Happy Friday everyone! :)

Last week's winner is CowgirlTazz!! Please email us with your address,and which 2 Biscuit Bars you'd like, and we will ship them right out!

This weeks' Friday Freebie is brought to you by 1) my dry winter skin, and 2) my love of long hot soaks in the tub. In the winter, I HAVE to use these salts - enriched with rich, moisturizing ingredients such as milk powder, shea butter, herbally infused olive oil, and cocoa butter - in order to enjoy my long hot soaks (complete with paperback book and a glass of wine - if you're gonna do it, you might as well do it in style) without being an itchy dry mess afterwards.

SO! We're giving away a bag of our botanical bath salts to two lucky winners! (Your choice - they come in 3 varieties).

If you'd like to win these bath salts- you must leave a comment on today's blog post.

AND! A twist this week. I'd like help picking next weeks "Freebie" item. In your comment, please write an item or items you'd like to see in next week's FREEBIE!

Rules:
1) One entry per person.
2) You must have a registered ID to post - if your post shows up under "anonymous", we don't know who you are, and therefore you can't win.
3) You have until the next Thursday at midnight, CST, to enter your comment.
4) Winner will be announced the following Friday - you must check back to see if it's you!
5) International folks are welcome. We ship Prairieland Herbs items all over the world, so we'll ship our "Friday freebie" anywhere too!
6) Each eligible post will be assigned a number, and we'll use a free online random number generator to determine the winner.

One last thing. This weekend we'll be offering a couple of REALLY GREAT SALES ($5 and $10 off certain products!) in honor of Donna's upcoming birthday. If you're not on our mailing list....you really should be :) New members to our enewsletter get 10% off their first order too!

FINALLY! Some farm pics!!

Our good digital camera is still broken, and my old junky one needs a new battery. John took these with good old fashioned FILM (remember that stuff?) and put them on cd for us.


An artistic view of our drying shed.


This is Delafino, the smallest and youngest of our minature horses. Doesn't he look like a dirty little street urchin? I *promise* he is well cared for. He just really enjoyed playing in the mud on this particular day.


Just a random farm gate, but it has charm, doesn't it?

Over the last 10+ years, we have amassed many, MANY photos of the farm, herbs, products, and farm critters. I'm slowly putting them on our new Flickr account, for everyone to enjoy! So please, "friend" us on Flickr and check back often - I plan to add 5-10 pics every day or so.....there will be tons and tons of them!

We won our first blog award! How VERY exciting! :) Our delightful and talented friend Jill from Blue Gate Farms gave us this great award. Thanks Jill!

So, we are supposed to list 5 addictions....here goes!

1) First one is easy. Any and all dairy products from our fantastic neighbors at Picket Fence Creamery. With 25 varieties of homemade ice cream, handmade Jersey Milk butter, the world's best chocolate milk, and a handmade cheeseball that is simply out of this world - well frankly, it's amazing we aren't each 300 lbs!!!!

2) Secondly, we're spoiled by some amazing goat cheese - Chevre from Reichert's Dairy Aire, and the amazing aged cheese (and the divine chocolate sauce) from Northern Prairie Chevre.

3) GOUDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have NOT tasted gouda cheese until you have tasted this divine stuff from Frisian Farms. Iam SOOOOO delighted that Picket Fence Creamery carries it now - I was buying it every chance I got at the Downtown Farmer's Market, but....having it available next door is even better!

4) Wine from Prairie Moon Winery in Ames. Every variety is delicious, but in particular I recommend the Marechel Foch Reserve. I really, really want to try the Winter Moon Ice Wine. Maybe someday!

5) COFFEE!!! Donna likes it light, Maggie likes it thick and dark, and we both enjoy it with generous dollops of pure Picket Fence Jersey Cream (no wussy half and half or - *shudder* MILK!) Home roasted fair trade organic is the best!

Okay! Let's see - and to pass the award along, I nominate Tina at The Essential Herbal, for her inspiring writing, Susan at Farm at Coventry for her astounding photos, and Sarah at Wallypop for her fantastic natural goods for babies, as well as her excellent blog posts about CIPSA.

Happy Friday the 13th!

I did get some farm pics yesterday, but my camera is being a pain. I have to recharge the batteries before I can upload pics, so, I will post those soon. But for now - it's Freebie Friday time!

We had FIVE winners from last week! These lucky 5 folks get:

A copy of The Essential Herbal Magazine
a 1/3 oz bottle of essential oil (their choice)
and a bag of herbs (their choice).

