Going au naturale

Hand sanitizer that is. I just don't like that alchohol stuff they sell. It tries out my hands and who knows what all's in it. For a girl trying to go herbal/green with her home and body care products that's not really inviting. So, for months I have watched my mother-in-law going around with this myrrh based hand sanitizer, and today I finally made some of my own! I was trying to make me up some jasmine body spray (since perfume is another thing I don't really do) and discovered anothre spray bottle I must have bought and then promptly forgotten. I didn't really use a recipe for either one. I just sort of scouted the internet and saw that most recipes consist of water, essential oil, and grain/rubbing alchohol. I believe you can use witch hazel in place of the alchohol if desired. I just used some smirnoff that hasn't been seeing much action since...well since we bought it actually. I did add a few drops of massage oil to my blends though just to try and counteract alchohol's drying effect. For the body spray I just added a couple of drops of massage oil, one drop of pure Jasmine essential oils, probably just under an ounce of vodka, and a generous ounce of water. Then I just shook it up really well. Hope I didn't make it too strong. That jasmine oil is very strong. Well just see if anyone besides Allen will sit by me at church tonight :D For the myrrh blend I did about the same thing, but I added more oil and used less vodka. The recipes I saw indicated that for non-perfume type stuff you don't need as much alchohol. Oh yeah, I also put some colloidal silver in with it for even more germ kicking awesomeness. So yeah, 6-8 drops myrrh essential oil and about 1/4 oz silver along with a tsp oil for moisturizing. Vodka for stabilizer. Water to the top. In my purse and ready for the next all natural germ kicking opportunity. I feel like such a granola girl now. It rocks.

I couldn't wait until tomorrow to post this

I just bought my first round of heirloom seeds! From Seed Savers Exchange , a non-profit which sells heirloom seeds at a great price. Here is a blurb from their mission statement:
"Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization that saves and shares the heirloom seeds of our garden heritage, forming a living legacy that can be passed down through generations. When people grow and save seeds, they join an ancient tradition as stewards, nurturing our diverse, fragile, genetic and cultural heritage."

um, YES! I bought kale, tomatoes (2 varieties), tomatillos, arugula, beans, lemon balm, flowers. And all for $33 including delivery. that is way good for heirlooms.

I still need to figure out a way to test the ground, otherwise it will be container love for me! I am anticipating a great, challenging, hopefully somewhat rewarding spring and summer full of learning and eating!

I am planning on starting them indoors. Martha Stewart has great ideas for how to do this (in eggshells!) and DIY growing lamps. As does You Grow Girl (incidentally, I use this book every single day) Where on earth are growing lamps going to go in my apartment? Looks like the cart in my closet is going to get another use!

Now I need to figure out how to get a chicken, cow and goat in my backyard area...