Why Organic?

Our soaps are made with 100% Certified Organic base oils. How could this possibly make a bit of difference in a bar of soap? Good question, and the benefit for your skin over natural soaps made with conventional oils is probably negligible.
But you will have the satisfaction of knowing that no oils from genetically modified crops or pesticide residues can possibly be in them.

On the other hand, the difference for farm workers and the farms and plantations where the oil plants are grown, and inherently the Earth as a whole, is immense.

The habitat that makes human life possible on our humble planet is a community of organisms and non-living components (like rocks and water) that work together to create a fertile and healthy environment. While some of these are viewed negatively as they interfere with our goals (weeds, diseases, gophers!) they are still part of the overall picture, helping to create the delicate balance that makes it all possible.

Many things can throw this system askew, such as drought, or a hurricane, volcanic eruption. But generally, given time, the environment heals itself. Some events can effect the environment over a long period of time, such as excessive amounts of nuclear radiation. This is one reason why people are so alarmed over the possibility of Nuclear Reactor failure. Yet when we take some of the artificial chemicals we have created and use them to control our agricultural environment, they can cause damage to the soil that is irreversible for decades as well. Not to mention having ill effects on the farmers who use them and, potentially, the consumers who come in contact with it over time.

Sometimes I think it's like taking a broad spectrum antibiotic when you are sick. It kills all the bacteria, good and bad, that live in our bodies, usually throwing one system or another off kilter until we replace the good microorganisms, through diet or another pill. What makes the Earth's habitat friendly for humans and the life forms that sustain us is balance, not chemical warfare.

There are many personal reasons, as humans, that we should support organic practices. Many have written about them in length. See the Top 10 Reasons to Support Organic here, and enjoy this video from Stonyfield Farm:



Eat organic food, better for you and your family and the planet. And when you use products made from agricultural ingredients, try to make sure those, too, come from organic sources. Until we refuse to purchase anything else, toxins will continue to be used.

And know that Simmons Special Soaps are made with 100% Certified Organic base oils, with people, the planet, and a healthy and sustainable future in mind.

Waiting to Garden...

Spring is in the air, the Vernal Equinox is in only 2 weeks (March 20, 2011) but the weather is still very winter-y. I have been itching to get out in the garden.


A confirmed Plant-a-holic, I have houseplants to keep me occupied in the winter months, but there is nothing like getting out and digging in the dirt. We have had a large organic vegetable garden for the past 42 years and expect to have one until I die. But I have to admit, gardening our sloping mountain terrain was getting to be more work every year.

So we have been working on making our garden easier to work so we can be happy playing in the dirt as long into our future as is possible. This is a multi year project, of which 2011 is year 3.

Our garden is about 1/8 of an acre. In 2009 we built a retaining wall and leveled out the top 2/3 of our garden area. This had a downhill slope of 6' from top to bottom, not to mention the differences side to side. We built a 4' tall wall and dug down 3' at the top. This required moving a LOT of dirt!

The Skid Steer moving dirt!

Moving this much dirt is more than a shovel job, luckily we were able to get a Skid Steer to use. We carefully pushed all the top garden dirt with years of mulch & amendments to one side as we dug down into the thick clay that makes up most of the land here.

The area where the wall went needed to be level, with a big enough area to put in drainage behind the wall. Then we could begin to assemble the retaining wall block by block. The wall is of landscaping blocks that lock together, and requires no mortar.
Once the wall was built up we backfilled it with the dirt we had set aside and some topsoil we had trucked in from elsewhere. We left a wide sloping  path up one side to run wheelbarrows up to the top of the garden.

Garden steps and beds with mulch

There was still some steep slope beyond what we had planned on with the wall, so we put large rocks and made stairs for access to this part of the garden.

By now we were itching to get our plants in the soil, and the first part of our plan was actually accomplished! I cannot tell you how much easier it is to work level ground than the free form terraces with the endless raking they needed.

Finished wall with garden & dedicated flower row

In 2010 we did phase two of our plan. This required making three broad terraced areas out of the remaining bottom third of the garden and starting to install raised beds. We purchased raised bed kits from Naturalyards, as we wanted to take advantage of those who had a lot of experience. This was far too important a project for us to reinvent the wheel, and we learned a lot. We really wanted to make these beds gopher proof (see our earlier blog on Gophers - not for the faint of heart...), and try to keep out the noxious bindweed that plagues us here, as well.

Attaching hardware cloth to the bottom of the bed.

Our plan was to attach weedcloth, and then 1/2" galvanized hardware cloth, to the bottom of the beds before installing and filling them. This won't last forever, but it will last a long, long, time. We have a hardware cloth lined bed in our greenhouse that we installed in the 1990's and is still intact.

Assembled bed showing the cross braces

One of the important things we learned about raised beds is, if they are longer than 6 feet, you need to have cross bracing to keep them from bowing out when they are filled with dirt. These beds are assembled with aluminum rods (aluminum won't rust) that are driven down through pre-drilled boards. Where there is a joint between two boards of a long bed you insert a metal strap and run the rod through that as well, to hold it in place.

Another thing we discovered is how much better it is to have a top trim on the bed so you have a place to sit or place tools or harvest baskets.

