DIY Beeswax Wraps

We love these beeswax wraps!  They have so many great uses, and can replace any situation where you might have used plastic wrap before.  No more plastic wrap on food, no more plastic wrap to throw away.  For example, we wrap lunch sandwiches, halves of apples, blocks of cheese stored in the fridge, and to cover mixing bowls when proofing bread.  The beeswax wraps are slightly water proof and breathable.

Cleaning: These beeswax wraps can be used almost indefinitely, and if they do need cleaning just rinse gently with cool water and a biodegradable dishsoap or wipe with cool cloth, then let air dry (do not wash with hot water as this may melt the beeswax coating).

Note of caution: Making your own beeswax wraps at home is quite simple.  The key is to keep an eye on your oven temperature and not leave the cloths in the oven too long.  This is important since the hot wax in your oven could become a fire hazard. Work carefully, and in less than half an hour you will have your own set of beeswax wraps!  These beeswax wraps make great gifts as well. 

You will need:

• A large piece of natural unbleached un-dyed fabric (e.g. cotton, linen, hemp)
• Pure beeswax
• Old baking trays
• Parchment paper
• Old grater or knife to cut beeswax 
• Old paintbrush (reserved for beeswax from now on)

a) Cut piece of natural fabric to the size you want - it needs to fit on a baking tray.  Consider sizes that will be small or large enough to wrap the foods you have in mind (e.g. sandwiches, fruit, to cover a mixing bowl, etc)

b) Decide if you want to serge or sew the edges of the fabric to prevent fraying.  The beeswax will also prevent fraying so it just depends on how "finished" you want your wrap to look.

c) Line baking tray with parchment paper and lay cloth flat on this tray.

d) Preheat oven to 170F (NO hotter as this can become dangerous!).

e) Shred or grate beeswax.  You will need to have a thin layer across your entire cloth.  This amounts to several tablespoons of grated was for a medium sized cloth.

f) Sprinkle beeswax across the cloth evenly.  

g) Put baking tray into the oven at 170F for 10 minutes - NO LONGER than that!  Keep an eye on the melting wax.  If the was has melted sooner than 10 minutes remove baking tray earlier.

h) While wax is still hot spread it across the cloth with the old paintbrush.  Try to get a skim coat across the entire cloth.  

i) Let cool.  Beeswax will dry and harden slightly.  Then the beeswax wrap is ready to use!

j) You can add button and string loop closures, or other cloth or string fasteners onto the edges if you want to have a way to secure the cloths.  We just fold them around our food and secure with a rubber band.

Tapping trees!

We decided it was time!  The days have been warm and sunny, so we got all our maple syrup gear together and tapped our trees this week.  The sap was already running well, especially on the most southerly facing sides of our trees.  To get good sap flow we have noticed that it really makes a difference which side of a tree is tapped.  Given we are tapping here in our yard in the city, we have limited tree options (so we area again tapping our black walnuts and manitoba maples).  We also have  buildings and other obstructions keeping full sun off the trees, but last year yielded several litres of delicious finished syrup, plus loads of learning opportunities - we called it a success!  Funny though, living in southern Ontario, you never really know what the spring weather is going to be like - for example, tomorrow, there is an unexpected snow storm blowing in.  But this is March and the weather can still change every day.  We are hopeful that this snow will melt quickly, and the days will warm up again by the end of the week...we'd like to get back to tapping!

There are lots of great books and websites giving details instructions on how best to tap trees.  Better yet, ask someone locally who has done it (or follow along while they are tapping) to learn hands-on.  We offer a few basic tips that are geared toward the small-scale novice home based tree tapper:

• ideally, tap the south side of your trees for the best running sap
• sap runs when day times are between 0-10 degrees C, and night times drop to just below freezing
• tap above a thick root or below a strong branch
• tap healthy trees (stay away from hollow or diseased trees)
• tap at least 6 inches away from last year's tap hole
• tap approx. 3 feet up from the ground
• when drilling use a 7/16 inch drill bit and drill tap hole on a slightly upward angle
• clean out sawdust from tap hole before inserting spile
• some trees that can be tapped include birch, black walnut, sugar maple, manitoba maple 
• black walnut syrup is made from a ratio of 60:1 (60 litres sap to 1 litre syrup)!
• sap can be collected in food grade pails or containers, but should be kept cold until boiling time
• sap will run for several weeks (4-6 weeks) in a good year
• boiling down takes many many hours, and is best done outdoors do to the high moisture content that is evaporating from your sap (it will make your kitchen quite humid)
• invest in good spiles and hooks, but you can rig up plastic pails instead of sap buckets (if you are on a shoestring budget) - but use some kind of filter or screen to catch residue falling into your sap

Homesteading Symposium!

