I never expected my post on homemade laundry detergent to become one of the most visited pages on this site, but even a year and a half after I wrote it I am still getting feedback and questions.  That confirmed once and for all that I am not the only one looking for more natural solutions to things like laundry and household cleaners.

While we know how to clean laundry with a homemade and natural solution, and line drying our clothes is obviously more natural and less wasteful than using a clothes dryer, I had yet to tackle the realm of homemade fabric softeners. That changes today when we take a look at homemade fabric softener options.

There are two ways in which we use fabric softeners these days: in the washer and in the dryer. We’re going to take a look at homemade solutions for both.

Homemade Fabric Softener

Hair Conditioner

One of the frugal options I’ve seen for homemade fabric softener isn’t exactly homemade, but it will save you some money. Hair conditioner. Not the salon stuff, either. The big bottles are cheap and they work just as well as the more expensive fabric softeners.

Vinegar

Of course if you’re wanting to go more natural (like I do), you might try good ol’ white vinegar. A 1/4 cup in the rinse cycle will help to remove detergent residue and soften clothes at the same time.

Mix it Up

If you’re looking for something a bit more hands-on, give this a try:

• 6 cups Water
• 1/2 cup Baking Soda
• 3 cups White Vinegar
• Essential Oil (optional)

1. Add water and baking soda to a large container and stir to mix.
2. Slowly add the vinegar and allow the chemical reaction to do its thing.
3. If you like, add a few drops of a favorite essential oil, but this isn’t necessary.

use 1/2 cup per wash load

Homemade Fabric Softener Sheets

My main complaints about dryer sheets are:

1. They are made of polyester fibers or polyurethane foam, and that’s bad for the environment.
2. They are wasteful and though considered to be disposable, will remain unchanged in a landfill. And that’s bad for the environment.
3. The ones that work aren’t cheap, and that’s bad for the wallet.

There are several options for homemade dryer sheets, including these:

Aluminum Foil

A ball of aluminum foil will eliminate static in the dryer as well as (and sometimes better than) commercial dryer sheets. What’s more, they are the ultimate thrifty, environmentally-friendly choice because not only do they last forever, when you do get rid of them, they can be recycled unlike dryer sheets.

Make Your Own Dryer Sheets

Instead of those plastic-infused dryer sheets, why not make your own? All you need is a washcloth or similar piece of soft cotton fabric and you’re on your way. Fill a spray bottle halfway with fabric softener or hair conditioner and then fill the rest of the way with water.  Spray this on your clean dryer cloth and toss it in the dryer with your next load.

3 weeks ago today I started my first winter sowing container outside made from a 2-liter soda bottle. It is a green bottle which is why I loving refer to it as my tiny greenhouse.

I know. Clever.

Because we live on an elevated slope that catches a lot of wind from three directions, I needed to find a secure location for my winter sowing container. As luck would have it, the front steps provided just such a shelter, allowing for adequate light and protection from wind and accidental flooding.

After preparing the container and adding seeds, I stowed it away in the Fort Knox of winter sowing containers (seen above).

As I go into the house, I have made it a habit to look between the steps to see if there is condensation on the inside of the bottle. If the condensate is minimal, I give it a quick spray with a mister bottle and return it to the secret hideaway. I have only added moisture twice in the past three weeks. To put this into perspective, my indoor seedlings have required watering almost daily. They’re needy and starting to get on my nerves.

Thinking that somehow three weeks was the magic number (don’t ask me why), I pulled out the greenhouse this morning and took a closer look.

When what, to my wondering eyes should appear but 3 Aunt Ruby’s German Green tomato seedlings! Yes, three. I know you can only see 2 in this photo, but there’s 3, I swear. Fine, don’t take my word for it.  Here:

Recap: As of Day 21, of the 7 seeds planted in this winter sowing container, 3 of them have germinated successfully.  Daytime temperatures have been quite warm for the most part though temps at night have dipped into the low 40s more than once.

I look forward to seeing how these seedlings fare over the next couple of weeks.

Call me a prude, but the smell of most commercial household cleaners gives me a massive headache.

Obviously I’m not the only person with homemade cleaning products on the brain because the blog post containing my recipe for homemade laundry detergent powder is the most-visited page on this site. Then in November of last year, tucked away discreetly in a post called “What Does Clean Smell Like?” I shared a dead simple, homemade window cleaner recipe that can be mixed in about 60 seconds. If you don’t have the time to make that, then you are obviously so busy that you need to have someone else cleaning your house.

