Frugal Friday

[ecosophia]

Welcome back to Frugal Friday! This is a weekly forum post to encourage people to share tips on saving money, especially but not only by doing stuff yourself. A new post will be going up every Friday, and will remain active until the next one goes up. Contributions will be moderated, of course, and I have some simple rules to offer, which may change further as we proceed.

Rule #1:  this is a place for polite, friendly conversations about how to save money in difficult times. It's not a place to post news, views, rants, or emotional outbursts about the reasons why the times are difficult and saving money is necessary. Nor is it a place to use a money saving tip to smuggle in news, views, etc.  I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #2:  this is not a place for you to sell goods or services, period. Here again, I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #3:  please give your tip a heading that explains briefly what it's about.  Homemade Chicken Soup, Garden Containers, Cheap Attic Insulation, and Vinegar Cleans Windows are good examples of headings. That way people can find the things that are relevant for them. If you don't put a heading on your tip it will be deleted.

Rule #4: don't post anything that would amount to advocating criminal activity. Any such suggestions will not be put through.

With that said, have at it!

Comments

Zucchini or Courgette?

[(Anonymous)]

My good friend Pete Polyank who I do Imaginary Stations with (alongside our host with the most DJ Frederick) blogged up some pics I sent him of my garden, specifically the zucchini, corn, green beans, and the volunteer squash we have in our compost. Pete blogs on gardens, music and radio, all things I love. You can check out it out here. We are doing pretty good for our small yard. We have pumpkins in the front, potatoes in container and hot peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant coming up. Arugula is on our plates, and I'll be planting some things for fall. Also our garlic planted last fall turned out real good... but here are a few pics and a song.

https://weedsuptomeknees.uk/2024/07/12/you-say-zuchinni-we-also-say-courgette/

Peace, and happy harvests to all. This is one of our most ambitious years yet in the garden.

Justin Patrick Moore

Hand crank spice grinder

[claire_58]

Does anyone have a recommendation for an efficient hand grinder for herbs and spices? I need one that is suitable for doing high volumes. The modern ones seem to be designed to make you wish you had bought the electric version.
I have a variety of options for quick grinding small amounts and I have a surabachi for seeds. I need something that can be cleaned between uses. I'm making onion and garlic powder and grinding things like dried chilies, paprika, and rosemary for pre-made seasoning s and spice mixes.

Re: Hand crank spice grinder

[slclaire]

I have been looking for the same thing. My husband, who likes coffee, has a small collection of hand-cranked coffee grinders that at their best are pretty good (at their worst, not worth bothering with). I wonder if a hand-cranked coffee grinder might work? It would have to be new, however; I don't think coffee oils can be completely removed from anything used to grind coffee beans.

Basil

[(Anonymous)]

Does anyone have tips on keeping a basil plant green and lush? No matter the soil I use or amount of sun I give mine, they seem to go yellow and bolt very quickly, unlike the rest of my herbs. Any advice?

Re: Basil

[(Anonymous)]

I use blood meal on my basil and it really greens the plants up. I still have to pinch flowers though.

Re: Basil

[methylethyl]

Like the rest of my plants, I feed them coffee grounds and make sure they're getting enough water and have sufficient root space. If the pot is too small, they'll bolt.

Not that I'm an expert: I have a recurring problem with thrips getting mine! But I have acquired some african variety of basil that seems to be immune.

Re: Basil

[claire_58]

If they are going yellow it's most likely they need nitrogen. The are a lush leafy plant they need very rich soil. Most herbs just don't care but basil is fussy.

Re: Basil

[randomactsofkarmasc]

Yellow can sometimes be caused by letting the soil stay wet.

Re: bolting, I have learned that when the stems start to form buds, I prune it down at least three leaf pairs. I dry those leaves (or sometimes leave one set on, and use the cutting to root a new plant). That seems to keep mine from bolting.

Re: Basil

[(Anonymous)]

Water the plant and then give it a drink of human urine diluted half and half with water. keep pinching the flower buds off. Mine are doing fine under this care.
Maxine

On the Benefits of Castor Oil

[(Anonymous)]

There are many benefits to castor oil for our low tech first aid kits. I've had success in using it to treat warts on my hand, but you have to be consistent and put it on a few times a day. In addition, it can be used for relief of irritating personal issues on personal parts.

