Use this simple essential oil spray mixture recipe to control aphids on house or garden plants. You will need: 14oz. spray bottle 6 drops Black Pepper essential oil 6 drops Clove essential oil 6 drops Cinnamon essential oil water Instructions: Fill spray bottle with water. Add essential oils. Shake and spray, be sure to get […] Read more…
Archive of ‘How To + Crafts + DIY’ category
Growing Flax: a story of beauty, health, prosperity and ruin
Flax, Linum usitatissimum, seeds are used whole, roasted and ground in cooking. This beautiful and delicate looking annual, I believe, deserves a place in any garden or landscape. It’s easy to grow in a sunny location and prefers cooler temperatures making a good early season crop. Flax was one of the most important crops to […] Read more…
How To Make Goat’s Milk Chevre Cheese
Nothing tastes better than homemade cheese, this recipe is no exception since it is so easy to make! A few years ago Curt and I took a cheese making class. It was a lot of fun, not difficult, and the finished cheese was amazing. Given the high cost of most foods these days I highly […] Read more…
Parting with Our Things: what to keep, what to sell
The attachment we have to our things is an interesting one. Sometimes I wonder where they are derived from; is it good marketing or our own thinking that we need these things. Whatever the origin the fact remains that we all have way too much stuff in our homes and in our lives. We’re getting […] Read more…
Maintaining Your Garden Tools
It is very important to maintain your tools by keeping them clean and free of rust, properly adjusted and sharp. You also need to do some repair if the metal is deformed like the point on a pick (it tends to get blunt when striking rock) or the tip of your spade. Supplies and tools […] Read more…
Outdoor Skills: Telling the Time of Sunset by Looking at the Sun
Dividing the day sky into 12 imaginary sections of one hour each, using the most eastern point as 6am, noon as directly overhead, and the most western point as 6pm is likely to cause great dismay if you’re in the wilderness and hoping to get your shelter and fire set up before nightfall. Using the […] Read more…
Essential Oil Body Powder Recipe
This essential oil body powder recipe has a sweet exotic scent. When therapeutic-grade essential oils are used it can be quite beneficial for the skin too. I use and recommend Young Living Essential Oils, they’re pure and unadulterated; find them at my aromatherapy website. You will need: 1oz. cornstarch or rice flour 5 drops orange […] Read more…
Outdoor Skills: What I Learned While Taking a Wilderness Survival Class
This past spring I had taken a class that I have been wanting to take for some time, ‘Wilderness Survival.’ I was very excited that it was nearby and the instructor had a great deal of experience. The class was with Richard Cleveland, founder of Earth School: Nature Awareness and Self-Reliance, in western North Carolina. I […] Read more…
Acorn Bread Recipe
This recipe came to me via my friend Richard Cleveland, teacher of primitive living skills in western North Carolina. Check out his site, LoveTheEarth.com, and sign up for a class or two, they’re highly educational and loads of fun! Additionally, at the bottom of this blog I have included a wonderful video with Arthur Haines […] Read more…
