# What should I grow in my garden?



## rosyrobyn (May 11, 2016)

Spring is in the air and the dandelions are blooming which of course  makes me automatically think, can I soap with it? I don't know if DH  would let me plant dandelions but...

Do any of you grow your own botanicals for use in soap? What do you recommend planting and what do you use it for?


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## kchaystack (May 11, 2016)

https://youtu.be/l9IHRkv0-f4

Starting about 5:25


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## CTAnton (May 11, 2016)

calendula comes to mind....


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## TeresaT (May 11, 2016)

Kale.  You should grow kale, lots of kale.  And tomatoes.  Lots of tomatoes.  And beets.  Gotta have beets.  And cucumbers.  And runner beans.  And romaine lettuce.  And brussel sprouts.  And give me your address so I can come to dinner.


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## Obsidian (May 11, 2016)

The only thing I grow for soap is calendula, too many herbs turn brown in soap so I don't use them anymore. I do grow a variety of mints and thymes that I have used in the past but I prefer them for food
If you have room, cucumber juice is great in soap. I plan on trying some home grown tomato juice this year.


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## McMomWV (May 11, 2016)

I grow lavender, roses, and chamomile for my soaps and bath bombs.  Thinking of adding calendula.  The rest of the herbs and vegetables are for the table or teas.


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## Misschief (May 11, 2016)

TeresaT said:


> Kale.  You should grow kale, lots of kale.  And tomatoes.  Lots of tomatoes.  And beets.  Gotta have beets.  And cucumbers.  And runner beans.  And romaine lettuce.  And brussel sprouts.  And give me your address so I can come to dinner.



I wish my husband liked kale; we grew up on it and I love it. We have beets, we have cukes, we have beans, we have zucchini, we have eggplant, we have herbs... 

I don't really grow anything especially for soaping but we do have plenty of dandelions in the empty lot beside us and we do have lavender in the yard.


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## rosyrobyn (May 12, 2016)

CTAnton said:


> calendula comes to mind....





Obsidian said:


> The only thing I grow for soap is calendula.
> If you have room, cucumber juice is great in soap. I plan on trying some home grown tomato juice this year.



Caledula was my first thought. Are there any other flowers/herbs that don't go brown? 
Hadn't thought about cucumber juice (similar to using aloe?) or tomatoes though. I'll give it a go!


McMomWV said:


> I grow lavender, roses, and chamomile for my soaps and bath bombs.


I was thinking lavender and rose floral waters for HP and lotions. Chamomile as an oil infusion? Are there other ways you like to use them? How do you use them in bathbombs?



TeresaT said:


> Kale.  You should grow kale, lots of kale.  And tomatoes.  Lots of  tomatoes.  And beets.  Gotta have beets.  And cucumbers.  And runner  beans.  And romaine lettuce.  And brussel sprouts.  And give me your  address so I can come to dinner.     .


Nom, nom nom! The fine line between what's better... dinner or soap?  Kale soap... why not?  :think:   And of course you're welcome for dinner anytime you're up in my neck of the woods! My husband makes a mean satay bbq! 
http://www.soapmakingforum.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/


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## green soap (May 12, 2016)

Different climatic zone, but here is what I grow.

For soap or other B&B products: calendula, rosemary, nettles, comfrey, borage.

For food everything else!  mostly citrus trees, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, beans.  Radicchio going to seed as well as the lettuce, cilantro.  All my brassicas are already gone (Kale, collards, cauliflowers, broccoli).  Beets and carrots still producing.  Ah if you have a lot of carrots they can be pureed and used in soap.  I am eating mine though, I did not get so many of them this year.


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## earlene (May 12, 2016)

> Nom, nom nom! The fine line between what's better... dinner or soap?  Kale soap... why not?  :think:



One of my prettiest plain white soaps was made with a mixture of kale-infused olive oil and rose-petal infused olive oil, egg whites and coconut oil.  It is a lovely pure white soap.  It started out a pale green, fading to yellow and finally became a lovely pure white.


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## dixiedragon (May 12, 2016)

Every spring I plant at least 4 basil plants and some tomato plants, b/c I love tomatoes and fresh basil! I also grow sage, rosemary, several mints, several thymes, and oregano. I don't grow cilantro b/c once it bolts (has flowers and seeds) it tastes yucky.


