Rosemary's Perfect Face Cream

When I was a teenager I struggled with cystic acne and an extremely oily face. I remember crying about how I wished I could just go out in public without make-up to cover up my angry red bumps and shiny skin. I used every acne topical you could buy over the counter, sometimes more than one at a time, they would work for a little then flare up angry and red again. My skin was a weird combo of extremely oily and flaky dry from all the drying creams I used to work on the acne. I NEVER used face lotion, I thought I never would, I was convinced it would clog my pores even more and make my problem worse. After all it was that evil oil my skin produced that caused this problem in the first  place, at that time the equation was, all oil=bad. It was that simple.

Well it just so happens that it wasn't that simple. After going on an elimination diet I discovered that when I stopped eating wheat, bread in particular, that miraculously the welt-like acne went away! I was a heavy bread eater and literally ate whole loaves of french bread for one meal. I just loved bread! Well that had to stop. Once I cut it out it gave my skin a chance to regulate and heal up. I was still terrified of using anything oily on my face, I was finally getting my skin regulated, why throw it off again? Once my skin balanced out, after I had been off wheat for a year, I was dealing with a different problem, once in a while my skin was too dry and was causing breakouts from the dry skin getting clogged in my pores. I felt so defeated, my skin just hated me! After some research I came to the conclusion that maybe I needed to try adding lotion to my skin regimen. Amazingly it didn't clog my pores and I didn't have tight, flaky skin either! 

Now I am living my dream and go out almost all the time without having to wear makeup to cover and balance my skin tone and it feels great! It goes to show that sometimes the problems in your body show up in the most unlikely ways. Healing begins from the inside out not the other way around.

I am also more concerned now with what is in the lotions and things that go on my skin. I am also more aware that man made chemicals are not good for the body the way wonderful plants and oils God made are. So I like to make a lot of the products I use on my skin. This lotion is one of my favorites. A friend made it for me, and while it seems like it would be too heavy for the face, it is wonderful to put on at night, especially in the winter when the air is drier. The Recipe was published in Herbs for Health magazine and was created by Rosemary Gladstar, a revered herbalist.

Rosemary's Perfect Cream

Ingredients

Waters

• 2/3 Cup distilled rosewater
• 1/3 Cup aloe vera gel
• 1-2 drops essential oil
• Vitamin E (to preserve freshness) 

Oils

• 3/4 Cup almond oil
• 1/3 Cup coconut oil or cocoa butter
• 1/4 tsp lanolin*
• 1/2 - 1 oz bee wax grated 

Directions
Combine the rose water, aloe vera gel, essential oils and vitamin E in a glass measuring bowl, set aside.

In a double broiler over low heat melt the oils together. Pour into a blender and let cool to room temperature. It should become thick, creamy, semi solid and cream colored.

when cooled turn the blender on high then in a slow thin drizzle pour about 3/4 of the waters mix into the center of the vortex. You are aiming to make an emulsion.

Listen to the blender and watch the cream. When the blender coughs, and the cream looks thick like buttercream frosting, turn off the blender. By hand mix in the remaining water mix and do not over beat. It thickens as it sets.

Pour cream into jars and store in a cool place.

* Lanolin has been found to contain pesticides due to the way it is harvested. I use Lansinoh HPA brand as they say that the brand is "guaranteed to never have more than 1 part per million of total combined pesticide residues.(.000001)" Theirs is also refined without bleaching. Good to know I thought. They also say that a current certificate of analysis is always available for review, if you want to take a look.


I love waking up to my skin now, this face cream makes my skin so soft and dewy! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
                                                                 The Farmer in the Dell

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

It brings back memories every time I see a bunch of prickly balls laying around the yard. As a little girl I went over to my neighbors yard, and I was forever barefoot, to visit. I would have to go to the front yard to avoid stepping on all the terrible prickly balls that littered the back of his yard. I knew from experience they really hurt! I often wondered why he didn't just cut that tree down but he was sort of an odd neighbor to find in the city.

