Home Remedies: Part III – Nausea, Upset Stomach, Heartburn, Reflux

April 25, 2011

See also Part I – Cuts, Scrapes, Bruises and Burns and Part II — Sore Throat, Cough, Stuffy Nose. Part I has the long version of my disclaimers: I am not a doctor, this is not medical advice, please see a professional.  Natural does not automatically mean safe.  I am not opposed to Western medicine.   [...]

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Strawberry Root Weevils

April 20, 2011

I grow a lot of strawberries.  There’s nothing better than a fresh strawberry from the backyard, and I love to make jam and strawberry pie and strawberry shortcake.  At the end of the season, of course the berries send out runners and make new plants, so I have more and more and more plants.  The [...]

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Home Remedies: Part II – Sore Throat, Cough, Stuffy Nose

April 13, 2011

See also Part I – Cuts, Scrapes, Bruises and Burns.  It has the long version of my disclaimers: I am not a doctor, this is not medical advice, please see a professional.  Natural does not automatically mean safe.  I am not opposed to Western medicine. Sore Throat, Cough, Stuffy Nose Basically, “common cold” type symptoms, [...]

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How Not To Use Castille Soap

April 12, 2011

I’ve been making my own laundry detergent for a while now.  I’ve tried a powdered formulation, and while it’s much easier to store, I much prefer the results of the liquid variety, and will be returning to that as soon as I run out of the powder I made…which should be in about 2014. I [...]

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Home Remedies – Part I: Cuts, Scrapes, Bruises and Burns

April 12, 2011

Not so crazy many years ago, when people had a stomachache or a headache, they didn’t run to the drugstore.  They either suffered with it, or they used a home remedy.  Sometimes the home remedies were remarkably effective.  Sometimes they were just placebo, but effective nonetheless.  (Sometimes, if you weren’t careful, they might even do [...]

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Badger badger badger badger a snake!!

April 8, 2011

We had a sunny day in the mid 60′s today (finally!) so I went outside and did some puttering in the yard.  Regardless of what I set out to do, I never actually accomplish it, though I usually do make real progress.   So it went today.   I planted two artichokes, and helped my daughter re-seed [...]

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Stupidly Easy White Bread

April 7, 2011

I remember when I was first really learning to cook from scratch, I tried making bread a few times.  Abject.  Failure.  Invariably, the bread would rise high and then crash in the oven, becoming brick-like and flat, even indented, on top.  Eventually I learned how to make decent “rustic” breads, but making white bread kept [...]

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Bee Hive Post Mortem

April 1, 2011

Today was the first decent-ish weather we’ve had in some time.  No rain, and it got up to near 70 degrees.  It was overcast (like always), but it was the first spring day of working in the garden in earnest.  And since I can dig and plant when it’s drizzling or cool, I decided that [...]

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Home Grown Greenhouse

March 31, 2011

There’s an unwritten rule around my place, which applies primarily to the construction of new structures and garden accessories.  It goes something like, “Why read a book or dig up actual plans when you can just wing it?”   Or it might be something like, “I don’t have time to read a book, I’m busy building [...]

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At What Point Am I “Real”?

March 17, 2011

You all know the drill.  You hear about some überfantabulous person or family who is taking the whole urban homesteading thing to heart, body, mind, and soul, and you are amazed.  They raise chickens and ducks for eggs and meat, they have goats that provide milk for drinking and making artisan cheeses, butter, and yogurt.  [...]

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