Back To Basics Skin Care Routine...Starting Over

The case many a time when people do seek out products not easily found on the commercial market is a result of wanting to eliminate synthetics and chemicals in their lives or a frustration with the condition of their skin. Often it is a matter of going back to basics and starting over.

A mistake people often make with cleansing their face is that the products used are too harsh and strip the skin of their natural oils, leaving the skin pH out of whack resulting in too dry skin lacking the balanced oils that normally protect the barrier. In trying to get back to normal there can be an overproduction of sebum which we then try to scrub off by washing even more and the cycle continues.
A good routine to follow includes: a cleanse, an occasional steam and/or mask, then a toner and last a moisturizer if needed

I have two types of FACIAL CLEANSE, one is like a serum and the other is a honey/glycerin/castile soap blend:
First we have the oil cleanse method.
Remember years ago when women used cold creams? That method was basically using cleansing oils that removed makeup and dirt from the skin. It was a gentle approach to cleansing both dry and oily skin. I got this recipe from an old herbal book. 

Aloe Rose Facial Cleanse

Some people like this to cleanse and additionally use a moisturizer, others think this is enough for both cleansing and moisturizing. It consists of olive oil (this could be replaced with a "drier" oil such as grapeseed for oily skin), rosewater and aloe vera gel. You would apply this to a cotton round and simply wipe over your face to cleanse and moisturize and the same time. Second option is to use it like you would any other facial wash and rinse off with water.

Cleaning your face with oil may sound unappealing but contrary to popular belief, oil does not contribute to oily skin or breakouts. The sebum that the skin creates is there to protect the skin. When we use commercial cleansers to remove this natural oil, the body reacts by producing more oil. Dry skin is often the result of stripping away this natural barrier and things get out of balance. It is the same as how our hair adjusts to constant shampooing.
In washing our faces we want to remove the dirt and bacterial which builds up in our pores but we have to think about the chemistry behind it. Oil dissolves oil, like dissolves like. Water and oil do not mix; commercial cleansers contain ingredients to break up the oils but in doing so may strip away the natural protective layer. By using a nourishing oil like olive oil, the dirty oils are being replaced with beneficial ones.

Some people like to use the above serum type cleanse on some days and then the more traditional wash with water on other days, just to mix things up and get the benefits from both types.
There are three versions of the honey/glycerin/castile soap washes, mainly its personal preference. The first one uses essential oils orange or lemon which you may like for oily skin since they are more astringent. The next one is made with the honey infused with rose petals and the third the honey is infused with lavender.

Citrus Honey Facial Wash

Rose Honey Facial Wash

Lavender Honey Facial Wash

Wildflower and clover honey already have the beneficial attributes of various herbs and flowers within the honey itself. Honey is a natural humectant which means it retains moisture and plumps up skin cells. It helps to rebuild the moisture level in the skin without making it oily. The high sugar, low protein content create an acidic environment with limited availability of water therefore bacteria cannot thrive.
Glucose oxidase is an enzyme that when combined with water produces hydrogen peroxide, a mild antiseptic. Honey also contains antioxidants and flavonoids that may function as antibacterial agents. It calms down troubled skin without irritation.
Vegetable glycerin is what is known as a humectant which means it draws moisture from the air and holds it in. As part of a cleanse it bonds to dirt and oil and washes away.


To open up the pores, you can follow the cleanse with a 20 minute facial steam in which you fill a bowl with steaming water (add an herbal tea bag for extra benefits), make a tent by covering your head with a towel, and lean over the bowl.


Follow the steam with a RAW HONEY MASK or an exfoliating SUGAR SCRUB for wonderful benefits.
Masks and scrubs are great for periodic use for deeper cleansing to draw out impurities or for exfoliation to remove dead skin cell build-up. These aren't meant to use every day, once or twice a week is sufficient. Add variety by mixing it up a little, and there is no need to use both the mask and the scrub at the same time.

Unpasteurized honey contains all the live enzymes and life of the hive without being destroyed by the heat of pasteurization. Typical store bought honey is pasteurized to make it nice and pourable and remove bits of wax and stuff from the hive. Having a high anti-oxidant level and being the natural enzymes have not been destroyed by heat, raw honey is a much healthier product.
Facial masks are wonderful for deep cleaning in that they penetrate below the surface and draw out impurities. Honey masks are nourishing, moisturizing and gentle enough to not strip the skin of its natural protective oils.
When you wash the honey off your skin, a small amount remains in the pores. As a result, the sugars in the honey attract water from the air, which keeps your skin hydrated.

The first mask has tea tree and chamomile and is good for blemishes. The second one is good for blemishes too but in using lavender is more gentle. The third one is great for oily skin as it contains peppermint and lemongrass which are astringent and antiseptic.