He had asked the industrial company behind us to farm their empty quarter acre lot that lay between our property and his. On it he grew corn, tomatoes, sunflowers, and had a prolific peach and sour cherry tree planted there. He would be out early in the morning working that piece of soil with his trusty dog rusty, a rat terrier, who I just loved. I would open my window and shout, "Hey Harry what'cha doing?" He liked to go to auctions and get boxes of junk and he would let me pick through them and take some of the odds and ends that I liked. When it was really hot out he had a snow maker in his basement and he would dig it out and make snow cones. He sang weird songs to me like, "There's a ant on a log, on a hole, in the middle of the sea..." when he sat in his back yard or tell me stories about a cursed Indian that would get me if I went in the shed where he kept his bow and arrows he used for hunting groundhogs. Harry made my childhood full of fun memories, including those prickly balls, the fruit of a sweet chestnut tree.

Chestnut History

Those chestnuts also had an interesting history. Originally from the orient, these sweet chestnuts were brought to Europe by the Romans. Before wheat was readily available and inexpensive this nut was used to sustain the poor of Europe. It was ground into flour and used to make "down bread" because it didn't rise like yeast bread does. Typical gluten-free flour. It was probably rather nutritious as it is the only cultivated nut containing vitamin C, about 40 mg for 3 oz. It has a similar protein content as beans and is close to a potato in carbohydrate content. Sweet chestnuts also have the lowest fat content of any nut, only 2%. Chestnuts are also native to America but were nearly wiped out by blight in the 30's. The native Americans used them for many different medicinal purposes; for headaches, chills, baby powder, colds, sores, cough syrup and stomach ache. The tree was also a main source of tannin used in the leather industry and the original telegraph poles were made of chestnut.

How to Harvest Chestnuts?

There are poisonous and edible chestnuts that are grown in the US. How you tell the difference is by the outer husk. The edible has many needle like spikes and can be brown or green with one or more nuts inside. The toxic chestnut has a green husk with few spikes and only one nut per husk. The edible also has a little tuft at the tip of the nut where the toxic is just round and smooth.

You collect these nuts and can store them inside for a week or so in one layer to cure and become sweeter. Or you can put the husk-less nuts in the freezer, after scoring, as some people say the shells come off very easy after they are defrosted. I am planning on trying this method next year. Do not bring in the ones that have little holes in them as they have chestnut weevil inside and worms will come out!

After curing you make a score X cut in the shell and then you are ready to bake/roast or boil the nuts to get those shells off. I would strongly recommend the boiling as the shells came off so much easier and the flavor and texture were no different in my opinion.

Boiling

Put the scored nuts in small batches in boiling water for a few 3 min. Take out with a slotted spoon and the shells peel off wonderfully. If you do not do this quickly the inner skin may re-adhere and you will have to boil again to loosen it.

Baking/Roasting

The more traditional method. Place scored nuts in small batches on a cookie sheet and roast at 400 degrees for 10 min. then peel off the shells. Again this must be done quickly to keep skin from re-adhering.

I am going to be making a majority of mine into flour and freezing it this year, by putting it though the food processor, using it in place of almond flour in recipes. As it strikes me that it would be similar in texture and flavor. Oh and less expensive as well! You can can them in a light syrup to preserve long term as well. You can make soup, stuffing and of course we like to just eat them as is too.
 Turns out after I was married that we have one of those "pricker ball trees" in our front yard. I have my own little girl who likes to go in the front yard and collect the nuts up. Now I know why Harry kept that tree, the nuts are yummy! Phoebe loves them so much that when I was encouraging her to be entrepreneurial and sell them on a road side stand she looked astonished and said, "Not my nuts! We would not have enough!" They still remind me of Harry and his prickly yard but now we are making new memories with a new sweet chestnut tree.
                                                                The Farmer in the Dell

