Now that I have you all growing plants out of your pots, bowls, baskets and shoes….let’s take a look at how to make them consumable, other than standard food.

Here, I am showing you how to take the essential oils from herbs to make soap. Let’s go over how to make those essential oils.

Even though I am explaining with Lavender, this is the same scenario for other herbs!

Equipment and Ingredients:

• Flower buds of Lavender Grown organically (w/o pesticides or fertilzers)
• Cheap vodka or grain alcohol (but do not use isopropyl/rubbing alcohol)
• I have a mortar and pestle; but a bowl and spoon will work too!
• Mason jars (you can keep and use glass jars from your sauces, condiments and jellies that you buy in stores)
• Coffee filters

There are several ways to create a (Lavender) essential oil, tincture or extract at home, from distilling. Producing what is technically a true essential oil is also known as steam distilling. To make an essential oil, you have to distill the Lavender buds, capture the steam, and condense the steam into a liquid. This requires heat, pressure, equipment, skill and patience. And, distillery is where the word “still” comes from—yes, just like moonshiners. 

Place (Lavender) buds into your bowl or mortar, and crush lightly with the pestle or spoon to release the aromatic oil. Don’t make mush!

Transfer the crushed buds to a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Cover entirely with the grain alcohol or vodka. Shake the jar to release more oil, several times a day, for several days in a row. A longer steep means more intense extraction.

After a week or so of this, you’re ready to refine. Use a coffee filter and strain the liquid and into a second jar. (The pour-off is technically lavender-infused vodka, I don’t recommend drinking it.)

Loosely tie off a coffee filter over the open mouth of the jar you just filtered the liquid into; but don’t put a lid on it. You want air to flow through the jar and allow excess alcohol to evaporate from the oil. Let this stand for about a week.

Now, depending on what you are using this oil for; you may want to strain it one more time through a coffee filter to remove any remaining sediment. Other than that, you can store it for your upcoming crafting, baking, making needs!

Related:

Indoor Gardening

Dwarf Cavendish Banana Plant

GROWING AND STORING FRESH PRODUCE

Lavender As A Crop

How to Make Soap

How to Make Essential Oils

GIFTS FROM THE HEART – SCENTED CANDLES

GIFTS FROM THE HEART – TEA BAGS

GIFTS FROM THE HEART – PERSONALIZED MOUSE PADS

Making your own soap has several benefits. Saves money, it’s healthier and you can make money as a product for a side business.

The equipment needed is minimal. More than likely, you already own most of it!

Equipment: Double boiler* (pots* of different sizes can be substituted if a true double boiler is not owned), glass measuring cup, candy or meat thermometer, glass dish, whisk, gloves, goggles, mask and molds for the soap shapes.

*NOTE: Always use stainless steel pots when working with lye. Lye reacts with aluminum and produces toxic fumes*

Ingredients: 2 pounds lard (animal or plant based), 10.5 ounces water, 4.25 ounces lye (Sodium Hydroxide)* , Oils of choice for scent (Lavender recommended solely by preference!), herbs such as ground turmeric (type of ginger) for health benefits.

*NOTE: The gloves, goggles and mask are for working with the lye (sodium hydroxide). It is an inorganic compound commonly found in drain cleaners like Draino. It is caustic and can burn your skin. The mixture will also create fumes. Sounds intimidating; but, the basic safety tips are easy once you do it by the second time!

Instructions:

1. If you’re using a glass or wooden mold, line it with wax paper.
2. Put on your protective gear. Pour water into the jar until it reads 10.5 ounces. Then set aside.
3. Carefully pour 4.25 ounces of lye into the glass dish.
4. Put your goggles, mask and gloves on now. Carefully and slowly pour the lye into the water. Stir the mixture until the lye is completely dissolved. As you stir, the mixture will become quite hot so be careful if you need to move it. Let it cool to between 100-120 degrees.
5. Place the lard in a stainless steel pot and put it on the burner. Heat over medium heat until completely melted. Remove the mixture from the heat and let cool to between 100-120 degrees. Use a candy or meat thermometer to test the temperature every 5-10 minutes until it reaches the desired temperature.
6. Heat the oils and herbs you choose for your soap, like lavender and turmeric (this is where you can get creative once you have the hang of making soap!) in another pot to warm up while the lye mixture cools.
7. Slowly pour the lye/water into the oils. Blend in the pot, with a whisk, until it resembles a cake batter (3-5 minutes).
8. Pour the soap into the molds you have chosen.
9. Put the mold somewhere warm (like an oven with the light on) and let it sit for 24 hours.
10. After 24 hours, pop your soap out of the mold and cut if needed. Stand bars up in a dry area with space in between each one to allow for air circulation. Let them sit and harden.
11. When you’re done (with your gloves still on) rinse any supplies that had lye or soap mixture in them with running water. Pour some vinegar in a sink filled with hot soapy water and wash everything in there, then set aside away from your food prep area to dry. Store all soap making tools in a closet or cabinet away from food making tools.

Now that you have mastered soap making; besides having your own supply, what to do with them all? Gift baskets for the holidays, set up a table in your driveway when there are yard sales on your block, set up a table at Farmer’s Markets, list them on eCommerce sites: Etsy.com, Amazon.com, eBay.com. Launch your own website (don’t know how? I am for hire!)

But now you know you can do it! And you further increased your self sufficiency!

Previous: Indoor Gardening , Growing and Storing Fresh Produce

VICTORY GARDENS

Related:

Indoor Gardening

GROWING AND STORING FRESH PRODUCE

Lavender As A Crop

How to Make Soap

How to Make Essential Oils

Some small growers tend a few dozen plants in their backyard or indoors in buckets, and are happy to make a few hundred dollars.

Larger operations on acreage can bring in hundreds of thousands, especially if they also produce and sell value-added products (soaps, sprigs, oils).

Purple Haze Farms, in Sequim, Washington, for example, routinely grosses over a million dollars a year with about 8 acres of lavender. Fresh lavender bouquets are a very profitable way to sell lavender.

Most growers sell direct to the retail public (craft stores, florists), either from their garden or at the local farmer’s market. At our local Sunday farmer’s market, lavender bunches sell for $6 each. A 20′ x 20′ growing area can produce around 300 bunches each year, worth $1,800.

Larger plots are even more profitable. A quarter-acre can produce about 3,000 bunches, worth $18,000. Unsold lavender bunches can be dried and sold to crafters and florists, who use the bunches for dried floral arrangements.

Also, the flower buds can be removed from the bunches and sold or used to make sachets and other value-added products. Other lavender products, such as lotions, oils and soaps, bring 500% or more markups from the price of the basic ingredients.

Related:

• Indoor Gardening
• Growing and Storing Fresh Produce
• How to Make Soap
• How to Make Essential Oils