potatoes are in the ground!!!!!

After weeks of waiting, it's finally done. Potatoes are in the ground. It has been raining so much around here that we got to thinking we would never get the potatoes planted. Thankfully we had a few days of good sunshine and was able to plant six rows of potatoes. Here are some pictures!

Here are the bugs cutting our potatoes, getting them ready to plant.

Daddy and the girls together!

Fun day and great memories!

God Is Good!

Honey and Lemon Pops

Well, as of yesterday, I have a couple of bugs with sore throats so I decided to make some honey and lemon suckers since one of the bugs is only three years old. I stumbled across a few recipes for this a while back and thought it was time to make some.

Here is how I did it.

1 cup honey (I used local)

2 teaspoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Candy Thermometer

 Lollipop Sticks

Non-stick surface

Heat your honey and lemon juice to hard crack stage, stirring constantly. Spoon small amounts onto a non-stick surface, I used my silpat, and add sticks (in my case, I was out of lollipop sticks so I used craft sticks). Let cool.

There are some recipes that call for peppermint oil also. I might try those next!



It is that simple. Homemade, all natural, sore throat soother! Boy how I love to give my family all natural, homemade goodness!

Just another home remedy that is easy to whip up!

                        


Linked up to : Ben and Me, Like a Mustard Seed

                     

Beeyoutiful - Schoolhouse Crew Review

 

 

BEEYOUTIFUL is a Christian company that believes that we as individuals are responsible for our own health. Their goal is to carry natural products and to eventually carry every one they use as a family. Stephanie Tallent, a certified nutritionist, runs this wonderful, natural wellness company with her husband.

 

 

As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I was lucky enough to review some of their products. This is the package I received for this review:

It had four of their products in it with a very helpful DVD.

BERRY WELL - 8fl. oz. for $19.75, is an immune booster that fights flu, cold, bacterial and viral symptoms. Not only does this fight these but at the same time builds up your immune system. This is an elderberry syrup made from organic purple elderberries. It also contains raw honey, organic echinacea root, organic apple cider vinegar, propolis extract and 2% pure grain alcohol. It can be taken regularly as a preventative or taken at the first sign of a cold or flu. My plan is to use this when my boy bug comes down with tonsillitis. We battle this about every other month. I feel this will help his condition and will be a staple in our home.

LIP BALM - $3. I love this lip balm. I received the orange flavor. I use this everyday. It has a wonderful consistency. Lots of all-natural lip balms, in my opinion, are hard. This one is just right. They are available in orange and peppermint. I use it alone and under my lip gloss. It keeps our lips very moist and prevents chapping.

MIRACLE SKIN SALVE - 2 oz. for $15, 4 oz. for $25. I can't say enough about this salve. Of all the products, we used this one the most. From cuts, ant bites, rashes to minor burns and skin irritations, we used it for everything. The ingredients in this salve are wonderful. Coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, beeswax, organic plantain leaf, organic comfrey root, organic calendula flowers, propolis, lavendar essential oil and rosemary essential oil. This salve can be used for any kind of skin irritation or injury. It is wonderful. Everytime one of my bugs get an ant bite, they ask for the miracle salve. Just today, my red bug started using it for the dryness under and around her eyes. She has etopic dermatitis and I am hoping this salve will be our "MIRACLE"! I highly recommend this product.

OW!-EASE - Arnica Trauma Salve - 1 oz. for $15. This relieves pain and effectively helps reduce swelling and muscle pain associated with bruises, contusions, sprains, pulled ligaments and muscles. With a 3 and 5 year old around the house, you can imagine how many times we have used this. Everytime I turn around, one or both of them have some kind of bruise. We used this on every bruise and I really believe in its healing properties. Because it contains Arnica flower, it is not safe for internal use, so it is not to be used orally or on broken skin. Some of the other ingredients are extra virgin olive oil infused with chamomile, organic calendula, organic St. John's Wort, cayenne, coconut oil, beeswax, lavendar essential oil and rosemary essential oil.

