Quackgrass is also known as couchgrass, dog grass, quickgrass, quitch, quitch grass, scutch, twitch, wheat grass, cough grass, quake grass, chandler’s grass, durfa grass, durfee grass, Dutch grass, Fin’s grass, devil’s grass and witchgrass. Also referred to as Agropyron repens and Elytrigia repens. Continue reading »
Life goes on, and preparing should, too. We had a serious shake up last week when my husband was involved in a car crash during rush hour traffic. Thankfully he was only banged up, but my heart just about leaped out of my chest when he called and I couldn’t tell if he was okay or not. Our auto insurance will make a dent in replacement costs for the car, and we had been saving up because we knew his vehicle would need replacing. We just didn’t figure it would be quite so soon. Just so thankful that he is okay.
Meanwhile, on the home front, the boys and I have started putting the cold tolerant crops in the garden. (We had temps in the upper 20s last night. Brrrr….) The bulk natural food club order is coming in this week from UNFI, and I tidied up the canning pantry to see how many canned goods are left from last season. It looks like we should have made more salsa, because we are running low.
As part of our ongoing preparedness discussion, this week we’ve got a review and giveaway featuring the PurifiCup® water filter.
The PurifiCup water filter is a compact, easy to use water filter for personal use.
Each orange tap water filter provides up to 24 gallons (330 cups, approximately 91 liters) of pure water. The green and purple filters, designed for natural water sources, filter approximately 12 gallons. The PurifiCup’s absolute 1 micron filter (recommended by the CDC) will more consistently remove bacteria such as cryptosporidium (Crypto) than a nominal filter. Continue reading »
Jana Strahan of The Essential Homestead sent me a lovely handmade essential oil pendant from her Etsy shop, Strahan Pottery, for a review and giveaway. I’m not a big jewelry person, but I’ve recently started experimenting with essential oils, and these pendants are very handy for aromatherapy.
An essential oil pendant is basically a wearable essential oil diffuser. You simply place a drop or two of your favorite essential oil on the pendant, slip it on and enjoy. When you’re not wearing it, you can store it in a clothing drawer to add a pleasant scent to your garments. Wearing a pendant is a lot handier than tucking a handkerchief in a breast pocket, or attempting to linger near a diffuser all day. Continue reading »
I’m working my way through the Tropical Traditions product line. Next up for review is their Household Traditions Powdered Dish Detergent, ultra-concentrated, chlorine free dishwasher detergent with enzymes. We have hard water and I skip the heated dry to save energy, so spots in the dishwasher are a chronic problem. I was curious to see how the TT powdered detergent compared to other brands I’ve tried.
Household Traditions Powdered Dish Detergent contains: Sodium citrate, sodium carbonate, sodium percarbonate, surfactants, rinse agents, silicate. It is free of: