Paper Mache Bowl Making in Daytona for World Food Day Fundraiser

The Fair Share Garden will be hosting a fundraiser for World Food Day in October. We are raising funds for our garden where we demonstrate how organic and sustainable growing methods and share the harvest.

Every Thursday at at 5pm we are gathering to make paper mache bowls at the Lions Club in Daytona Beach (345 White St) for our World Food Day event on October 16th when we are hosting our 'Empty Bowls' event.

About Empty Bowls from Wikipedia: “Empty Bowls” is an international project to fight hunger, personalized by artists and art organizations on a community level. “Empty Bowls” allows participating artists and groups to create and donate bowls, then serve a simple meal. Guests choose a bowl to use that day and to keep as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world



Bring a bowl for a mold and newspapers or phone books etc. Bring a snack to share if you want to! Kids welcome with parents. No previous experience is necessary. You can RSVP on our Fair Share meetup calender.

Feel Free to Get creative with us too. Do you know a techinque that we don't know and want to share? Come teach us! Look at the amazing bowls you can make with recycled paper. I would love to learn. This bowl was make by SewDanish from my Unique Women in Business network.

New Homeschool Group in Daytona Beach

The Daytona Homeschool Social Group will meet for the first time on Tuesday, September 7th, and every second Tuesday of the month from October 12th onwards. Please meet us
at

City Island Library
Children's Auditorium
105 E Magnolia Avenue
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
10am to 12noon

September's meeting theme will be Show-n-Tell and a Seed Swap (in preparation for October's Window Planters activity)..

We will also brainstorm some of the remaining social's themes and activities for next year.

Join the group mailing list here:

The Herb Spiral After a Week of Rain

Many of the plants in the herb spiral at Fair Share are loving all this rain we've been having. I spy a Neem tree, Poke weed with ripening berries, Mondara punctata, and Aloes. It's about time to harvest more of that Mondara for liniment. I made a 'Fair Share Liniment' with Mondara, Lemongrass, Mugwort and Rosemary. I must say I like how it turned out. It's in a nice spray bottle, which is quite convenient.

Poppy Textile Art & More by Linda Matthews

One of my favorite artists from the Peabody Arts on Stage event was Linda Matthews. Linda is a textile artist residing in DeLand, Florida, and one of her themes is poppys.



Linda has poppys on purses, business card holders, notebooks organizers, and wallets. Functional artwork is awesome. I loved them all, and wanted to share them here with my herbal friends. You can find more of her art and products at her website Linda-Matthews.com. Don't miss her amazing quilt gallery while you are there.

When and How To Harvest Your Luffa Gourds

Here is a Luffa cylindra 'sponge' AKA Loofa that I harvested and peeled recently. The first time I grew luffa many years ago I was told I should wait until the outside of the Luffa turned dark brown before harvested them. That worked for me the first time I grew them, but not with last years crop. Some of the Luffa gourds from last year that I was waiting on to turn brown actually kind of disintegrated inside from the excessive Florida summer humidity. This year I have been harvesting the gourds just when they turn this beautiful ripened yellow color. The peel comes off easily by hand at this stage. The 'sponge' is kind of soft coming out of the peel. If you let it dry out and harden for a couple of days, then you can get the seeds out by hitting it on a hard surface and shaking the seeds out. Some people suggest to wash out the gourds right after harvest, but they are very clean coming right out of the peel. I haven't cleaned them out that way, because I wanted the seeds to dry in good condition for seed saving.

These are the really big long gourds that I have been waiting on for making soap with. I'm very excited to collect them. It think they will be ready to pick today or Saturday at Fair Share.

Would you like some seeds for yourself? I have Luffa seed free with purchase in my etsy shop.

Pictures from Day 1 of Arts on Stage at the Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Beach

This is round one from my pictures of from the Arts on Stage Event at the Peabody Auditorium today. I will be there again Sunday from 12-4. I am excited that I cleared the memory and put fresh batteries in my camera so I can take more pictures tomorrow.

I get by with a little help from my friends......
Thanks so much Bernadette for helping me set up, sell and take care of Tessa.

"What did you do with the baby?  Put her under the table?" Cory pulls back the table cloth.  Quit laughing!  You'll wake her up! 

Lovely pottery from my 'neighbor' Robbin Meltzer-Wren of Palm Coast.

My other 'neighbor' Nichole of http://www.fleachicfab.etsy.com has some great upcycled vintage jewelry. 

One of the new necklaces that I made last week.  I had to take some jewelry out of my Etsy shop that sold today, but I'm sure I will be adding more next week, maybe even this one!  http://delicateadornments.etsy.com

Fine Art of Sarah Barnaby, Art Consortium of Volusia County founding member.

Come out tomorrow if you can. I love to see friendly faces at shows. :)

Favorite Equipment for the Herbal Kitchen?

I recently broke my favorite pot for making herbal balms and salves. It was an awesome Corningware pot with cup and oz markings on the inside. This was so great for making syrups when you need to boil down the solution to half the initial volume. So I'm in the market for new equipment. I haven't been able to find something exactly like what I broke, so I'm shopping around. Does anyone use Le Creuset pots for cooking or making herbal preparations? They have enamel-coated cast iron pots that would be great for making herbal syrups or balms. Other favorites? One of my favorite tools for the for the herbal kitchen that I can't live with out is the Oxo Potato Ricer for pressing tinctures and infused oils. I learned that tip from Jim McDonald of HerbCraft.org a few years back. It's about time to re-outfit my kitchen so any equipment tips would be appreciated.

Beach Street Barbeque Festival Saturday Night in Daytona

Street Party Saturday night in Daytona!

Please join us. I will be set up next door to McKays with my body products and jewelry. Tessa will be there too to keep me extra busy. :) The soap will stay home and away from the humidity. Please if you want to pick up soaps Saturday make a pre-order by emailing aquarianbath@gmail.com. I have new bars in stock including a Lavender Spearmint Vegan Sea Salt Soap.

Join us for Fall Planting at Fair Share in Daytona September 4th

Come out and help us plant the fall garden!

September 4 · 9:00am - 1:00pm

Fair Share Garden behind the Lions Club
345 White Street, Daytona Beach

We'll give you the tour and demonstrate some growing and composting techniques and then you can sow some seed with us! Take home some free seeds! Bring the family and friends! Music; Crafts; Workshops; and Food!
No admission charge but we will certainly accept donated tools or your tax-deductible $$$ contributions! More detailed information to follow soon.