Orange season here starts in December and is still on! Oh yeah... freshly squeezed local orange juice every day until we get sick of it and then we wait until next December to get sick of it all over again!
We don't usually buy the oranges, they get given to us by locals by the crate.
As you can see, we have almost finished the oranges in this crate! These wonderfully juicy local oranges are also the oranges I use for the grated peels that go into my Orange Poppyseed Soap and Scrub.
It takes about 3 to 4 oranges for a full glass of juice and before I juice them, I wash them, dry them, then grate the peels off.
Here are some of the peels drying at different stages.
It is also currently mandarin season, lemon season and olive oil season (the olives are usually gathered throughout December). Pomegranate season just finished. Almond season is coming up, then watermelon and lavender season. We recently got given local sweet onions and garlic as well. We seem to get fresh local tomatoes (my favourite food of all time…) all year long. I think if I had to choose 2 foods that I couldn’t live without it would be tomatoes and cheese.
There are definite benefits to living in an agricultural area!!
Hope you all have a week filled with passion and inspiration!!
Happy Soaping!
xoxo
Jen
20 comments:
Beautiful photos, Jennifer, and now I am hungry too. I can't imagine living somewhere that has all that local yumminess. Even the scrub looks yummy!
Oh I would love to live there. Fresh produce like that all the time and not from a store. Amazing!
Tara, Thanks for your comment! So glad you liked the photos! xo Jen
Holly, There are wondeful things about this area that I live in, even though I forget them sometimes... I always appreciate the crates of oranges when they are brough over or the bags of lemons from our neighbour's lemon tree... xoxoxo Jen
Hi Jen! =)
Those oranges look fresh and delicious! Wow! your orange poppy seed soap scrub looks wonderful! It looks yummy too. I like how you use your local and season fruits into your products. It's a very nice idea!
xo AYU
Love your photos (and of course, your posts!) Thanks for giving a peek of the local area -you lucky girl. ;)
Those oranges look divine and it sounds like you are enjoying all the different food seasons.
The scrub looks scrumptious.
Hi Jen, I just replied to the comment you posted on my blog, but I wanted to ask you something...
I have seen your simple paper-wrap packaging for your soaps, and have decided to do make paper wraps for my bars, to make things easier.
So I wanted to ask you how you got your awesome logo and how do you stamp your bars with it? Custom logo stamp? I am now 2 years into soapmaking as of this week, and would like to take a big step towards branding my bars.
Also..how do you make your labels? Do you make them yourself? They look sharp.
Thank you.
Happy Soapmaking!!!
Emma
yamalinaturals.blogspot
Ayu, Thank you so much for your comment. I do love to use local seasonal things in my soaps and hope to be able to discover more and more! Just read your blogpost this morning and it looks like you are getting very busy! Selling out before they are made? Congratulations. I love looking at photos of your soaps.... xoxoxo Jen
Soap Sister, Thank you. Glad you are enjoying the posts, photos and a look at life here! xoxo Jen
Two Blooms, Thank you for your comment. This scrub is one of those products that if people buy it, they almost always come back for more. I remember how expensive oranges were in Canada and am thankful to have them each morning. Look foward to your next post! xoxo Jen
Emma, (Yamali), I just read your respone to my comment on your blog and THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking the time to be so helpful and sharing that information!! Wow!! As for your questions, good ones, and questions I am glad to help you with. One thing - paper wrap - Easy? Not so much. I like the packaging I have now but i wouldn't say it was easy... I actually individually gift wrap each bar! So time consuming, but I actually enjoy doing it, when I am not rushed.
LOGO - As I feel that branding is SO important. I wanted a great memorable logo, simple enough to be turned into a soap stamp. As I am not a graffic designer... I contracte (at another soapers recommendation) dRE from Solid Art Collective, through ETSY. http://www.etsy.com/shop/SolidArtCollective?ref=ss_profile Reasonably priced. It was awesome working with her. We worked back and forth over email. She just got it. You can scroll through some of her works on her blog as well. http://solidartcollective.wordpress.com/
STAMP - once I had my logo, I contracted ANHOKI on Etsy. Reasonably priced. Great service. You can contact her through ETSY http://www.etsy.com/shop/Anhoki
As for my labels, I downloaded a free test version of simple program that someone recommended and now use it for all my packaging. It is called Serif PagePlus. It takes a little while to learn it but well worth it. The free download version is almost all you need. I recently purchased the full version and can't see much difference!! Please send me an email if you want further help or advice. Good luck. Let us know how it goes! xoxo Jen
The orange and poppy seed combination looks great. I can understand, that people come back for more.
Petra
Juicy soap! :)
A great ideea, as always...
Hi Jen, you're always helping people who have doubts or problems, your´re a great person and a great artisan.. of course.
I love what i see you handmake, el scrub de naranja tiene que ser increible!!
Lots of kisses from the forest!
Oh, my, oh my! The green monster of envy has just reared it's ugly head! You are blessed in this garden of Eden that you live in. I think I need to go out and hope to see some Northern lights, or something, if I am to get to grips with living up in the north :)
How divine!!! my mouth was literally watering all the way through that read.............Beautiful :0)
Se nota que disfrutamos mucho de las frutas frescas y de calidad en el Mediterráneo, la verdad es que es un lujo del que debemos estar contentos. Me encanta tu forma de aplicar en el jabón estos ingredientes.
Por cierto, tu jabón de aceite de higos chumbos ya se ha acabado en mi ducha, ha sido estupendo utilizarlo.
Un abrazo.
Petra (Miscellanea), Thank you for your comment! glad you like the look of the orange poppyseed scrub...
Alexandra, Thank you! Also thank you for your recent post about my soaps... !! xoxo Jen
Silvia, Thank you so much. I like to help when asked. kisses back to you too!! xo jen
Ambra, do you get to see the northern lights? Can you get photos???? I didn't live far enough north in Canada to see them well but occasionally we would see the late summer sky lit up green. You are welcome to come visit and enjoy juice with us!! xo Jen
Lyn, Glad you enjoyed! I'll bet you have some wonderful local fresh goodies as well??? xo jen
Julia, Muchas gracias por tu comentario. Si que lujo que tenemos... de frutas y verduras... que bueno que te haya gustado el jabón de higo chumbo!! xox jen
I am so happy to have found your blog. Your products highlighting oranges is intriguing to me as I live in the middle of orange groves, just up the way from Naranja Circle!
I think I'd love to incorporate some orange peel in my sea salt bars! Might I ask how long your cure the grated orange peel before using it!
Such lovely photography also!
Pam, Thanks for the comment! Basically I wash, dry, then grate. I leave them out to dry. For how long? That would depend on how humid the air is I guess. Every few days, I check them and break them up with my fingers a little more each time. I have needed urgent orange peels a couple of times and put them in the oven on low heat for while which also worked. Good luck!! xoxox
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