Improved Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

I posted quite awhile ago about my homemade dish detergent (and why we use it over conventional) and how we were using it in spite of cloudiness. Reader Special765 suggested adding citric acid to the mix to help. That did the trick! It took us some time to get the amounts just right for our water conditions, but I feel like we finally have it perfected. Here is the new and improved recipe:

One Batch of More Green for Less Green Dishwasher Detergent
(Yields about 70 loads)

Dry ingredients:

• 3 cups baking soda
• 1 cup borax
• ¼ cup citric acid*
  

Wet ingredients:

• Essential oil (optional)
• Vinegar

Mix dry ingredients in a container and shake to mix. Keep wet ingredients on-hand for each load of dishes.

Shake dry mix before each use and then open container pointing away from your face. Moisture causes clumping and activates the citric acid so make sure your container is air-tight. We got a container similar to this at a yard sale for $1. For extra protection, consider adding a dried out brown sugar bear (or the like) to absorb any moisture. I suspect any piece of terracotta will do.

For each load, pour the detergent to the lowest line on the dispenser cup (for us this is 1 tablespoon). Most people use too much detergent and go to the top of the cup, but more is not necessarily better— and is probably not what your machine's user manual suggests. If 1 tablespoon is also the right amount for your machine, one batch of this detergent will last for 70 loads.

I add 2 drops of essential oil per load on top of the dry mix. Generally I use tea tree oil, which has natural antiseptic properties, but if I'll be in the kitchen I'll put in a smell I really love like bergamot or sweet orange since the scent will be released in the steam that comes out of the machine.

I've stopped using the rinse-aid compartment for vinegar. Instead, I put a healthy squirt of vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher (between 1/8 and 1/4 cup). I use an old, plastic sports bottle with squeeze top for this. It is so handy to just grab and squirt! Adding more vinegar than the rinse aid dispenses seems to do the job better. My bottle is similar to this. Used ones are abundant and dirt cheap or free, so no need to buy new plastic!

This mixture is just right for the water in my area, but you may need to play with the ratios for water conditions in your area.

*To find citric acid locally check at an Indian grocer (probably the best chance for a good price, since they will likely sell by the bag and not in a pricey brand-name bottle). Also try specialty supply shops that sell things for making cakes, candy, soap, or cheese; or try a health food stores (e.g.Healthway, but it is pricey there). You also can buy it online.

Planning an Organic Vegetable, Herb, and Flower Garden

I am so excited to start my first ever garden this year! In the past, I've grown a few flowers from seed with mixed results and did some flower transplants. So, this is a new game for me. Initially I thought I would try to grow ten herbs and vegetables—that seemed like a good number to get my feet wet. Enter the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange catalogue (great for Mid-Atlantic growers) and the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalogue (fruits and veggies have never seemed so sexy and luscious as they do in this book), and a seed exchange. I decided to only purchase seeds that are not genetically modified organisms (GMO), so those two companies were great choices. I ended up buying all of my seeds from Southern Exposure because they are more local to me, but I did buy some Baker's Creek and Botanical Interests seeds at Merrifield Garden Center, and from a seed exchange I ended up with some Johnny's Select Seeds, Seeds of Change, and Burpee.

I now have the seeds for 28 veggies (some are technically fruits), herbs, and some companion flowers. So much for ten! Here's the list:

Plant	Variety
Basil	Sweet Genovese
Bergamot	Wild
Bush Bean	Blue Lake 274
Bush Bean	Purple-Podded
Carrots	Scarlet Nantes
Cilantro
Dill	Bouquet
Eggplant	Blush
Garlic	Beginner's Mix
Green Onion	Evergreen Bunching
Ground Cherries	Cossack Pineapple
Lavender	French Purple Ribbon
Lettuce, Mesclun
Lettuce, Romaine	Parris Island Cos
Marigold	African Crackerjack
Nasturtium	Jewel, mixed color
Onion	White?
Oregano	Greek
Parsley	Mitsuba, Japanese
Pepper, Bell	California Wonder
Pepper, Jalapeno
Peppers, Sweet	Carnival Mix
Pumpkin	Small Sugar
Radish
Rosemary
Thyme	Summer
Tomato	Cherokee Purple
Tomato	Roma VF, VA select

I have been reading blogs (the author of The Dirty Radish has been immensely helpful to me and even had me over to see her garden and eat some tasty treats and organized a seed exchange), reading books, cross-referencing, building spreadsheets, taking note of the sunlight at various locations each hour, etc. in preparation. It has been pretty overwhelming, but the plan is finally starting to come together.