Blemish Honey Mask

Lavender Honey Mask

Oily Tired Skin Honey Mask

Scrubs are optional as they may be too harsh for already irritated skin.
The choice between sugar or salt for scrubs depends on how it is to be used. For the delicate skin of the face sugar scrubs are gentler. People often make the mistake that if they scrub they'll scrape those blemishes right off when actually they are irritating the skin further causing more inflammation.
One uses vegetable glycerin instead of an oil and the other two use coconut oil. The glycerin scrub is "goopier" and good if you like a looser scrub. The coconut oil ones tend to be more compact since coconut oil solidifies under 75 degrees. But as soon as you touch it it melts and gets soft again.

Vanilla Sugar Scrub

Vegetable Glycerin Lavender Sugar Scrub

Coconut Sugar Scrub Lemongrass

Finish up with a gentle TONER:
The herbal vinegars are great for getting and keeping the skin pH back in balance. It's personal preference as any of them are tonics for the skin.
The first one uses herbs for their anti-inflammatory benefits and the second is an old-fashioned blend of roses and elderflowers which were used for their high vitamin C content.

Calendula Nettles Chamomile Toner

Rose Elderflower Toner

Herbal Blemish Spot Treatment

This third one is stronger than the other toners because it doesn't have the dilution of distilled water. It's more of a spot treatment for blemishes. It does make a great everyday toner too if it's diluted a bit which is an option when purchased.

The natural pH of the skin is what keeps bacteria levels in check Disruption of the skin's pH can be detrimental to your skin, because bacteria thrives in an environment only a little more alkaline than your skin's natural acidity. Once bacteria thrives it can lead to inflammation and generating more clogged pores.
Good quality raw vinegars restore the natural acid balance of the skin, leaving it soft and smooth.
By promoting circulation in the small capillaries that irrigate the skin, vinegar becomes a tonic for the complexion. Raw vinegars don't go through the processing and distilling of the typical clear vinegars, therefore raw vinegar still contains the living nutrients and beneficial bacteria of the "mother".
Vinegar acts as an antiseptic, meaning it prevents proliferation of bacteria, viruses and yeast that could trigger infection. As a facial toner, it removes oily residue as it dissolves fatty deposits at the surface of the skin.


Third step on a daily basis is to MOISTURIZE

There are several facial cream choices and one lighter lotion. They vary in ingredients just to offer options for personal preference or allergies but they all are very good for different skin types. The oil to water ratio is almost 50/50 whereas most lotions in pump bottles are 20/80. The key is how often and how much to use at a time. People with dry skin find these creams nourishing and great relief for parched feeling skin and those who don't need a heavier cream may find they only need a tiny bit or perhaps only need it as a night cream.

Herb Floral Facial Cream

Elderflower Rose Facial Cream

Rose Facial Cream

Serenity Facial Cream

Scent Free Facial Cream

Wrinkle Wrath Facial Cream

Touch of Bliss Facial Cream

Vanilla Wrinkle Wrath Facial Cream

This lotion has a higher liquid portion and doesn't have a solid oil such as shea butter or coconut oil. This lotion was originally the request from a woman who had skin troubles and was allergic to coconut oil. But since some people just want a lighter lotion rather than a cream I left the listing as it is. The essential oils chamomile and tea tree are the usual ones in the lotion only because it originally was wanted for and to prevent future blemishes. But if you don't need that, you can leave it unscented or add something else.

Sensitive Skin Lotion

Everyone has different needs and preferences, therefore there is no one product or routine that fits all. Getting to know what works best for you may be trial and error, but hopefully with options like these products you can be reassured the "first do no harm" philosophy is a priority.

meadowmuffingardens.com
meadowmuffingardens.etsy.com

Mockingbird Love Song Serenade

Open windows and cool night breezes are part of the charm of summer. But nighttime sounds can go way beyond the chirp of crickets or tree frogs. Why in the world would birds sing at nighttime?

Should you be kept awake by the nonstop medley of a bird filling the long night hours with its ballad, it is most likely a mockingbird.

Before you let yourself even think about strangling that bird, find some interest and humor as to why it goes on and on and on.
The bird is a young male bachelor.
Imagine having a suitor trying to win you over by singing under your window!

Most birds learn the songs they'll ever sing before reaching a year old. But mockingbirds continue to listen and learn throughout their lifetime, copying the sounds of other birds. All mockingbirds sing during the day but only the male bachelors sing at night. Once that bird keeping you awake finds a mate, the singing will stop.

Rather than trying to block it out, focus on those repetitious songs and try to catch the recognizable sounds of other types of birds. You may be amazed how many different songs that bird knows. Though annoying at first, that "racket" just may lull you off to sleep after all, and once nature plays out and he finds a mate, you just may miss his nightly visits.

The law is on the side of these birds. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 protects the mockingbird. It is against the law to harm or kill any type of migratory bird.

Summer Nights and No Fireflies...What's Happening to Them?

Summer is a time for picnics and outdoor parties that often extend into the evening hours. Watching the children running around having a ball with glow sticks got me sadly contemplating on what was missing in this picture. Years ago there were no glow sticks to entertain children after dark. Kids were enchanted with the stars and the magical mystery of fireflies. Some people call them june bugs, others simply call them lightning bugs. What is happening to them?

Just as with the bees, the answer lies with habitat loss, and pesticide use, but there is another factor and it is called light pollution.

