I have been working on soap for the past few weeks so it will have plenty of time to cure before the May 7th Creekside Market Day. As it cures, some of the moisture evaporates and the saponification process (oils reacting to lye) continues – leaving a longer lasting mild & bubbly bar. All of our bars (except the sea salt bars) are made with local goat milk, olive, coconut & castor oils, shea & mango butter, tallow & Creekside honey.
Full size bars are $6.00 each
Bee hive bars are $4.00
*The bottom shelf is fully cured so if you are needing soap before May, those are ready now.
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Lets talk about one of my favorite vegetables – Potatoes!
We will be offering sets (seed potatoes) of my 2 most favorite varieties this year.
We ordered extra so we can offer them as sets for anyone wanting to grow their own. You will not find these varieties at the big box stores & likely not anywhere locally. Both of these varieties are productive and have great flavor.
It’s not time to plant them yet in our growing area. We will have the sets available for sale at our May 7th Creekside Market Day.
Favorite #1 – Nicola
Nicola potatoes are uniform tubers with an elongated, oval to oblong shape. The skin is smooth, thin, and light brown to yellow, with a few shallow eyes scattered across the surface. Underneath the skin, the flesh is firm, dense, and golden yellow. Nicola potatoes have a mild, nutty, and earthy flavor with a waxy consistency that develops into a smooth, fine-grained finish when cooked. The tubers also retain their shape when heated due to their low starch and high moisture content.
Nicola potatoes are somewhat resistant to disease, produce high yields. We have found it to be a great storage potato. We are still eating last years crop now in late March!
Nicola potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin B6 and C and are a good source of fiber, manganese, potassium, copper, and phosphorus. The tubers are also considered to have a low glycemic index, which means the flesh contains slowly digested carbohydrates that can help regulate insulin levels and prevent a spike in blood sugar.
Favorite #2 – Desiree
An heirloom released by the Netherlands in 1962, Désirée is excellent for salads, boiling, or mashing. Good drought tolerance, moderate resistance to scab, and good storage. Long, oval tubers with beautiful rosy skin and creamy yellow flesh bulks early with good size. An all-purpose potato, they have a tender texture with a neutral, rich, and earthy flavor.
Desiree potatoes are an excellent source of potassium, which is a mineral that can help regulate fluid levels in the body and vitamin C, which is an antioxidant that can strengthen the immune system. The tubers are also a good source of phosphorus, vitamin B6, calcium, and contain magnesium and vitamin A.
This will be a great week to finish up your shopping.
The weather will be a little warmer (which is good for honey pick-up).
To Order:
e-mail pam@creeksidenaturalfarm
message us on our Facebook page
call 815-467-5259 (leave a message and we will return your call)
We have limited quantities on some items and soap scents. We will mark items as they sell out.
3 pack of soap (you choice) with ribbon $15. 2 oz Honey bear $ Beehive soap packaged and tied with ribbon $6.
Chamomile & Lavender set 2 soaps – 1 flower w/chamomile & 1 lavender bar 1 cloth soap bag choice of either 1 lotion bar or 1 body butter (Lavender scent) $25. We have 5 of these available
In addition to the pre-made sets, we can make custom sets with items of your choosing.
Send me a list and I will have it ready (by appointment)
Raw & Local fluid honey 1 pound in glass or plastic with dispenser lid $13.
2 ounce Honey Bear $3.
Raw & Local Comb Honey $20.
Serrano pepper infused honey $10. 2 available
Chamomile infused honey $10. 1 available
Salve Calendula/olive oil, comfrey/coconut oil, Cocoa & Shea butter, Vit E, Honey, Sweet orange/grapefruit EO’s $8.
Facial Oil Argan, Jojoba, Evening Primrose, Meadowfoam seed, Vit E & Rose oils 1.5 ounces $24.
Salt Soak Epsom, Dead sea & Himalayan pink salts, baking soda, lavender EO Either with chamomile powder (yellow) or without (white) $5.
