Meet: Chicory Lane Soaps & Salves

written by

posted on

March 17, 2023

Hey guys! Kaitlyn here 🙂

I'm sure you've noticed by now that David's Pasture isn't just us. And by us, I mean the Kesten/Cox/Pratt team. We're also comprised of other small farms and businesses with like-minded values such as the farms that produce our eggs, wheat, beef, etc.

We've realized that we can't do everything on our own, so why not work together?!
Anyhoo. Have you ever wondered what the heck Chicory Lane is and where it came from? What its business values are? Or who's the face behind the soap-making?

Well.....It's me 😁

I started Chicory Lane Soaps and Salves when I was 16.
I've always been a bit of an entrepreneur since I was a kid. I've also always had a bit of the pioneer spirit. I enjoyed trying things the old way and making things from scratch.

One year for Christmas, I received a soap-making kit. It was a blast and I loved it. I got to melt the base down, add my scent and petals, and mold it all cute.
But I just kept thinking, this isn't really soap making; there's got to be a way that I can make this from scratch.

To research I went. I ended up landing at the library. Our small town library had just the book I needed, The Soap Maker's Companion. I read that thing, renewed it, and read it some more until I finally bought my own copy.

It started from the very beginning. Answered so many questions like what is soap? What is lye?

(I explain lye and soap in this post and herbal salves in this one!)

It even went into great detail about which oils to use and what their properties were regarding soap making.

There was even one chapter that I just glanced at because it was the heavy chemistry chapter 😂

That was definitely one thing I learned; soap-making is a beautiful mixture of science and art. I fell in love.

I ordered all my supplies and was so anxious to make my first batch.

My first batch turned out great! I was so pleased. I took it to a local craft fair.

Not all of my soaps turned out as great as the first batch. But I was learning and experimenting. I loved getting to turn this into a little business.

You're probably wondering where the salve part comes in.
About a year before I started my soap journey, I fell in love with herbalism. I enjoy how herbs are a gift to be used to aid our bodies in healing.
Of course, I wanted to include herbs in my products!

This was the time I was able to meet my favorite herbalist, Rosemary Gladstar at the Mother Earth News Fair in 2017. Also the first time I met Remi's dad!

As I went along, I started including more products such as lip balms, herbal creams, and lotion bars.
Each year my products and packaging would change. I kept asking myself how can I make my products healthier, and how is my packaging affecting the environment?

In 2019, the first time I met Remi at the farm, he gave me a jar of lard to make soap with.
I was so excited. Lard harvested from a sustainably raised animal? This is perfect!
I went home, came up with a recipe, and gave it a try!

Kaitlyn's_Actual_First_Lard_Soap_Bar_600x481.jpg

I enjoyed working with the lard, but it wasn't quite creamy enough. Did some research and found that tallow can be a nice addition. And who had tallow? Mr. Remi 🙂

So the next time we visited the farm, I got me some tallow!
Another experimental bar. Of course, this time I gave Remi a bar to try 😉

I then added this recipe to my collection.

Once Remi and I got to know each other more, I started selling soaps to DP. I made soaps and lip balms for the farm throughout the season I was working there.

Of course, you know how the story ends. Remi and I got married and we live happily ever after 😍

I now sell my soap and salves exclusively through David's Pasture.

It's been a busy season lately, but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things; restocking soaps and salves, and adding new scents!

Chicory Lane is small, and more of a hobby for me right now, but its values are still the same.

I desire to provide body care products that are wholesome and nourishing to the skin.

I strive to use packaging that is not harmful to the earth!

I enjoy incorporating herbs into my products to help our bodies along the healing journey.

Thank you for following along with my soap story 💗

Feel free to reach out with any soap questions!

Your soapster,
Kaitlyn Kesten

P.S. All of my soaps are now made with pasture-raised lard and/or tallow. Order yours here!

chicory lane

soap

salve

Kaitlyn

Why I Choose Grass-Fed & Finished Beef (by Tracey Long, MPH, RDN)

