"Compost Tea Anyone?"

    I have had a few emailed questions about, "What is compost tea?" and "How do you make it"? We all know that compost is a wonderful addition to soil and helps our gardens grow better. Your garden can benefit even more by using compost tea. Compost tea is easily made by soaking or steeping compost in water. I take a piece of cheese cloth, scoop a handful of compost into it, tie it up with a piece of twine and toss it the watering container just like you would a tea bag!

    By using compost tea to replace chemical-based fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides, you can garden safer and be more protective of the environment. Compost tea also, Increases plant growth, Provides nutrients to plants and soil, Provides beneficial organisms, Helps to suppress diseases, Replaces toxic garden chemicals. So there are many benefits’ from using it!

    Also you can make tea out of other organic things as well such as: Crushed egg shells (for calcium), Grass clippings (for nitrogen), by placing Banana peels in a food processor (for potassium). I have even seen people take all different sorts of vegetable waste from the kitchen and process it that way, dig a hole in the garden and pour it straight in! 

    Funny story! I grossed my daughter and one of her friends out with it a few weeks back. They came carrying the water can to me and said, "There is something wrong with the water in your can"'. I stuck my hand in the water and pulled out the ball of cheese cloth with the compost/horse manure. They asked what it was, so I told them what it was. I just so happened to have a cup of fresh brewed ice tea sitting there with me. So I took a drink and said, "It taste pretty good, want some"? LOL! That really grossed them out! Yes, I did tell them a little later it was for the plants!

Here is a cheap way to make a compost bin, "Dirt Cheap"

Let me know what and how you make your garden tea!

Palms 126:2 "Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them."

Linked up:
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"Government Pushing People off the Beaches and Other Public Lands"

   I am going to take off my gardening hat for a minute to bring some awareness to a bad thing that is going on at the beaches of some of our most favorite vacation spots! One of the biggest being hit is Hatteras Island, part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina! Government pushing people off the beaches and business's shutting down because of some radically extreme thinking!You think, it is just in a couple of places, its not! You think this won't spread,  it will! You think it won't reach my favorite vacation spot,  it will! "The National Park Service wants to set aside a large swath of the pristine area as a marine reserve zone, so you might have to leave the fishing poles at home." Click Here: to read "Summertime Blues" 

 Part 1 and 2 of a documentary by Kevin Hicks on the topic! A short documentary covering the emotional and economic woes of the residents of Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina due to beach closures and excessive measures taken by the National Park Service and environmental groups.

  Basically they are shutting down many, many areas of beach for different types of wildlife that may or may not be there. But  they are also killing other wildlife and dogs and cats to protect these birds! Makes a lot of sense I guess, lets go kill fox's, racoons to keep them from what God placed them here to do! This is also hurting the local economy to the point of many local businesses shutting down or laying off employees! The locals are outraged and we should be also!

  As of April 26, 2012, North Carolina Senators have drafted a Bill to stop this illegal action from happening.To view the "Senate Bill S.2372 to Restore Access to the CHNSRA" http://obpa-nc.org/joomla/!
  If you would like to watch the emergency Senate Hearing that is happening over this issue. You can go to The Natural Resources Website and watch, click on this link to watch!
  Here is a potion that you can go to to help Remove the "ORV Rule And Provide Free And Open Access" http://www.change.org/petitions/to-the-u-s-house-and-senate-remove-the-nps-orv-rule-and-restore-free-and-open-access
  Then you have the National Audubon Society sticking their nose into all of this! Here is a part of a good article titled "Big Green beach bullies strangling Cape Hatteras families" by Ron Arnold.

"Defenders of Wildlife and the National Audubon Society are choking off the lifeblood of communities that depend on North Carolina's Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area. In 2008, the National Park Service -- the federal agency responsible for the popular 70-mile-long world-class sport fishing and tourist destination -- caved in to the two environmental groups' lawsuit claiming human access to the area harms nesting birds." To read the rest of the article go to: Washington "The Examiner"! Also Read: http://islandfreepress.org/PivotBlog/?e=191#body-anchor

  Here is the home page of all U.S. Senators: Contact Your Senator

We may never get to set here again!

