3 Minute Consult: Local Honey for Allergies

With Spring comes hay fever, pollen allergies, sore throats and vertigo.  I frequently have patients asking me to recommend OTC allergy medications.  I prefer to use a nasal steroid or a fast acting antihistamine for quick relief, but recently I have been building a top bar bee hive and have been wondering at the benefits of local honey.

The idea behind local honey for allergy prevention is that by ingesting small amounts of the pollen contained in local honey every day that your body will naturally build up immunity.  Some bee keepers add to this idea and add a "pollen trap" at the entrance to the hive.  This pollen trap will brush some of the pollen from the entering bee and then can be used sort of like a vaccine. 

Vaccines work because they introduce small amounts of the allergy causing particle, the "antigen".  So then your body is able to product "antibodies".  The ingestion of daily pollen would be ideal if you were trying to ease your body into producing antibodies that keep you from releasing the histamine that causes watery eyes, sneezing, runny nose, sore throat, etc. 

The caveat of this idea, though, is that the honey has to be local so you can build up immunity to your immediate environment.  Commercial honey or honey shipped from other locations will not have the same antigens that are produced by the pollens in your area.

Contact your local health food store, Craigslist, or beekeeping group to find out if anyone in your area sells local honey!  Its a great way to naturally influence your body's defenses against Spring allergies!

Grape Jelly

Need:

5 pounds grapes or 5 cups of grape juice

4 cups sugar

1 package of reduced or sugar free Sure-Jell pectin

Starting with 5 pounds of washed grapes, chop in food processor.  

Move them to a large pot on the stove, bring to a boil then simmer for 10 minutes.  This releases the juices (and color) from the skins. 

Strain out seeds and skins. 

 

 Place 5 cups of strained grape juice into a separate pot. 

Add package of pectin and bring to a full boil. 

Add sugar all at once, stir and return to a boil.  Boil hard for 60 seconds. 

You may check to see if your jelly is going to set by taking and ice cold spoonful of the juice out and letting it cool.  If it doesn't "set" then add another half-package of pectin and boil for another 60 seconds. 

If you have the consistency you like ladle your hot juice into sterilized pint or half-pint jars. Place lids in jars and place in boiling water bath canner for 5 minutes. 

Remove and let cool. Jelly should set as it cools, usually within 4 hours or so.

Grape jelly makes a great gift and taste great too!

Refried Canned Pinto Beans

I was making some beef burritos one night and I thought to myself, 

"These would be excellent with some retried beans...but I don't have any in my pantry...although I still have some dried beans left from that huge 5 lb I bought for canning...no that will take too long...but what about the quarts of pinto beans I canned from that bag? ...yes!  I intended to use them in chilli, but I could easily make them into refried beans...YES!"  

Thus went my inner monologue.  At least it wasn't out loud and I was not asking and answering my own questions, not that I would ever do such a thing.  After a quick google search to get a second opinion I decided to give them a try. 

And yes they were so wonderful, gently spiced and fresh they reminded me of my first mission trip in Honduras!

Here is all I used: 1 quart pinto beans, 4tbsp bacon grease, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, onion and garlic powder

 

Heat the bacon grease, lard, whatever you normally cook with in a large skillet. 

Add beans cook for 15 minutes until easily smashed with spatula. 

If necessary, add a small bit of water. 

Add spices to taste. 

 

Serve warm. 

Try not to eat the entire bowl before the rest of the meal is finished cooking, but if it DOES happen...I won't judge!

 

 

 

7 Reasons to Cover-Crop with Wheat

Since beginning gardening two years ago when we first bought our house, I have been researching ways to make our garden more time and cost efficient.  The first year we tilled/fertilized/weeded in an ongoing cycle of weed growth and plant disruption.  Since then we began incorporating using lawn clippings as mulch and fertllizing with chicken poop from our coop.  This has really helped save time and money and benefits garden's healthcare regimen.  Last fall we decided to choose a nitrogen-fixing cover crop that would function in many ways.  Here are my top 7 reasons reasons why this worked out so well for this years garden. 

1.  To decrease weed growth

2.  To bring nitrogen to the surface where beneficial bacteria "fix" it into nitrogen that is usable by other plants. 

3.  To prevent soil erosion. 

4.  As chicken fodder. 

5.  To use as a mulch when it is ready to cut. 

6.  To help promote good habitat for worms and beneficial insects. 

7.  To help maintain moisture in the soil.

These are just some of the benefits, but if we add in the time it has saved us in weeding and on mulches and fertilizer the pros would far surpass any cons. 

