February 2010 Update

Please pardon our laxness in posting lately. I'd say we've been busy but this is honestly our quiet season and we've enjoyed our first winter in the new house along with blazing fires in the wood stove.  Spring will arrive soon and we'll going in circles trying to keep up with the schedule of herb and plant festivals, caring for the greenhouse (which will start next week), and attending the farmers market at Cherry Street.

Until then, let me share what's happening this winter on the farm.  Soap - yep, it's soaping time.  Handmade soap takes at least four weeks to cure and I've been in the studio mixing up our first batches of Lavender Patchouli Soap (as well as our usual line-up of fine hand crafted soaps).  I'm very excited about this blend.  For years I've thought I'd never make anything with patchouli because it wreaks havoc with my asthma.  What I've discovered though is that while incense and dried patchouli cause problems for me, the essential oil doesn't (I only use essential oils never synthetics).  The sweet scent of patchouli is a perfect match for the richness of lavender.  The first bars will be available in about two weeks.

The studio has been a busy place this winter. On the outside we've finishing priming it for new paint and are waiting for a few warm sunny days to finish putting on the final color.

On the inside of the studio not only have I been mixing soap but dyeing plenty of yarn.  Silk, alpaca, merino... all lace weight or ultra-fine weight.  The shop yarn is located on my knitting blog  (it's easier to update than the official website) where you can purchase using Paypal.  Shipping, as always, is USPS Priority Mail so knitters have their yarn in 2-3 days.

Here's a look at what's currently available in
The CCL Yarn Shop

Lost City Silk in Silver Bells and Pink Champagne.  

(lace weight) 1000yds/90grams & 500yds/45grams - 

coming next week Wild Violet (1000yds/90grams) 

This is the same yarn shown in the Wild Violet Echo Flower Shawl.

Pink Champagne was used in Mom's Echo Flower Shawl.

North Pasture Alpaca in Turmeric, Saffron Threads, and Paprika (Paprika is sold out) 

(all ultra-fine weight) 950yds/90grams

Oak Barn Merino in Fleeting Moments Dawn and Fleeting Moments Dusk 

(1000yds/90grams)

Inspired by those fleeting moments of color at dawn and dusk as the sun sits below the horizon casting the spectrum across the Oklahoma sky, these laceweight merino skeins are subtly shaded and soft to the touch.

Chris has been chopping wood, cleaning pastures, and baking cupcakes this winter.  Of course, he's also our face on Facebook you can keep up with Clear Creek Lavender there as well.  I'm a single-social-community-website-type-gal so you won't find me on Facebook but I am on Ravelry as Lostcitydenise.

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Back in Tulsa!

After a wonderful week of vacation fun in New York, we're back on the farm.  For a bit anyway. There are a few photos of our trip on my knitting blog if you want to see what we look like when we're stoked up on Magnolia Bakery cupcakes.

Tomorrow begins the Garden Deva Open House in Tulsa.  The studio is easy to find on Trenton between 3rd & 4th and I highly recommend everyone coming out to spend an hour (or two or three) perusing the art, crafts, and delicious food available.  This is the last event for us in Tulsa so be sure to pick up those lavender holiday gifts!  We'll have Handmade Naked Lavender Soap, Soap in Sachets, Shea Butter, and several options of gift combos.

The music at the Garden Deva is always outstanding.  Especially fun is the final hour of the event on Saturday when the djembe drummers from the Tulsa area show up in great numbers and really get the crowd's mojo working.

Don't miss it!

Edited to add:
Sadly the djembe drummers did not make it the Deva this year - but there were fire dancers!!

Fall Festival kick off at Winfield!

Autumn is in the air here on the farm. The past week has been foggy, rainy, and mild in temperature. The second round of coreopsis is blooming as is the Munstead. Combine the changes in weather with the flurry of activity in the studio and surely you will know it's time for the Fall Season to begin!

First show up is the Walnut Valley Festival or as everyone refers to it "Winfield". Winfield is a festival like none other we attend. First - there's the camping. Land Rush was on September 10th but people began lining up for the land rush on August 20th. Yes - really! We know people who have been attending Winfield for twenty plus years, each year camping with the same crowd of twenty-thirty-forty families under a huge lighted peace sign.  There'll be jamming and laughing into the wee hours.

Then there's the music - six official stages, plus a few more will give any attendee a chance to see and hear the music they enjoy. Small groups or duos traveling and singing on tour, big names that you recognize and of course the contests for flatpicking, dulcimer, fiddle and a few more. The next rising star may be competing. Heck Allison Krauss won in 1984!

And of course, there's the tie-dye. I've never seen more tie-dye in one place than Winfield, Kansas in September! It's crazy good! There are oodles of tie-dye vendors, along with the traditional crafts of jewelry, pottery, and you guessed it - lavender soap and sundries! You'll find us in the pavilion. Or most probably you'll find one of us in the pavilion and the other in the crowds enjoying some of the fantastic music Winfield has to offer this year. Come and say hello!