   I am just asking that you contact the Senator's of your state if you agree and support "Bill S.2372". If you live in these local states contact everyone you can to make them aware of this! Thank you for your time! 


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Killing Little Ants Naturally

  We had to be treated for termites a few weeks back and while I was talking to the guy about those destructive guys, we saw those little sugar ants marching up and down the siding of my house. He asked me if we had problems on the inside of the house with the ants and I said yes. I also told him the only thing we could find to keep them out of the house was "Borax". He told me that  killing ants can be much easier, safer and cheaper than most people realize. The only thing you will need to kill them is sugar and Borax, or boric acid. The sugar attracts the ants to the open buffet, while the Borax works as a long-term killer. Ants consider this powder to be food, and foragers will feed it to the other members of the colony, including the queen. When the queen dies, so does the rest of the clan. He said that the "Boric Acid" gets in their stomachs and kills, by drying them out!

 

  What mixture do you use? Mix the Borax with granulated sugar in a 1:3 ratio. I will prepare 1 cup of Borax with 3 cups of sugar for 6-8 traps.

  You can also dust the inside of walls and under cabinets with straight Borax to kill off Roaches! It just amazed me the simple things that we can use to kill off some of those pest that we have around the house.

  

  Borax has so many different uses other then washing clothes: it kills mold, flees, scabies,silverfish and many more uses for this household item, that most everyone keeps on hand!If you have any other tips on the subject at hand please feel free to share!

CAUTION: Borax is toxic. Do not place the traps in areas where animals (like the family pet) can accidentally open the lid and ingest the poison. Just be careful with it!

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Explaination of Election

  I have always been asked do I believe that God chose some for salvation and some not. Well, this short explanation is a very good Bible teaching that explains it. By know means am I trying to change your belief that you have. All I am doing is answering a question that has been asked by many, I would do it myself but he does it so well. Please take the short time needed to hear and understand what being "Chosen" or "Elected" really means with scripture. Remember Scripture always backs up scripture!

  Here is the Part 2 to "Sovereign election": Renewing your mind with Dr. R.C. Sprouls. Again, just listen and give it a good study for yourselves. Many have debated this for centuries but this makes the most since to me. And I would like to add, I didn't grow up believing this way but after truly studying the scriptures for myself and allowing the Holy Spirit to show me, I stated to really understand scripture!

Romans 9: ¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! ¹⁵ For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” ¹⁸ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” ²⁰ But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

²² What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³ and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴ even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 



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Harvested Radishes

Out of My Garden!

  Radishes are one of the best things to give kids to plant, to can get them interested in gardening. Radish's are a cool-season, fast-maturing, easy-to-grow vegetable. Garden radishes can be grown wherever there is sun and moist, fertile soil, even in containers on the deck. Early varieties usually grow best in the cool days of early spring, but some later-maturing varieties can be planted for summer use. The variety French Breakfast holds up and grows better than most early types in summer heat if water is supplied regularly. Winter radishes are sown in midsummer to late summer, much as fall turnips. They are slower to develop than spring radishes; and they grow larger, store longer, and hold in the ground better then spring varieties.

Some spring varieties are: Burpee White,Champion,Cherry Belle,Easter Egg,Fuego,Plum Purple,Snow Belle. 

For Spring or Summer Use: French Breakfast,Icicle. 

Winter (for storage) are: China Rose,Chinese White,Round Black Spanish,Tama Hybrid

 Sow seed 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep. Thin spring varieties to 1/2 to 1 inch between plants. Winter radishes must be thinned to 2 to 4 inches, or even farther apart to allow for proper development of their larger roots. On beds, radishes may be broadcast lightly and thinned to stand 2 to 3 inches apart in all directions. (Copied from the back of a pack of seeds from Botanical Interests! Just keep the soil moist and enjoy!  You can apply ¼ cup per 10 foot of row of a nitrogen-based fertilizer (21-0-0) after they pop up to encourage rapid plant growth.

