However, a creative & simple solution exists to bump up those cold-season yields: it is called Heat Sinking.

Heat Sinking your cold frame is just what the name implies:  adding a figurative "sink" that heat can pour into during the day... and then pour back out of at night.  Beyond getting a jump start come spring- or helping you enjoy some extra salad, radish, or mache- Heat Sinking is one of the easiest ways for you to start having a 2 way conversation with your garden; especially great if you're just starting.

Here's how you do it.

1) If you haven't already, build yourself a cold frame.  Designs and info abound, but in short you want to ask yourself a few questions: will I be using it to overwinter crops?  If so will it work in my climate? (a great question for a real, local garden center).  Will I be using it to start spring crops?  Is it close enough to my door that I'll want to visit it?  Your cold frame can be as elaborate as a Winter Cabin, or nearly as simple as a pile of sticks; ours for example are made of freecycled cabinetry, skylights, windows, & fence slats, with 1 frame free-standing & the other 1 leaning against the house.

If you're thinking "my house is kind of a heat sink", you're right; since houses absorb heat by day & bleed it off by night, they provide nearby plants a little edge, and higher yields.  You can observe this when flower bulbs sprout nearest houses in the spring.  As usual, if you're in an older home though, getting your soil checked for lead before executing a frame may be a prudent measure.

2)  Select your heat sink.  This can be as simple as a bucket filled with water, topped to stop evaporative loss.  We have heard stories of people setting bird baths in the ground in the center of a bed- a very creative heat sink! (although one does wonder about the "bird gifts").  At our Homestead, we use heavy-duty, recycled trash bags to create a little ocean in our back yard.

Why we fill with water is obvious: like the ocean, water not only absorbs & releases energy easily, it can handle a lot of heat without changing its temperature.  That last part, "without changing its temperature," is a key part of Heat Sinking; you're looking to mitigate those pesky temperature swings, which can be especially devilish in colder climates.  A rule of thumb is "the more water, the more like the ocean."  You'll soften the temperature swings within your garden, as well as move your  average temperature up, which plants like.

Some say to this advise "what about that old axiom that plants need heat to germinate, but light to grow?"  That is very true, but within reasonable bounds.  Think of how you feel, getting up to go outside on a cold winter's morning; your plants have to deal with the same, and they don't even get to drink coffee.

See step 4 if you're hoping to be convinced more of this.

3) Select the Heat Sink location.  This step may be most important, but remember, you're just starting up a garden conversation here, so you don't need a perfect first line.  A few things to ask yourself are: where will the sinks get the most sunlight?  Will placing them here block reflected light, which is also a boon to early season plants that have already sprouted?  Is the footprint too big- as in, are they occupying precious growing space?

For example, our 2 large plastic bag sinks are hung from the interior walls of our cold frame (which are painted white, by the way), covering 1 entire wall at this time.  In winter we kept the sinks on the East & West walls (so the North Wall could reflect lots of sunlight to the plants) while now that spring is here we're moved them to the back wall (now that reflected light seems to be less of a need).

Once again, we didn't know this when we started.  So we did 1 side 1 way, and the other side differently, searching for different results.  Of course, that sort of trial & error approach applies more to step...

4) Enjoy the conversation with your garden.  How are the plants reacting?  Do they seem bigger near the Heat Sinks?  Are seeds sprouting around the sinks but not elsewhere?  Have I created a microclimate- as in, the sink zone is flourishing and elsewhere is not?  Might I might need more but smaller sinks, more evenly dispersed?  Here, the proof is in the pudding, but remember: winter growing can be so slow that it takes a few weeks to know, so don't start to imagine differences that aren't there (especially if you've been showing signs & symptoms of "Cabin Fever"!).  You can even go so far as to record the night & day temperatures before your sinks go in, & after, over the course of a few weeks.