So now that you know how to have clean laundry and clean windows, I’m sure you are chomping at the bit to know how you can make your own all purpose spray cleaner and what would I be if I didn’t pay attention to those desperate cries for help?

To start, you’re going to need some citrus peels.

In the example photos I took while making a new batch yesterday, I use orange and grapefruit, but you can use whatever is handy, and in whatever combination makes you happy.

1.  Peel citrus fruits.

You can peel them any way you like. I used a peeler and just took the rind because I wasn’t going to immediately use the fruit and the pith helped to keep them fresh in the fridge for an extra day or so.

Anyway, now that you have a respectable pile of peels that is similar but certainly not nearly as respectable as the one seen here, it’s time to move on to the most difficult part of this entire project. Take a deep breath, shore up your courage and

2.  Shove the citrus peels into a clean jar.

Whoah.  Did you make it through that part okay? If you’re still with me after that, you’re pretty much a rockstar and you should probably take a break and have a snack because whoah.

3.  Pour vinegar over citrus peels to cover them and screw on a lid.

From here on out it’s all downhill, I swear.

Once you’ve added the vinegar and capped off the jar, set it in an out of the way place for a couple of weeks. Unless of course you want your SO to mistake it for the new batch of limoncello that you started around the same time, in which case have at it.

After a couple of weeks, your homemade household cleaner is ready to use. Almost. Get yourself a spray bottle ready to go, because you’re about to be a cleanin’ fool. If you would like an alternative to plastic spray bottles, Crunchy Betty has a great tutorial on making a spray bottle from a jar.

4.  Strain the peels and solids out of the vinegar and pour into a spray bottle.

That’s all you have to do to make it happen. If you’re feeling extra fancy, you can add a few drops of essential oil to the spray bottle but that’s certainly not required.

Now get out there and clean something naturally!

Winter sowing is one of those ideas that you hear and though you hadn’t considered it before, you wonder why because it just makes sense. Exactly as you might imagine based on the name, it is the act of sowing seeds outdoors in the winter.

The idea makes a lot of sense because it works similarly to a tiny greenhouse; you add soil and seeds to a container, cover the container (allowing for ventilation) and place it outdoors in a sunny location.

I have been thinking a lot in the past few months about my posting back in September (“Have We Made Gardening Too Complicated?” – 9/26/11) and how Ruth Stout’s methods were so simple and uncluttered. That thinking made me decide to fully embrace the concept of winter sowing this year for the first time. The beauty of winter sowing is that it works even if there is snow on the ground and it serves two great purposes for the plant-happy gardener:

1. You save space by not having to find room for seed starting trays.
2. You save time by not having to harden off your plants before transplanting.

Above you see the first winter sowing container we will be using this year. It is a 2-liter soda bottle that has been cut open leaving about 2” around the base. I used a knife to puncture several drainage holes around the base before filling it with soil and giving it a good soak.  Next I added 7 Aunt Ruby’s German Green tomato seeds and took the container outdoors.

In the photo to the left you can see the 2-liter soda bottle planted and soaking up some sun outside. In the time it took me to move the bottle outdoors and go inside for my camera to take these photos, the condensation had already begun to form in the bottle.

You will also notice that the cap has been removed. This is absolutely necessary when winter sowing in bottles in order to allow for adequate ventilation. You wouldn’t think that it would get too warm inside a winter sowing container considering it is winter and all, but the truth is that it can get pretty darned hot and you don’t want to cook your seedlings.

In this case I did not use anything to secure the top and bottom of the bottle together, but when I move on to the milk jugs you see in the first photo, I will follow the advice of winter sowers who have done this many times before and use tape to secure the pieces together so that they don’t lose too much moisture and they aren’t blown off by wind.

I’m looking forward to winter sowing lettuce and the first hand-germinated dandelions as well.  With all of the jugs and bottles we have saved up, who knows what all I might come up with.

Do you winter sow? Tell us about it!

Home canning is enjoying a well-deserved resurgence in recent years, and that leaves a lot of people looking for information on how to can and preserve food at home.

While there are foods that can be canned using the fairly basic water bath method, when it comes to recipes that contain low acid foods, meat, fish and poultry, pressure canning is a must. Unfortunately many of us (myself included) have either heard or experienced horror stories firsthand that involve pressure cooking, leaving us unnecessarily fearful of using a pressure cooker to preserve food.

A few days ago through my Facebook page I came across a link from the Canning Granny group that was the simplest and most basic recipe for home canned chicken and vegetable soup I’d ever seen. As we had not yet canned any soup this year I wanted to seize the opportunity to give it a shot and show My Earth Garden readers just how simple it really is to can chicken soup at home.