One thing I wanted to do was capitalize on the benefits of companion planting—planting things together that are mutually beneficial. Since this will be an organic garden, I'd like to give the plants every benefit possible when it comes to pests, fertilization, healthy soil, etc.

Here's my COMPANION PLANTING CHART:

(Click to open a larger image)


Since we don’t know what the light at the house is like in the summer, I’ve decided to do three
4 foot by 4 foot beds in different places in the yard that all seem to get ample sunlight, but we’re unsure of what will happen to that light when the surrounding trees get leaves. I am still working out the last details of the other two beds, but the plan for the south bed is complete (until a more experienced gardener tells me otherwise). You will notice that this is not a traditional row garden; this is a square foot garden.

Here is the SOUTH BED LAYOUT:
(Click to open a larger image)

This first year, the garden might save us a little money. But, everything but the seeds is a one-time cost (and the seeds could be, if I gather them at the end of the season) and we’ll have enough homemade compost by next year to enrich the soil without purchasing fertilizers. In future years, we hope to save lots of money.

Our start up costs:

• $30 for used tools found on Craigslist. Gloves were a gift.
• $55 in heirloom seeds (supplemented with seeds from seed exchange)
• $60 in seed-starting gear (purchased two sets containing growing flat, base tray, and dome; bought one heat mat and received another as a gift. Received a used grow light as a gift; any additional growing containers will be made from repurposed items)
• $60 est. in wood for the raised beds ($20 for each 4x4 bed, I am doing three)
• $150 est. for planting material (peat moss, compost, and vermiculite)
• We will water the garden from rain barrels, which were a gift.

So, $355. We spent $318 at the farmer's market last year (May-October), but that amount includes some cheese and buffalo meat. Hopefully this year our summer diet will be very plant-based and gardening will save us money at the grocery store on non-plant foods. Plus, we will surely dry, freeze, or can some of our produce to use off-season.

