ANT KILLER

 

            I am sick of ants, catnip is a good way to discourage ants but for some reason this year the ants are on a war path to my house.

          They are in my kitchen although I work on keeping the counters clean, everywhere I look the ants are there foraging, even the dog dish isn't safe.  Ants are all over the house this year, maybe because it is so dry?  I don’t know why but there was even a herd, (if you want to call them a herd) of ants marching up my dirt road to the house.  My husband said he had never seen anything like it before. 

          I love my Clorox clean- up cleaner with bleach; I buy it at Costco and get the small bottle with a gallon backup.  I use it all the time and find it works quite well with the ant problem.  When I see ants on the counter I spray it on the ants wipe it up and spray a little and leave it, it seems to keep them at bay. 

          If you know where they are coming in 20 MULE TEAM BORAX works well.  I saw a line of tiny ants coming in my kitchen window and put some on the window seal and it stopped the problem but they found another way in so I use the Clorox spray when I don’t know where they are coming from.
      Mix two tablespoons of borax with jam, jelly, honey or syrup until there is a paste. Smear some on some paper or a plate and put it where the ants are at. They should flock to it and eat it and take it back to the nest and it will act as a natural ant killer.


Sugar Bait

2 TBS Boric Acid (Borax)
2 TBS  Black Strap Molasses or Honey
1 TBS Yeast
1 TBS Sugar

Mix and place mounds on lids or bottle caps.

Black Pepper

Sprinkle black pepper where you see ants. The ants will immediately scatter. Pay attention to where they run; chances are they will be exiting your house and you’ll be able to treat the entry area with pepper too.

Mint destroys the smelling capabilities of ants and prevents them from entering your home. There are several ways to use mint to prevent ant infestations. First, plant mint around your home, especially near doors and close to areas where you have seen anthills. Second, place mint leaves in and around windows. If ants are entering your pantry, place some mint leaves on the shelves and in the corners.  mix mint oil and water in a spray bottle and spray where Ants are to deter and repel them  

mix this with cinnamon and they will not come in

this also repel Roaches and Ticks and Fleas too

 

Corn Starch Honey 

 Mix 2 tsp Cornstarch and  1 tsp honey together   to make a thick paste and put it   where the ants visit  on a jar lid or bottle cap   put it near nests  or where they visit and you see them

the ants will be drawn to it by the honey  but unable to digest the cornstarch but they will not know that until they take it back to the colony and  it infects the whole colony 

 Just be careful you don’t use it on something that can be hurt by the Clorox cleaner.

 

 

Teaching Kids to Hang Clothes on the Clothesline

 

She is finally tall enough to hang out the clothes and is getting pretty good at it.  She can't reach the ends but does good toward the middle.

            Years ago I had my grandson over for a visit and asked him to come out with me to hang out the clothes.  As we were at the clothesline I asked him to hand me the clothes which he replied “Grandma they are wet!”  My son had been taught to hang out clothes but since he was married his wife nor him apparently ever hung out clothes so the poor grandson had no clue. 

            My other grandchildren are close by so they have been seeing me hang out clothes for years.  Their idea of helping thus far has been to play around while I hang out the clothes.  Now that they are getting taller they are able to start hanging out some clothes.  The younger boys don’t really understand the whole procedure, the one putting as many clothes pins on one piece as possible and the shortest one just attaching them to any part of the clothing and he is helping.

            I had a young gal who was visiting me watch me hang out the clothes and I asked her if she hung out clothes.  She told me she didn’t need to hang out clothes because she had a washer and dryer.  She had never been taught so she didn’t realize what she was missing. 

            When I go out to hang out the clothes whatever time of the year it is I have to stop whatever I think is so important inside and enjoy the weather hot, cold or just right.  I see my plants, flowers and weeds, the birds and whatever else is sharing the beautiful spot on this earth I live in.  You could say it is a kind of meditation with the benefit of clothes that smell wonderful and whites that surpass any that you could get with bleach or out of the dryer.

