Common Sense Home Good News Letter 7/30/23
“Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don’t they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.” ― Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine
The open house was hopping yesterday. The first folks showed up a bit early while I was still out in the blackberry patch, and we stayed busy until around 2pm. (There was one group that pulled in around 2:30, got out of their vehicle, got back in their vehicle, and drove off. In all the year’s that we’ve been doing this, that’s a first, so I’m baffled.)
Dana’s herbal presentation went well. Since she and I grow many of the same herbs, participants were able to go outside to the gardens after her talk and compare the live plants to the dried plants. (Dana is hosting an herb walk at her place on August 8th. Details can be found here on Facebook at – https://fb.me/e/3EQcjJP8Y. )
We had some beekeepers in the group, and we got to talking about the smell of raw beeswax. Not only does it carry the lovely aroma of the bee’s harvest, it also helps to extend the life of your homemade salves, balms, and lotion bars.
We also talked about how much poison is being used to grow crops nowadays, which keeps coming up in conversations. Friends can’t grow things in parts of their yards due to pesticide and herbicide drift. My brother had headaches for days after 2,4D was sprayed on a nearby field. We can’t work outside when the neighbor’s are spraying because it stinks and gives us headaches. It’s no wonder that nearly 2 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year in the U. S., and one in fifteen people have autoimmune disease.
Maybe it’s time for something better?
Maybe it’s time for regenerative agriculture, that builds the soil instead of damaging it, like Gabe Brown’s farm. Maybe it’s time for small organic growers to adopt practices that allow them to make a decent living while still being able to provide quality food, Lean Farm style. I don’t think the answers are going to be found in food grown in a lab or 3D printed from garbage.
What’s something that you can do this week to grow your own or support a local grower?
In related news, do you have an amazing blackberry cobbler recipe? Our blackberries are starting to ripen, and the first cobbler recipe I tried was a bust.
All our best to you and yours,
Laurie (and August IV, August V, and Duncan)
This week’s featured articles…
The dog days of summer continue with scorching temps in many areas. We’ve been around average here in northeast Wisconsin, and even got a bit more rain. (It’s been so dry this summer that the small pond is nearly empty. Duncan has been working on digging it deeper with his tractor.)
I figured it was a good time to share these tips for keeping cool without AC/lowering your AC load.
https://commonsensehome.com/keeping-your-house-cool/
For those who want to put those beautiful summer herbs to use, how to make a salve out of herb infused oils.
Popular on Instagram – ready for the open house and freeze drying fajitas.