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99. The distinctive, almost burnt smell of soap batter just after you've stirred the lye in.

And another soap related one:

100. Accidentally putting in so much rosemary or peppermint essential oil into the soap batter that your eyes start watering and you have to run out of the room

I begin raising herb and potplant seedlings for pressies about now. One year I made clay pots for the seedlings and got a friend with a kiln to fire them for me, and then painted them. If you wanted to try this but don't have access to a kiln you could ask at a local pottery club or school - they mi...

I don't have any recipes for homebrew yet, but I would love to try making a very very strong stout. I tried a family friend's homebrew a while ago, and it was just wonderful - so thick and black it was almost like Marmite! Absolutely agree that making mead would be the perfect way to combine the bee...

Hi everyone I'm in Wellington, New Zealand, and I've read most of the articles on the site but somehow never picked up on the fact that there was a forum here too! I'm interested in various aspects of self sufficiency. I particularly enjoy soap making, which I've been doing for a couple of years and...