Cradle Cap Gel

I love snuggling and cuddling my new baby, in fact we all do! Most of the time this happens when we are nursing or putting her to sleep but this weekend we were able to go out as a family to enjoy some fall activities. When we do an all day outing I usually like to carry my baby in my carrier and use the double stroller for the older two. I get to spend more cuddle time this way and sneak in more kisses to her sweet little head. During this time wandering through a 9 acre corn maze I happened to notice, when I was going in to kiss her sweet little head, those yellow, flaky scales that are characteristic of cradle cap. I don't know about you but whenever my children get cradle cap I just get this urge to scratch it off for them; but the more you loosen them off the more there is it seems. Then you just end up with a baby covered in little flakes of dandruff and them looking worse that when you started. What is a mommy to do?

Well first off it is really nothing serious, at it's worst your baby can have an irritating itch on their head. In most cases it probably bothers the mom worse than the baby. It is not really known what causes cradle cap in infants but it could possibly be from a hormone over load that the mother passes to her child, either from late pregnancy or through breastfeeding, causing the oil glands in their scalp to over produce. It is also speculated that it may be a yeast over growth in the hair follicle that causes the yellow flakes to appear. At any rate whether it is too much yeast or oils it doesn't look very nice.

As someone who likes a more natural approach the idea of using cortisone (steroid) cream on my baby's head doesn't appeal to me. Especially as it always seems the worst right in her soft spot where the skin is the only thing protecting her brain and it is so absorbent. So besides using a gentle castile soap and combing out the flakes at bath time I am using this home remedy to lessen Eliora's cradle cap.

Cradle Cap Gel

• 1/4 Cup aloe vera gel
• 3 drops Mellaluca or Tea tree essential oil
• 3 drops Lavender essential oil

Mix it all together in a glass jar and apply to cradle cap 3 times a day. Massaging gently into flakes, then brush out with a boar bristle brush.

It is so hard on mommies all the new stuff that goes on with our babies. As if we aren't stressed out enough as it is! This is a simple recipe that works very well for us, here is her head after one day of using the gel.

Enjoy kissing and cuddling those sweet babies while they while they are still little. Eliora rolled over for the fist time yesterday at 12 weeks old! I can't believe how quick she is growing! Time flies when you are having fun :)

                                                                  The farmer in the Dell

I Brew Kombucha Do You?

It is controversial in the health world, but you have those who swear by it and those who say it is dangerous. Kind of like raw milk. Kombucha has an interesting history and people have been making and drinking it for thousands of years. While there is not any major scientific studies done on the benefits of drinking it, there is also no big company pushing to have the benefits and safety verified. I am okay trusting what others say about their experiences, seeing as most people are not trying to sell me something that I can make for under a dollar a gallon. That being said you should make this decision for yourself and drink it at your own risk, as if you do not handle it properly you can become sick from drinking it. Just like anything raw and live understand what you are putting into your body and use common sense, everything in moderation!

What is kombucha?

It is a tea that is fermented with a live bacterial culture called a SCOBY (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast) or tea mushroom. This culture changes the tea and sugar into a probiotic drink. To gain any benefits from this tea the recommended amount to drink is 4-6 oz per day, however there are people who drink way more than that and are better off for it. Like any probiotic you will want to get your body adjusted before drinking that much.

What nutrients does kombucha contain?

You get antioxidants from the tea, probiotics, enzymes, gluconic acid.
If you look at these key nutrients the benefits you gain are

• Energy boost 
• Improved digestion and assimilation from the probiotic
• Kills Candida over growth with high acid content 
• Liver detox from the gluconic acid
• Immune support from antioxidants
• Joint lubrication

Some say that it is beneficial in cancer prevention and treatment from high levels of gluconic acid. President Ronald Regan reportedly drank Kombucha to treat his stomach cancer and it is noted he died of old age not cancer. However again this is not proven but interesting information to think about.
I feel kombucha is more of a body balancer and when your body is balanced it is better equip to heal it's self. You have to try it to see how and what it does for your body. 

