Friday, January 23, 2009
Spring Garden
It will soon be time to plant your spring garden seeds in pots indoors in February for planting outdoors in March. The key to gardening success in Arizona is to get the spring garden planted early to beat the heat but late enough to avoid any frosts.
A GREAT WAY TO USE PEACHES
I know it is a while before peaches start growing on trees but there have been some good sales lately at grocery stores. One of our favorite things to eat Sunday evenings was home made "peace ice cream"...though it was more like a smoothie. All you need is:
MILK
SUGAR
SKINLESS FROZEN PEACHES
You fill a blender full of frozen peaches, and then pour the blender about 1/4 to 1/3 full of milk (depending on the desired thickness). Then add as much or little sugar you would like (around 1/2 cup more or less) and blend. If your blender is having difficulty blending, add more milk. We would make several batches.
MILK
SUGAR
SKINLESS FROZEN PEACHES
You fill a blender full of frozen peaches, and then pour the blender about 1/4 to 1/3 full of milk (depending on the desired thickness). Then add as much or little sugar you would like (around 1/2 cup more or less) and blend. If your blender is having difficulty blending, add more milk. We would make several batches.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap
Sometimes "money saving tips" take so much time and effort to do that they're just not worth it, this isn't one of those, it's easy, it's cheap and it works!
Ingredients:
4 cups hot tap water, 1 Fels-Naptha soap bar, 1 cup washing soda, ½ cup Borax, 5 gal bucket with lid
Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
Fill a five-gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. I read that washing soda will irritate skin if it contacts your skin before it's dissolved in the mix. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
Stir well, (it'll look like you mixed set jell-o with a fork) This is your 5 gallon bucket of concentrate. Fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use.
Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per two gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil. ( I've actually never tried adding essential oils)
Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons. Top-load machine: 3/4-1 cup/load (approximately 180 loads). HE machines can probably use 1/2 this amount.
You can buy Fels-Naptha bars in the laundry aisle at Fry's or Food City. The best price for Borax is 3.00 at Wal-Mart (will make 16 batches), and a box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (NOT baking soda) can be purchased at Fry's or Food City for about 3.00 (makes 6 batches). Great for people who do lots of laundry but also great to keep ingredients on hand in case of emergency- takes very little space to put up a box of borax, washing soda and a couple of bars of laundry soap. Depending on the price you buy your ingredients at it comes out to around 2 cents per load! Can't beat that! Feel free to e-mail me, Brenda at jbtrejo@hotmail.com if you have any questions.
Ingredients:
4 cups hot tap water, 1 Fels-Naptha soap bar, 1 cup washing soda, ½ cup Borax, 5 gal bucket with lid
Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
Fill a five-gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. I read that washing soda will irritate skin if it contacts your skin before it's dissolved in the mix. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
Stir well, (it'll look like you mixed set jell-o with a fork) This is your 5 gallon bucket of concentrate. Fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use.
Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per two gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil. ( I've actually never tried adding essential oils)
Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons. Top-load machine: 3/4-1 cup/load (approximately 180 loads). HE machines can probably use 1/2 this amount.
You can buy Fels-Naptha bars in the laundry aisle at Fry's or Food City. The best price for Borax is 3.00 at Wal-Mart (will make 16 batches), and a box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (NOT baking soda) can be purchased at Fry's or Food City for about 3.00 (makes 6 batches). Great for people who do lots of laundry but also great to keep ingredients on hand in case of emergency- takes very little space to put up a box of borax, washing soda and a couple of bars of laundry soap. Depending on the price you buy your ingredients at it comes out to around 2 cents per load! Can't beat that! Feel free to e-mail me, Brenda at jbtrejo@hotmail.com if you have any questions.
Friday, January 16, 2009
TommyToes
I believe my Dad would agree that its not a good idea to pay your kids/grandkids to grab the tomato worms off the plants. For one, you end up spending a lot more on useless bugs than on the seeds themselves, and two, there end up being no more leaves or vines for the tomato to grow on! :) Wait, was this supposed to be a serious blog? My bad... On a more serious note, I've heard that planting tomatoes upside-down is a great way to get a lot of produce. Has anyone ever tried this method? Any tips?? Go Provident Living!!!
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