http://www.hedgewitcheskitchen.co.uk en-gb hedgewitcheskitchen.co.uk 2008-8-30T00:00:00Z hedgewitcheskitchen.co.uk http://www.hedgewitcheskitchen.co.uk/page25.htm#26180 Sometimes I really love the fact that brewing really gets you in touch with that inner hedgewitch the inner hedgewitch that longs to be shuffling about in the hedgerows collecting stuff and then going back to throw it all in a cauldron and see it turn a different colour and start bubbling away over an open fire. Sadly the closest thing I have to the open fire is my gas hob but I do have a brewing pot that is nicknamed affectionately the cauldron and it does get to see some unusual things...Two weekends ago Woody and I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a course in North London about Liquid Soapmaking something we have never tried before with one of our heroes of soapmaking Melinda Coss. She had published one of the books which inspired us both to start making soap so it was amazing to meet her in the flesh and get to learn something new. We got to meet some of the members of an online community we have always been in touch with but never met and we got to learn ... 2008-6-28T00:00:00Z http://www.hedgewitcheskitchen.co.uk/page25.htm#23863 Hooray hooray the first of May outdoors fun begins today OK so some of you will know the ruder version of this saying but this is a family show so were sticking to the PG versionBeltane or May Eve is traditionally the first time in the year that the weather is warm enough to go out into the woods so I was excited to be going on a camping trip over the May Bank Holiday weekend. Mr Woody hired a car packed up his tipi and I stuffed a rucksack with everything I could find including the kitchen sink well you need something to wash up in dont you. So while Bex was at home brewing up a storm I headed out into the wilds to get some inspiration for my next brewing spree.The event was the Wild Heart Gathering in lovely Lewes in Sussex and although the weather forecast was dire we were lucky and the sun shone for most of the time we were there in fact I even managed to burn surely proof of my Celtic paleness gene. The event was the first of its kind run by Trackways a survival school and atte... 2008-5-6T00:00:00Z http://www.hedgewitcheskitchen.co.uk/page25.htm#22335 It has been a while since we last posted here about our Hedgewitches Abroad exploits Crap witches and for that we can only apologise. It is not that we havent been doing anything interesting far from it just that we ve been so wrapped up in our own soaping world that we have forgotten to tell you all about it. Well spring has well and truly sprung now and as British Summer Time starts it is time to come out of hibernation. What better way to jumpstart the old system than by leaping around like a lunatic to drum music with a bunch of strangers in the heart of Dorset Madness We knew you would agree... Well a hedgewitch is always up for anything so when Mr Woody cough invited me to a Trance Dance weekend I could only accept he saved mentioning the nude gardening until it was too late to back out. The venue was another independent community called Monkton Wyld. Monkton is a beautiful old building set in luscious grounds tended by a very elderly nudist and fed entirely from its own garde... 2008-4-3T00:00:00Z http://www.hedgewitcheskitchen.co.uk/page25.htm#23994 Have I told you all how much I love working with herbs in soap I mean really told youThey are just magic So the current project is to make seven different soaps that correspond with the seven planets... the appropriate essential oils the appropriate colours. But when I tried them last time I made them with chemical colours which give great colours really vibrant ones. But for some reason the planets did not feel like the planets that way and there was a bit of a backlash. Mars looked more like Venus the moon developed an unsightly rash and none of them felt quite right. So I set myself a challenge... try and do it with herbs. Oh boy they are gorgeous The Jupiter soap is made with alkanet an absolutely stunning alchemy of a plant which turns oil a deep blood red colour. But when you swirl it into molton soap it turns anywhere from deep purple to slate grey. Then there is pink clay for my Lady Venus... beautifully soft and serene. Or white clay for the moon... with a littl... 2008-2-6T00:00:00Z http://www.hedgewitcheskitchen.co.uk/page25.htm#10107 Thus went the Easter weekend at Braziers Park. After a rather traumatic journey to Paddington station with our several suitcases full of soap Bex and I wove through the crowds and found our train on platform 13. I made the same joke that I always do that we were off to Hogwarts Magical School although this time it was sort of true. We were off to teach people how to make soap. We set up our stuff in the study as soon as we arrived and finished just in time for dinner. After wed eaten we settled down to watch the lambs racing around the paddock and to chat to Braziers Director about the yurt that he was planning to live in for the weekend. Cliffs yurt and a hungry ewe Saturday was work time for us so we had to perform. Our display table looked lovely thanks to Bex for setting it all up and we thoroughly enjoyed talking about the history of soap and answering Charlottes exceedingly difficult questions The demonstration was a lot of fun for me because I was a lab... 2007-4-13T00:00:00Z http://www.hedgewitcheskitchen.co.uk/page25.htm#8817 My mum used to tell me There is no rest for the wicked. If that is the case then we must have been very bad at the Hedgewitches Kitchen February has been a very busy month for us. We have been busy organising events coming up later in the year and also visiting friends from far and wide. Last week we were in Bristol visiting with very dear friends and this weekend we went and lived in a secular community for the weekend. Our friend Charlotte moved to Braziers Park last year and asked us to come and visit for the weekend with a view to teaching a workshop in soapmaking there over the Easter weekend. It is a fascinating place and I spent most of the weekend with my eyes on stalks Braziers is a secular community that was founded after the two world wars as an educational trust and is a continuing experiment in the advantages and problems of living in a group. As Woody said she has always daydreamed about living in a community like that we couldnt resist the opportunit... 2007-2-28T00:00:00Z http://www.hedgewitcheskitchen.co.uk/page25.htm#7665 Happy New Year to you all It seems like no time at all since we last posted here to tell you about our day trip to the lavender harvest. Doesnt time fly when youre having fun The lavender we collected is now beautifully dried and hangs decoratively in the brewing room awaiting use in our brewing. Some of the lavender from our summer harvest Although it has been a very mild winter until today when I found my garden under a blanket of snow we hedgewitches have not been abroad as much as we might have liked. Instead we have opted to stay home by the fire and explore some other traditional crafts. Our latest endeavour has been learning to spin. Spinning is a fascinating craft and perfectly suits the introspection of winter. If you havent spun before imagine Sleeping Beauty at her wheel or the millers daughter spinning straw into gold for Rumplestiltskin. It has a magic all of its own. In Japan there is a traditional story about the Crane Wife a woman who spins... 2007-1-24T00:00:00Z http://www.hedgewitcheskitchen.co.uk/page25.htm#5436 Well it is just past Lammas the time of the first harvest and in honour of our traditional roots we spent some time out in nature at a Lavender Harvest.People harvesting in the fieldThe harvest was held in Carshalton where the local lavender scheme was established by environmental charity BioRegional Deveopment Group with the London Borough of Sutton Yardley of London and Downview Prison. It aims to restore the worldfamous lavender industry of Carshalton and Mitcham.Some local enthusiasts decided to turn some of the vacant council allotments into a large lavender field and now each summer the public are invited to pick their own lavender. The remainder of the crop is made into lavender essential oil there was even a demonstration of of essential oil distillation on the day with a homemade still. A group of volunteers Carshalton Lavender now run the harvest days at Stanley Road Allotments and they made everyone feel very welcome. Woody HarvestingIt was an amazing day out. ... 2006-8-3T00:00:00Z