The Recipe

The recipe can be found here. As you will note it is a very basic and no nonsense framework-type recipe typical of what my own granny would have done. It suggests amounts, leaves off seasonings entirely and allows plenty of wiggle room for adjusting the types of vegetables you want. Just a few base ingredients are a platform for creating a chicken and vegetable soup that is perfectly-tailored to your taste.

In the photo above you can see the ingredients for our soup ready to be canned. Clockwise from top right: pre-cooked chicken, frozen sweet peas, frozen green beans, frozen whole kernel corn, diced carrots, diced potatoes and chicken broth (center). Not pictured: diced onion. We added peas to the original recipe for personal taste. I also added a bit of salt and black pepper to each jar.

Here you see all of the ingredients layered in pint jars. The next step was to fill the jars with warm chicken broth, wipe the rims clean, then put on lids and rings.

Per the instructions, we processed the pints in a pressure canner at 10 lbs. of pressure for 70 minutes.

After 70 minutes, we turn off the heat and allow the pressure to reduce on its own before removing the canned soup to a cooling rack.

Here you see the finished jars as they cool, a process that will take quite a while considering the high heat and pressure they have been under.

Aside from the satisfaction of knowing every ingredient that goes into your food, canning chicken soup into pint jars like this makes perfect sense from a convenience standpoint as well. A quick meal is as easy as opening a jar and reheating on the stove or in the microwave, making it a great option for taking your lunch to work.

Because we didn’t prepare this recipe when our gardens were in full harvest, we had to purchase some of the veggies frozen. Still, the total ended up being about $10 for 15 pints of homemade soup. The cost will be far less when we raise our own chickens and use fresh vegetables from the garden.

I should mention that each pint contains 1.5 ounces of chicken which is easily more than you would find in most any commercially produced soup. You try finding such a high quality chicken and vegetable soup without additives and preservatives for $.67 a serving.

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for lunch.

Special thanks to Pamela at Canning Granny for the recipe.

If you have never had homemade sauerkraut, you are missing a true delight. Not only is it delicious, it is also incredibly easy to make at home.

To begin, start with whole heads of cabbage, preferably with healthy dark green leaves still intact.

I am starting with three heads of cabbage weighing about four pounds each, for a total weight of just over 12 pounds.

Remove the  outermost leaves and give them a good wash to remove any dirt and debris.

Set these leaves aside as they will be important later in the process.

To make things easier on myself I used the stand mixer with a shredder attachment.  Once the cabbage was cored and cut into palm-sized chunks, the shredder made easy work of creating this beautiful mound.

Be sure to have a clean crock or other suitable container on hand that is large enough to hold all of the cabbage. In this demonstration I am using a 3 gallon crock and 12 pounds of raw shredded cabbage filled it to just over 2/3 full.

As you shred the cabbage, add salt (approximately 1/2 Tablespoon per pound will work) and mix it through.  The salt will help to keep the cabbage crisp through the fermenting process as well as helping it to release the liquid that is absolutely crucial to making delicious sauerkraut at home.

Using a tamper, begin to work the shredded cabbage, pushing and compacting it. This releases the liquid.  I love to use my fists to do this, as it helps me to release some pent up aggression at the same time!  This is often the most time consuming and labor intensive part of the entire process, because you have to keep working the cabbage until there is enough liquid to cover the entire batch.

Depending on the freshness and variety of the cabbage you’re using, you may have to add water during the next steps, but it is important to work the cabbage well to ensure that you have released as much of the natural liquid as possible before you resort to adding water.

As you work, the naturally-occurring liquid will be released. Continue until there is enough liquid to pool up when the cabbage is pressed down.

Remember those beautiful deep green outer leaves that you washed and set aside earlier? Now’s the time to bring them back to the party.

Cover the shredded cabbage completely with several layers of whole leaves, to ensure total coverage.

Using a plate, press the leaves down in the center until the liquid completely covers all of the shredded cabbage.

This is absolutely imperative because the anaerobic nature of the brine is what allows the fermentation process to continue without spoiling the sauerkraut.

Use a clean weight (a boiled rock, a heavy bottle…) to apply firm and constant pressure to the top of the plate.  This will keep the sauerkraut submerged.

I set the batch in an out of the way corner and cover my crock with a clean pillowcase to keep dust and pets from getting into the sauerkraut before I do.

