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Rosehips are a beautiful sight in the fall and winter in the prairie landscape and are plentiful in the Edmonton river valley and parks. Have you ever foraged for them or thought about it?

They are a highly potent vitamin C rich wild food, having many times the vitamin C of an orange! 

Etsy Made in Canada is happening this weekend! Sep 28-29. Shop the largest makers market in this city and enter the contest for a chance to win a $250 gift basket and help me win my booth fees back! Enter here: 

https://etsyedmonton2019.kickoffpages.com/?kid=12C060

Shop in person and save! We will have several in-person specials as well as our end of stock sale will be happening there too. Shop for yourself, a friend, or even get a head start on xmas gifts!

Featured on Maybe Daley's blog: Cool people doing cool things! Was amazing meeting Dale behind her awesome blog. She is lovely in person, smart, and funny! 

To read the article, go here: http://maybedaley.com/blog-native/2016/5/1/cool-people-doing-cool-things-amy-of-plantiful

I love honey for many reasons! 

We grew up with honey bees on our acreage in eastern Ontario and enjoyed having fresh honey on hand for eating and baking. My favourite kind was probably clover honey. As you might have guessed, I grew up eating a lot of honey and as I got older I learned more about its unique properties, beyond being a delicious, anti-inflammatory food, that were beneficial for healthy skin. 

I used to think the richest product for our skin was a lotion, but surprisingly it's not and I'm about to tell you why. Lotions have a high concentration of water (generally 50% of the content), which makes them cheap to produce, but also hard to keep shelf stable without spoiling, hence they have lots of emulsifiers, preservatives, and stabilizers, many of which are toxic substances and known carcinogens. Yuck. 

Our bodies are 80%+ water, so wouldn't a water-based product be nourishing? Surprisingly the answer is no. The reason is, our bodies were meant to be hydrated from the INSIDE out through drinking fluids and consuming healthy, juicy foods. Our skin doesn't really like water. In fact, our skin has a layer of oil that our own body produces to protect us from the environment. It's called sebum. Without it, our skin cracks, and dried out from exposure to wind and water. Think of professionals who have their hands in water all day or must wash them several times a day such as health professionals, cooking staff, etc. If water were nourishing to our hands, they should have the softest skin of anyone! But they don't, not without slathering on lots of creams, all day long etc.

So, if lotion isn't the most nourishing for our skin, what is? Products that contain mostly oils, plant butters, and waxes are the best for our skin as they mimic the action of the sebum. e.g's being salves, body butters, body oils, creams (with a low water content). Body butters are excellent moisturizers that work hard and provide lasting protection throughout the day. Check out our rich moisturizers in our online shop such as our Whipped Cocolicious Body Butter. It smells like chocolate heaven!