Served with Yoghurt for Breakfast, eaten fresh by itself as a dessert
Can be eaten alone or with grilled sausages, fish, meat.
15 DAY SUMMERTIME COMPOST METHOD
INGREDIENTS
Size: 1m x 1m (compost will shrink by one third only.
Materials:
Two full wheel barrows of soil (any type)
Three full wheel barrows of greens (lawn clippings, flower heads and chopped herbs)
One full wheelbarrow of torn or shredded newspaper. Do not use colour leaflets.
Three full wheel barrows of manure. You can use a mixture of animal manures.
Two cups of used coffee grains.
METHOD
TURNING/MIXING/AIRING SEQUENCE
Compost is ready to use
HOME MADE POTTING MIX
Half wheel barrow of sifted compost. Mix in two large shovel loads of sand. Store in a container.
This is useful for seed raising and cuttings. The potting mix can be adjusted for
PLANTS THAT ARE VERY GOOD FOR COMPOST MAKING
Comfrey, yarrow, pineapple sage flowers, stinging nettle leaves, dandelion leaves, sow thistle. There are many more weeds, herbs and flowers that are beneficial. See my Companion Gardening book.
When preparing plants be sure to cut them into small pieces.
Don’t use any thick leaves or thick stalks.
FOOD SCRAPS AND LEAVES take longer to break down.
Give them to chickens or pigs or goats to eat and turning manure.
Potatoes have been respected and prized by our ancestors for centuries.
Somehow, humans knew that they had to eat potatoes in order to maintain a healthy wellbeing. Aware that the potato not only prevented hunger pains, but it provided physical energy to work and sustain long working hours and days.
Bad press in the modern world has made potatoes the vegetable that people love….. but hate because of ‘calories’. However, the role of the potato is to enhance your life force. Not to make you overweight.
There are more than one hundred varieties of potato worldwide. Each variety being specific to the self-reliant health needs of the inhabitants and their environment.
Nutritional Facts
No Fat, No Sodium
One cup of baked potato contains –
Vitamin B6 – 32% Vitamin B3 – 15% Copper – 22% Fiber – 14%
Potassium – more than a banana.
Manganese17%, Phosphorus17%
Vitamin. C. 45% of our daily needs.
Extra Nutritional Benefits of Purple Potatoes
Fruits and vegetables that are deep in the colour blue or purple, are rich in the antioxidant anthocyanin which is found in the powerful flavonoid family of antioxidants. The same as blueberries and pomegranates.
Potato Juice.
Juice can be stored in Fridge for 3 to 4 days.
Skin: Dab a little potato juice on wrinkles, acne and sunburn. Witness its magic working.
Weight Loss: one glass of potato juice speeds up weight loss. Add a little lemon juice for better absorption. You can also add ginger and carrot for flavour. Or, cucumber and celery with some fresh dill and/or parsley.
Eyes, dark circles/puffiness: Using a cotton ball, dab a little potato juice under the eyes. And/or lie down, place a thin potato slice on each eye for 15 – 20 mins. Remove slice and wipe the eyes with a dry cloth.
Detox Body Disease toxins: Cleans liver, treats arthritic disease, kidney disease, pancreas, diabetes,urinary disorders and some heart issues. Drink one glass of juice on rising and one before you go to bed at night.
Stomach ulcer/food toxicity: Combine potato juice with a carrot to calm, heal and flush out irritants.
Hair/ Itchy Scalp/ Hair Loss: After shampooing you hair, rinse in slightly diluted potato juice. It treats topical scalp issues. It makes hair shine and stimulates healthy hair growth.
Teeth/Gums: Use lukewarm, cooked salted potato water as a gargle to heal inflammations in the oral cavity and as a treatment for periodontitis.
Headaches: for hundreds of years headache sufferers have attached thick slices of potato to their forehead and or temples. It is known to soothe and dull the pain.
Burns: While cooking……… if you accidentally burn your fingers or hand…… quickly grab a potato. Attach a thick slice of potato to the burn. It will absorb the heat of the burn, help to prevent blistering and also help to heal the skin.
Warts: Gently rub with raw potato once a day until wart shrinks and disappears.
Hot and Cold compress to Ease Pain: Potatoes keep their temperature for a long time. Place either a thick slice or slices of hot potato or frozen potato slice/s in an old cotton sock. Use as a compress.
