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Make Nettle Manure Yourself

Self-made manure plants can be used in many ways. Used correctly, they fertilize the soil, strengthen your vegetables and drive away pests such as aphids.
Plants that are well suited for preparing liquid manure are, for example, nettles, comfrey, field horsetail or tansy. Onions or nasturtiums from your vegetable garden are also suitable.
These plants nourish your garden soil and the heavy-duty plants in your garden, like tomatoes, squashes, and zucchini, with nutrients like nitrogen, calcium, iron, and magnesium.

At a glance – fertilizing with nettle manure

Nutrients included: nitrogen, calcium, iron, magnesium
Ideal for: tomatoes, squash, courgettes, peppers, cauliflower, cucumbers, potatoes, many other types of cabbage
Slurry not suitable for: peas, beans, lamb’s lettuce, all herbs
Quantity: Ratio of liquid manure to water 1:10; Use approx. 2-3 times per season

Prepare nettle manure

Fill a barrel or barrel about two-thirds full with the coarsely chopped nettle plants and pour in rainwater to about a hand’s width below the rim. Cover the jar with wire mesh or cloth to keep birds from falling in, or place a large branch or board in the bin to help birds find their way out. The addition of a handful of rock flour can bind the odor development somewhat. Stir the manure every 2-3 days. If the liquid has turned dark after about two weeks and no longer foams when stirred, your liquid manure is ready.

After just a few days, the fermentation process begins, which, however, is accompanied by a significant odor development. If you have the opportunity, you should set the vessel a little apart.

Field horsetail – use the stubborn weed as manure

Where horsetail grows, it is a very stubborn herb. Field horsetail can only be driven away through long-term and intensive tillage. During this time, however, you can make the herb usable by using it for a plant manure. The high content of silicic acid makes it an effective remedy against aphids and also as a preventative against fungal attack on e.g. roses.

Put the horsetail manure in the same way as the nettle manure and fill a bucket with two thirds of the plant and fill the bucket with rainwater up to just below the edge of the bucket. Leave the brew for 24 hours and boil the liquid with the herb for 20 minutes. When boiling, the silicic acid is released from the field horsetail and is thus contained in the irrigation water. Let the brew cool down and use it to fertilize your plants or spray them to protect against pests.

Spread liquid manure

Dilute the manure with water in a ratio of 1:10. It is best to use the watering can without a watering attachment so that you can apply the liquid manure at the point where the plant comes out of the ground.

Plant manure should not be applied in sunshine, as it can otherwise burn the plants. The best time to apply liquid manure is early in the morning.

Fight pests with nettle manure

Manure or a brew made from stinging nettle or field horsetail is also suitable as a remedy against aphids because of its high proportion of silica if you spray your plants with it as a preventive measure or after the infestation has started in the appropriate places. You should definitely dilute the liquid manure, otherwise it will be too strong and burn your plants.

A brew consists of the same ratio of plants and water as a liquid manure. However, this only takes about 12 hours and is therefore better suited for generously spraying the leaves.

Caution: If it rained shortly after spraying your pest infestation, the effect will have worn off and you should apply the diluted manure again and spray your plants.

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Food

Buckwheat Milk: This is How You Can Make The Plant Drink

Buckwheat milk is a sustainable alternative to cow’s milk. Buckwheat is also not a nut and is therefore an ideal substitute for nut milk for allergy sufferers. We’ll show you how you can easily make the plant drink yourself.

The healthy pseudo-grain buckwheat is a good source of vegetable protein. With its essential amino acids, fiber and minerals as well as flavonoids, buckwheat is good for digestion and blood vessels.

Buckwheat milk is a good alternative to animal milk and plant-based drinks made from nuts. It is also gluten and lactose free. People with an intolerance or allergy can therefore drink and use buckwheat milk without any problems. In terms of taste, buckwheat milk can be classified as slightly nutty.

Ingredients: You need this for your own buckwheat milk

For 500 milliliters of buckwheat milk you need:
50 grams of buckwheat
about 500 ml water (the amount of water affects the thickness of the milk)
2-4 dates or another sweetener like maple syrup
1 pinch of salt
Optional: spices such as vanilla, cardamom or cinnamon
recommended kitchen utensils:
Key
measuring cup
food processor, blender or blender
Nut milk bags (you can also make nut milk bags yourself) or cheesecloth
Glass bottle with lid for storing the milk

Preparation: It’s so easy to make buckwheat milk yourself

You can make buckwheat milk in just a few steps:
Soak the buckwheat in water for several hours, preferably overnight. Put the buckwheat in a bowl and fill it up with enough water.
Drain the water and rinse the buckwheat well.
Blend the buckwheat on high until it forms a kind of puree.
Add the dates, season to taste and briefly mix the mixture again.
Prepare a bowl and hold the nut milk bag or strainer over it. Fill the mixture into the bag and squeeze it until all the liquid has dripped out of the bag into the bowl.
Pour the liquid into a sealable glass bottle.
Store the homemade buckwheat milk in the fridge. It stays there for a few days.