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## rosyrobyn (May 12, 2016)

green soap said:


> For soap or other B&B products: calendula, rosemary, nettles, comfrey, borage.
> ...if you have a lot of carrots they can be pureed and used in soap..


Are the nettles you use stinging nettles or something different? I can't imagine getting away with growing stinging nettle in our tiny garden.  I'm not familiar with comfrey or borage so I'll have to look those ones up. I do have a large rosemary plant however! I'll add carrots onto my list of things to try. 




earlene said:


> One of my prettiest plain white soaps was made with a mixture of kale-infused olive oil and rose-petal infused olive oil, egg whites and coconut oil.  It is a lovely pure white soap.  It started out a pale green, fading to yellow and finally became a lovely pure white.



That does sound lovely! (adds one more to list)


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## JuneP (May 12, 2016)

For me it's a more of a question of what I don't grow. I grow most veggies including things like fava beans, artichokes, asparagus, swiss chard, various lettuces, arugula, squashes, tomatoes etc. etc. I don't have room for corn these days but I still planned on a small group this year. Unfortunately my car accident and now 2 plus more months to go on me healing means that won't happen this years, since I only managed to plant my spring crops before the accident and had someone plant my tomatoes and peppers for me while I'm recuperating. 
I have most of the herbs everyone has mentioned, like various thymes, French tarragon, spearmint (for Mojitos, etc.), Italian parsley, chives, lots of rosemary, sage, lots of basil for pesto sauce, etc., cilantro, sorrel, etc.
I also have a nice sized, manageable, perennial garden with several lavenders and calendula which usually self seeds, borage, coreopsis, perennial geraniums, poppies, shasta daisies, veronica,various lily and other bulbs, roses, pineapple sage which has red flowers the hummingbirds love, and many other perennials, clematis vines, and annuals as fillers and for the border.


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## Spunky (May 12, 2016)

This year we are adding loofah gourds! [ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AosUKU0wxRo[/ame]
We got our seeds on Amazon


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## milky (May 12, 2016)

Obsidian said:


> The only thing I grow for soap is calendula, too many herbs turn brown in soap so I don't use them anymore. I do grow a variety of mints and thymes that I have used in the past but I prefer them for food
> If you have room, cucumber juice is great in soap. I plan on trying some home grown tomato juice this year.



Ooh, I don't mean to hi-jack this thread and I'm partly on topic but, umm, my first ever calendula flower opened yesterday! 
When do you pick them for drying? Does the age of the bloom matter? 
Also, what does cucumber juice do in soap?

Edit: I looked up about harvesting calendula. Pick "at peak" and as often as they appear, after the dew dries in the morning. The green parts are also beneficial but not as pretty.


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## green soap (May 12, 2016)

rosyrobyn said:


> Are the nettles you use stinging nettles or something different? I can't imagine getting away with growing stinging nettle in our tiny garden.  I'm not familiar with comfrey or borage so I'll have to look those ones up. I do have a large rosemary plant however! I'll add carrots onto my list of things to try.
> 
> Yes, stinging nettles after they are completely dried.  I infuse them in either olive, almond or avocado oil.  Use some for the shampoo bars /facial bars, but most of it gets used in skin care preparations.  Same with calendula, rosemary, borage, etc.  They all get infused in oil for skin care, and also used in teas (water) to drink.  Well, not the rosemary, which finds its way into herb mixes for cooking.


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## earlene (May 12, 2016)

Spunky said:


> This year we are adding loofah gourds! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AosUKU0wxRo
> We got our seeds on Amazon



So cool.  I can't wait to see how your loofah crop comes along!  I have never had luck with gourds.  I don't know why.  I lived in California the first 50 years of my life, so it's not the lack of a temperate climate.  Anyway, I gave up on them after a few failed attempts.  Herbs, leafy greens, tomatoes, hardy things like that were always my best crops.


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## McMomWV (May 12, 2016)

rosyrobyn said:


> I was thinking lavender and rose floral waters for HP and lotions. Chamomile as an oil infusion? Are there other ways you like to use them? How do you use them in bathbombs?