Skin Stains: Ink stains and food stains such as beetroot and turmeric can be rubbed off your hands and nails by cutting a potato in half and vigorously rubbing it on the stained area. Follow by rinsing the skin with lukewarm water and wipe dry.
In The Garden and in the Home
When you boil potatoes don’t add any salt to the water and don’t tip the water down the sink.
Here’ are some tried and true reasons why.
Tarnish and Cloudiness Remover: Place items in a bowl and let them soak in potato water for awhile. Rub with a dry cloth.
Window/Eyeglass Cleaner: Rub a raw potato over the window or eyeglasses, then wipe with a clean dry cloth.
Carpet Stains: Grate a potato and place shavings into a cotton sock. Let stand for 1 min. Then place the sock on the stain for 1 min. Then, use the sock to scrub the stain for a few minutes. Wipe carpet clean with a warm damp cloth.
Cleaner: Drain the salty hot water off the potatoes and use it to clean burnt pots. It also works on the burnt glass top of the stove. You can use it as a cleaning agent to wipe dull linoleum or vinyl floors — they will look like new.
Bread Making: Add potato water to dough mix. It will help bread to stay fresh longer.
Over Salting: If you realise while cooking, that you have over salted pasta water, soup or sauces …. throw in a few thick pieces of potato to absorb the extra salt. Discard when cooking is completed.
Shoes: Treat your old, comfortable pair of shoes to new life,. Rub over with a raw potato. Wipe off residue. Polish the shoes.
Strawberry Garden: Spray potato water over strawberry plants to prevent mildew.
Geraniums: Grate a medium size potato. Place shavings around the base of the flowering plant. It will provide nutrients. Cover the shavings with a little soil or light mulch.Aphids: Here is a great tip for how to control aphids organically and without using toxic sprays. Cook potatoes without salt, let the water cool down, put it into a sprayer, and spray the plants. It will keep the aphids away.
Rusty Garden Tools: Spread salt on a small plate. Cut a potato in half and dip the cut end into the salt. Rub on the rusty areas, rinse and wipe dry with a old piece of towelling cloth.
HOW STORE POTATOES
1. Potatoes should not be stored in the refrigerator, as their starch content will turn to sugar giving them an undesirable taste. Cooked potatoes will keep fresh in the refrigerator for several days. Potatoes do not freeze well. However if in a casserole, soup or stew base the potatoes will freeze for several weeks.
2. Do not store potatoes near onions, as the gases that they each emit will cause the degradation of one another.
3. They should be kept in a bag in a dark cool place that is below room temperature.
Mature potatoes stored properly can keep for several months. New potatoes are much more perishable and will only keep for one to two weeks.
Storing Harvested Potatoes
Do not wash the potatoes before storing. Use an old piece of towelling cloth to wipe off encrusted soil. Be gentle. Careful not to break the skin. Place in a cool dark place.
…………………IN THE GARDEN
ROOT POWDER
When taking plant cuttings use cinnamon to stimulate root growth.
Place a teaspoon of ground cinnamon powder on a plate or saucer. Dampen the base of the plant cutting and then gently roll in the cinnamon until coated. Using a pencil make a hole in the potting mix. Gently place the cutting into the hole. Cinnamon will encourage root development and help to prevent the plant cutting from rot and damping off disease.
SEED PROTECTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Cinnamon can help a seed to develop strong and protect it from damping off disease.
Toss the seeds in cinnamon powder before planting.
PLANT WOUNDS
Plant wounds occur through breakage or pruning. Use cinnamon powder to heal plant wounds. Dip a dry brush into cinnamon powder and gently paint ‘dry’ onto plant wounds. Or you can keep the cinnamon powder in a shaker bottle and shake over the wound area.
The cinnamon powder will treat plant infections and open cuts.
ANT REPELLANT
Ants don’t like to walk in cinnamon powder. If your plants are being attacked by ants try placing a thick layer of cinnamon around the plant. In addition you can spray your plant.
Place one part cinnamon to nine parts of warm water. Let it steep overnight. Strain into a spray bottle. The spray will also help with healing the plant.
ANTS IN THE HOME
Find the ant’s entry point. Sprinkle it with cinnamon.
MILDEW
Sprinkle with cinnamon powder. It will help to absorb odour and to kill of fungus.
