I just got out a book from the library the other day called "Making and Selling Herbal Crafts" by Alyce Nadeau. I had a lot of good ideas in it and some good recipes too. Some of the recipes were for Sage Blossom Vinegar, ideas for a culinary gift basket, Lavender Cookie Recipe, Tea bags, Tea blend (with peppermint, spearmint and lemon grass), and Herbal Bath Refresher. There were lots of other things too those were just some that caught my eye. The author also mentions baking breads with herbs, which really got me thinking. Last year I sold Zucchini Bread and Pear Nut Bread and both did very well almost sold out every time. So this year I wanted to make some more different types of bread. Looks like I will have to see if I can find some recipes for herb breads. I know what you mean about wanting to do it all. Right now I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed by all the new plans I have made for myself this year. I am thinking some will have to wait for next year, but how to choose? While I was searching for information about luffa gourds I came across a tread that included this recipe for luffa soap: "Hi, in order to make loofa soap, your loofa should be fully dried. You may need to purchase dried loofa from your local craft store if loofa is not dried in time. Loofa Soap Recipe: Cut the loofa into slices depending on the size of your mold and the desired effect you wish to have. Round, Rectangle...using whole slices, shreds or chunks of loofa etc. Carefully melt glycerin chunks in a glass measuring cup in your microwave ( or low heat on the stovetop in a coated pan ), approx. 40-60 seconds depending on the amount you are melting. Be sure to add a few drop of fragrance if you choose when melting. Once melted, pour soap into molds and let cool. Loofa will sometime pop up, I use something small to keep it down and then correct the cosmetic flaw once it has cool. This is usually not noticed as it is the bottom of the soap. Once cool, pop out of mold, add a ribbon or two, place in a decorative basket and prepare for the ohh's and ahh's your son will receive as he hands these out to relatives for Christmas." It seems pretty simple and if you were to had herbs in the soap then you would have two ingredients that you grew. Below I also linked the full thread if you were interested. Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about Luffas

I haven't and can't offer too much in the way of advice for making a quality extract (maybe someone else can), but I do know of one product, a syrup, that can be had that is made from violet extract and does indeed smell and taste just like sweet violets. It's made by Monin, and I've purchased it online from them before (they ship out of Florida); it contains artificial coloring in addition to sugar and violet extract, but I think this is difficult to avoid in a product that isn't priced accordingly higher :) I recall running across old recipes for syrup of violets in the past, but not having tried them myself, I can't vouch for how well they extract the flavor and color. I hope someone who has experimented will chime in for you. In one of the violet societies' magazines (International Violet Society, I think), they used to publish recipes, but I'm not sure if any of that is still online to be read.

We have and Environmental Control Board, an Architectural Review Board and a Joint Coastal Committee. Just try to find somewhere in the village code that says what their specific functions are supposed to be. I did find out from a sympathetic village employee that the ECB is advisory only, but don't tell the chairwoman that. We appeared before her and her cronies twice. The first time, she told us that the permitted 30% lot clearing in the code "didn't really mean that" and that "we don't do things that way here." She told us that our property was "environmentally significant" but when asked who had made that determination, she named a non-existent county agency. For our second go-round, we were required to have an arborist identify every tree over 8" in diameter on a 3.5 acre lot. Then, we had to have him prepare an affidavit to prove that a number of trees we wanted to remove were a "danger to persons or property." Even when presented with it, she told us she didn't believe him ("hogwash" was the word she used) and told us we should hire her son's friend to evaluate the trees (we politely declined). She also had the nerve to look at photos of naked, leafless trees our arborist had certified were dead and told us "They don't look dead to me!" When I asked her whether she or anyone else on the board had any credentials that would qualify them to challenge the arborist's conclusions, she finally had to admit that none of them did. Then she asked us to agree not to put in a swimming pool down the road, even though 2 other board members have pools themselves. When she saw that we were also tentatively considering a tennis court, she and another board member went nuts, talking about how I was ruining the "environmental integrity" of the lot with my "oversized" tennis court. When I pointed out that all tennis courts are the same size, I was nastily told "I know how big a tennis court is." I cannot tell you how rude, nasty and obnoxious these "public servants" were. And before anyone says it, you're right -- we should have asked more questions before we bought. However, after pushing every button I have (as well as a few I didn't know I had), I stopped trying to be polite and get along (she does live directly across the street from me, and I had hoped to preserve some semblance of neighborly accord). I told her I had never heard such bulls---t in my life, and then told them how the zoning laws in my state are interpreted. When she then asked me whether I was "some sort of lawyer or something," I sweetly replied, "as a matter of fact, I am." Turns out, from all accounts, she is an unmitigated bully and everyone is heartily sick of her. By standing up to her, I got everything I wanted (which was nothing more than the law allows, BTW -- in fact, quite a bit less). However, she has called the village police on me 3 times already for perceived violations (all of which she herself committed when she built a few months ago -- don't even get me started), although she has been quiet for the last month or so. The building inspector has her number, though, and he's been enormously helpful. Sorry for the lengthy rant, but this brought back very unpleasant memories. I didn't sleep for days after that fiasco of a meeting.

Let me look again... one more time... again... hey yeah, there IS a fish! But you have to look real close to see it ;-D