Coffee's Ready, Come and Sit on the Porch

[CrealCritter]

I hope everyone enjoys their day.

Psalm 37:1-13 \o/

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[The Porch]

 

[CrealCritter]

Sifted ash from 3 day hardwood burn of the wood stove. Got a good 5 gallon bucket of charcoal. I'll use it to refire the wood stove. But I could just as easily use it for cooking on the BBQ grill. There's lots of uses for charcoal...

I sifted the ash through a double layer of 1" poultry wire over a steel 5 gallons bucket and dumped the charcoal caught on the chicken wire into another 5 gallons bucket. Then I sprinkled the ash and smaller bits of charcoal over the row of asparagus. It should do a good job raising the soil PH.

I've had this on the list of things to try... Now that I've tried it, I'm thinking I could collect charcoal into a 55 gallon steel drum and put an end to buying store bought charcoal.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[The Porch]

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To save money, I think I may stop drinking coffee. The price has gone up, its stupid. a 3lb bag of whole bean organic ?? san Francisco Bay rainforest is $25, the kirkland 3lb can is the same. I refuse to pay that much, we can do without.
I quit buying butter and 1/2&1/2, we have cut WAY back on the amount of cheese we use,
I make my own noodles, bread, tortillas, biscuits and pizza dough. We have cut our flour consumption way back too.

I have cut Ziva dog back, she is 4 now, she gets 2 & 1/2 cups of food and an egg, Tony gets 3 to 3*1/2 and an egg. He is not a chow hound but ziva will eat nonstop, with reduced winter activity they dont need as much.
I use my clothes drying racks as much as I can since the wood stove is going, we dont leave any lights on that arnt being used [ no one in the room- shut it off]

I am not convinced that making your own laundry soap is a savings over , 11$ for a XXL jug of all laundry soap . That jug lasts us 2 1/2 months.

I do all of the dishes by hand. We do have a dishwasher that came with the house, its old but works. I have power cleaned it and it still gets pink mold in it, I think mainly because its old, So I dont use it, I think the dishes are cleaner when I wash them.

​

 

[The Porch]

Sifted ash from 3 day hardwood burn of the wood stove. Got a good 5 gallon bucket of charcoal. I'll use it to refire the wood stove. But I could just as easily use it for cooking on the BBQ grill. There's lots of uses for charcoal...
View attachment 22353

I sifted the ash trough a double layer of 1" poultry wire over a steel 5 gallons bucket and dumped the charcoal into another 5 gallons bucket. Then I sprinkled the ash and smaller bits of charcoal over the row of asparagus. It should do a good job raising the soil PH.

I've had this on the list of things to try... Now that I've tried it, I'm thinking I could collect charcoal into a 55 gallon steel drum and put an end to buying store bought charcoal.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

I save my woodstove ash in a metal trash can on the back porch. I use it in the coop in bug season to keep the mites away and in the garden. Blueberries do not like ash,, some plants do not

 

[Hinotori]

I don't get the "dishwashers use less water" thing. I definitely use less when I hand wash. Of course I don't fill a full sink of water for only a couple dishes or rinse under running water. Dish pans were invented for a reason if you only have one big sink.

I hate doing dishes. I'd rather clean the bathroom.

I never found that making laundry soap did much to get the clothes as clean. And the recipe that calles for baking soda left me burned and having to rewash everything. Better just to find a detergent that works and figure out how much is actually needed so you don't waste it. It's only a couple tablespoons for me, not anywhere near the fill lines for the cups.

 

[CrealCritter]

I save my woodstove ash in a metal trash can on the back porch. I use it in the coop in bug season to keep the mites away and in the garden. Blueberries do not like ash,, some plants do not

Do you also get chunks of charcoal in the ash? Our wood stove has a solid floor lined with fire brick. So no where for the ash to go but sit there along with the charcoal. It would be nice to place a rack in there so the ash could fall through.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[tortoise]

I save my woodstove ash in a metal trash can on the back porch. I use it in the coop in bug season to keep the mites away and in the garden. Blueberries do not like ash,, some plants do not

I use ash for traction in winter. Sorta like sand, but free.

 

[tortoise]

I use powder laundry detergent. My momma always said "I'm not paying for water!" I will pay a little extra for powder laundry detergent that comes in a paperboard box because I don't have the guilt and hassle of the plastic jugs. Sure, they're recyclable, but I still have to store them and haul them to the recycling center. Plus, I'm all for zero waste / no single-use plastics.

Right now the best price I can find is Arm & Hammer unscented. Tide Free & Clear is the other one. Pricey, IMO, but less than equivalent (unscented and zero waste) products I could buy online.

I won't admit how long a box lasts. We do a lot of laundry here, mostly because I don't have the mental bandwidth to do manage the laundry cycle.

The dishwasher is a guilty non-SS luxury. Unscented powder dishwasher detergent is $$$. I tried going without for a while but it just messed up my daily routine too much. I decided it was worth paying a ridiculous amount for dishwasher detergent and keeping my routine of running the dishwasher at bedtime every night. I could only find unscented powder dishwasher detergent in a bulk buy - 8 boxes for $100. Uff. (I won't do pods. They're said to be biodegradable but studies show that 75% of the plastics in them get into the environment. I don't want microplastic in my drinking water!)

 

[The Porch]

Do you also get chunks of charcoal in the ash? Our wood stove has a solid floor lined with fire brick. So no where for the ash to go but sit there along with the charcoal. It would be nice to place a rack in there so the ash could fall through.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

I dont get a lot of big chunks, when the stoves arnt getting enough air I clean out the ash, our wood burns down all the way not much left but ash
the bottom of the cook stove lest the ash fall through



but not so with this