Plant & Yard Love

I'm so excited to be starting a garden again. Hopefully it will be more successful this year than last. This will actually be the first year that I'll be able to take care of my yard and garden from beginning to end, so hopefully, not as much of it will be damage control and more of it will be actually enjoying the work of our hands.
I've tried occupy the garden with plants that I will not be getting from the CSA this year. It has cooking lavender, thyme, chives, mint, basil, parsley, yellow bell peppers, dark chocolate bell peppers (those just sounded really cool), super sweet cherry tomatoes, and lemon apple cucumbers (those sounded the coolest of all). I also got some snapdragons for mothers day that are looking beautiful in our yard, along with the poppies and wildflowers that Elliot planted about a month ago. I've got some chamomile and lavender that I started from seeds, but from what I've read, those could take two years before their established and ready to plant outside. We mowed, mulched and planted outside this weekend. This week I'm hoping to trim some of the stuff back by our trails in the woods and start to make those pretty. I bought a citronella plant to keep the mosquitoes around our sun room at bay. To complete our outdoor fun, Mama and Papa brought us a firepit and we got some tiki torches this weekend. Now we just need to see if we can find room in our budget for a small grill. I'd also like to get some lavender...a lot of it actually. Did you know that lavender is a natural ant repellent (it also repels deer, but that's not a real problem for us right now)?
NOW a couple links I just have to share with you.
#1) There is the AWESOME looking place in Commiskey , Indiana (down by Columbus). It has a tea room, a winery, gardens and a bunch of workshops and classes. They also have these candlelit dinners that sound amazing! Check out the Historic Stream Cliff Herb Farm.
#2) There is this WAY cool natural air purifier called "ANDREA." It was invented and manufactured in France and has won all these different awards. But basically, you put a household plant in it and with a fan and some water it forces the air through the soil, roots and leafy part of the plant to naturally purify your air! I just wish it were less than $200!!! (gag) Still worth checking out though ANDREA Air.
#3) Did you ever wish you could have plants on your walls instead of just in pots? WELL...if you did then this is a site for you, cause you totally can with WoollyPockets.
#4) www.naturallyfree.net.....THAT'S RIGHT! We have a functioning website up!...with a store and everything. But you must promise that if you go there, you will not pass judgment on the site too quickly. We're still working on it, but I wanted to share it with all of you so that if you want to see what we're doing or what we're selling, you can!

I hope you're enjoying this spring season as much as we are!

Naturally Free LLC

Post 201!
This weekend was great! I had a wonderful day on Saturday with Elliot and Evan. After last week, we felt like we hadn't spent much time together at all...not a good feeling, so we stayed home on Saturday and relaxed. Then Sunday, Sarah and I presented our business plan to Mom and Dad and they offered to invest in it!!! We also got our temporary logo from our graphic designer...

So that is lots of fun! It's also what I've been putting a lot of energy into lately, thus the lack of postings. And now, I'm very VERY tired. So I'll be going to bed and updating more later.

Naturally Free Soap Recipes

Here are two of our latest soap recipes! French Green Rosemary and Exfoliating Oatmeal.

French Green Rosemary

3 oz lye

8 oz rosemary hydrosol

22 oz oils (7 olive, 7 coconut, 7 palm, 1 jojoba)

1/2 cup French Green Clay

1/5 cup Rosemary

0.25 oz Essential Oils (1 part bergamot, 2 parts geranium, 1 part peppermint)

Exfoliating Oatmeal

16 oz distilled water

6 oz lye

44 oz oils (15 coconut, 15 palm, 10 olive, 4 jojoba)

0.25 Essential oils (2 parts sweet orange, 2 parts lavender, 2 parts chamomile, 3 parts tea tree, 1 part patchouli)

Ground Vanilla Bean & Oatmeal (approx. 1/2 cup oatmeal and 2-3 vanilla beans)

Stuff I Made this Morning

Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted. I've been busy BUSY trying to start a business with Sarah and Evan and I have both had to work late nights over the past two weeks.
This morning though, we finally had a little time to breathe and I was able to finish a few projects I was working on and start a few other ones. The picture shows my morning creations: Nutty Pancakes (recipe), Kefir Cheese (recipe), and Rose Infused Olive Oil! The rest of the stuff is what my kitchen table looks like after a morning of culinary and healt creations.
The Rose Infused Oil I'll be using in my next soap! Speaking of soap...who wants some?! I have two batches that I'm giving away before we start selling it. So if you want any more for free, speak up now! :)
Also, you'll notice that you can now subscribe to the Alive, Radiant, Free RSS feed, and I'm adding pages at the top soon, so you can access the more popular areas of the blog more easily.

My Valentine & Naturally Free

It's Wednesday night and I'm just now blogging about this weekend....crazy! Anyway, I had an amazing weekend with my Valentine. It's been six years since we started courting and it has been a fantastic journey. I love him more than ever and I can't wait to see what the next six years have for us and our little family. For Valentines Day we were able to go get my ring...YAY! Then he got me roses, a card, made me a really great dinner, and then we went to see a movie together while Elliot and Aunt Sarah had a date. 
I also started taking some little small business courses online this weekend to teach me how to write a business and marketing plan. Why? Because, I'm going to start stocking up some inventory and selling Naturally Free products. I'll have an online store and website up soon, but I thought some of you would be excited to hear about it! My sister Sarah is going to be my business partner...her specialty is all natural candles. :) If any of you actually know about starting a small business or are good graphics or web designers and would love to help a girl out for free...I could definitely use your help.
SO...I hope your weekend (though it seems far off now) was just as love-filled as ours! And that you were able to ponder how you can slow down for the season of Lent this Ash Wednesday.