In researching how to make our own homemade disinfecting hand sanitizer, we came across a lot of different recipes with varying amounts of ingredients but with little (if any) explanation on why certain ingredients were used. Most used isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol), aloe vera gel, and some essential oils for fragrance. Some even claimed that … Continue Reading
“Everything we do before a pandemic will seem alarmist. Everything we do after will seem inadequate” – Rear Admiral W. Craig Vanderwagen 2007 Medications Protection and Disinfectants Supplies Food Coronavirus! Of all the things we prepare for, a coronavirus pandemic was not one we were expecting. On Feb 25th, 2020, the CDC announced that the … Continue Reading
Having just finished our first harvest of oyster mushrooms from a kit, we wanted to try growing our own mushroom spawn from a tissue culture. And we wanted to first give it a try using materials already on hand, and get our cultures from the oyster mushrooms we had just grown. There are definitely more … Continue Reading
Toilet Paper This photo was submitted to the North American Mycological Association by Ron Spinosa showing oyster mushrooms growing inside a milk carton using kitty litter as a substrate. Milk Carton This photo was submitted to the North American Mycological Association by Milton Tam showing oyster mushrooms growing inside a milk carton using kitty … Continue Reading
We use several different methods to keep our outdoor potted plants watered depending on where the plant is located and the size of the planter. Making self-watering systems really cuts back on the frequency of manual waterings, and improves the amount of water delivered to each plant. No offense intended to some of the other … Continue Reading
If you are looking for ways to water your houseplants while you are away on vacation, or just looking for a way to streamline watering all your container plants, there are a lot of options to choose from. There are plenty of products you can purchase, and many DIY methods of watering plants as well. … Continue Reading
Given how much we enjoy gardening, it seemed worth it to give a mushroom growing kit a try. We love cooking with mushrooms and if we can manage to grow them in a kit, maybe there’s a chance we could start growing them regularly as a hobby for our own consumption. The kit seemed like … Continue Reading
Keeping plants in the house over the winter always ends up one of two ways in our home; they are either over watered or under watered most of the cold winter season. We can’t ever seem to find a happy balance between indoor humidity levels, and neglect or too much attention. After participating in a … Continue Reading
This should fall under the”Saw a bunch of seeds inside a fruit and figured I’d try to grow some” category, because that’show this project started. After a couple of internet searches, I learned they would sprout on wet paper towels inside a ziplock bag after a month. I scraped out about 50 seeds, cleaned them … Continue Reading
We planted Milkweed late last year after hearing of the Monarch Butterfly decline. This year, the plants were getting bigger and starting to fill out. By mid-August, the tall plants appeared to be dying. On closer inspection, the stalks and leaves of the plants were covered with thousands of bright orange aphids. But the true … Continue Reading
Mona Lavender is said to be in the same plant family as Swedish Ivy (notice the purple undersides of the leaves?). I won’t go into how to care for it other than it likes half sun/shade and moderate watering outside, and likes to be ignored inside (I only water when almost dry). I’ve managed to … Continue Reading