These insects aren't flies, they are actually beetles, and that glow comes from a chemical reaction. 

Both male and female fireflies use their flashing lights to communicate. Their language of light is used to attract mates, ward off predators and defend their territory. Too much light caused by streetlights, car lights and suburbia in general, interrupts the sync of firefly flash patterns. Difficulty for fireflies to signal each other results in fewer larvae being born with every passing season.

Open fields and forests, waterways and bogs, are all disappearing as development makes its slow crawl across what was once uninterrupted habitats. Most species of fireflies thrive as larvae in rotting wood and forest litter at the margins of ponds and streams. As they go through their life cycle, most stay around where they were born. The environment of choice is warm with areas of wet spots.

The female lays about 500 eggs in sheltered areas that contain damp soil. After about a month the tiny larva hatch and begin feeding as they get ready for the next stage when they become pupae. The larval period can last from one to three years. During this stage the fireflies look like small worms and crawl along the ground. They are carnivorous and eat worms, snails and slugs by injecting a digestive enzyme and then sucking out the liquid. When big enough, the larvae digs into the ground and goes through the pupae stage. It forms a hard exterior shell that is what we are familiar with when we see them. This stage of metamorphosis takes them to the adult firefly which emerges in early summer. Once adults, the fireflies only live another few weeks. They may or not even eat during this short span. The purpose is to find mates and reproduce. So if light pollution creates enough of a problem to interfere with this process, these adults won't have the time to mate and lay their eggs before their life span ends.

This little video shows the life cycle of the firefly:

There are ways we can make a difference for these little guys. Make your own difference where you live. Avoid the use of herbicides and pesticides. Don't feel every part of your landscape has to be under control. Let spots naturalize to provide the habitats needed for all the stages of life. Learn what invasive species are a problem in your area and remove them to encourage the natives to thrive. Unless you have good reason for outdoor lighting to shine throughout the night, turn it off.

Children don't miss what they've never seen. Fireflies bring a sense of magic to our world and it would be a real loss to lose them.

Salve Garden...Some Wild, Some Weeds, All Welcome

The middle of winter is a time we really miss our time in the garden. Herbs satisfy all our senses at once as we touch, smell, nibble, watch and if we listen hard enough maybe even hear what they have to say. It's all about attitude and how healthy it is to return to that connection with our natural world.

That urge to get back outside as soon as the sun shines warm again is so very good for both our physical and emotional wellness. It's no secret that to get some fresh air on a daily basis can do wonders as both a mental and physical energy boost. Getting your hands back into the dirt and smelling that distinct scent of turned up soil is enough to get most gardeners excited about what they plan to do come spring.

You'll soon find that once you get an herb garden established, there isn't a whole lot of expense every year. The perennials return on their own and the annuals that dropped seed will be found here and there and anywhere they can thrive. The trick is in knowing where these plants like to call their home. You'll soon learn you can't force a plant to do well in a certain spot just because it is where you'd like it to be, such as in an orderly fashion in your garden. Which is why so many of our beloved herbs are also called weeds. They grow where they please because they know a lot better than we do what conditions they need to survive, and that may not be in the confines of our nice, manicured, rich garden soil.

Most herbs don't like to be coddled. They are usually naturally resilient, drought tolerant and very good at adapting to their environment. Most herbs like full sun but will still grow in partial shade. Good drainage is a requirement with most plants.

There are many, many plants that can be used as part of your medicinal garden but here we have really good ones for the making of salves. The flowers and/or leafy parts are picked and infused in carrier oils such as olive, almond, grapeseed or coconut for about six weeks. The plant material is then strained off and the herbal oils are thickened up with beeswax to create a variety of very healing, effective home remedies.

Encouraging these plants in your landscape is not just beneficial for our sake. They provide survival for our pollinators, an issue we hear so much about with the detrimental effects of habitat loss. Don't be scared off by the chorus of their buzz. The bees and other insects are just doing their thing. You'll be amazed how you really can work side by side without incident.

Anise Hyssop
(Agastache foeniculum)
A member of the mint family, hyssop has the typical square stem and the dense whirl of purple flowers along a spike. A bee magnet for sure. Anise hyssop has a wonderful licorice smell and flavor and while it does make a nice salve with its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, it is often used in teas and confections.


Calendula
(Calendula officinalis)
Cheery Calendula is a must have, not only because it is so useful, but because it is so easy to grow and reseeds itself. It is also a valuable companion plant for the vegetable garden. Plant this annual near beans and lettuce. Keep the flowers picked and it'll be happy to produce more and delay going to seed. Medicinally, Calendula is very well known for it's anti-inflammatory and healing properties, good for eczema, rashes, radiation redness, cuts and scrapes. Makes a good wound wash. Safe for babies, this salve makes a nice sore nipple balm during those months of breastfeeding.


Comfrey
(Symphytum officinale)
Comfrey is such a good healer for wound care that you have to watch you don't use it too soon. Puncture wounds cannot close up too quickly, as they heal from the inside out. It's name actually means "make grow together". Very useful for bone fractures. This perennial can spread out so give it room. The bees love the little purple tubular flowers and the fuzzy, rough leaves make an excellent compost tea for your gardening needs. Those large leaves are often used as a poultice for covering larger wounds.