Creamy Body Butter $15.00 Sweet orange Ylang-Ylang 3 available
Lotion Bar Lavender has Cocoa & shea butter, coconut oil, beeswax, Vit E & EO Sweet orange/Bergamot/ Ylang Ylang has Mango butter rather than Cocoa $15. Lavender or Sweet orange Ylang-Ylang
Raw sugar scrub Organic raw & granular sugars, Cocoa butter, babassu, Jojoba, Sweet Almond, Meadowfoam seed, & Calendula/olive oils, E-wax, Optiphen (preservative), Lavender EO $10.
Bee hives w/ honeycomb fragrance $3.
All bar soap is $5.00 per bar
Rosemary/lavender/ Spearmint SOLD OUT
Lemon/lemongrass
Lavender
Wild Rose with rose clay SOLD OUT
Peach prosecco
Peony with rose clay SOLD OUT
Autumn Fig w/ madder root SOLD OUT
Neem oil w/rosemary, eucalyptus
Ylang/Ylang/ginger/bergamot w/mango butter
Sweet orange/geranium/bergamot w/pink sea salt
Sweet orange/grapefruit/ginger/patchouli
Oatmeal with no scent
Raw Honeycomb
Yarn from our Suri alpacas Various weights ranging from fingering to sport Some are 100% Suri & some are 80/20 Suri/Merino 200 yards pre skein $20. each
We are busy preparing for our Creekside Holiday Market Day!
December 4th from 9am until 2pm
We’ve started soap making and will soon move on to body butter, lotion bars, sugar scrub, salt soak, facial oil & a couple of extra surprises!
Raw sugar scrub
Salt soak
Creamy Body Butter
Lotion Bar
We will have pre-made gift sets as well as the option to choose your own items for custom gifts.
In addition the the bath and body products, we will have several honey options from our own raw honey, alpaca yarn from our own Suri alpacas and some beautiful succulent plants.
Raw & Local Honey
2 ounce Honey Bear
Suri alpaca yarn Parabella, Freedom, Chikillia, Bronson
Core Spun Yarn Super bulky Suri alpaca spun over a cotton core yarn
The farmstand is full of all of the End of the Season things.
NOW is the perfect time to plant garlic, preserve peppers for winter recipes, bake a winter squash, enjoy the last flowers & bring home a succulent plant to brighten your winter.
The farmstand will be open until we get a hard freeze (probably the end of Oct) – or until we sell out.
Succulent plants will be in the stand until Wednesday of this week. Looks like the temps will drop after that.
If you are looking for our honey, contact me ahead of coming out and I will put your order in the farmstand for pick-up.
Flowers $10.
Poblano peppers 5 pound bags for $5.
Bell Peppers 5 pound bags for $5.
Pie pumpkins, mini white pumpkins (great for painting or decorating), hard neck & soft neck garlic. Garlic is good for eating or planting.
Butternut squash & succulent plants
Ripe poblano peppers are a special treat. I like to roast & freeze them for future recipes.
1 pound ripe jalapeno peppers, stems cut off , ½ pound ripe serrano peppers – stems cut off, 4 large cloves of garlic- peeled,
3 tbl. Of brown sugar or honey, 1/3 cup of water, ½ cup or white vinegar
Chop jalapeno and serrano peppers, retaining seeds and membranes, and place into a blender with garlic, brown sugar, salt, and water. Blend until smooth, pulsing several times to start. Transfer puree into a large glass container such as a large jar or pitcher. Cover container with plastic wrap and place into a cool dark location for 3 to 5 days, stirring once a day. The mixture will begin to bubble and ferment. Scrape down the sides during each stirring. Rewrap after every stirring and return to a cool, dark place until mixture is bubbly. Pour fermented mixture back into blender with vinegar; blend until smooth. Strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a saucepan, pushing as much of the pulp as possible through the strainer into the sauce. Discard remaining pulp, seeds, and skin left in strainer. Place saucepan on a burner and bring sauce to a boil, stirring often, until reduced to your desired thickness, 5 to 10 minutes. Skim foam if desired. Remove saucepan from heat and let sauce cool to room temperature. Sauce will thicken a little when cooled. Transfer sauce to jars or bottles and refrigerate.
Our Bee Keeper brought us a fresh batch of our honey and added a new option.
He bottled up a combination of comb & fluid honey.
Raw & Local Honey
Raw & Local Comb/Fluid honey $20.
Raw & Local Comb/Fluid Honey $20.00
Comb/Fluid honey
Raw & Local fluid honey 1 pound in glass or plastic with dispenser lid $13.
Raw & Local Comb Honey $20.
Some believe that the comb is more nutritious than eating just the honey itself, as it contains a natural antibiotic, bee pollen, and large amounts of propolis.
We have raw honey that is produced on our organic farm.
While we can’t control where the bees from our hives choose to forage –
we do provide them with plenty of great options!
Our Farm yard is filled with organic vegetables, flowers, flowering trees & flowering cover crops. We also have 20 acres of pollinator habitat, 8 acres of Monarch butterfly habitat and the remainder of our fields are planted in grass and alfalfa. The alfalfa gets a lovely purple flower that the bees love.
Honey is available by appointment & can be picked up in our Farmstand for the next few weeks (until it becomes too cold).
As the season changes to fall, it’s time to get ready for colder weather and an end to the fresh summer vegetables. We still have peppers, butternut squash, pumpkins for baking (and a few for decorating), garlic and some lovely succulents.
Pepperscan be easily preserved in your freezer, pickled and kept in your refrigerator or pickled and canned (still pretty easy).
Pumpkins can be baked/mashed & frozen or canned.
Garlic can be stored for several months in your pantry or dry basement
Honey last forever – literally!
Our goatmilk soap will leave you skin clean without excessive drying – even when you’re washing your hands many times each day.
Body butter and lotion bars offer great protection from dry winter air inside and cold winter air outside.
And, easy to care for succulent plantsto bring a little green into your fall/winter!
Please place your order for honey, soap & lotions ahead of coming out. They are never stocked in the Farmstand.
call us at 815-467-5259
email pam@creeksidenaturalfarm.com
send us a message on our FB page
If you are looking for honey – we have 1 pound jars in glass or plastic with a dispenser lid, comb honey and 2 ounce bears.
1 pound jar $13.
Honey in Comb $20.
2 ounce Honey Bear $3.
Our handmade goatmilk soap, body butter & lotion bar sticks are ready
Goatmilk Soap $5.
Creamy Body Butter $14.00 Lavender, Lilac or Sweet orange Ylang-Ylang
Lotion Bar $14.00 Lavender or Sweet orange Ylang-Ylang
We are picking bushels of beautiful tomatoes! So many that we are selling them in half and full bushel quantities. We choose our tomato varieties based on their fabulous flavor and pick them ripe. No chemicals of any kind.
A half is 25 pounds for $25.00 & a full is 50 pounds for $45.00
These tomatoes are great for juice and canning. Currently we have a choice of either all red or a mix of colored and red heirlooms. The colored heirlooms will add some extra sweetness to your juice.
Contact us to reserve your choice while they last
pam@creeksidenaturalfarm.com
815-467-5259 (leave a message because we will be outside picking)
Our next Creekside Market Day will be on July 24th from 8 until 1.
In addition to our seasonal produce and eggs, we will have our hand made goat milk soap & raw honey from hives on our farm. Market Day is your best opportunity to check out the different soap scents. We will have 3 new “summer” soaps ready for the July Marked Day.
Black raspberry/vanilla cucumber/mint peach prosecco
P.S. We will be taking a break from Creekside Market Day in August
In anticipation of the much needed coming rain, we did all of our picking yesterday.
The Farmstand is re-stocked with beets, broccoli, greens mix (kale/chard/collards), the last of the garlic scapes, fresh herbs, plenty of eggs and some flower bouquets to brighten the rainy days ahead.
We also have a few succulent and herb plants available in the stand.
The last cutting of peonies is in the Farmstand cooler.
There are just 4 beautiful bouquets!
$10.00 each
We have moved our trailer with the tomato & pepper plants away from the farmstand because the sun and heat was really starting to take a toll on the plants. We have moved a few plants into the Farmstand next to our High Mowing Organic seed display.
Plants in the Farmstand are $1. each
Seed packets are $2.00
Both will be available in the Farmstand through Sunday
*The flowers, herbs and succulents are still available next to the Farmstand.
