Aloe Vera Cream

This is the mamma that started it all. Years ago, my friend Gwen gave me a tiny Aloe Vera plant from her gigantic one. This grand lady is prolific and so are her offspring. I've sold literally hundreds of babies at the markets and this winter, as usual, I've got a farm in my window waiting for the spring markets to start.

Today, as I was tending to my little Aloe farm, I pruned several leaves. I've been wanting to make some moisturizing cream forever now, so I decided this would be the day.

I looked up several sites about how to make your own creams and lotions and set to work. I was a little skeptical about how it would turn out, but I persevered! 

The first step was to harvest the Aloe gel. To do this you first cut along the side of the leaf with a sharpe knife. 

Then open the leaf to expose the soft jelly inside.

Use the back side of the knife to scrape the jelly-like substance off the green part of the leaf.

Once I had this egg white consistancy substance gathered into a container, I tried to pick out most of the green leaf that was left. It's about as easy as getting broken egg shell out of an egg white. I gave up at one point and decided just to forge ahead. It was an experiment after all!

Then I made a double broiler of sorts with an old pan and a jar. I didn't want to use anything good because I was a little afraid of the wax I'd be adding to it, but it turned out not to be a problem.

I added an equal amount of coconut oil and a little bit of shaved beeswax and boiled it all until it was all liquid. 

Once everything was melted, I removed the jar from the boiling water and used my stick wand on it as it cooled. I was a little afraid of adding to much beeswax, so I had only added a small amount. It didn't set up very well, so I added more and returned it to the boiling water. I probably ended up using a 2 or 3 tablespoons full of shaved wax by the time I was done, but I didn't measure cause that's how I roll. 

I couldn't be more pleased with the result of this "experiment". I wound up with a beautifully creamy substance that feels just awesome! It's probably a little to greasy feeling for Grampa Tom, but I love it!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue  

Aloe Turning Brown?

So often people tell me they can't grow aloe, that it just turns brown on them and dies. Last night, my daughter said the aloe I gave her last summer had turned brown and seemed to be dying.

Sometimes, my aloe turns brown, like the little one in this picture. I can usually bring them back to health, but I haven't really understood what was going on. There were actually several little aloe plants in this pot that were brown last week. I had it sitting beside an open window and the babies on the window side all turned brown.

Last spring, I went out to my folks in Southern California. Out there, aloe grows wild, but I noticed that most of it was brown. They have been having a drought, so I figured that was the reason, but my aloe has had plenty of water.

Thanks to the magic of the internet and a little digging, I think I finally understand! :) Aloe will turn brown if:

1. The temp dips below 45 degrees.
2. Or if it experiences big environmental changes such as lots of light or wind.

So, if your aloe is turning brown don't despair! Move it to a warm protected shady spot and it will probably recover :) Then harden it off by moving it to it's summer spot slowly. Make sure the night time temps are high enough, then, place it in a shady spot that is protected from wind or just put it out for short periods at a time to start with. Then slowly increase your aloe's exposure to light and wind. It should be alright :)

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Aloe

Aloe! Aloe! Aloe! My plants are going crazy! These mommas are so prolific!

I've got several little ones already in cups to sell, but there are so many more.

Last fall, I went to a lot of yard sales looking for interesting containers to put them in. I found a bunch of blue and green antique canning jars. Pretty soon, I'll get them out, pull a bunch of the babies that are in the pots and put them in my antique canning jars. I don't have the room to spread them out yet.

Every home needs an aloe plant somewhere near the kitchen. If you get a burn, just pull a leaf off the bottom of the plant, slit it open and rub it on the burn. It really helps!

At the markets, a lot of people tell me they can't keep an aloe alive. They are a little finicky. I've found that if I water just a little bit every few days they do fine. Don't really soak them and let them get just a little bit dry before you water them again, but don't leave them for long periods of time without water. 

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue