We have backyard chooks and we get such a lot of joy from them. Firstly we love to eat their eggs, and can tell which chook has laid which egg – the small brown speckled eggs, vs the big white eggs and its not who you might expect! We now have seven chooks, 5 red ones – and they are just called the red ones – they hang together like a gang, there is one that is more adventurous than the others but they all help each other. The 2 older chooks – I think they must nearly 4 years old by now are a white leghorn and a speckled wyandotte. Speck is our favourite – she is independent and quiet and while not shy she is not aggressive either. The white one is called the ‘racer’ she used to be one half of the ‘racing twins’ but her sister was killed by a dog. Here are three of our girls pictured below – aren’t they beautiful?
Having chooks in our lives has meant a few things for us – firstly we don’t waste any food – the chooks eat all the scraps – dinner plate scraping and vegie peelings – everything – even bacon rinds and the fatty bits from meat. It is very gratifying being able to recycle your leftover food into eggs. And not just any eggs – these eggs are rich and golden and beautiful to eat and cook with. Eggs have become a major part of our diet – we eat eggs for breakfast at least 3 times a week – and when we have an abundant supply we do a lot of baking – sponge cakes, pavlova and lemon butter – yum yum. But also its nice to have eggs to give away – to neighbours and friends – we sometimes swap them for fresh lemons or other garden produce. It feels good to be able to have something worthy to give.
And on top of all those benefits, nothing can beat how much the kids love the chooks. They get so much joy and learning from them. From when they are born to when they die and everything in between – their eggs, their eating patterns and their personalities – its all an important topic of discussion. If you don’t yet have a couple of chooks yet – please get some straight away.
Above is my tutorial on how to make your own homemade laundry detergent. For a few bucks you can have a huge bucket of homemade laundry detergent. It does save money – also takes time to make it – but the real reason I do it is the utter satisfaction in helping to save the planet in a small way – also it really does clean your clothes well and by adding your own essential oils you can make your clothes smell the way you want – lemon fresh – eucalyptus clean – lavender lovely – oh the possibilities.
Nathan left a comment here the other day – and when I visited his blog this morning I found a great tutorial on how to make this exact laundry detergent recipe – so head over there for a more pictorial tutorial.
When I first found this recipe – (on youtube I think) – I had heard of borax, but never used it as a regular household ingredient – what is it though? It is a naturally occurring alkaline mineral called ’sodium borate’ and has been used for over 4000 years in various capacities. It has many household uses: a natural laundry booster (add spoonful to your wash to help whiten whites), multipurpose cleaner (dissolve in water and add a drop of lemon essence for a great spray cleaner and excellent for deodorising and cleaning the fridge), stain remover (make a paste with warm water for a pre-wash stain remover), soaker (used as a pre-wash soaker for nappies/diapers – removes odors and makes washing easier), deodoriser (sprinkle in your garbage bin, on smelly carpet or use a paste on urine soaked mattresses) – or pour a little down smelly sink drains – leave for a bit before vacuuming or rinsing to remove odors), fungicide, preservative, insecticide, herbicide and disinfectant.
The great thing about borax is that although quite refined now – it is still a natural compound with no toxic fumes and is safe for the environment (although too much is never a good thing – and is a good insecticide too), however it should not be ingested and can irritate the skin – so use with common sense.
The other main ingredient in this laundry detergent is Washing soda – this is different from Bi-carb/baking soda – although baking soda is also an excellent natural cleanser. Washing soda sodium carbonate sometimes also known as soda ash – it has a high alkaline chemical component and while it is relatively harmless to the environment – it can cause skin irritation and should not be ingested – wear gloves while using.
The high alkalinity helps it act as a solvent to remove stains – it is also used as a water softener, use it remove mineral deposits from your bathroom tiles and coffee machine, a paste or liquid concentrate can be used for scrubbing the stove and removing tough stains from clothing.