Tip: You can process the remaining buckwheat. Spread it out on a plate or cloth and let it dry. If you want, you can mix the dried buckwheat again. You can then use the result as a kind of buckwheat flour in recipes such as buckwheat bread or buckwheat pancakes.

Conclusion: Every milk alternative has different properties. Some are sweeter or nuttier in taste, have a creamier or waterier consistency, are better for coffee or baking, and have different ingredients. Every plant drink has its own advantages and disadvantages. It is not possible to say exactly which milk is the most sustainable. It is important that you pay attention to the country of origin and an organic seal for the raw materials.

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Food

Rice Flour: Nutritional Values, Uses and How to Make Yourself

Rice flour is a gluten-free type of flour that you can use for cooking and baking. In this article you will find out what you should consider when using it and how you can make your own rice flour.

Rice flour: properties and uses

When making rice flour, machines grind raw rice grains into a fine flour. If polished rice is ground, you get a snow-white flour. Brown rice flour, on the other hand, is made from whole grain rice. Since the shell is preserved here, this flour is richer in minerals and vitamins.

Rice flour is often used as a binding agent in Asian dishes, especially for sauces and desserts

Rice flour is only suitable to a limited extent as a substitute for wheat flour. It is not suitable for fluffy pastries such as muffins, biscuit bases etc. Since the flour lacks gluten, the dough would not rise in the oven. However, you can use rice flour for flat pastries like flatbread.

If you want to bake gluten-free bread, it is advisable to combine rice flour with other gluten-free flours. So wheat flour cannot be replaced 1:1 with Asian flour. It is therefore best to consciously use gluten-free recipes when baking.

How healthy is rice flour?

According to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), rice and rice products contain relatively high levels of inorganic arsenic compounds. These are considered carcinogenic. The BfR therefore recommends consuming rice in moderation and alternating it with other types of grain as part of a balanced diet. Parents in particular should take this into account when feeding small children.

Also make sure to buy organic rice flour. So you can be sure that farmers did not use synthetic pesticides during cultivation.

How to make your own rice flour

You can easily make rice flour yourself. It is up to you which type of rice you want to use. Usually rice flour consists of long grain rice. A grain mill is best suited for the production. However, since rice is softer than wheat, the grinder should be able to grind very finely. Otherwise the grains will be too large and the flour will become crumbly.

If you don’t have a grain mill, you can also grind rice flour in a stand mixer. Be careful not to add too many grains of rice to the blender at once. Otherwise, less powerful devices in particular can quickly become clogged. Therefore, only add one to two cups of grains of rice to the blender at a time. Then, on high, grind the grains into a fine flour.

Alternatively, you can grind rice in the coffee grinder. Slowly add the rice to the mill, spoonful by spoonful, so that nothing gets clogged here either. Then put the flour in an airtight container (e.g. a mason jar) and store it in a dry and cool place.

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Food

Make Sprouting Glass Yourself: Instructions For a Sprouting Glass

Making a sprout glass yourself is not difficult and also much cheaper than buying one. You can easily make the sprout jar from an old pickle or jam jar.

Make sprout glass yourself: you should know that

Many online shops and supermarkets offer sprouting glasses. But why spend money on it when you can easily make the glass yourself? We will show you a method without plastic or special equipment.

You need this:

a glass
a felt-tip pen to mark holes
a small drill or a can prick
sandpaper or a file
sprout seeds of your choice
possibly a thick piece of cardboard as a holder
By the way: Many instructions use tulle or fly screen fabric for DIY seed jars. Our method is more sustainable for three reasons: firstly, tulle is often made of plastic, secondly, you can use the lid of the jar with our method, and thirdly, you don’t have to buy any new materials.

Make your own seed jar: Here’s how

The first thing you should do is sterilize the jar. For example, put it in boiling water for ten minutes.
On one side of the lid, mark out holes about ½ to 1 inch apart. You don’t have to work on the other side, as the sprout glass will be crooked later.
Then get your pick or a small drill. Poke or drill small holes in one half of the lid. The water later drains off this. Make sure that the holes are not too big, otherwise the sprouts can slip out of the sprouting jar.
Now use some sandpaper or a file to smooth out sharp edges on the holes.
Note: Readers have reported that the cut edges can rust at the holes. So sand them down very carefully. Alternatively, you could use a piece of plastic mosquito net or a piece of loosely woven cotton cloth that you can then wash out.

