Homemade Greenhouse

Simple, easy, green.

I came across several idea's for gardening during the winter months and thought this one was something the kids would like to do and be easy for them to do as well...

A milk jug or clean bottle with lid- poke a hole in the top and two holes in the bottom for drainage.
Cut the sides mid way down but leave part on so it opens/closes....

A couple inches of organic potting soil, some seeds of choice and another layer of potting soil, water a little, label it (kids just wrote on the bottles in permanent marker- nothing pretty this time!) and its done! Most directions I found said that if it gets too cold at night to bring the bottles inside and then during the day leave them outdoors.

An easy and fun kids greenhouse project!

Saturday - Family Fun and some plants

Between work, school and housework our family needed a break....even for the afternoon- just to be away from the house- even though there is plenty to do at home!

A trip to the London Bridge for the afternoon and dinner out made for a nice outing-

 The entrance and then of course the bridge- the lamp posts on it were awesome!

 The kids were amazed by this map to see how many people had visited the Bridge since January 2011- there was also a map of other countries that was impressively marked as well!

4-H Watermelon's, comparing sizes-
September:

 October:

And then our lonely basil, moved from our old house in a bucket of the kids...the yard will eventually get fixed up for a garden and it can get replanted, but it's doing well so far!

Laundry Soap Tuesday

Running out of laundry detergent yesterday and having a few loads left to do immediately made me decide that instead of quickly buying our usual $5.00 purchase of detergent, getting '32 loads' as stated on the bottle, I'd purchase the items needed to make our own. Now, I've been reading several recipes regarding types of soap to use, what people like and don't like, whether to grate it large, medium or fine and for our first time we went with the following: (Next time we may online order some all natural, better soap)

A&H Super Washing Soda, 20 Mule Team Borax (All Natural Laundry Booster) and Fels-Naptha laundry soap. 

The recipe I followed was as follows:
1 cup A&H
1 cup Borax
4.5 oz Fels-Naptha soap grated

I also grated it large instead of medium or fine- the debate I've found on blogs is that the large grate of soap may leave residue......So, after washing my first load with it I'm proud to say....
NO residue
GREAT smell- nice and fresh laundry
and CLEAN!! Two thumbs up on the first load!

Cost?
2.98 4lbs of Borax
3.24 3lbs of A&H
.97 1 bar of Fels-Naptha
7.19 total

but my Borax will make 8 batches total and A&H will make 6 batches total, so for the next 6 times I just need to purchase the bar of soap! Per 32 load batch most blogs say it averages depending on your store you purchase from anywhere from 1.60 to 3.00 per batch! Even a few dollars helps!

The Weekend Review

Well, the goal was to make some home made bagels, but perhaps next weekend! A sleep over for my daughter then an early pick up of our fruit and veggie basket cut into our planned bagel time so we are all looking forward to trying them next weekend for our Saturday morning! But we did manage to try a new recipe and carve our pumpkins before Halloween tomorrow!

Pesto Penne with Chicken and Tomatoes

Our basket pick up this week...we made out!!
Plus so excited on our large batch of tomatoes we purchased...sauce here we come!!

And pumpkin carving time...

 Don't forget the seeds.....YUMMM....

Food Co-Ops, Farms and Organics

This is the best! I can't say enough about our food co-op, check it out to see if your state is listed-  
Bountiful baskets
We get a basket full of fresh fruits and veggies for a low cost each week- we also always buy their 9-grain organic bread which is so yumm and freezes well too (since you get 5 loaves at a time!) and then some times we'll purchase bulk specialty items.

One of our trips gave us this....then we added a bulk of corn and tortilla's. (The tortilla's also freeze well!)

To find farms local to your area where you can get fresh items, we love this resource:
Local Harvest
Our family plans on taking a few trips to different places within a few hours of us. We also found a farm that teaches homesteading classes on a variety of things- so exciting!!

Our area also has a drop point for Azure Standard-
Azure Standard
They specialize in natural and organic foods as well. We have yet to order but I did put in for a catalog and am patiently awaiting its arrival to see if we will pursue and order with them as well. But we have friends in town that use them for bulk items of wheat, rice and beans as well as specialty items too.

Where ever you may be located, there are always other alternatives to obtain the best food possible for your family. One day we hope to not have to use outside resources and grow what we need ourselves!

Reusable Sandwich Baggies

In ditching our ziplock baggies to opt for more reusable solutions, we bought several little containers for the kids for school for lunches. But I ran across some other mom's blogs who are sewing home made reusable sandwich baggies, so I thought why not?!

Made a couple today, different sizes and tried out sewing them different ways and they turned out fine- I think I'll order some fun fabrics and make some more very soon!

Just a plain green and purple for small items and my daughter requested the egg/chicken pattern for her sandwich bag: then a apple and a pumpkin for Fall/halloween....

Toothpaste, Tuna and Two Kids playing

Not all together of course....just a few other things from the weekend aside from our Halloween craft day!

Finally got around to making that home made toothpaste...had to do it- I literally ran out and couldn't brush my teeth that eve!

Simple, and done in just a few minutes! A few different variations I've found- but all with baking soda and your choice of flavor- they some add water to make a 'paste'...some dab toothbrush in water then in the powder form or use hydrogen peroxide. I made the paste this time.  The first two times the taste/texture got me a bit, but you know, its not bad and actually my teeth and mouth feel cleaner than previously with toothpaste! So A+ for this home made recipe!

Tried a new recipe for dinner- although it looked prettier in the casserole dish instead of the 'leftover' dish :) but this will have to do...Tuna, Cream of Mushroom Soup, pea's, milk, egg noodles and top it with bread crumbs with garlic and butter, bake...and you have dinner that my son had 4 scoop fulls of! So, if the kids like it- its a HIT!

Kids played so well together this weekend....moon sand and littlest pet shops make for some fun!

Splurge buy for the week...don't hate me! Ha...yeah mini-cupcakes, discounted at the bakery for $1.00.

And that concludes the weekend...Hello Monday!

Looking forward to my day off, a little laundry, organizing, meal planning...and looking for a great chicken noodle soup recipe as well as a home made foot scrub :)