So, is anyone besides us cooped up inside and doing alot of reading?

Donna always gets a slew of paperbacks for Christmas (it's a tradition), and then enjoys a little bit of free time reading them (she's a FAST reader, has been doing a book a day at least!). She has been reading a series that may be interested to some of you - it's a mystery series, set in the late 1300's, and involved a Welsh man an herbal apothecary. Interested? Check out the Owen Archer series by Candace Robb!

I have been reading about FOOD (surprise, surprise!). Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver was on my "best books" list of 2007. So far in 2008 i am getting my mind blown (in a good way) by Living the GOod Life by Scott and Helen Nearing. COOL! Also, I am LOVING this book "Infused" - it's all about infusing herbs, spices, veggies, fruits and flowers to make really, REALLY fantasic - sounding flavored liquors. Expect future posts from me on THAT subject!!!

Any books any of you would like to recommend to us?

We are heavy into a fit of reorganizing and updating here at PLH.....working on all new labels, and an all new website....plus entirely reorganizing our kitchen space, our shop, and our classroom!!! We will keep you updated on all those events. But in the meanwhile...isn't Mo cute?!

Just a little bit of our world the last few weeks.....ice on the trees and a blue iowa sky. :)

Long time no blog, I know! Well, what can I say. We were busy making products and packing orders. PLUS, the weather has been absolutely gross! The first weekend in December we got a BIG ice storm that turned our driveway, parking lot, and walkway to the shop into a solid, 1-2 inch thick sheet of ice. Since then, we've had a winter storm EVERY WEEKEND, just adding layers of ice and snow. It's pretty exciting. We did have some brave souls come out and shop (thankfully everyone was really careful and there were no accidents or falls), but overall this weather is really crazy for December! I wonder what the rest of the winter is going to be like?

Yep, it's December. And while recent weather events (stupid ice storm! stupid snow!) have kept our retail folks from getting to our shop....well, folks have certainly been shoppin' online. Here is the load we took to the post office today!


Also, i don't think I've ever posted a picture of our cash register? It's really cool - big, old and heavy, and people coming into our shop often comment on it. So here it is, for you folks in the rest of the world! :)

Is that not the HANDSOMEST goose you have ever seen? He recently celebrated his first snow with a nice swim in the pond. The cool weather does not seem to bother him one bit!

Beaker is currently without fowl-friends....Unfortunately, the neighbor's dogs came down to our farm (we live in the country....no fences), and killed Beaker's duck friends. They actually tried to get Beaker too, and he was slightly injured on one of his wings, but he is fine now. Now we have to keep Beaker in a safe, roomy pen when we're not around to watch out for him.



This is or cat Tilly - Donna's cat, really. She lives in Donna's house but occasionally comes out to the shop to "supervise". The other day she positioned herself on top of our antique cash register and spent quite a bit of time there, just watching the world go by!



We have a new soap - Just Plain Goatmilk! We do get a fair number of requests for unscented products so do try to have a nice selection of fragrace-free handmade goods!



John is making candles like a crazy man, and also working on a new, floral essential oil candle. Makign a new candle takes a lot of time! First, he tries out various essential oil blends and mixtures, to get something that smells wonderful. Then, the various blends must be made into candles and thoroughly burn-tested. Here's some of the blends he was working on the past few days....when our new floral candle is ready, we'll be sure to let you know about it!

Um, yeah. ICE. soooooo much ice! Maggie stayed home yesterday, due to this ice storm, and this morning Donna reports a solid inch or more of ice on our driveway, parking lot, and walkway. PLEASE, folks - if you were thinking about driving out to do some shopping - don't! It's not safe until we get this ice cleared off!!

In other news - I'm updating the website here in a few minutes with our $5 Flat Rate shipping for the month of Dec! So stay home and warm and safe and shop online, k?

More blogging, with pics, coming soon!

Stay AWAY from the malls - you know you want to!

Anyway, we're having 20% off all our pre-made gift sets, from now until next Wednesday morning. Shop at home in your jammies; it's much more fun. :)

We made several cool new gift sets for guys too!

New fantastic recipe, to be archived on our recipes page:

Triple Orange Double Chocolate Biscotti

1 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
juice of one orange
zest of one orange
10 drops orange essential oil
3 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 12/ tsp. baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325; grease a baking sheet. Combine butter, sugar, and eggs; stir well. Add the juice and orange zest, and essential oil. Stir in flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder until very well blended. Add chocolate chips. You may need to add more flour, depending on the size/juiciness of your orange. You want a soft dough that is easy to handle but not too sticky. Divide dough in half; shape each half into 5 by 10 inch logs. Place on baking sheet, and bake for about 25-30 minutes. Removed from oven and let cool thoroughly. When dough is cool, cut logs on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices. Lay slices on baking sheet and bake about 8 minutes, then turn them over and bake the other side. You want them to be dry and lightly toasted, but not overdone! Remove from the oven, and cool. Enjoy!

