Cleaning With Persimmons

Since we've been having these big ferocious land, animal, and biomaterial-consuming fires in the past few years, the fragrant plants in my yard have been doing poorly. The first year or two, things in the perfumer's garden were good, lots of hyacinth and roses in the spring, and tuberose in the late summer and fall, but now, with smoke filling the skies from June to mid-September or even into October, everything is looking a bit anemic when they bloom. The reason is because the ash from the fires coats the plants' leaves and prevents 'the gas exchanges required for photosynthesis'. And there you have it. It explains why the tuberose currently appears ashy and weak. If Cali doesn't implement better fire and forest control protocols -- which, honestly, what the hell could that be given we're in another record-breaking drought? -- this will be our future, a burnt desert landscape devoid of anything resembling the beautiful forests and wildlands of the near past. I looked at a map the other day of all of the past few years' fires and saw a quilt work of patches that are slowly coming together. Where it didn't burn four years ago, it burns right now, and those black patches connect and spread across the landscape. Fires are great for clearing out underbrush, reviving some of the plants and encouraging long-dormant seeds to germinate, but it should be done intentionally and controlled, not like this. Not with people, pets, and their homes in danger. Not with soot and ash coating everything within a 100-mile radius. It just leaves us all so vulnerable. 

I feel like I've said all of this before -- because I have! Every summer. Every damn summer.

I recently purchased some new fancy-schmancy glass jars for perfume solids and I'm not exactly pleased with the caps. They're plastic, which, ugh, I freaking hate using, and they're a bit squishy, which is just weird. I've got 50 and when they're gone I'm going to look for something more sustainable and workable. Since I've been home, I haven't worked in the studio at all. I stored the new Oregonian oakmoss I collected on my many walks and forays into the 'wilds' and grabbed a few things to make a floor wash using cassia, clove, davana, and vanilla extract (mine, not from the store). After washing the floors, the house smelled like a persimmon cookie! I may blend a few of these floor wash formulas and sell them on the Etsy shop -- then again, maybe I won't. 

Have a great day! Over and out.

Source: The Backyard Gardener, September 2020