June Blooms

5 for $25! Only $4 shipping for 5 bars! Don't miss out on this one.

Top news for me is that my daughter, Emily, is in Kansas City, MO, competing at Skills USA. They are allowing the first place winners in each state to compete against each other this week. I am so excited for her, I can hardly stand it. She is part of the photography division, and has worked very hard to get where she is. Stay tuned for the outcome! She is also participating in her graduation ceremony on Friday, if all goes according to schedule.

The garden has been fun and challenging. My hubby is helping me reclaim an area of the yard that is overgrown. We live by a woods, so it came to my fallow garden, and now must come out. As a result, we both got poison ivy. We learned that it's imperative to come in and wash thoroughly as soon as you know you've had contact. Do not wait until you are finished with your job. Yuck.

On the fun side, things are growing and blooming like crazy. I've harvested Heal-All, Lemon Balm, and Anise Hyssop. God's natural order of plants is astounding! The great thing is that I purchased a Nikon Coolpix camera on the advice of aforementioned daughter so I can take pictures of everything. My previous camera broke just before the HSMG Conference, so I was without. I'm enjoying the new camera, but it has lots of bells and whistles that will require a learning period in order for me to use it to its full capability. Posted are flower photos, of course. :-)

As far as soap is concerned, I've added two new scents of gardener's soap. The first is Cedar and Sage, which is for men, and the second is Summer Path, for the ladies. Cedar and Sage is very masculine, and one that women like to smell around their men. Summer Path is decidedly feminine, what all that summer offers--grass, herbs, and flowers, rolled into one bar. In the photo above, Cedar & Sage is on the left, and Summer Path, on the right. Of course, we still offer our original bar, with marvelous essential oils that love skin.

So, what are you growing? To take advantage of the sale, please tell me what you're growing. Perhaps you'd like to include what you'll do with it, or your successes or challenges. I can't wait to hear from you!

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Soap Sale! Get 5 bars for $25! + only $4 shipping

Scents include: Lavender*, Gingered Orange, Lilac Breeze, Groovy Patchouli*, Black Raspberries & Vanilla, Rice Flower, Mint Medley*, Sultry Sandalwood Vanilla, Fresh Clean Herbs, and Spun Sugar. (*essential oil), Daybreak (spearmint & eucalyptus)

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Not on my site, but available for purchase are: Herbal Bath Teas: Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey, Purely Herbal Blend, Four Milk Blend, and Relaxation Blend - just $2/ea. Liquid shower gel: All natural. 2 oz. for $4; 4 oz. $6.00 Lotion: Hand and body lotion - 4 oz, $7 Foaming Soap: Comes in the seasonal Apple Pie, plus Gingered Orange, Summer Tropical, and Lavender. Just $7/bottle for 6 fl. oz.
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Did you know that many people in the world cannot afford the basic necessity, soap, and that many become ill and die simply from the lack of something we take for granted? We at Soap and Garden participate in efforts to provide people with life-saving soap.

Thank you for reading, and God bless you.

October is here in earnest!

Fall is here, without a doubt! I'm feeling the urgency to get things finished before my garden is ready for rest.

We were at Genesee Country Museum on Saturday, and there was a vendor there for native plants and herbs. Naturally, I bought a couple of them. One was Geranium macalatum, which I may already have, but bought just in case. . . The other was Monarda fistulosa. I know I don't have that one. So, I have two more plants to get in the ground! I hope to get a few nice days soon that coincide with my schedule. I'm sure other gardeners can identify with that!

I felt very fortunate, also, to have found 4 cukes in my garden! I thought their season was over, so I stopped checking, but just happened upon them. I made soap with cucumber, aloe juice, and mint. Which brings me to my challenge. Send me a name for this soap and your address, and I'll send you some soap! I will take the first five entries, at least. Keep in mind that I want to emphasize the "cool" part of the cucumber. Of course, you'll want to send me your entry and addy privately, not as a public comment on the blog. Send it to beth@soapandgarden.com.

Last week's sale still applies throughout the month, but the contest ends on Thursday.

Fall Fun Sale! Since autumn has arrived, I'd like to feature some products to celebrate it:

Soap: Apple Cinnamon, Pumpkin Spice, Toasted Vanilla, and Cinnamon & Sugar.

They each have goodies like real apple and cinnamon! $6/bar.

Room Spray: see the above scents. 4 oz./$8.

Not on my site are: Herbal Bath Teas: Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey, Purely Herbal Blend, Four Milk Blend, and Relaxation Blend - $2/ea.

Liquid shower gel: All natural. 2 oz. for $4; 4 oz. $6.00

Lotion: Hand and body lotion - 4 oz, $7

Foaming Soap: Comes in scents listed on site and fall scents. Just $7/bottle for 6 fl. oz.

Enjoy fall while we have it! Winter comes all too soon.

New Soap!

Recently, I made a soap batch using a new technique. It's made with beer. Why beer, you ask?

Good question! When I first heard of it, all I could think of was the stale beer smell, and of course, it didn't appeal to me. Somewhere along the line, however, I learned that beer contributed to great lather, and that it's often considered essential for a good shampoo bar. It's also pleasant smelling--really, even without added scent! I threw in some cornsilk and calendula for color. The beer of choice is a raspberry wheat beer brewed by Southern Tier Brewing Co. in Lakewood, NY, so I scented it in raspberry.

Try some today! It's even included in the August sale.

Emily and I will upload a couple of photos for your viewing.

