By Marc @ GardenDesk
It is amazing how many gardening products, home and garden pest deterrent products and health and beauty products there are on the market today. Some of the products for sale work well I suppose, but most of them are a waste of money. Some products peddled to the masses have harmful chemicals in them, but others are secretly derived from natural components.
These are the products that I find most interesting because many of them have their origin in something our grandparents used to do. Many products underlying ingredients are herbs or other plants. This makes me want to research old fashioned home remedies that have been tossed out by modern society as, well, old fashioned. I’m finding that “old fashioned” does not mean “no longer valid” like society teaches today.
These are the products that I find most interesting because many of them have their origin in something our grandparents used to do. Many products underlying ingredients are herbs or other plants. This makes me want to research old fashioned home remedies that have been tossed out by modern society as, well, old fashioned. I’m finding that “old fashioned” does not mean “no longer valid” like society teaches today.
The category where this applies the most is probably in medicine. I know that “natural healing” is often dismissed as quackery, but I think there is quite a bit of wisdom in using natural remedies for common ailments. A small example is a natural wart-remover that I witnessed. I was amazed to see my wife tape a piece of potato on a wart. I was even more amazed when the wart disappeared! Do you know of other natural home remedies for common ailments?
Another category where old fashioned ways are usually better than new expensive products is gardening. This is the category that I am more knowledgeable in, but I have to admit that I am only recently learning the natural remedy for problems in the garden. Sure, organic gardening in general flies in the face of modern chemical aided gardening. I have written much about this in the past. I’m looking for more specific things. Possibly a good example is how I kept rabbits out of my first organic garden by spreading large amounts of human hair around the perimeter. Another example is with my current battle with slugs. Until I began fighting them, this was a common sight in my lettuce beds:
An easy remedy that most people know for getting rid of slugs is putting out shallow trays of beer. The slugs are attracted to the beer and then “drown” in it. Recently I read on a new garden blog that slugs won’t usually cross over crushed eggshells. Since we have lots of eggshells and no beer in our kitchen, I am trying this.
I got this idea from a blog that I just found called crazy organic gardening ideas and recipes. Lynn has dozens of posts about using natural or household items in the garden. There are some pretty creative ideas there.
I haven’t really listed many home remedies to use medically, in the garden or around the home, have I? That’s because I am pretty much a beginner with this. At first, I wasn’t going to write this post since I don’t personally have loads of information to share. After thinking about it a bit more, I decided to bring up the topic anyway.
Here’s where I need your help. I know that many of the readers here at Simple Green Frugal Co-op are experts in this area. Please help me finish this post by commenting and telling the other readers an example of how you use simple ideas or items to cure something, to rid a specific pest from the house or garden, or any other non-traditional cheaper alternative to modern products.
Thanks for the help. Together, we can come up with enough good-old-fashioned wisdom that would make our grandparents proud!
Keep Growing,
16 comments:
Comfrey and vinegar. Where would we be without them. Apparently vinegar kills weeds. I haven't tried it yet but love the idea as I have small dogs who love to nibble on grass. Just recently I've had a really itchy red scalp. Vinegar rubbed in solved that with the added benefit of giving my hair a lovely soft, shiny finish after it was washed off a day later. I know the comfrey jar (so much better if the ointment is brown than the white one!) says not to use it straight on open wounds but my family has been doing so for 30 odd years and anything (DEFINITELY not for burns) heals in half the time. Vinegar makes a great astringent for teenage skin as does calendula tea. I cut myself to the bone between my fingers once whilst using seccateursand used nothing but methylated spirits (did I scream? But of course!) to clean the cut. It healed within a week and didn't even leave a scar. I think vinegar would have done the trick also but there was none in the house. And any woman who has heavy bleeding or blood gushing out during her period should drink really strong tea, 2 teabags preferably, maybe a little milk but no sugar if possible. My mother was told this by an old bachelor who came from a farm but lived his last years in his stationwagon so that no one would find him dead in a house and have to cleanb up after him. Apparently tea coagulates while coffee thins the blood. Old wives tale but extremely effective. Share it and see the praise you get. It should work within half an hour or so.
I had a big problem with slugs in my garden last year. Since I don't keep beer either, I mixed little bowls of yeast and sugar water and it worked just as well. Something else I tried that worked also was, turning a half grapefruit rind upside down on the ground and leave it overnight. Pick it up the next day and there will be slugs inside. Hope this helps someone those slugs can really do some damage.
Cloves for toothache pain;
ginger for motion sickness;
lemon balm for cold sores
are a few that come immediately to mind.
If you have wasps, just fill a spray bottle with soapy water. One squirt usually drops them. It coats their wings. If there are many wasps or a nest, wait until evening when it's cooler and they are naturally much slower.