5) Tweak as desired.  This is where you get to have the most fun, in many peoples' opinions, because you get to play Darwin & Niko at the same time.  Anyone can "set it and forget it", but this isn't the kitchen, it's your winter garden.  The best gardeners & farmers we have met are attentive, inquisitive, & interactive, without being overbearing or excessively meddling (kind of like the best relatives).  This is where the conversation moves beyond "you talk, garden responds" to "you actively listen" to that response and give a more informed one of your own: "you respond intelligently."

For example, in our garden this winter the sinks didn't seem to be doing much for certain species such as Mache, until February, when they took off.  For others such as Radishes, we weren't sure until we pulled them out of the ground- much larger near the small, partially buried black pot Heat Sinks than elsewhere.  Revisiting steps all the way back to step 1 can be fun here.

Sometimes it pays to have 2 conversations at the same time.  Do you have 1 large cold frame, or maybe 2 identical ones?  Try 1 sink location for 1 side, & a slightly different spot on the other.  Assuming your plants are the same on each side, they may start to talk back to you.  Hopefully, in a polite way.

Keep in mind these steps were developed in Portland, Oregon: a high latitude, maritime climate.  If your latitude is lower but elevation higher, you may have more observable results since your winter sun stays sky-bound longer.  And of course, is not hidden by clouds like ours is so often!  But the fact that we can get results here in the Cloudy Northwest should tell you: Heat Sinking can work almost anywhere.

Wherever your climate, if you have stories to share please entertain us below!

Whether your flight uses Google Earth or your own mind doesn't matter, as long as you get to our Homestead, and this blog.  Four friends, two dogs, one goal: to make this house an "Urban Homestead," with a 2012 makeover in this living lab we now call our lives.   And we're bringing you along for the ride.

Settling down now between unlikely urban peaks- Mount Tabor & Rocky Butte- you'll find our burgeoning Homestead.  These extinct city volcanoes frame the backdrop for our little "Homestead in the City," the Portland Homestead Cooperative.  Where on most days you'll hear the bustling of activity.

What are we up to down there, you ask?  A lot.

Urban Chickens
What's a Homestead without a barnyard?  Chickens are a great source of high protein eggs, and they make great companions.  Or so we've heard.
We're going to build the coop, hatch the chicks, and figure out how to raise these little guys.  We have no idea what we're doing.  We're going to have to get resourceful to succeed.

Square Inch Gardening
This is a standard City Lot, so we're going to have to squeeze all we can out of it.  Growing on Fences, growing in containers, using microclimates & permaculture are all part of our plan to produce most of our food.  The first of which was eaten today, by the way, with a delicious radish & green salad from the cold frame.  Not bad for a mid-February harvest, although as experienced growers we know there's a long way to go against our unrelenting Northwest rains...

Walking & Biking
Everyone in the household is now car free.  We walk, we bike, we trike, we Tri-Met.  We're looking for 1 biodiesel vehicle to haul stuff with.  And yes, you guessed it, we'll be fueling it using...

Biodiesel Production
Nothing says "Ameri-can" like getting off the petroleum products.  We'll seek to be the change we want to see in the world, by producing our own biodiesel from waste veggie oil.

Rainwater Harvesting
If there's 1 thing Portland's not short on, it's rain.  Rain harvesting has already saved us 500 gallons of water this year, and that has been with 1 ramshackle system alone.  We're looking to upgrade from 110 gallons of storage... to 440, piped right into the house.  You'll soon see how that goes.

Prepare... Produce... & Can
As the soil turns the seasons turn as well, from Winter to Spring, then Fall & Winter again.  Thus we're planning our crops out, as well as how to preserve them.

Take it from us- we have little idea what we're doing in "can land."  In fact, last year was the first time any of us canned anything at all: tomatoes & jams galore.  However, it hasn't killed any of us yet, which is a good sign.  Nobody wants to read the blog titled "Jameson battles with Botulism," so hopefully we never have to write it.

