Sunny Calendula Goat’s Milk Soap

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Dave @ HappyAcres

The cheery orange or yellow blossoms of Calendula (Calendula officianalis) are a familiar sight in many gardens, including ours here at Happy Acres. A native to the Mediterranean area, the Latin name Calendula refers to the fact that in mild climates it blooms every month of the year, while officianalis means that it is used in the practice of medicine. Those colorful flowers have powerful anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects that have made it a prized plant for centuries.

Calendula flower

Calendula flower

Calendula makes a beautiful display in the garden, and it’s easy to grow even if you don’t have a green thumb. It blooms prolifically from spring until frost, and a few plants will keep you supplied in plenty of blossoms. We dry calendula flowers in the dehydrator for later use throughout the year. Our Sunny Calendula Goat’s Milk Soap starts with dried calendula flowers, which are used to make an infused oil. And a few of the dried flowers are also ground up to add a little extra color to the soap.

Sunny Calendula Soap

Sunny Calendula Soap

The calendula infused oil can be made in either a few hours or a few weeks, depending on the method you use. If you’re in a hurry to use the oil, choose the hot infused method. And even if you don’t grow your own calendula, the dried flowers are available from a number of sources including Mountain Rose Herbs and Bramble Berry. I’ll have links to more information about growing calendula and making the infused oil at the end of this post.

dried Calendula flowers

dried Calendula flowers

For use in soap, I like to infuse the calendula in olive oil. This soap recipe calls for a little over six ounces of infused olive oil (180 grams), so be sure and use a bit more than that when infusing, since some of the oil will be absorbed by the flowers. Nine or ten ounces of oil should do it, and if you have any left over after making the soap you can keep it on hand for other uses. Calendula oil can be used on the skin to help heal minor cuts and scrapes, and for insect bites and skin irritations.

cold infusing calendula

cold infusing calendula

In addition to the calendula infused olive oil, this recipe uses goat’s milk instead of water for a liquid. Goat’s milk is loaded with vitamins and nutrients that are great for your skin, and adding it to cold process soap helps make a wonderful lather as well. I like to freeze the goat’s milk first in an ice cube tray. Freezing the milk helps keep it from scorching when it reacts to the lye, and I find the cubes easier to deal with than a big chunk of frozen goat’s milk.

calendula flowers

calendula flowers

This soap features a blend of olive, coconut and castor oils, plus 20% shea butter. Goat’s milk is used for its moisturizing and emollient properties as well as for the smooth and creamy lather. We use a small amount (up to 5%) of castor oil in most all of our soaps for its moisturizing and lathering properties. The soap is naturally colored orange by the calendula. We chose to add a blend of lemongrass and coriander essential oils for a spicy lemon scent, but you can choose your own fragrance or leave the soap unscented.

Please refer to the cold process instructions here if you are new to making soap. Always take the proper safety precautions (we wear rubber gloves and goggles when mixing and making the soap).

Sunny Calendula Goat’s Milk Soap Print This Recipe Print This Recipe
(A Happy Acres original)

Calendula Infused Olive Oil – 180 grams (40%)

Coconut Oil – 157.5 grams (35%)

Shea Butter – 90 grams (20%)

Castor Oil – 22.5 grams (5%)

Frozen Goat’s Milk – 171 grams

Lye – 63 grams  (7% superfat)

Added at light trace:

1 tsp finely ground dried calendula flowers

2 tsp lemongrass essential oil

2 tsp coriander essential oil

This recipe is for a 1 lb/450g batch (oil weight) of soap. We ran this recipe through a soap/lye calculator, and you should always run your recipes too before making them. This one at SoapCalc is our favorite.

NOTE: This soap is superfatted/discounted at 7%

For more recipes and soap information, check out my wife’s Soap Recipe page. I’ll be back soon with more adventures. Until then, Happy Growing (and soaping) from Happy Acres!

For more information about growing calendula and making calendula infused oil, check out the following:

Saturday Spotlight: Growing Calendula

Homemade: Calendula Infused Oil

 

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Monday Recap: Promises of Spring

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Dave @ HappyAcres

The calendar says it is March, which is supposed to be the meteorological start to spring. However the weather itself must have missed getting that email, and dumped us with another load of snow last week. I measured a little over 7 inches, and we were lucky it wasn’t more since about 50 miles south of us they got over 20 inches. Then the cold air came in right behind the snow, making for daytime high temps around 20°F on Thursday. The average high in our area in early March is over 50°F, and you don’t have to be a math major to see we were 30 degrees below normal!

