Organic Dandelion Honey

Have a bunch of Dandelions in your yard? Many people think they are pesky, awful weeds, but that just isn't the case! They are full of nutrients and can be used in many recipes. Dandelion greens can be used in salads, you can make wine with them, or like us, make honey! The recipe is simple, but a little time consuming. The longest part of the "hard" work is pulling the petals apart. Once you get into a groove it goes quite smoothly.

What you need:
4 cups Dandelion petals (Try to avoid as much green as possible as this will make it bitter)
4 cups water
2 cups organic sugar/sweetener (I used cane sugar, you can add more if it isn't sweet enough for you, 1/8 cup extra should make it plenty sweet)
Organic vanilla beans (1 or 2, sliced length ways)
3 slices of lemon 1/4" thick

What to do!

Pick fresh Dandelions, this is a good easy job for kids to help with!!
I find it easiest to split them in half and use my nail to pop out the petals.

Next add 4 cups of water into a heavy pan, and add the petals, lemon and vanilla. Bring to a boil, and let it do it's magic for about half an hour. Remove from heat and let steep for at least 6 hours. I left this one over night and finished in the morning.

Once you're done steeping it, use cheese cloth or a really good strainer and strain the bits out so you have a nice golden liquid.

Now you will have your liquid in a pot, and bring it to a medium boil. Once it is lightly boiling you can starting adding your sugar/sweetener. Turn down to low and simmer until it gets to the consistency you like your honey to be, this can take up to 4 hours. You will have to stir it and keep an eye on it as it can boil over and make a mess of your stove ;) Once it cools it will harden up a little. We like ours a bit runny, and use it mainly for tea. The Vanilla gives it a lovely flavour and even the kids like it!

We have made this later in the summer and the flavour just isn't the same as using early Spring Dandelions for some reason. Will be making another few batches before the plants get too old, and we have to start mowing our lawn.. Since it is starting to look like a jungle hehe!

An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Apples can be used for so many things, after doing a bit of research, since I have sooo many apples to deal with I’ve found a bunch of neat things to do with them! First, we had a whole bunch to make cider with. Then I had some more, so have been drying slices, then had so many peels that I didn’t know what to do with them, and found out that you can also dry those until they can be ground into a powder and used in things like oatmeal, or granola as extra flavor (plus that is where a lot of the fiber is!) or use the powder in things like potpourri, and other things you might scent. You can boil the skins and cores of the apples to make jelly, or syrup (we are going to try apple syrup! Yummm). You can freeze apples, or even just the skins and use those in your smoothies as an extra boost too! You can turn extra apples into sauce, or even apple butter!

My aunt lent me this AWESOME kitchen gadget for peeling and coring apples, I’ll put a link to it at the bottom of this post. It’s amazing, I was able to peel  4 trays worth of apples in just a few minutes, and didn’t take a chunk out of my thumb this time ;)

Dehydrated Apples: Core and remove skins, if you don’t like the “brown” you can spray with lemon juice, or apple cider vinegar (I used that last time, and they are good!) Place on dehydrator 6-8 hours until dry but still pliable.

I ran out of space on the dehydrator so placed the skins on a tray in the oven on the lowest setting for a few hours, checking every hour on their progress.  

We use dried apples in granola bars for kids lunches, you can dehydrate other fruit and make a mix, add some nuts, pretzels, and enjoy a healthy snack, or add to oatmeal. Make an apple chutney for a pork dish, oh the possibilities are endless! 

Tip for drying fruit** Place in a Ziploc bag. If it steams up right after you remove from the dehydrator, they still have too much moisture in them and could mold. Place back onto the trays checking each hour. Would be such a shame to have dried a whole batch only to come back to it next week and it’s moldy L

Peels can be boiled to make hot toddies, or simply to perfume the room without the chemicals of synthetic deodorizers. Add a pinch of cinnamon for a holiday smell. 

This is the link to this awesome tool, it can also be used to peel potatoes and make curly fries! 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DE2SS/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0000DE2SS&linkCode=as2&tag=fanthagaran03-20

Organic Hibiscus Tea

Hibiscus tea is full of antioxidants which will rid your body of free radicals (oxy moron? YES) It can help lower the risk of getting heart disease, some cancers, and lower LDL cholesterol. Especially with people who have high blood pressure due to stress.
It aids in the process of weight loss, bladder function, and constipation. Helps digestion of starches and sugar from meals, and is a diuretic so will help eliminate excess water from your body. It may help in aid of type 2 diabetes, liver problems (especially in Eastern medicine) The tea is packed with vitamin C and can help to fight the symptoms of colds and flu and strengthens the immune system. It has powerful antioxidant properties and can help to remove bacteria from the system. It is useful for preventing and fighting infections.
People suffering from depression may also benefit from Hibiscus tea as it has a positive effect on the central nervous system.
Instructions:

Fresh Flower Tea
Pour 8oz of boiling water onto a hibiscus Calyx in a cup or teapot. (The calyx if the part of the flower that protects the bud, it is the green leaf shaped foliage which supports the petals, you can clip it at the base and add the whole flower)
Let tea steep for five to ten minutes, depending how strong you can stand. Remove flower with a spoon or pour over a tea strainer and throw out all parts of the flower before drinking (easily composted)
Dried Flower Tea
Spoon 2 tsp of dried hibiscus flowers into a teapot or tea ball, pour boiling water over. Steep tea for five to ten minutes, strain and pour into mug.
You can add stevia, agave, or honey if it is too bitter for you.


To purchase organic Hibiscus tea, please copy and paste the link below and amazon will direct you to where you can purchase. YUM! 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SATIZA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000SATIZA&linkCode=as2&tag=fanthagaran03-20

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumbercontains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid,Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.
2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up acucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.
3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumberslice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.
4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in thecucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.
5 Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!
6.. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!
7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.
8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don’t have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.
9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!
10. Stressed out and don’t have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.
11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don’t have gum or mints? Take aslice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.
12. Looking for a ‘green’ way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take aslice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won’t leave streaks and won’t harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.
13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!


~from news444.com

Solutions to clean veggies

Popcorn chickpeas

These were really easy to make and an inexpensive salt free snack. I used 1 can of chickpeas (would like to grow these in our garden when we have the space!), a couple table spoons of olive oil enough to cover lightly, herbs from the garden, paprika, cayenne, ground black pepper and a pinch of brown sugar so they are spicy and a little sweet. Bake at 400 for about 45 minutes on parchment paper on a cookie sheet stirring occasionally. The oven smoked a little bit, you may need your fan on. These are high in protein and an addictive snack!

Watermelon Popsicles

Need a healthy snack for the kids over the hot summer? Watermelon juice or popsicles make a quick, cold treat that is easy to make. 

Use several cups of diced watermelon and throw it in a blender or juicer. If you blend it you can use cheese cloth if you don't like the fiber in it to drain the juice. Pour into popsicle holder, add sticks and freeze! You can add mint or basil for a different flavo

ur.

Watermelon is full of vitamins, potassium and antioxidants. It's low in calories, can help lower cholesterol, and contains Lycopene which can help to minimize risks of strokes and other ailments like rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, colon cancer and asthma.

It's a perfect food, can give you energy, and contains mostly water, which on hot days will help keep the kids hydrated (or yourself ;) with out all the sugar in pre packaged ice snacks.

If you want to get really fancy, add a shot of vodka to your watermelon juice to relax on your deck (not for kids hehe!!)

It's soooooo good! Enjoy

Lavender Sugar Scrub

Lavender Sugar Scrub

Ingredients 
1 part lavender oil
2 parts lavender sugar (made the same way as vanilla sugar)

Mix ingredients together until a paste forms. You can add more of each ingredient to get the consistency you like. In the shower use the scrub on dry elbows, knees and feet or all over to exfoliate. Rinse and wash as usual. The oil will make your skin super soft!

Gluten free potato pizzas

Vegetarian mini pizzas on potato slices instead of dough.

Slice potato about 2 mm
Add pesto for sauce (basil, olive oil, garlic, nut or seeds if you like. We didn't add seeds today)

Diced tomato
Parsley
Feta
Chopped jalapeno
Spinach leaves
S&p to taste (we added only pepper)
You could add endless amounts of ingredients!

Spread pesto or sauce on sliced potato, add toppings, bake at 350 for 15-25 mins depending on how many toppings. Until potato slices are soft. Gluten free, vegetarian.

Once upon a time, you were a boring old basket!

When I see things, I don't look at them usually for what they are.. my dear hubby thinks I've gone whacky because *everything* I look at that has some sort of well in it, I see a plant of some sort that should be in it. I can't help it! It's just this thing that happens to me! So, here I will post a couple of items that I have in the garden! It may be crazy of me, but I think that's okay. The strawberries in boots, or the pansies in an old tool box suit me just fine! Gardening is for the imagination, and whatever you see fit usually does the trick! Please take a look, and I hope that you find an idea for yourself. It really is amazing what these little green things will do for us, and all the ask for is a bit of sunshine, a bit of water, and somewhere to lay their "heads", and then we are gifted what they do best! Berries, flowers, fruits and vegetables. How wonderful!! :)

These are the pansies in their wooden toolbox. Because it is shallow it needs to be watered a little more often then the other plants, but totally worth it for the look it has

We started these bunching onions at the beginning of the season, and because we didn't have any starter pots left, I zipped the top of a cranberry juice jug off! It works great!

