::tidbits of green:: from the RYD home front!

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Hello everyone!

How are ya? I know, I know…. long time no blog! What gives?!

With the end of Summer so near we’ve been sulking up a every last bit of the sunshine and I took a little impromptu bloggy break.  The weather has been extraordinarily HOT …today’s temp reached 110 degrees. Our clothesline was gettin’ all the action today.   Seriously, wish we had a solar oven, right about now.

It’s on our wish list and what’s funny is our town is known for having the most sun in the nation… 300 days of sunshine through out the year!

A little known fact we definitely need to take advantage of.

I’ve also been busy getting our outbuilding fit for homeschooling and so far so good… I will post separately on that subject soon. Definitely an amazing transformation going on and I’m beyond thrilled to begin our adventure.

Anyhoo… here are some tidbits  taking place at the RYD home front…

My grandma always told me… save your pickle juice and pickle hard boiled eggs!

Since we have green beans coming out of our ears so we put a few from some salvaged juice from 2 jars of Bubbies pickles!

Pickled green beans here we come.

can’t wait to fill up some reused glass jars with fresh dried herbs from our garden

:: parsley AND :: basil 2 kinds of each!

using the sunshine to dry our laundry… haven’t used our dryer much this summer!

Clean sheets and towels…ahhh!

Been busy makin’ all things homemade  (dry skin salve, deodorant, and toothpaste) including a few other things…

…deets to come!!!!

Mmm, lunch lately… easy peasy & perfect in this summer heat.

with apple slices + almond butter = Mmmm!

an Ani Phyo recipe!

a little love, a little laughter, a little a little … won’t you?

the fair is in town… a really big DEAL around here… we’ve already gone 2x!

Ah, the last of our beautiful Summer desert sunsets… feeling the autumnal shift lately at certain times of the day…

i heart autumn

<3

Change  is comin’ on for us and I feel it.

another fun highlight:  waiting on pickles that are wildly fermenting

( a NO vinegar recipe)… just a few more days!

& so you know the garden is fairing well and I hope to bring you an update on that soon too!

The last few days of August are going to be busy- busy.

I may be absent … but I’ll be back– promise! 

p.s. stomach yuck is just about gone! phew!

What have you been up to?!!

Non Toxic Garden Pest Control: Homemade Bug Spray!

Hiya, happy people!

So—> yesterday,  there was mention of bugs in the front yard garden…

well– last night, the hubz and I came up with a concotion that were hoping combats the “little black bugs” .

Basically, these bugs appear to be sucking out the chlorophyll in the plant by attacking the leaves.

These nasty buggers initially started in on the watermelon, which resulted in a melon loss

The entire watermelon plant crippled over and is not happy.

It looks very  unhealthy at this point and has infected the other plants. Grr!

Such as my beautiful cuke plant that is healthy and covered in yellow blossoms.

So far, we managed to get one cuke out it but they’re are two others which started to grow but now seem to be stunted from the buggy effect.

Double grr!

Our pumpkin plants are starting too look unhappy as well. Aye carumba… the joys of gardening… you LIVE & LEARN.

Over the years we haven’t really dealt much with bug infestations but have had some aphid issues and maybe a few worms too. We done lot’s of reading on how to get rid of pests naturally and have put together a few different methods.

Bugs definitely don’t like heat from peppers and one year (2009) we made a batch of pepper spray using the green peppers we grew in our garden. It worked wonderfully.

All we did was cut up some peppers and placed them into water and let it sit for a couple days or so before we used it.

Now it’s sat for 2 yrs. and the smell of peppers is SUPER strong. I don’t think any bug will live through a spray of it. hee, hee! Bye–bye, you hungry bugs!

Anyhoo- I didn’t actually find our homemade pepper spray till after we concocted a new spray (of course).

Non Toxic Garden BUG Control Spray

In a 12 oz bottle mix the following:

- 1 tbsp of vinegar

- 1 tbsp of oil (any kind- & pretend it’s pictured;)

- 3-4 drops of peppermint oil

- 3-4 squirts of dish soap (we used Mrs. Meyers)

-  2 cut up peppers… any HOT pepper will do!

Next, fill bottle/sprayer up with water & it’s ready for use!

** Remember to label your bottle and keep out of reach from children.

Simple. Easy & Effective.

No nasty chemicals involved… all natural & organic, baby!!!

Most of the ingredients can be found in under your kitchen sink.

Safe to use around children too!

We like to use our homemade garden bug control spray in the early AM’s or late PM’s of the day.

Spraying in direct sunlight/heat could damage your garden plants so just be aware.

I’ll definitely keep you posted on our bug sitch…

…keeping my fingers crossed the plants live through it.

(there is some new life on the watermelon, so we’ll see- maybe it’s not toast afterall;)

Have you had any problems with bugs in your garden this year?!

If so, what have you done to combat them naturally?

What natural solutions do you know of?

click on pic for a larger view!

Garden Update: 8/9

Hi again!!