Color me happy!

Early July means crazy-making in the studio. Soap takes six weeks to cure, so I'm preparing for the fall shows. The bars I cut this morning are just so scrumptious that I had to show them off a little. The green might lighten up a little as it cures. Although I hope not much. This color without synthetics - only natural beauty - herbs and plants.

Here are Lavender Chamomile and Lavender Lemongrass...

Midmorning break from soapmaking...

The Soap Box

It’s summer and it’s really hot in Oklahoma. The triple digits and high humidity busted our schedule a few weeks early this year. Usually it’s around the first of July before we begin to melt while working out in the field, but not this year.

Summer is a tough time to sell one of our most loved products, the Lavender Shea Butter. I purposefully do not put a huge amount of beeswax in our shea tins, I know that creamy silkiness is why we (our customers and ourselves) love it. When the temps hit 90 degrees plus – the good stuff melts. That’s just the way it is. If you have a tin – don’t leave it in your car, or in your purse for that matter. Many of us ladies have had that nasty experience of leaving a tube of lipstick in the bottom of our purse on a hot summer day, reached in and drew our hand out coated with red/pink/peach goo. Not so pretty. You can put your shea in the refrigerator to re-solidify it if needed.

In less than two weeks we’ll be missing from the CSFM as we make our annual trek to Woody Fest. It’s a fun-filled free concert weekend of folk music honoring the great Woody Guthrie in his hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma. If you’re one of our regular Woody Fest friends, or if you’re new to Woody Fest, please be sure to stop by the booth while you’re enjoying the Pastures of Plenty and the great music. If it’s hot again, and it’s sure to be, we’ll be handing out those Iced Lavender Towels that help keep us refreshed and smelling pretty.

Because of the heat we won’t be taking Lavender Shea Butter to Woody Fest, but we will be bringing something new – our Soap Sampler Gift Box! This winter Chris and I thought we’d try a little something new – little being the appropriate word. Our regular soap weighs about five ounces – it’s a hefty bath bar, we love it and hope you do too. Chris made a few new additional soap molds for me and I’ve created a smaller bar – the Square Deal Soap – just for fun. After a little searching we also found the perfect size box to hold six Square Deals. It’s a great way to sample our different bars of soap. Ever wondered if you’d like the Lavender Cedar bar? Always bought just the Lavender Bud bar? Need a gift for yourself or a friend? Now you can have a small box of five our favorites (two Lavender Buds are included – because who doesn’t love that bar?) I’ve also whipped up a new blend of soap – Lavender Lemongrass. It’s quite yummy and can only be found in the Soap Sampler this summer. (I hope to make it in the large size for the fall shows.)

Here’s a peek at the Soap Sampler Gift Box – the price is good – six bars of handcrafted soap featuring our organic lavender buds for only $16. How can you beat that?


Oh and be sure to look for Clear Creek Lavender as vendors in the Oklahoma Food Coop!

Almost Edible

As organic lavender farmers of the do-it-yourself variety we get to see many aspects of a business that often is missed in the larger commercial world. Both Chris and I have been working hard at hand-harvesting lavender and both fields for the last few weeks and we’re close to being finished.
Today though, it’s raining. We’re generally not fair-weather farmers but it’s a good day to catch up on inside tasks. Each January I try to estimate how many products we need on hand to get us through the first part of the season – essentially past harvest. With trusty spreadsheets color-coded and printed we start the winter chores such as making soap. All of our soaps are vegetable based and contain no synthetic ingredients. They’re also made completely by us – never farmed out to a contracted soap maker.
Soap making is like chemistry class in high school. It involves great care in mixing and measuring numerous ingredients and checking temperatures. Solid and liquid oils, essential oils for scent, our organic lavender buds, other herbs and spices and of course, sodium hydroxide. Sodium hydroxide, or lye, is the ingredient that makes the soap hard, and as I overhead a chemistry student customer telling her mother – it’s what pulls the dirt away from whatever you’re washing.
Making soap also involves a bit of fun. I’ve searched around to find natural ingredients to use for colorants in our lavender soap. In the basic Lavender Bud soap I add an East Indian spice called Rattanjot to achieve a purple color. Other vegetable matter could be used too – like blueberries or indigo, but I’m not sure our customers want the lasting effect of lavender skin after showering. If it’s been a good year for Chamomile, and it generally is, we’ll have Lavender Chamomile soap. A bit of turmeric gives that soft yellow color. Another soap we enjoy is the Wicked Witch bar. It’s an avocado based soap, as opposed to olive oil, so it has a soft green color when cured. Avocado is emollient and very soothing on dry skin.
Often when I’ve got multiple batches of soap curing I’m struck by the colors of the bars that are lined up on the drying rack. They are lovely and have an almost edible appearance.
My calculations back in January were pretty accurate. We made more soap than my spreadsheet called for and I began soaping again recently to prepare for late summer and fall events. Today’s soap will be cured and ready for sale in six weeks.