There are also a couple of bags of asparagus, bagged greens & eggs in the cooler.
We have a fresh supply of wonderful asparagus, spinach, lettuce & a baby greens mix. All washed – bagged & in the Farmstand cooler. This will likely be our last picking of spinach for the season – so, get it while you can.
Asparagus $5.00
Spinach
Lettuce
Kale, Chard, Collards Mix
All bagged greens & lettuce are $3.00 per bag
We also have a good supply of eggs, organic tomato, pepper & herb plants, mixed herb planters and succulents (including aloe).
We currently have our “Nest Run” mix of large eggs for $5.00 per dozen
And – while they last – our medium size eggs for $ per 18 pack
Eggs are available in our Self-service Farmstand cooler. We collect them and re-stock every day.
Our hens are on “Free Choice” pasture and are supplemented with certified organic feed. That means that they come and go as they please. They usually choose to be in the shade during the heat of the day. When they choose to be outside, you can see them from the Farmstand. However, they are protected from predators with an electric fence. So, we ask that you stay in the immediate area of the Farmstand. Two of our alpacas spend the summer with them for some added protection from flying predators. We have a pretty healthy hawk population and they seem to be deterred by the alpacas.
Yesterday we put our zucchini, patty pan, lemon squash, pickle cucumbers and some trial melon plants in. We also planted some cucumber seeds & another row of beets. This weather is the “sweet spot” where you can successfully plant both cool and warm season crops.
We still have a nice selection of transplants AND, they’re on sale. $2.50 each or 10 for $20.00. Our High Mowing Organics seed is also on sale $2.00 per package.
The plants will be available outside by our self-service Farmstand until they’re gone.
It’s a frosty morning and we have one more cold night coming tonight.
The weather after that looks like nice garden planting – warmer temps and some rain to get things growing!
Our organic plants, High Mowing organics seed, potato sets, Organic soil & Grow Bags will all be available today. The plant wagons will be parked near the farmstand & the other items are in our self-serve Farmstand.
Grow bags
And, while you’re here, pick up some spinach & eggs!
Medium size eggs, Fresh cut spinach & Spinach Salad
Our young hens are laying medium size eggs (last week they were small). We have 18 packs in the cooler for $5.00 & washed & bagged spinach for $3.00
Our organic plants will be back out for sale this morning.
We still have a nice selection of tomato and pepper varieties, some nice hanging baskets and succulent planters & lots of herbs.
All of our plants are grown here in our organic greenhouse. They will be out for sale by our farmstand (weather permitting) until they are gone.
We also have seeds available from High Mowing Organics.
Now is the perfect time to plant cool season seeds and plants. We still have a couple more cool nights with possible frost. So, we suggest holding off on planting tomatoes and peppers. While the cool temperatures may or may not kill them – it will prevent them from living up to their full potential.
The plants will be out for sale today at around 9 (waiting for the temps to warm).
It sounds like we will have much needed rain all day tomorrow – so today is your best outdoor shopping opportunity for last minute Mothers Day gifts. We have a nice variety in everyone’s price range ($ 3.50 to $25.).
All of our plants were grown in our organic greenhouse (in organic soil) on our farm.
Teacher Appreciation Day is this week and we have gifts in a variety of price ranges.
Mini succulents in hand painted or natural terra cotta $5.00
Succulent planters $15.00
Succulent Planters $15.00
Plants will be out for sale daily (weather permitting). If you’re unsure about the weather, send us a message before coming out. I can also put your selections in the Farmstand for pick-up.
Hand made goat milk soap $5.00
Available soaps: lilac, white tea & ginger, pink peony, mango/papaya, wild rose, lily of the valley, lemon, orange/ginger/patchouli, rosemary/lavender/spearmint. Plus – our gardeners soap with ground walnut shells & herbal EO”S and our “insect repellant soap with Neem oil and EO’s.
Lotion Bar $14.00 Lavender or Sweet orange Ylang-Ylang
Creamy Body Butter $14.00 Lavender or lilac
Add our hand made bath & body products or honey by contacting us ahead of coming out. They can also be picked up in the Farmstand.
Send us a PM on our Facebook page or email us at pam@creeksidenaturalfarm.com