Another bouquet of seed reads

One of my favorite things to do is read books with the children in my life. Here is another round-up of gardening-themed books to inspire you and your listeners. Click here or here to read two other posts on this blog about more garden book favorites.



Zora's Zucchini 

By Katherine Pryor, illustrated by Anna Raff

Elementary ages. Three days into summer vacation Zora is bored, well, out of her gourd. While riding her bike she spots free zucchini starts at the hardware store. (Adults will be amused by the original sale sign crossed out to plead FREE!) Zora comes home with 12 zucchini starts and plants them all. This oversupply sets up the rest of the plot as Zora must figure out how to not let the food go to waste. The book's end notes posit that "about one-third of the world's food is wasted, which means that all the water, work and time it took to grow that food is also wasted." The story is a great springboard for discussion on what to do with extra food.



The Tiny Seed
By Eric Carle

Preschool and up. Carle's signature collages depict a journey through seasons as an autumn wind propels seeds across oceans, mountain tops and deserts. Children will enjoy identifying the tiny seed on each page. Naturally, the tiny seed outshines its travel companions and grows into something amazing.

The Watermelon Seed
By Greg Pizzoli

Preschool and up. This light-hearted story isn't really about gardening but invites a discussion about what a seed needs to sprout. Children who know that seeds need soil and sunlight will laugh at Crocodile's plight when he fears a swallowed watermelon seed will grow inside of him. (His dread of becoming a fruit salad is delightfully illustrated.) Use this tale to reassure children just learning about seeds that no, they won't become human seed pots.


My Garden

By Kevin Henkes

Preschool and up. A girl thinks her mother's garden is nice but too much work. If she had her way flowers would always bloom and change colors and patterns to her liking. She wouldn't have to shoo bunnies from the lettuce because the bunnies would be chocolate and she would eat them. This book is a great launching pad for a creative writing or art project of what listeners would want to grow in their own gardens.


If You Plant a Seed

By Kadir Nelson

Preschool and up. Beautiful illustrations, with few words on each vast spread, relate the story of a rabbit and mouse who balk at sharing the fruits of their labors. The book covers gardening basics with the parallel to planting seeds of selfishness vs. seeds of kindness. Get this one just for the actual-size, intense stare-down of visiting birds.


A Gardener's Alphabet
By Mary Azarian

Preschool and up. Bold wood cut illustrations and sparse one-word or phrase entries take the viewer from A to Z. The meat, for grown-ups, is in the artist's introduction. She considers gardening the most difficult of the arts, with its demands of design and color skills, knowledge of plants and climate; and all at the mercy of fickle weather. Sometimes it's better to give up and go on a trip! Yet, "The garden provides such an intriguing challenge and is such a source of wonder and joy that to not garden is unthinkable."


The Curious Garden

By Peter Brown

and

Tokyo Digs a Garden
By Jon-Erik Lappano, illustrated by Kellen Hatanaka

Elementary ages. These two books follow the same theme of living in industrial scenes practically devoid of nature. In both a boy is an agent of change but with different reactions in their towns. Read together, these books frame a thoughtful comparison how our attitudes toward nature ultimately influence its survival. We may get what we deserve.

In The Curious Garden, a boy explores abandoned elevated train tracks and is surprised to see a few lonely, bedraggled flowers -- the only plants in the area. They need a gardener. The boy makes mistakes at first, but he nurses the patch to health. The restless garden yearns to explore and spreads through the city. The townspeople likewise come to life with renewed interest and appreciation for cultivating nature.

Second, Tokyo lives with his grandpa in a small house surrounded by tall buildings. Grandpa tells stories of how things used to be: deer in meadows, salmon leaping from streams. It's all gone. The city had to eat something after all, the grandfather shrugs. Tokyo receives three seeds from a strange woman; she promises him they will grow into whatever he wishes. It takes some searching to find a piece of ground, but sure enough -- when Tokyo plants them the seeds sprout and change the landscape overnight. The return of wildlife inconveniences people so much that they question, What are we going to do? Says Tokyo, "I think that we will just have to get used to it."

What are some of your favorite books?

New Book Out

I'm a sucker for garden books!  I would love for my entire bookshelf to be full of gardening and backyard farming books.  I haven't had a chance to check out this new one, but here is the info on it. If you have it, or have looked through it, let us know what you think of it.