Possible Risks for nursing/pregnant mothers

It is worth noting that the heavy meal and environmental detoxing that occurs in the liver from kombucha poses a possible risk to the pregnant and nursing mother. If you have a moldy SCOBY it can make you sick or if you are not properly hydrated the detox from the acid will be too strong and can cause those toxins to escape your body through milk or to the unborn baby. You can buy pH test strips to see that your brew is not too high in acid. A pH of 2.5-3 is a good level.

Kombucha is rated at a level 5 safety for breastfeeding moms. Now the La Lache League administrator did say it was probably "out of an abundance of caution" because of the lack of evidence either way. So if you decide to drink it while nursing and you notice any change in your infants stools becoming more frequent, blowing out all the time or your baby shows excessive fussiness it would be time to stop drinking the tea.

Also there is alcohol in Kombucha so I would wait 3 hours after drinking it to nurse and avoid altogether while pregnant. It has about .05-1% alcohol depending on various factors. So 12 oz of Kombucha has roughly the same alcohol content as 2-3 oz of beer. To compare, fruit juice that has sat out all day, has the alcohol content of .08%. You know what is best for your body and baby so listen to it.

How do I make it?

It only takes a few simple ingredients to make a batch of kombucha and you can do lots of variations as well by changing types of teas and sugar. I even knew someone who made kombucha with Dr Pepper! However as some of the sugar remains after the bacteria feeds off it I would not use anything containing corn syrup.  The point is to make something good for you that tastes good too. Anyway here is what you will need

Kombucha Tea

• 1 Kombucha SCOBY
• 1 Cup of starter tea from the original brew
• 1 Cup sugar, maple syrup, agave, coconut sugar ect.
• 8 tea bags of your choice (you can use herbal)
• 1 gallon glass jar
• coffee filter or cheese cloth 
• rubber band
• wooden spoon
• 12 cups filtered water

Heat the water to it is just ready to boil then take off the heat and pour into your glass container. Add the tea bags and sugar and stir till sugar is dissolved.

Let tea cool. (Do not add the SCOBY till the tea has completely cooled off.)

Take out tea bags and add in the starter tea then the SCOBY. (Do not use any metal in contact with the SCOBY)

Cover the top of the container with cheese cloth or a coffee filter and secure with a rubber band.

Let it set in a warm area, about 70-80 degrees, for 7 or more days. The kombucha should be tangy, and have a vinegary taste with some sweet in the background.

You can take the remaining tea (all but one cup for the next starter batch) out of the bigger container and keep in smaller glass jars with plastic tops in the refrigerator. Now you can start another batch, and eventually you will have baby SCOBY's to give away for others to brew their own batches, it is the gift that keeps on giving!

 If you find you don't like the taste you can use it in place of vinegar in any recipe. I like to use it for dressings. Some people mix it with fresh fruit juice and let it ferment another two days it becomes more fizzy and soda like that way. At any rate we enjoy it and I hope you give it a try!

                                                                   The Farmer in the Dell

Is Baltic Amber a Money Racket or an Easy Cure?

I love to use natural things for my family's health care. The less side effects the better, and with young children it is even more critical to pay attention to amounts/dosages given and how much time between dosages. For a mother who already has a sick or hurting baby this can be nerve racking.

So when my son started teething I heard all kinds of advice on what I should do. Teething tablets, teething biscuits, teething gel, pain relievers and we tried many of those things without much success. Finally after talking to a friend about how little Boaz was miserable she asked if I had ever heard of using an amber necklace. How could a necklace help my son? It sounds like a possible placebo effect. Time to research.

What is Baltic Amber?

Baltic amber is the resin from a succinisera pine tree that has hardened into a stone like form. This kind of amber is found in the Baltic region in main land Europe. It has a light weight and is warm to the touch. What is unique Baltic amber is the fact that it contains 3-8% succinic acid which is a natural pain reliever and anti-inflammatory.

Succinic acid is naturally found in both plant and animal tissue and has many benefits.  It has been used for teething pain, arthritis, growth pains, head aches, joint pain, menstrual cramps or essentially anything you would take an Advil for.