Next one, we had an old pair of boots kicking around, they were too worn to wear, but not too worn for some strawberry plants ;)

For some reason everyone always has a basket or two kicking around and have no idea what to do with them.. they are either too big, or too small for anything useful, and end up sitting in a closet or corner collecting dust. I've found them to be the perfect thing for herbs. They are bio degradable, so after a few seasons they will most likely be unable to pick up, but you can always put little feet on them so they last longer. When doing the baskets I will put a liner inside of some sort, plastic wrap that I will re use, or that weed netting, just so the dirt doesn't wash out. Then poke a hole somewhere on the bottom so the extra water drains out. Plant any plants you wish! Here I've got some catnip and parsley in these baskets.

The next few pictures are just a couple more ideas. There is an ice cream bucket with a red maple, wash bin full of lilies, a tin bucket with some sort of grass or lily I found in the compost pile, which I will find out what it truly is next spring, and a banana wire basket lined with foil paper from the outside of a pot filled with black clover (full of four leaf lucky clovers YAHOO!!,) and another pink flower that spreads on the ground. If you use your imagination you can grow anything just about anywhere!! Happy gardening!!

I love birds!!

Do you ever sit in your garden, and wonder where the birds get their water from?? I do often, living by the ocean there is lots of water around, but is it "good" water?? Not for the little guys! I always seem to have an abundance of pots laying around too, if you are a gardener then most likely you do too. So, I decided to use them up somehow and make something useful at the same time! This project is not only awesome, it's easy and fun to make! I made the birds their own bath, and was afraid they wouldn't use it, but by looking in the bowl, I notice, it most definitely has been used!

What you will need for this, is two pots the same size, I used clay 5 inch pots, and a clay pot bottom, mine is the bigger size. You can play around with them but the top (bottom) should big large enough for the birds to have enough water to play in! You will need glue, and paint of your choice, and some sort of spray to seal the bath up so your paint doesn't come off. If you don't have those things you can always leave it plain! Here is what you do!

Pick two pots of your choice, and a tray that will go on top.

This is probably the hardest part, deciding what size of bird bath you would like ;) Next you will take the two pots and glue them together. Open side down and open side up. I used regular while "craft/wood" glue.

I used the 5 inch because thought that was a good size for my garden. Living in military housing there isn't much space for stuff, but this was the perfect size to fit in between the flowers and herbs that I have. Next you will choose a lid. The lid I have in the next photo isn't the one that I actually used. I decided to go bigger so ended up going out to purchase a new tray. But you get the idea!

You glue the lid on, and let all the glues dry, best over night if you are using the white glue. If you are in a rush you could always use another type, like bond, or crazy glue. It would be fine, since the birds aren't drinking near that part.

Once your glue is all dried you can paint your new bird feeder. I've done a couple of these, and noticed they don't like red around where I am! They seem to like the darker or pastel colours more. I used acrylic paint, and then used a spray that was animal friendly once dried. Best thing to do it ask at your local home store. They will be able to help you!

Once your bird bath is dry, you can place in your garden, fill with water, and wait for the birds! I've now had to start changing the water in mine twice a day. I am glad they are enjoying it!! Since it is Spring, they will need a lot more water, with all their babies around and such. (I noticed we had babies living in the pole that is used for our laundry line outside!!) What a wonderful thing to watch in the morning with your tea, but some singing little birdies, having a party by the sea!

Cost of pots (new): 8$
Glue: 2$
Spray: 6$
Total cost: $16 (I already had the spray, so that didn't cost me this time. You can use it on other projects also!! :)
If you have pots laying around you can use those to lessen the cost also.

Difficulty: Easy
Time: 20 minutes (more or less depending on you painting times) I took about an hour, the small flowers took a little white to do!

Hope you enjoy your new garden bird bath! It really is worth the time to make!

Garden planter box

Have you ever just seen a pile of wood, and thought "Hey, what can I get out of that?" I do it often! This time I put those thoughts into action! This is what I came up with: 

Total cost: about $10
Total time: 8 hours (because I started out not know what I was going to build exactly;)
Difficulty: Medium
Tools required: drill, jig saw, tape measure, pencil 2 inch screws, 1 1/4 inch screws, poly for liner, paint and brush, wood of choice, hammer, stapler and staples for wood


So, first of all, the pile of wood is an old burn pile in the back yard that has come from house building scraps. A family friend brings them over to the house and it is usually used for the fire pit, but thought I would do something else with it this time. There were a lot of boards that were about the 2 feet length that had been cut from different projects for the house building. The first thing I did was build a basic frame. I had originally built a salad box and that is what I was starting to build when the idea came to me that I could expand this project! 