St. Johnswort
(Hypericum perforatum)
This perennial is named for the summer solstice as it begins to flower during the month of June. Though labor intensive to pick just the yellow flowers, it's hypericin results in a deep red, crimson oil which is so worth it. Many people associate this plant as a remedy for depression which is true, but as a salve it is invaluable for any injury involving the nerves, as well as a sunburn remedy. Though planted as part of an herb garden, this plant is often seen wild in meadows and along roadsides, so be sure what you're picking has not been sprayed with herbicide.


Yarrow
(Achillea millefolium)
Yarrow is another perennial that can often be found growing wild but it can be added to your herb garden to return year after year and be divided easily to propagate. This plant makes for an awesome bug deterrent.and for healing it is very helpful for skin rashes and itchy spots. Yarrow is what is known as a styptic which means it can stop bleeding. Known as woundwort, yarrow had been indispensable for wounded soldiers on the battlefield. Containing antiseptic and analgesic properties this plant helped avoid infection and lessen pain. As an addition to the garden it's a good choice if you're interested in deer resistant plants.


Chamomile
(Matricaria Recutita) German chamomile
(Chamaemelum nobile) Roman chamomile
Though both types are great for calming anxiety, the German chamomile is better for skin conditions such as eczema and inflamed, irritated skin rashes. German chamomile is an annual that is taller and will pop up here and there, whereas the Roman chamomile is a low growing perennial. Chamomile is wonderful for relieving gas and belly pain, very safe for children. Gather the flowers for the perfect, apple scented cup of tea and go back for more to use for herbal oils. The more you pick the more they'll produce.


Plantain
(Plantago spp)
Plantain is so often a hated lawn weed because it's a space hog amidst the grass and has those tassels that for sure will escape the lawn mower blades and pop back up again. But when it comes to healing this plant is called the "mother of herbs". The astringent properties make for an excellent poultice to lay on wounds, thorns or bee stings to draw out toxins and neutralize pain. Should you get stung by a bee, quickly pick some plantain leaves, chew them into a mush, apply to the spot, and be amazed how quickly the pain diminishes.


Chickweed
(Stellaria spp)
This is another of those weeds gardeners often detest. An annual, chickweed arrives early in the growing season and can quickly creep over an entire garden. Actually, this plant is a very good springtime foraging food, very healthy and tender if picked before it gets stringy. It's often used to help loose weight. Itchy eyes during allergy season can be relieved by applying a chickweed poultice. As far as being used as a salve, this cooling herb is great for itch, rashes and bug bites.



Dandelion
(Taraxacum officinale)
Though dandelions spread their fluffy seeds every which way the wind blows, this plant is actually a deep rooted perennial. People who pull them aren't getting rid of them at all, since breaking off the root only makes it grow right back. This is a weed to most people which is a shame since dandelions are such a necessary food source for birds in early spring and such a nutritious herbal remedy. For use as a salve dandelions are very soothing for breast massage. It's properties get the body's lymphatic system moving to release fluids and relieve painful breasts during the monthly cycle.


Lemon Balm
(Melissa officinalis)
Lemon balm is wonderful for its soothing tea but did you know it's antiviral properties make it perfect for a herpes remedy. Be it from shingles, chicken pox, cold sores or genital herpes, lemon balm can help with those painful blisters during a flair-up. Best if applied at that first tingle.
If you do plant lemon balm, remember it is in the mint family and will spread. Therefore if you want to keep it where you want it, plant it in a big pot(s) and bury the pot if you'd like.


Violets
(Viola odorata)
Considered a weed by some, personally I love to see the splash of color violets add to a lawn. Also known as heart's ease, the common violet contains demulcant properties which give it significant amounts of mucilage which is what makes them so good for healing. Cooling to the skin, it reduces inflammation and relieves redness. Finding a good violet patch may prove difficult but this perennial is a treasure once established.

Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is a wild native impatiens to North America. Also called Touch-Me-Not, this wildflower is a fun plant and often one of the first people learning to identify wildflowers can easily recognize. The flowers are a speckled orange and look like little trumpets. At the end of the season, any little disturbance sends the seeds flying, much to the delight of children. The plant can often be found in the vicinity of poison ivy and stinging nettles. Break open the hollow stems and the juice is an effective relief when rubbed onto the itch resulting from poison ivy exposure. 

This plant can also be made into a great salve for the many skin miseries such as rash, bug bites, eczema as well as poison ivy, oak, sumac and nettles.

This list could easily become longer as more plants come to mind. But for now, think spring and all you want to do this season!

May Not be Going Straight but Forward Enough

As I approached this morning like every other morning, I had to share a humorous observation and perhaps offer our married children a way to handle many an aggravation between the sexes.

