Today, John and Maggie vended at the Downtown DES Moines farmer's market, and had a wonderful time as always!

Donna womaned the shop, and nearly died of boredom (I think) labelling and shrink-wrapping tons of products. Note Abby, faithful canine companion.

The sweetgrass looks wonderful! Nearly ready for harvest.

And, some gratuitous kitteh cuteness. Leo is hysterical...one of two Persians living on the farm, he is so dirty we call him "pigpen" he just adores playing in water and then "helping" in the garden. He was recently adopted from the local shelter, and is an absolute sweetheart.

Just another June day

Hay is really heavy. Also unwieldy, and scratchy. Mom and I loaded 60 bales of hay into the barn this morning, stacking it way over our heads. Not too shabby for a couple of broads. There's 120 bales there now; we need another 100+ to see the minis through 7 months of pastureless winter.

I love my still. The weather was actually cooperating today (not too windy, not raining), but I only thought of starting it up... When it was too late. *sigh*

This is Peter, a cat we fostered as a kitten. We adopted him and his mom from the local shelter. This picture of him is notable, becaue his mouth is closed. Most picture of him show him with his mouth open, mid-meow. Peter REALLY likes to talk.

Today we packed orders, and made a bunch of bath salt samples to give away at farmers market tomorrow.

Also John fixed the mower, and mom did a bunch of mowing. She pulled a bunch of weeds today too.

And then we packed farmwagon for market! We are hoping for a really great market tomorrow :)

Today began with some kitty lovin's. These are barn babies, caught last week, along with their feral momma. Momma got spayed and is safely back in her barn, happy and healthy. Now we are making the kittens friendly; they'll be spayed/neutered, and adopted out.

Donna's rose garden by the house looks spectacular!

And the lavender is starting to bloom already! A bit early this year. It never grows very well for us, but we have a few nice bushes that overwintered well.

Here's a photo of one of Maggie's lasagna beds, in the early phases. I take big cardboard boxes (of which we get many!) and flatten them, and lay them in thick layers on the ground. On top, we pile all kinds of organic matter: old hay, weeds, compost, trimmings, horse manure,leaves, bedding from Maggie's rabbit's litterbox. I usually am working on the beds to be planted next year, but you can also plant directly into it the first year. The soil quality is wonderful, no tilling is involved, and weeds are minimal.

Here's another project in the works: mulching around all our fruit trees (three peach, one plum, two pears and two apples) and planting perennial herbs and flowers around the bases. This will provide extra food for our bees, and make orchard mowing and maintenance much easier.

This is Beatrice, our first bee hive! She is doing well... Currently the Beatrices are enjoying the roses, lavender, and alexander. We installed two new hives on local farms a few days ago. Catherine is at Picket Fence Creamery, and Diana is at Raccoon Forks Farm in Redfield.

And last but certainly not least, we had a major Barn Cleaning Event today! Removing junk, sorting, and reorganizing. A very dirty dusty job (achoo!) but it's more spacious and clean now!

Test, test, 123 test

Trying out a new app that allows me to blog with my phone. (it's a little weird to even say that, right? What has technology become!). If this works. I'll be much better able to keep the blog updated and fresh!!

Shown here, btw, are some of our first springtime harvests - fresh strawberries and garlic scapes, picked fresh last Saturday. (I picked gooseberries as well, but neglected to get them in the photo).

Ready for summer? Let's celebrate with a fantastic fun Summertime Sample Sunday! This Sunday, June 12, 12-5 at Prairieland Herbs, Picket Fence Creamery, and Flowers by Donna Jean.

Randi Stone of Lovin' oven will have her delicious homebaked goods including her ever-popular Powerballs, as well as brand new strawberry lemonade cupcakes, YUM!

Sally Kilkenny will have her luscious selection of handmade jams and jellies for sampling and for purchase!



Sarah Macht will have her funky Magical Magnets and beautiful handmade notecards, as well as a big box of mostly new funky hippie clothes to trade/sell barter!

Lynn Parkey of Gauranga Reiki will have a wide selection of her exceedingly popular herbal goods, including teas, tinctures, remedies for pets and flower essences.


Rebecca Brandow of Willow Avenue Pottery will have her gorgeous handmade pottery - she's sure to have something your favorite fella needs for Father's Day!



We're pleased to have a new guest vendor: Kristina Steffen, a.k.a. KaoticKrafter, specializes in creating handmade treasures from recycled materials. She will be out for her first time offering some great blank journals, blank note cards, vinyl record bowls and cups, as well as some beautiful felt flowers.



Michelle White of Organic People salon will have her John Masters products...and don't forget to schedule a pedicure with her - remember, it's sandal season!

