(Tomorrow) ---> A Grand Day Out - South Coast Botanic Gardens Spring Plant Show and Boutique

I have set up my display in the Frances Young Hall.  You can find me at the very back of the hall, behind the jungle of plant life that will surely block me from seeing you.  Pass the geraniums, clivia and lillies and please find me on the left...  I will be waving my little flag as to not be forgotten in that remote corner of the show....  <snif>

Here's a bit of my inventory...

Gardner's Hands? - Try a raw shea butter from Ghana OR raw avocado butter

Gardner's Hands? - Try a raw shea butter from Ghana OR raw avocado butter

Cha-ching!  Cash is good...

Beach water soap w/lemongrass EO

Sweet

Sweet and Nutty

Manly

Foodie

Sultry

Fruity

Relax

Growing Herbs for Soaping

There's nothing like waking up on a Sunday morning, grabbing a pot of coffee and sitting down to blog about something you really like.  So here goes...

I have this botanist friend, Lori, who lives in Redondo Beach.  She's been tremendous in helping me select herbs for planting this spring, all with the mindset of harvesting and drying them later for the purposes of soap making.  I love the smell of lemon and other fruity things, however, actual citrus oil does not make it through the soap making process well.  In other words, it discolors, smell funky or loses 90% of its scent while swimming in the lye solution.

What to do?  Smart Lori suggested I try using herbs that smell like lemon and other fantastic options that I didn't even know existed in the herb world:

Lavender and lemongrass are other staple items and will be added to the garden once the tulips finish blooming...

The trick here is that herbs don't mind lye... at least that's the theory.  How much actual scent they will carry through is still a mystery.  It will be an interesting experiment.  In the meantime I will enjoy watching my herb garden grow and might even take to drinking tea, as I will have an abundant selection to herbs to choose from.

Sandy