If you follow us on Facebook or visited the landing page for niffersallnatural.com you may have seen that we are having a fundraiser to help victims of the flooding. It's a really simple fundraiser and all you have to do is purchase your favorite Niffer's products, or stock up on laundry powder with a special edition WV themed laundry powder.

Last month I saw an article about a charity that offers free laundry services at a laundry mat in Knoxville, TN. I contacted them and agreed to send 100 single load packets for them to distribute. The charity, Knoxville Pays It Forward has a wonderful program that allows people who would not be able to wash their laundry otherwise, free services at the Super Wash House in Knoxville, TN every third Thursday of the month. Yesterday I had finished filling, labeling, and packing the box of packets, and today it was shipped. I truly hope they give at least one person a feeling of hope during a difficult time.
If you have ever bought laundry powder you will find on the label a brief paragraph noting that your purchase has funded a number of single load packets to people in need. Typically each month I calculate how much laundry powder was sold and then I calculate how many single load packets were funded. In the last year, the average has been less than 10 packets a month. Almost all of the donations over the last year have been out of pocket, and not eligible for a tax deduction. I'm not looking for deductions or recognition. What I am looking for is the plain and simple satisfaction of helping others in a time of need.
That being said, this fundraiser isn't about making money while giving a little bit to charity. What it is about is offering great products to you so we can, together, help other people. Simple as that.
If you have a few extra dollars this week I hope you can purchase your favorite Niffer's product, or try something new! July 1st I will tally up all of this week's orders and donate half to WV VOAD. If you're curious as to how much we raise, follow me on Facebook where I will post the total on Friday evening.
Have a good week friends, and if you're in West Virginia I hope you stay safe as the weather is reporting possible flash floods again tonight.

Pictures were used without permission from Q13 Fox and ABC News.

I learned a lot about others in the area and I really enjoyed seeing the crafts and things others were selling. We made friends and I really look forward to doing more events in the area.

The evening after the event at Tractor Supply we walked over to the neighbor's who had a litter of puppies ready for new homes and brought home an incredibly adorable new member of the family. Meet Daisy, everyone!

It's been so hot the last few days I haven't really done much during the day, and have been saving outside work for the evening when it's a little cooler. We have some tomatoes starting to form, and beans growing too fast to trellis. The garden is starting to look like we'll have some food to eat soon!
Today I checked on the bees and saw some really awesome sights. First, I noticed different stages of eggs/larvae but then on the third frame I pulled I witnessed a new bee emerging from a cell. Then on the same frame the queen waddled by and laid eggs in some of the cells. This time I remembered to bring the camera along so I'll share the pictures I took today.

It's wonderful seeing how all the different aspects of my business life, farm life, and "regular" life can blend together. I look forward to another week (maybe a little cooler, please!) and seeing what new things come about, what things we get better at, what things we may fail at... Because without failure there isn't any possibility for knowledge and humility.

Have a good rest of your week folks. I look forward to comments and discussions! 
 Until next week....

 It's the end of the day, almost, as I write this and I'm pretty tuckered out. It's been a long day of weeding, feeding bees, helping neighbors, cleaning, and making laundry powder. I was up until 2 am last night working on creating a brand new laundry powder. I believe sleep-time will come a bit earlier tonight.

There's another new product coming to the Niffer's family, a borax free, hard water formulated laundry powder. So, today I'm going to talk about laundry powder, why I make it, why you should use it, and why it's better than the stuff you get at the store.

Women have been making soap and laundry scrubbing mixtures for thousands of years. One thing that they all have in common is lye. Traditionally, many women would make their own lye or simply clean using the ash from their fires. When you add a fat, such as lard, or an oil, such as coconut oil, these help clean by attaching to the dirty molecules and lifting them, keeping them suspended in the water- where they can be washed away. I am not a scientist, and I have often been told that I over complicate things when I try to explain anything (just ask my husband!). So, while I would love to give you a complete run down of the workings of soap I will stick with the basics I just gave and give you some links to follow later (at the bottom).

