Bells of the North Homestead

Recently I received a box of Woolzies Dryer Balls to try out and I decided the perfect time to give them a shot was on the loads and loads of laundry that comes back with us when we go camping. Now first keep in mind. I do not use store bought laundry detergent.  Some while back we switched to homemade for several reasons.  If you are interested in reading more about that follow this link . So please keep in mind, your results might be different than mine.   Some of the claims about Woolzies dryer balls are: Softens naturally Reduces drying time by 25% Reduces Static Helps eliminate wrinkles Now I have to say, I have a old year 2000 Kenmore dryer that takes a long time to dry clothes. It usually takes at least two full cycles, 60 minutes each to dry our clothes, 120 minutes total. Using the six Woolzies, drying time has reduced down to about 90 minutes or so.  Right now that doesn’t hit us as hard simply because we are living in military qua...

Where do I begin? Well, a good place to start is at the beginning I guess. Yard is looking rather unkept. Lawnmower broke around this time! Yes, I've been away.  With our move coming closer and closer we've been absorbed in other pursuits, namely preparing ourselves, our household for our final move as my husband retires from the US Army. I've been jokingly saying to my husband that this years garden is the "Do whatever you want" garden.  Because really, this year we planted seedlings haphazardly here and there with no clue what it was that we were planting.   Sweet Potato vine recycling a canvas bag that originally held dried corn.  We threw down seeds and then a month later tried to figure out what in the world we planted there. We know by the leaves that the vine growing near the tomatoes was obviously a cucumber but which one did we plant again? We know that we planted multiple winter squash but which ones did we choose again?  We ...

You know one of the things I love MOST when going away, even for the smallest vacation, is coming back and finding SURPRISES. That is something really rather endearing about our very modest garden.  We can leave for even a very small time, come back and VOILA. We have new things popping up. This past weekend we escaped to one of our favorite State run campgrounds for a bit of R&R, came back and found this! Ostrich Ferns Barely peeking through the soil. These are Ostrich Ferns which I planted in this area that has barely EVER produced ANYTHING. There are many areas of our yard that have massive handicaps.  This one has massive shade and very poor soil.  We have slowly added things (including manure and compost) here to see what WILL grow in this area. Most plants have died, failed to thrive or just simply didn't grow at all. Well lo and behold we have found Ostrich Ferns will grow here.  Now the really great bit about Ostrich Ferns. ...

SALVE/sav/Noun:   An ointment used to promote healing of the skin or as protection. How many out here use Neosporin for your cuts and burns? How many out here would like to make your own salves with your own homegrown herbs for little to nothing? I do grow a lot of my own herbs. That's how I learned how to grow many of the fruits and vegetables that we grow now after all. Herbs are great for the novice gardener as most of them really do not want or need much attention. Think of weeds. For instance. Dandelion. Broadleaf Plantain. Chickweed. These are all plants that tend to propogate themselves freely in many yards, much to many homeowners dislike and yet every one of these is edible and actually useful to us. Herbs benefit from an almost lack of care usually so my garden usually has an odd assortment of both medicinal and culinary herbs. There are really three basic ingredients to any salve. Oil. 1 CUP. I really like Olive Oil the best as it tends to be the cheapest o...

I promised didn't I? a Rafflecopter giveaway I am in fact giving away one Jam or Jelly to the winner of this giveaway.  The giveaway starts April 1st at midnight and ends on April 13th at midnight. At the conclusion I will announce the winner and that winner will receive whichever jam or jelly that sounds good to them that I have listed at my Etsy store. Now in order to win you do have to fill out the question on the giveaway, at the very least, but if you want more entries simply tweet this and like the page. Now one extra bit. If I hit 100 page likes by the end of this contest (April 13th) I will give one extra jam or jelly (your pick) to the person who shares my page and gets me the most likes. I will be watching my page closely over the next two weeks to see who wants the free jam or jelly the most. Enjoy!!

UPDATE! I have one last batch of seeds left to give to any who would like them. Due to the overwhelming response I have nothing left other than Long Island Cheese Pumpkin seeds and I barely have much left of those!  These grow into gorgeous pumpkin like squash with brilliant orange flesh. Long Island Cheese pumpkins are very sweet and are great for making pies, breads or even soups.  This weekend I will probably be making a recipe I found on Southern Food.about.com to use up our one last Cheese Pumpkin (hence the reason I can offer a few more seeds!) Pumpkin Pecan Bread This recipe makes 3 loaves of pumpkin bread, perfect for gifts or holiday entertaining. Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes Ingredients: 3 cups sugar 4 large eggs 1 cup vegetable oil 1 (16-ounce) can pumpkin pureé 3 1/2 cups self-rising flour * 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground...

A few might recall I posted a giveaway for free seeds  a while ago.  I do have a few left to give out which I have listed down below here but here's a bonus for those who received some of those free seeds. A bit of history. I am the type of person who loves reading the history behind a plant.  How did it become so popular? Why is this certain vegetable or fruit so expensive in the grocery store? Why does it have that really weird and sometimes musical name?  To me, this makes it so much more enjoyable to know all about the plants that I grow.  So I decided to post some of the research I did while working on a project called Vegucation Outreach  that is being used here to encourage kids eat their veggies.    Something to keep in mind about the winter squash.  Many say this "Oh you have to have ROOM to grow THOSE plants!"  I beg to differ.  I have been now for the past two seasons training my heavy ...