Reality Checks
No Homesteader who faked it on the Great Plains got out alive, so we're not going to mislead you here.  Stirring $1000 into a garden that produces $500 of food is filthy business, and spending $500 to save $100 worth of water would be a wash.  What's the point, anyway, to look good for the neighbors?  It would be the same-old, unsustainable model.
So rather than take a consumer's approach to Homesteading, we're going old-school: that's old-school reclaimed resources, recycled materials, and gifts from other 'Steaders, which hopefully we pay back come harvest season.  We're going to need some honest accounting skills to make the grade; with 2 former restaurant managers and an environmental engineer on the team, we like our chances.

That's Rich Living
Half our draw to Urban Homesteading is better living with our friends & family.  Along those lines, we're building our own smoker, an earthen oven, doing home brewing, & more.  As a matter of fact, the last hard cider batch from the fall should be finished any day now: we might just be drinking it while you're reading this article.
Drinks aside, this house full of 4 cooks now has mouths watering over prospects of the freshest herbs, the finest ingredients, as well as sauces salsas & salads make up to our specs.  We'll surely have a lot to report from the front lines of the kitchen!  Homesteading can feel like a mountain sometimes, and we're all about stopping to enjoy the view.

A Model to Follow
What makes this blog different is what you found right in the title.  This will be a "Homestead Makeover" that anybody can follow, to change their home into a respectable Urban Homestead in 1 short year... then build from there.  Our trials & tribulations, successes & failures are yours.  As the Original Urban Homestead in LA taught us, even though the journey may turn into a lifetime of labor & love, it's got to start somewhere.  Ours starts here, and you're now cleared to board with us.

So enjoy your next flight into Portland.  Questions, comments & requests are welcome at the only "Homestead Makeover Reality Blog" we know of on the web.

Thanks for stopping by,
The Portland Homestead Cooperative

Garden Toolkit HD - £2.49 / $3.99

It has to be said: no keen gardener should be without Gardening Toolkit HD. This little app is great value for money, given the endless array of features packed into it. Get location-based growing advice and an integrated to-do list, or search through the enormous database to identify plants and species. Share tips with other app users, and receive advice every month with 'What to Sow Now'. For an all-round gardening app, there's really nothing better. Find it here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gardening-toolkit-hd-easy/id444035675?mt=

RHS - Free

It was only a matter of time before the Royal Horticultural Society brought out their own app. This 'Grow Your Own' application helps you to choose and grow fruit and vegetables, no matter how much space or time you have at your disposal. The base application covers the 20 most popular varieties of fruit and vegetable, but you'll have to pay extra for specialised bundles. Find it here: http://www.rhs.org.uk/iphone

Landscaper's Companion - £3.99 / $5.99

It's not cheap, but you'll appreciate the sheer volume of information on offer in Landscaper's Companion. It serves as an encyclopaedia for thousands of plants, with categories spanning perennials, shrubs, annuals and even house plants. There are thousands of photos included too, so you'll never be short of advice when you need information on the go. Find it here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/landscapers-companion-gardening/id333180074?mt=8

Met Office - Free

You've started to plan your garden and you know what you want to grow - but it could all end horribly if an unseasonably early ground frost creeps in. The weather's an integral part of keeping a healthy and beautiful garden. With the Met Office app at your fingertips, you'll know what the British weather’s going to do next, and can react accordingly. Find it here: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/met-office-weather-application/id331122086?mt=8

For U.S. users, weather.com has their own handy app: http://www.weather.com/mobile/pda/iphone/

The Plant Doctor - £1.49 / $1.99

You’ve planted your seeds and watered them as per the instructions, so why are the fruits of your labour looking limp and lifeless? The Plant Doctor will offer an on-the-spot diagnosis by listing the ten most common plant ailments. And if you can't find the answer you're looking for, you can fill out a form and send it to a plant pathologist. Find it here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-plant-doctor/id306625566?mt=8

