Natural Weed Killer

It wasn’t until I had grandkids that “organic” and “natural”  even became a thing to me.  I actually felt bad enough for not thinking of it while my own son was young, that I apologized to him.

When the thought of having a grandchild actually became a reality, I couldn’t imagine bringing her around anything that was so full of chemicals.  The more I read the labels the more I didn’t want any of that stuff around my grandkids or us, for that matter.  I decided then and there, that there had to be a better way or at least a more chemical-free way.

We live in the country and have a very large driveway made of rock.  My husband wanted to keep it as weed free as possible since we can’t mow it.  When the kids come out and play on that driveway, so I wouldn’t let him spray any of that poison on it.  I had to come up with a better solution.

I searched the internet and found several different recipes and ideas, some worked okay and some not at all.  The more I read the more I started noticing common ingredients in a lot of them and decided I could  make my own.  When I finally put it together, it WORKED!!!  I was so happy.  Sadly it only kills the top of the plant, the part that the solution touches.  I can live with that.

            It actually impressed both of us.  This recipe is too easy not to try.  So I had to share.

Natural Weed Killer:

1. Add 1 cup of salt to a quart jar.
2. Fill the jar with water and let it sit for a week to dissolve as much of the salt as you can.
3. Put 1 gallon white vinegar in a 2 gallon sprayer
4. Add the quart of salt solution.  Rinse and get as much of the salt as you can out of the quart jar.  
5. Continue to let it sit for a short while longer to melt as much more of the salt as you can.  You want to melt as you can, so it won’t clog your sprayer.  (Don’t ask me how I know that.)
6.   Add a few tablespoons of dish soap to the sprayer (or actually I use the soap I make dish soap with)
7. Shake it up completely (or as best you can in a 2 gallon sprayer container).
8. Soak the plants with a sprayer on a day that you have lots of sun.  I’m not positive, but I think the sun helps kill the plant.  I’ll have to test that sometime.

          Within hours you will begin to notice weeds turning brown.  With large clumps of grass it may only kill the outside of the clump.  You may have to spray those more than once, but apparently, from what my husband tells me about the old “store bought” weed spray, it still worked faster and better.

Saturday 1 pm

Sunday 8am

This plant continued to die off until it became dust and blew away!!!  YAY!!!

           If you have some weeds to get rid of, you might give this a try.  If you do, let me know how it works for you.  We were highly impressed with how fast the weeds died.  

           Do you have a recipe that you use that works great?  If so, please put it in the comments.  The more ideas the better, in my humble opinion.

Essential Oils

I've just recently REALLY discovered essential oils.  I mean, I've always known about them and used them occasionally.  But recently, I've discovered how good they REALLY are and have started using them daily.  I didn't realize how handy they are.

Since our grand-daughter was born our lifestyle has moved to a more and more organic and natural one, making most of our household products and using less and less store bought cleaning supplies and personal products.  The oils just fit in perfectly.

I began seeing Doterra Oils a lot.  What I first liked about them is they are delivered through the mail!!!  I love that I can have them delivered because I really hate shopping.  Then I found out how to get discounted oils.

Doterra allows you to pay a fee (kind of like Costco) and you get wholesale pricing.  Nothing minimum to buy, just buy what you use, if you want.  You can go on to sell them if you want, but it's not necessary.  From what I read there are a lot of people who are making a really good living.  I like the mixtures they sell, and their oils are first rate and I'm happy with that, so they are worth the fee.  And considering how much we use them that discount way out does the fee.  If I go on to sell some, that's a bonus.

As time goes on I'll learn more and more.  I'm so happy with what I've learned and experienced so far I can't wait to share.  It's the easiest "help yourself" I've ever run across.  Besides, they smell awesome, make the house smell great and I can even use them for perfume.  If you'd like to look it over yourself and read some great information on your own, you can visit here.

I hope you come back for more as I hope to post some more information on oils.  I hope others can get as much out of them as we have.  And I'd love to know what you've discovered about essential oils and their uses.  Leave me a note on how you use them.

Store Brand Organic Food

When I first started moving towards organic food, I always bought from the local “Organic” or “Natural” stores in my areas.  As time went on, I was happy to notice natural and organic store brands on the shelf in my local Dillons, Simple Truth and Simple Truth Organic brands.  They were less expensive and most of the time just as good.

I like to save a few bucks where I can but still get the best I can afford.  I’m not always able to eat organic, but I try when and where I can.  What’s nice about the Simple Truth brand is they also

have the natural option, which isn’t “organic” by definition but which still omits 101 artificial preservatives and ingredients, listed here.  It’s different than the organic definition found on their website here, but better than most the well known stuff off the shelf, in my opinion.

On 10/22/14 Business Insider published a story online stating JP Morgan had put out a report showing that within two years Kroger was expected to surpass Whole Foods as a seller of organic and natural foods.

I still occasionally shop at my local organic and natural stores mostly because one of them carries a number of local products from local producers within the state and I like to buy local when I can; and I can’t always find everything I want in my local Dillons.  When I can, I get my produce from the local growers near my home or out of my own garden.

Where do you get your organic food? 

Mother Earth Fair

Yesterday my husband and I went to the Mother Earth Fair in Lawrence.  We both had a great time.  They had a lot of exhibitors and a ton of scheduled speakers for everything from dirt to making cheese.  We weren't able to stay over night so we didn't listen to many of those, but did catch most of one about having bees, learning some good tidbits in the short time we listened.

First we just made a circle around the outside of the park to see what all was there.  We saw people selling cheese making kits, seed companies, animal education booths, lots of books, growing systems and a group selling gluten-free soda pop.  We even bought a bottle of root beer, my favorite, which was very good even though I rarely drink pop.

We came across a place selling soap stone items, among other things, which I thought was really cool.  Vermont Marble, Granite, Slate & Soapstone Company is the name of the place.  You can click their name and see their store. They were