Jenny Van Rees will have her beautiful selection of handmade clothing and goods- each piece custom made, one of a kind, and completely beautiful!

Ila Heins, our favorite kid entrepreneur and pet lover, will be there with her River's Ropes and Yeller's Yummies dog treats. :)




Deniece Gaudineer will be doing reiki treatments and will be selling beautiful aromatherapy necklaces - ask her a bout custom creating an essential oil blend that's perfect for you.

Melodie Proffitt of Mind and Body Massage Therapy free hand massages, and 10 minute neck and shoulder massage for $10. If you haven't had a hand massage you have GOT to try one, they are amazing! She will also have her beautiful artwork for sale - Melodie has many talents!



Marjory Krueger will be debuting her line of natural, handmade cleaning products, including Orange Sherbert Carpet Freshener, Lemon Sparkle dishwasher soap, glass cleaner and laundry booster! Wonderful stuff.

Prairieland Herbs will have our EXCEEDINGLY POPULAR Healing Wands and Buzz Off wands on sale - $3 off the large wands, so they are $6 instead of $9. Stock up now!



And of course our friends at Picket Fence Creamery and Donna Jeans Flowers and Gifts have a wide selection of fantastic sales, events, samples and much more happening at their locations too, so come check out all three stores!

Yesterday started out innocently enough...browsing the craigslist ads, we found some wonderful red raspberry plants! a LOT of red raspberry plants.....I picked them up, and then zoomed off to work to try to get them planted before the rain hit. We decided our new raspberry patch would be near the mini's pen, so I got out the tiller and started tilling....much to the delight of the minis. They lined up to watch as if this was the most thrilling spectacle they'd ever seen!

Pretty soon the sky looked like this...


and then THIS. We managed to get all 62 plants into the ground just as the first raindrops hit. We closed the doors and windows and sprinted for the shop! It was a doozy of a storm...but the berries got watered. :)

Hazmat? Aliens? no...beekeepers! We had a WONDERFUL beekeeping class last Saturday, and now we have one hive of bees on the farm (another one to be added very soon, I think!)

We have a WONDERFUL crew coming to help us celebrate May Day Sample Sunday!

Randi Stone of Lovin' oven will have her delicious homebaked goods including her ever-popular Powerballs, as well as sugar cookies, cocoa cookies, and brand-new Energy Boosting Bars.

Sally Kilkenny will have her luscious selection of handmade jams and jellies for sampling and for purchase!


Tracy Barton-Rose of Inspiration Studios will have her beautiful affordable gemstone jewelry, including some brand-new designs (picture below).



Lynn Parkey of Gauranga Reiki will have a wide selection of her exceedingly popular herbal goods, including samples of herbal tea and marigold cookies. YUM!


Zan Asha, our traveling beekeeper vising from the Bronx, will be vending her art dolls, woodburned items, beeswax ornaments and Bronx Bees honey!

Ila Heins of River's Ropes will have her upcycled handmade dog toys.

Melodie Profitt of Mind and Body Massage Therapy is offering rebalancing and pulsing treatments, $1 a minute. She says about this treatment:"This massage is very different from any type of massage you’ve ever received. To hear about it is just not enough, you have to try it for yourself to really find out what it is all about. This massage is done with all clothes on. It is a gentle, non-invasive way of relaxing the joints and muscles of the body. It combines the proven modalities of vibration, rhythmic compressions, rocking, and taking joints through their full range of motion to encourage body structures to release and relax without using force."


Jenny Van Rees will have her beautiful selection of handmade clothing and goods- each piece custom made, one of a kind, and completely beautiful!

Deniece Gaudineer of Prana Mind Body will be doing energy work - she was busy all last Sample Sunday, so don't delay if you want a treatment from Deniece! Here is what others have said about her work: ""Deniece Gaudineer, of Prana Mind Body, uses Reiki as a tool for healing the mind, body, spirit and emotions of clients. Reiki creates the space for individuals to evaluate the emotional and mental connection to any physical pain they may be experiencing. Recognizing the body and the mind must relax for restoration, Deniece supports clients with compassionate and intuitive skills. She provides a safe and confidential environment that is necessary for transformative healing to occur. Deniece's training and experience give her the capacity to assist others by meeting them where they are at in their healing journey."

John from Jag Photography will have his photographic artwork for sale.


Dawn Suarez will have her TIE DYE station set up - so bring your white 100% cotton sheets, curtains, tshirts, pants, etc to dye!! She will also be doing henna artwork, and have hula hoops for sale :)


Michelle White of Organic People salon will be there with her line of John Masters Organics hair care products and free samples, and will be offering $10 of any future services booked during Sample Sunday! She does wonderful pedicures, manicures, and has a full-service salon, using all natural products.

