Natural cleaners using Mandarin peels

In these handmade recipes, you can use any citrus fruit peelings. Oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruit, etc….

I wanted to stop using one of my favorite and not so natural cleaners. COMET

  I researched many different ways this could be replaced and came to one of my favorite blogs, “The Nerdy Farm wife”. Here is her link to the recipe.

I love how she uses dried herbs as a scrub. I really wanted to use up our Mandarin peels and give it a try. Plus, how nice is it to have the clean, fresh smell of any citrus while you clean?

 I decided to dry only half the peels we saved and use the other half for another homemade citrus cleaner.

Once the peels were fully dried, I ground them up into a fine powder with the food grinder.

Ingredients:

1 cup of Baking Soda

2 Tablespoons of dried finely Ground up Mandarin peels

10-15 drops of essential oil “Sweet Orange”

Mix everything well and place it into a glass jar that can be tightly sealed to retain the scent.

This natural scouring scrub is used for sinks, tubs, toilets, showers.

Feel free to use other dried peels and essential oils.

HOW EASY IS THAT?

How to Make a Citrus and Vinegar Household Cleaner

With the undried half of Mandarin peels I made this cleaner to remove grime and residue.

Once you have enough peelings, fill any glass jar, then add white vinegar to cover all the peelings. Leave enough space to screw on the jar lid. Place your jar in a dry, cool area for 7 to 10 days.  This will allow the mixture to macerate (blend). This will make your cleaner smell wonderful at the same time creating the cleaner. This is a true cleaning agent and can be used throughout your home.  Be careful on wood and other porous surfaces as it can discolor it. Once your mix is ready, remove the peels and compost them. I have not yet tried this mix, it’s not quite ready yet. I can’t wait to add this to my spray bottle and get SPRING cleaning.

I can’t believe I haven’t made these sooner. I’m hooked and now I want to send my husband out to get me lemons.

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Transformation

It’s been far to cold to mill lumber over the past couple weeks, however it’s perfect weather for working in the woods. I’ve taken this opportunity to clear an area of forest which will become the Disposal Field for our on-sight Sewage System.

After several days of slogging through 3 to 4 feet of snow just over half an acre has been transformed into an open space producing several cords of firewood and over 60 good sized logs which I will be mill into timbers for the house. Once the Disposal Field is in place we will develop an orchard within the remaining portions of this site.

The next project is to clean out some of the fallen and dead debris in the forest surrounding the building site and expanding the garden area on the east side of the house. With a forecast for warm weather on the weekend skidding logs out will also be a priority, to get them to the mill.

This week on the Mountain

Several days ago a monster once again entered the forest here on the Mountain. A Feller-buncher has started stripping the neighbors forest below our property, an ugly mess is gradually unfolding at our front door. The only thing we can hope for is that the damage won’t be too substantial and regrowth can develop quickly however from our experience we know this is at the best a pipe dream.

In the meantime work continues at the building site. I ordered in a load of sand and moved a pile of gravel up to the house footings in preparation for more concrete work.

Early Sunday morning I began mixing cement, sand and gravel and by 4:00 PM just over 4 yards of concrete was in place, creating the wall that brings the lower section of the footing level with the upper portion. Once this concrete has cured the basement walls can commence.

Finally for those of you that have been patiently awaiting the answer to the question in a previous post  ” What is the most important tool in the shop” 

The answer is the “BROOM” an all to often forgotten item in many shops.  We must remember that a clean organized shop is a reflection of both the creativity and work being done there. One of my favorite shops is The Granville Island Broom Company

Off-Grid Campaign

In 2002 when Tracey and I envisioned our collaborative business venture (which became Turn A New Leaf)  we never imagined that some day it would be set in the beautiful woods of Cape Breton. Through many trials and tribulations this business venture blossomed and underwent several transitions through the course of time. The most important transition for us was to downsize and leave the hectic pace of city life behind.  Our decision to downsize gave us a chance to focus more emphasis towards raising our children and the time to engage new and better strategies towards a sustainable business.

With a lot of effort and hard work we’ve made some important advances since arriving in Cape Breton 3 Years ago. We reestablished our business here with great success.  I’ve introduced a new line of natural children’s furniture which has had a mind of it’s own and is doing better than we could have imagined. We acquired our own 10 acre paradise last year and we now have a building in place which will soon become the creative workspace for the woodworking aspect of Turn A New Leaf.

We still have many monumental tasks ahead of us and we will take each one in stride. Our most pressing concern now is to move the woodworking shop from the dank basement to the new building. This transition will only be possible if a power source is in place for the necessary tools. We’ve looked at all the options available to us and we have come to the conclusion that an Off- Grid power source will best serve our needs. Our biggest hurdle now is the funding necessary for this endeavor. Up to this point we have never borrowed money (whether personally or for business) and have always lived within the means available to us. Since we do not currently have full funding within our means we have decided on the following campaign. Please follow the link below to learn more.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/off-grid-workshop/x/3577647