 There is only really one issue with pest that you could have, that I know of and that is "Root Maggots" may tunnel into radishes.  There are only 2 ways that I have read of to handle root maggots. 1) "Rove Beetles" can be introduced to the garden, 2) Diatomaceous Soil can be worked into the soil, it kills them naturally, by dehydrating it! I have always just let God take care of them and they have turned out just fine!

Matthew 15:13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up."

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Thank you Amy from "Homestead Revival" & "Birds Among Us"

 First I would like to thank Amy Walker from Homestead Revival for hosting such a great give away and Justin  at USA Emergency Supply for sponsoring such a great give away! Amy's blog has so much great information and helpful ideas and posts. I don't always get to leave a comment on each of the great posts but she makes you feel like part of her blog family, by visiting and commenting on yours as she can. Keeping her blog personable is why I believe she has had much success, that and her commitment to sharing her faith! She also hosts a weekly Barn Hop where you can meet other wonderful people with like ideas and minds! Yes there are others out there that think about the same things you do, lol! I know, I found it scary as well when I stumbled on to those who had the same interests as I do!

  The 3 wonderful books I received were, "Home Grown Whole Grains" by Sara Pitzer, "Passport to Survival" by Rita Bingham and "Cookin' with Home Storage" Deluxe Edition by Vicki Tate. All three seem packed with great information and I can't wait to dive in on rainy days like today and read them. "Passport to Survival", I think will be first!

  Also I wanted to show a post that my wife posted on her blog "Maple Cottage Stitcher". She has pretty well helped raise a baby robin that was born in one of the tree in the front yard. After two weeks, believe it or not, this baby has not left our yard and allows Dana to get really close to it. Here is the link to the post, "Birds Among Us"!

Psalm 104:12 "Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches."

Linked with:
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North Carolina Mac –n- Cheese

3 ingredients

WOW!  What a warm welcome you all gave me on my first post as my husband’s first guest blogger.  I enjoyed reading all your wonderful comments, thank you so much!  I haven’t had an opportunity to reply to all of your comments, I’m not a moderator on this blog just a guest so I don’t see them until he moderates them.

Today I am going to attempt to share a recipe for something that I don’t have an actual recipe for.  I don’t even have a real name for it but it’s something that my family likes to eat as a side dish mostly with grilled or BBQ chicken.  This is a dish that I first had while visiting family in North Carolina when I was in high school.  My step mother’s sister lived there and I would go stay with her some in the summer time.   She and I are pretty close in age and we had a lot of fun together and she had the most adorable little girl.  Both sides of her husband’s family had farms and that is where I first ate what I call “Carolina Mac and Cheese”.

Now mind you I knew Mac and Cheese as something you bought in a box with a package of cheese sauce or powder and was a bit taken aback when they introduced this version of one of my favorite foods.  This mac and cheese consisted of ziti type noodles with home canned tomatoes from the garden and mild cheddar cheese.  I wasn’t so sure I was going to like this dish as I have never been fond of tomatoes but the well mannered girl my mother “tried” to raise me to be, knew I had to eat it, pretend I liked it and compliment the cook.  Well I didn’t have to pretend I loved this strange version of mac and cheese, even the tomato part was good.

I have made this dish many times over since my visit to that Carolina farm where I also did what they call “getting up hay” for the first and last time in my life!  Getting or putting up hay whichever way you want to say it isn’t fun, its hard work and I had a new found respect for farmers.  For those of you who don’t know what getting up hay is, it’s when you go out to the fields and load all the hay bales onto the tractor.  Let’s just say I worked up a pretty healthy appetite!

