Homeopathic Flea Collar (for dogs only)

Homeopathic Flea Collar

 

 

 

This one I have not tried.  The flea repellent is found in the pyrethrums in oregano and rosemary and should not be used on cats.  Up until about 3 weeks ago I have only owned cats, so I have not had the opportunity to test it out.  If you try it feel free to let me know how it works.

 

All you do is take a piece of cloth and fashion a hollow collar out of it.  Fill the collar with a 50/50 mix of oregano and rosemary put it on the dog like you would a store bought collar.  Just as with a regular flea collar, it is not recommended for young puppies.  This is an excellent idea for families with young children who are concerned about exposure to the pesticides in traditional flea collars.

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Another chemical free way to eliminate fleas could be to get a monkey! :)

Stake Your Claim with Human Hair

One of my major issues with pest control in my garden is that I grow a lot of edible food.  Just like I don't want chemicals and pesticides on my family's food, some of the more organic options are nothing I would want to do with plants I will eventually be putting in my mouth.  For example, I'm sure most of us have heard the old advice that if you put your own urine around your plants, it will keep animals away.  That doesn't seem like it would make my plants very appetizing, and never mind the smell!  There are also a number of home made sprays which usually use things like cayenne pepper (I will be sharing those recipes with you throughout this blog) which are not recommended for use on plants you plan to eat. 

So when you have a yard full of woodland creatures, how can you keep them off your plants without hurting them or having to resort to methods which make your edible plants nothing you would want to eat?  The answer is in your hair.

Hair retains oils which hold our unique scent quite well.  Evidence of this can be found when we do not wash our hair.  It becomes oily.  That oil is a product of our bodies that holds our scent.  A scent that will repel animals.  So take the discarded hair from you brush and sprinkle it around your garden.  If you are..."folically challenged", asking a barber shop or hair salon for their discarded clippings is an option.  Although asking your friends might get you fewer strange looks. 

In nature, ownership is claimed by smell.  It's your garden, and putting your scent on it declares that to your back yard animal world.

Deer Resistant Plant List

Deer Resistant Plants

 

 

• Ageratum
• Ash
• Astilbe
• Black-Eyed Susan
• Daffodil
• Daphne
• Daylily
• Devil's Poker
• Myrtle
• Narcissus
• Nightshade
• Oleander
• Black Locust
• Bleeding Heart
• Blue Lily of the Nile
• Bottle Bush
• Calla Lily
• Canterberry Bells
• Carolina Cherry Laurel
• Chives
• Clematis
• Columbine
• Coreopsis
• Cransebill Gernaium
• Dogwood
• Dusty Miller
• English Ivy
• English Lavender
• Foxglove
• Giant Reed
• Hazelnut
• Holly
• Iceland Poppy
• Iris
• Japanese Rose
• Jasmine
• Lamb's Ear
• Larkspur
• Pampas Grass
• Peony
• Persimmon
• Pine
• Peppermint
• Red Elderberry
• Rosemary
• Scotch Broom
• Solomon's Seal
• Silvery Aremesia
• Spearmint
• Spruce
• Tulip
• Yarrow

No Rotten Eggs Here!

One of those mystery foods in my fridge always seems to be eggs.  We eat them sometimes, and sometimes we don't.  Often a carton of eggs will go unnoticed until I am not sure how long they have been sitting there. Thank goodness for the freshness date on the carton!  Somehow no matter how hard I try to prevent it, eggs are one of the foods that go to waste a lot of the time in my household. 

But one of the best things I learned on the first season of National Geographic's Doomsday Preppers is how to preserve eggs.  One of the best things about preserving eggs is that you don't need to go out and buy a secondary fridge for your egg storage needs.  When you preserve eggs, you can store them unrefrigerated with the rest of your dry goods! I have heard that preserved eggs can last up to a year, but I only keep them around for about 9 months just to be safe. 