Oil infusion or tea as lye water replacement, though with the tea I doubt I'm bringing along the chamomile benefits - except for in my head.
For bath bombs, I put a teaspoon or so of the flowers into the mold then heap the dough / powder mix over the flowers.  I like the flowers to peak out the top.  IMHO, rose petals work better.  
I was given a Soap Queen BB book on natural soaps and it has a tomato recipe.  Going to have to try that.


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## Misschief (May 12, 2016)

Spunky said:


> This year we are adding loofah gourds! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AosUKU0wxRo
> We got our seeds on Amazon



I forgot about loofah.. I have seeds sprouting, sent to me by a Ravelry friend.


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## rosyrobyn (May 13, 2016)

Sounds like I've got lots to experiment with this summer! Thanks everyone!


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## Spunky (May 13, 2016)

earlene said:


> So cool.  I can't wait to see how your loofah crop comes along!  I have never had luck with gourds.  I don't know why.  I lived in California the first 50 years of my life, so it's not the lack of a temperate climate.  Anyway, I gave up on them after a few failed attempts.  Herbs, leafy greens, tomatoes, hardy things like that were always my best crops.



We have not done gourds before but we have done squash and I think they are pretty close to the same. They grew well, so I am hoping for the same this year! 

My boys really want to soap with me (may or may not have to do with the hours of YouTube soaping vids they have watched with me.) So I am hoping to get them involved by doing things like growing and harvesting items to put in the soap. 'Cause you know, if they are having fun with it it can't be child labor, right?


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## earlene (May 13, 2016)

Spunky said:


> We have not done gourds before but we have done squash and I think they are pretty close to the same. They grew well, so I am hoping for the same this year!
> 
> My boys really want to soap with me (may or may not have to do with the hours of YouTube soaping vids they have watched with me.) So I am hoping to get them involved by doing things like growing and harvesting items to put in the soap. 'Cause you know, if they are having fun with it it can't be child labor, right?



Great plan.  For the first few years of my granddaughter's life, my son & DIL lived in apartments, but she would come visit us for overnight stays quite often.  So since I had a very huge garden at the time, we made one just for her.  My husband & nephew made a sign & I painted a hummingbird & flowers on the sign with her name on it, "Sarah's Garden" and put the sign in the small fenced in area that was her garden.  She chose the plants for her garden and cared for it whenever she visited.  Because I spent so much time in my garden she loved having one of her own.

Now they have their own house and she is a teen-ager, but she often talks of wanting to design the garden for their next house and I believe that having that first garden of her own has contributed positively to her future as a gardener.

And she really enjoys all the soaping we have done together.  So far I have not done any herbal additions to the soap when we are together.  I should think about what herbs my son & DIL are growing that we can use in soap next time I visit.  Thanks for the idea!


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## Spunky (May 16, 2016)

I'm glad I could pass on some inspiration! You have done the same. We are trying gardening from DIY earth boxes this year (besides the vine plants) and if all goes well, the boys will have to have their own next year. They will love making their own sign!


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## Spunky (May 31, 2016)

I've done a little shopping. Now my garden will include:
loofahs
marigolds/calendula
chocolate mint
apple mint (it gets 3' tall and has 4" leaves!)
pineapple mint (small version of apple)
spearmint
stevia 
cinnamon basil
lemon basil (need to pick up tomorrow)
lemon verbena 
curry (I've heard the leaves are good for hair)
jewelweed (seeds are in the mail)

I am going to our local nursery tomorrow so I might be adding a few  I'm a tad late in planting, but we just had a hail storm last night so it might be for the best!


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## Kamahido (May 31, 2016)

Grow soap. :-D


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## Steve85569 (May 31, 2016)

dixiedragon said:


> Every spring I plant at least 4 basil plants and some tomato plants, b/c I love tomatoes and fresh basil! I also grow sage, rosemary, several mints, several thymes, and oregano. I don't grow cilantro b/c once it bolts (has flowers and seeds) it tastes yucky.


Cilantro seed are called coriander. When it bolts I just wait for the seed. We grow a patch that reseeds (with help) three times a growing season.

Garden starts off with strawberries and spinach, lettuce etc and runs through tomatoes, corn, squash with herbs and spices mixed in. The fennel and dill are pretty much on their own since they grow everywhere. The mint doesn't actually live in the garden but it does have it's special patches along the creek.


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