Memories made in the door way

As you may know we moved to our new home a few months back and I have to say love the new place but there is two thing I miss about our old home. First, the door jam in the old girls room and my dishwasher but the dishwasher is for a different day. Growing up I always wanted a spot on the wall showing the growth  of my babies from first standing up till the day they walked out the door to move on to the next adventure in life. I was talking with my husband about this and how I miss our old door jam that I had written Jacob and Emma’s heights on since they stood and how I actualy cried taking the magic eraser to it a few months ago when we moved out (he didn’t even know I had been doing this). As an after thought he said I would have taken the board out and taken it to the new house if it meant that much to you… Did I mention how sweet my husband is <3 After a day of reflection I was so bumbed I was in such a rush to clean out the house for the renters I didn't even take the time to take a picture of the door jam. After thinking over different ideas I decided I wanted a full size ruler board to keep fond memories on of watching my babies grow and excited memories for them of how much they grew since their last birthday. Anyways we had to make ours go to 7’6” since our son is to be at least 7’0. Soo here is my new memory stick!! It doesn't hold 32 GB of photos or files but it holds memories of my children from learning to stand, how big they were on the first day of school or prom.. yes they might have to stand there morning of prom just so I can look back and see how little they were at one point and how much they have grown in more ways than one before they fly the coop.

growing season has started!!! We have heirloom veggies everywhere! In our garden we have three kinds of onions, a rainbow of lettuce, five kinds of canning tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, pickling cucumbers, corn, carrots, beets, peas, bean, fava beans, strawberries, purple and green asparagus, apples, pears and cherries all growing check in from time to time for updates! happy growing season!

No more bugs in my corn

So its gardening season which means bugs! Some bugs are good and some well at least in my garden it seems like most are bad bugs... So what do you do? I like to be as organic as possible why else did my husband and I buy lady bugs and praying mantis eggs and dig up a quarter of the yard build garden boxes shovel dirt grow plants and so forth to use all the chemicals the big farms use, if I want that well I can go to the store and get veggies there. So one thing I hate, I don't use the word hate lightly but I do mean hate is growing corn my first few years. I mean you baby this thing from a seed its gets taller than you it starts whipping around in the wind your always afraid its going to break in half or your feeding it great kelp fertilizer just waiting for the silly ear of corn, its finally done!! your giddy to go harvest your backyard corn and you start husking to find your like the last one invited to the party and your just left with the scraps because well the bugs have been eating your corn and you have bugs crawling all over in and out of YOUR corn you have been waiting for for months! grrr (ok I know  corn season hasn't even really started here in the NW but you much rather know before you have great ears of corn full of bugs)

Well there is and easy way too prevent this (easy just took me three years to find) Get yourself  a clean squirt bottle or spray pump depending on how much corn you have fill with 1 cup oil, whatever you use in the kitchen veggie, olive or if in liquid form coconut I did read once mineral oil is good but I'm trying to keep petroleum out of my garden and add a 1 cup water, 1:1 ratio. Shake before every use because oil and water with separate. Don't spray the silk on your corn as soon as they appear or they wont pollinate wait till they start to change color and then every few days spray the silk down with your oil and water mix since most bugs like your corn when the sugar content is higher. And what is in there will suffocate from the oils. No more black yucky bugs or worms in your corn! there is your gardening tip of the day!

Homemade cleaning supplies easy on the budget and earth friendly :)

Well today is dishwasher detergent making day... Normally I make my laundry soap but haven't tried making dishwasher soap so here we go. I have been buying the big thing of tablets from Costco because well its easy and not too horrible on the budget but today Im out and Im not going to Costco because well when was the last time you went there and just got one item? thought so... so on to making dishwasher detergent with stuff I already have around the house. Ok you might not have all this just laying around but if you can and have extra stuff in the laundry room I bet you have most of this!

Ingredients:
2 cup All Natural Borax
2 cup washing soda (if you don't have this I know some people use baking soda)
1/2 cup Citric Acid.. I have lots of this from canning season (fyi: don't buy this in the little shaker thing on the canning isle of the grocery store or you will kick yourself in the butt with the price... I go down to our local DIY Beer Brewery supply store and get a nice size bag of it for $5 and you get a lot more) any whoo where was I ... if you don't have any two packets of kool-aid works too (I don't ever have this in my house)
1/4 cup salt... I used canning salt some say use kosher salt... I improvised :)
1 tbs lemon zest I like it for the smell thats all
white Vinegar


Ok take a bowl mix all the powders together mix well.. pour into mason jar serve one tbs to dishwasher with each load! done! White vinegar is for the spout where you normally pour out $4 or $5 for Jet dry or.... Spend $3.75 at Costco and get two big jugs of white vinegar and have a life time supply of natural alternative to Jet dry.. Im just saying.

Crunch numbers and it comes out to be about.... wait for it..... $0.06 per load :) much better than what your buying at the store right?!

Oh and don't forget if your leaving this out on the counter or window put it in something pretty to look at or a old large yogurt container works well for under the sink.

Ready set.. GO

Well we closed on our new home back at the end of December but they get to rent back for two months now we are almost ready to move! 27 days to be exact but who is counting? The garden layout has been planned, heirloom seeds ordered, heirloom fruit trees ordered, good bugs like praying mantis in with the seed order ohh a greenhouse for a Christmas present from hubby (no it didn't fit under the tree). I am very excited to present to you my new blog for Back to Roots Farm. I am also going to have an etsy shop where I will be selling seeds this coming fall, handmade seed screens (since I can't find them anywhere without costing an arm and a leg!) and home canned goodness!

I have always wanted property this home is on an acre its a great home and will be great for our family for many years. Then maybe down the road 5 to 10 acres but all in time I can only maintain so much with a 4 year old, 2 year old and 6 month old in toe :)  but I wouldn't have it any other way. The number one reason why I do this is I love gardening with my kids. Watching them play in the flower beds or mud all over their clothes if we get to plant a few seeds between mud pies and playing with worms is what its all about.

On here I hope to have canning recipes, updates on the heirloom garden frontier and tips on saving your own seeds and updates about what surplus fruit and veggies I might have available for local foodies. I will strive to grow food the way it was intended to be made from God starting with the seed no GMO no Hybrids just 100% open pollinated heirloom seeds. I wanted to do heirloom seeds because I like the idea of taking a seed from what you eat put it in the ground and get the same plant again seems simple enough. I want food that I know where its coming from in my fridge, freezer and pantry and that I know is safe for my kids. Plus with heirloom plants I am rediscovering tons of fun looking even dare I say beautiful vegetables that I never knew existed example, look up a Casady's Folly tomato you will never want a boring Roma tomato for your pasta sauce again its just purdy!

Ok more to follow on the start up of Back to Roots farm! See yeah later folks God be with thee or (Goodbye)