You Bet Your Garden® Guide to Growing Great Tomatoes - the funny book that teaches readers how to grow heirloom beefsteaks, plums, cherries and other backyard beauties

Mike McGrath, Radio Host of You Bet Your Garden®, shares his wit and gardening expertise in newly revised and expanded edition

(LANCASTER, PA) For anyone who’s ever tried to grow tomatoes in their backyard, and faced the challenges of drought, hungry nighttime animals, insects and disease, comes a new edition of You Bet Your Garden® Guide to Growing Great Tomatoes (Fox Chapel Publishing, April 1, 2012) from author, and nationally-syndicated radio host of You Bet Your Garden®, Mike McGrath. You Bet Your Garden® Guide to Growing Great Tomatoes provides a comical approach to growing beautiful and delicious tomatoes. McGrath explains, with characteristic wit, how to choose, plant, grow and harvest a variety of tomatoes.

The book includes funny illustrations, color photographs, as well as interesting tomato lore and tips. McGrath includes answers and advice based on his radio show listeners’ questions, which highlights:

• Information on container and patio gardening
• An entire section on soil use and manure
• Heirloom tomatoes and more

Readers will learn how to start tomato plants from seed, how much to water your plants, how to stake and cage plants, how to feed tomatoes, how to prevent disease, and when to pick them at their peak. With every page, readers will find McGrath’s writing light, funny, yet rooted in years of experience and practice. Perfect for anyone who’s ever thought about growing their own tomatoes, or wished their crop looked and tasted better.

About the Author:
Mike McGrath is host of the weekly nationally syndicated radio show “You Bet Your Garden” and is a widely published columnist. He has a base of fans who appreciate both his humor and knowledge as an author of books on tomatoes, compost and kitchen gardening. McGrath was editor-in-chief of Organic Gardening magazine from 1991 through 1997, which at the time was the largest circulation gardening magazine in the world. McGrath’s “You Bet Your Garden” airs weekly on National Public Radio. He has made frequent guest appearances on NBC’s Weekend Today and NPR’s “All Things Considered.” He has also been a gardening commentator on The Today Show. Mike is the garden editor for WTOP News Radio in Washington, DC., a post he has held for more than a decade.
He has served as contributing editor and columnist for Greenprints magazine.

~marisa

Book Review and Giveaway!

The publishers of the book 'Your Farm in the City'  contacted us to do a review on their new book. Since I'm IN LOVE with gardening books, I gladly accepted, as long as they would send us an extra copy so I could spread the love to you guys as well.  I just love doing giveaways!

(taken from their website)
Lisa Taylor and the Gardeners of Seattle Tilth, bring locavores "Your Farm in the City : An Urban Dweller’s Guide to Growing Food and Raising Animals," the all-in-one compendium of everything you need to know to start growing your own food and raising city-friendly livestock.
Written for city and suburban dwellers who may have little experience and/or space, the book covers all topics relevant to urban agriculture throughout the United States and beyond. Learn:

• The best, easiest-to-grow, high-yield fruits and vegetables
  
• Breeds of chickens, goats, and rabbits that thrive in small spaces
  
• The thrill of creating compost from food scraps and dozens of hungry Red Wigglers 
  
• Organic gardening techniques (including outwitting urban pests without poisons)
  
• Preparing and preserving fresh food from your garden
  
• Innovative organization profiles from across America that have changed the face of urban farming 
  
  
  
  
  
  I really enjoyed the layout of the book. I am a visual learner, so I enjoy lots of images, graphs, and different texts and fonts - which this book has. This is more of a beginners guide than a book that a veteran gardener would need, though it would make a great reference guide for someone with more experience.  If you have been dabbling in starting an 'urban backyard farm', this could be the book for you. You can purchase it here for under $13.
  
  

Now, for the giveaway: 
Just leave a comment for a chance to win! Please just one entry per person.

Good luck!
Giveaway will end Monday April 11, 2011 at midnight (my time). 

Building Chicken Coops for Dummies

Look what's coming out soon! Building Chicken Coops for Dummies. Where was this book when we were trying to build ours? It hasn't been released yet, so I can't give it my stamp of approval, but I thought that I would get the word out to those of you looking to build.

