Medicinal Herb Garden ~ A Real Solution

I often am asked about where to start with herbs or veggies.... and who to purchase what from.  As you know from my numerous posts I am a solution person.  I don't dwell on gear or gadgets but try and provide useful information that you can use TODAY. I wanted to be able to say go buy XYZ ~ from ABC for this excellent price.  However, the more I looked the solutions out there are way overpriced. Yes I said overpriced.  Seed Vaults... Really?  Most of those are alot of airspace!

So after much soul searching I have partnered with an heirloom organic supplier to provide an herb garden at a really affordable price.  These are the seeds I am using in our gardens.  These are the seeds you can count on.  For $29.00 you can plant these 18 Medicinal Herbs.  I am not a doctor, I encourage you to get a good book on herbal medicinal remedies you will find these herbs are an excellent basis for healing.

The real deal ~ Medicinal Herb Garden, (18 seed packets), organic: A set of herb seeds that would embody the foundation for a diverse medicinal garden that would contribute to every aspect of health and well-being, and making this set of seeds available to people at a very low cost, so that more would find it possible to buy them and realize the benefits.. 100% USDA certified organic seeds from our garden to yours.  There are 18 packets in all, packed in earth-friendly recycled paper .

1. Astragalus,
2. Holy Basil (Kapoor Tulsi),
3. Gobo Burdock,
4. Mixed Calendula,
5. German Chamomile,
6. Echinacea purpurea,
7. Elecampane,
8. Evening Primrose,
9. Brown Flax,
10. Lemon Balm,
11. Marshmallow,
12. Official Motherwort,
13. Stinging Nettles,
14. Cayenne Pepper,
15. Garden Sage,
16. Official Valerian,
17. Wood Betony
18. Yarrow

Available to you for $29.00 plus $5.55 shipping total cost $34.55
This is barely over our cost. And, you don’t have to choose.   Check other sites, Check with other preppers ~ this is really the greatest BANG for your buck.  If you're interested, I accept paypal and some web genius will be setting up my site so you can click and order but if you want them now you can email me: prepperswife (at) GMail (dot) com that is also the email for paypal payments.

Start today ~ Step up your game

Start today.
Start small. Go big,
Whatever you do ~ Do SOMETHING to prepare 
Easiest: Store water 3 gal per person per day remember to stockpile water for your pets (even goldfish need fresh water)  Preps for free? Maybe.  Look around your house what do you already have? Make a list of your everyday items and how they can pull double duty in an emergency List what else you could use items for, and where in your house that item is...  If it lives in the junk drawer ~ dump the junk make it a prep drawer a place where you can stash stuff you might need in a hurry in an emergency..

Already prepping?  Step up your game today... what have you been putting off?  Make a list of a few things you can do and get done this weekend.  Use today to plan, and this weekend to act on your list.  Hardcore preppers ~ where are you?  Time to evaluate your prepping goals and move forward.  Do you have all your bases covered? There's always something you can be doing, but don't forget to make time for life.  You can be prepared for your world to go sideways and still have fun.    Knowledge is power ~ reading this post give yourself some credit that counts as prepping research in my book.

March Madness ~ We're checking in on getting checkups so we know where everyone is physically.  This is living and prepping. What have I been putting off?  PLANTING.  So today we're planting all our seedlings and starting our medicinal herb garden.  On a Thursday... this is living AND prepping.... Our kids are involved too, they love playing in the dirt.

What are you doing to be more prepared in case your whole world goes sideways?

Friday Funny

Vinegar in Pet & Car Care

Preppers need to stock items that have multiple uses.  It only makes sense.  I don't know of anything as versitle in our stockpile as vinegar.  Do you use vinegar to its fullest potential? Vinegar kills the flu virus and seasons salads... did you know you can use vinegar in Cleaning, Gardening, Health, Laundry, Kitchen, Pet Care, and Car Care? We have looked at each over the past couple of days, today let's finish our look at vinegar by exploring both pet care and car care benefits.

Let's start with pet care.  Humans aren't the only ones that can enjoy the many uses for white distilled vinegar-even our four-legged friends can benefit.