            I feel it is so important we pass on to our children and grandchildren the art of hanging out clothes, if a dryer ever breaks they need to know there is another way to dry clothes than a Laundromat, or if they just want to save money on the electric bill and have clean smelling sheets.

            If they drop something on the ground just tell them we’ll wash it off, hang it out - no problem.

 

You can never have enough clothes pins (left) and pin the clothespins on your brother (right).

 

 

 



Homemade Lemonade

 

 

Summer is here and with it the hot weather.  There isn’t anything better than lemonade to quench your thirst.  I live in the mountains so I don’t have a lemon tree in my back yard nor do I have a store that close with fresh lemons. and when they do have them they are overpriced.  Even so, the lemons not in season can be pricy.  The last time I bought lemonade it wasn't as good.  I think they have tried to save money in the ingredients, its not as good as it used to be.

What I do now is make my own homemade lemonade.  I take about 8 cups of water and boil about a cup.  I put the cup of boiling water in a glass bowl or measuring cup and pour over my sugar or agave.  It depends on what you like, you may use both.   The recipe I saw called for 1 1/2 cups sugar and that is too much for me.  I put in about ¾ cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of agave, you can mix them up or use only one. 

 I then pour in 1 to 1 ½ cups of lemon juice from the bottle.  I use the bottled real lemon juice as the cheap ones (western family for example) are terrible.  If you have fresh lemons all the better.  I buy my lemon juice at Costco and get a two pack for a good price.  Add some fresh mint from your garden when serving for a pretty garnish.

You can experiment with your own personal taste and add more or less of each ingredient.  I add ice and it waters it down.  I have a nice lemon juice drink that also hydrates me in hot weather.   Keep in mind that lemon juice is a diuretic. 



Stuff, How Much is too much Stuff?

            I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of stuff.  I have my everyday thing like clothes, hair supplies, kitchen items which include dishes, silver wear, glasses, pots and pans.  I have of course my computer and office supplies.  What I am talking about is Stuff. 

            You are out shopping and see that cute thing that would look perfect on a table or wall.  Then the next time you are out and about you find a canister set or a craft that you have visions of making to be oh so creative.  The list goes on, then multiply this by how many years you have been on the search for stuff and it can become overwhelming.

            Now down to the point, how much is too much stuff?  I had a friend who once a year would go through his closet.  He would get rid or anything he had not worn for a year.  A very good idea if you stick to it.

            What about the stuff around your house?  If you haven’t used it in a year should you get rid of it?  I suppose it all depends on what kind of personality you are.  There is a theory about people who acquire things, or stuff as I would say.  First you have to look at yourself.  People who were raised by someone who lived during the depression or had very little growing up were more likely to acquire things than those who were raised by someone who had plenty.

            My suggestion is you carefully look at each item and decide if you really want to keep it, and if you do, find a good place for it. We only have so many places in our house so think about it carefully.  If you really don’t think it is necessary to keep, give it to someone you think will be appreciative of the item, it may help with your loss.

            Last of course the next time you are out and about and see something that you think is so important to have, remind yourself that you already have a lot of Stuff.



Planting Squash - Radishes are their friends

 

I have planted my squash and have visions of zucchini bread, squash soups, squash pies (not just pumpkin) and squash fried with tomatoes and onions.  I am ready but my squash isn’t.

          The first year I planted squash on the ranch we hadn’t even moved here yet so we planted our seeds and came back and watered them.  They grew into these beautiful squash plants, I was so excited.  The next time I came to tend to them they were all eaten down by the rabbits or whoever happened to be there at the time.  I declared war on the thieves and brought some dried blood (yes I said dried blood) you may buy it at a nursery, it comes in bags.  I sprinkled the dried blood around my squash plants and after that no one bothered them, I had some really nice squash.  The dried blood was probably good fertilizer.

          If you plant two to three radishes in each hill they will help prevent insects on squash and cucumbers.  Let the radishes grow and go to seed.  Nasturtiums and cigarette butts will repel squash bugs; if you don’t smoke I suppose you may get it from someone who does.

