Stuff we dig

Thoughtful, practical and crafted with the earth in mind – these nine gifts carry a story and a whiff of everyday magic.

1. Aleppo Soap
Joy Youwakim’s friends couldn’t believe she was moving from Texas’ Rio Grande Valley to New York... for soil.

“I was like, this is it, you know? Here is this place that the universe has presented in front of me to do all the things that I want to do,” said Youwakim, a soil scientist by trade and a farmer by passion. “There are so many steps that make farming difficult. You need the seeds to germinate, you need the right weather conditions. If one thing you have to worry about a little bit less is the soil conditions? That’s amazing.”

This is the legendary black dirt, after all – comprised of an unheard of 40% organic matter. Youwakim, 29, could think of no better reason to call a place home. She set up shop at the Chester Agricultural Center, where she is one of 11 farmers who rent the fields at an affordable rate. Youwakim pays about $200 a month for her farm plot, greenhouse access and tiny soap-making shop (above).

“It was a no brainer for me, and a major game changer to be making soap out of my kitchen,” she said. Here on her 10th-of-an-acre plot, she grows a mélange of herbs from which she makes traditional Arabic soaps. She’s also been propagating seeds for the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library in Upstate New York and acting as a meeting ground for the SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa) diaspora. Her family roots encompass Palestine and Lebanon, which her parents fled during the Civil War, and she grew up spending time in Lebanon with cousins and grandparents.

She makes her soap working from old recipes she studied during Covid when everyone else was making banana bread. It was around that time she asked herself, What can I be doing where I am to be supporting efforts at home and to be connected? She uses locally grown ingredients – like goat’s milk, parsley and indigo – whenever possible. When it’s not, she sources specialty ingredients like laurel berry – which comes only from the female bay leaf plant – direct from Turkey or Lebanon.

These days, the “traditional way” of making soap involves a Crock Pot. “The thing about tradition is it’s always evolving,” she laughed. Her farm name, Saboon Maazeh, is Arabic for “goat’s milk soap,” and some bars like the olive oil-based Aleppo soap feature her mother’s Arabic handwriting. “There’s so much that’s lost with forced migration,” said Youwakim – like language, music, food, seeds or soap. To be able to make those things accessible feels like a joyful kind of resistance. “Arabs and any population that has been through forced diaspora or expulsion, we’re entitled to be happy.”

The farm is the fruit of a long-term vision, but after October 7, 2023, Youwakim’s work seemed suddenly to take on a new urgency. “Now, the people who come are always so thankful. They’re like, this is a place where we can feel our grief and also celebrate and be reminded who we are. And I think those feelings were always present. It’s not new that the Middle East is experiencing pain and suffering or violence, but it’s especially unique now, and I’m thankful to my past self, for this, being here now, and being a place where people can feel all the things that feel good.”

$10 / soap bar
Soap CSA: $80 / 9 bars (sign up by Oct. 31)
saboonmaazeh.org
Chester, NY

2. Air Plant Swing
Add novel greenery to your space in the most laid-back of ways, no windowsill or even soil necessary. My swing hangs from a thumbtack on the corkboard above my desk, where two air plants (included) literally just hang out, lending texture and a touch of South America to my workday. They like being soaked or misted once a week but can handle a month of total neglect, no problemo. Sustainably crafted in Colorado, swings come in cedar, cherry, maple or walnut. A portion of proceeds goes to rescue animals.

$32 / double swing
keystoneinspired.com

3. Coffee Dust
Jazz up your coffee (or oatmeal, baked goods, smoothie) the natural way – with actual spices, creatively mixed. The gingerbread spice took my homemade hot chocolate to the next level last winter. Once you find “your” flavor(s), you can get the bigger tin or try making your own spice mixes.

$36 / flavor expedition sampler
vashoncoffeedust.com

4. Lip Balm
Made in New York with wild-harvested herbs, this lip balm goes on like butter. The oversized zero waste cardboard tube is home-compostable. We love the subtle scent of the marshmallow root and oat straw.

$8 / tube
lovewilddesign.com

5. Fire Cider
This small-batched “wellness tonic” is perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up or to fight a cold. Honey is locally procured, ingredients like jalapeno are grown in the creator’s garden and she picks up others at farmers markets. Melissa Babcock, a Port Jervis-based mom of three who’s been brewing fire cider for six years, recommends daily use for those looking to reduce inflammation, aid digestion, regulate blood sugar or boost immunity. Others use it as a marinade or salad dressing. We love the juxtaposition of cool and heat in the new cucumber dill flavor.

$25.99 / 12 oz
Beewildrose.com; Soons Orchard, New Hampton NY; Pennings Market, Warwick NY

6. Sustainable Kitchen Bundle
Upgrade the plastic bottle of dish soap and stinky sponge for this long-lasting bar soap and elegant bamboo scrubber set. The set includes a self-draining soap dish, pot scrubber and cleaning brush. Just wet the brush or scrubber, rub it on the soap bar and scrub your pots or pans. The soap is made in the USA of olive and coconut oils and French green clay.

$39.95 / four-piece set
earthahead.com

7. Hydration Harmonizer
It’s called “flower sap,” and indeed rubbing this serum it into your skin feels decadent as bathing in rose petals. It’s made with organic rosewater, Maine-harvested seaweed and a flower called gromwell grown by Apis Aphotheca founder Aviva Skye Tilson, an herbalist and biodynamic farmer. Her skincare products are formulated in a solar-powered lab steps from her farm in the Catskills.

$60 / 1oz
apisapotheca.com or shop in person at Iron Mountain Healing in Warwick (by appointment)

8. Multi-tool
This heavy-duty, USA-made multi-tool lives in my glove compartment (did you know your car is the most likely place you’ll experience an emergency?) and has come in handy many times, from preparing a picnic rest stop lunch to bike repairs to handling a pot over a campfire. It takes a little playing around to figure out how to get it open and closed, but once you do, the one-handed opening design is a time-saver. Comes in a leather or nylon holster that clips onto a belt, along with an array of Philips and flathead bits – and a lifetime warranty, exemplary of the company’s commitment to design against throwaway culture.

$139-$145 / Center-drive multi-tool
gerbergear.com; Richard’s Military Px, Port Jervis NY

9. Salted Caramel Sauce
Crafted in one-gallon batches by a homesteader in Orange County, NY, this savory-sweet sauce is made of five simple ingredients and zero weird ones. The name, Cara-sel, is a play on “sel” (French for salt), whose notable presence gives this toasty caramel topping an unusual complexity. Drizzle it on yogurt or ice cream, spread it on apple slices, or try one of creator Kristin Nelson’s baked good recipes like caramel sesame crispy treats.

$14 plus shipping / 6 oz
ardenthomesteader.com; Soon’s Orchard, New Hampton NY; Pennings Market, Warwick NY

Note: Some of these products were provided free to the editor in exchange for gift guide consideration.