New Chicks on the Farm

No matter how many times we have witnessed the hatching of new chicks, Jen and I still get mesmerized by the process and spend hours watching mama hen with her new brood. Debbie, named after Jen’s aunt and one of three Buff Orpingtons we recently added to our flock, turned out to be broody. She has spent the past 21 days sitting on a clutch of 6 eggs which we marked in case she tried to sneak a couple of the other hens’ eggs beneath her. (Broodiness – the instinct to sit on a clutch of eggs and hatch out chicks – has been bred out of most hens kept for egg production as they don’t lay when sitting or mothering).

Two chicks hatched yesterday, 2 some time over last evening. The remaining 2 may have hatched or are in the process of pecking their way out of their shells as I write this post. Below are a couple of photos and a video of Mama teaching her babies how to drink water.

A fabulous sun hat

While I wait for Jen to complete an interesting post about all of the useful herbs and weeds she has discovered growing on our new property, I will tell you about an incredible sun hat that I have been wearing faithfully when outside in the New Mexico sun – Coolibar’s Savannah Wide Brim Hat.

I have no interest in or association with Coolibar.com. I discovered this company through a google search shortly after writing a post about using St John’s Wort oil to heal sunburn. (The visor obviously wasn’t working and I was dipping into our inventory far too frequently). With it’s almost 5 inch brim, the hat keeps the sun off my face and the back of my neck. And it’s lightweight and comfortable to wear. The only problem is that it reduces your field of vision so you need to be careful! The hat retails for $35.95, and for this fair-skinned goat herder/gardener, is worth it.

A Primer on Oils

At Sunstone we make infused herbal oils. What this means is that we take plant material, such as violet leaves or fresh birch bark, and steep it in extra-virgin cold pressed olive oil for a minimum of six weeks. We then strain the plant material and the resulting oil is an infused herbal oil which contains many of the therapeutic benefits of the plant. Infused herbal oils are medicinal oils that are massaged into the skin.

Depending on the plant material used, there may or may not be a strong fragrance to an infused herbal oil. Olive oil is a strong scent and can overpower many of the delicate floral qualities of a plant such as violet. Our Black Birch Oil, for example, has that familiar wintergreen scent, BUT if you are used to using an essential oil which is powerfully fragrant, then our infused oil will not seem to be strongly scented.

We do not make essential or perfume oils. We get many inquires, however, for violet oil and black birch oil from people looking for either essential or fragrance oils. So for clarification here is a brief primer on the differences between the oils.

Fragrance or Perfume Oils

A fragrance or perfume oil contains synthetic chemicals. This is a product manufactured for the scent of the herb only. It is not a therapeutic essential or infused herbal oil. It’s only purpose is to make you or your product smell good. It more than likely does not contain any of the plant material of the herb you are looking for. Fragrance oils usually are fairly inexpensive. Unfortunately, some products such as candles may be labeled with the term “aromatherapy” when they are made with fragrance oils. For true aromatherapy, essential oils are used.

Essential Oils

Essential oils are not really oils, but are the plant “essence” that is produced when large quantities of plant material are distilled, usually by steam. Essential oils are used in Aromatherapy and vary in quality. If you are looking for the therapeutic benefits of using essential oils in Aromatherapy, DO NOT just use the cheapest oil you can find. Use therapeutic grade essential oils.

Jen’s Soapbox

I use only a few essential oils, (e.g., lavendar, tea tree and white camphor), and although I believe in the healing power of Aromatherapy, use of essential oils is not something I promote or encourage.

Why? Because extremely large quantities of plant material are used to create very small amounts of essential oils. When purchasing an essential oil, you are more than likely supporting large scale mono-cropping that uses pesticides. Even organic essential oils require large scale mono-cropping. There are some small farms that produce their own essential oil but those are few and far between because it is difficult for a small farmer to grow that much plant material. Using extremely large quantities of plant material for such a tiny amount of product is not in line with “walking lightly on the earth” or living within a small footprint.

If a retail site lists an essential oil as their own product be sure to ask if they manufacture it themselves or are they reselling. Those interested in the small scale and home-based manufacture of essential oils should visit Jeanne Rose’s website. She is an aromatherapist who has long taught about essential oils, including home distilling.

Speaking of brother John…

Jen and I are fortunate to have 2 wonderful brothers. John Prosser (featured in previous post) enabled us to go to Italy where we spent a couple of days with John McElhinney (Tree’s brother) who teaches 2nd grade in Trieste. While there we crossed the border to Slovenia and visited the Predjama castle which dates back to the late 1200’s and is built into a rock cliff. Later we had a delicious home-cooked meal using fresh local ingredients at a Slovenian gostlina.

John and Tree at Predjama Castle – Slovenia

Jen and John at a Slovenian Gostilina

John Prosser and 3 String Bale

We mentioned in a previous post that our recent trip to Italy was the first time we have been away for an extended period of time since getting goats, chickens, dogs (and cats!) and going online with sunstoneherbs.com. We were able to do this because of the wonderful John Prosser – Jen’s brother – who has been living with us since we moved to New Mexico in September.

When he is not milking goats or helping out around the homestead, John is a musician who writes and records original compositions.

Last night, Jen and I went to listen to John perform with 3 String Bale at Johndhis Barbecue in Albuquerque. Below are some photos and a short video of the boys performing John’s song Tangerine. Bard Edrington is on banjo and Tom Studer on electric guitar and harmonica.

John Prosser performing with 3 String Bale.