Garden Safari - £1.49 / $1.99

When the flowers start blooming and wildlife comes flooding in, Garden Safari will help you to identify those visitors. From bees to butterflies, Garden Safari provides information on around 150 insects, using close-up photography and a detailed encyclopaedia. There’s also an ‘Insect of the Month’ newsletter, asking you to keep an eye out for rare species. Find it here: http://www.gardensafari.net/appsupport/index.htm

Herbs+ - £1.99 / $2.99

Herbs+ is a great little app that provides you with information on different herbs. Under each type, you'll find information on how to grow and cook with them, and even find out about their medicinal uses. Find it here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/herbs/id332584732?mt=8

National Trust(UK) - Free

If you like visiting the National Trust’s great historic gardens, there's no better app out there. Locate nearby National Trust properties, and plot your journey with GPS and Google Maps. There's also an A-Z list of all National Trust locations, with information on when they open and how much it costs to get in. Find it here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/national-trust/id360792792?mt=8

Google Search - Free

This may be stating the obvious, but Google Search is an amazing tool. The official app gives you access to Google Goggles, which allows you to identify just about any plant you see. Whether you're strolling around a park or notice a flower whilst walking the dog, reveal its identity by taking a simple picture. Snap blooms, leaves and even mystery bugs - Google will find similar images, and lead you to the answer you seek.

Gardening Mama - £4.99 / $6.99

If all else fails, just download Gardening Mama and grow yourself a virtual garden instead. It allows you all the pleasures of gardening but from the comfort of your own sofa. Find it here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gardening-mama-us/id391337788?mt=8

1. Choosing how to color

You can either paint the walls in white or design the other way round coating the fixtures in white instead. A number of fitting like the cabinets, countertops, furniture, backsplash or the lightings fitted in the kitchen can be in a white color. Furthermore, there are so many different shades of white to choose from; you can go for a pure white, an antique one or even cream or ivory.

2. Kitchen cabinets

Add white colored cabinets to make your cookery look neat and striking. You can give a grand, easygoing, vintage or even an industrial touch to the cabinetry by installing different types of fittings and knobs. Cup styled handles, steel pull-outs with straight lines, ornate and curvy knobs are all an excellent idea. While, patterns like crown molding will give your kitchen a contemporary look.

3. Marble fitting

All white marble fittings look exquisite and magnificent. A marble countertop is a great idea and you can also fit in open shelves made from the luxurious stone. Marble flooring will definitely add a touch of finesse to the kitchen.

4. White countertop

Installing an all white island will give a swish touch to your cookery. You can have the island made out of white granite, marble or go for the latest fad and set up a stainless steel countertop.

5. White furniture

Another great option is to do up your kitchen with white furniture. You can have a dining set in white or just arrange white colored chairs and stools around the place. Barstools in the pearly tints are absolutely riveting. You can also opt for furniture made from white metals. Otherwise, you can just buy slip covers or seat cushions in milky tints for your cook house.

6. Appliances

Gadgets in white look spotless and render a pure vibe to the kitchen. Settle on equipment that is painted in white or pieces made from white metal.

7. Accessorize thoughtfully

Pick out add-ons that go well with the white hue used around the kitchen. Warm woods, lustrous metals and glistening glass will blend well into such a setting. Pops of color against the predominantly white backdrop will look really smashing - go for colorful ceramic tiles, rugs, art work, oil paintings or designs made using spray paint on the walls. Silver will give it an extremely grand touch.

Graceful and easy on the eyes, white is an excellent pick for the kitchen. The best thing about white is that it will easily mingle with different interior styles, be it vintage or modern. Also, white will not go out of fashion, so you will not have to splurge on a new paint color every now and then. White can be made to look simple, grand, elegant and even classy – design your kitchen any you want with white.

