Wacky Weekends...

So the weekend has come & almost gone already...where does the time go?

I started the seeds for our garden (YEA! I accomplished something more than laundry), B-Real & his dad tilled up the front yard (we had our front yard dug up this winter & had to replace our sewer pipes...blech!), and I am going to be trying my hand at some sugar scrubs...which I am VERY excited about! The first 2 batches of soaps are almost ready to sell; I just need to trim, then weigh, then "package".

Our first batch was an "unscented" style vegan soap. The second batch was Chai Tea with Vanilla & Cinnamon vegan soap...only I don't think I added enough fragrance to them...the natural oils have a pretty strong scent of their own, and I aired on the side of caution...didn't want anything that was too over powering in the scent department. Here is a sneak peek of the soaps:

This is our "unscented" vegan soap...smells wonderfully natural!

Chai Tea with Vanilla & Cinnamon Vegan Soap



The photos aren't the greatest...but the soap is curing in the furnace/wine room. There is only one light in the entire room...but here is a photo of some of B-Reals wine:

From left: Strawberry Wine, Garlic Wine



Now I know what your thinking...GARLIC WINE!!?!?! Actually it is for cooking or marinades, and it is VERY "garlicy"!  He also has a large batch of grape wine (it is to the left of the Strawberry Wine in the brown grocery bag). Now all he has to do is stabilize the wine, and we can bottle it! :)

Hopefully tomorrow I will get my butt in gear & make some gooseberry jam...mmmm...my mouth is watering just thinking about it! I'm sure there are lots of people out there that are thinking...what the heck is a gooseberry??

Well, it is a SUPER tart berry, and the only reason I love them so much is because my Grandma & Grandpa Z had two huge bushes of gooseberries...and Grammy Z would make the most DELICIOUS gooseberry pie! The crust was melt in your mouth, with sugar sprinkled on top, then the juicy plump gooseberry sauce in the middle....sweet yet tart...  Oh how I miss my Grammy Z & her AMAZING baked goods! She would bake things from scratch, with NO recipe, and I never learned how to make her pie crust. I am however a 'Champion of Jams' (I gave the title to myself), and my gooseberry jam on a fresh baked biscuit is as close I will every get to Grammy Z's legendary gooseberry pie!

But I digress...I have begun to ramble. Well, I really should get back to the grind & finish at least today's to-do list. :)

Oh...for those of you that have stuck in there throughout the rambling, and have found yourself at the end of this blog post...here is your treat! Each weekend (til the end of April) we will be offering a coupon code...all you have to do is enter  TGIW20  in the coupon code section @ checkout @ you will receive 20% off your entire purchase! :) 

Have a wonderful day!

Cheers,

Jess

Nutshell Farms

"Urban" Farming

So we have "officially" drawn out the gardening plan! YEAH! We are much more prepared, and organized (thankfully) this year! Each year that we have had a garden; or grow anything here on the farm, we have learned something new...mostly through trial & error...and some research.

We have our Heirloom seeds (this will be the very first year we use ALL heirloom seeds), and the garden is mapped out on paper. Now all we have to do is: start the seedlings, make the paper planting pots, till the gardens, lay the brick walkways...and plant away! :) That seems like a LOT of things to do, but we have a few weeks before we will be putting everything in the ground.

B-Real & I have stumbled across some excellent articles on the "Urban Farming Movement". While we do call it "the Farm"...Nutshell Farms is found with in the city limits of our small Northwest Ohio town. We have huge stacks of cut wood for our wood burning stove (which we heat our entire house with), 2 large garden spaces, a strawberry patch, apple tree, pear tree, and at the back of the lot we have a palatial chicken coop with an outdoor run. So as an homage to the Urban Farming Movement, and to all those self-sustainer's out there...here are some of my top picks from Etsy today! :)

Herb Barn   $475.00

created by: ECOGRO

Deluxe DIY Cheese Kit  $50.00

created by: Urban Cheese Craft

Rustic Stoneware Garden Markers  $24.00

created by:  Fenster Blau Studio

Seed Bombs  $21.00

created by: Visual Lingual

Well, thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to check out todays featured shops for more great products! :)

Cheers,

Jess

Nutshell Farms

WFH - Trying to make this work...

So it's been another couple of months since I have last posted. I have all these grandious ideas of blogging, and blog ideas/topics/etc...but I just haven't been putting them "down on paper" so to speak. Since I am trying this WFH (work from home) thing, maybe my delusions of grandure will actually come to fruition!?!

Since I am home so much more now (and spend ENTIRELY too much time online), I will be trying to maintain the blog at least every few days. We have loads of new items in the shop, more items coming soon, craft & vendor shows lined up, and tons of ideas for great blogs! :) 

Won't you join us on this adventure that we call life...and possibley buy some great handmade items? ;) 

Here are some of our newest items:

The Rise & Shine   $11.50

An Apple a Day  $7

A Day at the Beach  $50

Those are just some of the newest items listed, more everyday! Thanks for having a look!

Cheers,

Jess

Nutshell Farms