Lavender Lip Balm

   Friday I tried my hand at making lavender lip balm. Many of the books I have been reading in preparation for beekeeping have chapters in the back of the books with recipes for cooking with honey and also crafting with beeswax. If you are thinking of only beeswax candles, you are missing many other cosmetic uses for beeswax, as I found out. Since my plan is to plant a large garden of lavender plants this spring ( when the snow finally dissipates ) I looked for recipes using beeswax, honey and lavender. This recipe for Lavender-Shea lip balm was easy to make, and the final product is amazing. Not too greasy but really soft and lightly scented. My weather beaten lips became softer with just one application! The only down side was the clean-up, since the beeswax hardens so quickly. I  recommend having measuring spoons and measuring cups reserved just for this project, because the oils are strong and tend to linger on the spoons and they needed numerous washings. Tins, tubes or pots are available online for a few cents a piece at numerous sites. I ordered all my supplies from Rose Mountain Herbs and Bulk Apothecary because I wanted organic ingredients, but there are other great sites for supplies for this type of craft. I'm looking forward to making other lip balms in different flavors. I can't wait to be able to use my own farm's beeswax though. If you feel adventurous and want to try making this lip balm, here is the recipe for Lavender-Shea lip balm.

1 Tablespoon Shea butter
2 Tablespoons Sweet Almond Oil
1 Tablespoon Organic Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Beeswax
15-20 drops organic Lavender essential oil
A few drops of vitamin E oil

Lip balm preparation- I used beeswax pastilles, so I did not have to grate beeswax off of a block of beeswax. Much easier! Place Beeswax, Shea butter, Olive oil, and Sweet Almond oil in a glass Pyrex measuring cup and place in upper half of a double boiler. Gently heat these ingredients until melted. Remove from heat and add vitamin E oil and Lavender essential oil. Pour this mixture immediately into your tins or whatever containers you decide to use. When entirely cool, put lids on your containers. This recipe makes 1.5 ounce lip balms in a quantity of 10 containers. Once you use this lip balm you will never go back to store bought chap sticks again, and most importantly you know you are using pure products on your lips and no chemicals!

Everything needed to make lip balm

The finished product

Let There be Bees

   There is no turning back, the bees have been ordered! As of Tuesday morning The Farm at Mill Village will officially be getting a package of Italian honey bees the first week in May. Italian honey bees are what is most prevalent in home gardens in the United States, and also a gentle bee recommended for beginner beekeepers. Oh, that is so me! My beekeeping class has been moved up to the first week in April and will be ending on April 28th, so I decided to order the bees this year. Why wait? The class was originally going to commence at the end of May, and with the bees arriving the first week of May I was hesitant to have the bees before completing the class. I ordered the bees and supplies through the Vermont Beekeeping Supply and they also offer numerous free beekeeping classes throughout the whole year, so I am feeling way more confident and excited about my new venture. Maybe this will be the year we get peaches on our peach trees if the bees do their job of pollinating the peach blossoms. I have high hopes for a greater abundance of fruit, vegetable crops, and flowers in the gardens with the help of the bees, not to mention the honey and beeswax the bees will supply us with. We are getting a small English garden hive with a pitched copper roof which I think will look charming in the garden.
   Our new bunnies, Patrick and Peter, are growing by leaps and bounds. It's so amazing how baby animals grow so quickly. They are enjoying their warm little spot in the house for now. They love cuddling up and sleeping together and I am so glad we decided to get the two of them for company for each other.

Peter and Patrick now 10 weeks old

 

And speaking of babies, our baby chicks will be here in two weeks. When I ordered them from the feed store weeks ago it seemed like forever before they would be here. So I guess spring should be arriving soon as well. Charlotte, our pregnant ewe, is also growing by leaps and bounds with the impending birth of her lamb on or near Easter Sunday. Less than a month to go! We still have so much snow here, but the sun is getting brighter and warmer and the days are getting longer. Spring must be right around the snow covered corner!

When will the snow go away?

 

Needle felted baby chick I made this week.

Please check our website for more needle felted birds at www.thefarmatmillvillage.com

 

Meet Patrick and Peter

   The Farm at Mill Village has two new babies to welcome spring. Meet Patrick and Peter.

They are brothers who are nine weeks old and just as cute as can be. We went on St. Patrick's Day to pick up our first bunny, hence the name Patrick. By the next morning I felt it would be a lonely life for Patrick, so we went back to pick up Peter, named after my Grandfather and coincidently "Peter Rabbit". The only complication is that in order to keep two males together they will need to be neutered at four months old, or run the risk of them fighting. Male rabbits will also spray urine like a male cat if not neutered. So it is off to the vet for Patrick and Peter in a few weeks. We have always kept rabbits, but this is the first time we have decided to keep two together and opt for surgery. For now they are very happy to be together and enjoy each others company. These are by far the friendliest bunnies we have ever had, loving to be picked up and cuddled and I am more that happy to indulge them. Who could resist? When the warm weather arrives, if the warm weather arrives, they will be going outside to a large rabbit hutch where they will have plenty of room to run back and forth all day long. For now they are in an indoor rabbit cage in a corner of our living room enjoying the activities of family living.
Happy first day of Spring and thanks for reading my blog!