March snowfall

March snowfall

Of course, what’s normal anymore when it comes to the weather? I know folks from colder climates may well be saying “welcome to our world”, but it has brought some unusual challenges to gardening here. I am prepared for the greenhouse door to be snowed in, but I know I can shovel a clearing to get it open. But I was totally unprepared to get inside the greenhouse and find my potting soil was all frozen in big chunks! I had to bring it inside the house to thaw. While I was at it, I brought in a few small pots and a couple of plug flats so I will have what I need to start some seeds.

young Baby Oakleaf lettuce plants

young Baby Oakleaf lettuce plants

Once I had usable potting soil, I transplanted some seedlings I had started back in February. I now have parsley, arugula and lettuce going, as well as some Senposai and Mizspoona greens. Now I hope the cold frame bed will be thawed in a couple of weeks so I have a place to plant them! The seeds I started included broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi and a bit of spring kale. I’m also giving broccoli raab a try again, and hopefully this time I will figure out how I like it in the kitchen. This week I will start some peppers and petunias, with tomatoes to follow soon after.

kohlrabi seedlings

kohlrabi seedlings

The snow wasn’t all bad though. It gave my wife the raw material she needed to do some snow dyeing. I had a heavy white short sleeve t-shirt made by Comfort Colors I gave her to dye for me. I chose a green shade of dye (yucca). Can you tell I am ready for spring? I’ll take a green shirt until I see green in the garden. With snow dyeing you never know exactly how the colors will turn out, and I love the look on this one. I could wear it out in the garden, and hide amongst the foliage! The photo doesn’t really do the shirt justice.

snow dyed t-shirt

snow dyed t-shirt

It was my wife’s turn to cook last week. For one meal she stuffed some chicken breasts with a mix that included spinach and feta cheese. The spinach came from the freezer, some of our spring crop. To go with the chicken, we cut up a North Georgia Candy Roaster squash into slices, tossed with some oil and salt, and then baked them.

North Georgia Candy Roaster squash

North Georgia Candy Roaster squash

We both agreed that the squash was pretty much unremarkable, and lacked flavor. It was so bad, the leftovers wound up on the compost pile. We have too many good tasting winter squashes left that I would rather eat instead. We saw lots and lots of them last fall at the Ashville, NC farmer’s market, so I know they are popular. And I know this is supposed to be a tasty squash, but the only one I harvested last year left much to be desired, and I won’t grow this C. maxima type again this year. The baked stuffed chicken breasts are a favorite of mine though, even though dairy doesn’t always agree with me.

North Georgia Candy Roaster squash with baked chicken breasts

North Georgia Candy Roaster squash with baked chicken breasts

She also served up pita pizza for dinner last night, and that featured fresh arugula and spinach from the greenhouse. The spinach has really started growing in there, and we have enough for a salad or two already.

spinach and arugula for pizza

spinach and arugula for pizza

I hope you have enjoyed seeing some of what’s going on here in early March. To see what others are harvesting and cooking up, visit Daphne’s Dandelions where Daphne hosts Harvest Mondays. I’ll be back soon with more happening from Happy Acres.

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Featured Cooking Bean: Good Mother Stallard

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Dave @ HappyAcres

This year I am on a mission to cook and eat as many different varieties of beans as possible. This is another in a series about my observations about those beans.

Good Mother Stallard is a dry shelling bean that I have grown for the last two years now. It is a pole bean with a vining habit, and a sturdy support system is advised if you are growing it. The pods turn a creamy white color as they mature, and inside there are 5-6 plump, maroon and white colored beans that can be harvested at the fresh shell or dry bean stage. With our hot humid summer weather, I generally harvest them before they are completely dry, and finish the drying process indoors where conditions are more favorable.

Good Mother Stallard beans

Good Mother Stallard beans

There is not much history available about this great tasting bean. It took a bit of digging to find that they are a family heirloom that was sent to Glenn Drowns at Sand Hill Preservation Center many years ago. The Seed Savers Exchange credits him for introducing this variety to their members back in the early 2000’s, according to their online listing for the bean. I think I first heard about this bean from fellow blogger Lynn at Wood Ridge. She is also a fan of this bean, and you can read her 2010 post on Good Mother Stallard as well.

Good Mother Stallard beans

Good Mother Stallard beans

In the kitchen, the beans lose their vivid colors when cooked, but hold their shape well. In my experience, almost none of them fall apart during cooking. This makes them an excellent soup bean, as well as for salads or pasta dishes.

cooked Good Mother Stallard beans

cooked Good Mother Stallard beans

In the book Heirloom Beans, bean grower extraordinaire Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo says it’s one of the first beans he reaches for in the pantry. I have used this versatile bean in several different soups, including vegetable soup and the bean and barley soup in the below photo. Like most dry beans, they freeze well after cooking, which makes it convenient when you’re in a hurry and don’t have the time to cook up a pot of beans.

bean and barley soup with kale

bean and barley soup with kale

They work well in dishes that might call for a borlotti or cranberry bean, such as the classic Italian Pasta Fagioli. If you look closely in the below photo of my version of Pasta e Fagioli, you can still see some of the markings on the beans even after cooking. Their rich and meaty taste also makes them great on their own as a side dish.

