Homemade Cleaner Recipes & Project Updates

Don't let Princess Isabella fool you, today was a busy day!

Izzy takes a cat nap



homemade cleaning supplies

I normally do recycle projects with my kiddos, but they would NOT slow down today. So I had to make cleaning supplies without them. It's amazing that I made hardly any mess at all, but it's still more fun with help:)


I made laundry soap, hand soap, dishwashing detergent, window cleaner, and fabric softener! This is more of a frugal project than a recycle, although I DID re use plastic containers for each of the mixtures.

All of this for under $5. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Making  homemade cleaning supplies easily saves me $600/year.



These tutorials are all excellent, so I'm just posting the links. They work really well and save lots of $$$! I choose natural ingredients free of sodium laurel sulfate, dye, etc.

I used Kirks Original Coco Castile soap, as it's natural and the company does NOT test its products on animals. WalMart and Kroger both carry this brand.



This is literally the ONLY soap I can find that is not tested on animals.

http://thefrugalgirls.com/homemade-cleaners

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/diy-eco-dishwasher-detergent.htm

http://www.thefarmersnest.com/2011/11/liquid-hand-soap-diy.html

My house smells so good right now!

Let's check in on a previous upcycle... My daughter's salad garden is growing! The cabbage, lettuce, onions, and spinach are doing great and we can't wait to harvest them. The Lees LOVE salad, especially when it's fresh out of the garden.



And a previous off the grid project... Baby chickens!



The chicks are doing great and were moved out to the chicken coop a few weeks ago. They are getting very big and brave, and have even ventured outside every now and again.



The mystery, however, is what kind of chickens they actually are.

We THINK that four of them are White Leghorns. One may be a Dominique. One hen, Spot, is remaining very small? She was the same size as her sisters when we got them at two days old, but now, her sisters are nearly twice her size.

I guess we'll have to wait another month or so to see what these little beauties will grow into.

Let's hope they all grow into hens, as opposed to roosters.

(Doesn't Tweet, pictured left look like a White Leghorn? We think so!)

We enjoy watching them try out all of their chicken skills like scratching, roosting, and foraging for bugs. They'll try their hand at laying eggs in just a couple more months.



The girls like to practice roosting together

Speaking of chickens... Here is my favorite hen. Shhhhh.... don't tell the other girls, but Gertrude is my girl. She's a Rhode Island Red. She follows me around the yard like a puppy, hoping that I have a treat for her. She loves to be petted and picked up and even comes when I call to her.

Gertrude free ranging in the yard

And if I hold a treat way up in the air, she'll fly up and get it. Gert is a spoiled brat, by my own doing. Best of all, she lays us yummy brown eggs! She is a very good layer.

Speaking of chickens and eggs... We have a broody hen. A Bantum, no doubt! Willow is insisting on hatching eggs already.

The only problem is that her "clutch" isn't made of eggs at all, but golf balls that I put in the nesting boxes to stimulate egg production. They may have worked a little too well, because nothing can break her will to hatch these golf balls.

If this keeps up, she'll be sneaking off to lay her own eggs before long... Again!

While we're on the subject of birds, let's move on to the ducks. Our two ducks have now become 4, as we took in our neighbor's set. They all get along and now believe they are a flock. They're quite hilarious to watch. Hoping we get duck eggs soon!

 You may not realize what she's doing, but this is Spunky giving me the evil eye. I've seen the other ducks do this when they really want to get a good look at something, but only Spunky does it to me.

Did I mention that I handfeed them bananas every evening? They gobble them out of my hand and then quickly move away, because they know that next is bed time. They will not use the ramp to get into the chicken coop in the evening; the same ramp they use to leave the coop in the mornings.

I theorize that they enjoy me chasing them around the coop. If I stop, they come find me and give chase, quacking the entire way.

This is our crazy little life on Maple Valley Farm. I'll try to get the kids to slow down so they can be included in the next post. If not, I'll just post their blurs:) Even their blurs are pretty darn cool.

Happy Spring everyone!