Freidaag*/ Samschdaag* = Market Day

Friday and Saturday are days to go to Market. Shopping or selling, as is the case for those who have a market stand. Later today I'll run down to Kimberton Whole Foods and pick up a few things for the weekend and also check on my product shelves in the Apothecary department.
KWF and I go way back... Back to the early 90's when the store was literally a farm store. I worked in the Apothecary for many years and designed the logo. They helped finance my way to herb school and gave my kid a job. Good deal. All these years later, we are still supporting each other... as local business owners. I have grown my business and they have grown theirs: Three locations now and planning more. I don't wholesale my products many places, but this is my neighborhood...and they have my stuff, front and center. They know my products and use my products and recommend them to customers. They even have a picture poster of me on the wall ((insert snicker here)) a very LARGE poster. It's embarrassing, and I can't look at it when I'm shopping, but it works. People recognize me, put a face to a name, and a name to a product that I make with my own two hands. That is supporting local business at it's most basic. We're good neighbors. I like that. I will be working on an educational bag stuffer in the coming week that tells customers about the 2008 Herb of the Year Poster Child, Calendula. I'll describe it's benefits and list a variety of in-store calendula products, ahem, including mine at the top of the list. Goood neighbors!
*Friday /* Saturday

Magic in the Making

...or should I say...2008 Herb of the Year, Part 3? I'm making a few batches of calendula cream today. Not quite sure the reason behind the surge in orders for it in recent weeks. But it matters not! I do truly look forward to making this particular cream. The finished product always pours into the jars in glossy pale-yellow ribbons that look like the best vanilla pudding, only better! Our calendula cream and calendula soap both use the infused calendula oil that we've made the previous summer. To make the oil, we fill gallon jars with freshly harvested calendula flowers. The flowers are then covered completely with good olive oil. Those jars sit right out there in the garden, close to the bed they were harvested from to absorb the sun's rays for a complete lunar cycle.They are tended daily by shaking the contents well, wiping down any dirt or condensation or singing a little song. There is just something magical that happens in that jar when the sun and moon shine on it for a month! It's just not possible (in my humble opinion) to get that same lovely infusion by doing it on a stove top. In fact, I've tried. After the month has passed, the oil is carefully decanted and strained twice. The final product should be clear and a lovely shade of sunshine gold. The jars are then wiped down and stored in a cool dark place until it is needed. Last year we processed 15 gallons of the stuff and have used nearly all of it. Time to plant the new bed for this year so we get the earliest harvest of flowers. According to the planting calendar the next few days are perfect for planting the seeds. I'm going out to scratch up the soil.

2008 Herb of the Year continued...

Calendula (derived from the Latin meaning 'calendar') officinalis (means "of the apothecary"). So, this beauty is so named as a plant deemed worthy of medicinal use and bloomed for much of the calendar year. As long as the flowers are diligently harvested every few days, it will indeed bloom the entire summer before it retires. Calendula is considered very safe and is gentle enough to use on the very young and the elderly. Calendula's most outstanding contribution is as a topical remedy for many types of skin inflammation. It's use as a wound healer is historic and legendary and has been confirmed by modern day scientific studies. Calendula is especially helpful for slow healing wounds, infections, bed sores, sunburns and diaper rash. Calendula has the nickname of "salve plant" and is used to reduce the inflammation and irritation of eczema and psoriasis. Scientific studies have also proven calendula's ability to regenerate collagen in the dermal layers which could delay aging of the skin. Here on the farm, we are pretty enamored with this plant every year and so growing enough of it for our products holds a high priority in our garden planning. The calendula beds are the first to be prepared and planted early in the season.

2008 Herb of the Year

Every year the International Herb Association chooses a particular herb for educational focus. This year they have chosen Calendula as their poster child. Calendula officinalis is otherwise known as Pot Marigold or Mary's Gold. The British simply call it Marigold which confuses the heck out of us Yanks. It is not at all the same marigold that we put in our vegetable gardens to keep the pests away. In the PA German dialect, that marigold is called "Schtinkblumm". We also refer to them as American, French or African marigolds (Tagetes spp). But, I'll rustle up a little bit more about our poster child....

She's Baaaack...

The continuing love affair of Blue Egg Babe and the 2008 Herb of the Year-Calendula...
(To read the fine print, simply click on the postcard image)