Every day or so, check the surface of the liquid. It is completely normal for a light layer of mold to form and nothing is wrong when it does. Simply skim the surface, wash the plate and replace everything as above.

The kraut will begin to ferment in just a few days. I like to give nature about 2 weeks to get things going, then I’ll start scooping some out and keeping it in the fridge. If you pack the sauerkraut tightly it will keep refrigerated for several months.

If you need to can it for long term storage, here’s how:

1. Bring the finished kraut to a slow simmer on the stove. Don’t boil it!
2. Pack kraut into clean, hot jars leaving adequate headspace of about 1/2”.
3. Lid and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes (pints) or 20 minutes (quarts).

I can’t wait to taste this batch of homemade sauerkraut, and I hope I’ve encouraged you to give it a try for yourself.

It is quite simple to save basil seed once you know what you’re looking for.  The seeds are tiny and easily missed but when you have seen basil seed collected you will be ready to do it yourself in no time. This year we have really enjoyed our lemon basil plant. It has added some great flavor variety to several dishes throughout the season so we want to be sure that we will be able to grow it again next year.

When the plant begins to flower (commonly referred to as “going to seed”) it will produce long stems of small buds.  If your intention is to harvest seed, you’ll need to allow those blooms to stay on the plant instead of pinching them off.  They will need to dry out and turn brown on the plant to allow the seeds to fully mature and be ready to start new seedlings.

There are several ways to collect and save basil seed but this is the way that works best for me. It isn’t the only right way, it is just my way.

Begin by lightly but firmly grasping the bloom stem just below the lowest flower as shown in this photo. 

As you slide your fingers upward the dried blooms will come loose and you will end up with a handful of the wonderfully fragrant pods as you see below.

Now we need a way to separate the seed pods from the tiny basil seed. The easiest way I have found to accomplish this task is to first place the pods into a small bag and squeeze them, breaking the dried matter away from the seeds they contain.

I may use a zipper bag or whatever I happen to have on hand at the time.

Next I pour the crushed contents into a strainer with small holes that are just large enough for the basil seed to pass through. 

The larger dried matter will not pass through and though some fine particles will be mixed among the seed, they are easily distinguished from the tiny black basil seed.

What we are left with is a respectable amount of lemon basil seed to be packaged and stored in a cool, dry place until it is time to start basil seedlings next year. Since there’s no way you’re going to grow that much basil, why not consider sharing a dozen or more seeds with friends?

I am always on the lookout for ways to make some of my favorite indulgent treats at home for less.  One of those treats happens to be expensive frozen coffee drinks from a particular coffee shop lovingly referred to by some as FourBucks, because that’s the average price for a coffee when you visit. I love my frozen coffee but the cost is just too much for me to justify on a regular basis. That’s why I devoted time to figuring out just how to make my own perfect frozen coffee drink at home.

Step 1:  The Coffee Base

The most important thing I have learned in trying to replicate the taste that I so enjoy is that you can’t use regular leftover coffee as I have seen some sites recommend.  The taste will be just as bitter as the reheated cup from yesterday that you struggle through when you realize that you woke up late, you are out of coffee and you only have 10 minutes to get to work. In fact, you don’t want to use standard brewed coffee at all for that very reason.

I start with a pound of ground coffee. It doesn’t have to be expensive coffee, in fact I used coffee that we had put aside because we didn’t like it.  I was experimenting after all, and good coffee isn’t cheap.

Put the ground coffee into a large container and add 1 gallon of cool water (filtered is best).  Stir to thoroughly wet all of the coffee and cover the container.  You can either leave this on the counter or refrigerate for 12 hours (or more if you like).  After the time has passed, strain the coffee through a fine mesh strainer or several thicknesses of cheesecloth and refrigerate.

NOTES: I used a fine mesh strainer because I tend to like the finer coffee sediment in my drink – it makes it stronger and daddy loves him some strong coffee. This coffee base should keep in the fridge for about 3-4 weeks if kept well sealed. Adjust the amount of base you make to match how much you’ll use in a month.

Step 2:  The Drink

Here’s where individual taste will come into play, but the general premise will remain the same.

• Fill a glass with ice
• Add coffee base to the halfway point
• Add your sweetener of choice
• Add flavored syrup if desired.
• Add milk or half & half to fill
• For iced coffee, just stir and enjoy
• For frozen coffee, pour into a blender, whirrrr and enjoy.

That’s the general idea.  For my perfect frozen caramel coffee drink, this was my recipe:

• Start with a 16 oz glass and fill it with ice.
• Add coffee base to fill halfway.
• Add 2 teaspoons of sugar
• Add 1 Tablespoon of caramel syrup
• Add milk to fill.
• Blend until smooth.