Fall 2012, winter wheat growing in.  The red building at the back left is the chicken coop. 

May 2013, the wheat was still green but starting to seed out.  We tilled it down in between the rows so we could plant garden veggies. 

The tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, sunflowers, squash, zucchini, okra and melons getting big and the wheat drying out. 

Pickling cucumbers using some wheat stalks for support. 

The cut wheat providing hours of fun for the chickens, walking paths for us and most importantly mulch so I don't have to weed as much!

 

The 2013 summer garden!

Off to a great start thanks to cover-cropping. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 Ingredient Liquid Washing Detergent

We have been using this liquid washing detergent for several months now and I can definitely vouch for its smell, effectiveness and cost savings. 

For about 10 dollars in supplies at Walmart you can make your own washing detergent for 1/10 of the price of buying it.  Plus it only takes about 15 minutes and a 2 gallon bucket.  

Here's how we made the switch from $10.98 a jug Tide to about $0.50 a jug homemade stuff!

 

We saved a couple of old Tide jugs to put our homemade detergent in to make it easier to handle than the bucket. 

So here's is what you'll need:

2 empty washing detergent containers

2 gallon bucket

1/3 Fels-Naptha bar of soap

1/2 cup Arm and Hammer washing soda

1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

*optional laundry scent

All ingredients can be found in the laundry aisle of Walmart. 

Directions:

1.  Grate 1/3 bar of Fels-Naptha and place in a large pot, add 6 cups of water and heat until soap is melted. 

 

2.  Add 1/2 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup Borax, stir until dissolved. 

3.  Remove from heat, to the 2 gallon bucket add 4 cups HOT water.  Next add the soap mixture to bucket.  Stir.

4. Then add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water.  If desired add 1/2 to 1 ounce of scented laundry oil (I use Linen scented).  Stir. 

5.  Let sit about 24 hours to gel.  Stir it up again and using a funnel pour it in to empty detergent containers.  Now your homemade detergent is ready to use!

Make sure you shake the detergent well before each wash because it tends to separate. 

 

 

Gardening Goals of 2013

I enjoy setting goals for myself; spiritual, financial, physical, etc.  I believe it is important I continue that practice in order to 'grow' my gardening skills, excuse the pun please.  Last year one of my goals was to make "Garden Salsa" without purchasing any ingredients, save the spices.  I grew the tomatoes, onions, jalepenos and cilantro.  The cilantro was by far the most difficult for me, though I have had multiple people tell me how easy it is for them, huh.  I guess we all have our Achilles heel.

So without further ado...my 2013 Gardening Goals:

1. Make a salad with only organic, grow from seed veggies. 
2. Can a whole years supply of salsa, pasta sauce and chili tomatoes. 
3. Track and weigh my harvest so I can better estimate how much to preserve. (Freezing lightly breaded okra included!)
4. Grow and figure out how to cook an eggplant.  I read they like hot, dry weather so I guess that means they will LOVE Arkansas!

I am pleased to announce that as of tonight I have achieved Goal #1!

BEFORE

AFTER!

Healthy, totally organic, totally grown from seed by my own hand.

Succulent Table Arrangement

I have been wanting to do a succulent arrangement to put on the table on the deck.  I love the colors and textures of succulents and them seem pretty hard to kill (except if you overwater them).  So I stopped at the "home improvement place" and picked out 9 of my favorite succulents and a bag of cactus mix potting soil. 

I stuck with the arrangement motto that you need a "thriller, filler and a spiller". 

Pick a well draining bowl or container.

Fill it with cactus mix soil.

Then start adding the plants. 

I started by already having a plan laid out in mind.  I like to use the tallest plant in the center for my "thriller", then do my "fillers" opposite each other based on color and leaf shape.  Then I went back with the "spillers" and put them on the outer edge so they would grow out and hang down.  

Then I went back and added a few pebbles to provide extra support and cover any bare spots. 

 

I think it turned out beautifully.  Hopefully they will be happy outside all summer (Lord knows we never get much rain anyways) and this fall I'll bring it inside to live as a houseplant.