Timing Is Everything

 Regardless of whether the local Groundhogs saw their shadow this month or not, Valentine's Day is going to happen on February 14 and the honey bee queen is making plans for expanding in anticipation of Spring.

Right now would be a good time to find a day when the outside temperature is going to rise above 60 degrees F and put those supers of empty comb over the brood chamber. The hives here reside above I-20.

2 x 4 Laundry And Dish Washing Liquid

Here is a recipe for a quick easy Laundry and Dish Washing liquid that is safe.

2 Gallon Bucket With Lid

2 Cups Washing Soda 

2 Cups Borax

4 Cups Natural Soap Flakes

1) In the 2 gallon bucket combine 4 cups of soap flakes with 4 cups of boiling water.

2) Use a wire whisk to stir after the soap flakes are like a gel.

3) Add the 2 cups of Borax and 2 cups of Washing Soda.

4) Add hot water to fill remainder of bucket.

5) Stir daily with wire whisk until the liquid becomes like gel.

Use 1/4 cup per average load of laundry.

Use 1/4 cup per sink of dishes.

How To Make Cold Process Soap

When ever I don the bonnet and hover over the washpot (in public), inevitably these questions will rise:

Do you make soap? Yes

Next question:

How?

Here you go...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/400948801/recipe-cold-process-soap-making-soap

Next question:

Will you do my laundry? Sure

How much? $100 per hour

Last question:

None

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

This recipe was sent to me by a a very sweet, special lady who also loves all creatures great and small.

Liquid Laundry Soap

4 Cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1/2 Cup 20 Mule Team Borax

Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use (will gel)

Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

Front Load Machines- 1/4 Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

Note: A little oxygen cleaner can be added to the wash load also to help brighten white clothes.

This is a great laundry soap formula that smells wonderful and is phosphate free.

I Can't Believe It's Not Spring

  It's nice to start with a clean slate. What is referred to by our local weather men as "the January thaw" came this year and with it a few bright shiny days and an opportunity to clean a little bit in the garden. By removing old plant material that would harbor future pests and diseases from the garden area, the battle to keep healthy  plants growing strong next season can be more readily won than if they were simply plowed under to lie dormant and rise up again once spring officially arrives.

Garlic

  My dear friend, who is a founding member of the local herb society, advises that garlic should be planted on the shortest day of the year and harvested on the longest. In this case, maybe planting can be done on a longer shorter day of the year. Maybe bundling up and getting out and poking around in the dirt might just be what a body needs. Could be a good cure for the Winter doldrums and a remedy for the onset of Spring gardening fever that arrives about the same time as the new seed catalogs.

Little Red Wagons Aren't Just For Girls

The little red wagons we got for Christmas those many moons ago needn't be tossed aside or used for flower pots anymore.  What once transported our puppies and baby dolls, or even ourselves, for fun, down a steep hill, can still have useful life around the house for us big girls

I use my little red wagon just about daily around here and even there, where ever there may be. I guess my favorite use would be on Wash Day to carry a basket full of freshly cleaned, wet laundry to the clothes line to be hung out  in the fresh air and sunshine to dry naturally.  It just might be today, unless it rains.

Look At Them Beans

Green beans are a great side dish that can accompany just about any meal.  I have even heard that fresh home-canned green beans will cure what ails you.

Around these parts, a drought weather pattern along with Summertime temperatures in the late Spring  accompanied by an onslaught of Japanese Beetles have left gardeners in this part of the country scratching their heads with nothing to show for their efforts but exercise.  Not to mention, none of those fresh homegrown green beans.

It pays to know your enemy when you are an organic gardener.  A friend of mine once said, "You can't make a crop on air and dirt," and he was right.  Healthy soil and timing is what it's all about. Healthy soil makes healthy plants and healthy plants are more resistance to pests and disease and can provide a greater yield.  In this case the beetles were more prevalent earlier in the season.

The beans shown in the photo were grew for a Fall harvest.  They were planted on dates our local Extention Service recommended for Fall harvests. The variety is Blue Lake Stringless and is the runner version.  I have experimented with the Bush type and had to just about stand on my head to pick them so I have found that the extra work involved in providing some sort of support for the runner version pays back a great reward during harvest time.  Here I have used landscape timbers for posts and cattle panels in between.  Some folks bend the cattle panels into an arch and plant the green beans on either side and make a fun "green been tunnel" that kids like to run through.  Either way, support is great.

The soil was amended with a few inches of fresh mule manure in the Spring and when the beans were planted in the Summer and began their climb up the trellis they were fertilized with llama manure tea.

LLama Manure Tea

Fill a 5 gallon bucket 1/3 full of fresh llama manure (or goat, as it has similar characteristics)
Fill the remainder of the bucket of manure with water, an old rag or cloth can cover the bucket to discourage vermin .

Let steep for about 3 days and then pour this liquid along the green bean row by the side of the plants, no need to strain the manure.

My Grannie began the tradition of planting the Blue Lake variety, a tender, stringless green bean that has a mild flavor many years ago to serve my Dad when he came to Dinner.  His previous experience with green beans had been with the stringy variety. He was not a big fan of green beans, but he was a fan of my Mom, and this variety.    

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

They make life much easier:  left to right

1.  Garden utility cart.  Handy for transporting heavy loads with ease, or small children.

2.  Straw hat with 3" or greater brim with vent holes above inner sweat band and bolo tie to keep it stay put  for Summertime wear.

3.  2 lb sledge hammer.  Makes driving light duty fence posts a snap.

4.  Army issue rain poncho.  This is just about my most favorite thing.  Keeps you nice and dry and you can still use both hands to do chores, or stay alive.

5.  LED headlight.  Same principle, hands free light for work after dark.

6.  Boonie hat with string tie for Springtime and Fall wear.

7. Rubber boots.  Gotta have 'em.

8.  Padded coveralls.  These are lightweight and provide a lot of warmth.  Add stretchy belt to keep them in place.

9.  Grabber.  Handy around the house and yard to extend your reach, or pick a burr out of a llama's tail.

10.  Boggin with ear flaps and neck tie.  Helps keep 'ya warm in the Wintertime, and it's coming.