Adjust the amounts to suit your taste and replace the sugar with whatever strikes your fancy. The possibilities are endless.  Want a mocha?  Add chocolate syrup.  Hell, you could even make a chocolate cherry drink with the juice from a jar of maraschinos, unless you were industrious enough to make your own homemade cherry limeade jelly like we did last week and have cherry syrup on hand.

The most important part of the process is to have a good coffee base to work with. From that point you can do whatever you like.  Don’t be afraid to experiment and try something new, after all, it won’t cost you four bucks a glass at home!

One idea that I have been wanting to try for several years now is the potato condo.  First encountered via my friends Shannon & Jason over at The Shibaguyz blog, I have seen them showing up online from coast to coast ever since.  This year I decided that the time has come for me to give it a shot.

Most potato condo plans I have seen are a relatively small footprint of about 2′ x 2’ and while that it fine and ideal for small space gardening, I wanted to go big and see just what this thing could do.  With that in mind, John & I set about building a potato condo that is 4’ x 4’ square.  When debating the best location for the structure we agreed that placing it in the center of the area that we recently began building up for erosion control was the best plan of action.

Let me answer the most common questions I hear about this really cool gardening method:

What is a potato condo?

In short, a potato condo is a method of growing potatoes above ground, in a container that grows as the tubers do.  Most structures are comprised of four posts and a succession of 2” x 4” slats that act as a raised bed would.

Why build a potato condo?

The most obvious reason for building a potato condo is that you can grow potatoes in a small area and because you are growing up instead of out, the footprint needed is much less.  In addition, you can grow potatoes in a potato condo without the need to till the soil below.  In fact, there doesn’t even have to be soil below – some people use this growing method on concrete!

How do I build a potato condo?

We thought we would just show a quick time lapse video of the process.  You can see the video at the end of this post.  Note that because we placed the potato condo on a slope, some tilling was necessary to level the ground beneath so that the structure was reasonably square.

The short version is that you affix a row of slats (in our case we are using old cedar fencing because it was available and cost us nothing) to 4 posts as if to create a box.  With that first row in place, add several inches of soil, compost, humus and/or manure to the box and level it out.

When it comes to placing the seed potatoes, I placed 14 seed potatoes evenly across a 4’ x 4’ space which might seem like a lot but remember, we are growing vertically and will be adding new growing space as the plants need it.

As the seed potatoes begin to grow, keep them well watered.  When the plants are about a foot long, it is time to add more soil / amendments.  I will be using a combination of chopped leaves, good quality soil, compost and manure, in essence creating a makeshift lasagna garden in the process.  As you add soil to the foot long plants, only cover about 4 inches at a time. As needed, add a row of slats to raise the condo.

At the end of the growing season, frost will kill the plants.  Then you wait a couple of weeks for the skins to toughen a bit and remove the slats from one side of the potato condo to harvest them.

It didn’t take long for several of you to know exactly what I was up to in yesterday’s Super Secret Recycling Project so I wanted to share a bit more in today’s post.

After cutting up the first shirt as I showed yesterday and winding it into a ball, all that was left was teaching myself to crochet well enough to create an old school crocheted rag rug.  In order to make this possible I needed a very large crochet hook so that meant buying a plastic one last night.  While that goes against limiting our plastic use, I take solace in the knowledge that this was a purchase that will stay close, be used often and be used for a long time to come.

I really didn’t think I was going to be able to pick up the basic crochet stitch fast so I thought getting started on this rag rug was going to take some time.  As luck would have it, I was wrong.

This morning over a cup of coffee, I loaded YouTube and we watched a couple of short video tutorials. In no time at all, I was off and running and what you see in the photo above is what I was able to accomplish – starting from zero knowledge – in two hours.  While I didn’t put anything in the photo for perspective, I measured the piece as pictured and it is 5” wide by 12” across so far.

Once I finished the starting chain and began connecting back to it, the rug started to take shape. Once I had made my first full loop I was getting excited by the creation taking shape in my hands. I quashed the knee-jerk reaction that told me to incorporate another color because this rug started out as a way to make use of six old work shirts and I want to see that original idea through.

I could have trimmed the rag yarn so that the big ends weren’t sticking through but I really left them there intentionally hoping that they would add to the homemade character of this project.  I’m truly happy with the progress so far and look forward to doing more.

We have already lined up another rug project idea to work on next!