Safe Spring Cleaning Recipes

 In  February we had a few weeks of 80 degree temperatures, running around barefoot and in t shirts was a novel but nice change, and we thought spring was coming early. Nope. When March arrived, it dropped the temps back into the upper 20s at night, and some days only 40s for days. We are getting a little better, closer to 50s now, but still below normal for this time of year. Looking across the road and towards English Mountain, the neighbors forsythia are bright golden yellow, and the Bradford pear trees are still white, but loosing their fullness now, so not as pretty. Along our side, we have redbuds starting to bloom. and my snowball bush is trying to bloom.  Another week or two and we should be outside again. And then its time for spring cleaning. If you have been watching tv or on facebook lately, you will have seen the articles about clorox and lysol being toxic to pets, kids and you. They are as bad as having someone smoke a pack of cigarettes a day in your house.  So just in case you have not learned about this, a big jug of white vinegar,  maybe 3 bucks, and a big box of baking soda(find in the laundry aisle) can take care of all your needs, cheap,safe and easy. My house has its back wall facing north, so by spring is green with mold. At your store, get a big spray  bottle, I pay 99 cents at Walmart for one. Fill it halfway with white vinegar, and the rest  with water, leaving room for1 tablespoon of baking soda. Shake,spray all the mold, done.Next time it rains, all the mold washes away.  Got weeds in the driveway or sidewalk area?  put 1/2 cup of salt in a spray bottle, fill with vinegar and on a good warm sunny day, spray those weeds.  On the inside,  if you have laundry stains, this is better than any thing I ever bought,  1 part of blue Dawn to 2 parts of hydrogen peroxide, in a spray bottle, spray stain, leave overnight then wash. Even old stains  are gone. And instead of those air  sprays (Febreze) that are so bad for pets,   put 10 drops of essential oil,  something you like the scent of, 1 T baking soda, mix those and add to 1/2 liter of distilled water. Spray fabrics, air etc. Easy.  We may be learning more now, about the worldwe have created with all the poisons sprayed on our foods, and the hormones and anti biotics in meat and dairy products.  They are not nice to your body. Puberty in kids is starting as early as 6 or 7 years old, way too soon.  I know its hard to give up stuff you like to eat, but weigh the coast against the pleasure. There are many other ways to go. Organic foods are becoming very popular in stores now, and easy to find. My little grand daughters catch me if I pick up something without a butterfly on it these days. I hope we can change our foods to better ones, we have to be picky and only buy organic, that will drive out the big six and their toxic foods. Studies show chlorpyrifos cause brain damage, especially in kids, Could that have a bearing on the school shootings? Or the fact that 1 out of 4 pre school kids suffers from depression? Or Alzheimers is out of hand?  Charts show a direct correlation to these , to the increase in use of sprays.  Water is full of fluoride and chlorine, seems nothing is safe.  I am lucky to have a well, tapped into a mountain spring. Cool, fresh great tasting water.   Here's hoping spring is sprung soon, will be nice to get out and work in the dirt again, have some of my seeds ready, and some herbs growing in pots to go out soon.   When you have a computer, you have the world at your fingertips, do some research and find out what you are really eating and using.  Check into your body products, like shampoo and toothpaste,  learn to read labels and pick things that are safe. Please don't feed your babies goldfish crackers and crunchy treats that are not organic, not s afe and they(the Babes) are so worth protecting.  Have a great week, see ya soon.