Mini Hydroponic Garlic Pods on the Cheap

Garlic growing in a window

We are still on a mandatory “Stay at Home” order from the Governor of Virginia. Executive Order 55 has us sheltering until June 10th. Well, we were pretty well taken care of but certainly concerned about provisions. When you homestead, you are already trying to make great use of resources and reduce waste. We normally grow our sprouted garlic that we cannot eat right away. Really, any veggie, such as potatoes, garlic, or onions can be potted up in dirt and grown. Our big summer harvests get freeze dried or dehydrated.

We had a bunch of these little plastic salad dressing and condiment cups with lids and decided to cut them with a Styrofoam Hot Wire Tool. We made a 3/4 inch hole in the lid.

Trace a circle and cut with Hot Tool

The sprouted clove sits happily out of the water with the roots dangling below; the lid also keeps water from evaporating too quickly. Every week, the water in the cup should be changed. And…if you need garlic for a dish, just use it, green tops, too!

I have several in my east-facing kitchen window. If you look closely, you can see the clove is starting to bulb and divide. Pretty amazing. For everyone out there homeschooling, this would make a neat Science project (growing it), History lesson (where does it come from?), and Home Economics (cook with it).

This is just a tiny piece of our “Victory Garden” effort. Please check out our new YouTube videos. Happy gardening!

The Buddy Burner

0311171412

Making a Traditional BuddyBurner

If you grew up in Girl Scouts, the chances are good that you made a Situpon or a BuddyBurner.  The BuddyBurner is a fun and useful project to create with the kiddos. Not only does it make use of common items that would normally be tossed into the trash, it becomes a useful item for preparedness.

You will need:

  • An empty tuna can (save the lid if possible)
  • Corrugated cardboard cut into 1-inch wide strips across the corrugated grain
  • Broken crayons, wax remnants from used candles, or paraffin wax

Open the tuna can with a safety opener that leaves no sharp edges. Regular can openers can leave sharp edges that you must be doubly careful of. No matter the method be careful of sharp edges.

Coil up the 1″ corrugated strips tightly. Continue adding strips until you have enough to tightly fill the tuna can. If you have extra space cut a few small strips and slide them in spaces until the can is completely filled with the coil.

Melt the wax or crayons and pour into the can. Allow the wax to fill the spaces in the corrugated cardboard. The cardboard becomes a wick and the wax become the fuel.

The saved lid can be used as a quick way to extinguish the flame and preserve unused fuel.

To use, place the burner on a fireproof surface, where it may remain when it becomes hot. This is an activity best done outdoors. Simply light the cardboard wick. The burner will become very hot.

A larger can with holes punched in it for airflow may be placed above it to heat water or food.

For a bit of a walk down memory lane, go to http://www.girlscoutsla.org/documents/6_Griddle_Skillet_Buddy_Burner_Recipes.pdf and enjoy some Girl Scout fun. Don’t forget to support your local Troop with a donation of money or purchase of cookies!