I Didn’t Know That??…….

   Last year I called our local nursery and asked how I could keep my pumpkins and gourds from rotting so quickly. The answer I got was to give them all a bleach and water bath. Well, I did just that, and it worked!! Before I gave any of my pumpkins away to friends and family this year, they got a bath. I took about a half cup of bleach and added it to an empty quart container of milk, filled with warm water. With a rag dipped into this solution, I gently scrubbed the entire pumpkin. It’s important to get the stem and the other end too. By doing this, it kills all the bacteria that continues to grow, once it’s out of the  garden. Wondering, if there was any information about this on the internet, I came across this crazy Science Experiment site regarding several projects…..including bleaching pumpkins! My Science Project  Sure enough, the bleach experiment won out!

   Has anyone ever heard of Incredible Pink? They sell it at Ace Hardware and it usually comes in a gallon plastic jug like this…..

 Here’s a link to their website….INCREDIBLE PINK 

not only does this stuff work, it is also biodegradable and non toxic. You can use it to clean most anything! I used it years ago to clean a friends walls who smoked cigarettes (ah cigarettes a thing of my past :( ) and the nicotine just dripped right off. You can use it full strength or put a little in a spray bottle with water. It’s just INCREDIBLE STUFF! Another good cleaning product sold by Ace Hardware is DIRTEX.   

          This stuff really cleans a pane of glass like you wouldn’t believe. It sprays out foam that makes those windows shine, shine, shine. Those are my two fall cleaning tips for 2010!!

Meanwhile, back here on the plains, we are still under construction. The floor is down and it is grouted. The kitchen is painted (a color called cream yellow) by Benjamin Moore. We have brand new interior doors that need painting. We are still putting down baseboard and crown molding and have many other minor things to finish. I am painting out light switches and outlet covers. We need to buy lights. It’s been quite exhausting at times but we’re getting it done. My wonderful husband has been working very hard!!! For my next post, I am in hopes of showing some before and after pictures. I am sorry I have not been able to get to your blogs. It’s really crazy here right now still. Hope you are all well? Our friend Dawn is home!!! Yay!! She just got home a couple of days ago…..I was shocked. She was in hospital for about a month!! Poor girl! She’s doing well and reading  your comments so go ahead and leave them! She is recovering slowly but surely. Keep on praying for her. See ya’ll soon…….happy fall!!

It’s chicken manure at the big farms on my road that is wafting down here on a regular basis lately! Ouuuuulala…..it’s enough to make you want to never open your windows again! Yuckeroni….nasty stuff. But I guess it is the best stuff around to use next to cow manure (which is what I use)………….  this link gives some information regarding different types of dressings to use in gardens.       MANURE MATTERS  I guess it’s the best to use, but it sure does stink big time!!