jams, spiced apple rings, 4-bean salad, honey, breads, pies, and MORE!

HOLIDAY SUPER DEALS:

All Iowa wines - 2 for $22!

90% lean ground beef, $2.99/lb. with 10 lb. purchase

2 dozen farm eggs - $5

FREE 1/2 pint ice cream with $25 purchase!

OPEN NOV. 23-28 - 8 to 8 (open all day Thanksgiving!)

Visit us this weekend at the First Annual Green Gifts Fair! The event is held at the Des Moines Social Center, on Sunday, November 15th, from 11-4. The vendor lineup is really great, we're excited to see all the wonderful local ecofriendly holiday gifts, and do some shopping. If there are any specific items you'd like us to bring, please let us know! We look forward to seeing you there.

Our good friend Amber wrote this wonderful, and very honest review of our laundry soap, and gave me permission to post it here. Thanks so much Amber! :)



I forgot to give you a review of the homemade laundry soap. I am now on my third batch, so will be needing another package of the soap bars next time I visit you.
Brett was kind of negative about trying a new detergent, he is rather picky about things like that. He was convinced that switching would somehow ruin the washing machine. I think he got some kind of info to this effect from the guy who sold him the washer, but I really don't think he has the story straight... anyway...
I made the switch sometime in the Summer and didn't tell Brett. About a month or 2 later he made a comment about not going through very much Tide lately, so I fessed up. He said he had noticed his socks were a bit dingy, not as white. So I started using one heaping Tablespoon of the homemade powder detergent and about a Tablespoon or 2 of liquid Tide 2X. This seems to be a winning combination for me. Brett's clothes are often really, really dirty and greasy. He is a farmer and amateur mechanic, it comes with the job... I think we need the Tide in there to break down the grease, but a 1/2 cup or whatever the recommended amount is seems to be excessive to me. I just use a little drizzle. And every now and then I will wash the whites in all Tide, just to give them a boost of whitening, I guess.
I like the lavender scented detergent bars and will continue to prefer them. Also, a used a clothes line in the Summer and the clothes were not any stiffer with the homemade stuff than they were with Tide. We actually got used to our "cardboard bath towels" and their exfoliating properties! Ha!

Loads of news. You ready?

ok, here we go!


We let you pick your November sale product, and you voted loud and clear. So, here you have it - our shampoo bars on sale for the FIRST TIME EVER. For the next 5 days, all our shampoo bars are only $5 each. That's a dollar off each bar! If you haven't tried them yet, now is the time to see what all the fuss is about. If you know and love them, now is a fantastic time to stock up, as prices will NEVER be this low again. :) Sale price good through Nov. 10th.


November Luxury Soap of the Month is here! Spiced Rum is a Bay Rum type soap, scented with essential oils of bay, lime, bergamot, cinnamon, clove and black pepper. While we do recommend getting a bar or two for your favorite fellas, we personally think it's fantstic for us gals too. It's made with fair trade coconut oil, and has delightful creamy lather and a divinely spicy scent. We have 40 bars of these - when they're gone, they're gone, so get 'em fast!

We can now accept American Express credit cards. Wheee!

We have a new seasonal aromatherapy spray - The same 100% natural, essential oil blend as our wonderful spicy candle, this natural aromatherapy spray can be used on your couch, car, linens, as a room spray, or even on yourself. It's a spicy blend of cassia, clove, black pepper and orange. WONDERFULLY warm and delicious! This blend will only be here through the holiday season, so enjoy it while it lasts!

So, dear reader, we want to know. What Prairieland Herbs product would you like to see on sale in our next newsletter? We've decided to offer one product per month, on sale, and YOU, dear friends, get to pick that product each month. Comment here, or on our facebook fanpage, or drop us an email (shop at prairielandherbs dot com) with your suggestion. Whatever product - or set of products - gets the most votes is what we will have on sale. Ready, set, vote!

John has been busy taking more new pictures for our website. it is really embarassing how long I have let these old pictures stay online - it is so delightful to see new ones up!


Our awesome African Black Gel Soap (a fair trade product).

Our awesome line of natural babycare products.

And our very popular Flowing Tresses hair care set!

A couple of things. First - it's SAMPLE SUNDAY this weekend. I can't believe it! It snuck up on me. Seems like we just had one! But - actually....that was a whole month ago. SO YES. Everyone in the central Iowa area - come on out for mad hijinks and fun this Sunday, October 18th! We have, as usual, chair massage, reiki, henna tattoos and tarot card readings, as well as a sample basket FULL of bodycare products for you to try (FREE). And other fantastic delights available on our neighboring farms. Check out Centraliowasmallfarms.com for more details and a printable map.

Next - are pleased to announce that we have been chosen to be a part of the first annual Des Moines Green Gifts Fair! It's gonna be LOADS of Fun - all your local eco-friendly holiday shopping in one convenient location! Sunday, November 15th at the Des Moines Social Center. See you there!

Last but certainly not least, we still keep (slowly) plugging away at improvements on our website. John is updating product photos, here are his latest 2 of our colored lip glosses:


Lovely, aren't they?!

Luxury soap of the month FRESH AIR is now available! It's lovely - brisk, fresh, clean, crisp - just like the fall air. ahhhh.....


ALSO! Now until October 20th - our whipped shea butters are a whopping $5 off. Yes, $5 off - they were 15$, now $10, so get them while you can!

Dear Mother Nature,

Hey. How's it going? Just a quick note from two of us here in the middle of the prairie. We totally get that you can do whatever you please - hey, it's part of the perks of being the Green Goddess and all! We were pretty tolerant of the long cold damp spring. It happens sometimes. And then the cool summer, that didn't allow our tomatoes to ripen, and make all our our tropical herbs thing we were torturing them? We TRIED not to complain, really we did. But now - going from 60 degrees to freezing last night, and then waking up to SNOW on October 10th...and a low of 22 tonight? Is that really, TRULY necessary?? Just wondering. Not that we want to tell you what to do or anything.....just wondering.

bundled in wool in the midwest,

-Donn and Maggie

It's going to frost Friday night....and be rainy all day tomorrow. That means, this afternoon was our final chance to harvest our tender herbs. I harvested the last of the eucalyptus, white sage, lemongrass, and lemon verbena. These will be distilled in the few remaining nice days of the season.
Here they are, hanging in our drying shed.

Local folks, you can now buy our goods at Adel Quilt Shop - it's a lovely store, and we're glad to have our items there!
In a couple of housekeeping notes - we have THREE spots left in this Saturday's Hot Process Crock Pot soapmaking class - if you're interested, there's still time to sign up!

For those of you that read the blog regularly, you know my grandpa (Donna's dad) has had some health problems this summer. Well, we are utterly delighted to announce, he has gone through his physical therapy with flying colors and will be returning home THIS FRIDAY! (He was in a local nursing home for physical therapy, after he had a stroke earlier this summer.) We're very excited! There is now a wheelchair acessible entrance to Donna's house, and a few other in-home modifications had to be made, but over all he is great shape and very, very ready to be home. Hurrah!!!!

It's time to order your saffron bulbs!

We got some from the Rosemary House last year and were utterly delighted with our first saffron harvest! I want to plant lots and lots more!