Sol Laug Haven

Sol Laug Havens is an Eco Sustainable permaculture farm in Northampton that creates the
best natural handmade vegan skincare products while also giving back to the community

Sol Laug Havens is an eco-sustainable permaculture farm with an education and
rejuvenation centre that provides individuals with a safe working environment to learn,
grow and blossom to their full potential. The farm is based in Moulton, Northampton, and
grows and nurtures herbs and flowers that are free from pesticides and fertilizers.

Sol Laug Havens creates beautiful handcrafted vegan skin care products that are made from
natural ingredients and are 100% free from chemicals. It is well known for its vegan
handmade soaps, made with recipes uniquely designed by Natasha, a Michelin trained chef.
Sol Laug Havens skin care products cater to health conscious individuals who seek effective
skin care products that are safe for their bodies. The products are unisex while at the same
time catering to a wide age range.

Sol Laug Havens is owned by Samuel and Natasha whose passion for giving back to
the community stems from their their personal stories and life experiences. They find joy in,
and are devoted to, working with the homeless in their community as a way of paying
forward the assistance they received from people in various stages of their lives. Sol Laug
Havens is not their only way of giving back, Natasha has also thrown her efforts into
initiatives such as basket brigades, dinner shelters and gratitude days. Samuel brings on
board years of experience working with volunteer groups and communities assisting the
homeless and disabled as far as Africa, where he helped set up schools and create
sustainable systems for the disadvantaged.

With a mission to nourish, heal and rejuvenate, Sol Laug Havens Farm works with the less
advantaged in society by providing trainings on various life skills such as cooking, budgeting,
self-esteem and overall wellness. Furthermore, Sol Laug Havens, gives back 10% of its
revenue to help the homeless. It works very closely with the Northampton Hope Centre for
the homeless through it education and rejuvenation centre.

Chinese artichoke, Japanese artichoke – also known as Crosne

Chinese artichoke, Japanese artichoke – also known as Crosene

About a quarter of the way through this year in one of our permaculture meetings we were gifted with a wilted stem of a plant which I can only describe looked like the hairy leaves of a mint plant. We were reinsured that it was actually something that is known as the Chinese artichoke or Japanese artichoke and the wonderful lady reinsured us it would be okay.

We were told to pop it into the ground and just leave it and then in the wintertime harvested.

So we duly did as we were guided today and we placed it in an earth filled water trough that was situated in the East facing side of the garden and there we left it and slowly began to take life as it got bigger and bigger.

And the researching began – finding it to be an Asian member of the mint family which is known for its edible unusual shape tubular's, described as appearing similar to a small grub or misshapen pearls. Usually about two inches or more in length and about one-half inch or less in diameter, offering a vague, nutty sweetness and juiciness. Its known for a high natural sugar content and are typically classified as a carbohydrate. Extremely elaborate labour-intensive to harvest and takes hours of hands-on labour only a few pounds available product these wonderful little creations.

What really interests us is the healing equalities and in traditional Chinese medicine it has used both the plant and its tubers for the treatment of cold symptoms, and the research shows us these little creations represent "longevity" and is highly regarded as a symbol of good luck.

So the other day when the moon cycle was indicating harvesting of roots we excitedly gathered the wheel barrow, hand fork, rain coats and off we went of this harvesting adventure, down the garden path until we reached the rain soaked trough. Peering out of the top was this sad looking frost court plant and myself and Jeff looked at each other with bewilderment and we started carefully uplifting the plant little by little until suddenly we saw the shiny white odd looking pearls

YES!! There was so many of the little tubular's, the excitement took over us and we dug deeper and deeper and with cold earth clagged hands we harvested our treasure.

They are an amazing … almost beyond words of description, nutty, juicy and filled with sweetness and recommend anyone to take the pain of the elaborate labour-intensive harvest and to reap the rewards of what nature and Mother Earth can provide.

Sustainable farming methods with out pesticides?

In English, we use the sumptuous and delicious sounding word ‘onomatopoeia’ to describe words which sound like what they are portraying. Ironically, the original Greek meaning of onomatopoeia simply means ‘creating a name for something’. It is perhaps a quirk of the English language, however, that we have so many of both of these things in everyday speech. Words which give a real sense of their meaning and words which don’t really mean what we think they do.

One such word is ‘pesticides’. In sound, it feels nasty and suggests malice, aggression or attack. In practice, it is a weapon of mass destruction or biological warfare on animal and other plant life that would destroy our crops. Despite the connotations of its sound and the description of its actions, its technical definition is of a virtuous soldier on the side of healthy food production and meeting demand. Hmmmm!

And yet we all somehow know that it isn’t a good idea!

In principle, I suppose, the idea of pesticides falls into the ‘it seemed like a good idea at the time’ category of human invention. The reality, like so many other scientific fixes to problems caused by our desire to over consume, is that the side-effects of the solution can often outweigh any good that they do.

Did you know that The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants states that of the twelve most dangerous and persistent chemicals in the world, nine of them are organochlorine pesticides?

There are better ways to operate!

I am not against chemical interactions altogether in farming, and even some of the pest-reduction ones seem to do a reasonable job, but science is being used so much smarter elsewhere. I do not want to get too political here, but just as in the pharmaceutical industry I believe the problem stems from people putting revenue before sense and sustainability. On our  farm and many others that are operating all over the world, we have proved that there is a better way.

In fact, there are better ways…

At Sol Laug Havens we Look at way of working with the land using sustainable farming methods and practices which are proving successful in the real world today and making a difference. Here are just two you might like to look into further:

Crop rotation: this simply means identifying crops that benefit from using the same soil used by a different crop the previous year. Most pests are only drawn to specific crops, so by rotating them year on year, you don’t allow pest populations to get established. This massively reduces the need for chemical fertilizers or pesticides and gives you a healthy product. It also has other nutritional benefits for the land itself.

Natural pest predators: the ecosystem is an important principle in sustainable farming. Remember the old lady who swallowed a fly, I don’t know why swallowed a fly… (Google it if you are too young to remember)? Well, a farm attracts pest predators such as birds, spiders and bats which kill (eat) many of the agricultural pests pesticides are being used to target. The problem is that pesticides can kill the helpful predators too so the eco-order of things is defeated. Farmers should be encouraging a natural ecosystem which supports and encourages natural pest predators.

There are of course many other solutions, but the first step is to identify that the commercially driven chemical side of the world is a big part of the problem.

Basil the king of herbs

Planting with the moon - root day

The cycles of the moon have influenced gardeners from diverse cultures over many centuries.

While science may not fully understand why planting by the moon works, anecdotal evidence suggests that it does.

We use gardening and planning by the moon written by Nick Kollerstrom, to help us in this.

He explains it with the rhythm of the tides - Imagine that the water table in your garden responding in the same way as the tide.

By planting your seeds in anticipation of raising water - gives you good hydration that gets the seed off to a good start.

Another explanation is that it is all about the ebb and flow of the sap in tune with the rhythms of the moon.

An example of this is that during full moon tides are higher and this is the time that the sap is drawn up and therefore a suitable time for sowing and transplanting flowering annuals, biennials.

We use Nick Kollerstroms book as it gives an easy to follow calendar what do to when.

Today was a root day - so I have made a video about the roots crops I planed today.

Water water every where!!!