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

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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!

Here is an idea of what we've been doing the past few days.

Packing boxes.

LOTS of boxes!

and to amuse ourselves, we have been stacking them up as high as we can. :) Yes, this is how life goes at Prairieland Herbs....it's the little things that amuse us....

(no boxes were harmed in the making of these photographs...we didn't overstack them, even once!)

What a cute chai recipe! Thanks to Jill for the link!

John took some GORGEOUS Pictures from last Sample Sunday - check them out!

Prairieland Herbs 11th Birthday Bash!

The Classroom Project!

THose of us who constructed the classroom know what a huge undertaking it was. Here are a few pics - the first ones are from ca. 2001. We had a whole barn full of junk we had to get rid of, then strip the walls down, and break out old concrete.





Next: wiring, plumbing, insulating, doors, windows, heating.


And then for a while it looked like this: Usable, but not exactly tidy or neat.

But THEN, thanks to a generous gift of countertop and cupboards, we got it to look like this!





Neat, huh?? We're pretty pleased. :)

Quick note: Mercury Retrograde struck again, my computer is broken. And I can't update the website until I get it fixed. BUT - our first Soapmaking 101 class is FULL. There are still 5 spaces available in the Nov. 14th class. Sign up soon if you're interested!

Fall 2009 Class Schedule

Check out the fully up to date Central Iowa Small Farms website - we have 2 new confirmed guest vendors out at Prairieland Herbs. The farm is absolutely going to be JAM PACKED with cool stuff!

Also, please note that both Picket Fence Creamery and Prairieland Herbs are offering printable coupons for extra FREE STUFF for Sample Sunday...so don't forget to click, print, and bring them out to the farm on Sunday!

Prairieland Herbs 11th Birthday Bash!
Sunday, September 20th, 12-5 PM
Come help us celebrate! 11% off EVERYTHING in the store!

Plus, we have gourmet, locally-baked herbal cookies to snack on, and a free, 2 oz. Special Edition Handmade Soap to everyone, as “thank you” for 11 great years in business!


Guest Vendors:

Sally Kilkenny, Gourmet Handmade Jams

Sally Farley with Spring Valley Ranch will have gorgeous alpaca fiber, yarn, fabric and clothing for sale.

Martha Williams of Old Orchard Fibers will be doing spinning demonstrations and have handmade yarn for sale.

Kelly and Claire from Whispering Acres Woolies and Woodworks
will have handspun yarns, local fiber and wood and cork trivets for sale.

Roxianne Classes from Firehouse Yoga will be doing yoga and breathwork
demonstrations.

Lynn Marie Parkey will be doing FREE Gauranga reiki sessions, and have Reiki and Essential oil enhanced hemp bracelts for sale!

Dawn Torrents-Suarez from Morning Rain Massage will do doing 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.

Rev. Dr. Hans Van Latenstein will be demonstrating his TFE Energy Psychology technique.

....and more info to come....but mark your calenders, this will be a fantastic day on the farm!

PS - to our wonderful customers NOT in the central Iowa area - fear not...we have some GREAT things planned for you soon...watch the blog for information next week!

Gorgeous local fibers - now in stock!


Naturally colored fiber from Spring Valley Alpaca Ranch in Perry, IA. Mohair/alpaca blends, merino/alpaca blends, and some 100% alpaca. SO. SOFT!



Naturally colored wool from Hedgeapple Farm in Earlham. Shetland, Romney cross, Cotswold (particularly luscious!) and Jacob.

Beautiful, one of a kind (not to be repeated) Day's End from High Prairie Fibers in Letts, IA.

And luscious painted roving, again from High Prairie Fibers in Letts, IA.