On the garden front, the news is not so happy. My tomatoes fell victim to Late Tomato Blight. It wouldn't have been a great crop to begin with because the area they're planted in gets shadier every year, and because of the cold weather. Tomatoes like it warm. The Blight, however, was devastating to them. My cukes didn't do too badly, though, the peppers are OK, and I have some squash coming, so it's not all bad. Today, I cleaned up a fence garden along my front walk. I got some herbs such as strawberry leaves, lemon balm, and violet leaves to preserve and use, so I feel good about that. One more garden to tackle in the front, and we're ready to move to the back.


This week's AD

What's on special? Everything! Take 10% off of your order. Everything on the site or below is included, no minimum purchase. If that's not enough, I'll add a free bar of soap with any $25 purchase! Patchouli excluded. Just put 10% in the comments section or email me at beth@soapandgarden.com.

Not on my site are:

Herbal Bath Teas: Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey, Purely Herbal Blend, Four Milk Blend, and Relaxation Blend - $2/ea.
Liquid shower gel: All natural. 2 oz. for $4; 4 oz. $6.00
Lotion: Hand and body lotion - 4 oz, $7
Foaming Soap: Comes in scents listed on site. Just $7/bottle for 6 fl. oz.


Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

June is Bustin' Out!

Wow, is it June already? Time really does fly. I love June, though. The warmer temps (although we have yet to experience them this month), the flowers blooming gloriously, the longer days, it's all exciting and invigorating after the long months inside. I so enjoy walking outside and seeing more things blooming than the day before.

At work, we were very busy with Mother's Day and all the wonderful children who get flowers for their mothers. We recovered from that and moved to the Junior Prom and the Senior Ball, with some concerts and early college graduations thrown in.

My hubby and I celebrated our wedding anniversary in May by taking a trip for two to Belhurst Castle in Geneva, NY. Everything was so nice and we were treated very well by the staff there. If only I hadn't gotten sick!

That same weekend, my garden club participated in a plant sale called Proud Market, where we sold plants we had all potted up. We did quite well, earning some money to pay our next year's speakers with. :-)

Sunday, I was fortunate enough to go to Linwood Gardens to see tree peonies. These gardens are located in Pavilion, NY, and were the gardens of a wealthy family. I don't know too much about the history, but someone must have loved tree peonies, because the collection is quite extensive. We were warned that the most of the peonies had already bloomed, so we didn't know if disappoinment was in store, but I am happy to report that there were enough blooms left to impress us, so I'm glad I went.

On the way back, we stopped at a garden center, Palmiter's, where I got 4 herbs--pineapple sage, lemon verbena, a Japanese herb that I can't recall the name of, and a beautiful variegated oregano. Yea! I had a lemon verbena for years, until it finally gave up. I couldn't find one last year, so I snatched it up yesterday. I've also had pineapple sage in the past, and really enjoyed it, so I was happy to find it again. I never remember to take cuttings in time in the fall!


I also found a hardy geranium, "Midnight Reiter." It's blue and beautiful, and I can't wait to plant it. I have quite a collection of geraniums now, and it's my goal to get them all photographed and properly labeled.

At my local garden store, I spotted a huge amount and variety of wonderful ceramic planters for container gardens. I gravitated toward green and white ones, but they just weren't right. Suddenly, the cobalt blue caught my eye, and there it was, the accent color I needed to spice up my front yard decor! Of course, the cost of buying all the pots I'd have liked, coupled with the weight of moving them around every year kept me from putting my money where my imagination was. Instead of purchasing the lovely ceramic pots, I took my 40% off coupon to Michael's and bought paint and am working on painting plastic pots. I used Krylon's Fusion paint for plastic. It works well, but wasn't quite the right blue, so I did a faux cobalt effect, and then added a bit of very dark blue for depth. I am spraying them with a finish spray and then they will finally be ready for planting with all of the flowers and herbs I've purchased. Whew! No wonder I'm tired.

I have photos of Belhurst to post, and some geraniums, but will have to post Linwood pictures later after my techies help me figure out what's wrong. I hope I have all the pictures.

The world is in bloom and I am thrilled! I am so thrilled, that I am offering a new item free.

If you order $25 worth of product (before shipping), I will add a full size foamer bottle of liquid soap in any scent you like, as long as it's one I have in stock. This includes essential oils. No charge.

Herbal Bath Teas: Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey, Purely Herbal Blend, Four Milk Blend, and Relaxation Blend - $2/ea.
Liquid shower gel: All natural. 2 oz. for $4; 4 oz. $6.00
Lotion: Hand and body lotion - 4 oz, $7
Limited Edition Soap: Lavender Patch, a lovely blend of lavender and patchouli. Very few bars left, $6.50 ea.

Foaming Soap: Comes in scents listed on site. Just $7/bottle for 6 fl. oz.

It's Cold!

We had one nice day last week where the temp. rose to a balmy 40 degrees. Rochestarians were reveling in it. I even saw some in shorts! Things are back to normal now, though, temps mostly in the teens.

How do we endure it? Our town's garden club taught a seminar tonight on starting seeds indoors, and I realized that many of us just wait it out, dreaming of spring. I'd go on about the sun caressing my skin with warmth and feeling the grass under my feet, but I don't want to torture myself. Instead, I'll congratulate those of us in the north on our patience and longsuffering.

We did have a good turnout, and the students seemed to enjoy absorbing the information and planting their seeds, so maybe winter isn't all bad. Besides, I can always take a nice, warm bath. . . . ah. . .

We'll continue our January special, purchase any 5 products, and get the 6th free. The 6th product will be equal to or less in price than the other 5. Go to www.soapandgarden.com to order, or email me at beth@soapandgarden.com with questions or local orders.

Leave a comment on my blog and be entered into a drawing for a free bar of soap! Eligible for US residents only, please.