Strawberries must surely be one of the most beloved of fruits. Delicious heart- shaped pockets of sweet pinky-red juiciness… Yum! Like little exposed hearts, they are also very fragile, and as inviting to every passing insect as they are to us. It is still certainly worth the effort of growing them yourself though. Apart from […]
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Toothsome Toothpaste – why try it?
I’ve been working on some new toothpastes to flesh out my range at The Apothecary, and I realised I had so much to say about them that I needed to devote a whole post to the topic! I use the Spotless toothpaste as my base recipe for The Apothecary toothpaste range. I wrote quite a […]
Beeswax DIY 4 – bars, balms and butters: Lip balm and healing salve
One of the main reasons I wanted to introduce you to beeswax is so that you can use it to make lip balms. I hope I have convinced you that beeswax is worth using despite its slightly special requirements. I have explained why we’d want to use it, how to melt it and mix it, […]
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Wood & leather part 1: Why to avoid commercial wood and leather cleaners and polishes
Commercial polish and cleaners for use on leather and wood are things you really want to avoid. They consist mainly of hydrocarbons distilled from crude petroleum oil, such as naphtha, as well as synthetic waxes, solvents, artificial fragrances, preservatives, surfactants, and propellants if they are in an aerosol form. Is this cocktail of hazardous ingredients and likely carcinogens really something we […]
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Wartless: Get rid of warts the spotless way
My sister-in-law recently had a few large plantar warts surgically removed from her foot. The treatment seemed pretty barbaric and she was in a lot of pain following the operation, which had left her with two craters on her foot. The worst of it all was that the surgeon had not managed to remove all […]
Cure for cradle cap
I’ve written about this solution before. In case you missed it though, and because I have recently rediscovered how brilliantly well it works, I’m writing about it again, in more detail. All my kids have had cradle cap, that flaky, crusty, yellowish skin rash on the scalp that many infants get (infantile or neonatal seborrhoeic […]
Spotless meat
The production and consumption of factory-farmed meat is an issue we should all take seriously. Intensively farmed meat is detrimental to: our health the environment the livelihoods of small farmers the lives of farmed animals Cheap meat does in fact have a hefty price tag, one we are paying for in our deteriorating health, our […]
Lavender, part four – dried Lavender
To dry Lavender, make bunches of a dozen or so flower stalks and tie them together with string or an elastic band. Hang the bunches upside down in a dark and airy place. Depending on the weather, the Lavender will dry in about a week or so. Once dried you can store the flowers in […]
Lavender, part three – other infusions
Here are four more very easy ways to harness the fragrance and power of Lavender in infusions. Lavender tea Add one to two teaspoons of dried Lavender flowers, or one to two tablespoon of fresh heads, to a cup of freshly boiled water. Steep for five to ten minutes. Strain and drink, sweetened with honey […]
Lavender, part two – Lavender vinegar
Infusions are an incredibly simple, direct way to capture the essence of herbs and plants and enhance the properties of whatever you’re infusing them with. They can turn a very basic substance into something really special, and one of the best candidates for making infusions is Lavender. Add fresh Lavender flowers and leaves to a […]