The salts of succinic acid are one of the active substances used for cellular level respiration. Which means that it is effective at producing energy in the body by jump starting the Krebs cycle, one of the main ways we metabolize carbs, fats and proteins. Restoring a dragging energy level.

How does it work? 

Amber is a very soft and when it is worn against the skin the oils and heat your body produces break down the amber and rub some of the succinic acid off. This gives relief of pain close to location of the amber. Thus for best effect you should wear it closest to the source of pain; necklace for tooth and jaw issues, bracelet for carpel tunnel ect.  It has also been mentioned that the lighter the color amber the higher the concentration of the succinic acid so if you want or need a stronger pain reliever you would want to get a light yellow amber as opposed to a more brown or green shade.

But does it really work?

This was something I was interested in finding out. After all it sounds like it does a lot and has no known side effects. I purchased an amber necklace and put it on my little boy for the day time and wrapped it around the ankle at night to avoid possible strangulation. Well he didn't fuss as much and he stopped drooling. Good signs. It seemed like his teething pain was over but I wondered if it wasn't just coincidentally timed with the purchase of the necklace. I kept up with it anyway until I lost the necklace. This would be a good test to find out if it was doing anything. So for the first month no big change, however by the third month he was drooling and fussing all the time, so I bought another necklace. Then it stopped again, so am happy to say yes it does work and I don't want to loose it again!
I purchased a bracelet for my self to see if it would help with a ganglion cyst I get in my left wrist. Sure enough it has kept it in check so I don't have to take the turmeric powder every day. I like turmeric but not that much.

How do I know if the Baltic Amber is genuine? 

The best way in my opinion is to make a bowl of salty water and place the jewelry in. If it floats then it is the real deal. You can also test it by putting it up to a flame if it smells like pine it is genuine if it smells like burning plastic then it is a fake. I don't know about you but I don't really like the idea of putting my jewelry to a flame, you may know if it is real but you could ruin it in the process!

We have had good experiences with Baltic amber and I would recommend it to anyone who suffers from joint pain or inflammation. It is pretty too! Enjoy your life without the pain.
                                                           The Farmer in the Dell

Farmer Strong Lip Balm

So I am loving the now cooler weather that is the signature of fall, seeing as we are at the middle of September already, I was beginning to get nervous that my favorite season would be wiped out by a forever summer. With this delicious cooler weather comes leaf changes, the air becoming drier, and the enjoyment of harvest plenty. It also reminds me of my wedding, that was now four years ago, where it was so cold everyone was in jackets during our outdoor ceremony. I hate sweating so I like to think that the Lord gave me the gift of cooler weather for our special day. It wasn't for my husband at any rate because he doesn't like to be cold!

We went away for our anniversary last week and since we have been having drier air he has been having the worst time with severely chapped lips. We went to CVS to pick up some chap stick for him but most of the options contained alcohol and other agents that actually dry your lips out more, so we settled on some Burt's Bees chap stick or "lip chap" as I tend to call it. It was okay and it got us through our getaway time but I knew he needed something with more moisturizing power that didn't need re-applied so frequently.

So I went home to make a "farmer strong" version that he could use. I love making lotion bars with coconut oil, Shea butter and bees wax. He has actually used them on his lips before and met with good success but I wanted this to have more staying power. When your hands are dirty applying chap stick with your finger is not really ideal. I also didn't really want that much. Most of those recipes are for making a lot so you can give some away but here I just wanted to make a little batch as a little goes a long way.

This is very firm and if you wanted to have it softer you could add some more coconut oil to the mix but I didn't want it to melt in the tractor or in his pocket so we went firmer. The ingredients are chosen for the moisture, healing and soothing extremely dry chapped lips.