Hey guys, Remi here! This is a post from Tracey Long's blog that she gave me permission to share here. She works in integrative and functional nutrition at Big Picture Health. Tracey has seen many people's lives changed through their bettered understanding of food, including her own. Enjoy this article, and feel free to reach out to her if you are looking for guidance in your healing journey. Pictured on left: Cows raised on pasture by the Bauman Family near Garnett, KS.Pictured on right: Cows started on grass, but finished on grain/soy at a feedlot. 1. I believe in supporting local food, small family farmers and the economy. The average miles our food travels to reach our dinner plates is about 1,500 miles1. When we eat local we conserve fuel, keep our food dollars local and can have a personal connection to the farmer and how our food is raised. I subscribe to the mantra, know your farmer, know your food. Know your farmer, know your food 2. Cows are biologically meant to eat grass and pasture, not grains like corn or legumes like soy. When you feed an animal the food that it is biologically set up for it will be healthier. Cows are four-legged ungulates best adapted to graze on forage. The digestive system of cows, the four stomachs they have that we learned about in basic biology, are meant to ferment forage. Grains like corn and legumes like soy are used as high energy-dense food alternative for cows to put weight on them quickly for faster processing. This diet that is not congruent with the cow’s biology does work to speed up the process from start to finish, but can actually compromise the animal’s health. A review article by Calloway et al2 found that cows fed a diet high in grain had higher levels of the food-borne pathogen E. coli. When the diet was changed back to forage the E. coli levels were lowered within five days. A research study by Khafipour et al3 found that cows fed a diet based on grain became acidotic, and had high levels of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) that triggered inflammation and health problems in the cattle such as liver disease. These are two scientific examples of how grain can be unhealthy for cows. 3. Grazing cattle from start to finish is better for the environment and planet. You may be interested in reading the book by Judith Schwartz, “Cows Save the Planet.”4 Judith discusses how raising cows on pasture returns moisture and nutrients to the soil and, therefore; our food. Cattle feedlots are also a significant source of environmental pollutants such as antibiotics that affect downstream aquatic life and hormones that end up in the drinking water supply as additional examples.5,6 Feedlots use antibiotics and hormones to encourage rapid and increased growth and require antibiotics to suppress illness due to the confined living space and large buildup of fecal matter. Pastured cows arguably have less negative impact and even reported positive impacts on the environment. 4. I believe in respecting and honoring the animals I eat. As humans we have the capacity to treat animals poorly for our benefit (food) or treat them in a thankful manner for the nourishment they provide us. Joel Salatin, a well-known sustainable farmer in Swope, Virginia, said in a magazine interview, “Our first responsibility is to try to figure out what kind of a habitat allows them (cows) to fully express their physiological distinctiveness. The cow doesn’t eat corn; she doesn’t eat dead cows; she doesn’t eat cow manure, which is what is currently being fed to cows in the industrial food system. We feed cows grass, and that honors and respects the cow-ness of the cow.7” Joel Salatin 5. Pasture raised and finished beef has a healthier fatty acid profile than conventional beef. The standard American diet is high in omega 6 fatty acids relative to omega 3 fatty acids. The problem is that omega 6 fatty acids, when out of balance with omega 3’s are highly inflammatory to the human body. Inflammation is now known to be the root of many chronic diseases. The good news is that the fatty acid composition of grass fed and finished beef is higher in the beneficial and anti-inflammatory omega 3 fatty acids than grain-fed beef. A study by MacAfee et al found that people who ate grass-fed meat had higher levels of the anti-inflammatory omega 3’s when their blood was tested for this healthy fat.8 David (founder) and Reeves Kesten at the Brookside Farmers Market, 2017 Meet David and his [second] son Reeves, of David’s Pasture, from Concordia, MO. I am grateful for the opportunity to purchase quality meat, pork, poultry and eggs from a farming family like Dave’s. Dave’s cattle are raised on pasture and get to express their, “cow-ness,” as Joel Salatin would say. Dave shared with me that he even feeds his cattle organic apple cider vinegar to improve their gut health and does not use hormones or antibiotics. His cattle fertilize the land they forage on and he rotates their grazing to promote healthy soil. Yes, I pay more for the products I buy from Dave than I would pay at the local grocery store, but for the reasons I listed above I know the price is worth it!Original post by Tracey Long, MPH, RDN at Big Picture Health. Specializing in integrative and functional nutrition. Re-posted here by Remington Kesten, David's Pasture. Grass-fed & finished Beef delivered to your door.

Meet: Chicory Lane Soaps & Salves

More from the blog

The Farm Boy Who Didn't Eat Eggs (or Drink Milk!)

Why I Choose Grass-Fed & Finished Beef (by Tracey Long, MPH, RDN)

Antibiotics: Coming Soon to a Chicken Chain Near You

Stay up to date

David's Pasture LLC