"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."

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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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