Playing with roses

I dream of the day I'll be harvesting baskets upon baskets of rose petals from our gardens here at Ridge Pond Farm. That dream is likely a few years away still. To tide me over this year I had the opportunity in late June to pick rose petals at the home of a close family friend.

Cathy and my mother have been friends for more than 40 years. She and her husband live on the coast in Northport and have roses planted right along the ocean's edge of their property overlooking a lovely cove. Their roses are just gorgeous with huge, fragrant petals. I picked a few white ones but concentrated mainly on picking the pink petals for their color and fragrance. It took little time to fill my harvesting basket. 

Their scent was simply perfection. I kept getting distracted the next morning in the kitchen by these beauties, repeatedly pausing whatever I was doing to deeply inhale their fragrance. Roses are known to elicit joy and that's exactly what I feel when I'm breathing them in.  

With my small harvest (I didn't want to be too greedy with my gathering) I made 6 small batches of different rose products for personal use and as research for future Ridge Pond Herbals products: roses infused into sweet almond oil, a rose elixir, a rose oxymel, rose-infused witch hazel, rose vinegar, and rose sugar. 

Arguably the prettiest concoction was the rose sugar. I pulsed equal amounts of rose petals and sugar (I use organic cane sugar) in the food processor until well combined, then added a tablespoon of lemon juice. The final product was deeply, intensely pink and absolutely delicious. A decadent treat is vanilla ice cream with a sprinkle of rose sugar. The prettiest of indulgences. 

The runner-up in the pretty department is the rose vinegar. I packed a pint jar half full with rose petals and poured in warmed-to-a-simmer apple cider vinegar to fill the jar. Very quickly the petals gave up their pink and after a week and a half I strained the mix and bottled the rosy smelling and colored vinegar. It takes willpower not to use this in everything. 

For the oxymel, I filled a pint jar 3/4 full with petals and poured in about a cup of raw honey (warmed to pour easily). After stirring the honey and petals thoroughly I filled the rest of the jar with apple cider vinegar. I'll be straining this soon to make a sweet-tart syrup to add to sparkling water (and possibly vodka...ok, definitely vodka).

For the rose petal-infused sweet almond oil I filled a jar half-full with petals, mashed them up a bit to release more oils and fragrance and then added sweet almond oil to fill. I still have it soaking and will strain it soon. Still pondering what future Ridge Pond Herbals prototype I'll use this loveliness in. 

The rose-infused witch hazel is made from a pint jar 3/4 full of petals covered with organic witch hazel. I'll give it another few weeks and will then strain to test a facial toner/body spray idea for Ridge Pond Herbals.

At the moment my very favorite rose experiment from last month is the rose elixir. Made from a pint jar full of petals with warmed raw honey poured in to fill 1/4 of the jar amidst the petals. The last step was to fill the rest of the jar with brandy. After sitting several weeks I strained out the petals (they were boozy and delicious, by the way) and have been relishing small doses of utter bliss in every rosy sip of this elixir.

Goodbye, June, you only just got here

July already? It feels like June only just began! The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of preparing for and attending farmers' markets in Gardiner and Yarmouth. A huge thank you to everyone able to come out to either. It's been fantastic to see some friendly faces and meet new ones as well. Weather-permitting I'll be at every Gardiner market through the summer (although today isn't looking promising weather-wise) and I'm planning on every other week at Yarmouth, including tomorrow, July 2. I'll post on Facebook if I'll be missing a market for weather or other reasons. If you're interested in more updates and photos from Ridge Pond, be sure to like the Ridge Pond Farm + Herbals Facebook page and follow me on Instagram.

