Thekla McDaniels

I wonder, what is the perceived value of a mouthwash in the first place?  Why might we need it, what is it supposed to accomplish?

Tereza Okava wrote:

Alder Burns wrote:magical herbal mouthwash....
The gist of it is good handfuls each of rosemary, thyme, calendula, echinacea, white oak bark or acorn meal, and smaller amounts of stevia, cayenne, and cinnamon.  Simmer all in a big pot of water for half hour or so and let cool.  Strain and mix with 30% minimum of strong alcohol (gin or vodka) and it will store at room temperature.  To use without adding alcohol, freeze in small containers, and thaw them at need and keep refrigerated.

I have made this several times and it is indeed magical!! I use what I have in the garden, replacing the astringent oak bark and echinacea with local alternatives. it smells, tastes and works great!

It would be helpful to know what makes this “magical”.  What benefits and effects does one experience from using it.  

I am concerned about the amount of alcohol.  How does this amount of alcohol affect the mouth’s beneficial microbes?

That is a remarkable plant! I have never heard of it before. Now I am thinking I want one.!

Julie, renewing your swales might not be necessary every year, depending on your conditions.  If you’re in a region that experiences “atmospheric rivers” then you might really want to maintain a “large” capacity… also true because of your clay, which I am guessing slows the infiltration process.

During a drought, you might be glad of the mulch in your swales, because it will slow the evaporation out of the soil.

It’s an opportunity to make a few theories and test them… clear some swales, and not others, and notice what happens to them.

I’m glad the distinction was made earlier that lye from ashes is different from sodium hydroxide.  Most (all that I know of except liquid or transparent soap recipes) are for sodium hydroxide.  Because soap recipes match numbers of hydroxide ions to numbers of fatty acids, substituting KOH for NaOH is not likely to provide the expected results.

I haven’t read the article posted above about soap from ashes, so my comments are not in relation to what is provided there.  How strong the ash leachate is will depend on how much water was run through how much ash.  I have read of concentrating the leachate until it float an egg, but not how much of which fat to add to what quantity of egg floating leachate.

I think soft woods also yield potassium leachates, maybe just not as rich a source per pound of ash.

I didn’t know about the potassium carbonate either.

Always a pleasure to learn something new!

I leached ashes one time.  Then concentrated the liquid and a crystal formed.  I had children at the time.  The crystal seemed quite dangerous to me because I thought if they held it in hand, the moisture from their skin could provide enough to burn them.  I disposed of it and bought NaOH.

I have since made a lot of soap.  I noticed that the lye solution DID corrode stainless steel… just a bit.  I switched to plastic buckets.

James Lucas wrote:Spotted Knapweek.  Prohibits the growth of most garden plants. After hand pulling for an hour, I have a bad taste of this plant in my mouth.  Wicked

But does it do other things besides covering the ground?

I have never grown it, but the rose “Frau Dagmar Hastrip” is renowned for the hips, large, numerous and flavorful.  

If you planted it outside of you tended garden, would it count as “wild”.

It is from the rugosa grouping of roses, which some grow in their pastures.

I look forward to hearing the results!

Timothy, so much variety in what can happen and what is likely to happen! Because I live in an arid climate, my bias would be to leave a foot or so of stalk to catch the snow and slow the wind, shade the soil because sunlight kills microbes. But if catching as much water on your garden plot is not one of your needs, nor slowing down the desiccating winds then I don’t know what other reasons there might be for leaving the stubs.

If you have a big enough space, and are so inclined, you can try various treatments. You could cut to the soil surface I guess that’s chop and drop, you could leave various lengths of stubble,  spread various mulches on the surface, the stalks would hold the mulch in place so it doesn’t get blown away. (Can you tell I have wind?) Next year, tell us all what differences you notice in those treatments.

John F Dean wrote:I caught a case of the stupids yesterday. I felt great and put in a long day. I did take a few breaks. My wife insisted I come in at dark. I wasn’t very happy about her messing up my workday, but I did comply.  I took a half hour nap, had supper and chilled for a couple of hours.  A little over 3 hours after came in side I took my pulse..it was 93.  For a baseline, normally it is 67 an hour after I get up in the morning. God only knows what it peaked at.

On the plus side, I got a hell of a lot accomplished.

🤣
I wonder how that compares to a “stress test”.

But from the empathy side, Great to get things accomplished!  And scary to have the pulse stay up!  
I wonder if what drove your pulse up and kept it up was something other than the physical work…. might even have been a contributing factor in the “stupids” attack.  We’re all different, so this may not apply to you, but many people do try to soothe an internal “unconscious“ feeling of conflict, worry, tension, unease, whatever by applying themselves to something physical and tangible, essentially choosing a context where they do have some control, and can see consequences to their efforts, and can experience satisfaction.

How did you sleep? And how’s your pulse this morning?