Snake season...

Snake season has arrived early this year! We have been having lots of HOT weather and not enough rain (which is very bad for San Diego) so that means that snakes are out in full force.

This snake was slithering around on our property and it's the only kind of snake I've seen on our property (thank goodness). Actually, Noah was getting out of the car and almost stepped on it! He was none too pleased to say the least!

According to this site this snake is a Pacific Gopher Snake (or locally called a San Diego Gopher Snake) and is not poisonous but it will bite/attack. We have lots of gophers so he is welcome to stay as long as he wants! He does sound a bit like a rattlesnake when he feels threatened but he's just a wannabe. Since we do live on a larger property than we did when we lived in the city, we are always aware of our surroundings and keeping our ears alert.

He was not very happy with my picture taking so I backed off and let him be...probably better for both of us in the long run! Go eat gophers big snake!

Thanks for stopping by!

Farm trip...

Hannah and I went to a local farm over the weekend and it was rejuvenating to be there. There are a lot of projects that we want to do on our little suburban homestead and it's hard not to get caught up with what is not done yet. So going to the farm was a nice breath of fresh air for me.

We went to Suzie's Farm in South San Diego, what a great place! I had been with the kids for a picking tour about 5-6 years ago but since then the farm has changed quite a bit, they've developed it a little bit at a time, added fields form planting and it is wonderful.

We went with a small group of Girl Scouts, the field trip title was "Imagine You Are a Backyard Farmer". We got to tour the greenhouses and see their setup for their seed trays and sprouts. We saw the warehouse building where they have aquaponics set up and we were not allowed inside so we looked from afar (they didn't want their secrets revealed!). We took samples of some sunflower sprouts (delicious!) and then emptied the tray into the compost piles. They test for listeria and other bacterias pretty regularly so we didn't want to put our sample tray (about a 1/4 tray full) back into the greenhouse. This was a "no photo zone" so I only have pictures in my mind. After the tour we went to the picnic tables and the girls made strawberry bruschetta and strawberry salsa.

Then we walked the fields. Wow what an experience. There were lots of chickens in a fenced off space for eggs for them to sell, I think maybe 150 hens with another 150 chicks in a separate space. The rows of veggies are long and beautiful. Lots of weeds within the rows, it makes me believe that they are needed for attracting good bugs and bees (this is an organic farm) and for adding nutrients to the soil. We walked and picked beets, carrots, herbs and a few greens (kale and a few others) and strawberries. The berries are enormous and delicious and organic. Lots of berries.

This is a wild radish. I found a seed pod on the plant and am going to try to plant them here on my homestead.

Hannah and her friend walking across the field to see the chickens.

The chicken coop, there were 4 of these.

After picking carrots, they went a little wild with carrot picking.

A little swing fun.

So you should go to Suzie's Farm if you live in the San Diego area. It's a great place, we had a blast. Right now they are busy with strawberry pickings on Tuesdays and Saturdays and in May they host an event called Strawberry Jam. Oh and they host a CSA box. You should check it out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Etsy shop...

Did you know that I have an Etsy shop? I'm just starting out but I have some of my reusable bags listed there. If you didn't know about it go check it out and add it to your favorites! I have so many ideas for the shop that my name doesn't really match everything. I need some ideas for a new shop name, can you help me out? Right now it's SoReusable but when I opened the shop I just had my bags to sell.

I'm still building the shop and my plan is to add other products to my shop like lip balms (like those that I posted yesterday), soothing salves and other balms for various needs (baby rash, itchy skin...). I also have diffuser necklaces to use with Essential Oils, Essential Oil travel bags/cases and eye pillows for relaxing. And I may even decide to sell some of the home made items that I can like my jams, jellies and pickles. The ideas are a-plenty!

So, if you have any creative Etsy shop names that I could use, send them my way! I'd really appreciate it! I can only change the name once, so I need a little help...and I know there are some creative people who are great with words out there!

Thanks for stopping by...and thank you for your help!
Jen

Lip balm

I decided to make a lip balm the other day. I have been thinking about doing it for so long and I finally did it today and don't know why it has taken me so long to take the plunge! It was so easy and it took maybe 10 minutes of my day. And the result? Four lip balms tubs and one tube. I'm totally doing it again!

The recipe:

6-7 Tbsp Jojoba Oil (I used Trader Joes, but you can buy it here)

2 tsp Beeswax (buy it here)

1 tsp honey (raw is fine, but you do heat it up)

5-6 drops of Wild Orange Essential Oil (buy it here or I can help you get it at a 25% discount!)

You also need:

A wooden stir stick (I used a kabob stick)

Some containers (here are some, I used these and could have filled 5-6 of them)

Here's how I did it. I mixed the Jojoba oil, honey and beeswax in a "double boiler". It was a glass measuring cup with all the ingredients in it in a small sauce pan with boiling water. Once the ingredients were melted and mixed together I added the Wild Orange oil, mixed together and poured it into my little containers. I actually cleaned out one of Noah's lip balm tubes and re-filled it!

 

Here is the oil, honey and beeswax with my kabob stick as a stirrer. The honey wasn't easy to melt so I mixed it up quite a bit.

All melted and ready to pour.

And poured! I used a little drip on the stir stick I was using and man does it taste delicious! My kids are in love with this lip balm! Let me know if you try it, or if you need some of this delicious Wild Orange Essential Oil (really, the best!) I can hook you up!

Thanks for stopping by!