Rebecca Brandow of Willow Avenue Pottery will have beautiful handmade pottery, including some special Mother's Day items!


Danelle Stamps of Stamps Family Farm will be offering samples of pulled pork and sugar cookies....ask her about reserving your pasture-raised pork for this fall.

Of course we have a huge basket full of our handmade herbal goods for sampling at Prairieland Herbs, and will be offering free gift-wrapping on all your Mother's Day gifts!

We are also giving away a FREE 4 oz. bar of laundry soap, including our recipe for making wonderful, natural laundry detergent - Free to the first 50 customers!



Picket Fence Creamery and Flowers by Donna Jean also have a full afternoon of samples, sales, events, guest vendors and all kinds of fun at their stores as well, so you make an afternoon of it! Grab some friends, invite your family, and head on out for a wonderful time in the country, celebrating local food, crafts, and artisans!

Minis

Lexi

Drying shed

Outhouse

Photos taken March 2011 with expired color film and Holga camera.

Happy Earth Day!

To celebrate, we are offering a full recipe sheet of our time- tested eco-friendly cleaning recipes and FREE sweet orange essential oil (wonderful for cleaning).

Get a 1/3 oz bottle of Sweet Orange Essential oil with a $25 (retail value $7) or a 2 oz. bottle of Sweet Orange essential oil ($24 value!) with a $50 order. That is a GREAT deal, we just want to encourage you to try some homemade natural eco-friendly cleansers.

Offer good in store or online, now through Saturday April 23. Just mention the Earth Day special in the customer comments part of the shopping cart, and we will include your essential oil and recipes. :)

We are all a-buzz about bees!

Next Saturday, April 30, Zan Asha of The Renegade Farmer will be here - from THE BRONX, folks - to teach us natural beekeeping!

This is going to be a GREAT class, chock-full of information you won't find elsewhere. Zan is a third-generation beekeeper, and uses techniques her grandfather used! She has extensive experience in urban beekeeping. It is going to be an AMAZING class.

Please note - you do not need a farm to keep bees. You do not need a lot of special equpment, and given the yield, it does not cost a lot. Urban beekeepers are welcome to this class! It's a wonderful class for brand-new beekeepers (such as us at Prairieland Herbs), but will also contain helpful information for experience beekeepers interested in learning more natural techniques.

We have negotiated a "package deal" on a basic beekeeping setup with local bee suppliers at Spring Valley Honey Farms. Here's the breakdown:

2 deep hive bodies, assembled and painted
20 frames for deep hive bodies
Screened bottom board
telescoping cover
inner cover
2 honey supers, assembled and painted
20 frames for honey supers
smoker
hive tool

All this for $260.

You can choose to buy the hive bodies & supers unpainted and unassembled, and do that yourself. That option costs $214 total.

The bees cost $75, and he would like if you could reserve your package by today. HOWEVER, if you don't reserve your package, he will still be able to supply you with bees after the class.

Last but not least, you will need some protective clothing; however, the cost on that varies, depending on your comfort level. I chose to go with a simple netted hat and gloves and will wear thick white clothing; you can purchase special bee jackets or even full bee suits. The costs on your protective gear will be $40 for the simplest, and up to over $75 for the full suit. That choice is entirely up to you.


This should be everything you need to keep bees!!! Amazing, right??

If you want to take the class you are in NO WAY obligated to purchase anything from Spring Valley; they are just a local option and Curt and Connie have been very helpful to us and have everything needed to get going in beekeeping. Curt also mentioned that the smoker he offered is the most expensive on the market; he said that is because he feels it is the best, and therefore the only one he wants to sell. However he was very clear that you could easily order a cheaper smoker for elsewhere if budget was a concern, so I am passing that information on to you as well.

There are still spaces in the class, we would love to have you come! Please register here if you are interested.

Feel free to contact Spring Valley Honey Farm at (515)480-6076 if you would like to chat with them about gear, or order your supplies. They are located just past Perry on highway 141.

April soap of the month is here! Vital Energy is deliciously different - Terri has such a way with combining essential oils. It's a simple blend of ginger and rosemary essential oils - the ginger adds a spicy rich backdrop to the sharp, clean, fresh rosemary. PERFECT for spring, it's very refreshing and cleansing. We have 40 bars on hand...get 'em while they last.

Spotted in a field outside Perry, ready to work. I love old tractors.

The grankiddos, hamming it up.

Lovely textures on the farm.

Donna loves to burn her prairie grasses. :)

Photos taken on the farm in late March, with some expired color film my grandpa gave me.

Luna loves the horses! She wishes they could come out to play....