We also received the Beeyoutiful Views DVD with Stephanie Tallent - $3. She talks about many of the products they offer and how she uses them with her own family. There is also a How-To section. I found this section very helpful. The bugs and I watched this video together and learned many things from it. One of the things we are wanting to try is the activated charcoal facial. Another section is the Healthy Pregnancy section. It gives you information on the specific products they carry that can be used if you are expecting.

I highly recommend Beeyoutiful products and encourage you to check out their website.


Check out what other members of the crew said about Beeyoutiful products. Some reviewed Beeyoutiful Skin mineral make-up and Skin care products.

Disclaimer: As a TOS crew member, I received these products, in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

Natural Cleaning on the Homestead

We have been making homemade laundry detergent for a while now. I try to use as many natural products as I can. Here are some of our favorite natural products we use around here. Some of these I have been making for a while, others I have yet to try. Just thought I would share some of these recipes for any of you that would like to make your own natural cleaning products but don't know where to start. These are not all of my recipes. I  got my ideas from others! Thanks!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

4 cups hot  water
1 Bar Fels-Naptha Soap
1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
5 gallon bucket

Grate your bar of soap and add it to a saucepan with 4 cups of water. Heat and stir until the soap is dissolved. While heating your soap, add your 1 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup borax to your 5 gallon bucket. When your soap has dissolved completely, pour it into your bucket with the powders. Mix really good and then fill the remainder of your bucket with hot tap water to the top. Let sit overnight. It will be a gel the next morning. Stir it up really good before using. I use 1 cup per load in my HE washing machine. It cleans really well. I use a fabric softener with it to make my clothes soft.


Pre-Wash Spray

1/2 cup household ammonia

1/4 cup baking soda

1/2 cup vinegar

1/2 gallon water

Essential oils (optional)

After mixing this solution, put part of it into a small spray bottle to keep handy by the washing machine when doing laundry. Spray liberally onto clothes where needed.

All-Purpose Cleaner

 Fill a spray bottle with 1/3rd vinegar. Top off with water. Add 10 drops of lemon or tea tree oil, 10 drops of GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract) and 1 teaspoon liquid castile soap.

All-Purpose Cream Cleaner

Mix 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup castile soap, 10 drops of essential oil together in a container. Great for sinks, bath tubs, etc.

Heavy Duty Degreaser

Mix in a spray bottle, 2-3 Tablespoons vinegar, 1 teaspoon borax and fill almost to the top with hot water and shake. Add 1/2 teaspoon liquid castile soap and 5-10 drops of essential oils with a few drops of GSE. Great for stove tops and ovens.

Toilet Cleaner Spray

Mix 2 cups hot water, 4 tablespoons liquid castile soap, 5 drops each of lemon, tea tree, eucalyptus and GSE. Put in a spray bottle. Also a great cleaner for countertops in the bathrooms.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner

Spray toilet with vinegar and sprinkle it with baking soda. Scrub.

Antibacterial Cleaner

In a spray bottle, mix 1 cup water, 5 drops tea tree oil, 5 drops lemon oil, 5 drops orange oil, 5 drops eucalyptus oil and 10 drops of GSE. Spray onto surfaces and wipe with a damp cloth.

Scouring Powder

Mix 1 cup salt, 1 cup borax and 1 cup baking soda together. Sprinkle onto surface and clean. Just mix equal parts of everything. Can make a big batch and store in an airtight container.

Hope this is helpful !

God Bless!

Here lately we have been canning dewberries! We have gathered and picked close to 4 gallons. We so far have made a dewberry crumble, dewberry jelly, canned dewberries in a light syrup and in the near future, are going to make some delicious dewberry dumplings! I have never made them but my mother-in-law told me a simple way to do so. I am not one that likes dewberries too much. I can not handle the seeds. I do enjoy the jelly and feel as though I will enjoy the dumplings. I can make them by straining the juice off of the berries first and then drop the dumplings into seed-free juice! Here are the beautiful berries we canned just a few days ago.

I have quite a few of the berries frozen but I really like the fact that I can just pop open a jar  and make something very fast without having to wait for the berries to thaw! I can even make jelly with these berries in a jar. I have been thinking alot about  trying to do lots and lots of canning this year. I always can but not to the extint I want to this year.