When a chicken lays an egg it is not exactly as you see it from the carton in your fridge.  There is a coating on it called bloom.  This coating keeps bacteria and other harmful environmental elements out, but it also keeps air out.  Basic food storage skills tell us that air is our enemy.  Once eggs are processed and washed at the factory, they no longer have the bloom on them and thus are vulnerable to spoilage through air getting into them. 

So how do you replace this coating naturally found on eggs?  Mineral oil!  Heat up some mineral oil for a few seconds in the microwave (10 seconds or so should be good) and give the eggs a good coating of it.  This will mimic the bloom and protect your eggs as if they just came out of the chicken. 

If you want to store them for a few weeks, on the kitchen counter out of extreme heat or direct sunlight is fine.  To store them for extended periods, it is best to put them in a cool place, at 68 degrees or lower. 

A little more information on eggs:
Did you know that there is no nutritional difference between white and brown eggs?  In our health conscious society which is currently obsessed with whole grain products, we are trained to believe that if it is brown it is healthier.  This might hold true for bread, but it does not for eggs.  The only difference between white and brown eggs is the chicken they came from.  Despite their color and higher price, brown eggs are not nutritionally different than white eggs. 

The Ants Go Marching...

It's springtime, or so they keep saying anyway.  If you live in the Northeast it might be difficult to believe, but the days of ant infestations are upon us. 

There are over 12,000 species of ants across the world.  Most of them live between 45-60 days.  Ants have tiny brains and perform most of their actions based on pheromone scent cues.  It would take the brains of 40,000 ants to have the same brain capacity as a human being. 

As you may have personally observed, ants surface and breed less when it is rainy and multiply in larger numbers when it is dry.  Something as simple as keeping the weather in mind can help you get ahead of a problem.  Did you know that ants are very close cousins to wasps and bees?

A natural irritant to ants is mint.  Just leave some fresh mint leaves in areas where you see ants congregating, and they will leave in a hurry.  Putting them as close to the nest as possible is most effective. 

If you have found the nest, sealing it is a good no chemical way of eliminating the problem. 

Remember being a kid and trying to kill ants with water from the garden hose?  We had a heavy infestation under our front porch stairs that my kids used to constantly try to kill with that cold water, to no avail.  The key is to use boiling water.  Ants can survive for a long time under cold water, but boiling water will drown them. 

You can also bait the ants without having to use harsh pesticides.  You can feed them Cream of Wheat!  Put it where they can easily access it.  When they eat it, it will expand in their stomachs and they will explode!

A good way to get rid of an ant hill is to take 1/4 cup of liquid hand soap and 1 gallon of cool tap water.  Mix well and pour half of the gallon into the ant hill.  Wait some time and pour the rest in there to make sure you get all those little tunnels. 

Ants are a nuisance.  But with a little effort and some patience it is possible to get rid of them without having to resort to harsh chemicals and pesticides. 

A Spread of Information

For as long as I can remember I have had certain interests.  I think we all have those things, those interests that are just kind of bred into us.  Nature, in general has always been of interest to me.  I prefer to paint things found in nature, I prefer to take landscape photos.  In the second year of my latest venture, I am becoming a self taught gardener.  I have always been fascinated with using natural items for different values other than cooking, or looking at.  This weekend I am getting my first lesson in making soaps with essential oils and natural ingredients.  I have never been much of a hippie, but these things have just always interested me.  Then the thought occurred to me that I am just a homesteader.  Like many women before me, I do not work outside the home, so I find natural and inexpensive ways to solve problems and enhance life within the home. 

I have accumulated quite a bit of knowledge over the years, so I figured with the recent mainstream popularity of homesteading, I could create yet another blog in the internet universe with all those handy little tips that make me look like some kind of apocalyptic 2013 version of Donna Reed.  But the internet needs one of those like it needs another cat picture.  So what's my twist?  I'm not some kind of survivalist out to tell you how to keep your hair clean and shiny during the end of the world. I'm not some super hippie who utilizes every inch of my yard for everything from sustainable food sources to big stinky compost piles.  I am your average American stay at home mom who likes to learn stuff.  My information is simple, cheap, and realistic.  I hope you enjoy it and find something useful during your visit. :)