Take this scenario:

Hubby goes down to our basement to use the treadmill:
1. Descends the stairs
2. Lowers the treadmill for use
3. Sets his music for use
4. Walks nowhere for 45 minutes
5. Returns upstairs

Once he is done down there I think to empty last night's load of laundry in the dryer:
1. Descend those same stairs.
Notice the foot dirt and pet hair collected in the corners and grab the dust pan to clean it up.
Notice cat vomit on one of the steps so I return upstairs for a paper towel to clean it up.
2. Immediately smell the dirty litter boxes so clean up the litter boxes.
3. Grab the dust pan again to sweep up the scattered litter around the litter boxes.
4. As I throw away the bag of litter waste, I remember it is trash day tomorrow so pull the trash bag.
5. Notice that the pets' water bowl is empty so fill it.
6. Pick up a forgotten jacket thrown over the cat tree which of course was now sprinkled with cat hair
7. Pick up the now empty cat dishes from their earlier breakfast.
8. Carry the trash bag, jacket and dirty cat dishes upstairs.
9. Gather the trash from all the trash cans in other rooms and take the it up to the road.
10. Lint roller the cat hair from the jacket and hang it where it belongs.
11. Wash the dirty pet dishes
12. Go back downstairs to get that laundry from the dryer.

And the point is?

Men have an agenda in mind. They go from point A to point B...straight line

Women also have an agenda in mind. They go from point A and get detoured. Point B is reached...eventually.



There is a line from a song that goes "Don't go straight, go forward". That is kind of what it is like for a woman. She goes forward through her day but may find it impossible to simply stay on a straight path. That is because she notices everything around her at the same time! Men usually just notice what they intended on doing at that moment. That is where so many times women misunderstand men. They interpret a man's way of doing things as lazy or inconsiderate. If a woman wants her man to do something she has to write it down and post it somewhere for him as a reminder. Stop beating your head against the wall from the frustration of why you come home and find the house in the same disarray as you left it. I don't mean to generalize, since of course this doesn't apply to all males, but oftentimes men just don't notice things the way a woman does. If you want him to clean up the place he needs a detailed list of what you want done. Don't expect the typical man to notice or even care if the laundry is still in the dryer, if the dishes are still in the sink, or even if the dog's been let out to pee.

Remember the Women's March and the sea of pink hats? During the time it takes for a woman to knit something, her mind has never stopped. Just like those knitting needles in constant motion and the yarn being turned and woven in and out, a woman's mind is a swirl. That swirl makes her a whiz at multitasking but it can also allow for that swirl to gather steam and eventually explode. Kind of what is happening behind that march.

Autumn Olive Shrub, Should it Stay or Should it Go

Autumn Olive, Elaeagnus umbellata, is a deciduous shrub that is one of those plants intentionally introduced into North America from Asia for a very practical purpose. It was first brought here in 1830 but was widely planted in the 1960's along highways to revegetate road banks and prevent erosion. For areas where the soil was poor, such as land devastated from mining practices, the Autumn Olive plants improved soil quality due to its nitrogen-fixing root system.

The problem with that, as found out, was that this adversely affects the nitrogen cycle of the native plant communities that depend on infertile soils. It wouldn't be a problem if the shrubs wouldn't propagate so easily and pop up in naturalized areas, meadows and farm fields. The seeds find their way so far and wide from the droppings of birds. This is the catch. We want to provide food for wildlife and that this shrub certainly does since one bush can produce several gallons of berries a season.

Opinions differ on the attitude about the Autumn Olive shrub. Those interested in a permaculture lifestyle love this plant because it is so prolific, inexpensive to purchase or simply find in the wild to propagate. As such, it serves as a valuable food source for both people and wildlife.
Permaculture is the development of agriculture in sync with the ecosystem that is sustainable and self-sufficient. It combines the best of natural landscaping and edible landscaping.

Here is a good video on the benefits of food bearing plants.

Those seeking to create hedgerows have various reasons for doing so. Some want a low maintenance privacy hedge, others want to create a wildlife haven that will provide safety, nesting sites and food for both birds and animals. The Autumn Olive perfectly fits the bill for that purpose. It is drought resistant, winter hardy, can be pruned but doesn't have to be, and quickly fills in with its intertwining branches.

People who plant these shrubs for hedgerow privacy purposes have to be aware of the growing habits of this plant. It needs lots of space to spread out. The branches don't just grow up towards the sun like most shrubs and trees, they grow in any direction and intertwine. So if there is no intention of keeping a shape by pruning, expect them to reach a height of 20 - 30 feet high and depending on if the branches reach sideways at ground level, the shrub could be 15 - 20 feet wide.

These plants are very tough but do have the dying back of branches as the inner parts get shaded out. Working around the shrubs definitely requires thick work gloves. While there aren't actual thorns on the limbs, they are very spiny to handle.

Those who want to eradicate the plant have good reason as well since they do pose a threat to our native plants and are now on the invasive species list. 

Autumn Olive shrubs are easy to identify once you are familiar with them. The leaves form alternately on the stems and have wavy margins to their oblong shaped leaves. Flip them over and there is the tell-tale silver sheen to the undersides of the leaves. The berries are small and form clusters along the stems.



