Independence Days Challenge, Trying Natural Dental Care Products

Lots of eggs = bread pudding!

Independence Days Challenge-

Crazy weather lately, warm then cold. One day was 48 in the morning, was 103 degrees a few days before that! Sunday was 100. Now another cooler front coming. Here's a little snapshot of things here-

1. Plant Something- Some perennials (pollinators), grasses and annuals near the new gate/fence-

Collard seeds in the bare area in front of the windmill

I started a lot of seeds this Spring inside in the grow light shelf unit- 

With 2 kinds of cukes, squash, Milkweed, Rainbow Echinacea (died so started seeds outside in a pot), Rainbow Zinnias, Marigolds.  Bought some others to fill in-

I put those Nasturtiums  in a planter with a windmill, since Lady Bird (First Lady Johnson) was from Texas. I thought she'd like it! I really admire her work, she founded the National Wildflower Research Center Wildflower.org More info also here- Ladybird Wildflowers

Lady Bird Nasturtiums from seed

We bought some 2 kinds peppers, Italian and Sweet Banana. Two kinds of cukes, slicing and Lemon. A tomato, in honor of Dave's lovely German mother Bette- "German Queen", a heritage variety. Never tried it! Start some collards from seeds, Swiss Chard from seed maybe-

Peppers and a tomato

"German Queen"

We planted a row of strawberries the first time we've tried this so far they look healthy now that they're out from under the grow light . I bought three strawberry plants that were from a heritage variety. Two of them died so I am hoping that the survivor will send out some runners, and we will be able to keep them going. I filled in with a local berry. 

With a lot of projects recently we are behind in planting the summer veggie garden. The weather was also pretty crazy too! Normally we would have everything planted before the 1st of June. We still have lots of room and we'll be buying the rest of the tomatoes soon. We're definitely having an issue with our maple tree, it's needing to be pruned more, way too much shade on the sunny area. In the spring will bite the bullet and have it pruned back some more-

Too much shade

 2. Harvest Something- Lots and lots of eggs! Chives and butter lettuce. Averaging 3 eggs per day. I made the bread pudding (above) with Challah bread, bittersweet chocolate chips and walnuts.  Oh man it was so delish!!! Creamy, crunchy and chocolate, what's not to love? 

 

3. Preserve/Store Something- Not yet, but peach, apple and pear trees are loaded this year! Hoping for more bumper tomato crops! 

Apples

Pears

Peaches

I was able to find some generic canning lids online at a pretty decent price. The U of Utah came out saying if you buy an off-brand check the seal every few months. I found some Kerr kids, not much over normal price online. I found some jars for sale at one of our local stores. They told me they had "lots and lots" and I got there, and there were four boxes, not "lots and lots"! I bought 2 boxes of one Qt. jars. Ironically I read that sometimes it's cheaper to just buy new jars than just the lids! These were $10.00 a box. 

 
4. Manage Reserves- Get a Good Deal/Barter/Stock Up/Prep- Just the usual Costco things lately. We had bought some curtains at Ikea a while back which were too long. So I measured, trimmed, hemmed and ironed them (3xs!). Then I realized they were really, really wrinkled still.  I had pre-washed them too. So I did research and  I bought a steamer! Great idea that worked really well and did not cost that much. At Costco got more Wild Brine fermented kraut, Turmeric (great for arthritis for me), TP.  Bought 2 big gallon pots of Basil for $6.00 at a local feed store. Split them up into 10 BIG plants.  The other were $4.00 for 1 plant! We finally used up all of our frozen pesto. Will make more this summer. 

Lots of Basil! 

 
5. Eat the Food- Try New Foods/Recipe- Working on the eggs. Will be making an angel food cake to go with some fresh berries. Nothing else that I can think of. 
 
6. Build Community Food Systems- A bit too early for farmer's market, but have been giving a neighbor some eggs.
 
7. Recycle/Re-Use- Dave scored some free yellow Irises, variety unknown, neighbor had a "free" sign with 2 big bags, Dave brought them home-

He planted them around the front yard for spring. Hopefully they'll survive. We re-used some fence posts we took down from our 6' high fence post repairs, and re-used the shorter sections for the new garden fence gate-

Last year I bought this French style hose reel at a thrift store for $8.00 story here Day Trip-

I had the idea to have upper section cut off or upcycle it some how. I finally remembered, we got it out and Dave cut it for me with a Sawzall blade. I laid the one piece on top of the pipe, will glue and paint to cover the rub marks. Some nice yard art with a French flair!  

 

8. Skill Up- Learned about how to plant Irises. Haven't grown them before. Interesting reading here on low seed germination rates!  5 Acres and A Dream A New Paradigm for Gardening & Seed Saving Fascinating since I thought I was the only one seeing this. 

 
9. Regenerate What is Lost/Salvage Something- The bees! Last post talked about our bee rescue! We heard they are doing well, queen is laying eggs, happy to have helped! We need bees if we want to eat. I should add- I know some are allergic to bees and may not feel the same way. That can be very scary.  And hoping my teeth will strengthen, more below. 

Trying Natural Dental Care Products-

After recently having a tooth pulled I was looking for something to strengthen my teeth. It's not an issues if you're 20, but for those of us who are bit older, we start thinking about keeping all our teeth! I also recently started using a spare Water Pic. Dave had gotten the kit at Costco which came with a travel size kit (see above).  Since our "master bathroom" is a 1/2 bath I didn't want to use the full size version. I realized I could use the small one! Works great!

                                                   

I have been using some great products already, like a Sonic Care toothbrush. I 've had mine for about 15 years or more. They last forever, just replace the heads every 3 months or so. We get our packs of replacement heads at Costco, since they sell by a 6-pack, much cheaper. The newer units are MUCH more expensive and wireless, which I have zero interest in buying! Luckily you can still buy the ones we use, works great and much, much cheaper! Amazon links or you can buy locally-

 

                                                  

I heard about these products and tried them. Here's my review so far, using for a month or more. I tried the paste first, with my Sonic Care turned off. Just used it like a regular toothbrush. It's a paste, just dip your brush. It is thick, not much flavor at first. The more I used it the saltier it got, sea salt being an ingredient. I spit well, rinsed with water and my teeth were clean and shiny!

 I did follow up with my regular paste to cancel the leftover taste. I think some people add essential oils to this. I might do more research. I used the re-mineralizing rinse next. Very mild flavor, the label warned it might be strong-

Used this next, okay, not needing the detox as much (hopefully!). My gums are super healthy, more worried about my teeth.

The kit I bought is out of stock, but this is the closest, comes with the tooth powder instead of the mouth wash, or you can buy individually. 

                                                          

I do floss daily, I love little dental pics, easy to keep in the car, on the desk, by my couch, cheap and effective!