Patrick enjoying his breakfast

Peter trying to take a nap but Patrick wants to play

Spring Chirping

   Have you noticed the birds chirping lately? I have a pair of cardinals who nested and raised a family of three in a bush in our yard last year. Well, they seem to be thinking of doing the same this year. Every morning just as the sky begins to lighten up I hear them calling back and forth to each other. I'm not sure what this ritual means, but the bright red male cardinal sits on the very top branch of the highest tree on our property and calls out to the female. I love it! But why does it have to be the tallest tree? I wonder. The gold finches were at my bird feeder yesterday chatting away in the sunshine as well. Although the gold finches have fed at my bird feeders all winter they just seemed to chirp now and then, yesterday was the first I had heard them doing their little giggle and chatty talk that you hear them call in the spring and summer. It is so great to hear the birds announcing that spring is on the way! And now I am seeing robins everywhere.
   It is time to put my "lambing kit" together for Charlotte's lamb delivery next month. All the things you need for the impending birth of a new lamb. Things you will need, and items to assist in the birthing that you hope you will never need! So with the old adage "better to be safe than sorry" it is every shepherd's job to have everything on hand for the  "just in case" scenario. I'm praying I will only need lots of towels to dry off the little lamb and my camera to take lots of pictures. That would be perfect.
   I've finally used up all my carrots from last year's harvest. My frozen basil supply is just about depleted, as are my beets stored in my cellar. I seem to have only frozen green beans left (which I am sick of) and about 1/4 of the onions I stored away. I think the onions and basil were my most "go to crops" this winter, so I will plan accordingly for this year's garden for use next winter. No green beans!
   This past week I have had quite a time keeping the sheep from trying to eat Francesca's duck feed in her duck house. George and Martha are the main offenders, but Charlotte and Francis are more than willing to follow their lead. They think nothing of squeezing into the duck house for a snack. It is really a tight squeeze with a year's worth of wool on, but they manage to do it. We had a Jersey cow who figured out how to open the door to the nesting boxes in the chicken coop to inspect the eggs, then she would slam the door shut again. All day long... bam, bam, bam. I wanted a farm to have the pleasure of raising animals, not to be yelling " get out of the duck house" or "leave the eggs alone." It is funny though and makes life interesting.

George squeezing into the duck house for a snack- yes, he gets all the way in!

Why isn't George in the barn eating hay? He's in the duck house!!

 

My new favorite garden find. A 1940s repro tin can of Nutscene garden twine from Great Britain. I hate to use- it is so cute!

 

March is here!

   We are into March now and I have high hopes for warmer weather, unfortunately the long range forecasts are calling for a colder than average March. My sister recently sent me a quote which I intend to live by this month, "Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I will be patient awaiting spring!
   My seeds I planted last weekend for the flower cutting garden are sprouting and already growing. I have flats of flower seedlings all over my laundry room because it is such a sunny, warm room for starting seeds. Kind of a chaotic scene, but who cares, the plants are my harbingers of spring.

Stocks for the flower garden

 

   The sheep are tired of the barn and try ( and sometimes succeed ) to make a break for it when I open the back door of the barn to take out food and water to the chickens and duck. I try to let them out when it is not too blustery or hovering around zero, but they seem to get a little taste of the great outdoors and want more. Who can blame them? When they are outside they are eating the bark off of the old apple trees in the field, which I fear may be detrimental to the old trees. The chickens are bored as well, and can even be heard bickering in their coop. Believe me, the animals want spring just as much as, if not more, than we humans do.

Bickering hens

Scrambled eggs, fried eggs, poached eggs, egg salad, eggs Benedict...

Francesca spends most of the coldest days sitting in a heated bowl of water, she says "that's living."





  
   With the high today to be only 15 degrees and tonight's temperature around minus 18, I think it will be a perfect day to put on a pot of Country French Beef Stew. It is a perfect "warm you up " meal, takes only one pot to cook in, and smells so delicious while cooking. What more could you want on such a frigid day? My husband and I will enjoy this meal tonight in front of the fire in our living room with a loaf of homemade bread ( courtesy of my Zojirushi bread machine). Try this recipe- it is guaranteed to warm you up!

Country French Beef Stew: Makes 6 servings

Ingredients-

1/2 cup dry navy beans
4 cups water
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 pounds boneless stew beef
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion cut into thin wedges
3 cloves garlic minced
2/3 cup dry red wine
14 1/2 ounce can beef broth
1 cup chopped tomato
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 medium carrots cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Rinse beans. In a large saucepan combine beans and 4 cups water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse beans.
Place flour and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in plastic bag. Add beef pieces a few at a time, shaking to coat. In a 4-6 quart dutch oven brown half of the beef in one Tablespoon of the hot oil; remove beef. Add remaining oil, remaining beef, onion, and garlic to dutch oven. Cook until beef is brown and onion is tender.
Stir in wine, scraping until the brown bits are dissolved. Return all beef to dutch oven. Stir in beans, broth, tomato, and dried thyme. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered for 1 1/2 hours. Add carrots return to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer covered for at least 30 more minutes or until carrots and beef are ultra- tender. Garnish with fresh parsley.