It's the holiday season, so we're doing BIG batches of everything! Here is a triple batch of lip balms. It is ALOT Of work to pour, label, then shrinkwrap every tube. Donna is the queen of shrinkwrapping (a title she would gracefully give up - if anyone else wanted it!)



We had now yesterday! An unexpected inch or two of snow, the day before Thanksgiving. Stay tuned for pictures of Beaker the goose enjoying his first snowstorm...

We were reviewed (well, our baby stuff) by Wickedly Chic! Cool site. :)


In other news - John has been making candles like a Madman, and now we have 2 new kinds of travel candles - Citrus, and Fir Needle, and a new Soy Wax Melt (breathe easy). It's a great time for candles...i love warm candles in the fall!



October is Fair Trade Month, and we are delighted, as always, to help promote Fair Trade pracitices and principles. We use Fair Trade cocoa butter, coconut oil, and shea butter produced by a women's co-op on Togo, Africa, and we like to give them as MUCH business as we can. So we're running a wicked good SALE on our Whipped Shea Butters and Shea Butter Body Balms - stock up now, 'cuz dry winter skin is NOT your friend!!!

So, in case you wonder what we've been doing lately, THIS is what we've been doing lately.

Our shop was nearly empty after filling several largeish wholesale order, then this BIG order came in, and we spent a week making everythign to fill it. In case you ever wondered, this is what $2400 of prairieland herbs merchandise looks like. I packed it in five very large, very heavy boxes!




In other news: the only members of the PLH family that actually *like* the rain we've been having every day (for almost a week straigh) are Beaker (shown enjoying the now-full pond), and the ducks. Normally the ducks are pretty boring but they are funny when they come out in the middle of a downpour and quack their way around the yard, just enjoying a little walk in the rain....

We are swamped with big wholesale orders. Why do they all come at the same time?

Yesterday, Donna planted a bunch of hazelnut bushes. We're so excited! We'll have our own hazelnuts in a few years! In the last few weeks we also planted 2 pear trees, and another apple and another cherry. Our orchard is shaping up nicely! Yesterday I planted some black tulips (for use in natural dyeing), and some saffron crocus - our own saffron too, how exciting! Now I need to find time to plant some garlic and shallots....

Meanwhile, at the shop, I've made 500 perfumes in the last few days- amonng other things. John has made some 350+ candles INCLUDING new scents (which will be on the website soon).


And Tori (pictured above) still needs a home - she is the only kitten left, and she is sooooo sweet and adorable!

In a shameless fit of advertising, I will tell you also that I listed some new botancially dyed bandannas in my etsy store, as well as some of my handspun yarns.....

Is this the most gorgeous salad you've ever seen?
This was one of the fabulous foods submitted to our recipe contest at the Iowa State fair this year. Sally Kilkenny, of Granger, IA (one of the nicest ladies AND one of the best cooks on the planet) submitted these "kitchen garden bouquets". And you know what? it tasted at LEAST as good as it looks!

It was VERY rainy the other day, and Beaker LOVED it! He spend hours out in the pouring rain, just enjoying himself. Then he found a mud puddle to splash in - ohhhh boy did he love that!



We have 4 kittens that need homes. This is Tori, cuddled up in Maggie's bag. Yes, they are all this cute. YES, they need to go live with you!!! But seriously - just email or call if you are interested in adopting one of them. They are used to kids, cats and dogs, are litterbox trained, and ready to go home!


Yesterday was a busy day! Donna did her annual impersonation of a swamp monster - she always crawls into the pond to get it cleaned out before the winter. It's a stinky, slimy job but this year she had "help" - Beaker thought it was a FABULOUS game! As you can see, he is thoroughly enjoying himself. He kept diving down into the muck to nibble on mom's toes! He even picked off her toenail polish in the process. Living with a goose is *quite* an experience, I'll have you know!



Meanwhile, some of the rest of the gang did some organizing in the shop. Even though we ship out about 75% of our business, we didn't have a very good shipping area. So with some reorganizing and cleaning, we managed to concoct (we think) a more organize d area for shipping your products. We'll be packing up some orders this afternoon, so we'll see how it works!



Then we cleaned up and raced off to teach our "Lovin' Lavender" class last night through the Des Moines Adult Ed program - always fun! So fabulous to share herbs with others!



Last but not least, we're starting a new thing. A friend of ours in New York makes fabulous, luxurious bars of soap, so we're going to be offering a Luxury Soap of the Month! We'll post it around the first of every month, and keep it online until they're gone. We'll only get 20-40 bars of each kind, so when it's gone, it's gone! They will rotate with the seasons, and all be different and wonderful! This month its "Golden Orient", made with shea butter, organic goat's milk, silk, calendula and clays! MMMMM.......

