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.

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?

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

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: 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.

Re: Basil

[(Anonymous)]

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

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: 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: 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: 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: 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.

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.

Re: How do you get rid of laundry lint?

[methylethyl]

Yeah, if you have access to a dryer, that's maybe the only way to get the lint off of stuff when it's already on there! Maybe even throw in some of those wool balls.

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.

Re: On the Benefits of Castor Oil

[methylethyl]

Used to be one of the main agricultural crops in my area, which means they'll tolerate some pretty poor soil conditions.

But I understand they are also quite poisonous, and need special handling, so... make sure you know what you're doing before attempting that!

Re: On the Benefits of Castor Oil

[methylethyl]

Here's a link with the rundown on ricin, the toxin contained in castor beans:

https://www.gardenmyths.com/castor-bean-plants-poisonous/

So, they really are toxic, you really do need to process them properly, but you have to be pretty careless to accidentally poison yourself with them.

Just don't eat the beans.

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: 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.

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: Beer and Cider Brewing

[prayergardens]

Interesting! I already do the same with Apple Cider Vinegar and just pour the dregs into a new bottle even if there isn't a perfectly shaped mother.

It does seem like hard cider is the lowest entry barrier to brewing. Do you buy juice or cider or press your own?

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: Clothes hangers for clips

[randomactsofkarmasc]

That is an excellent idea!!!