 

If any of you do read it before I get a chance to, shoot me an email and let me know what you think about it. 

~marisa

Strange Herbal Cures

by Michael 

Marisa has started going through a course to become a family herbalist. It has already helped our family’s health dramatically and I am a huge proponent of finding natural herbal cures to help with the many maladies that befall us in our time. The main approach that we are taking is one of prevention. According to what Marisa has learned, many of the health issues that we have are due to putting bad things into our body. We are trying to eat unprocessed natural foods more. We are making green smoothies for our children’s breakfast instead of fruit loops. We are using homemade soap made with natural ingredients.

Regardless of our belief in herbal health care, I still had to laugh out loud as I read through one of Marisa’s books, Herbal Home Health Care by Dr John R Christopher. With some of the cures I felt that maybe the cure was worse than the primary problem. Let me give you a couple examples.

Hiccups: According to the book, hiccups are often caused by eating or drinking too much too fast. The cure it gives is to try and relax and take a teaspoon of onion juice. Not thanks Dr Christopher. I think I will try to hold my breath instead, or maybe just live with the hiccups. The thought of drinking onion juice makes me throw up in my mouth. After that cure, I would have to find an herbal cure for upset stomach and vomiting.

Earache: The cure for earache is pretty simple. All you have to do is “lightly bake a large onion, cut it in half while warm and bind one piece of onion over each year. Hold bandage on with a nightcap and leave on all night.” Thanks Dr Christopher but I don’t know if I will be able to sleep with onions on my ears. Not to mention that no one has nightcaps anymore. Can you imagine what someone would think if I answered the door with a nightcap and onion earmuffs on? 

I am sure there are other funny cures out there. Let us know if you have heard of or used any.

Homegrown Giveaway

by Mike

We appreciate all of the responses for last weeks giveaway of the book Homegrown by Marta Teegen. Using the random number generator on my IPOD I came up with the winner. Drum roll please.....and that winner is Penny of Black Sheep Cottage fame. Penny, please email us your address at backyardfarmingblog@gmail.com and we will ship you the book. You will love it. Thanks go out to Marta Teegen the author for providing this book for our giveaway.

As a side note, it is currently snowing here in Utah and many of the fruit trees have lost their blooms which is not good. Hopefully the damage does not end up being as bad as it currently looks.

In other news, I watched the LOST finale last night and I still don't get what that show was about but I feel like I was entertained.

We at backyard farming appreciate everyone who participates on our blog, whether it is reading, commenting, or just passing through. If none of you came to participate, we would not be doing it so thanks to all of you and we wish we could give you all a book.

Book Review and Giveaway

Don't judge a book by its cover...unless it is the book Homegrown by Marta Teegen because not only is the cover beautiful, but the content is beautifully written.

Teegan goes over many of the aspects of gardening in raised beds, containers, and in small spaces. I really like her approach to planting the garden, not in neat and tidy rows, but simulating nature. I wrote plenty of notes in the margins so I can refer back to the book when I'm ready to start my garden in our next house.

One thing I thought was really interesting was the combination she uses to make up the soil. She uses composted horse manure, wood shavings, and straw with a touch of bone meal and green sand. I still have to research what green sand is!  I like this idea because it seems like it would be a heck of a lot cheaper than Mel's Mix used in square foot gardening.

There is a gallery of plants and produce where she goes over many of the different plants you may be interested in planting. For each plant she lists the best climate and site to plant, growing season, how much to plant, how to grow it, good companion plants, problems you may have, how to harvest it, and even how to eat it. 

To top it all off, Teegen is a chef and has included many recipes to use all the good grub you grow in your garden. We tried out the Shaved Fennel Salad with arugula, avocado, and almonds. It was delish!!! The combination of textures and flavors was just perfect.

This book covers a lot of the basics, so it would be great for a beginner as well as the seasoned gardener. Some days I feel like I'm a beginner even though I've been gardening for about 8 years and I still learned many new things. I'm so glad to have this book in my library, and we want one of you lucky readers to be able to add it to your library as well.

To win a copy of this book, simply leave a comment. Be sure to check back to see if you won.