Pasta e Fagioli with Good Mother Stallard beans

Pasta e Fagioli with Good Mother Stallard beans

Seeds for growing this variety are available from several sources in the U.S. including Baker Creek and the Seed Savers Exchange. You can buy the beans for cooking from Rancho Gordo, Elegant Beans and Beyond, and the Seed Savers Exchange. As always, I would love to hear about others experiences with growing or cooking these beans.

Good Mother Stallard beans

Good Mother Stallard beans from 2014 harvest

I hope you have enjoyed this review of the Good Mother Stallard beans, and I will be back soon with another bean review. Until then, Happy Growing (and eating) from Happy Acres!

Shared at Mostly Homemade Mondays, HomeAcre Hop,  Front Porch Friday, Natural Family Friday and Old-Fashioned Friday

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Monday Recap: Marching In

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Dave @ HappyAcres

Now that March is here I am happy to say goodbye to February. It has been a dreary, cold and disagreeable month, and I am thinking March could only be an improvement! It will be a busy month for me with lots of seed starting activities, but it is one of my favorite times of year. The new garden is still full of hope and promise, and any problems are far, far away. I think most gardeners are optimists at heart, and I know I am.

Thai Rai Kaw Tok squash

Thai Rai Kaw Tok squash

Last week I cooked up another of the Thai Rai Kaw Tok winter squash. The one in the above photo weighed a little over six pounds, and was almost too pretty to cut up and eat. This time I cut about one third of it into thick slices, skinned it then cut into chunks. I used the chunks in a Squash and Tofu Curry recipe from Food52. Of course I modified the recipe to use the Thai squash instead of Kabocha, and it turned out to be a real keeper.

peeled Thai squash for curry

peeled Thai squash for curry

I had been craving a Thai style curry dish, and this one fit the bill. The tofu, squash, and a chopped red bell pepper are simmered in coconut milk and broth that has been seasoned with onions, garlic and curry paste. I used green curry paste instead of the red the recipe called for, plus added a bit of chopped cilantro near the end of the cooking time. Once again, cilantro was the only fresh harvest of the week, and I am happy to have this fall planting hanging on in the greenhouse. I know it will bolt soon, but until then we will enjoy it for sure. While I am a big fan of whole grains, I served up this curry over a fragrant Thai white jasmine rice.

Thai Squash and Tofu Curry

Thai Squash and Tofu Curry

Of course there was still more than half of the squash left, so I baked it and made it into puree. Some of that puree went into a Black Bottom Pumpkin Cake, and the rest went into the freezer. The only negative I can think of for these squash is that they are big! But it is not a bad ‘problem’ to have, and we have lots of uses for the puree after freezing. Maybe there will be a pumpkin soap in our future, who knows? I made the cake from whole wheat flour, and half of the batter has some cocoa added for the black bottom part.

Black Bottom Pumpkin Cake

Black Bottom Pumpkin Cake

I also cooked up the 2014 harvest of dried Good Mother Stallard beans. I usually use them much like a would a borlotti or cranberry bean, and this batch wound up in some Pasta e Fagioli we cooked up last week. I love how they hold their shape after cooking, plus they have such a rich flavor. I think they will be my next featured bean, after I do a bit more research on them.

Paste e Fagioli with Good Mother Stallard beans

Paste e Fagioli with Good Mother Stallard beans

Last week had me working on an article for Love IT! EVV, which is a quarterly online magazine about the local area. I wrote a piece on fall gardening for the Fall 2014 issue, and I guess I must have done okay because they asked me to do another one for the Spring 2015 issue. This time I submitted an article on growing salad greens in containers. I love writing, and while this isn’t a paying gig it’s a good way to sharpen my skills. And it’s another avenue to spread my passion about growing food. It also prompted me to update the photo of me I use for my online presence. It was taken last fall, before I grew my beard back in for the winter.

growing lettuce in a salad box

growing lettuce in a salad box

I hope you have enjoyed a look at what’s happening here. To see what others are harvesting and cooking up, visit Daphne’s Dandelions where Daphne hosts Harvest Mondays. I’

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Homemade: Coffee Lip Balm

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Dave @ HappyAcres

When I was quite young, my parents would put a little coffee in my breakfast milk to let me think I was drinking coffee with them. Of course it was really just coffee-colored milk, but I didn’t know any better. When I got older, I graduated on to the real thing and I’ve been drinking it ever since. So it’s only natural that I would like a coffee flavored lip balm. With only three ingredients, this lip balm is a fun way to protect your lips.

coffee lip balm

coffee lip balm

One of the three ingredients takes a little preparation in advance. You see, the coffee flavor in this lip balm comes from coffee infused oil. To make that, I add equal parts ground coffee and coconut oil to a crock pot and heat it on low for a couple of hours. You can use other oils too, like olive or sweet almond, but coconut is my current favorite for this recipe. Be sure and use a good quality coffee, one that you like to drink, though it doesn’t need to be the most expensive coffee you can buy.

infusing ground coffee in coconut oil

infusing ground coffee in coconut oil

For instance, I used a medium roast Columbian decaf coffee for the batch in the above photo because that’s what I happened to have on hand, and it worked well. For a stronger flavor you can use a darker roast coffee, or else let it infuse for a longer period of time. I do not recommend using instant coffee, and I have never tried it in this recipe. After infusing, the oil needs to be strained to remove the coffee grounds, or else you will wind up with a very gritty lip balm. Click here for more info about the infusing and straining process. As you can see in the below photo, the coffee turns the coconut oil a medium dark shade of brown that looks lighter if the oil solidifies. Now that we have the coffee infused oil, it’s time to make some lip balm!

solidified coffee infused coconut oil

solidified coffee infused coconut oil

Along with the oil, you need beeswax and either cocoa butter or shea butter. Since we have a beehive here at Happy Acres, we use the beeswax that our hardworking honeybees make. It usually winds up in a big chunk or block after we melt it in our solar wax melter. But if you buy beeswax, you can get it in little round pieces called pastilles, which are much easier to melt than the big chunks. Cocoa butter or shea butter both work well in this recipe, but for a real treat try using raw cocoa butter. That makes for a heavenly flavor and aroma combo of coffee and chocolate – two of my favorite things for sure! The shea butter has a neutral smell if you don’t want to add the cocoa factor.

ingredients for coffee lip balm

ingredients for coffee lip balm

You need to melt the beeswax, cocoa or shea butter, and coconut oil in a double boiler type setup on the stove top. You can also use the microwave to do the melting. Either way, the ingredients need to be liquid and well combined. I used a small glass Pyrex measuring cup, set in a pan of gently boiling water. I stirred the ingredients with a bamboo skewer until melted (the beeswax will be the last thing to melt). I usually pour the finished product into twist-up lip balm tubes or little metal tins. Any clean, small container with a lid will do. Pour it while still liquid and then let cool thoroughly before using.

melting the ingredients for coffee lip balm

melting the ingredients for coffee lip balm

You can easily size the recipe to fit the container(s) you have. For example, the oval tubes I use each hold .15 oz/4.25g. I like to work in grams for the small amount I usually make, so if I want to fill 4 tubes then I need to make at least 17g of lip balm. I’ll round up to 20g, which means I need 4g of beeswax, 8g of cocoa butter and 8g of coffee infused oil. An electronic kitchen scale is just the ticket for a project like this, and ours gets used all the time. You can also make a little bigger batch and pour any extra into a glass jar for later use. When you need to refill your tubes or tins you can pop the glass jar into the microwave then melt and pour.

coffee lip balm

coffee lip balm

Various essential oils can be used in lip balms if they are food grade, but I think they would obscure the coffee flavor for this one. However, if a vanilla latte is your favorite drink, there are vanilla flavor oils available from several sources (including MMS and Bramble Berry) that can be added. I have also seen recipes that call for cocoa absolute, but that does not blend in fixed oils and therefore isn’t a good choice for a lip balm. Powdered stevia can be used to add a touch of sweetness. You could also add a drop or two of vitamin E if you have it, which will be good for your lips. And after all, this recipe is pretty much all about being good to your lips!

Coffee Lip Balm Print This Recipe Print This Recipe
A Happy Acres original

1 part Beeswax – 4 grams
2 parts solid butter (cocoa or shea) – 8 grams
2 parts coffee infused oil (coconut, olive or sweet almond) – 8 grams

Weigh all ingredients in small glass measuring cup. Melt by sitting measuring cup in pan of gently boiling water, or microwave at 50% power. Stir until all ingredients are melted, then pour into containers.

Let cool thoroughly before using. Lip balm should keep for about a year, depending on the oils used and how fresh they were to begin with.

NOTE: The consistency of this lip balm may vary depending on the outside temperature. Also, if you prefer a firmer lip balm, add a tad more beeswax. If you want a softer and more oily lip balm, either reduce the beeswax or increase the amount of oil.

 

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