Fill the sprout glass and set it up

Thoroughly wash the sprout seeds and put them in the jar. If you have something you can use to set the jar up at a 45 degree angle, skip the following step.
Now build a holder for the sprout glass:
To do this, place the bottom of the glass on a thick piece of cardboard. Place it so that it is only halfway up the box. Now trace the outline of the floor with the felt-tip pen.
Cut out the resulting semicircle.
Now draw an elongated rectangle on the cardboard with the hole. The semicircle should form one of the short sides. You will later place the glass in this semicircular bulge.
Cut out the rectangle.
If you fold the resulting strip in the middle, you can use it as a support for the glass. This standing aid ensures that all water drains from the glass and that no mold forms.
Place the sprouting glass in a can or in the sink for the first few hours. This allows the water that is still clinging to the rungs after washing to drain off. Later it is sufficient to place a kitchen towel under the can.

Now place your homemade sprout glass in a bright and warm place. After just a few days, your sprouts should have grown enough for you to harvest them. You can use the glass over and over again.

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Lifestyle

Make Clever Ideas for Detergent Yourself

We often wash our laundry with the usual chemical detergents. But most of them are not good for our environment. That’s why we’ve collected ideas for making your own laundry detergent. For environmentally friendly detergent alternatives.

If you no longer want to use chemical detergents, then the following alternatives to making your own detergent are just right for you. At the same time, you are doing something good for yourself and your environment. In addition, these are cheap and quick to make yourself.

Washing clothes with great detergent alternatives

Environmental awareness is growing steadily and with it the interest in alternatives to chemical detergents. A customer survey by the German Institute for Service and Quality also revealed that customers have high expectations of their detergent. Many consumers are dissatisfied with the environmental aspects of their detergent. That is why we have collected effective and environmentally friendly detergents that you can make yourself.

1) Detergent made from baking soda

A well-known household remedy is a baking soda. Because it can be used in many areas. So also for washing clothes. There are different possibilities of application. You can simply put the baking soda in the detergent drawer and start the wash cycle. Or put the powder directly into the laundry drum. Accordingly, it cleans your laundry and neutralizes bad odors. It also serves as a fabric softener. The miracle powder also softens the water and prevents calcification. Also, note our article on descaling washing machines and dishwashers.

2) Clean clothes with vinegar

You can also use the popular household remedy vinegar. Because you can use it to remove unpleasant odors. In addition, vinegar can remove limescale residue from your clothes. This makes it cuddly soft and you can do without a chemical fabric softener. The use of vinegar is particularly suitable for effectively washing and caring for bed linen. To do this, add half a cup to a full cup of vinegar to the fabric softener compartment.

3) Washing clothes with ivy

Slightly soiled clothes are excellent for washing with ivy. Because the saponin contained in ivy ensures radiant cleanliness. Consequently, you can collect dark ivy leaves on your next walk. You can then put the leaves in the washing machine. To do this, put about 10 leaves in a laundry bag or sock. Then put them in the laundry drum. This detergent alternative is particularly suitable for dark and colored laundry. Also, note our article on making ivy offshoots quickly and easily.

4) Soap nuts as an alternative detergent for allergy sufferers

The cleaning soap nuts of the soap tree come from Asia and have been used for cleaning in India for some time. They are therefore an effective, environmentally friendly alternative. You can use them to remove light dirt and grease from your clothing. At the same time, they are well tolerated. Therefore particularly popular with allergy sufferers and recommended for neurodermatitis diseases. They can also be used at all temperatures. Only in the case of very stubborn dirt should you use our other alternatives. The only drawback is their carbon footprint. Because the transport routes are long.

5) Washing clothes with chestnuts

The chestnuts growing here have a better CO2 balance. Because you can collect them in autumn. And use it to do laundry all year round. Chestnuts serve as an alternative to detergent because they contain soap-like substances, saponins. So gather the chestnuts and break up a handful of them with a hammer or nutcracker. Then put them in a jar. Then pour boiling water over them. And let the mixture work overnight. You can now wash your clothes with the resulting liquid suds. Also read our article on the most common mistakes when doing laundry.

6) Make liquid detergent yourself

DIY detergents are becoming more and more popular. The best-known recipe for making your own detergent is liquid detergent. For this, you need 4 tablespoons of washing soda or baking soda, a small handful of grated curd soap, water, and a few drops of essential oils. Then you first have to heat the water in the kettle or pot. Then mix the ingredients together while stirring constantly. After everything has cooled down, you can fill in the homemade detergent and add the essential oil. Also, note our tips for washing and caring for laundry.

7) Make washing powder yourself

If you prefer washing powder, you can also make your own. For this, you need baking soda and an effective pure washing soda. Depending on how much stock you want to prepare, take two equal parts (e.g. 150g baking soda and 150g washing soda) and 100g grated curd soap. Then mix the ingredients and add about 15 drops of essential oil. This will give your washing powder a fresh scent. If you like, you can also add 100g of dishwasher salt. Because that should ensure softer water. Then put the finished powder in an airtight container. For washing clothes, put 1-2 tablespoons in the detergent compartment.

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