The Soap Plant

 In studying soap, I had learned that there was such as thing as a soap plant. Of course, I'm sure that it isn't equal to the real thing, but, I knew it existed. 

  One of the Facebook groups I am on deals with natural, organic products. One of the members recommends using something called, 'Soap Nuts'. Being curious, I wondered what these soap nuts were. I found out that they are the fruit of a plant called the Soap Plant, which has a more technical name of chlorogalum. This plant produces a fruit that is used in cleaning, and it is natural. I wondered, of course, if I can grow this kind of plant. Is it specific to certain parts of the world? In my search, I found out that it has been grown by Native Americans. 

  I love the resourcefulness of the Native Americans. For example, they would take a bison and kill it, and every part of this bison was used for something. The bones were used as we would use silverware. The hides were used in making tents. The meat was eaten and the oil was used as fuel. Many things were used by these early American dwellers that we would have little appreciation for today. 

  Here is a video containing information on the soap plant. Maybe one day, along with growing my own soursop and coffee plants, I will be growing soap nuts. Maybe, just maybe, one day, if I have a big back yard....with chickens....maybe some sheep too.....

And Then There Was One.....

One little, two little, three little squirrels... I started making popcorn for the squirrels in order for them to get filled up and not be tempted to go into the garden and destroy the corn I am trying to grow. So, I made popcorn every day for them. I called them by name. Jenny, Jimmy, Johnny, your meal is ready! They became less afraid of us, and it seemed like each day more squirrels were out there eating the popcorn!
  At one point, I counted 12 squirrels. So, I made sure there was plenty of popped corn available for them. But after a while, I noticed that the squirrel population began to decline. Over a period of a couple of weeks, we were down to a couple of squirrels. Either they got tired of the popcorn or they disappeared for some unknown reason.
  Now when I put popcorn out, only one squirrel usually is there to eat it. But fear not, there is a cat and a raccoon who both love the popcorn! They come around and enjoy the meal originally intended for the squirrels.

    I have a theory, and I think I know what really happened to the squirrels. You see, we have owls and predator birds living in the wildlife conserve we have in the back. Me thinks the squirrels became a tasty meal for them. Sad to think the Jenny, Jimmy, Johnny and the rest are gone. Rest in peace, squirrels. The hawks enjoyed their popcorn flavored rodents for a nice midnight snack. Now we don't have to fear the squirrels getting into the corn. But we do have to prepare for the raccoon and cat, to keep them away from the garden plants!

I Got My Straw Bales, Finally!

  For the past couple of years, I have been interested in doing Straw Bale Gardening. In Straw Bale Gardening, you take some straw bales and use them as a garden bed. Potatoes grow well in them and they also make the garden very pretty, at least in the beginning.
   I do not live in a place where straw bales are easily found though. And if I do find them, I would have to make sure that they have not been sprayed with pesticides.
  While I was at a store to pick up an outdoor table to put my hydroponic garden system on, I noticed that there were straw bales. They were small and I asked about them. The cashier didn't know, so he paged someone else, who never responded. I could have waited, but had to get home.
   I called the company who sells the small straw bales and they researched for me whether or not there were pesticides used on them. There are no pesticides used and I was very happy to find that out. So, out to the store, I picked two of them up.
   I had a bale of hay a couple of years ago, and placed in between some garden beds. What was so good about this was the ground underneath the bale was protected from the outside elements. It served much like mulch would have. I spread it around and it was very helpful to the garden, except for the fact that it contained seeds, which eventually caused some grass to start growing in the garden. But I just pulled it out and to this day I am still impressed on how it benefitted that area of the garden.
   The small bales are around $6 a piece, but I think they will serve the garden well this time. Now, to study about straw bale gardening!

Why Grow Cotton?

   As I emptied one of my supplement bottles this morning, I remembered the time I actually grew cotton. Whenever I am on the last capsule and it is time to dispose of the bottle, I always save the cotton ball on the top. Kind of like recycling and saving money at the same time. I will use the cotton balls for skin care or for stuffing toys, like catnip toys for the cats.
   Cotton was actually fun to grow. I primarily grew cotton as an education experience for my children. The problem was, I didn't know what to do with the cotton once I harvested it. Because it was so precious (homegrown by me) I didn't even want to use it. But what could I do with cotton anyway?
   I could have used it for skin care. If I were really creative, I would use it for making fabric! We could actually grow our own clothing now! But only if I grew tons of cotton, I guess.
  Well, like I said above, I could use them to make catnip toys. If there were any way to protect the gardens from the outside cats, I could grow catnip (Been there. Done that). Forget growing catnip though, if you have neighborhood cats. Cats have a very keen sense of smell and can detect catnip from very far away.

Why Corporate Agriculture is a Problem

Why Corporate Agriculture is a problem

I am not going to write on this now, but I will give a url of a web site that lists the problems with corporate agriculture and how it affects us today.

Why Corporate Agriculture is a Problem-Article

Why We Appreciate Heirloom Seeds

   When I was a kid, every once in a while, someone would give us some vegetables from their garden. I was just thinking about the tomatoes we got one time, that my mom sliced up and served with mayonnaise. Green beans were another vegetable that was on the table from someone's garden. Most people today struggle with liking vegetables, but I don't, and I think this is the reason why. Vegetables were precious to my mom, and now even to me.
    Growing up in the Garden State enhanced my love for vegetables and fruit. One time, we went over to my grandparent's house and my grandmother was so excited. I guess she hadn't looked in her back yard for a couple of weeks, but when she went out there that morning, she found a full grown water melon that she didn't even plant! It must have come from the seeds that were spit out by the consumers a couple of weeks ago. You don't see this happening very much today, for some reason.
   Did you know that the honeybee population is declining? It is declining for reasons unknown to even the experts. No one knows what to do to remedy the problem. The decline and possible extinction of honeybees will have a serious impact on our ability to grow quality food in the future. But not only are we losing our honeybees, but some plants are even on the decline. They seem to be disappearing. In spite of that fact, there are things we can do to help remedy the problem. In fact, we should be doing things today that will have a positive impact on our future.