1. Give your dog a gleaming coat by spraying or rubbing with a solution of 1 cup white distilled vinegar to 1 quart water. As a bonus, you save the cost of an expensive shine product used on show animals. (Works even on a horse!)
2. Keep a dog from scratching its ears by wiping them out regularly with a soft cloth dipped in undiluted white distilled vinegar.
3. Remove skunk odors by wiping down the animal with a 50-50 solution of white distilled vinegar and water, followed by a plain-water rinse. Repeat if necessary.
4. Discourage a cat from sitting on a certain windowsill or other surface, or from scratching upholstery, by spraying vinegar on the item. Test on small area to be sure there won’t be discoloration.Keep a cat out of a garden area by placing paper, a cloth, or sponge there that has been soaked in white distilled vinegar.
5. Get rid of the deposits and water lines that form in aquariums and fish bowls by wiping them down with white distilled vinegar and following with a good rinse. For stubborn deposits, soak for several hours or overnight.
6. Keep the birdbath clean by scrubbing it often with undiluted white distilled vinegar. Rinse well.
7. Keep flies away from horses or other outdoor pets by spraying a mixture of water and white distilled vinegar around the area where the animals are.
8. Remove cat litter odor by pouring ½ inch of white distilled vinegar in the empty litter box. Let it stand for 20 minutes, swish it around, then rinse with cold water.
9. Kill fleas by adding a little white distilled vinegar to your dog or cat’s drinking water.
10. Stop a dog from barking with a spray bottle filled with equal amounts of water and white distilled vinegar. When the dog barks, spray the vinegar water in its direction but not in the face.
11. Remove pet odors. After cleaning, cover the area with baking soda. Let it stand overnight. The next day vacuum up the baking soda and wash the area with white distilled vinegar. Rinse and let dry.
12. Cats hate the smell of vinegar. If you have a cat that is marking its territory around your house, spray the area with white distilled vinegar then rinse with a hose.
13. Stop cats from fighting with each other with a spritz of a white distilled vinegar and water solution.
14. Prevent cats from eating your plants by spraying the leaves with a solution of white distilled vinegar and water.

Now let's look at car care... Because white distilled vinegar has so many wonderful uses as a cleaning agent, it’s no surprise that it is also perfect to use on some of your bigger cleaning projects—namely automobiles. The next time you’re washing your car, shift into high gear and really make it shine with a little vinegar.

 

1. Keep car windows frost-free overnight in winter by coating them with a solution of 3 parts white distilled vinegar to 1 part water.
2. Polish car chrome with full-strength white distilled vinegar on a soft cloth.Remove unwanted decals and bumper stickers by covering them with a cloth soaked in white distilled vinegar, or by repeatedly spraying them with full-strength white distilled vinegar. They should peel off in a couple of hours.
3. Rid the windshield wipers of road grime by wiping them with a vinegar-soaked cloth.
4. Remove the leftover odor after a rider has been carsick by leaving a bowl of white distilled vinegar overnight on the floor.
5. Get rid of hard water stains on your car with a rinse made from 3 parts soft water to one part white distilled vinegar.
6. Wipe vinyl upholstery with a mixture of equal parts white distilled vinegar and water.
7. Remove winter road salt residue on car carpeting by spraying with a mixture of equal parts white distilled vinegar and water, then blot with a soft towel.
8. Remove the hazy film that builds up on inside windows by spraying with white distilled vinegar.
9. Remove dirt and stains from car carpeting with a mixture of half white distilled vinegar and half water.
10. When doing car maintenance, soak rusty bolts and screws with white distilled vinegar to make them easier to remove.
11. Loosen chewing gum stuck to carpeting or upholstery by soaking it in white distilled vinegar.
12. Create an all-purpose window cleaner with a few ounces of distilled vinegar in a quart of water.
13. Give leather upholstery an extra shine by cleaning it with hot white distilled vinegar and rinsing with soapy water.
14. Make your car extra shiny by adding a few drops of white distilled vinegar to your bucket of water.

 So now let me ask you this, after 5 days of reviewing the value of vinegar ~ how many gallons are you going to store in your preps?

Vinegar & Laundry

Preppers need to stock items that have multiple uses.  It only makes sense.  I don't know of anything as versitle in our stockpile as vinegar.  Do you use vinegar to its fullest potential? Vinegar kills the flu virus and seasons salads... did you know you can use vinegar in Cleaning, Gardening, Health, Laundry, Kitchen, Pet Care, and Car Care? We'll look at each over the next couple of days, today let's look at it's value in the LAUNDRY.  Looking for brighter whites or bolder colors? The answer just might be white distilled vinegar. It’s a safe and inexpensive way to boost the power of your detergent and add a little more muscle to your stain remover. With vinegar in the mix, your clothes have never looked better.