Luckily for me the pieces were all generally the same size, so it was pretty easy to put this together. I used 1 1/4 inch screws to pop this together. 
Next I built the salad box. I have one of these in my garden specifically for lettuce mixes. It is 3 inches tall, so perfect for baby salad greens! 

Once I had the box together, I had to figure out how to do the sides. It all started to come together by this point, and decided that I really loved the look of vertical sides and horizontal bottom and top. 

I didn't plan it very well,, so it was a little bit tough getting it together at first, simply because I jumped ahead of myself. Should have put the walls together first and then connected them. What ever you are comfortable with will work though! I used a chair for the top pieces to lean on as I was screwing those pieces in. For this section I also used 1 1/4 inch screws. 

As I looked at the box, this is what I thought would be the bottom and then figure out something with the top. It didn't actually end up like that. This is when I decided to use the salad box as the bottom, and ended up flipping the box. Because the pieces are all the same length it slid in quite easily. I did have to find some pieces for support on the inside of the box, and they had to be screwed to the sides so it would sturdy up. 

It has been fit, and snug on the bottom. Now for the top. This is where I had to use the jig saw. I had to measure 45 degree angles on the boards on top so the pieces would fit together and it would have a sharp looking top. I stapled the edges together, and used that metal stuff for securing furniture to the wall (in case of earth quake) I stapled the wire on and hammered it in so it was secure. The top side I just used staples for some extra strength. I wasn't very concerned with using screws on top as it was going to be painted so screwed the top on, two on each corner where the pieces connected for some more extra support. This is where I used the 2 inch screws so they were long enough to get some good grip into the frame boards. 

Now that it was pretty much put together, I cut poly to fit inside so the wood won't rot away too quickly. You could put a pot inside as well if that is easier for you. This wood was used for concrete so I had to scrape a little bit off before painting, but all in all it didn't take very long, and was a pretty easy, fun project! I bought paint for this project, but am also using it on another one, so total cost for the paint was 14.00, but this box used about 1/4 of it. The screws were about 3.00, and the other miscellaneous parts were already kicking around the house like staples and poly.   


Have fun, stay safe and please use safety gear when ever it is needed! 

Need Lattice?!

Being a poor chick, I often think and think of ways I can save money. What can I use, re-use, recycle!? We were in need of lattice for our peas! After going for a lovely walk on the beach, dear husband and I realized HEY! Driftwood!!! We walked along the beach, and found the perfect pieces for us, for the size we needed. We have a pea garden which is approximately 1.5'x3' long. I dug out a patch close to the house to block from the wind, as we are close to the ocean so it can get severely windy at our place, even when it isn't windy anywhere else in the city!! After thinking about how and what to do, we came up with this

I had thought of putting up the black netting against the stairs, but after sitting outside for tea in the mornings, as spring began to "sprung" I noticed the amount of birds that flew under the stairs constantly! That would be the worst thing to wake up to, if one of them had gotten stuck! 


This was an easy project, and took about one hour to complete, aside from our walk on the beach. 
Materials: Driftwood, and screws. 
Tools: a marker for marking dots, a drill, and a screwdriver. 

Fun project for the kids to help with! 


Please check your local area as there may be specific rules for taking/not taking items off the beach. 

And then it was empty!

Spring time is an insane time! Seeds, and seedlings, soil! From clay, to plastic, burlap, to brick! No matter how many questions there are, isn't spring time great? The last snow is falling and you think to yourself " DANG IT! My tomatoes will never have a chance unless I plant them NOW!!" And out come the seedlings trays, and a quick trip the the nursery. Soil and seeds in hand, it's time to get planting! We started early this year, March actually! I had taken over pretty much the whole kitchen, and as May long weekend is closer and closer, (next weekend to be exact) The amount of space in the kitchen has started to grow again as my precious little babies I have been nursing for the last 2 months are slowly put out to enjoy their start in life!

I swear, my dear husband thinks I have gone mad. And he will for years to come I'm sure, but each year, when he bites into the first tomato off the vine, he won't think I'm so crazy after all ;)

There is something more gratifying then most things, when you get to pick "the fruits of your labour". And just something soothing about the greenery you can surround yourself when you have plants. It's comforting in a way! Also knowing the health benefits of growing your own food just isn't something you can compare, to buying at the grocery store.

I hope everyone at some point in their lives has a chance to grow something of their own! We grow radishes in ice cream containers, beet tops in silverware containers, bunching onion in juice jugs, and strawberries in pop bottles to name a few. Conventional pots, re-used containers, anything you can grow in, is a good idea! Happy gardening to all. I will soon post some more info, and photos of the happy little garden!