Last weekend we held our first annual Homesteading Symposium here at Little City Farm!  It was a day-long event packed with 15 workshops to choose from, ranging through a variety of homesteading/sustainability skills including fibre arts, beekeeping, chicken keeping, herbal healing, home brewing, wild edibles, pasta making, yogurt making, natural building, and much more!  The day brought together nearly 40 people wishing to share and/or further their self-reliance skills. 

We are inspired to have met so many wonderful people, proud to know so many friends who are talented facilitators in the homesteading arts, and renewed in the belief that cities are places where we can rely on each other to actively create the kind of ecologically focused homes and communities we want to live in.  Here are just a few photos of the day...

Do-it-yourself shampoo

I've had several people ask about sharing our homemade shampoo ideas.  We have been making our own shampoo for several years and won't go back to buying it from the store.  Even the best organic natural shampoo may contain ingredients we don't want to put on our skin, not to mention that it's expensive. 

There are a few do-it-yourself shampoo options using ingredients you have in your kitchen - and all of these shampoos do not need to be used more than once or twice a week (it's a misconception that we need to wash our hair more often than that).  Give your hair a week or so to adjust to these new methods, as the natural oils needs to rebalance, but you will be amazed by the great results and shiny clean hair you get from these simple recipes:

1) Baking soda - yes, it can be as simple as this.  1/4 cup baking soda, mixed with 1 cup water.  Pour over your hair, massage gently, then rinse well for 2 minutes with cold water.  Occasionally follow with an apple cider vinegar rinse as a conditioner (1/4 cup apple cider vinegar mixed with 1 cup water).

2) Herbal liquid shampoo - 1/4 cup strong herbal infusion (chamomile for light hair, rosemary or sage for dark hair); plus 1/4 cup castile soap, and 1/2 tsp light oil (sweet almond oil).  Optional, adding a few drops of pure essential oil for scent and healing properties.  Pour small amount into your hand, lather and apply to hair.  Rinse well.

3) Herbal shampoo soap bars - there are some great recipes for making your own shampoo soap bars such as this one from Mother Earth News.  These bars are more portable if you are traveling, make nice gifts, and lather well if they are made using jojoba or castor oil.  They are made the cold-process soap method so you will need to learn to make soap first.  You can add herbal infusions or pure essential oils for additional healing properties.  Making shampoo soap bars is labour intensive and involves the most ingredients, but once you have made a batch you will have shampoo soap for a long time.  These bars last, and you only need a small amount per use.  Lather in your hand as you would a bar of soap, apply this to your hair and massage gently.  Then rinse well.

Roasting coffee - a do-it-yourself method

We try to grow as much as we can of what we eat; if now grow then buy locally; if not locally available then buy fair trade and organic.  Coffee falls into this latter category.  Some would not consider roasting coffee to be a vital homesteading skill, but we have found it to be quite useful (operating a bed and breakfast and having at least one person in the household who enjoys coffee every day).  There are loads of fair trade, organic and shade-grown coffee brands available at health food stores, Ten Thousand Villages, most cafes, and even some grocery chains by now, and here in town we also have a few local roasteries that provide freshly roasted coffee beans. 

However, we have the do-it-yourself mentality and are always eager to learn new skills, so we set about learning how to roast good coffee (on a shoe-string budget, i.e. without buying an expensive home roaster).  Friends who have lived in various parts of Africa showed us the best way to roast coffee in a cast iron pan over the fire, but about two years ago we came across another interesting way to roast coffee - in the hopper of an electric popcorn maker.  We promptly found a used popcorn maker at the local thrift sore, and tried it out.  So simple, with great results!  Roasting coffee sends chaff flying everywere so it's wise to do it outdoors.  Depending on the roast you want, it can take from about 5-20 minutes, until the beans are crackling, dark and oily.  The smell is delicious!   Our popcorn maker takes a maximum of 110 grams of beans, and you need to stir occasionally to even out the roast.  Then let the beans cool in a collander, and voila, incredible home-roasted coffee.  We buy our beans green through a local friend who is directly involved with farmers in Guatemala through a project called Cafe Justicia.  They also sell their coffee roasted and ground, in various places here in town.