So, if Ikkinlala, Just Jenny, Liz, Susan in Florida, and Lilie White would please email us at shop at prairielandherbs dot com with their mailing adddress and choice of essential oil and herbs.....we'll ship your items right out! Oh, and do report back and let us know what you think of the magazine, and what you do with the herbs and oils, ok???

On to this weeks giveaway!

This week's lucky winner will get to choose 2 "Biscuit Bars"! These are wonderful essential-oil soaps handcrafted by our friend Terri. Why are they "Biscuit Bars"? Because her business, Biscuit's Boutique, is named after her cat Biscuit (shown below).

f you'd like to win these soaps - you must leave a comment on today's blog post.

Rules:
1) One entry per person.
2) You must have a registered ID to post - if your post shows up under "anonymous", we don't know who you are, and therefore you can't win.
3) You have until the next Thursday at midnight, CST, to enter your comment.
4) Winner will be announced the following Friday - you must check back to see if it's you!
5) International folks are welcome. We ship Prairieland Herbs items all over the world, so we'll ship our "Friday freebie" anywhere too!
6) Each eligible post will be assigned a number, and we'll use a free online random number generator to determine the winner.

Just found this free online aromatherapy course - I haven't read through it all, but it looks really great!!

Aromahead Institute - Free online Introduction to Essential Oils class

The internet continually amazes me - the sheer amount of free, wonderful information available is truly astounding.

It's time to announce our 2009 one world, one heart winners!

Drumroll please:

The winners are:
Vie Chaotique
Melanie
and Bibi!

I have sent email to each winner! Thanks to EVERYONE who participated!

Local folks - you can now buy some Prairieland Herbs goodies in Adel new flower shop - Adel Florist! It's located right inside Harvey's Greenhouse (and it looks spectacular!)

They'll gladly carry any items you'd like them to, so don't be shy to ask them to carry your favorite Prairieland Herbs goods.

Here's a nice article about the new flower shop.

Happy Freebie Friday! It's a glorious sunny day here....I hope it's beautiful where you are too.

Last week's winner is JAN from NC! She found us through the one world one heart blog giveaway. Jan, drop us an email (prairielandherbs at shop dot com) to let us know your address, and what scent of body oil you'd like!)

Today's Friday Freebie is extra-cool, because: We have a GUEST GIVEAWAY!
Our friend Tina, at The Essential Herbal Magazine, has generously donated five copies of the latest issue of her magazine. It is absolutely jam-packed with herbal recipes, information, lore and more! We are sure you are going to love this magazine.
But wait - there's more! (hee hee)

Each lucky winner will not only get a copy of this fantastic magazine - but they will get to choose an 1/3 oz. bottle of essential oil (of their choice) as well as a 2 oz. bag of dried herbs (again, their choice). So you will be ready to get crafting, cooking, and creating with your herbs, after being inspired by this wonderful magazine.

This week's Friday Freebie will have not one, but FIVE winners, so sign up now!!


If you'd like to win one of these fantastic herbalicious prize bundles - you must leave a comment on today's blog post.

Rules:
1) One entry per person.
2) You must have a registered ID to post - if your post shows up under "anonymous", we don't know who you are, and therefore you can't win.
3) You have until the next Thursday at midnight, CST, to enter your comment.
4) Winner will be announced the following Friday - you must check back to see if it's you!
5) International folks are welcome. We ship Prairieland Herbs items all over the world, so we'll ship our "Friday freebie" anywhere too!
6) Each eligible post will be assigned a number, and we'll use a free online random number generator to determine the winner.

There is a benefit going on Saturday February 14th at the Methodist Church in Woodward for Lindsay Pickell May. She has ALL leukemia. (Lindsay is Maggie's age - they went to school together. )


Here is the information: Warm Your Heart Benefit Soup & Supper

Soup Supper 4-8 pm Woodward Methodist Church
Silent Action* 12-8 Woodward Methodist Church

Raffle Tickets are done by the Woodward Lions club and can be purchased at AJs grocery or at the event. An account has been set up to accept donations at Wells Fargo. If you are wanting to volunteer your time, help with raffle tickets or donate items for silent action, please contact Kathy Yager (515) 438-2775.

I have heard that Lindsay had a bone marrow transplant lined up and the donor backed down. However, there are a couple of other prospective donors. The surgery would be performed at University of IA hospitals. I'm sure any and all help is appreciated by Lindsay, her husband David, and 2 year old son Dalen. As well as Cambre (Lindsay's twin sister) & her folks.