Roses & Honey Salve in 1/2 oz tins, topped with dried rose petals

The latest product from the Ridge Pond Herbals kitchen is Roses & Honey Salve, packaged in either a 1/2 oz tin, decorated with dried rose petals, or unadorned in a 1 oz glass jar. The rose petals in the tins are really just for the pretty and a little extra fragrance. You'll likely want to remove them before using the salve (they come out easily). I like to remove them all at once when I open the tin and rub them with a little salve in my hands like a fragrant mini scrub and then rinse, leaving my hands soft, exfoliated, and smelling divine. This salve is made from fragrant, organic rose-infused olive oil mixed with beeswax redolent of honey and a little extra rose essential oil. Roses & Honey Salve is great on practically all parts of the body including the face, lips, anywhere needing moisture, and even as a subtle perfume to put on and not feel like you're overwhelming those close to you. Rose softens the skin and its scent can instill happiness. 

Roses & Honey Salve also comes in 1 oz glass jars without rose petals

Ready for skin potions

It's been a challenging and rewarding experience learning the ropes starting this small business. Product making, finalizing packaging, attending markets, tending the gardens. I have been fortunate enough to have had a couple of bulk orders to fill over the past few weeks which have been great fun putting together (and thank you, thank you to those customers for your generous and early support!). Weekly product offerings to CSA members of Crooked Door Farm in Whitefield began last week as well. I'm also working on some exciting retail collaborations which I'll be announcing soon. 

I want people buying my product to have the best possible experience, both in using the product itself and in the purchasing process. For that reason I am taking the time it takes, in the time I have, to make the Ridge Pond Herbals Etsy shop the best it can possibly be before its launch. I appreciate the patience of those of you who've been waiting. It's just around the corner!  However, if you're really wanting to order something from me that you've tried or read about in the meantime, please email me at ridgepondfarm@gmail.com and we can discuss your order. If you're willing to work with a clunky, initial process, I'm eager to supply you with Ridge Pond Herbals products! 

Welcome, July! I'm not sure how you got here so quickly but glad to see you all the same.

Potions

For the love of roses...and blue tape.  

Herbal experiments

Over the past couple weeks I've been playing around with new products, new ways of putting ingredients together. Thought I'd share a few of my putterings for anyone interested.

This sunny pot of goodness below is a frankincense salve, made with a high ratio of frankincense essential oil. There's more risk of skin irritation at this level but the benefits are higher if your skin can tolerate it. I'm using it for a wrist issue and keep it next to the bed for a fragrant nighttime application. It also makes a really nice massage cream. 

This elixir below is made from infusing brandy with dried medicinal fruits, herbs, and spices: elderberry, elderflower, schisandra and hawthorn berries, rosehips, hibiscus, cinnamon, cloves, ginger root, and orange peel. Along with a generous glug of honey, it sat for 6 weeks on a shelf, where I shook it once in a while. It's pretty intense, even at a small dose like 2 Tablespoons. I prefer mixing it with water and sometimes elderberry tincture for more palatablity and more elderberry. Next time I would be much lighter handed with the spices. 

The color is gorgeous but not easy to capture with my camera. A delicious way to add beneficial herbs to everyday life.

Sweet smelling rose salve. Made with rose-infused olive oil and beeswax. The beeswax I use is highly fragrant so I like to call this Roses and Honey salve. The petals are just for the pretty.

Roses taking an oil bath.  

One more rose picture, because roses.

I love the color green. This gorgeous stuff is my Green Monster salve (for when your skin feels a little scary). The base is a Greek extra virgin olive oil that feels phenomenal on the skin and smells the way the color green would if it had a smell. I infuse the olive oil with dried comfrey leaf and root. Comfrey is just amazing stuff. I'll write more about it another time but enough to say that its healing properties, particularly for the skin, are no joke. Mike has skin issues on his hands and he uses comfrey daily to keep his skin healthy. Having some of this around is never a bad idea. Plus, it's so green!

Comfrey leaf and root in Messiniako olive oil. 

These pretties below are made from tallow infused with roses, chickweed, and lavender, combined with comfrey oil and lavender essential oil. After whipping in the mixer, they get poured into these tins to cool and I love the pattern on their surfaces. I have a lot (understatement!) to say about tallow but I'll wait for a separate post. Every ingredient in this cream is beneficial for your skin and the aromatherapy benefit can't be overlooked. Deep inhale...

- Cari