Here are a few resources for its many uses:

https://www.oneagorahealth.com/30-outstanding-castor-oil-uses-and-benefits.html

https://www.purelyrootednutrition.com/post/the-magic-of-castor-oil-packs

And for that sensitive area:

https://www.medfin.in/blog/general-surgeries/piles/castor-oil-for-piles/

https://www.auromere.com/blog/ayurvedic-properties-of-castor-oil/

https://www.inspiremobilept.com/post/use-of-castor-oil-to-benefit-pelvic-wellness

Re: On the Benefits of Castor Oil

[(Anonymous)]

On the subject of castor oil plants.

In Australia, they grow as a weed along the sides of rivers and streams quite frequently, they grow into tall forests that I imagine would be a decent source of raw material for anyone who wants to try and make castor oil themselves.

J.L.Mc12

Re: On the Benefits of Castor Oil

[(Anonymous)]

I had problems with piles for pretty much my entire life, going back even to childhood (I suspect seed oils as the cause), and the one thing I've found, after trying everything I could find mention of over the decades, was peppermint oil. Because it's a vasorestrictor, basically. I found quercetin helped me diagnose the problem, as I was taking that for a couple of months early during the covid madness, and I noticed the piles got a lot better...which led me to realise the problem was inflammation, so I changed my diet to avoid seed oils and white flour, and made an ointment using peppermint, and I've been massively better since. Not cured, but not in pain, and I was getting to the stage where every other day I was in pain, so it's a big difference.

How do you get rid of laundry lint?

[teresa_from_hershey]

How do you get rid of laundry lint?

Since being forced to use a high-efficiency washer (#2 because they don't work nearly as well as the older machines and because a bobby pin killed my Kenmore), I've discovered that our clothes come out of the washer caked with lint.

Apparently, the issue is that I use a clothesline instead of a dryer. The high-efficiency machines DEMAND you run them through a dryer not just to dry the clothes, but to remove the lint. Older machines that used plenty of water rinsed most of it away, down the drain.

Some very old machines (my mother had one for decades) had a built-in lint filter that you cleaned after every load of wash. It was amazing how much crud it picked up and kept out of your plumbing.

What do you do? I've got a lint brush, a lint roller, I empty pockets, I bought those little mesh cones that are supposed to float around in the machine but those only work in old-style washers that use huge quantities of water.

I run the "wash the machine" function monthly with a gallon of cleaning vinegar and always let it air-dry between uses. If I see lint inside the drum, I remove it.

Any suggestions? I really don't want to buy yet another washer.

Re: How do you get rid of laundry lint?

[methylethyl]

I dry everything on the line, and have dealt with this, but don't have a high efficiency machine, so not sure if it applies.

I am crazy OCD about sorting laundry, and very very particular about what order it goes in. Specifically to avoid the lint problem. So, first, there are certain kinds of things I simply won't own because they are so terrible to wash: those synthetic chenille fuzzy blankets are horrors. I live in a hot climate, so we don't do sweaters. I do have wool socks for winter, but that's the fuzziest thing that goes into the wash. Avoid fuzz when possible. I don't own any flannel, and that might warrant its own category.

Then, these categories:

1) Things that shed lint: towels, washcloths, dishrags, kitchen towels, rugs, blankets.

2) Things that don't shed lint, but aren't ruined if lint gets on them: sheets, pillowcases, light socks, underwear, light-color T-shirts.

3) Denim: doesn't get washed with other things. It sheds a little lint, but mainly it beats up the other clothes and wants to keep separate.

4) Moderately dark clothes. Stuff that is maybe bright green, medium blue. Plus dark socks, and any dark colored underclothes. If it gets a wee bit of lint on it, it's probably OK.

5) Dark clothes that absolutely cannot get lint on them or they're ruined. Dress slacks, dress shirts, work uniforms, church dresses and skirts, mostly dark blue, dark green, purple, or black.

These categories are each their own separate loads, and I wash laundry sequentially in that order, so that the linty stuff goes first, and then progressively less linty, and by the time I get to dark clothes, if there's a major lint problem in the washer, I know about it, and I can hold off on those until it's resolved. But this almost never happens. Whatever lint the towels left, has worked its way out of the system by the time I get to the dark clothes.

Re: How do you get rid of laundry lint?

