Ideas for Maximizing Food Production on In-Town Lots

One way to maximize your food production on a small in town lot is growing vegetables and fruit that can be trained up a trellis.  Many different foods can be grown this way.  Small winter squash, vining  summer squash, beans, tomatoes, peas, small melons, and cucumbers all are excellent for this.  On the heavier melons and winter squash you will have to support them or they will pull off the vine before maturity.  There are many varieties though that are small enough, even in the water melons, to grow this way.   Here are some pics.  I am planning to do much of my gardening this way so I'll keep you posted!

A Great Site on Making Natural Home and Body Care Products

I came across this site and had to share it with you guys.  The name is Herbs and Oils  and it has hundreds of recipes on making everything from home made dishwasher soap to making your own foundation.  They also have lots of home remedies for illnesses and ailments.  Some I am going to try out right now are

How to make a natural allergy relief drink

How to make Arnica Pain Relief Salves

Plus they have tons of posts on tips for using common household ingredients for cleaning

An Old Fashioned Ailment- Chilblains - And how to cure it

I love reading books about the past.  My favorites are fiction that was actually written at that time like books from Jane Austin, LJ Montgomery, or diaries from the past.  One thing I had read about several times is the condition called Chilblains.  The definition from the Mayo Clinic is below.

Chilblains (CHILL-blayns) are the painful inflammation of small blood vessels in your skin that occur in response to sudden warming from cold temperatures. Also known as pernio, chilblains can cause itching, red patches, swelling and blistering on extremities, such as on your toes, fingers, ears and nose.

Chilblains may get better on its own, especially as the weather gets warmer. Chilblains usually clear up within one to three weeks, though they may recur seasonally for years. Treatments typically consist of lotions and medication. While Chilblains don't usually result in permanent injury, they can lead to infection, which may cause severe damage if left untreated.

The best approach to chilblains is to avoid developing them by limiting your exposure to cold, dressing warmly and covering exposed skin.

I never thought I would actually use my knowledge of chilblains in my life!  However our youngest son was having problems with his little toes swelling up and becoming painful and red or purple.  I was concerned and took him to the doctor about it.  I mentioned I thought it could be chilblains because the condition only happened in winter and went away when he would take a warm bath, but she insisted having other tests done.  Well the tests came back normal, but the swelling and pain continued.

So I did research on the net about how to care for chilblains and what causes it.  The cause is not the cold itself, but the change from warm to cold too rapidly.  Like getting out of a warm bed into a cold house.  Which is why people suffered from it much more in the past when houses were heated exclusively with wood.  The best way to cure it is to keep the body part affected in a warm temperature that doesn't fluctuate as much as possible.  We tried keeping socks on our little man, but he still had the chilblains.  And he wouldn't wear slippers at all.  So I decided to try wool socks.  They are much thicker and warmer than standard sock, but still thin enough that it doesn't bother him.  I bought a brand online called smart wool that are made to be washable.  They are also extremely well made and durable.  He has been wearing them all winter and they still are in good condition.  Within two days of wearing them his chilblains were gone!

I actually want to buy myself some of these socks because they look so cozy.  He loves them and calls them his special socks.

Here are his toes, at times they even turn purple.  You can see the pinkie is very red and the toe next to the big toe is swollen.

The wools socks as I got them

Comfy warm footsies!

Herbs to Plant in the Shade

Living on a smaller lot means getting creative with the garden space I have.  We have lots of lovely shade (something I  enjoy after living in the desert my whole life) that is great for being outside, but not so great when it comes to gardening.  I need herbs but have so little full sun space that I am going to have to squeeze them in where I can.  That's why I started searching for herbs that thrive in shade.  Thankfully there are several that will do well and I cant wait for spring!  Here are some shade loving herbs for your garden.

A note on mints - even though they are not technically shade loving plants they will grow well in any light, so well in fact that they will take over.  Be careful where you plant these because they are invasive.  I like to plant them in a corner where nothing else will grow.

Parsley

Lemon Balm

Anise Hyssop

Spice Bush

Mints