          Early in the day before the sun is hot the squash stinkbugs are sluggish and can be picked off. 

          Good luck and enjoy your zucchini bread!

 

 

Heirloom Iris (My Heirloom)

 

 

I don’t know if there is a more elegant flower than the peony.  It has so many petals and can become quite large but still seems to be delicate.

            While I was at Grandmas I remember she always had peonies and they were covered with ants.  I never could figure out why they had ants on them until when I grew up I found out it was because of the sweetness that attracted them.

            You may wait all year for this beautiful flower to bloom and if it rains on it when it is blooming they will stop.  Be sure and water from the bottom when you see them begin to bloom, what a shame to wait all this time and then for it to be over before you can see them in their glory.

            Peonies like a sunny location and well drained soil.  If production goes down it may be from overcrowding.  They like soil rich in organic matter.  You may have to support them if they grow too tall; the flowers become heavy when blooming.

Peonies from Grandma

 

 

I don’t know if there is a more elegant flower than the peony.  It has so many petals and can become quite large but still seems to be delicate.

            While I was at Grandmas I remember she always had peonies and they were covered with ants.  I never could figure out why they had ants on them until when I grew up I found out it was because of the sweetness that attracted them.

            You may wait all year for this beautiful flower to bloom and if it rains on it when it is blooming they will stop.  Be sure and water from the bottom when you see them begin to bloom, what a shame to wait all this time and then for it to be over before you can see them in their glory.

            Peonies like a sunny location and well drained soil.  If production goes down it may be from overcrowding.  They like soil rich in organic matter.  You may have to support them if they grow too tall; the flowers become heavy when blooming.

 

Picking Tomatoes

You are you closely watching to see if they are the ruby red ripe color you are waiting for.  What isn’t better than vine ripened tomatoes? is wh  So you wait, and wait, and wait and they just don’t seem to be turning fast enough.

            What I do…….  I love red tomatoes to eat them all the summer - and I like LOTS of them.  My growing season is short as I am in the mountains and who know when they may freeze.  I had a freeze on July 4^th; it was terrible I wasn’t expecting that cold of weather that late in the season and wiped out my tomatoes.

So when I see a tomato start to turn pink I watch it closely and as soon as I see that pink coming through I pick it.  I bring it inside and put it in the window or a basket until it gets red or whatever color it wants to be fairly quickly.  Then I make myself a tomato sandwich on my homemade bread.  (The recipe will come at a later time.)

If you look at the above picture you will see my tomatoes in different stages of turning ripe.  In the fall I even pick them green, they will store for quite a while and turn ripe unless they are real small and haven’t developed enough.

If you pick your tomatoes as they start to ripen rather than fully ripe you will get a larger harvest and a quicker harvest.  You will also lose less to animals and birds if that is one of the problems you have.  I have deer, rabbits and who knows who else eat my grape vines other vegetables.  I don’t mind sharing some but they eat enough of my alfalfa so I do have my limit of sharing.

Enjoy your tomatoes this year, just don’t think they don’t taste any better ripened in the house than vine ripened.  I can’t tell any difference other than I have a whole lot more.



Planting Corn

 

 

           When I think of summer I think of swimming in the pond and eating fresh corn on the cob.  When the fall comes the corn stocks make a perfect decoration for the front porch for Halloween.   (My husband thinks of the corn stocks fed to the cattle and horses, they love them.)

            Sweet corn does well with peas, beans, cucumbers, potatoes, squash and pumpkin.  Peas and beans help corn by restoring to the soil the nitrogen used up by the corn.    Indians used to put a fish in every corn hill.

            The shade of the corn helps squash, pumpkins, melons and cucumbers.  Pole beans planted with corn will climb the stalks.

            Don’t plant tomatoes near corn as they share the identical fruitworm and corn earworm.

            If you plant marigold near corn it is said the Japanese beetle does not chew off the corn silks.

            Enjoy your corn t his summer, and freeze it and enjoy it all year round!  Come later in the summer I’ll tell you how I freeze corn.

