Winter Soap & Herbal Classes at Maggie's Herb Farm In St. Augustine 2011

Happy New Year's to you all. Hope 2011 is treating you right so far. I have some new classes coming up for the Winter Season at Maggie's Herb Farm in St. Augustine. Hope you can join us for some of them. Please call the farm to register in advance. 904-829-0722

Soap Making For Sensitive and Problem Skin Types February 5 Saturday time 10-2
Learn to make soap from scratch using the cold process method and the specialized hot process method for sea salt spa soaps. We focus on hypoallergenic formulations for those with sensitive skin and those well loved by persons with multiple problems including acne. Specialty herbal additives for problem skin types in formulations will be discussed. Bring lunch, safety glasses and gloves, and a small cardboard box. Fee $35

Herbal Powders For Body Care March 5 Saturday time 10-2
Learn to dry and process herbs for making body powders. We will used dried herbs from the farm as well as other clays and ingredients for creating your choice of body powders from among 5 basic recipes. We will cover face masks, deodorant powders, anti-heat rash powder, baby powder, and foot powders. Bring a sack lunch and a toothbrush. You will have a chance to sample and experiment with herbal tooth powders. Fee $35 Bring a sack lunch

Herbal Valentine's Day: Herbal Love Potions Saturday February 12:
Learn about various herbs used as aphrodisiacs and tonics. We will make a passion potion (herbal syrup), heart-shaped lotion bars with aphrodisiac and calming essential oils, and a rose body butter. $40 Bring a sack lunch

Paper Mache Bowl Progress

We are really getting the paper mache bowls piled up now at the Lions Club where we are preparing for Fair Share's Empty Bowl fundraiser. I was so happy when I cleaned Moira's room and found my old mythology coloring book that she had hijacked and over colored. What a perfect use for it! Cyclops and Medusa paper mache bowls are shown above. Below is my "Grow Your Own" bowl that I made with left over flyers from our last event. It looks really cool on the outside. I kind of wish I would have put the grow your own pages on the inside. I decided what I will do with it is paint the interior with "Fair Share Feeds My Family."

It has been great to have some time to just sit and make things. Here is Bernadette taking a turn with Tessa. Bernadette is my 5 star, #1, A+++ Nanny super extra. Bernadette helped me while I was showing at the Peabody last month and will help me next month when I start teaching again at the Herb Farm in Saint Augustine. That reminds me! I have room to spare in my Herbs for Cold and Flu Season Class on October 16th at Maggies Herb Farm. This is easy to remember, because it is the same day as the Fair Share Empty Bowls Fundraiser. I'll talk to Joel about the time. Hopefully we can start the dinner around 6 pm so I can make it to both! More details to follow!

Daddy has been helping out with Tessa too and has started providing entertainment at the club during paper mache. Here he is queuing up some MC Hawking or Symphony of Science. See everyone can participate at Fair Share! (Daddy just doesn't do paper mache after that bad incident with his fraternity's prize-winning 40-foot flaming paper mache Dragon).


Come out and join us again this Thursday for more Paper Mache Bowl making if you can. I'm going to break out the paint.

Happy New Year! Schedule of Events and Workshops for 2010

Art Walk:October
Originally uploaded by JackWhiteLandCo

The new year is almost here! Wishing a happy, healthy & prosperous new year to all of you.

I have put together my schedule of classes, workshops, and events for the first quarter of 2010 on my website at http://aquarianbath.com/events.html where you can also watch for events later in the year.

Hope to see those of you who are in the Daytona Beach or St. Augustine area soon.

January 16th workshop at the Sea Side Herb Society Meeting in Ormond Beach at the corner of Beach St. and Granada on using locally grown herbs for body care. 10:15 a.m. Saturday

February 5th vending in Daytona Beach 5-9 p.m. First Friday Art Walk on Beach Street

February 6th Natural Salve and Balm Making in St. Augustine at Maggie's Herb Farm Saturday February 6, 2010 10:30 AM- 2:30 PM Learn to make your infused herbal oils, salves and balms. We will gather fresh herbs for making a wound salve and learn to make a black drawing salve and lip balms. Learn about oil bases appropriate for balm and salve making and a variety of herbs that can be used in salves and infused oils. A hands on workshop Fee $35. bring a sack lunch Register at http://www.maggiesherbfarm.com

February 20th. Introduction to Herbal Aromatics Perfumery and Incense Saturday at Maggies Herb Farm in St. Augustine 10:00 AM- 2:00 PM Join us for an introduction to incense and natural perfumery. We will be making all natural cone incense with dried herbs and resins and solid perfume with pure essential oils. We will be working with a variety of dried herbs including those available at the farm including Lemon Verbena and Patchouli. Bring a sack lunch $35. Register at http://www.maggiesherbfarm.com

March 5th vending at the First Friday Art Walk on Beach Street in Daytona 5-9 p.m.