Farmer's Barn Balm
makes three 1 oz tins

• 2 Tablespoons bee wax pellets or shavings
• 1 Tablespoon Shea butter
• 1 Teaspoon lanolin (use the one formulated for breastfeeding mothers)
• 2 Teaspoons extra virgin coconut oil
• 1/2 Teaspoon honey
• 6 drops Roman Chamomile essential oil

Add all the ingredients but the essential oil to a double broiler or small metal or glass bowl that fits over the edge of a saucepan filled with water and turn the heat on medium.

Once everything is melted turn off the heat add the essential oil and mix then remove from stove.

Pour immediately into tin or tubes to set.

Let set in the refrigerator for 1 hour and then use as needed!

It works really well at trapping in the moisture and healing the raw skin. It made my lips so soft!
Like I mentioned before if it is too firm for your liking you can melt it down again and add some extra coconut oil to make it softer.

As summer comes to an end it is time to prepare for the new season and good times ahead. Happy fall to you and yours!

                                                              The Farmer in the Dell

To My Dear Daughters

My girls, this world is not always going to be kind to you. In fact it may not even be the people themselves that hurt you but the ideas and thoughts that are commonly accepted. I spent so much of my youth running after "perfection" that at one point it consumed me physically and spiritually. I had wasted my body away and it was a mirror to my spirit. I was hungry for the acceptance and the love I thought I wanted. No one could tell me I was wrong, my heart was hard, no one could change my mind. The pain of rejection is fierce, it can tear you apart and leave you valunrable and weak. I felt in control of my body and my life but I was not in control, thankfully someone else was. 

Someone else who doesn't look at how skinny your waist is or if you have a thigh gap. Who will not require you to have flawless skin and perfect hair in order to spend time with you. He will see you for who you are and the spirit that you have cultivated through the trials you have faced. Because you see my dear girls, we are not merely human, we are spirit too. We long to feel loved and accepted by someone special. It is wired into each one of us to desire companionship, and spiritual connection.

My dears let me tell you every man, no matter how perfect you may believe he is, will disappoint you. He will not be able to meet all your needs and desires, he may even hurt you deeply and not even know. This is because he was not the one who was made satisfy your soul and bring you continual joy, there is someone else.

While I was trying so hard to show how I was what he wanted, there was someone who knew that I was what HE wanted. He was patiently waiting till I would see His love, the same love I was longing for, a love that was not skin deep but soul filling. Sure I knew He was there the whole time but I didn't want to let go of my idea of perfect, I didn't want to love Him because that would mean I would have have to give up controlling my own life. It was too scary, the pain and disappointment hurt but they were familiar and I knew what to expect. So I resisted. I resisted until I realized that I couldn't sustain life like this, it was going to be hospitalization or death, and that was not what I wanted the end of my story to be. No it was a new beginning.

 I had grown up knowing of this love and I had said I had excepted it but I had become drawn into wanting something different, something I thought would be better, more tangible. Girls it is a terrible lie and do not believe that you can find or make happiness for yourself. While you may feel happy for a while it does not last and leaves you feeling even more empty than before. The only love that sets hearts free is the love of the one who made you, the one who sees into your heart, knows your every thought and longs for you to experience true joy and security of being close to Him.

Dear daughters only Jesus can be there for you all the time. He never changes, He is perfect, He is always faithful, He will never fail and His promises are true. You can cast all your cares on him because He cares. He has loved you since He thought you up. You will never be able to have a relationship with anyone else with these qualities. Don't throw away valuable time by pouring your heart and soul into empty promises this world puts in your way. Accept Jesus and throw yourself wholeheartedly into Him, He will change your life. It will be scary, it will be uncomfortable at times but stay close to Him, wrap your heart and mind in His words and Joy comes in the morning!

I love you so much, but Jesus loves you more! Things in this world just do not not compare and it has taken me this long to see what lies they are. I am seeing more clearly every day. Do not let the lies rob you of the vibrancy and joy of your youth. Become a friend of Jesus, love Him and immerse yourself in His words for there you will find life and true love!
In love and prayer
                               Your Mother,

                                                                  The Farmer in the Dell