I like to make stuff. I enjoy the somewhat lost art of canning and preserving food (thank you, Grandma). I usually cook from scratch. In the past several years I’ve been making many of my own herbal medicines. I used to make (lots of) wine. I like to make homemade ice cream. I got started making soap about 17 years ago when my daughter-in-law bought me a soap making kit for Christmas.
Goods from the Heart soap is made in my home, which is solar powered and geothermally heated and cooled. I am not 100% renewable, but I am trying to make a difference in ways that I can.
Though retired now, I am a chemist by training. During my career I spent over 10 years testing products and raw materials for the food and consumer goods industries. I worked in water pollution control and biodegradation for a while. I also have over 10 years’ experience in formulating and making various consumer products including toothpaste, water filters, over the counter remedies, denture adhesive, and teeth whitening strips (I have 2 patents for this last one).
One of my passions is growing things. For over 30 years I have started my garden plants from seed. I have composted for decades. I don’t use toxic chemicals on my plants, and I use some things I grow in my soaps, such as loofa and calendula.
I believe in knowing where my food comes from as much as possible, and I highly value local and organic foods and goods. I grow some of my own food and support local growers like the fine folks at Deerfield Farmers Market.
In 2018, I was ordained a Minister of Walking Prayer by The Center for Sacred Studies which is dedicated to the next seven generations, and to sustaining ways of life, based on collaboration and reciprocity with the Earth and all Her beings.
It is my intention to foster community, respect for Mother Earth, inform and teach others how they can have a more sustainable lifestyle, live as an interconnected being, and to approach life from a place of love and not fear.