March 6th Herbal Medicine Making: Tinctures, and Syrups Saturday 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM Learn the basic methods for herbal home medicine making for your family. This is a hands on class in which you gather herbs from the farm for making tinctures and a cough syrup. We will focus on methods for making preparations, properties, of herbs used during the class including Mints, Holy Basil, Patchouli, Thyme and more. Fee $35. bring a sack lunch. A hands on workshop. Instructor Cory Trusty. Register at http://www.maggiesherbfarm.com

March 27th Vending at the Sea Side Herb Society's Herb Fair in Ormond Beach at the corner of Beach St. and Granada.

Pictures from my Saturday Stocking Stuffers Class

I had a very fun group of students in my class Saturday at Maggies Herb Farm in St. Augustine. I'm still recovering.



We started off making rose petal and comfrey infused oil and moved on to bath teas, herbal ornaments and corsages from fresh picked herbs from the green house. And finished up with some lip balms and a winter dry skin balm made with the rose and comfrey infused oil.



Some of the herbs we used for the corsages/ornaments included blooming pinapple sage, rosemary, vicks salve plant, pepper, yarrow, lavender and oregano. The one that I made is the second from the left.



Stay tuned I will post my upcoming classes for February and March.

Comparing Essential Oils with Chemical Fragrance Oils in Consumer Products: How and Why to Spot the Differences

Aromatherapy effects of dynamic natural plant essential oils cannot be duplicated by man-made chemical fragrance oils. Aromatherapy is a branch of plant medicine that has nothing to do with synthetic fragrances. However, because the health-promoting properties of true Aromatherapy are desirable, many companies use cheaper chemical fragrance oils that do NOT carry these benefits, but will mislead customers (knowingly or unknowingly) by using the terms aromatherapy or aroma to make it seem like they are the same thing. The most offensive promotion I have seen was an "herbal soap" made with chemical fragrance oils rather than herbal essential oils. In order for a product to have genuine aromatherapeutic properties is must be made with unadulterated plant essences, plant infused oils, or other plant based ingredients. Products labeled for example as "Lavender Fragrance Oil" you may assume are synthetic. A product made with Lavender essential oil will be labeled as such.

How can you tell if you are smelling a pure essential oil product or natural perfume? There are various ways to test an undiluted oil or essential oil for purity, but when it comes to diluted oils in body or or home fragrance products your nose is also a fine judge. When you smell a product made with pure essential oils you should feel drawn to inhale deeply. In contrast when smelling a chemical substitute you may feel like you want to immediately cease inhalation or even hold your breath. Just think of a trip down laundry or home fragrance aisle at the supermarket, which is often overwhelming for people even without chemical sensitivities. Using personal body products with chemical fragrances such as these may contribute to stress on the liver and development of chemical sensitivities over time.

In addition it is noteworthy that certain plant scents cannot be stabilized. Natural perfumery expert Mandy Aftel notes in her book Essence and Alchemy that following florals cannot be produced naturally: Freesia, Honeysuckle, Violet, Tulip, Lily, Gardenia, Heliotrope, Orchid, Lilac, and Lily of the Valley. Also you may find the following fruity 'flavor oils' in various lip balms, but I can assure you they are not essential oils. These are Cherry, Watermelon, Apple, Raspberry, etc. Citrus fruits flavors however can be condensed from collection of the essential oils from outer peel.



Lavender photo by Photo by Heron 15:46, 11 Jul 2004 (UTC). This photo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Thyme Cough Syrup Recipe

Thyme can be used as a primary ingredient in cough syrup. Thyme likes well drained soil and can be killed easily from being inundated by daily rain storms that here occur here in Central Florida July through September. Thyme is an expectorant herb which relieves bronchial spasms to stop coughs. You can use Thyme to calm the cough and throat in cases of Bronchitis, sore throat, inflamed mucus membranes, whooping cough (Purtussis), and gas and bloating.

Mint is another helpful ingredient for cough. It can calm inflammation in the head, throat and eyes. It needs to be added towards the end of the recipe and brewed only for a short time to prevent the fragile aromatic essential oils from dissipating.

Thyme Cough Syrup Recipe:
1 oz dried thyme
1 oz dried mint
4 cups water
sugar or honey

Boil dried Thyme down to about 2.5 cups of water, then strain. Add Mint and let boil for 5-10 minutes. Strain the decoction and add it back to the pot noting the final volume. Add 2 times the volume of the strained decoction in sugar or honey. If using sugar, dissolve it into the decoction.

The suggested amount of syrup to take is 1 tablespoon up to 5 times a day for adults. For children 4-10 years the dosage is 1.5 - 2 tsp up to 5 times day depending on weight.