Carolina Mac -n- Cheese

1 box of ziti pasta or any tubular pasta similar to that

1 quart size jar of canned tomatoes, drain off the juice (preferably home canned but you can sub 2 store bought cans of stewed tomatoes)

1 brick mild cheddar cheese shredded

Preheat oven to 350.

Boil your pasta according to package directions, drain and place in a (greased or sprayed) 9x13 casserole dish.  Make sure you drain off the juice of the tomatoes, if they are too large cut them smaller and stir into the pasta.  Spread the shredded cheddar over the pasta and tomatoes.  Bake for approx. 20 minutes, just long enough to get the tomatoes hot and melt the cheese; you don’t want the cheese to cook until it’s brown and hard.

"Yummy Goodness"

Keep in mind that you can adjust this recipe to your liking, adding more or less tomatoes and cheese would be fine.  My favorite foods to serve this with are, BBQ chicken on the grill, green beans (either home canned or fresh that have been cooked all day in bacon drippings, West Virginia style I like to call them) and homemade hot rolls. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  Blessings to you from The Redeemed Gardener’s Wife, Dana Baker.

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What Is A Christian?

"Defining the word Christian"

     Many people call themselves a Christian or say the believe in God. But what makes a true Christian, a true follower of Jesus? This may not seem like an important question but it is because if the definition is misunderstood it is the difference between eternity with Jesus or damnation in Hell.

   First lets see what a Christian is NOT! A “Christian” is not a person who has said a prayer, or walked down an aisle, or been raised in a Christian family, or a member of a church. It is not a person that goes to church every time the doors open, tithe's, does good works, been baptized, even walk and talk like a "Christian" (Titus 3:5). While each of these things can be a part of the Christian experience, they are not what “makes” a Christian. Each of of these things are fruit of being saved by God's grace, they are things that are done because we are a changed person and want to do them out of love for Jesus and not out of obligation! Just simply doing and saying these things doesn't make a person Christian. Unfortunately over time, the word “Christian” has lost a great deal of its significance and is often used of someone who is religious or has high moral values but who may or may not be a true follower of Jesus Christ.

   The word “Christian” is used three times in the New Testament (Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16). Followers of Jesus Christ were first called “Christians” in Antioch (Acts 11:26) because their behavior, activity, and speech were like Christ. The word “Christian” literally means, “belonging to the party of Christ” or a “follower of Christ.” A true Christian is one who understand the gospel message (1 Corin. 15:1), has repented of their sins, and trust that Jesus has fully payed their debt of sin, that is was nothing they did or deserve but a gracious gift from God.  From:"What is a Christian" Q&A

  John 1:12 tells us, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” So, a Christian is someone who has been born again by God (John 3:3; John 3:7; 1 Peter 1:23) and has put faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that it is “,by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

     So what defines a Christian? 

1) A Christian is a new creation(2 Corinthians 5:17). Becoming an entirely new creature as a result of being “in Christ.”

2) A Christian is redeemed (1 Peter 1:18-19). The word “redeemed” refers to a purchase being made, a price being paid.

3) A Christian has been justified (Romans 5:1). To “justify” means to “declare righteous.” All those who receive Jesus as Savior are “declared righteous” by God

4) A Christian has been promised eternal life (John 3:16). Eternal life is a promise of eternity (forever) in heaven with God. God promises, “Believe and you will have eternal life.”

5) A Christian has been guaranteed glorification. “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Romans 8:30). Glorification refers to a Christian receiving a perfect resurrection body in heaven.

6) A Christian has been promised that we can not be separated from God's love (Romans 8:38-39), we can not be removed from His hand (John 10:28-29), And God is both willing and able to guarantee and maintain our salvation (Jude 24-25).

    A Christian lives by faith in that which we can't see and that in trusting that Jesus has already paid the price for our debt of sin. We are supposed to die to self daily (Gal. 2:20). Being crucified with Christ means that our old nature has been nailed to the cross and has been replaced by a new nature which is Christ’s (1 Corinthians 5:17). He who loved us and died for us now lives in us and the life we live is by faith in Him. It means sacrificing our own desires, ambitions, and glories and replacing them with those of Christ. We can only do this by His power through the faith that He gives us by His grace. Part of the Christian life is praying and trusting God's power of perseverance until the end.

