Market Friday goes Homesteading

Today is #MarketFriday initiated by @dswigle (That's me! Denise)

Last weekend I attended Mother Earth News Fair which was held in rural Pennsylvania. It was an amazing event that focused on sustainable lifestyle events including organic gardening, homesteading, essential oils, and aromatherapy, hands-on training in beekeeping, livestock, poultry... solar power workshops, hydroponics, aquaponics, and making soap. Too many things to list. It was a fascinating experience.

I am ready to go sustainable.

I loved this booth. I don't always like homemade soap, but, this was definitely different. And -oh-so-lovely.

Homemade soap. You must be very specific when measuring soap making ingredients: saponification is a chemical process that requires the correct balance of fats and alkali. Fats (vegetable/nut oils and animal fats) are triglycerides. When triglycerides come in contact with a strong base (e.g. lye), the molecules are split and fatty acid salts and glycerol are released, making what was once oily fat into a water-soluble hygroscope (attracts and holds water molecules from the surrounding environment). *Mother Earth News

Essential oils were extremely popular here. Therapeutic grade essential oils have great uses on the homestead or in any house. There were all sorts of spaces set up for free demonstrations, mini massages, and all that wonderful stuff. Learning the basics makes using them so much more useful. Or, you can always ask the @dutchess of scent. She works down the street from here at SundayScentExperience. You'll never be the same again.

Homestead Iron had some very nice pieces to choose from. They make heirloom-quality, hand-forged garden tools, long-handled tools and all different kinds of iron work. They use American-made materials and they have a lifetime guarantee on all of their products. I asked him what happens when he passes away? Does the grarantee become null and void? I mean seriously.

If you are clearing your land for your homestead and you want to make your own boards, this piece of machinery would do the trick. Look at the grain on that wood. So very beautiful. On the other hand, I can't imagine taking down those beautiful trees. Whatever you need to start your own homestead - it is here. I kid you not.

It was a family affair shopping for the homestead. There was this earthy, sweet smelling floral. Inhale deeply.

Ohhhhhhhhh...

I loved this guy! He was such a breath of fresh air kind of happy.... And his food was delicious. If you want to know anything more about being a vegan, go to the expert @lenasveganliving. With all the shopping I was doing, I really needed some sustinance.

People were lining up to buy the sage.

The Native American tribes were known to use sage for multiple purposes such as healing, clearing space and ceremonies. Many benefits can be gained in utilizing sage for smudging. If you're not familiar with smudging, it's Native American ritual that's like a "spiritual house cleaning" or spiritual purification. *Courtesy of Google

Elderberries. I could only ever find these along the beach road at home. Always the most sought out berry for making jams in my mother's house.

Wild and edible, they are also highly nutritious. I sat and read some of the literature and not surprised that it also boosts immunity, improve digestion, helps prevent diabetes, infections, and allergies. It said something about weight loss, but, I am totally skeptical about that one. I read a sign there that said: Do you know that elderberry is one of the top antiviral herbs in the world?

Tumeric has gotten a lot of attention around the globe in the last few years.

Alpaca farmers were there, selling the wares from their shearing.

Homemade jewelry and fun stuff. Don't leave here without them.

Well, I could go on and on with the pictures. There were composting toilets, pots and mason jars to grow your plants inside. Very cool and a new method. You will have to come back when I blog about the classes. I had a great time perusing through and it is something that you just had to be there. :) I hope you had a great #MarketFriday experience and I look forward to looking through some posts.

Have a great day and don't forget to visit the posts with the #MarketFriday hashtag! Thank you!