Giveaway will close Friday May 21st at midnight. 

Thanks for subscribing!

Eat food, Not Too Much, Mostly Vegetables....for a week.

Well, I just finished "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" by Michael Pollan and it was excellent. I whole heartedly recommend it to everyone. It's a short read but jammed full of information that is likely to change to way you see a lot of things. Part of the book talks about "how to eat" - this is not a diet or a list of forbidden foods. Instead it recommends the three things listed in the title of this post:

Eat Food - this means no food products: i.e. imitation foods or foods that your ancestors wouldn't recognize as food. That also means if the ingrediant list is long and full of things you can't pronounce - it's probably not food but a food product. It's a lot more detailed than that but you get the idea...

Not too much - this means we enjoy our food and don't gorge ourselves on it. We eat more like the French who eat smaller portions of higher quality food.

Mostly vegetables - this means that we eat way too much meat in the country because it has become so cheap. Our ancestors ate a lot less just because it wasn't as available - as do people in other countries. We needs to eat more vegetables with meat being the side dish.

I have oversimplified the book's message by a million - there are health reasons to eat this way but just as importantly environmental, political, and social reasons. In my opinion this book needs to be read hand in hand with The Omnivore's Dilemma which I am still reading - it's a lot longer. Anyhow, my point being that I want to try it out starting this coming Sunday.

I wanted a little time to prepare so I could have it in my mind what I could make. You'd be surprised by how much isn't true food anymore - at least partly. Like today I wanted a tuna sandwich but when I looked at the can saw that it was partly vegetable broth - meaning soy flakes! I ate my tuna still but next week I won't be able to unless I buy the raw tuna and cook it myself. Anyhow...I'll let you know how it goes...I'm curious what my week will be like and I'm betting the food will taste a lot better - as long as I do my job right!

Book Review: Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots

This is a must read for anyone who loves to garden and wants to get their kids or grandkids interested in gardening, or maybe you just want to rediscover the magic of gardening for yourself. The book includes lots of ideas for theme gardens such as pizza gardens, night time gardens, giant gardens and container gardens. It just makes me want to move to acres of land and have all the different magical gardens described in the book. With only about 150 pages, lots of pictures, and larger print, it is a very fast read. It is a perfect book for snuggle up with those kids and browse through together. I will be purchasing this book, it is so chalk full of good ideas that my kids would love, ideas that I really love too.


Some fun ideas to try from the book:

• Use your fingernail to slit the spur of a nasturtium bloom. Look inside for its hidden cargo of syrup. Sip some. Do you see why hummingbirds love it?
• Nibble lovage's leafy tops. They are a great substitute for celery in soups or salads. Snit a tall stem at the node and look inside. You will see why they make a perfect straw.
  
• Save all the extra flowers from your borage, nasturtium, Johnny-jump-up, and radish plants. Rinse then spread them on paper towels to dry. Place them in a pretty bottle to use as a rainbow-colored salad topping.
• A snowy tree cricket can help you measure the temperature. Using a wristwatch with a second hand, count the number of times the cricket chirps in 15 seconds and add 40. The total equals the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. Compare your cricket calculations to the reading on the real thermometer.
• You and your child can make necklaces or bracelets from jewel-toned Indian corn kernels. Pick hardened seeds out of dried corncobs. Soak the seeds in warm water for at least twelve hours. Use a thick, heavy duty needle to pierce each softened kernel and string it onto heavy thread or dental floss. Tie a knot to form a circle.
  

~marisa

Book Review: Country Wisdom and Know-How: Everything You Need to Know to Live Off the Land

I have always had a dream of living on a farm somewhere out in the country. A farm like Old McDonald's with cows and ducks and chickens a plenty and rolling hills for my family to roam. If I ever had a night were it was hard to fall asleep I'd ask my husband Mike to tell me about our future farm and how great it was going to be. It was a beautiful dream but I didn't see how it was ever going to happen until I found this book.

I was on a date with my husband, wandering around a big bookstore, when I happened upon it. I opened it up and was immediately hooked. I made him agree to buy it and I took it home and poured over it's pages. The next day I called my friend Marisa and told her she needed to buy it too - which she did not too long afterward.