I heard this quote one time but I don't have any idea who said it though.

 "Sitting in a church building makes one as much of a Christian as sitting in a garage makes one an automobile."

Linked with:
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References: Matthew Henry Commentaries, MacArthur Study Bible, Smith's Bible Dictionary

By:Clint Baker

My neighbor and His Raised Bed

  Well, you have met my wife. Now meet my neighbor and good friend Jason. We kinda inspire each other in our gardens and other aspects of our lives. His son makes fun of us all the time but we give it right back to him. Jason is very smart and an always thinking kind of guy. Always trying to come up with a better way of doing things. He is like me, a "Jack of all trades and a Master of none". I want to show all of you how he took, basically all the ideas we have talked about in gardening,  into one bed. He plans to expand and continue with the techniques of gardening. So here is a step by step of his latest raised bed!
  Other Posts on Raised Beds: "Pros and Cons", "Coming Along","Dirt Cheap"!

How can I make this work?

The frame w/ chicken wire

  As you can see, Jason did a lot of thinking, where we do most of our best thinking, lol! His was in the front lawn! That's just how we do things in West Virginia, lol!
  To frame he used 2x4's and chicken wire. Then as you will see in the next pictures he used commercial grade weed barrier, like I used, to  hold the dirt in! He also used the "Hugelkultur, link" idea as a filler in the bottom of the bed, (used wood and scrap cardboard he had around the house).

Sides complete

Hugelkulture

  He used recycled potting dirt and dirt that was taken from his front yard when he had his new driveway poured to fill it the rest of the way up. So he had No cost in dirt! Here is a great video I found that he wants to incorporate into the next one, "Back To Eden"!

Recycled Potting soil

   Here is his final Raised Bed! If you will look closely, you may ask, "What are those white pipes for?" Well, those are his "Food Composter/Worm feeders". You use them by putting them down in the dirt as you see, they have to have holes in them (so the worms can get in). As you get table scraps you just remove the lids, drop the scraps in and its a open buffet for your worms! You can put them in  conventional garden's as well, I am sure!
  Here is a link for "Worm Tubes" and an earlier post "Worms champion composter".
  I think he told me he had about $50.00 in all of this. So see how easy and fun this can be. If you have anything to add or suggestions please feel free to add!

The completed bed. With the "Worm Buffets"!

  So you have met Jason a little and Have seen one of his creation's. He and his family are wonderful people. Always have been! I will say, when you find friends like them its a wonderful thing.

  “If you have two friends in your lifetime, you're lucky. If you have one good friend, you're more than lucky.”  -S.E. Hilton

 


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The "Sink or Float" Tip!

  Just a quick trick that I remember either Aunt Annice or Grammy doing, I really can't remember which but I guess it doesn't matter! Take the seeds that you saved from last year and toss them in a bowl of water. If the sink to the bottom they have a good chance of sprouting and growing big and strong. Those that float just scoop them out and through away, they probably won't do much. This is to how to check seeds for "viability" or in terms I can understand, "If they are gonna sprout or not"! If anyone has any other tips for this please share with us!

Matthew 17:20 "So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."


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Greetings From The Redeemed Gardeners Wife

I have recruited someone wonderful to put in her two cents worth from time to time. Hopefully once a week if possible! So I am gonna let her introduce herself and please you all make her feel very welcome!

Hello everyone seems the Redeemed Gardener is a bit busy these days since he has returned to work.  Guess someone has to go earn a paycheck.  He was very discouraged that he wouldn’t have as much time to garden and blog so he has asked me to help him out.  While I can’t help him much in the gardening department, unless he would like everything to die, I can however write about various other things. 

