Home remedies, Starting seeds & a Pug

/ Cynthia

Schools are already being cancelled for tomorrow because another foot of snow is supposedly on its way!  Milk sold out today at the grocery store but they have plenty of cactus seeds.

May 31  is the date here when we are deemed safe from frosts.   I save all plastic containers that can be used to start seeds indoors.  A  large, screw in hook is a handy device to create drainage holes.  It easily makes a hole in thick or thin containers without cracking the plastic.  It’s too early to start seeds for my garden but I thought it would be fun to try sprouting some cactus. (cactusses?, cacti?)

There’s been a lot of  cold and flu remedies, natural antibiotic and ‘master tonic’ recipes floating around on the internet.  I’m not sure I would subscribe to those claims but the ingredients looked interesting so  I made a quick vinegar tincture with garlic, ginger, horseradish and a little bit of  hot pepper.  That combination will surely open the sinuses but I’m thinking a couple spoonfuls would  give a good punch to a smoothie, dipping sauce or salad dressing.

I think our dog  Harvey might be feeling a little depressed over getting another snowstorm.

 

 

26 thoughts on “Home remedies, Starting seeds & a Pug”

  1. May 31 is our frost free date too! Always seem so late as first frost can come anytime after Labour Day weekend!

    Your pug is adorable! And wow — another foot? We just had 4 inches after a week of gloriously warm weather. Quite divine!

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    • Summer is too short. Great to have a warm spell in January though! Maybe another one will come in February and make its way here:) I read that today is ST. Brigid’s day..the first day of Spring in Ireland.

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  2. I’ve started lettuce seeds and will start peas next week! I wasn’t able to wait and managed to convince myself that I could grow lettuce indoors. We’ll see. I like honey with a sprinkle of ground chili pepper for colds. And chicken soup.

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  4. oh, I might look into the flu remedies! Mr. wlaker and I both have the flu and give eachother foul looks and whine aout whos turn it is to make fresh tea….stay warm and safe! Love your little pug and the cup in front of the photo!

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    • You are right, Harvey is sad. His twin sister died last year and he hasn’t been the same since. I don’t usually do vinegar tinctures but this is really kind of like a ferment. I’m tempted to try a garlic ferment in honey. Have you ever done that?

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    • Thanks, Matt! This one’s for real. we’ve gotten a foot already and its sleeting now. Poor old Harv, he’s come a long way. Chicken livers have done wonders to help cheer him up. Happy Gardening! Everything sure looks wonderful at your place. Really brings a lot of cheer here in the middle of winter

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  10. Lovely writing Cynthia, enjoyed. Sorry to hear about the twin of the little dog, dogs do have feelings all right. I was amazed to read that your end date of frost is so late in the year, that makes the summer season quite short doesn’t it. Anyway looking forward to hear/see stories of your ‘snow’ experiences.

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  13. I think I remember a pug statue from an earlier post of yours. . . things are making quite a bit of sense right about now. He’s a sweetie.

    Thanks you so much for the cactus seed idea. I have been itching to do a certain big succulent thing this year, but I was thinking I had to do it all from cuttings. It never occurred to me that cacti (I prefer cactusses, actually; cacti sounds a bit high falutin’) could grow from seeds. Amazon.com – here I come!

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    • Yes, I got those statues when Harvey and Hazel were a couple years old 😦 you have a good memory! I wonder how these seeds are going to sprout and how quickly they will grow. I keep wanting to say cactusses too, lol. Cacti sounds spiky

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