Mold Abatement in the Basement

	Mold can be serious business, but I think that the hysteria about it enters the realm of being big business. Mold education is always a more effective first step than panic. Because the house we bought has some moisture issues, I looked into educating myself about mold and moisture problems and found some excellent resources that helped me feel very good about managing things in our new place. First, I read A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home, a PDF from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Then I took an online mini-course: Introduction to Mold and Mold Remediation for Environmental and Public Health Professionals from the EPA. I was able to complete all 9 chapters and all of the tests in one night. (This course is for general education, and is not a certification.) The EPA also has this great chart for cleaning. Home Depot and others sell mold kits, but proceed with caution. Mere traces of mold spores are expected; mold is all around us outside. Indoor mold growth (beyond a small, normal amount like in the fridge or bathroom) is really the problem. Many people think that bleach is the default mold cleaner, but this is not correct. While bleach is an effective mold killer on non-porous surfaces, it is not effective on porous surfaces. In other words, it will kill mold on a tile floor, but unless your grout is sealed that makes part of your floor porous. Drywall is also porous. I don't think bleach is best for anything ever so I wouldn't even consider it for non-porous surfaces. Hubby uses it to clean his home brewing supplies and won't change his ways, but I personally don't ever use it. Here is some more info on bleach & mold and why bleach is not the best choice. So, with bleach out as an option, what is left? Here are the steps that we took: Find the cause of the moisture and abate it You will just have to keep repeating the following steps if you don't take care of the problem. Our problems were: ineffective gutters dumping water on the foundation of the house, an against-code plumbing system creating huge amounts of moisture, and previous owners heating the basement via dryer venting, which is moist heat. Get your gear on Use the EPA's cleaning chart (linked above) to assess the gear that you need. For our level of mold I wore rubber gloves, a mask, and glasses. I also elected to wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt that would be washed right away. Give a topical cleaning The vinegar spray I've mentioned in the past is good for light mildew (like in the bathroom). So first we sprayed and wiped the walls with that: Scented Vinegar Spray: 1t borax, 1T shaved dry castile soap, 1/8c vinegar, 2c hot water, 5-10 drops of essential oils (Green Clean p.136). I suggest making half of the oil drops Tea Tree Oil since it has natural antiseptic properties. Kill the mold and clean topically again I made blend of hot water (1/2 gal), vinegar (1/2 gal), and borax (1 cup)* and wiped that on the wall with a sponge and let it sit for 30 minutes. Don't be afraid to get things really wet (provided it is warm and dry enough in the room for it to dry within several hours.) Then I reapplied and waited for another 30 minutes. Then I wiped one last time with just hot water, really scrubbing this last time. I used a wet/dry shop vacuum to dry up floor. *I made smaller batches that that, but for simplicity's sake I've provided the recipe in a 1 gallon quantity. I used my green cleaning books along with this site to devise that solution and timeline. Seal the wall and cover the stains Mold can stain. Even if you've removed and killed the mold, you may still have staining. So, it is time to cover that up and seal the wall. We used this primer-sealer. About primer: zero VOC primers are easy to find, zero VOC primer-sealers are not. Zinsser makes a zero VOC primer-sealer option, but it is not available in my area, so we went with the conventional kind that I linked to. Zinnser's conventional latex primer-sealer actually is low VOC, they just don't label themselves as such. (Most latex paints are low VOC but are not labeled as such. Read this to learn more about what qualifies as low VOC and then check the MSDS sheet for your favorite paint. Beware, however, of oil-based paints labeled as low VOC. A low VOC oil-based paint can have about three times the amount of VOCs as a conventional latex paint. I learned that the hard way. We bought 5 gallons of oil-based, low VOC Kilz primer-sealer. After using it for a weekend and it stinking up the place, we switched to the Zinsser and sold the Kilz on Craiglist. I can't believe I made that mistake and got hoodwinked into using something because of the label instead of reading the MSDS. The step I didn't mention, because we didn't do it, is removal. Also wearing the proper protective gear, removing pieces of flooring, drywall, etc. is certainly an option—and the best option in some cases. We looked at one house and the basement had black, moldy slime that had grown up from the floors, onto the walls, and up as high as the light switches. That was not the house for us! That house needed every single thing removed from the basement. We are at about 3 months out and none of the mildew has returned! On to the pictures…

Before--Large Room in Basement
Mildew is primarily from the gutters not working and thus water collecting near the house. Plus we've got general filth and ickiness down there. In these pictures, brownish spots are filth, blackish spots are mold. The room has much more grime that it does mold. But, it still has to be dealt with.



After Mold Remediation
Walls: after steps described above. Floor: cleaned with Murphy's Oil Soap and my mother-in-law's amazing floor electric scrubber. The goal was to get it clean enough for the movers to put down boxes. At some point, all of the flooring in the basement will be replaced. I would like to do it soon, but we have bigger priorities and an area rug can help cover it up.



Before--Other side of the big room in the basement (leads to the second kitchen which is a scary place that we have only done demo work in)



After Mold Remediation
(The stairs are very ugly because of chipped paint. I just brought home floor paint samples to decide on for painting them. Yay!)



Before: Other view of the big room and the craft closet



Before: Close up of the craft closet. This is the worst mold in the house. We'd seen much, much worse in other houses so we weren't daunted by this. But, it is certainly was enough to indicate a water problem and enough to warrant careful abatement. The mold here is from toilet leak in the bathroom on other side of wall that went on for so long and was extreme that the moisture rotted the bathroom subflooring and rusted everything metal nearby. Someday I'll share those scary pictures.



Craft closet after mold remediation (including priming)



Unpacking in the craft closet



Unpacking in the big room. The basement is not heated, so we haven't done much down there but unpack some things and make sure that everything is up on blocks and nothing touches the walls until we make it through a few more months with no moisture problems. So far, so good! In theory, we could play video games down there now (that is what it is set up for) but it is too cold.

Come summer, hopefully it will feel refreshing down there and we'll start some real work.