1. Prevent lint from clinging to clothes by adding 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar to the wash cycle.
2. To remove soap residue that makes black clothes look dull use white distilled vinegar in your final rinse.
3. Get stained white socks and dingy dishcloths white again. Add 1 cup white distilled vinegar to a large pot of water, bring it to a rolling boil and drop in the articles. Let soak overnight.
4. Some stains on clothing and linens can be soaked out using equal parts milk and vinegar.
5. Before washing a mustard stain, dab with white distilled vinegar.
6. Attack spaghetti, barbecue, or ketchup stains with a white distilled vinegar and water solution.
7. Remove perspiration odor and stains on clothing, as well as those left by deodorants, by spraying full-strength white distilled vinegar on underarm and collar areas before tossing them into the washing machine.
8. Forgot that you left wet laundry in the machine and it now smells moldy? Pour a few cups of white distilled vinegar in the machine and wash the clothes in hot water. Then run a normal cycle with detergent.
9. Remove smoky odors from clothes by filling the bathtub with very hot water and 1 cup white distilled vinegar. Hang the garments above the steaming water and shut the door so the steam can penetrate the fibers.
10. Keep the steam iron clean and in good working order by getting rid of mineral deposits in steam vents and spray nozzles. Fill the water chamber with a solution of equal parts white distilled vinegar and distilled water. Set it in an upright position and let it steam for about 5 minutes. When the iron is cool, rinse the tank with water, refill and shake water through the vents onto an old cloth. Test before using.
11. Remove scorch marks from an iron by rubbing it with a warmed-up solution of equal parts white distilled vinegar and salt. If that doesn’t work, use a cloth dampened with full-strength white distilled vinegar.
12. Remove musky smells from cotton clothes by sprinkling them lightly with white distilled vinegar and then pressing them.
13. Get water and salt stains off shoes and boots by wiping them down with a solution of equal parts white distilled vinegar and water.
14. Give patent leather shoes and bags a better shine by wiping them down with vinegar.
15. Get cleaner laundry! Add about 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar to the last rinse. The acid in white distilled vinegar is too mild to harm fabrics, yet strong enough to dissolve the alkalies in soaps and detergents. Besides removing soap, white distilled vinegar prevents yellowing, acts as a fabric softener and static cling reducer, and attacks mold and mildew.
16. Eliminate manufacturing chemicals from new clothes by adding 1/2 cup vinegar to the water.
17. Remove soap scum and clean the hoses of your washing machine with white distilled vinegar. Periodically run the machine with only a cup of white distilled vinegar in it—nothing else added to the wash cycle.
18. Bring out bright colors by adding 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar to the rinse cycle.
19. Fluff up wool or acrylic sweaters (hand- or machine-washed) and rid them of soap smell with 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar in the last rinse water.

Tomorrow we'll finish our exploration of white distilled vinegar and its many uses when we examine how it improve pet care & car care.

Vinegar & the Garden

Preppers need to stock items that have multiple uses.  It only makes sense.  I don't know of anything as versitle in our stockpile as vinegar.  Do you use vinegar to its fullest potential? Vinegar kills the flu virus and seasons salads... did you know you can use vinegar in Cleaning, Gardening, Health, Laundry, Kitchen, Pet Care, and Car Care? We'll look at each over the next couple of days, today let's look at it's value in the GARDEN...White distilled vinegar provides many safe and natural ways to protect and enhance the garden.

1. Kill weeds and grass growing in unwanted places by pouring full-strength white distilled vinegar on them. This works especially well in crevices and cracks of walkways and driveways.
2. Give acid-loving plants like azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas and gardenias a little help by watering them with a white distilled vinegar solution now and again. A cup of white distilled vinegar to a gallon of tap water is a good mixture.
3. Stop ants from congregating by pouring white distilled vinegar on the area.
4. Discourage cats from getting into the kids’ sandbox with white distilled vinegar.
5. Preserve cut flowers and liven droopy ones by adding 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar to a quart of water in a vase.
6. Get rid of the water line in a flower vase by filling it with a solution of half water and half white distilled vinegar, or by soaking a paper towel in white distilled vinegar and stuffing it into the vase so that it is in contact with the water line.
7. Clean out stains and white mineral crusts in clay, glazed and plastic pots by soaking them for an hour or longer in a sink filled with a solution of half water and half white distilled vinegar.
8. Remove crusty rim deposits on house planters or attached saucers by soaking them for several hours in an inch of full-strength white distilled vinegar.
9. Clean a birdbath by scrubbing it often with undiluted white distilled vinegar. Rinse well.
10. Get rid of rust on spigots, tools, screws or bolts by soaking the items overnight or for several days in undiluted white distilled vinegar.
11. Neutralize garden lime by adding white distilled vinegar to the area.
12. Avoid skin problems after working in the garden by rinsing your hands in white distilled vinegar.
13. Increase the acidity of soil by adding white distilled vinegar to your watering can.
14. Eliminate anthills by pouring in white distilled vinegar.
15. Cure a cement pond before adding fish and plants by adding one gallon of white distilled vinegar to every 200 gallons of water. Let sit three days. Empty and rinse thoroughly.
16. Sanitize outdoor furniture and picnic tables with a cloth soaked in white distilled vinegar.
17. Kill slugs by spraying them with a mixture of 1 part water and 1 part white distilled vinegar.
18. To catch moths use a mixture of 2 parts white distilled vinegar and 1 part molasses. Place mixture in tin can and hang in a tree.
19. Keep rabbits from eating your plants. Put cotton balls soaked in white distilled vinegar in a 35mm film container. Poke a hole in the top and place in the garden.
20. Remove berry stains on your hands by rubbing them with white distilled vinegar.
21. Clean plastic patio furniture with a solution of 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar to 1 gallon of water.
22. Wash fresh vegetables with a mixture of 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar in 1 ½ quarts of water.
23. When cleaning an outdoor fountain, soak the pump in white distilled vinegar to remove any mineral deposits.
24. Clean a hummingbird feeder with white distilled vinegar—soap or detergent can leave behind harmful residue.

