Saponins

I've recently become interested in a product I've noticed on some blogs here and there -- a natural fruit/nut from Southeast Asia called the Soapnut. Here's the source I found for purchasing them. Two to four dried berries from the Chinese Soapberry Tree are put into a small cotton sack and tossed into the washing machine instead of using commercial soap. The berries contain Saponin, which forms a natural soaping action when combined with water.

In the reading I've done, it seems there are medicinal uses for these berries as well, and you don't want to ingest them internally, but my focus is on their use for a laundry cleanser. I was drawn to statements by users of Soapnuts testifying to their usefulness as a hypo-allergenic cleanser not only for laundry, but also as a foamless shampoo and body soap. My own skin, over time, has developed a sensitivity to perfumes and chemicals in commercial soaps, and I've simplified my regimen to very basic cleansing products. My laundry soap has to be perfume-free, and I can't tolerate laundry softeners or dryer sheets. The idea of a completely natural, fuss-free berry to toss in with the laundry -- and even to re-use several times -- is really appealing.

In reading about the natural soaping action and its long-standing traditional use by native peoples, it reminded me of something I found out a few years ago when considering a move to Missouri. I was trying to find out about uses of plants used by the native Americans, and I ran across a mention of the use of Yucca roots as a laundry cleanser. I don't remember all the details, but I do remember that Yucca roots could be combined with water to form an effective washwater for clothing, after which the root could be saved for further washings. I wondered why someone hadn't marketed these roots for that reason, since it seemed so straightforward, except that few people these days handwash the bulk of their laundry.

When I found the Soapnut links recently, and saw that a lot of people are using them, I wondered if there are regional Soapberry trees a bit closer to home. If so, I could plant some and have a free source for years to come. I'm in Zone 9, which sometimes is restrictive as far as being able to grow trees found further north in the U.S. I was delighted to find that there are two soapberry trees that not only can be grown here in Florida, but also in the upper 48. The Western Soapberry (Sapindus Saponaria Drummondii) is found as far Northwest as Washington state, its territory arcing across the central and southern US and up through the mid-Atlantic seaboard -- and the Florida Soapberry (Sapindus Saponaria Marginatus) is found in some parts of California, and Florida.

The berries of both species here in the U.S. have been used traditinally by native American and Central American populations as soaps. Upon further investigation, it appears that not only is this tree easy to grow and adaptable to a variety of sites and soils, but it's non-invasive and is attractive as well. I'm definately interested in finding out if I could grow this tree to eliminate our need to purchase commercial soaps, both for laundry and for household cleaning and shampoo/body cleansers. How exciting a possibility, especially since it's supposed to be an excellent hypo-allergenic soap strong enough to get really dirty clothes sparkling clean as well as gently enough to use for babies or sensitive skin!

Now I'm hot on the trail of other native plants with traditional uses similar to the Soapberry. Since Saponin is the "soap agent," a basic Wikipedia search showed a long "laundry" list (haha, pun intended!) of other plants that also contain Saponin. Does this mean some of them can also be used similarly??

Here's the Wikipedia list:

Aloe
Anadenanthera
peregrina (seeds)[1]
Amaranth
Asparagus (as
protodioscin)
Chickweed
Bacopa monnieri
Chlorophytum species
Chlorogalum species, soap
plants
Conkers/horse
chestnuts
Tuberous cucurbit species
Digitalis (as digitonin)
Echinodermata
Eleutherococcus
senticosus
Fenugreek
Goldenrod [1]
Gotu Kola
Grape skin[2]
Gypsophila (Baby's Breath)
Jiaogulan
Liquorice
Mullein
Olives
Panax (as ginsenoside)
Quillaia
saponaria (bois de Panama, member of the Rosaceae family)
Quinoa
phytolacca
americana (poke, pokeweed, pokeberry, poke greens, poke root, inkberry, poke
salit, poke salad)
Rambutan
Soapberry and many other
members of the family Sapindaceae, including buckeyes
Saponaria
(Soapwort, Bouncing Betty)
Shallots
Soybeans
Tribulus terrestris
(as protodioscin)
Wild yam
Yucca

Isn't that list interesting...that all these plants contain a natural saponins...and applications... of some sort?? I don't have time to dive in depth into investigating each one...yet. But seeing such familiar plants on this list fascinates me as to how they, too, might be utilized in ways "lost" to our "modern" world. At any rate, it would appear we DO have plenty of natural laundy options, if only we'll keep looking. Looks like that will be material for a lot of upcoming reading!