However, urban pollution doesn't mean that you should abandon urban gardening altogether. In fact, most of the air pollution itself is fairly harmless. You just don't want to be using your fire escape as a herb and lettuce garden if it is lining a busy highway. When planting your garden, you want to make sure that you plant it in an area that is farthest away from highways frequented by tractor-trailers and mass rush hour traffic. Otherwise, your garden should be okay from air pollution. You'll just want to make sure that you are thoroughly washing your produce prior to consumption.

For years, the pesticides and certain fertilizers used on crops were a huge concern for gardeners. However, advancements in crop protection agents, which came about through research performed by firms such as Huntingdon Life Sciences Inc, have made these agents more safe for both humans and the environment – even though pesticides are still not a preferable control method for urban gardeners.

What is actually a bigger concern for urban gardens is any pollution that may reside in the soil. Many apartment buildings and homes are built on reclaimed soil in areas that were once industrial. For areas that were once industrial or for those that are near current industrial areas, you will want to have your soil checked prior to planting anything. The pollutants in the soil are actually more likely to be harmful to you and your produce than any air pollution or chemicals you may use to keep pests away.

What should you do if you're apartment or home is right alongside a busy highway or has questionable ? Don't grow. While there are several treatments used to protect crops from diseases such as blight and from certain pests, there isn't really anything you can do about pollution. Instead of risking growing contaminated foods, become a part of your local food crop.

In numerous urban areas, there are community gardens and food co-ops, which for a small fee, you can join and enjoy fresh produce without all the hard work or hassles. You simply join and get fresh produce generally once a week or every two weeks. You'll get great produce, support a local organization, and you will know that your food is safe.

As a paste applied topically, it can draw out poisons from an insect bite lie spiders, bees or wasps.  It is also good to apply whenever you have an attack of gout. But be careful when applying activated charcoal to broken skin as it may leave a tattoo effect on the skin.  To play it safe, apply  activated charcoal as a poultice,  if in doubt, to the skin.  Additionally, it is the BEST thing to use to whiten your teeth.  Simply put your regular natural toothpaste on your brush and dip it in some powdered activated charcoal, slightly moisten it and brush as usual,  Within a short amount of time it will substantially whiten your teeth and even help remove long standing plaque.  It is great for booth teeth and gums and will not harm either.  We personally recommend activated charcoal for tooth whitening over over the counter whitening strips and even baking soda which can be somewhat hard on teeth and the delicate tissues of both mouth and gums.  Sometimes we use a Q-tip with activated charcoal on it to scrub the teeth seriously and to avoid the potential of damaging the gums with the tooth brush bristles. Ir is also used as a facial to help oily skin.

Taken internally, it can also remove the uric acid build up which causes gout and remove some  heavy metals like mercury and lead.   It will help whenever you overeat or over drink and adsorb the toxins and aid in controlling acid reflux and other gastrointestinal distresses.  It can eliminate gas, vomiting and diarrhea. Simply take the charcoal until the symptoms disappear.  Sometimes you have to experiment to see how much works for you.  There is no danger of overdosing on charcoal.  The only thing we would recommend is the the amount of water intake be increased to help prevent constipation when taking activated charcoal.  There is no evidence that activated charcoal interferes with your body's ability to use  vitamins and minerals from food. However, it is best taken away from foods as food in the stomach will slow down the effectiveness of the charcoal.

It is safe for pets and livestock too .  it is advised that you contact your vet before administering a dose to check on the amount needed.  The usual recommended dose of activated charcoal for all species of animals is 1-3 grams of charcoal per 1 kg body weight.

It is great to destroy household odors.  The best way is to make sachets filled with activated charcoal or punch holes in a car or jar and fill with charcoal.  For such intensive use, it would be beneficial to buy activated charcoal in bulk powdered form

We have personally administered charcoal to ourselves here on the homestead for many reasons and can personally attest to its effectiveness.  And our resident vet, Jordanne, has successfully administered charcoal to our menagerie of animals to relieve their suffering for many illnesses..