[mistyfriday]

If you have access to a truck I'd suggest watching Craigslist until an old Kenmore comes up. I see them come up fairly often, almost always for free, usually with the requirement you take the dryer too.

Another option is to run the line dried clothes through the dryer on the no heat setting. It'll beat most of the lint off.

Re: How do you get rid of laundry lint?

[slclaire]

We have a high efficiency washer, but not a Kenmore after the Kenmore high efficiency washer threw a rod only 5 or so years in. For the past 15+ years our Frigidaire high efficiency washer has worked perfectly. It does not leave lint on our clothes even though I dry them on a rack for most of the year. But it may be that it works so well because it's older. It's quite possible that quality of all HE machines has deteriorated since then.

Re: How do you get rid of laundry lint?

[michele7]

I have an HE washer also and find running it on the deep water setting gets rid of the lint better.

Re: How do you get rid of laundry lint?

[kallianeira]

1) wash everything on "delicates" aka gentle cycle. Spin again if necessary.

2) light and dark things in separate loads.

Re: How do you get rid of laundry lint?

[teresa_from_hershey]

Thanks to everyone!

I forgot to mention that my washer is a "Commercial Technology" Maytag (whatever that means) high-efficiency washer.
I also forgot to mention that I routinely use the deep fill option AND I use the extra rinse cycle. Always.

And I still get lint.

I didn't think about Bill's beloved fleece sweatpants as probably being the culprit when I wash our darks.

I wash laundry (mine and Bill's; the kids are old enough to do their own and hang it up on the line so I don't do their laundry) on a schedule:

Every other Monday: our sheets and bathroom towels.
Every Tuesday: our whites, kitchen linens, pjs, more towels if needed.
Friday: our darks. In the summer, they amount to a load every other week because we reuse clothes and we wear less in the summer. In the winter, it's weekly.

I'm not fanatical about sorting other than cleaning out pockets. But perhaps I should be!

I sometimes wash rugs and couch blankies. Washing a couch blankie (with cat hair) must be my issue when I toss it into the Tuesday load.

I'm trapped between trying to be efficient with my laundry and not running more loads than I must and washing problem items separately.

Thanks again to everyone!

Beer and Cider Brewing

[degringolade]

I am sipping some cider which is fermented using the bottom yeast dregs from a bottle of the previous month's batch of cider. Pour the cider into a glass except for the last inch or so, swirl it up so that the yeast in the bottom of the bottle is re-suspended, and pour it onto the fresh batch. It takes an extra day for the fermentation to get going is the only difference

A lot of folks buy a fresh sachet of yeast from the homebrew store for every batch

In my mind and taste buds, this works every bit as well. A sachet costs >$5.00. The dregs of last batch is free(ish).

Re: Beer and Cider Brewing

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you very much - I brew and thought the stuff at the bottom was dead yeast! I will try this and report back.

can tabs for clothes hangers

[randomactsofkarmasc]

I had seen pictures like this: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/42/ce/83/42ce833e32b5dc6614c94991933f5669.jpg, saying you could use a soda can tab to be able to double-hang your clothes hangers. Well, I don't drink soda, but I thought perhaps the tabs from cat food cans would work. They do! I use pliers to bend the lid back and forth until the tab comes off and then use the pliers to bend any extra metal that is left sticking to the tab. If you can double (or triple) hang some of your hangers, it makes the closet rod less crowded.

Clothes hangers for clips

[methylethyl]

My brother showed me a fun one: when you end up with those plastic clippy pants-hangers from the store (some stores take them off at the register, others don't), you can use a wire cutter or tin snips to cut the clips off. They are usually pretty tough and quite handy-- I use them for reclosing bags in the kitchen.

Living like it's 1940

[michele7]

I'd like to give a shout out to blogger gDonna. She and her husband are an older couple who study history by living like the period they are studying. Currently they are living like it's 1940. She gives an interesting perspective to living in the "olden times". There are some things they haven't given up like AC, but she describes packing away some of their modern items. Her blog is a very soothing read.

https://gdonna.com

Re: Living like it's 1940

[(Anonymous)]

Yes indeed, this is a soothing blog to read!

I was born in 1956 in Quebec and many of these things were still being used by some of my older relatives.

When we moved to the US, we first lived in western Pennsylvania, then to West Virginia. It was the same story; older people still used many of these things and methods for keeping house. Thanks for recalling some sweet memories to me.