Now, I use a pure coconut oil soap in the formula for my laundry powder. I once offered an "Old Fashioned" recipe using a lard soap, but for some reason I think people didn't like the sound of "lard" because most everyone gravitated towards the coconut oil version. Both work equally well, but the coconut oil is animal product free. Making it cruelty free, and vegan. So, in the end, it was a win-win. This new laundry powder I created still uses the super effective coconut oil soap flakes, but instead of using borax and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to lift stains, soften water, and eliminate smells I am using only washing soda (aka soda ash, aka sodium carbonate) along with granulated hydrogen peroxide (sodium percarbonate). Together, the sodium percarbonate, sodium carbonate, coconut oil soap, and essential oils offer you a super natural, all fabric, all colors, all water temperature, safe powder. AND, it is High Efficiency machine safe.

So how do washing soda and sodium percarbonate work? Where does that stuff come from? It sounds scary, it can't be natural, can it? If you're asking yourself those things right now, keep reading because I will be happy to answer those questions!

First we'll cover where the stuff comes from. Sodium carbonate comes from the mineral trona, which 90% is mined in Wyoming, USA. More than half of all trona mined in Wyoming that is processed into sodium carbonate is used in glass making every year. It is also the same mineral that is used to make sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Sodium carbonate is has a pH of 12, making it highly alkaline which makes it the great laundry booster (especially in hard water). Since it softens water, it helps free the soap molecules in hard water, and increases their effectiveness. This is also why soda ash is used in swimming pool care (it softens water and changes the pH levels).

Sodium percarbonate is essentially granulated hydrogen peroxide. Benefits are that it carries no environmental hazard as it breaks down into oxygen, water, and sodium carbonate. In your laundry, when dissolved into water it brightens colors, deodorizes, and doesn't weaken fabric. It's an effective stain removal in all water temperatures and will not cause yellowing or graying on whites.

So even though sodium carbonate or sodium percarbonate sound a little scary, they are just scientific terms for naturally occurring mineral products. You could basically imagine that together they create a situation in your washing machine where the dirt and smells can't hold on any more and get carried away with the slippery molecules created by the soap. All in all, it's team work (anyone else here Tenacious D fans?!).

So, in conclusion, new laundry powder = awesome happy laundry. That's super scientific, right?
I truly believe in my products and I pour my heart and soul into making them. If you haven't tried Niffer's All Natural Laundry Powder I hope you give it a try. I offer many different sizes and scent options. Scents are only made using essential oils - NOT fragrance oils (we'll go into the differences on that another time). The scents I use are simple, not over powering, and meant to offer extra benefits. Tea tree is added to all of my laundry powder to offer its cleansing and antibacterial benefits. Lavender is added for the awesome scent, calming effects, antimicrobial, and antibacterial properties. Finally, jasmine essential oil is used because it smells so good and it has antiseptic and antidepressent properties.

Store bought laundry detergent and powders are made with toxic chemicals that aren't safe for your clothes, skin, or the environment. The grey water that comes out of your washer isn't toxic to the environment with Niffer's All Natural Laundry Powder. Many older homes do not have their washing machine grey water routed into their septic or city water systems, believe it or not. Instead they are routed just a few yards from the home and drain straight into the ground. Toxic chemicals in typical store bought laundry detergent, softeners, brighteners, and other additives all leave behind chemicals that over time can cause problems to the wildlife around your home. Niffer's All Natural Laundry powder isn't safe to eat and the grey water after use isn't fit for drinking, but it also isn't full of unnatural chemicals that can cause deformities and death in wildlife. Niffer's can go back into nature without causing any harm. Even if your water is routed back to a treatment plant, the chemicals in store bought detergents leave residues on your clothes that are absorbed by your skin. It has been proven in a handful of studies that chemicals from detergents, softeners, and dryer sheets can cause hormonal imbalances, skin irritations, breathing problems, and more. Skip the health risks and go natural with Niffer's!