May is a wonderful time to enjoy the scent of these shrubs. The flowers are not very conspicuous, only about a half inch long, and a pale yellow to white bell shape. But they give off a sweet, exotic fragrance that can be very noticeable, but interesting is that if you just stick your nose into the bush and sniff you may not smell anything. Unless you know the source of the aroma you may not know where it is coming from.

The berries form in early August but are too sour to eat. They sweeten up as the temperatures drop and are best by October when the red berries have a speckled appearance. They can be eaten right off the bush but if you wait too long the birds will get to them first. Some people don't like them because they can be seedy, but as far as eating for nutritional purposes, they are at the top of the list of fruits high in antioxidants.

Here are two previously written blog posts on the Autumn Olive.
To Plant or Not to Plant..Learning about Invasives

The Marvels of May

Expectations and First Impressions with Natural Skin, Hair Care And Household Products

Slick advertising, the displays at cosmetic counters, the array of items in beauty supply stores, are all geared to convince the consumer that if they use this or that product it'll enhance their looks, confidence, love lives, even careers.

Take shampoo and conditioners for example.
The purpose of shampoo is to clean the hair. But in order for the consumer to choose one product over another, the shampoo must meet certain criteria. It has to be creamy and thick when poured from the bottle, it has to lather nicely and rinse out sufficiently. The ingredients must remain blended and have an appealing color and scent. The results have to leave a clean head without drying out the hair or irritating the scalp. Conditioners are expected to help comb out the tangles of wet hair. They are expected to add volume, body and shine without making the hair look greasy. Manufacturers don't expect consumers to understand the chemistry behind balancing the pH of our skin, hair and our water with the product, so they add what is needed to adjust the pH so their products don't cause hair to feel gunky. No one thinks about a soap product going bad but wherever you introduce water there is the risk of bacteria and mold growth. No one thinks about how long a bottle has been sitting on the store shelf. Manufacturers don't want the customer to think about those things, much less worry about it. Preservatives are added so there isn't a reason to think a personal care product would have an expiration date. Finally, the shampoo and conditioner have to be accomplish all that and still be affordable.

Let's face it, we as consumers have a lot of expectations and first impressions stick!

The decision to steer away from commercially made beauty products usually stems from scalp or skin sensitivity, allergies, the frustration with not getting the results promised from the product labeling, or from the growing awareness of the potentially toxic chemicals added to skin and hair care products.
Watch this eye opening documentary which reveals just how dangerous chemicals are in our personal care and household products. Stink It all started with a father inquiring as to why the pajamas he bought for his daughters had such a strong chemical smell. He suspected it was more than just the usual advice to wash before wearing new clothing.

Emulsifiers, preservatives, solvents, stabilizers, thickeners, humectants, foaming agents and fragrances are all used to achieve what we've come to expect in our products. So when we go the all natural route we still expect the product to look, smell and function the same way, which is where attitude has to change.

A perfect example is with the castile soap so often used in homemade shampoos and body washes. Soaps and detergents are not the same thing. Both are what are called surfactants, which means a washing compound that mixes grease and water. The purpose is to act as a solvent in removing oils and dirt. Soap is made with fats originating from either animals or vegetable sources. This fat is combined with an alkali to create what is called saponification. All soaps are made with some form of alkali (Potassium Hydroxide). Soaps are made of natural materials and have much less impact on the environment (and our skin). Detergents on the other hand excel at removing oil and dirt but in doing so can strip hair and skin of its natural oils. Detergents are synthetic, therefore have a much greater impact as they accumulate in the environment.

People expect their shampoos, facial cleanses and body washes to lather. A foamy lather is what we associate with clean. Castile soap is an olive oil/coconut oil based soap made without additional chemicals, coloring agents, preservatives and artificial scents. This soap is not a detergent, and although it is without foaming agents and will not form a billow of suds, it will give you a creamy, very sufficient lather. Without thickening agents, though very concentrated, it doesn't have the thick pouring consistency we may expect. Being a soap product, the pH is more alkaline than our skin (which is more acidic between 4.0 and 6.0). Therefore, using only castile soap the consumer may have better results with a water softener which helps balance out the chemistry involved. Or else, as with this shampoo, the pH is better balanced out with the addition of aloe vera gel.

Castile and Aloe Shampoo

Castile and Aloe Body Wash

Don't expect homemade, holistic-geared facial washes to be like what you may be accustomed to in a cleansing face wash. Without potentially irritating ingredients like sodium laureth sulfate, the wash won't have much of a lather. Since suds and clean are correlated, the customer may feel her face isn't really clean. That assumption is not the case. Detergent based cleansers do such a good job at cleaning oil and dirt that they may leave the skin feeling taut and dry afterwards. Clean does not mean the natural oils need to be stripped away. In doing so only results in upsetting skin pH and sedum production. Too oily or too dry hair and skin are often the result of this imbalance.