I guess I should start by telling you who I am, my name is Dana and I am the Redeemed gardener’s wife.  I am going to do my very best to check in once a week here on The Redeemed Gardener blog, hopefully I am up to the task.  You can also find me at www.Maplecottagestitcher.blogspot.com where I talk about my needlework projects and what not.  I love needlework; it is my favorite thing to do.  I also love to decorate my little cottage, read and I love to eat so therefore I cook not because I like to but because I like to eat.  So I will share some recipes with you all from time to time so you can use up those wonderful veggies that our gardens are going to produce very soon!  I for one am looking forward to fried squash, let’s hope the gardener has plans to plant some!

This is me @ my favorite place, OBX!

Speaking of recipes, decorating, gardening and such I am a new Pinterest convert.  I have a love hate relationship with this site.  I love all the ideas, they really get my creative juices flowing but too much of a good thing is not so good.  It is a real time killer.  I have tried some tips and recipes I have found on Pinterest and today I will share a few.

I found a recipe for Honey Baked Ham from Pam Martin-Allen that we tried on Easter Sunday and it was out of this world, smack your mamma good (just kidding I would never do that I would lose my teeth).  Anyway it was so good, I normally just rub my ham down with brown sugar and good honey (not the kind at the grocery), and cook it for a few hours.  But this recipe called for making a glaze of honey, brown sugar, Dijon mustard and cinnamon and pouring it over the ham the last 45 minutes of cooking time.  This is definitely a keeper and the next time you cook a ham try it out.  Ours is almost completely gone after two days.  You can go here for the recipe. 

Picture obtained from justapinch.com Pam Martin-Allen

The next pin I am going to share with you is a tip for cleaning the glass shower door in your bathroom.  I tried it on the tub and surround and it failed miserably.  This may work very well for the shower door but I don’t advise trying it on your tub and surround like I did.  The recipe can be found here and it calls for hot vinegar and blue dawn dish liquid in a spray bottle, spray on and leave for 30 minutes and come back and wipe off with a sponge and water.   Well it took me over 30 minutes to get it off the shower walls and probably 50 gallons of water, it was a disaster and I had water everywhere but boy was my tub and surround shiny. So I guess it worked but there are easier less expensive ways to clean a tub. Needless to say I won’t try it again.

 

                                                                   

          

Well I must sign off and get back to my daily duties before the gardener gets home and thinks I have done nothing but sit on the computer all day.  Shhh, don’t tell!!

Dana Baker


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Using Ammonia in the Garden!

  As you can tell I like to share things that are not commonly shared or have been forgotten about. Sharing things from gardening to Jesus! To me it all enter twines together, He created us and the garden and we try to create as well!

  I bet you are thinking "ammonia?", he is crazier than I thought but really it has a readily available source of "Nitrogen". Nitrogen is needed to encourage leafy plants like lettuces, kale, etc. You could also use it on others such as tomatoes and peppers, for example, in the early stage of growth but stop early so you don't get a good harvest of leaves, lol! What you buy in the store is diluted but you will still need to dilute it more, (1/2 to 1 cup to 20 gallons of water), I usually pore 2 cups in my rain barrels in the early spring and go from there. Another way to dilute is to put 1 cup in a 20 gallon hose end sprayer and spray away! Ammonia is an alkaline cleaning solution. It's made from chemical compounds, which are handy in the garden and helpful with several outdoor chores. Keep some household ammonia in the garden shed and garage. Here's a few ways to put ammonia to work for you in the garden. The smell can also deter larger animals from your garden, trash cans or other areas. I read where you can use it to kill slugs but I have not personally used it for that, YET! You can stop the itch of a mosquito bite. Put a single drop of ammonia directly on the bite to ease the itch immediately. There are granular types of ammonia fertilizers, if you would rather use those. I guess you could clean stuff too, lol! Here is a link to what "Readers Digest" suggests, Click here for other uses!