    Heirloom plants are plants that have not been genetically modified or tampered with. They are plants that are basically the same as when they were originally created, around 6,000 years ago. Of course, there are some minor changes that occur over time, but heirloom plants produce food that is packed with nourishment and at the same time, full of color and beauty.
   One thing that we can do to protect and preserve heirloom plants is to find where the seeds are located and sold. There are people who have carefully saved seeds from these plants down through the years. They have replanted these seeds and are growing crops from the heirloom seeds they have collected. We can do this too. There are a few companies that focus on heirloom seeds and sell them to the public.
   Part of the problem we are facing today, has to do with the need to produce as much food as possible. There are a few different ways that this is accomplished. A more recent way that is used in this country, is to develop industrialized farms. In the past, people have always depended upon local farms to supply the food they needed. People used bartering, which is a form of payment which uses produced items as commodity instead of using cash. For example, if you grew asparagus, but needed eggs (because you grew plenty of asparagus on your farm), you would take some of your asparagus and trade it with someone who had plenty of eggs. But we don't do bartering today. We simply go to a grocery store and pay cash for our food. While this is not necessarily wrong, it does lend itself to a wrong conclusion about growing food. Because we live in a culture which prizes convenience, we will take the easiest road possible to provide for our needs. We will not consider the ramifications of what we do today, nor will we consider what the future holds for us and our descendants when it comes to eating/buying food choices.
   Industrialized food is intended to grow a lot of food for a lot of people, but in one large 'farm'. Produce has to be sprayed in order to protect against bugs. Seeds have to be genetically modified also to help produce a defense against insects. It is cost effective to use chemical fertilizers in place of compost and other natural fertilizers when trying to produce a ton of food. The food that is produced goes to big named companies which pack the food and send it to the stores. The food also must have the same features such as flavor and texture, so that it is uniform wherever it is sold. This kind of food production can only happen on large farms which use cost effective means to produce the amount of food needed by the companies who use the end product. These farms are also inhumane in the way they treat their animals. Chickens have been hatched and live their lives in a dark, unsanitary place before being slaughtered. Cows are kept in a small space, feed some kind of grain diet (cost effective. little nutritional value), and are very unsanitary due to the fecal matter they must stand in.
   Most people don't like the term 'olden days', so consequently when something was used a hundred years ago, we think of it as being  passe. We discard the idea. We think of it as primitive. We pridefully acknowledge the accomplishments of technology and place food production in that category. Farmers have become a stereotype. When we think of a farmer, our minds think of a man wearing a plaid shirt holding a pitchfork in his left hand and a cowboy hat. We discard this idea. We disdain this idea. This idea violates our idea of progress. Also, if this idea is a valuable one, it will mean that we will have to do some hard work and give up some of our conveniences, which is too hard for us to do.
   The answer is obvious though. We need more local farms. We need to support local farmers. Today, there are doctors who are discouraging their sons from becoming doctors, because of the hardships involved with the profession of physicians. The same thing is happening with farmers. It is becoming increasingly harder to be a farmer today. Industrialized farming is supported in many ways by the government, and lately, bills are being passed to make local farming much harder. If the trend continues, local farming could come to an end. So, if we can't be farmers, at least we can find local farms in our areas and we can support them. Do research. Find the farmer's markets in your area. Support them whenever possible. Our future, and the future of our children and grandchildren depends on it.
Of Pasta And Self Preservation article

My niece's beautiful chicken

OK What Went Wrong This Time?

   I was so happy to have grown a couple of potted plants so successfully that I decided it was time to plant them in the garden.
   The tomatoes were so long that they got tangled with each other. I tried to untangle them, but I think I lost a couple because I did that. Lesson #1- Don't plant tomatoes in pots next to each other!
   The peppers did fine when I transplanted them. Today though, when I checked on them later in the day, they were both wilted. Not only that, but the tomatoes looked like they were on death's door. I lost one complete tomato plant and now it looked like I would lose the other two, but I watered them well, and had to leave to go shopping. I worried about the plants while I was gone, but when I got back three hours later, and checked on them, they looked fine!
   The pepper plants are Purple Jalapeno, and Pepperocini (my spell check doesn't know what to do with this type of pepper!). Both are mildly hot and it will be interesting to grow a purple pepper (sounds like a tongue twister). The tomato plants I'm growing are German Lunchbox and Amish Paste. Both are heirloom plants. Now to look  for some recipes for salsa, tomato sauce, ketchup, barbecue sauce, and a whole bunch of other things. Pepperocini is the pepper that is used in the Papa John's Pizza boxes. When you order pizza from Papa John's, and open the box up, you will find a pepper in each box. That is what I am growing and if I do well at that, will be selling. I will dry my peppers and process them in a food processor, then put them in a jar to supplement my bird's diet. Plus, I can use the Jalapenos in Hot Pepper jelly, aka Sweet and Sour sauce. Years ago, I searched for a recipe that would be like the bottled sweet and sour sauce you get in the Chinese section of the store, but never did I find one, that is, until I made Hot Pepper Jelly. The finished product is the same thing. It could be used as a copy-cat recipe! Yum.
   So, what did I do wrong then, to make the transplanting event so difficult on my plants? The only thing that comes to mind is that it was too hot out today, and the plants weren't happy. Whenever it's hot like that, I will have to go out and water several times a day. It's worth the effort to keep them alive.