I've also killed weeds with vinegar. It works great on basic garden weeds but not for tougher noxious weeds like thistle. For those, get goats.
Of course, Aloe Vera for burns is one we all know. An aloe vera plant for the kitchen is a perfect housewarming gift.
ANyone got anything for voles in the garden?
We've been having some success this year with self-adhesive copper tape around our pots to deter slugs. We're growing lettuce, rocket and tomatoes and so far, so good (after about 8 weeks in the garden). Apparently the slugs get an electric shock from the copper, which deters them from crossing the barrier.
Honey and turmeric work to soothe so many ailments. A couple of them I use most often:
--Honey and turmeric powder mixed approximately 3:1 (honey to turmeric) for a cough/congestion, taken 3 times a day or as needed, particularly before bed.
--Honey and turmeric mixed approximately 2:1 rubbed on insect bites and stings as a poultice. I had a nasty sting and infection, and this did more to soothe me than anything else. And the swelling went down almost completely by the end of the day. Yogurt also works as a poultice, but I find the honey/turmeric more effective.
--Juiced ginger (with a tiny bit of water if needed), taken every morning (about 5 oz) helps immensely with stomach cramps/GI symptoms. Even when we don't have those problems, it is also taken as a maintenance/preventative. Eating a handful or two of toasted fennel seeds also has a positive effect.
These are the first that come to mind that I can translate - I wish I knew the names for more of the herbs/food/spice remedies we use often!
The first herb I learned about when I was a child, was chamomile. For insomnia, menstrual pain, teething in babies, agitation in adults and children,stomach ailments,etc. Be cautious with using this herb if you have allergies to ragweed as it may trigger a reaction. Otherwise, its one of the safest around and should be in every herbal medicine cabinet. Use this herb by the infusion method. Its nice to use as a facial toner too when diluted as it soothes skin.
I credit both my grandmothers who were herbalists for giving me a sound background in the subject, but please be aware that it can be a lifelong journey with no true end. Even the best herbalists enjoy learning from newcomers who have more to offer than they think they do.
About the slugs, other than the beer technique, are the other methods mentioned humane?In other words, do they kill the slugs too?
At the first sign of a sore throat we drink sage tea. Pick 10 sage leaves from the garden, wash them off, steep them in a quart of hot water for 10 minutes. It doesn't taste so great so we add a drink mix like Tang, whatever is on hand. This came from a Natural Remedies book my dad gave me and it stops the sore throat.
I've lived in areas with terrible slug problems, and the beer never worked for me. It attracted them, sure. But I didn't see them drown. Nor did the eggshells seem to deter them, sadly. I've moved on to diatomaceous earth, which isn't free or extremely cheap. But it works very well, is non-toxic, and is safe to use if you take normal precautions not to inhale it or get it in your eyes. It's cheaper at pool supply places than in gardening shops.
I always use the salt water that's leftover from making homemade ice cream to kill the weeds that grow up through the cracks in our brick walkway and small patio. I'll also throw any vinegar that's been used for cleaning on there. We still get weeds, but fewer of them now.
I'm trying using a ring of petroleum jelly on the bases of my sour cherry and apple trees to keep the ants from climbing up and down and farming aphids. Anyone have any luck with this one? Or any other suggestions?
I'm in Seattle and we have very robust and determined slugs. I priced that copper tape at the hardware store and it was wicked expensive - I ended up making my own tape with pennies. They are way cheaper, and they've worked really well - I have actual lettuce this year! And if I get really broke, I can raid the garden for cash. :)
Dryer fluff wound around the base of plants that the slugs like is working for me.
I use copper rings around my leafy greens to keep off slugs. I was given some by a friend in the UK, but have since made many more using some old copper sheeting (thin) my grandmother used to use for crafting. The copper gives them a kind of electric shock - it's a bit like a mini electric fence for your garden! And they can be re-used over and over again.
If you're interested you can see a pic of one
on my blog
Duct tape for warts. I used this on both of my kids. Just keep the wart covered and check it every so often, after a while the wart will sloth right off. Very effective and painless.
Vinegar takes the smarting out of a wasp sting; the sting is alkali and the acid of the vinegar neutralises it. For bee stings, use bicarbonate of soda as the bee sting is acid and the bicarb is alkali.
Sliced onion rubbed on a sting is analgesic. I once had a wasp sting and it really reduced the pain, but after pouring on vinegar and then onion, I smelled a bit like a pickled onion for a while, but it was worth it.
Teabags (black tea) for eye issues - sometimes ones eyes will stick together with "gunk" during a cold or allergy flareup....a teabag soaked in warm water and then placed upon the slightly opened eye will clear it right up. Our Lab has a "runny" eye - prescription meds were too expensive - so he gets a teabag eyebath on a regular basis....cleared up the eye.
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