    Safety first, always wear gloves when using it, it can burn you. Also never combined vinegar or bleach with ammonia or anything containing bleach with ammonia (it releases toxic fumes when you do). Here is all the scientific stuff about ammonia, Click Here!

    There is probably more uses, so please post and let us know. I learn so much more after these post, its amazing! May God Bless each one of your gardens!

"[Jesus] saves His people from their sins. This is His special office. He saves them from the guilt of sin, by washing them in His own atoning blood. He saves them from the dominion of sin, by putting in their hearts the sanctifying Spirit. He saves them from the presence of sin, when He takes them out of this world to rest with Him. He will save them from all the consequences of sin, when He shall give them a glorious body at the last day. Blessed and holy are Christ's people! From sorrow, cross, and conflict they are not saved. But they are saved from sin for evermore."  J.C. Ryle

 

Linked with:
Garden Life 1-2-3
Homestead Helps Wednesday
Tuesday Garden Party
Teach Me Tuesday
Sustainable Ways #22
Simple Living Wednesday
My Pick Of The Week

First Day Back to Work!

  Well My first Day back to work went well as expected! The shoulder is a little off but I will be trusting the Lord to help. My shift starts at 6:00 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. and every other Saturday, so it is gonna be challenging to do everything. So please, please be patient with me on my posts, I will be here! My wonderful wife is gonna help! I will visit every bodies blogs on the weekends and as I can in the week! Be patient, I learn so much from you all and have made so many friends. I will eventually learn how to juggle everything together but as you all know, God and Family always come first!  Keep me in your prayers, I am exhausted, so off to bed!



Hebrews 1:3 “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:”

Aprils "To Do List"

  I am a little behind this month with my to do list for the month of April and with going back to work tomorrow, after being of work for 5 months due to shoulder surgery, it is gonna be a challenge to get posts up and going! I am tossing around the idea of trying to get some help! Anyway Lets see what the calender has in store for us from The West Virginia Dept. of Agriculture!

Calendar For April!

2..... Seed Swiss chard and carrots (outdoors).
3..... Seed onions, beets and radishes (outdoors).
4..... Plant cabbage and kohlrabi.
5..... Plant potatoes and raspberries. Seed beets and kale (outdoors).
7..... Seed or plant broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower (outdoors).
9..... Plant blackberries. Seed parsnips (outdoors).
10... Plant or seed Swiss chard. Plant fruit trees.
11.... Plant peas and seed radishes (outdoors).
12... Apply crabgrass control.
13... Plant collards.
14... Seed leaf lettuce (outdoors).
15... Bed sweet potatoes for transplanting.
16... Fertilize lawn. Seed or plant collards. Seed late tomatoes (indoors).
17... Plant perennials.
18... Start compost pile.
19... Remove row cover from strawberries. Loosen mulch on strawberries.
20... Refresh mulch in landscape beds.
21... Plant peas (outdoors). Transplant leeks.
23... Seed new lawn.
24... Seed Swiss chard.
25... Seed carrots. Plant sweet corn.
26... Apply pre-emergent landscape weed control.
27... Plant summer-flowering bulbs.
28... Begin spraying fruit trees after petals fall.

  And get more Bible study and prayer into your schedule Click Here to listen to Sermons!

                                                                                                                                                          

Psalms 1:3 "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

"One To Die For"

 When Jesus was raised up high on the cross, "Jacobs Ladder" was risen. When Jesus rose from the tomb, the bridge between God and sinful man was built! We know have access to our Holy God!

 We have to remember that Christianity begins where all the religions of the world end, at death, and it starts with resurrection Of our Savior Jesus Christ and the Resurrection of ourselves one day! No other religion has proof that the God that they follow is "Alive" and in control of our daily walk! No other religion can say they can have a personal, one on one relationship with their Lord and Savior. 