We use drip irrigation (from DripWorks) in the beds and T-tape, another form of  drip irrigation, to the beds in the terrace for ease of irrigation and conservation of water.

These changes have been a complete success. We raised onions, greens, cabbages, beets, broccoli, and the most perfect gopher-free carrots we have ever grown, in these beds last year. Currently we have fall-planted garlic and cabbage, as well as this years onions and beets in the ground. The terrace behind the retaining wall has proved easy to work and had a fabulous harvest of corn, tomatoes, squash, beans and other larger crops. On top of that, it was easier than it has ever been to keep our garden going

If all goes as planned, we hope to build 2 to 4 more beds this year. In every way these changes have met or exceeded our expectations, and I see wonderful fresh vegetables and flowers in our future.

Snow Day - Power in the Storm

Weather report: 2/17/11

While much of the country has been inundated in snow this winter we have managed to avoid it. Until now. It has been snowing for two days and is forecast to continue for a week. Must be our turn.


Big storms of all sorts wreak havoc in our rural mountains just as they do in towns. The roads can be closed, flooded, or dangerously icy. The wind will blow away what's not secured. And wind, snow, trees, auto accidents, wildfires and other incidents can interrupt electric power. That's the case in this storm. I found out via a phone call from someone, otherwise we would have never known. 
This is when the power independence of our self-sufficient lifestyle really stands out.

Hydro-system, Pelton wheel inside barrel

Right now we are running on micro-hydro power. Not as lucky as those with a year round creek, our system relies on rain and other precipitation. 
The rain and runoff that started before it got so cold got our hydro running, and the snow is now building up a reserve on the mountain above us that will last long after the storm is over. Generally our main winter season power source, running steadily 24 hours a day, hydro-power is almost decadent in its abundance.

The wind turbine from up the hill

Every time a storm blows in the power of the wind makes electricity with our small scale wind turbine. 
Located on a point above a river canyon, it gets wind morning and evening most of the year, but it really kicks into gear in stormy weather. 

Looking up at our wind turbine

This is the most fickle source of power in our locale, where wind is neither steady nor reliable every day. Yet it still fills in the gaps to keep the batteries charged that run our home and soap business.

But the real workhorses of our system, despite being the only ones with no moving parts, are our solar Photo Voltaic (PV) panels. 

Patched together over the years (there are 3 slightly different styles in our array), if there is any light, they are producing some power. And, since there is far more sun here than other weather overall, I think I can safely say most of our annual electricity comes from these panels. 
On top of that we have 2 smaller PV panels that pump water from our spring up to a holding tank, another small panel that runs the pump on our solar hot water system as well as an attic fan, and a tiny panel that runs a fan in our garden's greenhouse.

Our solar PV electric array

In fact, it is solar energy that runs all these systems, as it is the sun's influence on our planet that creates the weather and controls the water cycle that makes the other methods work. 
Even on a dark blizzard of a day like this one.


I think I will go have a hot cup of tea and warm up!

9/2014 Update: This spring we added 5 new Solar PV panels to our system, bringing us to a full 4 kilowatts of charging power. We bought them a year ago when we had the money and the price was good. That almost never happens at the same time! And we finally had the opportunity to build a rack for them and add them to our array this year. It's wonderful to have the extra power.

Love Story

Continuing this Valentine theme, I have been in the same relationship for 39 years.
Somehow this is considered a really long time... It also feels like a long time. It is wonderful right now, right here, and I see us remaining deeply in love and with the special, comfortable, and familiar friendship being together over the years can bring.

Like all things in life, it will always have its ups and downs: long term relationships require a lot of cultivation. Patience, compassion, sharing, surrender, frustration, acceptance, independence and a good sense of humor. It is ever a work in progress.

The history of our personal relationship is reflected in music - as are so many things. From our earliest days in the blossom of youth and romance Joni Mitchell gave us: "My Old Man"


And later the trials and tribulations of raising a family and keeping home & hearth together and those frustrations can resonate with "Give A Little" by Nicolette Larson


From the deepest dark times - we turned to one of the classic songs of all time, Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me"


But these were always followed by reunion - not always easy as shown by David Lindley's "Starting All over Again", here done by Hall & Oates (Lindley's version is better, but I can't find a video).


While this doesn't really describe us, the playfulness and silliness of the love that binds us - in spite of everything - is mirrored in this all time favorite done by John Prine & Iris Dement
In Spite of Ourselves

Overall, however, throughout this relationship and particularly at this end of it looking back - I have always felt that the Beatles said it beautifully: "In My Life"


Happy Valentine's Day. May your life be enriched with love.

Love is in the air

It's the spring thing...

As winter wanes birds, bugs and animals start to think in terms of romance - or at least procreation. Humans, unwilling to wait for the sun's warmth, have their romantic holiday mid-winter in February. Perhaps to warm the heart when the world is locked in cold (at least in the Northern hemisphere).

Valentine's Day (formerly Saint Valentine's Day) has mysterious origins. It could have started from any of 3 martyred men of God, each named Valentine.
The most likely story speaks of Valentine, a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius II.

Caught marrying Christian couples and aiding any Christians who were being persecuted under Emperor Claudius in Rome his imprisonment ultimately resulted in his demise. In 496 C.E. Pope Gelasius officially marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom.

We hope you will share a little of your Valentine's day spirit with us!

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