Mosquito Season Coming Soon!

Two of my seasonal products I make are "Insect Away" Lotion and "Insect Away" Spray; Herbal & Essential Oil Pest Discouragers! I use the spray on my horse "Greyboy" as he has sensitive Arabian skin and it works wonderfully! I make up a huge spray bottle especially for him.
I'm going to be giving Herbal Workshops this spring and summer and making your own bug spray is going to be one of those scheduled. Probably in June. So keep posted and I'll have the workshop schedule up soon here and on my website.
But for now I'm going to share a couple of my main ingredients that make my bug spray so very effective as well as natural and safe! These two ingredients are; Infused Catnip in Olive Oil and Yarrow Tincture. Both of these are easy to prepare and incorporate into your own homemade bug spray.
So today I'm going to give directions on how to make your catnip infused oil.
When your catnip is up and flourishing, gather with scissors (leave enough behind so your catnip can continue growing). Chop up your catnip with scissors. Put it in your crock pot, pour cold-press virgin olive oil (I use organic) over the catnip until it is just covered. DO NOT put the cover on, and turn on low. Now my crock pot is not a hot crock pot and I am able to leave mine on for a couple hours. You do not want your catnip and oil to get too hot so don't let it simmer. If you have to turn your crock pot on and off a couple times so that you get a couple hours of infusion with a low heat then do so. Strain with a colander. Put into a glass bottle and let sit overnight on the counter. In the morning you will see a sediment film on the bottom. Strain off again and throw the sediment away. Keep in the fridge until ready for use.
I have an affinity with catnip. I love the smell, I adore the fuzzy like leaves and wouldn't think of being without catnip in my herb garden.
Next I'll post on how to make Yarrow Tincture.

In Full Swing

A working ranch's chores are endless; the seasons change...one phase ends and another one begins.
Sapping is done. Maple Syrup abundant with about 54 gallons made this year. All that's left is the cleaning of the buckets, taps and hose and then stored away till next year.
Calving is almost over. We had another born today. Old #3895 (1995 born cow) had a heifer. We have two cows left but they will be late...with "Oops" babies. A young bull got out before he was sold last July. These two cows would of been open with out calves...perhaps "Oops" babies...better late than never...calves to sell in the fall.
Butcher Chicks will be ready for pickup this coming Thursday. We'll be getting ready for those and getting the brooder out. No coop this year. I'm trying to cut down a bit so I have a little more time to breath! 20 years...I think it's time don't you?
Baby rabbits born...with 10 live and doing well to one doe. We had two does loose their young and one doe didn't settle. We'll breed again in a week.
Horse Friday began and friend Francine and her girls have come to ride. They have bought a rescue horse "Molly" who has come here to live. The Picture is of Francine riding my Greyboy and one of Francine's girls friend riding Molly.
Yard work and garden preparation are next on the agenda. So much to clean up...we have six dogs, so you can imagine cleaning up you know what...can't you?
Pasture fencing repair will be a job for my guys to get done during the week while Dad is at work. A couple pastures need to be worked up and planted this year. Those fences need to be taken down.
Well the list goes on and on. I'd better start the chore list and we'll just plug along and try to prioritize the best we can.
So one of the first fun things I want to accomplish this year. Learn to rope from my horse Greyboy. I know I can practice on Moan. We've been messin around with ropes with him since he was a weanling. So I'll start practicing on him. But I'm going to teach Greyboy to tolerate the ropin thing...wish me luck...two old dogs (me and Greyboy), learn new tricks...ummmm...Ok we'll give it a try.