Using milk on your compost and in your garden will probably come as a surprise to most. Upon closer inspection, however, it starts to make sense. The amino acids, proteins, enzymes and natural sugars that make milk a food for humans and animals are the same ingredients in nurturing healthy communities of microbes, fungi and beneficial bacteria in your compost and garden soil. Raw milk is the best, as it hasn’t been exposed to heat that alters the components in milk that provide a perfect food for the soil and plants, but any milk will provide nutrition and benefits. Using milk on crops and soils is another ancient technique that has been lost to large scale modern industrial agriculture.
Milk is a research-proven fungicide and soft bodied insecticide – insects have no pancreas to digest the milk sugars. Consequently milk will help protect your plants from insect attack.
The ratio can range from 100% milk to a 20% mixture with water, with no loss of benefits. Use as a spray on the compost and garden soil prior to planting, and as needed when insects appear. Spray directly on the insects and around the areas they inhabit. When combined with molasses, it becomes a highly beneficial soil drench. A proven solution is 20% milk – 1 cup of milk to 4 cups of water, or 2 cups milk to 8 cups water for larger gardens.
Who knew that something as simple as milk and molasses had such powerfully positive, far-reaching effects?
GARDEN SOIL / COMPOST
Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane or sugar beets into sugar. It is a source of calcium, magnesium, potassium, and iron; one tablespoon provides up to 20% of the recommended daily value of each of those nutrients.
Molasses is a very valuable addition to the compost pile, as well as to the garden itself.
Use 1/4 cup molasses mixed with 1 cup of milk. Add to two litres of water and spray onto the compost pile or garden……………..add to the drip system for the garden.
POOR or stressed soils will need a stronger mixture.
SNACKS for plants that need a little boost, add 1/4 cup molasses to a watering can and fill with water. .
The microbial activity will skyrocket.
CINNAMON
…………………IN THE GARDEN
ROOT POWDER
When taking plant cuttings use cinnamon to stimulate root growth.
Place a teaspoon of ground cinnamon powder on a plate or saucer. Dampen the base of the plant cutting and then gently roll in the cinnamon until coated. Using a pencil make a hole in the potting mix. Gently place the cutting into the hole. Cinnamon will encourage root development and help to prevent the plant cutting from rot and damping off disease.
SEED PROTECTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Cinnamon can help a seed to develop strong and protect it from damping off disease.
Toss the seeds in cinnamon powder before planting.
PLANT WOUNDS
Plant wounds occur through breakage or pruning. Use cinnamon powder to heal plant wounds. Dip a dry brush into cinnamon powder and gently paint ‘dry’ onto plant wounds. Or you can keep the cinnamon powder in a shaker bottle and shake over the wound area.
The cinnamon powder will treat plant infections and open cuts.
ANT REPELLANT
Ants don’t like to walk in cinnamon powder. If your plants are being attacked by ants try placing a thick layer of cinnamon around the plant. In addition you can spray your plant.
Place one part cinnamon to nine parts of warm water. Let it steep overnight. Strain into a spray bottle. The spray will also help with healing the plant.
ANTS IN THE HOME
Find the ant’s entry point. Sprinkle it with cinnamon.
MILDEW
Sprinkle with cinnamon powder. It will help to absorb odour and to kill of fungus.
Egg shells contain 39% calcium carbonate
Boiled Eggs
Cooking boiled egg? Don’t forget to save the water. During the cooking procedure, calcium leaches out of the shell. Making this a first rate calcium fixative for ailing plants. So…… cook the eggs and drain. Being sure to keep the water. Let it cool and then apply to calcium deficient plants.
Slugs: broken egg shells scattered close to the stem of a plant can prevent slug damage due to the sharp edges of the shell.
Ants: Crush egg shells and place a thick layer close to the stem of a plant. It will help reduce ant trails up and down the plant. You can also stir a few drops of vegetable oil into the crushed shells.
The oil adds an additional problems for the ants.
GARDEN
Compost: Crushed egg shells provide a good source of nutrients to the compost heap.
Seedling Pots: Wash the egg shells in warm water. Blow dry. Sit the shell in an egg box. Fill shells with potting mix. Add a seed or plant cutting. Egg shell pots can be planted directly into the garden. The shell will prevent the plant from root eating grubs. As the shell breaks down it will provide nutrients for the plant and condition the soil too.