 

Transplanting Plants - Without Killing Them

 

 

My Grandmother had the most beautiful flower and vegetable garden.  I would come home with a huge bouquet from her garden.  She had peonies, iris, and any other flower you could think of in her garden. 

            She would ask me if I wanted a start for my own garden and of course the answer was an excited yes.  If was then that I first learned how to transplant without killing my new plants.

            The first thing she would do would be to have me get some newspaper, lay it out in layers and then wet them down with the hose.  I would have a few piles of wet newspaper around the lawn when she would dig around the plants she was going to give me.  She would dig down around the plant on all four sides before trying to uproot the plant.  The least amount of root disturbance the better. 

            She would then dig around the plant again until it came up easily and bring it over to the newspaper and put it in the middle of the wet paper.  I would wrap the newspaper around my newly dug plants then wet it down again with the hose. 

            When I transport the plants home I didn’t always get them in the ground right away so I would keep the newspaper wet until I was able to transplant them.

Planting Carrots - Carrots Love Tomatoes

 

Carrots seem to just be the vegetable that looks healthy and tastes good.   We all want to plant our own carrots and have crisp carrots to snack on.  I have just a few tips on planting your carrots that I use; you can try them if you like.

         Carrots like soil with lime, humus and potash in it.  When carrots have long periods of hot weather and too much nitrogen they seem to have poor flavor.

 If you plant onions, leeks and herbs like rosemary, sage and wormwood by them they seem to be a repellent to the carrot fly.

 Carrots tomatoes and leaf lettuce grow well together, but carrots don’t like dill, the feeling is probably mutual.

 The roots of carrots are beneficial to growing peas.

 When storing carrots and apples they should be stored a distance from each other to prevent carrots from taking on a bitter flavor.

 Good Luck!

 

 

 

 

Blend Your Own Seed-Starting Mix

How to make your own seed-starting mix.

        4 parts screened compost (look below)

        1 part perlite

        1 part vermiculite

 

      2 parts sphagnum peat moss and/or coir

To keep the dust down, lightly moisten the ingredients before blending them thoroughly in a dishpan or wheelbarrow.

This mix strikes a balance between moisture retention and drainage, both of which are necessary for seedlings. Regulating the moisture is key, “It’s easy for the soil to stay too wet, and that can lead to damping-off.” Damping-off is a fungal disease that causes newly germinated seedlings to topple over and die. Some flower seedlings, tend to be more sensitive to too much moisture. For those, she makes a special batch of the mix, using less compost and replacing coir with peat moss. Sphagnum peat moss and perlite tend to lighten the mix and allow it to drain more quickly. Compost, vermiculite, and coir increase moisture retention.

This mix is made mostly from shredded leaves and other garden debris—but she avoids any organic materials that might introduce weed seeds to the compost. Having compost in the mix means that seedlings rarely need to be fertilized until they are moved outdoors to the garden; the compost provides a constant mild feeding. Compost also counters the natural acidity of peat moss. In mixes that don’t include compost, add 1/4 teaspoon of lime for every gallon of mix.

Build a Compost Screener

Prevent rocks and plastic from getting into your compost by creating a compost screener.

 

If you have a screen for cement you may use it or you can make your own.

Some organic debris breaks down quickly into compost, while twigs and hedge trimmings lag behind. This compost screener allows gardeners to remove the chunky, unfinished bits from compost that is to be used in potting mixes or as a soil amendment or topdressing. It also removes stones and plastic trash that may have found their way into the compost pile. Use a gloved hand to work the compost through the mesh, one or two shovelfuls at a time.

The screener is designed to sit atop a wheelbarrow or garden cart; the screened compost ends up in the wheelbarrow so it can be transported to wherever it is needed. Materials needed are 2-by-4 untreated framing lumber, galvanized hardware cloth with 1/2-inch square mesh, 2 1/2-inch galvanized deck screws, and 3/4-inch galvanized staples.