*we donated a large gift certificate and large gift basket to this raffle - so if you are a fan of PLH goodies, please - buy raffle ticket to suport this good cause!

News from our neighbors at Picket Fence Creamery! :)

Happy Valentine's Day from Picket Fence Creamery!

Yippee! Temperatures in the 50s this week even though the ground hog saw his shadow! Our cows and calves will be kicking up their heals for sure! And the rest of the Picket Fence crew is celebrating by inviting you to our...

Valentine Sample Sunday

Feb. 8 Noon to 5 p.m.

Admission is FREE!

(This event is being held in conjunction with our great neighbor across the highway to the north, Prairieland Herbs. They'll have samples of body butter, whipped shea and facial serum you won't want to miss!)

Local Food Samples Galore - Cherry vanilla ice cream, Neva's famous cheese ball, Bob's Red Mill 10-grain muffins, elk sticks, freshly made peanut butter, local gouda cheese, creamery butter, "the best chocolate milk this side of the Milky Way!", creamed honey, and MORE!

Kids - Explore the barn and see the bottle calves and cows. Enjoy a bag of freshly popped, Picket Fence buttered hulless popcorn for 50 cents.

Guest vendor - Stan from Penoach Winery will be here to sample several of his wines - perfect for Valentine's Day!

Valentine goodies

Chocolaterie Stam Chocolates - the finest chocolates in the area - made in Des Moines. Priced right too - we'll have selections under $10, and up to $20. Treat your valentine to the BEST!!!

Joan's Cheesecakes - the finest cheesecakes in the area - made just east of Woodward with Picket Fence cream! The selections will be black forest, pink champagne, and white chocolate with raspberries. All are heart-shaped and very reasonably priced at $18.99. You have to see them to believe them! (Also available will be the cutest minature cheesecakes (look like cupcakes) in containers of 6 for $6.99!)

Iowa Wines - Buy any bottle of wine and receive a FREE wine basket or valentine bag! Your valentine will definitely be impressed!

Cherry Pies - Homemade lard crust pies from tart cherries made right here in Woodward! Priced right at $9.99 for a deep dish 9" pie. PIE AND QUART OF ICE CREAM SPECIAL $12.99!

Valentine All-Iowa gift baskets - Choose from the beautiful baskets that sister Julie made up, or grab a basket and make your own - full of yummy Iowa foods! You're sure to be popular!

Ames's Cafe Diem coffees - Choose from Chocolate Seduction (dark chocolate, sweet caramel and a hint of berries), Cafe Amore (rich custard with sweet brown sugar and vanilla), vanilla creme, snickerdoodle, and caramel crunch. Reasonably priced at $2.99/small bag, and $6 for the large bag.

And don't forget the 25 flavors of ice cream!!!

SUPER DEALS

1. Buy a bottle of wine, and get the gift basket or bag FREE

2. Apple crisp and quart of ice cream - $10

3. Buy a local salsa, and get a bag of fresh tortilla chips for $1.

4. 90% lean ground beef, only $3.49/lb. with 10 lb. purchase. And for our newsletter readers.....

90% lean ground beef, only $3.39/lb. with 20 lb. purchase; $3.29/lb. with 30 lb. purchase! WOW!

DOOR PRIZE! Sign up for an All-Iowa Valentine Gift Basket - value of $50!

Farm-raised PUPPIES! Jack Russell-rat terrier mix - adorable! They'll be here Sunday, or call 515-438-2641.

Other News...

NEW! Kutztown sodas - made with pure cane sugar and no caffeine - only 99 cents!

Choose from grape, orange cream, root beer, and sasparilla.

New Location for Ice Cream - we are now in the Johnston Dahl's store (along 54th St. on the north side) with our ice cream!

Teacher Supplemental Grants - The Farm Bureau is again offering grants of up to $200 to teachers to increase agriculture knowledge from books and supplies to field trips. (We have hosted many school groups who have benefited from this money.) Contact Melissa Brooks at 515-225-5425 or mbrooks@ifbf.org. The deadline is Feb. 13.

If you are interested larger quantities of beef, contact our friend, Jerry Peckum, at 515-370-0077. He has quarters and halves of pasture-raised Angus beef available.