Blossom End Rot: is often caused by calcium deficient soil. Add dry crushed egg shells to the soil. The shell breaks down quickly.
Blossom End Rot Treatment: Add one tablespoon of dried powdered egg shell to one tablespoon of white vinegar. Let it sit for 30mins. It will foam up as the vinegar is neutralised by the shell. Add 5 litres of water and stir. Use for Tomatoes, Zucchini, Melons, Squash and Peppers.
Potted Plants: Place a layer of crushed egg shells under the top soil of the pot. Water in. The shell will help with the growth and nutrition.
Tomato Food: Crush or powder the dry egg shells and sprinkle around tomato plants and cover with a sprinkling of potting mix, compost or mulch.
Super Citrus Food: Eggs shells and Coffee grounds – Scatter two handful of finely crushed eggs around the stem of the citrus tree. Then scatter two handfuls of coffee grains around the tree. Using your fingers lightly rake into the soil. Water in.
HOME AND HEALTH
Irritated, Swollen, Acne or Itchy Skin.
Mix quarter cup of powdered egg shell with half cup vinegar in a jar with a lid. Seal and let stand for two days. Drain off vinegar. Tip the egg paste into a bowl. Add a little milk. Apply twice daily to treat skin condition. Whitening Clothes
Powdered eggs sells can be place into a gauze bag. fastened, and put in the wash to make clothes brighter.
Pet Food:
Mix a tablespoon of egg shell powder with pet food for the health of their bones and coat.
DRYING EGGS SHELLS
Rinse the egg shells. Place in a baking dish. Place in oven heated 180degrees or 160 fan force. Usually takes fifteen to thirty minutes. When the shell is dry, the process of crushing and powdering is made easier.
Rich in nutrients that condition soil, feed hungry plants and correct plant health
SLOW RELEASE NUTRIENT FOR POTTED PLANTS
For Vitamins and Minerals over a four to six month period.
One banana skin cut into small pieces.
Add a little potting mix to the pot.
Scatter banana skin on top of the potting mix.
Cover with a thick layer of potting mix.
Add plant and top up with potting mix.
Water well.
GARDEN FOOD
Use Banana skins in garden beds to feed vegetables, flowers and fruit trees.
Prepare the garden bed for spring by digging in banana skins in winter.
Cut banana skins into quarters.
Dig a narrow hole approx. 25cm deep. Add Banana skins and cover with soil.
Water well.
BANANA LIQUID FERTILISER
Place two to three banana skins in a bucket water. Cover. Stand in a shaded area for two to four days. Drain. Add rotted skins to a fruit tree and cover lightly with straw.
Dilute one part banana fertiliser with five parts water. Suitable for flower beds, vegetables, berries and fruits.
DRIED BANANA SKIN FERTILISER and ANIMAL WELLBEING
Dry banana skins in a slow oven for about one hour. Check that they are dry. If not, continue oven drying. In a blender, grind the skins to powder. Store in a sealed container.
To use: Sprinkle around the plants, then water. Or sprinkle over a garden bed and lightly turn the soil.
Animal Health: Add dried banana peel powder to chicken, duck and pig feed.
FOLIAR SPRAY
Medium to Large Spray Bottle.
Dry one banana skin and four egg shells. Then grind into powder. Add one tablespoon of Epsom salts. Top up with water. Shake to dissolve. Spray plants that are looking unhealthy or drained of energy.
FRUIT FLY TRAP: Place a sealable plastic bag filled with banana peel. Leave the bag open. Place securely in a forked branch of a fruit tree. Check every 30mins. When you see the fruit fly, seal the bag quickly and throw it away.
BLUEBERRY AND STRAWBERRY TONIC
Place two large fresh banana peels in a large jar with a lid. Add enough water to cover the skins. Lightly screw on the lid. Stand for one week so that the bacteria can do its work.
Next Step: Remove the peel and give it to a fruit tree. Put the lid back on the jar and stand for an additional four to five weeks. Water will turn white as it converts to vinegar.
When using, add tonic plus one cup of water to a small watering can. Stir to mix. Use
immediately.
HUMAN HEALTH and WELLBEING
HOUSEHOLD
*CD Scratches: rub scratches in a circular motion with the soft white portion of the banana skin.
Wipe dry, in a circular motion with a clean lint free cloth.