Begin by measuring the wheelbarrow. The dimensions of the wheelbarrow tray will determine the lengths of the 2-by-4s. Cut two boards about 16 inches longer than the width of the top edges of the tray, allowing them to overhang the edges 8 inches on each side. Cut two shorter boards about 8 inches less than the cross dimension. (The screener can be built so the overhanging boards extend to the sides of the wheelbarrow, or to the front and back. A rectangular shape is easiest to construct, although it’s also possible to match the tapered shape of some wheelbarrow trays.)

With a handsaw or jigsaw, cut long notches at each end of the longer boards. The cuts can be angled or curved with a jigsaw, if desired, to make the screener fit more snugly atop the wheelbarrow. Check to make sure the notched boards fit the wheelbarrow tray. Assemble the four boards with 2 1/2-inch deck screws.

Cut a rectangle of hardware cloth to fit the underside of the screener. Attach it with a staple gun, fastening about every 6 inches.

Using Screened Compost
Three good uses for screened compost:

Lawn fertilizer. Spread about 1/4 inch of screened compost on the lawn in early fall. Use a leaf rake to distribute it evenly.

Mulch. Blanket the soil in planting beds with an inch or more of screened compost. As mulch compost offers slow-release nutrients and a tidy appearance.

Potting soil. Fortify houseplant or seed-starting mixes with compost, adding one part of screened compost for every three parts of commercial potting soil.

Planting Onions from bunch onion scraps

 

 

Garden fresh onions year round

This it works well. You may have fresh onions year round.
The trick is to take the cut end (root side) and plant it in a pot, water well, give it some time and voila! You have fresh (and free!) onions at your disposal. This will work for a variety of different onions and the beauty of this tip is that as you use the onions, you replant the cut root ends to grow more. You can use a tub just for onions and haul it indoors during winter months (will need lots of sun) or if it’s just green onions you’re interested in growing, a large flower pot will do.

I learned this tip a couple of years ago and have tried it and found that it works and is quite marvelous. I love to use fresh green onions but am always out or there is a slimy little bag of them in the bottom of the fridge.
Here is my marvelous tip for growing them yourself and recycling a bit.

Onion Recycling Tutorial

1. Take the onion you are using for cooking, green, red, yellow, or white, it doesn't matter.
Cut off the root end. You are going to do that anyway. For a bulb onion like a red, white or yellow, I kinda core the onion and cut out a little cone there at the root end.

This onion came from my garden so the roots are huge but the ones from the store work the same.
2. Take that root bit you cut off and plant it in dirt and water it well. You can directly plant this in the garden. I plant mine in a tub in my yard for easy onion access year round. You can even plant them in a flower pot in a sunny window.

There you have it. In a few weeks you will have tons of green onions for the picking. Actually I just take my knife out there and cut them off at the ground and they grow me another onion quickly. If you just need the green parts for your recipe, just snip off a few of the green things and chop them up. The onion plant will send up more and that will actually stop the plant from going to seed which makes the onion tough.

 

How to wash make pillows white.

One of he reasons pillows turn yellow is sweat.


When pillows start yellowing we usually toss the pillow and buy a new one. But do that when you can whiten a pillow that is still perfectly good. You may see an old article from Martha Stewart Living that suggested pillows should be WASHED at least twice a year.

This is the Miracle Laundry Whitening Solution” treatment. You can CLICK HERE to read all about it, but basically it involves the following ingredients:

• HOT HOT HOT water
• 1 cup of laundry detergent
• 1 cup powdered dishwasher detergent
• 1 cup bleach (you could try “A Natural Bleach Alternative if you are opposed to chlorine bleach)
• 1/2 cup borax

Not only did the whole pillow-washing process turn out to be much easier than I anticipated, it worked like a CHARM!  