SO, the other week we hosted a tour group of 4th graders. We don't usually do too many tours with kids, but these guys were great. They were studying the Iowa farm economy, and got to visit our farm, Northern Prairie Chevre, and Picket fence creamery. Note the dogs, cat and goose....they are never far from the action!



Duncan and Ollie think we should have 4th graders visit every day!!!!



Our naturally-dyed scarves are for sale in the shop....



...and don't forget to take a gander at our handspun yarns! (sorry, couldn't resist...)

And yes, Beaker (the goose) is still here, and doing just fine! He's getting big and fat, and LOVES to eat herbs. Parsley, thyme, and sweetgrass seems to be among his favorites. We've been warning against getting *too* fat and savory...we don't want anyone getting ideas about having a hand-raised Christmas goose!!

Save the Date! Sunday, Oct 7th - our farm neighbors to the south are hosting a fabulous Farm Crawl! Guaranteed to be a fabulous time for all....we plan to be there for sure.

In other news - Maggie posted a few new botanically dyed silk scarves to her etsy store....

Sample Sunday was SOOO Fun! Here is a pic of Michael from Templeton Rye, chilling under our shade trees! I can't wait for this stuff to be on the shelves again ( just a few more weeks! )


We are getting to be quite the little fibershop. We somehow (when did this happen??) aquired handspun yarns, beautiful silk and wool roving from High Prairie Fibers, gorgeous naturally colored rovings from Hedgeapple Farm, and new as of this weekened, 100% alpaca batts, both naturally colored and dyed, from Spring Valley alpacas. oh and dont' forget the spinner's tools from Iowa parrot Rescue!


Also, the little barn babies are getting bigger, and oh so adorable! They are used to kids, other cats (as you can see here), and dogs of all sizes. They'll be ready for adoption in a few weeks!


Oh, and in actual business news? We have a sale going on, in honor of our 9th Birthday! 9 items are on sale for 9% off. And in other big news - our soap prices are going to have to go up Oct. 1 (i know, in know...but it's the way of the world, unfortunately!) - so stock up on your favorite soaps and shampoos now!

And our Fall Class Schedule is online - All kinds of wonderful stuff to do and learn!

Last but most CERTAINLY not least, Donna is finally feeling better! Still coughing a little, but really much much better. :) Thanks to all who sent good wishes and other help for her recovery!!

WOW! I just got the info from Kathy, at Northern Prairie Chevre - they sure are going all out for this birthday bash! Here is the info about what is going with our neighbors to the north this Sunday, Sept 16th - come on out and see all 3 farms, it's going to be a fabulous weekend!

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


• Relax to the music of Des Moines’s own Free Style - performing from 1:00 – 4:00 on the front lawn. They will be playing a combination of jazz, classic rock, big band, etc. Pull up a chair, enjoy some cheese, snacks and a bottle of wine!



• Matt from Prairie Moon Winery in Ames as well as Deb from Tassel Ridge Winery will be on hand to sample their delicious wines. Take a bottle home with you!

• Milton from Sheeder Farms will be grilling and selling sandwiches.

• Lois from Larson Maple Syrups in Stratford will sample their syrup and offer recipes.

• It’s still planting season! Quilted Garden’s Nursery from DSM will have hostas, prairie grasses and much more.

• Browse the iron creations of Anthofer Family Farms. Planters, holiday decorations, GOAT FACES!!! and much more to choose from – special orders are accepted.

• Pat from Randol Honey will be sampling her delicious creamed honeys in many flavors.

• We have steaks, chops, elk, lamb & more from local Iowa producers. LOTS and LOTS of samples to enjoy!!!

• Bring your 2-legged kids to visit our 4-legged kids and girls. Gary will show either a kidding or milking video in the parlor.

• Kids – swing, play in the sand box or decorate our sidewalk! Enter our “best goat picture” contest and win a free stuffed plush goat!!

• To celebrate our anniversary, we’re offering 10% off all non-food items in the store! AND check out our new cheese flavor!

STOP THE PRESSES!!!!!!!!!


We have just gotten word that TEMPLETON RYE will be back on our farm for this Sample Sunday! Sampling their FABULOUS whiskey, and selling t-shirts, stickers, and perhaps their wonderful BBQ sauce! Oh, we are so VERY excited!

In other events:
*For our 9th birthday - if you purchase any 9 items you get 9% off your whole bill!

*New Soap! Exclusive "Mountain Mint" soap made with mountain mint hydrosol and dried moutnain mint herb from our farm!

*Fabulous selection of naturally dyed silk scarves (see below)! Dyed with herbs, flowers, or rusty "found" objects from our farm!

*Delicious Pulled Pork sandwiches available for lunch!

*New roving and fiber - fabulous fall colors

*New Class Schedule - learn to make soap, explore Reiki, and so much more!

Come visit us on the farm this weekend!