Handy Household Advice

This may be a title I use often, as I always enjoy finding little tips and tricks for around the home and garden. As I was cleaning some stuff in my room I came across a huge pile of old schoolwork and other mixed papers. Most of them will be shredded and then recycled, but I kept a few. One of these is a sheet I put together as a freebie hand out for a fundraiser we did when I was still keeping involved in my parents' church (Mainly to keep up appearances, as well as to get my volunteer hours for high school), and they're all little home and garden tips (it was a plant sale and recipes-in-a-jar sale) that I belive came from an old Farmer's Almanac tip-of-the-day desk calendar. I love farmer's almanacs. I bought one this year, but I'm not sure where it disappeared to... I really need to use the hole punched in the book and hang it from some string hahaha. Onto the tips!

Outdoor Antiseptics
Need an effective anitseptic while you're out camping? Look for dogwood, witch hazel, oak bark, or sphagnum moss. Boil the bark or moss in water, cool, and apply as needed.

No Topsoil?
If you're gardening with less-than-ideal soil conditions, try these perenials that easily tolerate subsoils:
- Baby's breath
- Coreopsis
- Cushion spurge
- Geranium
- Purple cornflower
- Red valerian
- Thrift
- Yarrow

Bee Stings
Apply the juice of chamomile stems, honeysuckle vines, rue, or aloe vera. If the kitchen is handy, use vinegar or garlic juice. (Also, not from this calendar but the Almanac website - Place a penny on the sting, and hold it there for 5 minutes. My mother also usually hands people a tea bag soaked in warm water, has something to do with the tannic acid I think.)

Bug Bites
Regular flavored toothpaste, when applied to an insect bite (especially fire ant bites) will immediately relieve itching. Or make an “X” with your fingernail on the bite. It helps alleviate the need to itch.

Ants? Serve Coffee.
Mix used coffee grounds with water, and pour down anthills in the yard. Ants will relocate after a dose or two. (Another idea is to put cornmeal on ant hills etc, as the ants think it is food, but cannot digest it.)

How To Mow
If you're removing the grass clippings after lawn mowing, you're depriving your lawn of much-needed nutrients. Scientific studies have shown that leaving the clippings on the lawn produces a healthier lawn - even if your mower is not one of the newer "mulching" mowers.

Sweet Substitute
Out of confectioner's sugar? Simply put granulated sugar into your blender and pulse at high speed until you have the consistency you desire.

Homemade Plant Spray
For an organic alternative to a chemical spray to ward off chewing insects, try
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon liquid detergent
3 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cayenne flakes
2 cups water

Blend ingredients, place into a spray bottle, and spray onto plants. Reapply after rain.

A Few Handy Tips
A funnel makes a handy string or twine dispenser for the garage or workshop. Just thread the leading end of the string through the small hole of the funnel, letting the ball sit looseley in the larger cup. Hang the funnel from the wall, with a pair of scissors nearby.

Add a few coloured marbles to the birdbath to attract birds.

Always water gardens (and mow lawns) during the coolest part of the day. To conserve water, weed diligently, mulch well, and use rain barrels or drip irrigation instead of sprinklers.

Soak kitchen sponges in cold salt water to freshen them.

To make your cut flowers last longer in the vase, add a tablespoon of sugar to the water before you arrange them.

Featured above is an image of 3 of my pots of herbs on the front deck. The blue pot is spicy globe basil (which to me really tastes like black licorice, eww!) The first box is 3 types of sage, and the second box is oregano.