EDIBLE GARDEN TOUR!

We would love for your to join us in person, but considering the current situation, we want to give you a tour of our property and the many areas of edible plantings.  Hope to inspire you to do more of the same at your place.  We are currently open and taking extra sanitizing precautions and distancing requirements for all our guests.  ENJOY!

Click on YouTube at bottom of the video after you click play to see the full HD version!


THANK YOU for joining us!  We pray that you are making good choices to stay healthy and safe.

-  Wallace & Nancy

Natural Cleaners Vol 1: Laundry Detergent

At St. Francis Cottage, we will be using natural cleaners and laundry detergent, so I wanted to share a couple of recipes with you.  The first is a DIY laundry detergent recipe we use that my sister-in-law, Michelle Caporali, from Richmond, Virginia, gave me.  

LAUNDRY DETERGENT (makes 5 gallons)

4 cups HOT water

2 4 oz. bars castile soap (I use Kirk’s Original Coco Castile from Vitacost)

1 cup Borax

1 ½ cups washing soda

Place hot water in sauce pan and add grated soap bars (I purchased a grater from the Dollar Store that I use only for making detergent.) Heat water on medium heat and stir until the soap has completely dissolved.

Fill a five-gallon bucket half full with HOT water from faucet.  Add dissolved soap mixture, washing soda and Borax.  Stir until everything is dissolved and add more HOT water until bucket is full.  COVER the bucket, and it will take about two days for the mixture to gel.