Homemade Groceries & Supplies

As mentioned vinegar is a wonderful natural thing. I use it to mop my no wax floors and nothing I have ever tried leaves them as shiny. I also use one part vinegar and one part water for counters and things. Though it smells when wet, once it dries there is no odor. It is also useful in getting ants to clear out too.

You can also sprinkle a healthy amount of baking soda in your drain and follow with enough vinegar to get it down the drain to a clog. Let it set for about 5 minutes, plunge and run hot water. If it doesn't clear repeat it. I have not purchased any drain cleaners in years! I had waist length hair for a long time and this really worked to bust those clogs up.

An interesting thing to control ants too is grits! Sprinkle some grits along the ant trail and watch them come out of the woodwork to grab it. Let them have a party because when the get it to the nest and eat it they explode once the moisture in their bodies mixes with it. I swear by this method as i have housecats and had a real problem with ants at my last apartment. Once a week I would put some grits down and never saw them after about a month of that.

Baking soda can be used as an abrasive like Ajax and does a nice job and won't scratch your surfaces either.

Olive oil on a dry cloth, in small amounts also is a wonderful furniture polish too.

Nice ideas everyone.

red

reply to post by redhead57


I can attest to the vinegar and soda for clogs. It works great. I had a really stubborn clog in my kitchen sink and commercial clog removers wouldn't work. I tried the vinegar and soda and about 15-20 minutes later, it was gone.

Are your floors hardwood?

[edit on 9/7/2009 by soldiermom]

I didn't know about the trick using grits to get rid of ants. Good to know that grits are good for something. Eating them is out of the question! LOL.

It may be that the sugar beets are GM crops now but occasionally I'll get a batch of sugar that the ants won't touch. It's disconcerting to find food meant for human consumption that the creatures won't eat.

Originally posted by whitewave
I didn't know about the trick using grits to get rid of ants. Good to know that grits are good for something. Eating them is out of the question! LOL.

It may be that the sugar beets are GM crops now but occasionally I'll get a batch of sugar that the ants won't touch. It's disconcerting to find food meant for human consumption that the creatures won't eat.

What brand of sugar? I have been using a lot lately because I've been making jelly.

Stinging Nettles are a good way to keep the vine fretter (plant louse) population down, as they harbor butterflies, and ladybugs.

If you soak 1kg of them in a Liter of water for 24h, you can spray the result onto your plants as an insect-deterrent (the friendlier, nicer cousin of the insecticide). Might have to spray for a couple of days against lice. Works fine against cotton rust (Puccinia Malvacearum).

If boiled they make a tasty salad (also dandylions+leaves) or can be served similar to spinach.

Nettles can be used as fertilizer:

Mix finely cut nettle leaves with limestone (inhibits smell, adds minerals) in a large bucket (ferments with loads of frothing action).
Stir frequently to facilitate oxygen supply.
The fermentation is complete, when the broth has cleared up.
Dilute the broth 1:10 and water your plants with it.

Nettle-Vinegar: (against dandruff)

Clean and chop up nettle roots and place together with a strong wine-vinegar (quality is key) into a bottle.
Seal it airtight (use wax or something).
Leave in a well lit place for 3-4 weeks (e.g. window sill).
Apply and rub into the scalp. Can also be supplemented by drinking 1 teaspoon.

Nettle-Tea: (arthritis, gout, cough-suppressant, to release phlegm, and to pee better)

Use either dried, or fresh leaves.
1 Teaspoon nettle per 1 cup.
Boil water, pour over nettles, and let it seep covered for 5min.
Filter and drink slowly.

Nettle-treatments should be used for about two weeks.

Goes to show you that weeds should not be under-estimated!
Stinging nettles will grow darn near anywhere.

Another good insect-repellent: Nut tree (though ants don't mind)

reply to post by Carlthulhu


Thanks for joining us. Sounds like you really know your nettles. Mind sharing with us how you "de-fang" the pesky buggers? Short of a chain mail pair of gloves and a blow torch, I don't know of any good ways of handling these plants. Even with 2 pair of thick gloves on, I still manage to get the occasional thorn.

Nettles are so useful for so many things that I hate to do without them but MY! they are a bother!

Have you ever made any pomades or perfumes/incense from the blossoms? They smell wonderful! You can eat them too.

Reply to mamabeth:
Good Value (cheap) brand.

de-fang?
I just handle their stalks, away from the leaves.
For larger jobs I wear thick jeans, and handle them with a rake/shovel combo, or military NBC-gloves when I need to get down & dirty.

reply to post by whitewave



Thank-you for letting me know.I will just have to pay more I guess.

Now please don't get all PETA on me, I'm just passing on what works.

For rats and mice, mix 1 cup of "cornice cement" (a fine white powder used to glue the cornice in your home) with 1/2 cup of plain flour and two dessert spoons of powdered sugar, mix really well, place in small containers where mice are active, renew weekly.

could you tell me if c means cups and if it does how many fluid oz to the cup pls?