When you purchase laundry powder I also designate a portion of the profit to funding single load packets of unscented laundry powder that I donate to people in need. You can read more about my disaster relief and other donations here.

Thanks for reading, friends. Get out there, get dirty, and don't feel bad about it. Get your stains and smelly socks clean with Niffer's All Natural Laundry Powder!
I look forward to hearing from you, so please comment your thoughts, questions, or ways you use natural ingredients in your house!

Links for further reading on how soap works:
History of Traditional Soap Making
Planet Science
Chemistry.com

This week on the farm I rebuilt the chicken's roosting bars, planted beans, squash, and collards, tilled until my hands bled, and created a brand spankin' new product (the first to be born in TN, awwww)!

 Unfortunately, Peep met a sad and unfortunate ending a week later due to a regretful accident between the tiny creature and my daughter's foot. My daughter, who is only four, was heart broken and just sobbed for hours while I called every single co-op/Tractor Supply in the nearby counties, and even looked through Facebook farm groups. Finally, a co-op the next county over had some chicks. We raced down there, and brought home two Easter Egger chicks, Peep II and Woody. My daughter argues they are named Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and Peep II.

The chicks are 13 weeks old now and the pen we made for them was next to the big chickens' yard. They watched the big chickens and every day when I brought them out to their yard and back in at night, they would wiggle and escape to run around the big chickens' yard and pretend to be big chickens. After much debate, I let them move in with the big chickens. But, there was a problem. The roosting tree I made only accommodated four chickens. So, instead of cutting down a tree to make another or buying more wood, we made floating roosting bars from what we had on hand.

Now the chickens are happy, the chicks are happy, and I am happy because I like it when their happy. Happy-go-round.

The garden is growing. Imagine that!? But seriously, I was worried for a little bit. Nothing seemed to want to grow, but now that I'm getting a little better at combating the weeds, and the natural passing of time, the garden is starting to look like a garden. Two weeks ago I was in town on my weekly trip and I came home with a small tiller. Some women want jewelry or clothes for gifts, I prefer tools. So I brought home a tiller and told my husband that he bought me a tiller. We're both happy. It's a tiny little thing, only 10 inches wide, but it works. It beats hand tilling the last 30 feet of the garden. We now have 15 beautifully uniform rows, ready for planting, and I have the energy to plant! We also had our first harvests! Radishes, lettuce, and spinach all were ready for our hungry tummies. The first succession of fall squash was planted, as well as two half rows of beans. The next half I will plant next week. In place of the radishes that were harvested I planted collards. Carrots, spinach, celery, beans, and squash have sprouted this week as well.

Niffer's All Natural Fancy Feet is a mentholated foot soak, made with Epsom salt, baking soda, menthol crystals, with a blend of peppermint and tea tree essential oils. The menthol and peppermint give cooling relief, the Epsom salt soothes achy muscles, softens skin, eliminates smells, and helps replenish magnesium, a mood-elevating chemical within the brain that creates a feeling of calm and relaxation. Tea tree essential oil is a natural antibacterial agent, and helps get those feet cleaner. Fancy Feet is designed so you can use it in a traditional foot tub/bucket or in a massaging foot bath wit jets. Since it dissolves it won't clog filters or jets! You can order a 6.5 oz. bag of Fancy Feet here! Also, for a limited time, orders $25.00 or more will receive a free bag of Fancy Feet, no coupon necessary. When I receive your order of $25.00 I will automatically add Fancy Feet to your package.

This coming week I plan on working on a new laundry powder formula that will be specifically for hard water! The water here in TN is extremely hard, and while we plan on getting a water softener eventually we have to make do for now. I have been experimenting with different ratios and new ingredients. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will have the formula perfected and then I can share with you all!

Happy homesteading, my friends. Have fun, be safe, and always be all natural!