I feel that if I can put most of our garden in cans, we are guaranteed food! I am always fearful of freezing everything and then down here in the south have some kind of bad weather and lose electricity. You know what that means.....a possibility of losing everything you worked so hard to put in your freezer! 

In about a week, we are going to be slaughtering about 25 meat chickens. I plan on putting most of them whole in the freezer. I don't know any other way. Maybe I am worrying about it to much.  I am wanting to try something I have never done before. Can homemade chicken broth. I usually freeze all of my broth but since I want to CAN almost everything this year, why not can chicken! I am really excited to see how it turns out. Just like the berries, I won't have to wait for the broth to thaw out. I can just open a jar of broth and enjoy!

Wish me luck!

God Bless!

looky here!

We planted one strawberry plant into an old tire and its making strawberries!

We also took these ends of celery and planted them in the garden. I am hoping these little things will make more celery!

We are still waiting for our heirloom seeds to come in so we can plant them in the garden. Here is what the garden will consist of:

Blue Lake Bush Beans (string beans)
Henderson's Lima Beans
Purple Hill Speckled Cowpeas
Bull's Blood Beets
Golden Beets
Long Cucumbers
Marketmore 76 Cucumbers
Telegraph Improved Cucumbers
Orlinabel Melons
Louisiana 16 inch Long Pod Okra
Red Okra
Stewarts Zeebest Okra
Yellow Crookneck Squash
Lemon Squash
Black Beauty Zucchini
Golden Zucchini
Empress of India Nasturtiums (to make colored and flavored vinegar)
Watermelons
Cantaloupe
Yellow Sweet Corn
Lots of Tomatoes!

We order our heirloom seeds from here. They are by far the best heirloom seeds ever. They have so many varieties of any thing you want to plant.

My favorite seed is the Lemon Squash seed. We grew these little squash last year and were very surprised by them. They taste just like the yellow crookneck squash but look like lemons.

I am patiently waiting for our order! Can't wait! So ready to plant the garden and enjoy all of the beautiful vegetables and fruits that God has created!

God Bless!

More Herbal Remedies

A few days before Christmas, I decided to make some herbal glycerites. Like I didn't have enough to do already! I read this book and began learning alot about herbs and herbal tinctures and glycerites. I highly recommend this book if you are wanting to make your own "herbal medicines". When I first started learning and making tincts and glycerites, I wanted something for the bugs to take to build their immune systems. I started with an Astragalus glycerite. Its key actions are antioxidant, immune support and tonic.

I recently made another Astragalus glycerite but added peppermint this time to help with the bitterness of the root.

I made a Mullein/peppermint glycerite to help one of my bugs with a cold. It is considered the herb of choice for respiratory problems. It loosens mucus and expels it out of the body.

I also made an activator which help to activate the healing energies in the body and another formula to help boost the immune system to prevent illness or to help the body fight infection. They call this formula "herbal vaccines". I found these recipes in the book mentioned above. These are only a few of what I want to make. It takes time to make tinctures and glycerites so I try to make a couple a month. There are so many that can be made. Play around with it and see what you can come up with.

This is something I am very passionate about but it is not for everyone and is not intended to replace any medical advice from a healthcare professional.


Activator:
1 part yarrow flowers, 1 part elder flowers, 1 part peppermint

"Herbal Vaccine"
4 parts echinacea root, 2 parts thyme, 1 part licorice, 1 part elderberries

Juice of Many Oranges

A couple of weeks ago, we purchased a couple of boxes of navel oranges.

 One of our friends in our homeschool group offered to pick them up for us. We were able to purchase #1's or #2's ("seconds"). I purchased one of each. There wasn't much of a difference in the quality of the oranges, only the price. 

The girls and I decided it would be nice to have an abundance of freshly squeezed orange juice in the refrigerator. We have used many juicers here lately but the one in the picture is by far the best and easiest one to use. We were able to put a whole gallon of juice in the frig to enjoy!

We are hoping with all of that delicious Vitamin C, we will keep our immune systems healthy enough to fight off any nasty bugs we might come in contact with.