Picture link: http://www.grownative.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=170

About the National Animal Identification Program and Individual Responsibility

Please read here about why this affects anyone who eats...not just the farmer or rancher.

In the interest of controlling outbreaks of widespread disease, legislation has too broadly been applied to the individual farms and farmers who are responsibly and sustainably counteracting mass industry. There seems to be little recognition on the part of the general public of just where that last cheeseburger really originated. A tour of a feedlot is a whole different proposal than a tour of a grass farm's cattle. An in-depth investigation into the origins and types of supermarket-driven produce easily reveals how diametrically opposite the chemically and genetically-altered food machine is in comparison to the small, pesticide-free local grower...and the mindset of sustainability.

I'm neither an anarchist nor someone who thinks legislation is our primary option in solving consumer health problems arising nationwide. I believe the first step is to begin reclaiming our own individual responsibility, and to educate ourselves, since many precedents of legislative change are set oftentimes without consumer awareness or understanding. It is upon these that a lot of interpretation, and even abuses, can occur if we remain ignorant of their reach and impact.

At the heart of many of today's consumer health issues is a fundamental issue...that of Who Gets to Decide. There is a movement, very widespread and encompassing nearly every aspect of our consumerism, to educate and preserve the responsibility of health back to the individual. This affects our individual responsibilities across the page...being involved means impacting our world with our voices and some elbow grease, rather than pointing fingers without being willing to get into the messier parts of the argument in action rather than theoretically.

There are those working to preserve the freedoms to individually be a force and a voice, and yet there are many who remain uninformed as to the specifics and ramifications of current legislation and proposed "reforms" ..and I fall into that same category. I am trying to educate myself away from what I've assumed are issues for a particular group to hash out. Since I tire easily of political rhetoric, I've stayed away from arguments and issues altogether...until I am seeing how, if people like myself remain stubbornly aloof from them, I will be impacted whether I like it or not,and I will give away my right to making my own responsible choices.

There is a lot of misinformation about the origins of our food, about what healthy foods are, about the food cycle from field to table, about the economics of the above, and about the ethics relating to modern scientific ability to alter any of the above. Sometimes, mistakenly, these issues become shrouded in larger political agendas or parties, and the public opts out to their party's favorite traditional arguments and agendas....as in "All liberals are tree-huggers and are for government programs as the answer...all Conservatives are for big business and wealth."

I'm zeroing in on particulars right now in my family's life. Despite the political party of the moment, the government regulations that are or aren't in place, and the tide of public misinformation/misunderstanding/ignorance about any specific, I still have to try to do the right thing for my own family, and my future family.

This is my particular resolve...I have to take responsibility as a human, a citizen, a parent, a neighbor, and a forbear of the next generation. And I say utilize all available resources to protect the freedom for us to keep deciding, educating ourselves, and making changes to protect, recover, or maintain what we MUST preserve as a basic human right...the right to determine for ourselves choices as basic as what we eat, the ability to grow it/raise it without restrictions, freedom of movement and ownership within our own nation, freedom from regulation and harrassment or ostracization as we make those choices.

Please....BEWARE of sanitized language and rhetoric...language is a powerful door of entry for ideas. The word "PROTECT" should not be used in conjunction with handing over our individual RESPONSIBILITY and RIGHT to DECIDE. Mobilizing a Thinking People is a different matter than reassuring an uninformed and fearful audience.

We've got to:

1. Educate ourselves...set out to know ALL sides of any argument or proposed change, and to query its ramifications for the present AND the future...what precedents would this change, or LACK of change, introduce or allow an open door for for the future? How could it be abused? What do we need to do to allow for progress while preserving the integrity of certain standards or absolutes that should not be compromised?

2. Have some absolutes. Relativism can kill our creativity, security, individuality, and will to participate as a thinking and responsible individual. With relativism, we opt out of some fundamentals that SHOULD be absolutes...and in doing so, we give way to initiatives of others who very much have agendas that may be very contrary to what we hold dear. We cannot escape moral implications in our decision-making. Opting out of making decisions is still a form of decision-making. As a result, we have lost our ability to determine many of our own choices freely.

3. Learn how to effect change. I'm only just learning. Reading from a variety of sources is a great start, but what about the action part? Doing it ourselves...changing our own habits and way of doing something, is the best place to start. But sweeping reforms can still undermine our ability to continue those efforts...when the Powers That Be hear from constituents from an educated and fervent reference point, that is a beginning. It can result in dialogue, and help educate others. It can halt or change legislation. It can present a viable voice to an issue formerly assumed in the minority. But we have to know where to start.

Focusing a bit on the NAIS issue, we have to start by educating ourselves. Often legislation is a REACTION rather than a solution, and this is how I see NAIS regulations that are being implemented...or some could say forced. We don't need to responde with an additional REACTION, but with informed and persistent action to change what we believe is not in the best interests of the farmer, animal, and constitutional (even basic human) freedom.

There are so many other sites and books that detail the specifics of the NAIS issue. If you think your state is untouched by this issue, do a Google search with your state name and "Animal Identification System" and you'll find the official websites with your state's regulations. My state is Florida. What I found is that registration of farms is voluntary, but a few sentences further, I found this statement:

As of September 15, 2005, more than 1,025 Florida premises were registered into
the system. This methodical start set the foundation for further development of
the program with approximately 85% of cattle being on registered premises since
January 2005, the beginning of the project.

Florida is a big beef-producing state by nationwide standards. If 85% of the cattle were on registered premises as of two years ago, that is hardly an accident...there was surely a big campaign to convince farmers to adopt that. What needs to concern me further is the statement about the further development of the program. Seemingly, the 85% participation figure was at the OUTSET, before FURTHER regulations were instituted or enforced.

I MUST become familiar with what EXACTLY this means, rather than allowing it to sit like a convenient statistic in my mind.

I have to get out there and look for myself and ask questions.

Then we need to raise our concerns...audibly and consistently.

Here are two of Monica's posts about some of the serious ramifications of the registry system, the identification issue, and what can happen if it's enforced. It IS being enforced to differing degrees in different states.

I'm going to begin digging into this issue further, for myself. After all, we want a small farm and do not ever want to register our animals with any government registry. I don't mind cooperating with interstate traffic laws that already exist. But I don't want a Big Brother dictating my private farming decisions, when we get to that point, or keeping my PRIVATE business data in a data base...ANYWHERE.

This, folks, is just as crucial as the healthcare privacy reforms, and any other privacy issue. THE GOVERNMENT HAS NO RIGHT TO USE ANY FORCE TO VIOLATE OUR PRIVACY OR OUR INDIVIDUAL RIGHT TO MAKE RESPONSIBLE PERSONAL CHOICES.

And now, to find out more...(the search begins)

Bee Happy

I remember an especially enjoyable book...one of those you happen upon, thinking it is one thing, but after opening it and discovering it's quite something else, you're already hooked...and happily so for hours, or maybe days, in stolen happy moments.

Such a book for me is Sue Hubbell's A Book of Bees: And How to Keep Them. http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780395883242-0

I'd gathered it up with some other general beekeeping books with the intention of familiarizing myself with some honeybee basics. What I encountered in Hubbell's book was a departure into a fascinating combination bee knowledge repository, personal journal through the beekeeping year, irrepressible individuality, and writing par excellence.

I left this book wondering if, in my desire to someday include a diversity of native plants/grasses/forbs, etc in an acreage, if I could not neglect to include as many bee-loving plants as possible. Honeybees, and many other sorts of bees and wasps, make pollen their business, and this boosts the plant life to no end...and the harvest.

I did some basic Googling to see what plants are especially beloved of the honeybees, since I think I'd like to keep some one day, and there is quite a list. There are also some plants to be avoided, being poisonous to honeybees, or others that simply don't attract them.

I was wondering if the concept of bee-loving plant and livestock-loving plant might be merged, and list created of plants beneficial to both. I havent yet compiled THAT list, but it's on the idea board.

In the meantime, while trying things on a tiny experimental scale during all the planning stages (and not investing a lot into our current property since we're hoping to be elsewhere before too long) I did decide that mints are easy. I'm trying my hand at finding out as much about certain plants, one or two at a time, ones that might be really easy to start with. Mints definately qualify, and in many areas would soon be considered pests. I put mine in an area that's a long way from ever being concerned with an aggressive plant takeover. I've done our "brown paper grocery bag" weed barrier experiments with these, too, since they grow quickly and I can gauge better if the grocery bag barrier is durable enough to not only keep the weeds OUT, but also keep the mints IN.

Well, anyway, so far my bee plant collection is simply a very healthy clump of lemon balm, orange mint, and bee balm, and some dianthus. I have anise hyssop seed, and borage seed. With my recycled containers I've been saving, which are now threatening to take over the entire laundry room if I dont start using them right away, I'm going to be starting these to add to the Bee Garden. (That's just a fancy term for "the mint patch.")