This book is a compliation of a series of publicatoins from the 1970's when the movement to get back to the land was having it's first revival after the mechinized 1950's. These little books included step by step instructions on literally EVERYTHING you need to know to live off the land including baking basic bread, braiding rugs, breeding livestock or growing the best tomatoes. It includes 1,887 illustrations, diagrams, and photographs which are easy to understand and totally applicable - the editors updated all of the information for this publication. Each article is easy to read and geared towards people with little or no experience. I have been able to turn to it when I had questions about pests in my garden, chickens, or even for herbal remedies and recipes! The book is divided into 6 sections: Animals, Cooking, Crafts, Gardening, Health and Wellbeing, and Home. This book rarely gets to sit on the bookshelf because even when I don't have questions I just love to read about things and dream that someday I'll get to do them. I've enjoyed articles on how to choose your land when you're in the market to purchase, how to make and use a flower press, or how to build a root cellar. The list goes on and on. So, in the end, if there is a book that every backyard farmer should have - this may be it!

~Megan

The Dirt Doctor

I recently checked out Herbs for Texas by Howard Garrett. It's a fabulous book. It's full of wonderful herb info, but I was pleasantly surprised by Garret's very simple break down of "going green" into a Basic Organic Program for homeowners.

Howard Garrett aka The Dirt Doctor gives a very informative and persuasive argument for eliminating toxic poisons in our landscapes and gardens. He provides ample resources including a radio talk show, an organic forum, numerous books , as well as a weekly column in the Dallas Morning News.

"Organic" is such a buzz word these days, it makes you wonder how many people are trying to be "green" and don't even know what it means. Garret very simply states, "The Basic Organic Program is about making good decisions." When making decisions about your garden ask these questions:

1. Will this product help or hurt the earthworms?



2. Will it stimulate life and health?

When we use synthetic fertilizers and toxic chemicals we deplete the soil of helpful organisms and hummus. The soil in turn becomes less productive, and more prone to insects and disease. In contrast, every time organic fertilizers are applied the soil grows better and better, healthier and healthier - forever. Healthy soil produces healthy plants, and healthy plants resist disease and don't attract insect pests.

Up until I read this book I added miracle grow to just about anything. But I am a changed woman! Unable to see the error in his ways, my husband happens to be the "ortho-max diazinon" king. (Not really but he loves his synthetic fertilizers and pesticides because of the instant results.) Eeek! but I think this book will make a convert out of him.

I can't re-write his book (even though it would be my pleasure) but here are some fantastic highlights:

• Before WWII manure was the primary fertilizer and sulfur, tobacco, and good bugs were the primary pest controls.



• With more money spent today on pesticides than ever before, about one-third of all food crops are still lost to pest insects. That's the same percentage as before the pesticides became available.



• For his recipes of organic concoctions and compost follow these links.

Read Garrett's work, and you will be so fully educated on the organic way it will feel like common sense.

Guerrilla Gardening

I've recently picked up You Grow Girl from the library. It's a very handy, low-fuss guide to gardening, written and photographed by Gayla Trail. Trail seems to have equal parts passion and know-how. This book is perfect for the city gardener. She'll walk you through the basics and answer most novice gardening questions. She also gets into some trouble-shooting, and dives deeper into organic gardening for the more motivated gardeners. This book WILL grace my bookshelves.

I particularly enjoyed her "guerrilla" growing chapters. "Who says you need a garden to be a gardener? Cities and suburbs are packed with fallow land, empty lots, sidewalk cracks, and wasted space ready for planting guerrilla-style." She is an advocate for a "green revolution" and says all you need are seeds, shovel, compost, and some water.

This philosophy instantly conjured up memories from my trip to St. Lucia. The open land in St. Lucia is public land, so any citizen can pick a sunny hill on the side of the road and plant their garden. My husband and I were hiking through the rain forest there and came upon local St. Lucian's gardening, and gathering indigenous "public" bananas. It was a cultural eye-opener and I loved it. What I loved even more was when this barefoot man, carrying a bucket and bananas on his head, walking through the rain forest received a call (and answered)

HIS CELL PHONE! You have got to love the millennium???

For American community garden links look here: http://www.communitygarden.org/

For an elementary school garden link look here: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/kinder/sgardens.html

Do your part and litter some seeds about.