   "If the Resurrection is not historic fact, then the power of death remains unbroken, and with it the effect of sin; and the significance of Christ's Death remains uncertified, and accordingly believers are yet in their sins, precisely where they were before they heard of Jesus' name." C.H. Spurgeon

   I heard some one say one time, "There are many good religions in the world to live by but there is only one that i would want to DIE by".  
  C.H. Spurgeon once said " Upon a life I did not live, upon a death I did not die, I risk my whole eternity on the resurrection".  

   

 Question to think on: 
  Jesus died for you, will you die to self for Him? Would you give your physical life for Him?

The basic truth of the resurrection under-girds a number of other truths.

1.    It gives evidence that the Word of God is totally true and reliable. Jesus precisely when and in the way He had predicted (see Mt. 12:40; 16:21; 17:9, 23).

2.    The resurrection means that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, as He claimed to be, and that He has power over life and death.

3.    The resurrection proves that salvation is complete, that on the cross Christ conquered sin, death, and hell and rose victorious.

4.    The resurrection proves that the church has been established. Jesus had declared, "I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it" (Mt. 16:8)... His resurrection proved that death itself could not prevent Christ from establishing His church.

5.    The resurrection proves that judgment is coming. Jesus declared that the heavenly Father "has given all judgment to the Son" (Jn. 5:22), and since the Son is now risen and alive, His judgment is certain.

6.    The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that heaven is waiting. Jesus promised, "In My house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you" (Jn. 14:2). Because Christ is alive by the resurrection, believers have the assurance that He is now preparing a heavenly dwelling for them.

John MacArthur

"Unlocking The Lock"

Do you have eternal life or conditional life?

Ephesians 1:13-14 says "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory."  

Philippians 1:6 says "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;"

   The understanding of eternal security really comes from understanding the unique and special love that God has for His children. Romans 8:28-39 tells us that 1) no one can bring a charge against God’s elect; 2) nothing can separate the elect from the love of Christ; 3) God makes everything work together for the good of the elect; and 4) all whom God saves will be glorified. God loves His children (the elect) so much that nothing can separate them from Him. Of course this same truth is seen in many other passages of Scripture as well (these four points came from). In John 10:27-30, Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." Again, in John 6:37-47, we see Jesus stating that everyone that the Father gives to the Son will come to Him and He will raise all of them up at the last day. John 5:24 say "“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life."  Eternal life here  is not something you receive in the future but something you receive at the time you believe. If salvation trough Jesus Christ isn't eternal then its not eternal life, Jesus promises you eternal life. A promise of eternal life is not conditional life.

Join His Flock

   Eternal security does NOT give us a license to go out sin and do whatever we want.(1 John 2:3-4,Romans 8:29-30,2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 6:11) These are a few scriptures that tell you that.

   If someone is truly saved, he or she has been made alive by the Holy Spirit and has a new heart with new desires. There is no way that one that has been “born again” can later be “unborn.” Because of His unique love for His children, God will keep all of His children safe from harm, and Jesus has promised that He would lose none of His sheep.
  The doctrine of eternal security or also called "the perseverance of the saints" recognizes that true Christians will always persevered and are eternally secure because God keeps them that way. It is based on the fact that Jesus, the “author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2), is able to completely save those whom the Father has given Him (Hebrews 7:25) and to keep them saved through all eternity.

  Why would God graciously offer up a free gift of salvation but make it conditional? A conditional salvation doesn't fit the eternal salvation plan of the Bible and it wouldn't be a free gift. That would be like me saying "I am gonna give you a free car as a gift, but you have to work of the price of the car for me". That wouldn't be a free gift from me, you would have earned it.

  "If one dear saint of God had perished, so might all; if one of the covenant ones be lost, so may all be; and then there is no gospel promise true, but the Bible is a lie, and there is nothing in it worth my acceptance. I will be an infidel at once when I can believe that a saint of God can ever fall finally. If God hath loved me once, then He will love me forever."

C.H. Spurgeon

Linked to:
Fresh From the Farm
Wisdom Wednesday
Wise Women Link Up