Originally posted by gambon
could you tell me if c means cups and if it does how many fluid oz to the cup pls?

A metric cup is 250mls or around 8 fl. oz.

reply to post by whitewave


Hello again, Whitewave- nothing to be afraid of! It's easy & cheap to make one's own drink as long as a few things are taken care of. The "Home Brewing" book is available on Amazon for as little as 48 cents plus shipping! Cheers!

Another great thing available at Amazon are Italian hand-crank pasta machines; they're easy to use & you can get them for making everything from spaghetti to fettuchini to ravioli. Making pasta dough to use in them out of half white & half whole wheat flour makes a far more nutritious pasta (sorry to preach to the choir, you being a nurse & all!)

Last but not least is another wise investment- a Vita-Mix machine from the company of the same name in Cleveland, Ohio. These marvelous machines are capable of making ice cream, soup, grinding grain to make bread, kneading dough for some breads, & much else. If it sounds too good to be true, it really isn't! I've had one for more than 20 years- it's a real workhorse that has never given me a bit of trouble in all of that time. (Let's hear it for American made!) these machines are a bit pricey but well worth the money.

Good luck to everyone being prepared for whatever comes. Deianera

Oh, I almost forgot- here's a recipe for a great natural hair color or conditioner:

1 cup powdered henna leaves (neutral henna has no color; henna leaves can also be obtained in colors from red to brown; try Dharma Trading Company in San Rafael, California)

1/4 cup olive or cocoanut oil

1 raw egg

Enough hot water to mix with the above ingredients to make a thick, creamy paste

Pack the paste onto your hair & massage it into every strand, then bind it into a plastic bag tied around your head. It's a good idea to wear gloves & coat your face all around the hairline with vaseline beforehand if using colored henna to avoid staining). Leave it on for an hour.

Wash it out, comb your hair & let dry. Henna strengthens hair & conditions it naturally without harsh chemicals. It doesn't color all of the greys, but it highlights hair of any color beautifully. Try it on a sample of your hair first before diving in & applying it to your whole head. Henna stains things pretty badly so don't get it on anything you don't want it to color! This recipe can also be used for Mendi painting.

Henna can be grown in your garden as an herb plant. It was first used in ancient Egypt & starter plants can be obtained online by mail from Companion Plants of Athens, Ohio. Dharma Trading Company sells henna leaves as well as every dye you could possibly need for fabrics- re-dyeing clothes is a time- honored way of making clothes last longer as well as treating fabrics to make new ones.

Good luck!

hey anybody know of a natural immune system booster food type, other than vitamin C and echninacea?

reply to post by gambon


I see that the math question was answered earlier. Yes, C. means "cups", t. means "teaspoons", T. means "tablespoons". Sorry for not being clearer on that earlier.


Great contributions, everyone.

Undo: I list the nutritional value of several plants on my Wild Edibles thread but, if you like, I will send you a list of immune boosting foods. May take a while to compile it all. I have several projects going at the moment.

[edit on 8-9-2009 by whitewave]

reply to post by undo


Well, fruits are always good. I've heard coffee is actually really good for your immune system. Not sure though.

About olive oil, this little slippery substance is great for a lot of things. In a shtf situation though, Olive oil can be used as chapstick. Just rub a bit on =)

reply to post by prof-rabbit


i doff my hat and thank you sir

I have been reading about yeast, as you do, and am currently growing a batch that I 'captured'. It is very easy, in fact, skank that I am, I am sure I have in the past, unwittingly, thrown a few cultures in the bin having found them growing on something at the back of the fridge. Anywho...

Wild Yeast floats around us, everywhere, it varies from location to location, some, like in wine making regions, are very specific, although all are essentially of the same species. In wine making the yeast is on the grape skin, the whole process of wine making is feeding the yeast in the right way, same with brewing and bread making, to get the desired result.

A couple of links to 'recipes', but it is worth searching around to find one that suits, there are many, many different options depending on what you want to use it for.

www.homebrewtalk.com...

answers.yahoo.com...

[edit on 8-9-2009 by shamhat]

Great input and links, guys. There is also the instructions on the first page of this thread for how to make your own yeastie beasties. I think all fruit has some yeast in it, doesn't it? Most vegetables too. Not all make tasty breads or brews but I guess that's what the experimentation is for.

I know a woman who had a sourdough starter that was originated over a hundred years ago. It had been passed like a family heirloom from mother to daughter for a few generations. If well tended they can last indefinitely.

Sourdough starters are kind of like having pets: they can't be too hot or too cold, have to be kept out of the drafts, have to be fed regularly, can't let them get infected with any free floating germs, etc. Sure make tasty biscuits, though.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I have a thread on cheese making.

I have a book called "Practical Formulas for Hobby or Profit - Henry Goldschmiedt Ph.D. Chemical Publishing Company Inc. (1973)"

That has a ton of interesting formulas for household items using other household chemicals.