 Tomorrow we'll look at the benefits of using vinegar in the laundry

Vinegar in the kitchen

Preppers need to stock items that have multiple uses.  It only makes sense.  I don't know of anything as versitle in our stockpile as vinegar.  Do you use vinegar to its fullest potential? Vinegar kills the flu virus and seasons salads... did you know you can use vinegar in Cleaning, Gardening, Health, Laundry, Kitchen, Pet Care, and Car Care? We'll look at each over the next couple of days, today let's look at it's value in the kitchen. Enjoying a salad with a tangy vinaigrette dressing is one of the most popular ways to use vinegar in the kitchen. But that’s just the beginning! Regular and flavored vinegars are versatile recipe ingredients that add flavor and distinction, and can also contribute to good health.

1. To make basic vinaigrette salad dressing use 1 part white distilled vinegar to 4 parts oil.
2. Make creamy vinaigrette by adding some plain or whipped cream to a mixture of 1 part white distilled vinegar to 3 parts oil.
3. Tenderize meat with white distilled vinegar. Use it in marinades or when slow cooking any tough, inexpensive cuts of meat.
4. When poaching eggs, add a little white distilled vinegar to the water. The whites stay better formed.
5. For extra tenderness with boiling ribs or stew meat add a tablespoon of white distilled vinegar.
6. To add a zesty new taste to fresh fruits such as pears, cantaloupe, honeydew, or others, add a splash of rice or balsamic vinegar. Serve immediately to prevent the fruit from becoming mushy.
7. Freshen wilted vegetables by soaking them in cold water containing a spoonful or two of white distilled vinegar.
8. When boiling or steaming cauliflower, beets or other vegetables, add a teaspoon or two of white distilled vinegar to the water to help them keep their color. This will also improve their taste, and reduce gassy elements. This also works when cooking beans and bean dishes.
9. Make pasta less sticky and reduce some of its starch. Add just a dash of white distilled vinegar to the water as it cooks.
10. Give some extra zest to your white sauce by adding 1/2 teaspoon of white distilled vinegar.
11. Try cider or malt white distilled vinegar instead of ketchup with french fries—that’s how the British like to eat them. Either one is also great on fish or any fried or broiled meat.
12. Remove kitchen odors that come from burnt pots or when cooking certain foods by boiling a small amount of water with 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar so that the steam circulates throughout the room.
13. Make onion odors disappear from your hands by rubbing with white distilled vinegar.
14. Add moistness and taste to any chocolate cake—homemade or from a box—with a spoonful of white distilled vinegar.
15. To keep frosting from sugaring add a drop of white distilled vinegar. It will also help keep white frosting white and shiny.
16. Make perfect, fluffy meringue by adding a teaspoon of white distilled vinegar for every 3 to 4 egg whites used.
17. Perk up any can of soup or sauce with a teaspoon of red or white wine vinegar.
18. Eliminate the greasy taste in food cooked in a deep fryer by adding a dash of white distilled vinegar.
19. If you’ve added too much salt to a recipe, add a spoonful of white distilled vinegar and sugar to try correcting the taste.
20. Keep molded gelatin desserts and salads from sagging or melting in the summer heat by adding a teaspoon of white distilled vinegar for each box of gelatin used.
21. When making tuna salad add a dash of any herb-flavored white distilled vinegar.
22. Turn out great rice by adding a teaspoon of white distilled vinegar to the boiling water.
23. To make the perfect picnic potato salad dressing combine 1 cup mayonnaise, 3 tablespoons white distilled vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
24. Olives or pimentos covered with white distilled vinegar can be kept almost indefinitely if refrigerated.
25. To keep eggs from cracking when boiling add a tablespoon or two of vinegar to water.