Authentic historical soaps were made with hardwood-ash lye, called potassium hydroxide, rather than the sodium hydroxide used in modern bar-soap making today.  Potash lye saponifies fats differently, resulting in a liquid soap or a cream soap, depending on the other minerals present in the natural wood ashes.  Most medieval and early American soaps were creamy, and stored in tubs or wooden boxes, with a spoon or scoop to dish out portions of soap at need (for hand washing, dish washing, bathing and any general scrubbing).  Later recipes changed to adding salt, to create hard soaps, and eventually switched entirely to the sodium hydroxide used by modern soap crafters, but liquid soaps remain popular and are actually the original style (see a History of Lye Soap on our farm's other blog).

We make small batches of pioneer soap, using just two simple ingredients: hardwood ashes from our own woodstove, and lard.  It's hard to get more sustainable and natural than that.  Better still, the wood we burn is harvested sustainably from our own coppiced woodlots, and the soap cooking is done on the same woodstove in winter, so no waste fuels are consumed to create the soap.  The lard makes a soft, creamy soap that feels more like lotion and does an excellent job of moisturizing the skin (important when you're washing your hands often, as is so important in modern times). 

Did you know that luffa grows as a gourd?  It's true!  Luffa sponges are natural, renewable beauty tools, dish scrubbies or disposable cleaning wipes.  No dyes, petroleum products or factories needed; the luffa grows as a vigorous, beautiful vine with enormous flowers that feed bumble bees, butterflies and other pollinators from June until November!

Not ready to grow your own garden yet?  Not everyone has room or time for it, and that's okay.  You can still get the tea, dye or medicinal herbs from a safe, organic source that you know uses regenerative permaculture to ensure the health of  the garden.  See our blog for details on the plants we grow, and updates on dried herbs we have available.