WASHING and whitening your pillows:

• Check the care label to confirm that your pillow (down or synthetic) can be machine washed – most can be.
• Remove the pillow case and any pillow protector
• Fill the washing machine about 1/3 full with HOT water (I even added a couple of pans full of boiling water).
• Add all the ingredients in the Miracle Laundry Whitening Solution (or, if you’re just looking to wash your pillows, add your detergent now) then start the machine and allow it to agitate for a few minutes to makes sure all the detergent dissolves before adding the pillows.

• Once the detergent is dissolved, add the pillow(s), and then allow the washer to fill the rest of the way with HOT water. I washed two pillows at a time, which helped balance the load when it came time for the spin cycle.

• Agitate the pillows for several minutes, then turn the pillows OVER to allow the top side to get the full effect of agitating in the HOT water. Agitate for several minutes more.

• Put your machine on the 2nd rinse cycle or just run it through twice manually.

DRYING your pillows:

• For down and feathers, use the air cycle. For synthetics, use the low heat setting.

• Place the pillow(s) in the dryer, add a couple of tennis balls covered in clean socks or a few Homemade Dryer Balls to help FLUFF the pillows as they tumble dry. (If it’s a nice day you could also set them outside in the sun to dry!)   I dry on the clothesline.

 

Weighted Hula Hoop with Ribs Review

 

          The weighted Hula Hoop with ribs is going back.  If I wanted to get beat up I would go back to sparring in Karate and even then I could protect myself.  Using that Hula Hoop with ribs is like being jabbed in the body and no way to stop it. 

            I will be going to Amazon and buying a weighted Hula hoop without ribs.  I tried to buy local (local considering where I live) but the only ones carried by Dicks sporting goods was the ribbed one.  At least they carried a weighted Hula Hoop which is more than I can say for Big 5, Sportsman Warehouse or any of the other sporting good stores I went to.

            I am doing this to have fun and get in shape.  I’ll let you know how the new Hula Hoop is when I get it in and try it out.   





First Day Hula Hooping

 

           I did my first time hula hooping with my new hula hoop yesterday and those ridges do hurt.  I have bruises from the weighted hula hoop.  It took me a while to get back on the hula hoop (like riding a bike) but I did get it going for a very short time.  I have read that you are not to go very long the first time with these hoops.  There were no instructions in the hoop box so I looked elsewhere for information.

As I was starting my husband was laughing at me, he told me he would show me how it was done.  Well, he didn’t get it going at all and gave up after a few tries.

          I will hula hoop again today, I will give the ridged hula hoop a good go before I call it quits on the ridges and go to the completely round one.   I’ll keep you informed on my progress. 

 

Hula Hooping

 

 

I used to be able to hula hoop for long periods of times (at least it seemed that way).  I went and bought a regular hula hoop and didn’t do so well.  I then heard about the new weighted hula hoops that are all the rage so I bought one yesterday when I was out of town as there are no stores in my town.   

I will hula hoop again. 

 I got the hula hoop put together, it came in parts - I was going to go outside hula hoop when it started raining, so I will keep you informed and let you know how the new ribbed hula hoops are.  I would have preferred one without ribs but that is the only type available at the sporting goods store I went to.  None of the other sporting goods stores even carried it.  They had a three pound one, I read I needed four pounds but I figured I will start with three pounds and if I can master that I can always buy another one and go up in weight. 
 

 I have a feeling this isn’t going to be as easy as when I was ten or so, but I am not too old to try.. 

 

Sage protects Cabbage

 

When I think of sage visions of turkey ready for the Thanksgiving feast come to mind.  Sage has become a part of my life.  I use it in eggs, roast, salads, stuffing, potatoes and many other dishes I cook daily.  I have multiple plants of sage that I harvest and use throughout the winter.  My grandkids love grinding sage in one of my many mortars to put in a dish we are making.

 Sage protects cabbage and all their relatives against the white cabbage butterfly.  It also helps with the flavor of cabbage.

 Sage grown with carrots protects them against the carrot fly and is helpful with rosemary (another one of my favorite plants.)

 Sage was long ago used medicinally in stuffing and meats to make more digestible.  The flavor of sage is unique and one that I have come to enjoy.  It is also said sage is good for your lungs.