Well, it’s official our watermelon plant is done along with one our pumpkin plants and the cukes are on the way if we don’t do something about it fast… I’m so sad. Our only watermelon died a very slow death. Wah! I hope we can come up with a good bug remedy to defeat them but they’ve definitely taken over. Lots and lot’s of little black bugs. Hrmph! Not COOL.

This is the first year we’ve done raised beds so I’m not sure if it’s the moisture and the fact things are a little too close together… whoopsie. Kicking myself for not planting the marigolds like we normally do.2010’s garden adventures have been tough since my husband has been working much of the weekends and it’s been SUPER hot.

We’ve done pretty good so far… but our nectarines never did make it and our tomatoes are struggling + zucchini which is pretty much toast…but I’m still nurturing it to the nines. We have a very large fruitless mulberry tree in our backyard which grows like a WEED and this year we didn’t cut it back in the fall … so that means our garden is suffering this summer. Lot’s of shade…not enough sun! BOOOOO!!

Right now, there is no time to do anything about it and because of it things are sllowwwlllyyyy but surely coming along. If we get one zucchini this year, I’ll consider ourselves lucky! Our strawberry plant is doing very good and so is the little one I have potted. We get about 2 strawberries every other 3 days or so. Not much…but when the eco tot (Tristan, my three year old) finds them it’s pure sweetness all around.

Fortunately, we have some new life sproutin’ …  radishes both red and white, mescalun lettuce, chard, sunflower sprouts (harvest 2 days fresh), collards, dill & cilantro.

More raspberries are comin’ in too!

Oh! and I hope to get in a regular CSA update for ya this week… the past two weekends have been tough to get in pics and post.

Here’s what was included:

Read more

DIY Fruit Leather Recipe

remember these?

Hi there!

This is going to be short & SWEET (pun intended)

Were headed out of town tonight… going up to Northern California to see family. The circumstances aren’t the happiest but were planning to make the best of it. All I can say, is FUCK CANCER.

Okay,  moving on… glad that’s off my bloggy chest….ha, ha!

Since we will be traveling 9 hours away by car with two tots, I figured we should probably have some healthy and handy snacks available. I usually always try to make homemade snacks for our trips whether it’s cookies, granola, yummy meals, etc. Doing it this way helps save time and money. Little ole me has a hard time resisting the urge to be frugal so I’ve been busy in the kitchie whippin’ up some healthy treats to have on handy while were on vay k!

2 days of our trip we will be visiting with family and the remainder of our trip were going doing lots of side trippin’ to Lassen National Park and into Trinity. I’m so giddy about our adventure. We’ve been hoping to explore Lassen for sometime now. Can’t wait to do some hiking with the boys. yeehaw!

I’m also planning to bring you along on this trip… so stay tuned on that. * wink, wink *

One of our favorite snacks to bring with us on our traveling journey’s are fruit leathers, also known as, “fruit roll ups” growing up.

Who doesn’t love a fruit leather?

To me fruit leathers arepart of summer nostalgia. I totally remember gettin’ these from the store or making them with my mom.  With the abundance of fruit right now;  it’s an easy way to use up  fruit before it goes bad AND, if you play it smart go to the market for the already marked down fruit because it’s “overripe” and save a few pennies. Making them at home also prevents you from buying into all the packaged plastic. It’s a win- win all around. No extra litter and everyone including the planet is happy!

They’re SUPER SIMPLE  to make too… for real!

Fruit Leather Recipe:

Ingredients:

Choice of fruit or be wild and mix it up!

(approx 2 cups-)

2-3 tbsp’s of honey(raw & local whenever possible!)

a few drops of lemon juice

Parchment paper/Sheet pan

Directions:

Set your oven temperature to 200 degrees. Add fruit of choice into blender once it has been rinsed, drained, peeled and pitted (depending on fruit of choice).  Add in remaining ingredients, pop the lid on the blender and let it whirl away! You want to get it to puree consistency which doesn’t take long. Let the puree sit while you get the parchment paper over the sheet pan so that you can pour the mixture over the pan to prevent it from sticking. Pour puree mixture onto sheet pan and spread into an 1/8 inch layer. Place puree sheet into the oven and let firm up to a sticky texture for approximately 2 hrs. It will peel directly off the parchment paper when it’s done.

So far, we’ve done, peaches, plums, cherries, apricots and blueberries!  I leave the skins on a few of the stone fruits for extra nutrition. We used a VitaMix but any blender or hand immersion blender will work! You can also use a dehydrator for this recipe, if you own one. We have a Mr. Food’s- 80’s bad ass, dehydrator and it gets used quite a bit BUT for the most recent recipe we used the oven. Just a quick tidbit about the parchment paper… I like to buy the unbleached brands, since they do not contain any chlorine bleach and come in recycled packaging.  yay!

Here’s the peach and apricot mix!

Gorgeous color before it turns into leather!

all that was left of the fruit leathers…more in the oven for the road (blueberry & more peach plum)

AND these bad boys right here are candied pistachios…

we actually get to visit our cousins pistachio farm this weekend and I’m

SUPER stoked about harvesting some freshies!