Many homemade, natural skin and body care items will instruct the user to "shake before use". This is because of another lesson in chemistry. Anyone who makes their own salad dressing knows that oil and water just don't mix. You can shake it to temporarily blend them but they will separate within a short time. This incompatibility of water and oils can be overcome by agitation which disperses the molecules and generates what is called an emulsion. Emulsifiers help to stabilize those molecules so they don't separate and the product stays blended. The technical terms are molecules consisting of a water-loving (hydrophilic) part and a water-hating but oil-loving (lipophilic) part. Emulsifiers can be natural or synthetic. A very common type used in shampoos, toners and lotions is Polysorbate 20. This starts out natural but has added ethylene oxide. The Skin Safe Database rates it as a low risk but it can be irritating to people with skin problems.

The Aloe Rose Facial Wash is a perfect example. When blended it'll look uniform but once it settles there will be three layers, the rosewater on the bottom, the aloe in the middle and the olive oil floats on the top. Shaking it up before each use re-blends these three ingredients.

Aloe/Rosewater/Olive oil Facial Cleanse

Honey/Glycerin Facial Wash

Most consumers have the belief that if an ingredient in a product passed by the FDA is harmful than it wouldn't be allowed in that product. The problem is that while it may be true that the amounts used in the products are not at a high enough level to pose a threat, the fact that we use a multitude of various body care and make-up items on a daily basis is where there is reason for concern. Our kidneys and liver do their best to eliminate toxins but those stored in the fatty tissues accumulate over time, and that accumulation may have long term negative affects. The body reacts by way of allergic and inflammatory reactions.

Anyone who has gone through the frustrations of figuring out the cause of skin rashes and itchiness knows how overwhelming it can be to start eliminating foods or deciphering topical skin care products to find out what is to blame for the problem. Atopic dermatitis is the diagnosis code often given to people for their misery, which is a vague way of saying something is irritating the skin but we have to find out what is that something. Steroidal creams and prednisolone are used to calm down the inflammation and itch but until the origin of the problem is pinpointed the cycle will continue.

Unlike the food industry, labeling laws for the cosmetic and perfume industry are very vague. There are no legal standards for even products labeled as natural and organic. This is where consumers need to take it upon themselves to be knowledgeable in their choices. By seeking small business owners and companies that believe simple is best and go back to basics with their products, consumers can feel much more comfortable with the things they use on themselves, children and pets.

So as in many things in life, attitude is everything. It isn't that big a deal to shake a bottle before use to re-blend the oil and liquid portions or to remix the essential oils floating on top of that body or air spray. If your all natural shampoo or body wash isn't as thick as you'd like for pouring, request a foam pump dispenser be used instead of the usual pump top. Even those lotions that may look spoiled because the oil has separated out and is floating on the water portion can be given a good shake to re-blend them.

Keep in mind the saying "It is what it is".

Natural ingredients have their own properties, color, smell and texture. 

 Face creams containing an oil will be oil based, therefore may take longer to soak in. Lotions contain a greater amount of water therefore will be a thinner consistency than a cream. Dehydrated skin that needs the water will greatly benefit from lotions because it needs the hydration. Creams are awesome moisturizers too but the skin needs to first be hydrated from the inside out. Once the skin is more balanced then creams and butters can hold in that moisture. That is why drinking enough water is so important. You can slather all the cream and butters in the world onto parched, dry skin but unless the body is able to retain and be more in balance you'll feel the need to continuously reapply. Body butters containing no water can have arrowroot powder added to cut the oily feel but being made up of liquid and/or solid oils, body butters will be rich and take a bit to rub and soak into the skin. But they are fantastic for protecting skin from losing moisture.

 When a product is described as being scent-free, it means there has been no added fragrance or essential oils. The other ingredients may have their own distinct scent which cannot be avoided. Honey, olive oil, shea butter, coconut oil, unrefined oils, vegetable glycerin, aloe vera gel...all of these can contribute to the scent of the final product even without adding anything such as essential oils.

 Body and air sprays contain distilled water, alcohol (helps shelf life) and essential oils. The alcohol does help dissolve the essential oils into the solution but without an emulsifier to keep the essential oils in suspension they may float to the top. Therefore it is important to shake the bottle before using. 

 Tooth powders and pastes are made with salts, baking soda and clays. Therefore the result may taste a bit like salt. Clays have an earthy color so the toothpaste may be an unappealing brown color. But it is what it is.

Coconut oil melts at 75 degrees Fahrenheit and hardens in cold temperatures, therefore during the summer months anything containing coconut oil may arrive (due to shipping temperatures) in a softened or even melted state. Just put it in the refrigerator to firm up. During the winter months the product may arrive too firm. Just let it come to room temperature to soften. Items with these issues include the hair conditioner,  deodorants and toothpastes.

Shea butter is the main ingredient in the body butters. Shea butter also softens during the heat of the summer. Shipping temperatures may result in the body butter losing its "fluff". Just use as is (it is fine) or use a whisk to rewhip air back into the butter.

 Flea powders contains diatomaceous earth, yarrow powder and neem powder. These ingredients can be irritating to the lungs so if shaken onto the pet and it seems to fly around as powders tend to do, it may be annoying but again it is what it is. Expect that and be careful not to dump too much at a time.