If you are interested in buying some charcoal, this link may help you
http://www.iherb.com/Nature-s-Way-Charcoal-Activated-280-mg-100-Capsules/1846?at=0

Use Our code JUL 275 for $5 off your first purchase at iherb.com.

 NOTE:  Please note -- Charcoal may reduce the effectiveness of certain medications. Consult a physician before taking this product with other medications.

Gardeners may be overjoyed when a particular plant has a high yield, but what to do with the excess?  If you don’t give it away or can’t eat it all, it’ll spoil.  So why not can a big batch and munch on it all season?

Canning is not just for pickles and jams. Most fruits and vegetables are delicious when canned with the right flavors.  I recently tried picked watermelon rinds that were simply delicious.  And, to think I usually just throw those away!  First time canners should read through canning instructions thoroughly and perhaps enlist a friend to help with the process.  It’s more fun that way anyway.

Let’s be honest about tomatoes for a second.  They are only edible in season.  Unless you are growing them hydroponically in your greenhouse, don’t even bother getting ones at the store in the dead of winter.  That’s ok, though. Canned varieties of red and green tomatoes are delicious and can be seasoned in a variety of ways to be served cold on sandwiches or warm as a side dish.

Beets are another canned favorite, spiced sweet or sour, golden or red.  I prefer canned beets to fresh ones.  If you want to make a beet salad, you have to go to all this trouble to prepare the beets before you get creative with other ingredients. Canning a bunch of beets in one day will stock you up to be able to make beet salads whenever you want in about 15 minutes!

Canning also allows you to ensure the quality or organics of all the ingredients.  Use non-GMO vinegar and all natural herbs and spices for healthy, delicious canned goods that will make you feel as good as they taste!

For  those who  have taken on beekeeping, the benefits of keeping bees are truly enormous. However, for this one post, I am focusing on the bee product propolis.

Propolis is the sticky, usually brown resin that bees collect from various sources such as buds and barrk.  It is metabolized by the bees into a substance they then use to make the hives stronger using it as a cement for the hive.  It also sterilizes the hives and makes the bees themselves healthier as it is a germicide. It has been said the hives, because of the propolis factor, can be more sterile than a hospital  operating room!  Bees can usually  get rid of invading insects on their own and remove them from the hive.  But, for larger invaders, such as mice who may have died in the hive, the bees simply  wrap the carcass in propolis  to ward off any danger as the dead mouse is simply too big for them to haul away!.

If you are fortunate enough to have your own hives, you can buy a propolis trap which would enable you to collect  the propolis from your own hive.  But the process after that for making the propolis suitable to use is rather labor intensive.  For most homesteaders, like with everyone else, when all else fails and time is a of a premium, just go buy propolis at the store.  We use iherb.com.  If you want, you can use our referral code to get $5 off for your very first purchase at iherb (http://www.iherb.com). Just type in JUL 275 in the appropriate section of your shopping cart with your first purchase,

So, what can you  use the propolis for?  Everything!  It is great for boosting your immune system and keeping all sorts of illnesses away.  It is great for burns, cuts, sore throats, acne, canker sores, sinus infections, female infertility, warding off cancer and for teeth and gum problems. It also can help ward off cancer.   It is Nature's very own natural antibiotic which kills only the bad bugs while allowing the good bugs to live.

We have personally experienced wonderful results with propolis for any tooth or gum problems.  When one member got a very painful gum infection, which made for sensitive teeth, propolis fully restored the health of the gums and made all sensitivity in teeth go away.  Simply apply propolis to a clean cotton ball and hold it against the sensitive or aching  part.  Pressing firmly sometimes helps.  It also helped receding gums to grow back.  However, sometimes due to the nature of propolis and its dark color,   one's teeth can be temporarily stained an ugly brown.  No worry.  Simply use your favorite whitening toothpaste (natural, of course--we use a Xyliwhite which is amazing bought from iherb (http://www.iherb.com ) and use baking soda periodically for even faster results. Result?  Squeaky clean teeth!  Using propolis will help prevent tooth decay and gum disease and make teeth stronger.

