Homemade deodorant

I absolutely would have never thought about making my own deodorant!  But since I am currently paying a pretty hefty price for my Jason brand Tea Tree oil deodorant, I'd love to find an cheaper homemade alternative that would work just as good.  I found this recipe on Passionate Homemaking tonight and wanted to share it.

Ingredients:

5-6 Tbsp Coconut oil
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder or cornstarch

Combine equal portions of baking soda & arrowroot powder. Then slowly add coconut oil and work it in with a spoon until it maintains the substance you desire. It should be about the same texture as the store bought kind, solid but able to be applied easily. You can either scoop this into your old dispensers or place in a small container with lid and apply with fingers with each use. After applying the product, you can just rub the remains into your hands as a lotion! This recipe lasts about 3 months for two people with regular daily use.

I already have all these ingredients in my pantry.  I can't wait to make up a small test batch and try it out!

Success!

Last week, I made my own dishwasher detergent. This week, I use it for the fist time. Sweet success came in the form of beautifully washed dishes with only a tiny hint of white residue in the dried water spots. I'd say that's pretty good when you consider we had been using Electrosol tabs with Jet Dry Powerballs! So, go ahead and try it yourself, and let me know if it works for you! 

Hint - make only a half batch of the detergent at first... just in case you end up hating it and throwing it out.

Made my own dishwasher detergent today

I have been wanting to do this for so long, but was waiting until we ran out of the Electrosol Tabs that we bought at Costco a year ago.  I finally used the last one (well, maybe regretfully used the last one, we'll see how this experiment goes)!

I found this recipe for homemade dishwasher detergent at the frugally green blog a while back:

• 2 cups of Borax
• 2 cups of Baking Soda
• 4 small packets of sugar freelemonade Kool-Aid (you can also use 4 tablespoons of citric acid - which I did since I had ordered it from LuckyVitamin.com with my last order)
• White Vinegar (for rinse aid - fill your rinse cup to the line)

Mix the first 3 ingredients and store in a container.  Use 2 tablespoons per load; 1 tablespoon in the open cup and 1 in the closed locking cup (or sprinkled on the inside of the dishwasher door if you are having cleaning issues). Pour the White Vinegar into your rinse aid compartment.  If you are left with a white residue after your first try, it is suggested that you need to experiment with the amount of Borax or add a little salt to the mix.  It is also suggested to try LemiShine in place of the kool-aid/citric acid.

It will be a few more days before I get to try out my new mix, but I'll let you know how it goes!

A visit to our farm

No, we did not give up life in suburbia life for the farm life, but we do own 2/3 of a summer fruit and veggie share of a local farm. I only learned of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) last year and, at that point, it was too late to become a member of one.  I was reminded of it this year when we were at a dinner party a couple months ago.  I immediately jumped online and searched for local farms in the area that sold CSA shares.

Many were already sold out, so we are very excited to have invested in the livelihood of Gazy Brothers Farm in Oxford, CT.  We were a little disappointed that the produce is not organic, however, it is grown using an integrated pest management program, which reduces the amount of pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals to ensure healthy plants and flavorful produce (from the Gazy Brothers website).

We aren't totally sure what to expect being a part of a CSA, so we are testing the waters with two other families from our moms group (hence the 2/3 share - we have two shares that we are splitting 3 ways). We will begin picking up our 2 boxes of mixed vegetables, herbs, and greens and our 2 boxes of mixed fruits and berries on July 1. The farm will bring them to a nearby farmer's market, one of us will pick them up, and then we will divide the boxes 3 ways the best we can.  Our summer program runs for 12 + weeks.

This past Sunday, the farm hosted a CSA open house. It was so much fun getting to meet the farmer and his wife and daughter and getting to see the fields and greenhouses.

The kids planted beans to make a bean house for them to play in later in the season.

Eliana enjoyed planting the beans and watering them.

The farmer took us on a hayride tour of the fields.

Here we are waiting for the hayride to begin.

Here are tomato plantings covered with black plastic (to prevent weeds and keep the plants warm). In the back there are leeks, and there are berries on the hill.

Here is broccoli and other greens growing with the greenhouses in the background.

I can't remember what this is.

Here is corn in the foreground with lettuces and strawberries and the greenhouses in the background.

Here Jimbo and Eliana are checking out the tomato plants in the greenhouse. They don't usually show the greenhouses because they are very susceptible to disease.

The farmer's wife gave the tour of the greenhouses.  She said that this year, for the first time, they had crop yields throughout the winter.  This winter she believes they will have enough to have CSA boxes every other week!  How awesome would it be to get fresh local produce through the winter IN NEW ENGLAND!

They also had a farm stand set up with leftover produce from the Spring program CSA shares.  I bought a bunch of dandelion greens, a bunch of Arugula, a bunch of leeks, and a tomato (all for $1 each). They also provided some yummy refreshments.  All in all, a very good day.  We look forward to getting our boxes, and getting to try some new produce and recipes.

Happy Earth Day!

I know I've been quite absent from this blog in the last several months.  On this Earth Day, I'm going to make a commitment.  I am going to do everything within my power to add a new green post at least Thursday of each week until Earth Day 2011.  I have so many things to share, but have just not made it a priority.  So here's to a green year!

What did you do to celebrate Earth Day? We have been working on our herb garden.  Today I will post to Freecycle to see if I can get some terra cotta pots to make this awesome structure to house my back deck herb garden.  My in-loves made this one based off something my mother-in-love saw at a recent flower show.

Simple Organic

I just have to share this great new blog the Simple Media has launched.  It's called Simple Organic and can be found by clicking here.  We have been doing a lot around here to go greener and save money, but I just haven't set aside the time to blog about it.  It's on my to do list, I promise :o)  Stick with me please.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy Simple Organic as much as I have been!