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I wasn’t expecting it yesterday, but I was very happy to see The Homegrown Collective’s May box in my mailbox yesterday.  I hadn’t peeked at the theme, so I was anxious to find out what what it was!  In case you don’t know, The Homegrown Collective is an invitation to be a part of the growing overall collective of people who are looking to shift their lifestyle to a more local, self-sustaining, and eco-conscious way of living. Their monthly Greenbox includes seasonally appropriate, professionally curated products that deliver the satisfaction of living a more self-sufficient & sustainable lifestyle to your doorstep each month.

The Homegrown Collective always ships at the end of the month, so you will usually get your box the next month.  I don’t know why, but that’s how it is.  It’s actually kind of nice because there are SO many mid-month boxes that this spreads it out a little!

My first thought when I opened the box was wow, this smells good!  And I knew right away I was going to like the box.  We just finished our April Homegrown Collective box (the herb garden, olive oil lamp and infused olive oil), so it was time for some new “green” projects!

The May Homegrown Collective theme is “Salt of the Earth…Kitchen & Bathroom” and included everything you need to make your own preserved lemons and everything you need to make your own organic lavender salt scrub.  I have heard of people making their own salt scrub and have always wanted to do it, so I was super excited!

Preserved Lemons:

The first project was preserved lemons.  I gotta tell you, I was like WTF are preserved lemons.  I had no idea.  It turns out that back in the day people used to preserve lemons so that they could enjoy the fruit after its season had passed.  But now we don’t have that issue, so people do it for flavor.  According to the information card, a preserved lemon is mellow,  yet intensly lemony, with “none of the nose-tickling bright high notes of fresh lemon”.  Since this process takes up to a month (for serious) I started on it today.

In order to infuse lemons, you quarter the lemon, but leave it connected at the root and then stuff them with pink himalayan salt, squeeze them together and put them in the sterilized jar.

In 3 or 4 days, I need to open the jar and press the lemons down and add fresh lemon juice to cover them completely.  The jar should then be stored in a cool place for at least a month (a labeled the jar with today’s date so I don’t forget when all this needs to happen) and you’re done.  FOR sure stay tuned for an update on this because, umm, I cannot wait to see what happens and how these taste!!!

Organic Lavender Infused Salt Scrub

The second May Homegrown Collective project is making your own salt scrub.  The lavender used for this is what made the box smell so good!  This was an easy project and I did it this afternoon.  You mix the salt (organic dead sea salt), organic olive / almond oil and lavender buds together in a bowl and then add them to the canning jar.  It’s seriously as easy as that.  Why haven’t I done this before??  I haven’t used it yet (I should have made it before I took a shower), but I am so excited about it!

Ohhh, I should mention that if you ever try this at home, use a metal spoon.  The information card warned that if you used wooden or plastic spoons, they’d absorb the smell of the oils used.  I SO would have used a wooden spoon, so I am thankful for the tip!

I wanted mine to be really smelly, so I put a lot of lavender in it.  I seriously felt like I was making some fancy spa concoction or something!  So cool.

Ohh, and I should mention that the information card also noted that you should use this before shaving.  Because as we all know, salt + open wounds is NOT good.

Once again, I didn’t do a value calculation for the May Homegrown Collective box since it would have been too difficult.  However, I do think it was totally worth the $48/month ($39 + $9 shipping) price tag.  And, of course, the box is even cheaper if you buy a 6-month ($39/month) or 12-month ($35.75/month) subscription!  If you are interested in subscribing, or just want to learn more, click here.  And don’t forget to use the code “RAMBLIN10″ to save $10 off your first box!!!

Disclosure: This box was received for review purposes and this post also contains affiliate links. But that doesn’t make me like it any more or less than if I paid for it on my own. And, as always, all opinions are my own!