For anyone suffering from tooth decay, it has been said that adding propolis to the decaying part  of the tooth  will stop any further decay and kill the decay dead in its track. Just make sure that all food particles are removed first before you seal your cavity with propolis.  It is advised by most that you still see a dentist.  And if you choose to go to dentists and need a tooth extracted, propolis will assist in the healing of the gum tissue for a speedier, infection free experience.

Does it also help your city livestock?  You bet it does.   More to come....

When you think of "Baking Soda" everyone thinks of "Arm & Hammer®" right?

We all know that baking soda is indispensable for keeping a clean house but did you know that it is one of the wonders for staying in good health or helping you to return to a healthful condition?

Baking soda is excellent as a paste for any sort of hives, insect stings, or as an addition to bath water for chicken pox and poison ivy. It does remarkable things for hair used occasionally as a shampoo alone as a shampoo type rinse or added to your shampoo. Anecdotal use includes a testimony by a friend who put a paste of baking soda religiously on a cancerous skin lesion which caused the lesion to disappear. Baking soda is alkalizing and thus is beneficial in some cases. To restore an over acid body condition to normal, a small amount of baking soda dissolved in water can relieve many stomach issues. However this is best to use only when needed and not overuse especially for those with high blood pressure as the sodium will elevate your blood pressure even more.

Baking soda will help heal sore and receding gums. It will immediately relieve the pain that occurs form gum problems. Put a paste made of baking soda on your gums and then wait for relief. It will kill any bacteria and help strengthen your gums Another effective treatment is to make a paste, spread it on your gums, then pour some apple cider vinegar on the spot which will cause it to foam like crazy. The combination will not hurt your teeth but we recommend that you use this treatment only as needed, in case and rinse your mouth out after treatment in order not to hurt your tooth enamel with the vinegar and just to play safe. This treatment worked so fast for us that we were astounded. it helped the gums go back to its normal healthy condition. Adding Propolis (Order from iherb.com with the $5 coupon code: "Jul 275") to the gums at night helped them to "regrow" back to its normal condition. But in case the Propolis temporarily stains your teeth, then baking soda will remove the staining.

Baking soda makes an excellent toothpaste and will help kill any tooth decay and prevent it from ever starting in the first place. Making a paste of baking soda with hydrogen peroxide and push it up the gumline. This will also keep the gums healthy , Use as needed and do not overdo as sometimes baking soda may irritate the sensitive gum tissue. There is nothing like it for whitening the teeth. And rinsing your mouth out in a solution of baking soda and water will freshen your breath and help re-mineralize teeth. More to come on keeping healthy on the Urban Homestead.

This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Information and statements regarding health related benefits of certain ingredients are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The information provided is not meant to substitute the advice provided by your personal physician or other medical professional. Do not use the information found within this website to self-diagnose any medical conditions or treat any health problems or diseases. The information provided is not intended to prescribe or be taken as medical advice. If you have or suspect that you have a medical condition please contact your health care provider immediately.

© Raycan | Dreamstime.com

Do you know that there is a way to clean your stove without any chemicals?  I  learned a trade secret form a trendy housecleaning service that kept this little nifty trick "under wraps."   They had been hired to clean an upscale kitchen.

The owner was dismayed because she could never get the burned on black spots that inevitably happen to all of us when cooking. Try as she may, even with certain chemical cleaners, nothing did the trick. However, this cleaning company got these ugly and unsightly back spots off with one simple device--a glass scraper! All you have to do is get one (or a razor if you can be careful) and you can just flick the spot off in one simple move! It won't scratch or harm the surface of the stove.

Well, there was one pleased and shocked customer who could not believe her eyes and begged for the secret, which, of course, was kept hidden from her. It also really works well for any hard to remove spots both inside and out of the stove. No more "black freckled" stove tops or hard to remove black gook inside! I try to never be without one and is the only way to clean a stove.