~Sarah

Book Review: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

If there is a required reading list for backyard farmers, or garderners, or just eaters - this book is sitting right at the top. Barbara Kingsolver, award winning author of books such as "The Poisonwood Bible", decided with her family to spend one year living off of food they could raise or grow themselves, or food that was raised or grown by someone within 100 miles. And preferably by someone they knew by name. As she puts it:

"As the U.S. population made an unprecedented mad dash for the Sun Belt, one carload of us paddled against the tide, heading for the Promised Land where water falls from the sky and green stuff grows all around. We were about to begin the adventure of realigning our lives with our food chain...

"This is the story of a year in which we made every attempt to feed ourselves animals and vegetables whose provenance we really knew . . . and of how our family was changed by our first year of deliberately eating food produced from the same place where we worked, went to school, loved our neighbors, drank the water, and breathed the air."

The book starts by explaining why they wanted to do it and the things they did in preparation for it - including all of the anxiety and fear they had about starving or eating old potatoes for a year. They officially start with their new lifestyle in Spring and end it exactly one year later. The question running through their family's minds - as well as mine - was, "Sure you can eat well in the Spring, Summer, and Fall but what about Winter?" I won't ruin the suspense but I can say that through visiting farmers markets every Saturday, working in their 3600 sq. foot garden, raising chickens and turkeys, and canning galore they are able to reap a bountiful harvest of not only food but wisdom and understanding.

In the first few pages of the book appears this image titled the Vegetannual and honestly, it totally puzzled me. I had no idea what is was or what it meant but now I see it as a really cool guide to eating locally and in season. She explains throughout the book the idea that vegetable and fruits are plants and that as plants they all follow a basic progression. Knowing when a fruit/veggie is in season simply requires knowing what part of the plant it is. Is it a root, a seed, a flower, a fruit or a leaf? Because all plants follow basic timelines throughout the year knowing what part of the plant it is makes it easier to figure out when that food is available. I won't go into it too much but that is what inspired this chart - imagining that all plant foods came from one mother plant - and when they would be available - notice the dates to the left. I love it!

Most of my enjoyment in this book came from descriptions of gathering eggs, digging in the dirt, cooking, canning and enjoying the seasons. I love this topic and I think they whole idea of getting back to the land and to the old ways is having a comeback - thus we have this blog - and I love her thoughts on this:

"Many of us who aren't farmers or gardeners still have some element of farm nostalgia in our family past, real or imagined: a secret longing for some connection to a life where a rooster crows in the yard." 179

Her husband as well as her oldest daughter also write short essays that are scattered throughout the book on their experiences. Overall, after reading this book a couple months ago I am a changed woman. Some parts really resonated with me and are now drifting through my mind and affecting my everyday decisions, especially the quote from Wendell Berry in the first chapter:

EATERS MUST UNDERSTAND, HOW WE EAT DETERMINES HOW THE WORLD IS USED.

I didn't know it but as she further explains in that chapter:

"each food item in a typical U.S. meal has traveled an average of 1500 miles...if every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week(any meal) composed of locally & organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil EVERY WEEK. That's not gallons, but barrels. Small changes in buying habits can make big differences. Becoming a less energy dependent nation may just need to start with a good breakfast." 5

Though this issue is a little political the book is not bogged down by or led by this trend - the beauty of this book is that it is a very intimate look into how this change affected her thoughts, her family, and ultimately her life. And in the end - how it affects my life. What an inspiring, informative, and and often humorous look at how living more simply or traditionally can rid our lives of so many of the problems we face. I highly recommend it for all of us who eat!

~Megan

*All of the images in this post come from www.animalvegetablemiracle.org

K.I.S.S.

I have this little motto K(eep)I(t) S(imple) S(ister). It helps me to prioritize what is important. Imagine how delighted I was to come across this book the other day. I've been practicing the 3R's since I was waist high to a grasshopper, and we were good stewards, fixers, savers, and re-users long before it was chic and trendy, but in my quest to "get back to the basics" I'm really intrigued by the amazing versatility of vinegar. In this book there is a whole chapter dedicated to "nature's most practical liquid".