That's the update for now. If you want to special order anything for Valentine's Day, give us a call at 438-2697. If you have friends in your address book who would like to spend a warm and wonderful February afternoon in the country, feel free to forward this message! Hope to see you this weekend - the specials start as soon as you receive this email!

Your friends,

Jeff, Jill, Jenna and James Burkhart

14583 S Ave.

Woodward, IA 50276

515-438-2697

http://picketfencecreamery.net

We accept MC, VISA, EBT

We love giving out free samples.

If you've visited our shop, you've seen/browed in the infamous "sample basket". It is a huge brown basket that sits on the edge of our shop counter, and we just keep it full of - well, samples. Whatever we have made last, our whatever bits of soap we get from Karla. When we pack orders, we'll usually toss in a few samples too. It's our way of saying "thank you, and here's something else we hope you will like".

Well, I'm feeling rather generous right now - because there are some AMAZING samples in our basket right now.


Yesterday I bottled up 100 little sample bottles of our "normal" facial serum.


I also spent ages scooping bits of our Wise Woman Whipped Shea butter into sample-sized jars. There are about 75 of those.

Next, I'll cut up about 10 bars of these amazing Amber Resin Luxury Soaps.

SO - if you want a free sample of any - or all - of these items - just let us know when you place your next order. The catch? We have a Sample Sunday this week, so the samples will probably be gone by then. So, you've been warned! :)

Otherwise, it's a good week here. The sun is shining! I'll try to get some more farm pictures soon. Donna is feeling better, and we've got lots of orders and 2 wholesale orders to pack/deliver. Just a normal week here at Prairieland Herbs.

We've been tagged!

Tina at The Essential Herbal tagged us for this game, so here goes...
6th Picture Meme!
Here are the rules to the photo meme
1.Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures
2.Go to the 6th Folder, then pick the 6th picture in that folder
3.Post that picture on your blog and tell the story that goes along with the picture.
4.Tag 6 other people that you know or don’t know to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you chose them.
This is a borage plant, from our garden in late June 2008. I love borage plants - they're beautiful, have delicious edible flowers (they taste like cucumbers),and self-seed every year. When we have bus tours or garden tours, I usually just lead folks around and ask them to taste various herbs. This one is always a favorite - it's got such a delicate and lovely taste.

I'm tagging:

Sagescript Institute and Colorado Aromatics
Jag's Photo Blog
Sun Rose Aromatics
Blue Gate Farm
Walk Slowly, Live Wildly
and
the delightful Miss Effie

First off - thanks to those who offered kind thoughts and wishes about Donna's health (see post below). The verdict: an inner ear virus. YUCKY, no fun - and nothing that can be done about it other than lots of rest. So I, Maggie, will probably be womaning the shop for a bit. :)

Secondly - Dang, you guys like those lotion bars, huh?? Our winner of last weeks Friday Freebie - a lotion bar of her choice - is Rebecca! (the 3rd commenter).

Before I announce the next Friday Freebie - blog regulars, check out the Jan 29th entry for a different and extra-special blog giveaway! And if you click on the blue world logo, you'll be taken to a page where hundreds (and HUNDREDS) of other bloggers around the world are offering givewaways too! I would not suggest trying this until you have at least an hour to spare. (personal experience speaking, here.)


Well, Valentine's Day is coming up - and so I think we'll offer an 8 oz. bottle of our Bath, Body and Masage oil for this week's Friday Freebie!

We really aren't into the commercialism of Valentine's Day. BUT, it is a delightful reminder for us all to spend quality time with the one(s) we love! Not just the smoochy-romantic type of love - but also the love we feel for our friends and family, and pets! One wonderful way to show someone how much you care for them is with a delightful massage. Loving touch can be soothing, sensual, relaxing, stimulating, or just plain comforting - whatever you choose.

You don't have to be a massage therapist to give a massage - simply do a bit of reading, and then ask your partner to give you feedback on how you are doing. Here are a few great links to free information about massage:

How To Give a Foot Massage
How to Massage Dog Ears (Our doggies looooove this!)
How to Massage the Elderly or the Ill
How To Give a Back Massage
Infant Massage
How to Massage Your Cat
How to Massage a Horse

Patchouli or Jasmine are delightful for a sensual massage. Lavender is wonderful for a relaxing massage. Rosemary Mint is wonderful for aching muscles, or to help stimulate joints or muscles. We even have a special massage oil just for babies! The winner of our massage oil will get to choose his or her favorite scent. :)

Of course you can also use this moisturizing oil in a bath, or just smooth it on your skin as a moisturizer.