Annette

[claire_58]

A big thank you to Atmospheric River for writing about baking in a solar oven on the last FF forum.
I've had a solar oven for a few years now but I've never baked in it. We roast meats and reduce tomatoes mostly. I have made salmon loaf and meatloaf in it but have been hesitant to risk a cake or bread.
Today I made the leap. I made pumpkin loaf with last year's frozen pumpkin. I preheated the oven and then just hung around using my nose to check the progress. When I finally just had to have a peek it was close enough to done and I closed things up quick enough that it didn't fall! Yay!

Many thanks.

sounds great

[(Anonymous)]

sounds great, and you didnt even need to heat up the house.

Recipes: Solar Oven friendly, hardboiled eggs, grains, au gratin potatoes

[(Anonymous)]

Hard Boiled eggs:

Take the top off a paper egg carton, keep this around to cook the eggs in. I did 4 eggs today, earlier in the day when the Sun Oven was consistently 325'F, and I forgot to set a timer, but my intention was 35 minutes. I think I went a bit longer as when they cook longer than needed, they get a slight overcooked coloration at one end. They still taste great like this, just what happens when I lose track of stuff. I put them into a bowl of cold water when I brought them in to cool quicker as I knew they were in there longer. I am going to make deviled eggs to have around for 2 meals. Here is a You Tube video from the Sun Oven guy, but normally you do not cook them as long as he is doing, but he is on a cloudy day and doing 2 dozen at once. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf1By0DRR6s

I then made quinoa for having a cold tabouli salad this week, I have been making it with quinoa lately. Rinse 1 cup of quinoa in water. Then put in dark enamalware pot with 2 cups of water, put into Solar oven. On the stove this takes 15 minutes after the water comes to a boil, in theory, but often a little more. The Sun Oven was cooler, I believe it was 45 minutes or so. I used the clear glass lid on the pot, so I could see once the water was all taken up. Other grains cook great in the solar oven, and with stacking pots you can have the grain cooking as well as another pot of a main dish or side

Au Gratin Potatoes, Betty Crocker CookBook

I will have this tonight with steamed brocolli from the garden. This is 1 1/2 hour in the oven, depending on temp in oven, I will add the pot with brocolli to the sun oven as the second stacked pot once the au gratin potatoes are close to done.

Saute in enamel ware pot (you can put in the sun oven and it will saute while you get the rest of the recipe ready, cheese grated, potatoes sliced):
1 chopped onion
1/4 cup butter until onion is tender

(While that is cooking, slice 2 pounds, about 6 potatoes,or 4 cups), grate 2 cups cheese, set aside)

add to pot: 1T flour
1t salt
1/4t pepper

cook over low heat until mixture is bubbly
Stir in:
2 cups milk
2 cups grated cheddar cheese

heat to boiling stirring constantly, boil and stir one minute

Take off heat add potatoes, stir to coat sprinkle with paprika

Bake at 325'F for 1 hour 20 minutes

Atmospheric River

Re: Recipes: Solar Oven friendly, hardboiled eggs, grains, au gratin potatoes

[(Anonymous)]

This is what happens when I keep getting interrupted while Im typing a post. You take the top off the paper egg carton and keep the bottom part to hold the eggs while they cook in the solar oven. It holds them so they dont roll around and break and it also keeps them from getting scorch marks from touching metal

Hatching Eggs

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Everyone,
I just saved $255 Canadian by hatching 17 Buff Orpington eggs. This is a rare breed of chicken so the chicks cost $15 each and have to be flown into British Columbia from Alberta where the hatchery is. I feel good about saving the fuel and for not stressing the chicks out. They are about three weeks old now and doing great.

The hens will replace the oldest hens in our flock and be ready to lay next spring. The cockerels will be raise for roasting. All the birds will be fed lots and lots of garden greens and tasty weeds such as dandelions. This makes their eggs and meat very nutritious and the birds love their salads.
Maxine
PS I got the incubator from a friend for doing some gardening work for him.

Re: Hatching Eggs

[(Anonymous)]

I love buff Orpingtons. ANd one of your new hens should turn out to be a broody hen, then they can raise their own in the future, which is even more energy saving, both for electricity for brooder lamp and also for your work cleaning up after them

Atmospheric River