Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Friday, May 24, 2019

Homemade Tick Repellent ~ More Rain ~ Garden Progress

I'm betting my hens are getting coop fever, with all this rain and wind.  Most likely stir crazy at this point.  We haven't had much of a day for them to free range lately.





Started my day making homemade condensed mushroom soup.  There is nothing better than homemade.  I made another for the freezer.  The first "can" went on top of pork chops in the crock pot.

Thursday morning we had a major storm roll through.  More rain is not a good thing at this point.  It's just downright bad.  I prayed my planted tomatoes made it through and went out after the storm let up to check.  

The wind was so bad, it took out power in several counties, and took down many trees, limbs, utility poles and more.  One daughter of mine is lucky it moved through our area quickly.  She had a bonfire out back with friends, and left all her stuff, plus all my furniture including seat cushions.  Nothing blew away, but my weed garden bucket, which I retrieved.  

I haven't had a break in the day to flip my rain barrels.  Probably a good thing, as they'd be over flowing anyway.

We will not be planting any peas this spring.  Not one type.  I will try to fall plant them weather permitting.  

I got 3 pots of zinnias started, and my spearmint replanted.  I planted mullein and comfrey in two different pots as well, and replanted the peppermint.  I'm not counting on time to get my raised be built in time to plant my "weed" garden, so it's back up plants for us.  I also planted the arnica, feverfew and yarrow.

Woohoo!  I got 68 tomato plants planted so far, but Saturday they are calling for bad storms again. Praying they all make it.  They are saying hail and tornadoes.  I hope they are wrong.  Now I need my overworked "till man" to till more so I can get the rest in.  He's working 6 - 10 hour days again, and may even have to work Monday.

It's Ohio Bike week right now, and the only day off, they are calling for rain.  We may not make it this year on the Harley.

I'm tempted to purchase catnip seeds, as my potted plant is not that big this year.  I will first check the barns for it, before spending the money.


Got a text while out in the garden.  She wanted to buy this pair of baby booties.  Shipped them the same day, to take a break from the garden.



Tick-Repelling Oil

(for adults, dogs, and children older than 5 - otherwise they recommend using a gentle rose geranium hydrosol)

2 oz. jojoba oil
20 drops geranium essential oil
10 drops lavender essential oil

Combine all ingredients, place in small bottle and label. To use: Before going outdoors, apply this oil to any exposed skin. For dogs, place a few drops on your hands and then gently smooth the oil over the coat. If you prefer spray, substitute 2 oz. of distilled water for the jojoba oil, and place all ingredients in a small spray bottle. Spritz over your hair, clothing and skin. Repeat as necessary. 



I have also read just using 1 part tea tree oil and 2 parts water for a spray, but haven't tried it yet.  I prefer the oil (recipe above), but the spray works better for your hair and clothing, so you may like to make both versions.  I tend to rub the oil up under the hair line and wear a hat some times.  We don't have a huge tick problem, but the wind can bring some in.

12 comments:

Carol said...

I will be telling my daughter about this natural tick repellent. We have a huge issue with ticks here and I am so worrisome about them as she contracted Lyme Disease many years ago and is chronically ill with it now.
I believe that we are all through with the rain, but our forecast continually shows rain. UGH!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Carol, the oil works great. We continue to have rain, and the farmers haven't been in their fields at all around us. Now they say strawberries are behind too.

Debby Flowers said...

Same deal here with the rain Kristina - just too much! I hope to get things planted in my new container/raised bed garden by June 1 or 2 but maybe not. Our field work is way behind as well. What can you do?

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Debby, I'm trying to talk Hubby into building the greenhouse this year. I just think if the weather is like this again for a 3rd year, we'll all be in trouble with growing anything, planting anything, harvesting much of anything. It's just been terrible the last two years.

Susan said...

The ticks are very bad up here. Even with tick-proof clothing, spray and oil, I inevitably get bitten. We had storms go through late last night, along with buckets of rain. I'm hoping to get my garden pretty much in this long weekend - or so I fervently hope. I'm going to try that cream of mushroom soup using corn starch. There are so many things I could make with it!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Susan, we too are hoping to get a good amount of our garden planted this weekend. Just depends on the rain we get. We love the mushroom soup. I freeze it for so many recipes.

Rain said...

Another bookmarked post for me, thank you for that tick recipe. We don't have a tick issue here in the Laurentians where I live, but the area where we were looking in Nova Scotia does, so this will come in handy in the future.

Oh the rain...I got my pumpkin seedlings in the other day and then we had a pretty bad rain storm. I had to put tarp over the poor things, just one broke thankfully just one, Mother Nature doesn't seem to want us planting just yet I'm guessing. And I feel for the chickens, I'm feeling a little coop fever myself lately!

mamasmercantile said...

Hope the storm isn't has bad as anticipated. Stay safe.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Rain, you are welcome. I'm feeling a bit cooped up with all this rain too.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Thanks mamasmercantile

Sam I Am...... said...

It has been a wet Spring but we have nice weather here now and all week....89 though. I'm still planting in containers. My snow peas are doing great and I need to harvest today before the deer eat them! LOL!
I hope your tomatoes made it. I finally got the recipe for the condensed soups...thank you! We have LOTS of ticks here so I use DEET...the only thing that seems to work for me but some day when I have time I might try your recipe.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Sam I Am, I just finished planting my pots of herbs/weeds. I surely hope the rain stops to start back out in the big garden.