I wonder if livestock are ever attracted to nibbling on any of these plants, and if they'd be beneficial, or otherwise. Basil is also supposed to be a good bee plant, and I'm going to try to find some in the garden center to plant near my baby tomatoes. The other diversity/companion planting thing I want to keep going is to include flowers with all my veggies and herbs. I've done this so far, even if it's only a marigold here or there (there are a few tucked at the feet of some of the tomatoes) or other tough-and-pretty flower, and I truly think it has helped keep a good balance.

I'll be tucking a few things into this Bee Garden as my little continuing experiment. I'd eventually like to encourage an even broader "salad pasture" when we have livestock, and also tuck beneficial herbs and flowers in the waste areas and fencerows both for bees, beauty, and selective animal nibbling.

If anyone out there is already incorporating a particular herb or plant in your grazing areas or woodland forage, I'd love to know which ones work best. And among those, I'll be checking them out to see if any of them are bee-friendly. I love the idea of honeybees humming around the fields and trees with lots of plants and flowers to choose from. I'm trying several clovers right now to see how those do mixed in with existing grasses.

Hope to see some very happy bees! :)

Hay Bale Silage

I'm not well-educated as to the terms or the methods related to grass-based livestock management. I have a lot of questions.

A few years ago, when I was attempting to purchase a 10 acre parcel in Missouri (it fell through, but that's ok), I was trying to find out more about native grasses and rotational managed grazing. At that point, since it was in an area that got really cold for months out of the year, I was thinking along the lines of raising Highland cattle.

That journey is probably much of what's sparked in me a desire to do what I'm doing now, only the nice thing about it is that God introduced me to my husband, who also has had the same thoughts along those lines for most of his lifetime. And the funny thing is that it wasnt until later in our courtship that we even discovered that fact...the other "crucial" factors had to be in place, and it was an unexpected joy to find out that we'd been on the same path in other important areas, such as this one, too. (I love that!!)

I digress. Anyway, back when I was researching native prairie grasses and trying to address the challenges of that particular piece of land in question (water source, droughts, very cold winters, coyotes, previously used for hay, etc) I wandered down many happy donkey trails. One was investigating the plants and grasses native to the area, because I had the idea of a diverse pasture with grasses and forbs and herbs and wildflowers, but one palatable and beneficial for livestock without it being a monoculture grass patch.

I became very interested in the properties of wild chickory, both in what it does for hardpan fields (mines with a taproot, breaking up the ground and adding nutrients) and as a nutritional element in a healthy and diverse natural pastureland. I was also trying to find out what herbs might be naturalized within such a mix, for more selective grazers to have available to boost natural healing and dietary deficiencies.

It was fun trying to find out more about those things. It particulary riveted my friends whenever I got all excited about the subject (ha, this said a bit tongue in cheek!) ;-)

Anyway, during all of that was the question of 1. How to keep things as simple as possible and 2. How to feed naturally with the least expense possible, yet most beneficial to the animals. I'm not sure how realistic my rationale was on that subject, but my idea with the Highland cattle is that they are suited for a fairly rugged winter and pasture dwelling as long as there is an available dry basic shelter. But I was unsure what they would eat during the winter, unless I gave them grain.

I was trying to answer that question when I happened on a website that dealt with chickory. I think it was an Australian website, and they'd done great things with supplementing patches of chickory in swathes in pastures...the cattle seemed to show a real benefit. Then I saw the mention of baled hay silage. From what I remember, care has to be taken in the process, but some hays can be harvested in bales at a certain moisture content (that's the tricky part) and tightly wrapped in plastic 4 to 6 layers thick so that oxygen is prevented from entering, and the result is an ensiling effect (is that the right term?) that turns what would have formerly just been a nutritionally marginal bale of hay (winter feeding, remember?) into a rich silage that could be fed instead. Basically, it looks like the bales keep for a season, if not damaged, and can be split apart and fed in the field as needed through the winter.

I got excited about that idea, but it was about that point that it became evident I wasn't going to be moving to Missouri, so all those ideas got stored away in the wee recesses of my mind for later use.

I'm in a much hotter climate now. But in enjoying the reading about grass-based farming, I again ran again the mention of hay bale silage. Again, it looks like it has to be done right, or it could be more harm that help. But done right, it looks very promising.

And I wonder if anyone out there in homestead land is currently using it either for cattle or sheep or goats.

Very curious! If anyone knows someone who uses this method for winter feed, I'd be really interested in knowing more about their thoughts and advice, the pros and cons.

Here's a small article on the subject. Havent yet found my original article from the good ol Down Under :)


Thanks in advance for any leads anyone might have on this topic!


http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/agr/agr173/agr173.pdf