Did you know vinegar can:

• Erase Ball Point Pen Marks- pen ink (or crayon) on the wall? dab on full-strength white vinegar using a sponge, repeat until the marks are gone


• Unglue Stickers- to remove a sticker or decal saturate with full strength white vinegar (i've used rubbing alcohol for this too)


• Remove Water Rings on Furniture- to remove white rings off wood furniture, mix equal parts vinegar and olive oil and apply it with a soft cloth while moving with the wood grain. use another socft cloth to shine it.


• Clean Your Microwave- fill a glass bowl with 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water, zap for 5min and then dip a rag and clean off the splatters


• Stop Reds from Running- soak new brightly colored garments in a few cups of undiluted white vinegar for 10-15min before first washing


• Remove Pit Stains- pour undiluted vinegar on the stains and rub gently before laundering


• Ease a Sunburn- to cool a bad burn dab with a cotton ball soaked with white or cider vinegar


• In the Garden- vinegar can treat rust, black spot and powdery mildew~mix 1tbsp cider vingar in 4 cups water into a recycled spray bottle and mist in the early morning or evening until the condition is cured

There are countless other uses, but in general it seems to really be good at removing odors. Everything from garlic breath, to cigarette smoke, to pet accidents. If you are interested in a D-I-Y spot and stain remover follow this recipe:

Fill a spray bottle with 5parts water to 1part white vinegar

Fill another spray bottle with 5parts water and 1part ammonia

Saturate the stain with the vinegar solution, let it set for a few minutes, then blot and dry

Next spray on the ammonia solution, and blot. Repeat until the stain is gone!

If you use any of these and they work let us know. Good Luck, and thank you, Reader's Digest for Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things.

~Sarah

Book Review: A Slice of Organic Life

Well, it is still winter and still too early to be doing many things out in the garden so I bring to you another book review that can help in that planning phase.

Now, while this book may feature chickens on the cover don't assume this book is about chickens only. In fact, that is just one small section in an excellent book for anyone interested in adding some simple tasks to help improve the environment and simplify their own lives.

The book is divided into three chapters or sections. The first is entitled "No Need for a Yard" and has articles ranging from "Grow Salad Leaves in a Bay Window" to "Bake Bread" to "Make and Freeze Baby Food". The second section is for those with a a little more space - "Roof Terrace, Patio, or Tiny Yard." It's articles contain notes on raising veggies or fruit trees in pots/containers to square foot gardening and more. The third and final section, "Yard, Community Garden, or Field" gives some instruction on keeping chickens, ducks, geese or pigs; making "Freshly Churned Butter"; or making a "Wildlife Pond". This is just a very brief overview of the topics it covers - it really is quite a resource with many different ideas and projects to explore!

One of my favorite quotes from the book comes from the chief editor, Sheherazade Goldsmith:

"Working with nature rather than against it only helps to simplify and enrich our lives."

I found this book in a local book store but it is available from Amazon for quite a reasonable price and I'm sure will help inspire you this season as well as become a great addition to your coffee table book stack! The book provides plenty of practical instruction as well as beautiful photos - which is a big deal to someone like me! So, whether you live in the city, a suburb, or out in the country this book and it's organized articles is sure to give you plenty of inspiration in your quest for a backyard farm. Or patio farm - or perhaps even a kitchen window farm!

~Megan

Book Review: Keep Chickens by Barbara Kilarski

Tending Small Flocks in Cities, Suburbs, and Other Small Spaces

If you are on the fence whether or not you want a small flock of chickens, this book will convince you to have them. Like me, the author grew up a city girl, but had a burning desire to have chickens. She lives on a very small plot of land she calls "postage stamp sized" in Oregon. The authors obvious love for her chickens shines through her writing. This well written book is entertaining while very informative. Keep Chickens has all the information you would need to get started with your city flock of chickens without being overwhelming. Included in the book are reasons for keeping chickens, the basics of chickens, neighborhood laws, definitions, what is required, coops, picking baby chicks, and chicken care. She has a very realistic view on the time, effort and cost involved with raising chickens. If you are looking to have a large flock or run into problems with your chickens, this book does not cover it. Even if you already have your very own suburban flock of chickens, you might learn a thing or two, I know I did. All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get started with their own small flock of chickens, what an entertaining book!!!

~marisa