Water and Health

I have issues with water. My mothers home, located in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, has a well. An amazing well! It is spring fed and the water has a mild natural carbonation.Makes the best lemonade and Kool-Aid EVER! After I moved out on my own, I missed that water so much! I have lived in various places since then, but no place had water as naturally sweet and delicious.
Here in El Paso, the water is heavily treated. Highly chlorinated and of course, fluoridated.Average city water.
Soon after my arrival, I began having bouts of heartburn. Bleh. Up and down all night with heartburn. As the months went on, it got worse.
About two weeks ago, the fella came home with presents for me and the kids.
Individual Brita water bottles. They have a little filter in them that takes out chlorine and fluoride and a lot of other stuff and you get to drink fresh, clean , non-chemical water.
I started using mine and low and behold, my heartburn has vanished. Yesterday, just to see what would happen---I drank tap water instead of using my bottle.
My heartburn came back with a vengeance!
I am back on my Brita bottle!
Other effects noticed...the girl had been having stomach problems as well. The switch to the Brita bottle has cleared those up. My son had been having severe headaches. Again, the switch to the Brita bottle cleared that up.
ALL of us are feeling better...and I don't think it is psychosomatic!
If you have been having any little *nit-picky* type discomforts with your stomach or digestion, or maybe aches, pains and/or headaches that you can't figure out the cause of---it might be worth the expense and effort to grab a Brita bottle, or any other decent water filter bottle. Maybe even get a filter for your sink faucet.
Try it and see!
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I have another blog that I use to whine and b*tch and generally air my grievances or give political, etc. opinions. Not a lot of posts, but it exists to give me a place to *vent* when I am annoyed at the world and sometimes, specific individuals in it. Sometimes the language can be harsh, sometimes a twisted post ends up there. I think when life is not all peaches and cream, we all need a place to vent! I guess there are so few posts because I am usually pretty content and happy!
Anyway, I post under Lambykins . Don't read unless you can handle a bit of harsh language!

Garden Planning and My Seeds

The bulk of my seed order arrived in the mail.
Here's what I have from Bakers Creek:
Garden Pea (Lincoln)
Tomato (Ananas Noire)
Lettuce (May Queen)
Leek (Bulgarian Giant)
Carrot (Danvers 126 Half Long)
European Mesclun Salad Mix
Arugula
Snow Pea (Golden Sweet)
Tomato (Amish Paste)
Tomato (Black Cherry)
Cucumber (Delikatesse)
Pepper (Emerald Giant)
Black Bean (Cherokee Trail of Tears)
Watermelon (Royal Golden)
Watermelon (Cream of Saskatchewan)
Seeds I ordered on ebay:
Basil (Italian Large Leaf)
Winter Squash (Buttercup)
Endive (Green Curled Ruffled)
I also have seeds saved from last year:
Michihli Cabbage (A type of Napa Cabbage)
Extra Dwarf Pak Choy (Bok Choy)
Kale (Blue Curled Scotch)
Daikon Radish (Chines White Winter)

I also have some squash seeds saved from a wonderful winter squash a neighbor grew and gave us...yummy to the extreme. I have no idea what the name of the squash is, I just know it is round, kinda squat, and is blue and grayish in coloring.

Because I am gardening in a desert region, my garden planning has to be pretty specific in terms of water, shade, etc.
I found out last year that the soil here is not very good for seed germination/growth/gardening.
So, I spent a good part of the last week calling around to find out how much places here charge for decent topsoil. Some were not too bad, others made my hair stand on end! And you don't even want to know what the delivery charges were like! Fortunately, a neighbor lets us borrow his pick-up for our *farm jobs* (and I am glad, because while transporting the goats in my Darlin' Mans classic Mercedes would have been funny, it wouldn't have done much for the upholstery!).
The wind here is dry. VERY dry. It sucks all the moisture out of the soil so fast it is surprising to me! So, wind breaks will be in order, as well as mulch to hold in moisture.
We will be doing raised bed gardening, it is the only thing that will work here.
But I will HAVE to have some type of *bottom* in my raised beds, as the under-soil will suck down every drop of water as fast as it can. I am thinking of using tarps under the beds, up behind the beds (they are beside a chain link fence), and then, I can also use the same tarps on frames to provide shade...bottom, wind-break and shade in one!
Also, I need to line the bottom with some sort of material that will *hold* moisture for the plants when their roots grow. I am thinking peat moss, combined with the compost/straw mix from the goat pens.
I will be growing some of the plants in containers...I have oodles of containers! Whoever lived here before us had loads of them, our neighbors that have moved gave us many, so I have 30 to 40 large (5 gallon size and up) containers! Many of them perfect for herbs, salad greens and such.
So, tonight I sketched out a basic garden plan that I will hone and tweak as my seeds sprout (I will be starting my seeds tomorrow).
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Patches the goat has not given birth yet. I am beginning to think that perhaps (despite what the vet says) that she is merely a rotund, overweight goat, and not pregnant at all!
Gabrielle the goat is weaning Geordi, but is giving us about a quart and a half of sweet, creamy milk a day!
The hens are laying eggs like they do it for a living! Five to nine eggs a day now!(That's collectively, not individually!)
Red the rooster is his normal psychotic self. :-D He seems to be a bit happier since I ordered the waterer from Livestock Concepts on ebay a couple weeks ago.
Here's the one I got:
Chicken Water Fountain
They had a free shipping deal, plus the price was cheaper than I could buy it locally, so I figured I'd go for it.
It is working out real well, and now I don't have to tote water to the coop 3 times a day...less encounters with Red equals less stress on me (and the broom!). No, I don't get anything from the folks at Livestock Concepts (well, except for the catalog they sent with my order), just wanted anyone out there with chickens to know about a Good Thing.
The tabletop project is...progressing. Tiles and grout done...HOWEVER, the OMB the fella and I got is apparently not quite up to the task as it seems to be warping a bit. I need to reinforce the base somehow and am going to work on it tomorrow to see if I can come up with a solution.

Hoping everyone out there will go to sleep dreaming of carrots and lettuce, peppers and tomatoes, beans and squash...just like I will! May all our gardens be bountiful this year!

Big Red vs Me: Round One

Big Red is our rooster.
A magnificent fowl, he is the epitome of the barnyard rooster found in childrens books. Beautiful feathers, a crow that can be heard blocks away and totally protective of his *girls*.
One problem...Red was bred to be a fighting rooster. Yes, cock-fighting is illegal, but not in Mexico and we are so close to the border that those sort of things drift across with the immigrants.
So, Red was bred to be aggressive. Now, since his chances at being a champion in the fighting ring were stymied by a neighbor that rescued him from that fate, and then gifted the rogue rooster to us, he is understandably frustrated. He dreams, no doubt, of championship belts slung around his feathered mid-section.

Apparently, he feels that my Darling Man and I are the guilty parties that derailed his fighting career.
Any foray into Red's domain is greeted by feather fluffing, charges, upraised talons and pecking beak!
The Darling Man began carrying a broom with him and Red soon learned "Big Man carries Big Stick and WILL whap me"!
I assumed that Red and I could reach a kinder, gentler understanding. After all, I came into his kingdom to deliver food and rake out manure! Surely Red would LIKE me!
Uh...no.
He attacked me with a ferocity that should have been reserved to fight off hordes of rabid hyenas.
I retreated and plotted strategy. I didn't want to be seen as "Big Woman with Big Stick". I just don't see myself as a mean person with a stick!
Well, I had to go refill the water for the chickens and the goats. Maybe I was just distracted, I don't know. Anyway, I just went ahead and tromped into Red's domain without any stick or any back-up.
I did, however, have the water hose!
Red saw me and started his charge.
Instinctively, I sprayed the damn bird with the water hose.
Red stopped in mid charge. I swear his beaky little mouth dropped open in amazement.
He back-pedaled rapidly and conferred in a corner of the pen with his ladies; Miss Priscilla and Gertrude.
All three chickens took turns peeking over at me as they chattered and clucked away in the corner.
I serenely filled the water trough for the goats and the chickens.
I am now "Big Woman Brings Water" to Red.
When I enter into his kingdom, he retires to a corner and studiously ignores me.
I have won Round One.

Water, Water, Everywhere...

Water.
You need it, I need it, we all need it.
But water storage can be a challenge for even the most prepared.
We all need to store water, regardless of our living circumstances.
If you live in a town, power disruptions can halt the flow of water.
Ditto for rural areas.
Pipes can freeze, water supplies can be contaminated
Prepare for this.

The average household should have a MINIMUM of 150 gallons of water stored for emergencies.

Currently, I live in town. My water comes from the municipal system.
During Hurricane Ike, the sea surge made our water unusable, even for washing dishes, bathing, etc.
I was not worried as I had ample water to last 3 weeks.
I don't have a lot of room, nor a lot of money, so I had to go for the simplest system possible.

I use 2 liter soda bottles.
Here's my method:
Wash out the bottle with scalding hot water. Remember to wash out the caps as well.
Fill the bottle with cool water and add 3 drops of chlorine bleach. Do NOT use a bleach that has scent or other additives! Cap tightly.
Store in a cool, dark place. I store mine in the bottom of my pantry closet.
The bottles can be stored upright or on their sides, whatever is most effective in the space you have for storage.
I strongly suggest you use a *Sharpie* or *Magic Marker* to date each bottle.

I re-do my water storage every three months, although I have been told my method would be effective for up to six months.

Once a year, I re-purpose my water storage bottles to store rice, lentils and other small grains in. I re-scald the bottles and dry out them out COMPLETELY. Not kidding. COMPLETELY. It is quite necessary to have them bone-dry for this!
Put an O2 absorber in the bottom. Pour in rice/whatever to within 1 inch of the top. Put in another O2 absorber. CAP TIGHTLY! I usually put plastic wrap on top, then screw the cap on as tightly as I can to get the best seal possible.
Store in dry, cool, dark place.
I have stored rice, small beans, lentils, flour, cornmeal and wheat in this manner. Tested FIVE YEARS later, it was still good and cooked up the same as freshly stored foods.
A friend of mine stored some in this manner and tested it last year. She had it stored this way for a little over FIFTEEN YEARS and it did just fine!

So, before you toss those 2 liter bottles in the trash (or any other food grade good sized bottle), stop yourself and think of another use for it!

Check your water supplies this week.
Look over on the Heathen Homemaker for some great organization tips for January!
http://heathenhomemaker.blogspot.com