If you'd like to win an 8 oz. bottle of our Bath, Body and Massage Oil - you must leave a comment on today's blog post.

Rules:
1) One entry per person.
2) You must have a registered ID to post - if your post shows up under "anonymous", we don't know who you are, and therefore you can't win.
3) You have until the next Thursday at midnight, CST, to enter your comment.
4) Winner will be announced the following Friday - you must check back to see if it's you!
5) International folks are welcome. We ship Prairieland Herbs items all over the world, so we'll ship our "Friday freebie" anywhere too!
6) Each eligible post will be assigned a number, and we'll use a free online random number generator to determine the winner.

Just in case anyone reading this blog is planning to stop by the store today - Donna is REAL sick. :( Some sort of Evil Death Flu. I'm taking her to the doctor this afternoon, so, we will be closed from about noon until whenever we get back. Sorry everyone!

This is our first time participating in this fantastic blogging giveaway event, One World One Heart - and we're just thrilled! This is a fun event designed to help encourage friendship and communication with folks from all over the world - oh, and you could win cool free stuff too!

For this event, we are giving away THREE of these wonderful little "Hair Affair Kits" - as we call them. It's a little set that includes 3 sample-sized bars of our bestselling shampoo bars, and a 2 oz. bottle of our Herbal Hair Vinegar.

Our shampoo bars are one of our best-selling items - we routinely ship them to customers all over the world, so we thought this was an appropriate giveaway item! If you'd like to read more about our shampoo bars, please read our FAQ about them. In short, they are handmade, natural bars that you use to wash your hair. Our customers tell us they make their hair shiny, bouncy, and fragrant. We have been using them ourselves for years and years, and LOVE them!



To register to win one of these sets, you must:
1) Leave a comment on THIS BLOG POST
2) The comment MUST INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS - so we can contact you if you are a winner!

That is all! We will choose the winner on Feb. 11th, and announce it here on this blog on the 12th.

If you like natural bodycare products, please visit our website at prairielandherbs.com. We have been in business for over 10 years, making fine handmade herbal bodycare products.

If you enjoy crafting, creating or cooking, please check out our selection of free herbal recipes!

And last but certainly not least - please consider subscribing to this blog - we have a "Freebie Friday" giveaway EVERY WEEK - we choose a new and wonderful even for you to win. All you have to do is leave a comment - and then check back next Friday to see if you have won! (Once again, our Freebie Friday blog giveaway is open to our international friends).

Thanks for looking, and good luck!

This recipe is not in any way herbal, but it is super-delicious, and I thought some of you might enjoy it. Warning: this is really, really, really addicitive.

REALLY addictive. (just so you can't say that I didn't warn you).

Apple Toffee Dip
by Robin Warren

1 cup marshmallow cream
8 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 oz. package English toffee bits.

Mix all ingredients together with electric mixer, and serve with sliced apples or pears.

Did I mention it was addictive?

Just a quick note for local folks - check out the great free (or very low cost) programs offered by our local County Conservation office. I'm continually astounded by the wonderful programs they have! Want to learn about owls, how to do fly-tying, cross-country ski, compost with worms, or build bluebird houses? Dallas County Conservation has it all!

And the folks at Polk County Conservation are offering snow-shoeing, ice fishing, day trips, night hikes, and much more!

Check out your local County Conservation office to see what fantastic opportunities are available in your area!

Do you want to retain the right to purchase handmade children's toys and clothing from small businesses?

If so, please read this information, and sign the petition against a badly-worded, short-sighted law that would put thousands of artisans, toymakers, and small-business owners out of work.

Handmade Toy Alliance

Because you asked - snow photos!

We got 4-5 inches of very light and fluffy snow last night. So this morning I grabbed my old decrepit (but still working) digital camera and snapped a few pics. Above, you can see some beautiful rosehips just piled with light fluffy snow.

Here is a sage plant.
This is an anise hyssop seedhead.

And purple coneflower seedheads. I love how all the plants look like they're wearing little snowhats!

And a picture of the fencepost, wearing it's little snowhat. So cute. :) The nice thing about this light fluffy snow is that it's easy to shovel. The bad thing? When we get wind (which we always do -Iowa is, I believe, the 5th windiest state), it can easily create dangerous driving conditions due to blowing snow, which reduces visibility, creates slick spots on the roads, and can make massive snowdrifts.

Ah, such is life in the heartland.....