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home remedy – surviving the food allergy apocalypse (archive)

surviving the food allergy apocalypse (archive)

Tag: home remedy

  • WW: Homemade Tick Repellent

    Tick Identification chart
    Tick Identification chart

    So as many of you know, my husband and I bought a house in January so we could have a garden and grow food, have space to can and do food prep, and make all the things that I need, like soap, lard and tallow, that were really inconvenient to make in a second story balcony apartment. We now have a large garden, a huge lawn, and a lot of fruit trees.  And when spring came, we also had a crap ton of ticks.

    Because of my allergies and as I was trying to grow safe food, I didn’t want to use pesticides. I looked into diatomaceous earth, but I didn’t want to kill the bees. I looked into commercial stuff I could spray on my clothes, but they didn’t have the inactive ingredients listed, so I didn’t know if it was safe for me. I found an all-natural tick repellent at Blue Seal Feeds that used essential oils, but it had citric acid (corn) in it. I looked online for other all-natural repellents, but they had other corn or coconut derivatives. So I did a little googling, swiped some of the ingredient list from one of the all-natural repellents, and came up with a do-it-yourself version. Make no mistake, it reeks. But if I sprayed down my clothes and my rubber boots with it, I didn’t get ticks. Now, I don’t know if that was coincidence or not, but since I really don’t need Lyme disease in addition to my body deciding to be allergic to the world, I’ll keep using it. Also, if you want more information on ticks and tick-borne diseases, check out the information from the CDC.

    I used an essential oil 4 ounce spray bottle (shown only for illustration purposes, we have no affiliation with Amazon or the seller).

    Homemade Tick Repellant

    • 2 ounces of apple cider vinegar
    • 1 ounce of water
    • 20 drops of peppermint essential oil
    • 20 drops of Eucalyptus citradora essential oil
    • 15 drops of lemongrass essential oil
    • 15 drops of rosemary essential oil
    • 10 drops of tea tree essential oil

    Put all the ingredients in your 4 ounce spray bottle, put the sprayer top on and shake well.  Spray on clothes and shoes.  Make sure you don’t get it into your eyes, it would not be fun.

    It also seemed to help with the black flies, but I’ve not yet tried it with mosquitoes. When I do, I’ll let you know how it goes.

    Be safe out there!

  • Whatever Wednesday: Farmer’s Almanac Cough Syrup

    Tea & Cat
    Tea & Cat

    So my mother discovered the Farmer’s Almanac a few years ago (or possibly re-discovered, I’ve never asked — I just assumed that city kids didn’t read the Farmer’s Almanac), and this year has a page-a-day calendar version.  Despite living many states away from my mother, I always know what page-a-day she has because she mails me the ones she thinks I’ll find interesting.  So I thought I’d share this one with you all, even though it won’t work for Denise (I am somewhat sure that flax seed allergies aren’t incredibly common, but if you have one, don’t make this).

    To treat a nagging cough:

    • Boil 3T whole flax seed in 1 pint water
    • Strain
    • Stir in 3T sugar [I’d use honey]
    • Add juice of two lemons
    • Cool the mixture
    • Sip as needed

    This sounds to me as though it would work well.

    My own make at home cough syrup is a little different.  A lot of the time, I just swig a spoonful of honey.  If I’m feeling fancy or have a real cough, I will dissolve a few tablespoons of honey in a bit of boiling water, add a half shot of whiskey or brandy and a spare pinch of cayenne.  There are no real measurements, as I’ve never made this while not sick.  This works pretty well for me.

    Here’s hoping you don’t need either recipe, but if you do, they’re here for you.