As far as preservatives needed, no product put onto or into your bodies should be formulated to be able to sit on a store shelf for months on end. Items should be made as needed and used within a few months. If care is taken such as using clean fingers, kept out of the sun, keep out water, your creams, lotions, body sprays, massage oils, bath oils all should be fine until used up. Though not antimicrobials, natural preservatives such as vitamin E to help keep oils from oxidizing, Grapefruit Seed Extract to help keep bacterial growth at bay and the antibacterial and antifungal properties of essential oils are usually sufficient. None of us need formaldehyde in our bodies.

 Below is a great link to help you learn about chemicals added to common everyday products.
Get the scoop on the different chemicals in your everyday household and personal care products!


Meadow Muffin Gardens
website
Etsy shop

Hornets, Feared yet Fascinating

My dogs have brought me some interesting gifts over the years, but when our Marley came up from the field with a hornet nest in his mouth it got my attention pretty quick. By late October, the bee activity is slowing down and since he didn't look any worse for wear, perhaps he didn't pay a price for disturbing the nest. Below is what was left of it, and I have to admit, its construction is pretty interesting. It looked like several paper wasp nests stacked upon one another. The outer covering was missing which is a protection that the nests of paper wasps don't have.



There was one solitary wasp still in one of the cells. From the looks of it, it appears to be a bald-faced hornet. In the picture below it is in the center, a bit to the right. Just the back end is showing.

Bald-faced Hornet
Dolichovespula maculata
cosmopolitan family Vespidae

There is confusion when identifying these insects. The only species of a true hornet in the United States is the European or brown hornet (Vespa crabro). The insect that is really a wasp, but usually thought of as a hornet, is the bald-faced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata). The bald-faced hornet is actually a yellow jacket. All of the yellow jackets in the genus Dolichovespula build nests in bushes, trees and sides of buildings, and produce the grey papery nests.

The insect we usually think of when we say yellow jackets build both above and below ground nests, underground more often. Other differences include:
Hornets are 1 - 1 1/2 inches long, whereas yellow jackets are an inch or smaller.
Hornet nests can have 100 to 500 workers, while yellow jacket nests can have up to 5000 workers.
Hornets are black and white, jellow jackets are a variety of coloration.
Hornets feed on other insects and are not attracted by sweets, yellow jackets prey on insects too but are scavengers and like sweets.
Hornets are very aggressive and will sting over and over, but usually do so only if the nest is bothered or they are provoked.
Yellow jackets are also very aggressive, but paper wasps are not likely to sting unless threatened.

Paper wasp

Yellow jacket

The Bald-faced hornets have an interesting life cycle. All the workers die off by November, except for the fertilized queens. In the spring, queens that have overwintered in areas of protection such as hollow trees and rock piles, become active and begin to build a nest. She collects cellulose from rotting wood, chews the wood and by adding her saliva, she makes a paste. With that paste she makes a papery material to construct the nest, starting with the stem and enough brood cells to begin egg laying. She feeds the hatching larvae and these young will take over the duties of nest building, food collection, feeding the larvae and protecting the nest. The queen then never leaves the nest and her purpose is to lay eggs. As the colony grows there may be from 100 to 400 workers.

The chosen spots for the nest can be a few feet off the ground in shrubs or way up in the trees. They are a grey color and can reach two feet in height and a foot across. There have been several occasions where towards the end of the summer season and the leaves are starting to die back, I'll suddenly notice a huge nest in an area I've been mowing past or working around without incident all summer long. A little unsettling to think what could've happened had they felt threatened.

Bald-faced hornets can be considered a beneficial insect in that they feed on insect proteins, therefore reducing the populations of unwanted insects.
As the season progresses and there are fewer larvae to feed, the workers will take nectar, so do help with pollination.
With the arrival of fall and the first hard frost, all the workers die off except for the fertilized queens that will leave the nest and seek protection for the winter. The nests are not reused the following spring.

It is wise to have the utmost respect for hornets and unless the nest is in an area where there is a good chance of disturbing them, it is best to just leave them alone. 

If you do discover a hornet or wasp nest there are a few ways to handle them. Since the workers will die off with the arrival of the cold season, if it is already near fall, try to just use caution around the nest and leave it alone. If the nest is high up in the trees, there is little chance it would become a threat anyway.

If the decision is to remove the nest there are options:
Commercial sprays can be used to kill them. If you choose this route and try to do it yourself, wait until evening when the wasps are all back in the nest and are quiet. Follow the instructions on the can. If over the next few days you still see activity, you may need to repeat the application.

A way to get rid of the nest without using chemicals is to wait until evening and very slowly and carefully cover the nest with a plastic bag. Leave as little opening at the top as possible and cut the branch holding the nest. Moving slowly, relocate the nest to an out of the way area or to kill them, place the bag in the freezer or lay it in the hot sun. They'll die within a day or two. Be aware that even though the nest is basically quiet at night there is still the risk of getting stung since there are wasps on guard near the entrance hole.



Information for this post came from:
Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences Extension Office
Orkin