Oh yeah, baby… these nut clusters are healthy fuel food for the road (no pun intended)

& for our tum’s!

I filled to of these nut packs up especially for hikes.

I’ll post recipes for these yum, yums when we return!

Hope you’re having a wonderful Thursday. 

Gotta run. We leave tonight!!!

Dry Skin Salve, Recipe: Treat Flare Up’s Naturally

Hi there, dear readers!

How are ya?

So far so good here. Thank goodness!

I know, I’ve mentioned it this on the blog before but our three year old, Tristan, (the eco tot) has dry skin. We aren’t sure if it’s related to food or whether it’s just dry skin – eczema. We’ve dealt with this since he was 3 months old.  Dry skin issues seem to run on both sides so it would make sense, he may have a sensitivity. Though, I’ve done lot’s of research and found out that excemza/dry skin can be food related. According to the Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child book  foods such as dairy, wheat, eggs, chocolate can all aggravate dry skin and cause flare ups.

Flare ups are when the skin becomes irritated, red and inflamed. We’ve noticed lately that when Tristan has these foods mentioned above he  get’s flare ups. We haven’t quite figured out the culprit…leaning more towards wheat/dairy. In any case, we’ve been TRYING to do an elimination test but other factors and such have prevented us from really going through with it. It can get pretty tricky, especially since wheat. dairy and eggs seem to be in everything.

Once we realized he had dry skin, we’ve done everything possible to help it. We try to go the natural route as much as possible rather than rub him down with creams that are filled with toxic substances. These products may help temporarily but in the long run I’m not comfortable using them knowing their effects.  Not cool and so, so, important to me since our skin is the largest organ!

I know, it’s been awhile since I’ve written about his dry skin issues but our we always try to make sure there’s ground oatmeal in his bath along with soaps that fragrance and JUNK FREE. The milled oatmeal helps the itch and soothes the skin. We religiously rub him down with a 50/50 mix of coconut oil and EVOO but have recently switched to the Calendula oil I made him, which seems to have it’s place but is not getting rid of the problem. Going the natural route can be a science experiment but I truly enjoy figuring out these processes and coming up with a safe and effective solution …an all natural one!

Before, I get to riled up about this subject on this beautiful EARLY Thursday AM.

I’ll leave you with the recipe I came up with.

Dry Skin Salve

What you’ll need:

Infused oil; I used a homemade oil, I made from the Calendula flowers in our garden

Grated beeswax; local if possible!

Calendula petals from 2 flowers

Milled oatmeal (put rolled oats into your blender and whirl away-simple!)

Measuring cups

Plate

A double boiler

(Or med. size pot filled a quarter of the way- set a fitted glass bowl )

Short wide mouth jar

Directions:

Gather your materials and assemble your equipment. Note ratio: four parts oil to one part beeswax! Next, pour oil into top of double boiler/glass bowl set over hot not simmering – water and heat just until warm. Slowly add most of the grated beeswax and stir until melted then add in additional two ingredients. When you’ve added most of the beeswax, drop a spoonful of the mixture onto a plate and let cool to room temperature. It should be soft enough to scoop from a jar but frim enough to hold together well.  It it’s too runny, continue to add beeswax until it reaches the desired consistency. Remove from the heat. If desired, add 5 to 20 drops of essential oil.

Now carefully pour the hot liquid into jars and cover with lids. Label the jars with the date and contents and store them in a cool, dark place away from all light. If carefully stored, the salve will keep for at least a year.

Is it working?

So far the salve seems to be helping the eco tot out a lot. It helps stop the itching and soothes the skin plus the beeswax provides a nice shield through out the day. It’s only been about 2 weeks, so, it’s still pretty early, I’d say. I’d show you pictures of a before and after of the flare up’s but the area that’s most affected are his poor little bunzola’s!! LOL!

The back of his neck bothers him the most but when the homemade salve is applied we notice the itching subsides as well as the redness. I really like the feel and smell of this salve and the first day we rubbed it on the the eco tot said “this stuff feels GOOD.” That made me super happy.

I thought about adding in an essential oil… an anti -fungal &  antibacterial one …like clove or tea-tree but decided I would leave it fragrance free the first go. Eczema is related to fungus like thrush and other yeast causing issues. So, if your little one, suffers from dry itchy skin; you may want to considering cutting out foods that feed yeast.

As far as, dairy, wheat and eggs go… we’ve been on and off the elimination test… mostly due to outside influences BUT we have been paying attention a lot  more, if nothing else. This past week, we’ve really buckled down and hope to get the rest of our family on board with this issue so that we can get to the core of the problem.

Anywho, the boys are up from the naps. If you make this, come back and let me know, how you did.

Would love to hear about your experience.

Oh, and I love putting some of the homemade salve on my lips too- (stay tuned for a beeswax lip balm recipe, next!!!)

What have you been up to? Do you have experience making your own homemade salves or oils?

Spill… enquiring minds want to know. haha!!  

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