Organic Farm Life

Hard Water Hard On Your Skin

July 30, 2008 - Posted in Living

It can be extremely annoying when dry skin does not seem to want to go away. Even more annoying is when you are unable to figure out why. Your skin just seems to be unable to retain moisture, even with amount of pampering you do to it.

You wash carefully, put on plenty of moisturizer, and still it feels tight, looks flaky, and refuses to be soft. So what is the deal? Is there some hidden factor you are missing?

It is very likely that you are. Many people take their usual shower, perform their usual facial routine, use their specific products, and never consider the single, largest thing they are constantly putting on their skin.

Your water.

A lot of people do not even know what type of water they have. Still others were not even aware they have a water type. However, most people do have a water type that they might want to know about. In your case of continuously dry skin, you definitely will want to find out.

There are in fact two different types of water; hard and soft. If you find that your skin continues to be dry even after all the work you put into it, the problem may lie in the fact that you have hard water and it is helping to keep your skin dry.

Water that is considered to be hard means the water contains a large amount of calcium, magnesium, and iron deposits. If you notice your shower or tub slowly but constantly building up deposits, such as rust, soap scum, and lime, you probably have hard water.

Not only will you be cleaning your tub more often and possibly dealing with clogs in your pipes, but you will also be left with skin less inclined to be soft.
Hard water makes it more difficult for substances to dissolve in it efficiently, such as soap. When you lather (which you may also realize is difficult to do) and then rinse off, you may not be removing all the soap from your skin.

This is through no fault of your own, but rather the inability of your water to wash all the soap from your skin. Soap that remains on the skin aids in drying it out, leaving you with flaky, itchy skin. Remaining soap can also aid in the clogging of pores, giving you dry skin and a few extra skin irritations.

Because both hard water deposits and cleansing products are left on the skin, it can also cause your skin to become more irritated and susceptible to damage, especially when it comes to facial skin and the fragile blood vessels beneath. Hard water can even cause your skin to become thinner and aggravate skin conditions, such as rosacea.

Washing in hard water means even with good products meant to help your dry skin, you still have to fight to get your skin in the condition you want it to be.
If you have well water, then you can easily obtain a water softener to help avoid hard water.

Soft water means there are fewer deposits in the water, giving your soap better lathering power and making it much easier to wash off, freeing your skin of excess soap after you towel off and giving you a better chance at softer, more moisturized skin.

However, many people get their water through public means. If you do, then if your water is not already soft, then you may have a bigger problem in trying to get soft water.

Yes, you cannot do too much to remedy the water coming out of your faucets unless you want to opt for having a major installation of a water softening unit. If you are unable to do this, you will have to learn to live with your hard water by using less soap and taking shorter showers, giving your hard water less access to your skin.

You could buy water to use for your face in order to help keep your skin from dealing with hard water, and continue using your current skin products.

Even if you are unable to do anything about hard water, at least now you can have peace of mind by knowing your water was the final puzzle piece in the dryness of your skin.

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How To Get Rid Of Cockroaches

July 5, 2007 - Posted in Living

If a group of cockroaches decides to come live under your roof, they do so for a very good reason. And you probably already know what that reason is; food. The only thing a roach fears more than the bottom of your shoe is a lack of food and water. Therefore it’s good to know what they eat if you want to get rid of roaches. A cockroach isn’t picky, unless it comes to where he wants to live. The creeps carefully choose a home with plenty of food and water. If that’s yours, you know what to do. A: get rid of the roaches. B: make sure they never come back again.

Getting rid of roaches isn’t all that easy. But once you’ve won the fight, the battle ain’t over. Then it comes to eliminating all the things cockroaches love. Therefore it’s important to know what they eat, what they drink and where they will most likely find it. Let’s start with the bad news. Cockroaches eat about anything. Soap, paper, clothes, cigarette buts, your favorite book, wood, human hair and nail clippings, leather, feces, fabric and even the glue on the back of wallpaper and stamps. And if they have to, they’ll eat each other. They are classified as omnivores, meaning they eat any type of organic food source they find. Like I said: roaches aren’t picky. .

Cockroaches are nocturnal by nature, preferring to hide in a dark place during the daylight hours and scavenging for food at night. There is one peculiar exception to this rule. The Oriental cockroach seems to be attracted to light. Cockroaches locate food and they then communicate to other cockroaches in the community by leaving chemical trails in their feces. Other cockroaches will follow these trails to locate food sources or other cockroaches. That’s why a cockroach never seems to come alone. Roaches’ favorite place? Your kitchen. All it takes is for you to make a sandwich and not wipe down the counter afterwards. One trivial, carelessness and you will have unwittingly spread a delicious buffet for the cockroaches in your house.

Once you’ve got rid of the roaches, you need to take straightforward precautions: put away all (all!) food items into plastic containers that can be sealed tightly. Open water also breeds roaches. A single drop of water will attract roaches so make sure to wipe down the sink and counter before you go to bed. Not just today, but make it habit. There is always a cockroach around looking for food. And the creep never comes alone. It’s worth having a few cockcroah traps around the house, especially inside your kitchen. I use the Catchmaster Cockcroah Glue Trap. Works for me every time.

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Green Cleaning Tips

June 12, 2007 - Posted in Green

Green cleaning is safer for the environment and your health. You will prevent harmful chemicals from running off in the water or affecting your surrounding plants and neighborhood critters. You will help keep your indoor air free of harmful pollutants and safe to breathe. Green cleaning is also another way to lead a more conscious lifestyle exemplified by today’s shift toward sustainable remodeling and organic shopping. Because of the high demand for green cleaning products from consumers, many major brands now offer green cleaning lines. Here are some of them:

Clorox has a line of natural cleaners called GreenWorks. Greenworks cleaners are slightly more affordable than other natural cleaning options. The line includes an all-purpose cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, bathroom cleaner, and glass and surface cleaner. All the ingredients used to make these cleaners are made from renewable resources, biodegradable, and free of chemicals.

The Seventh Generation. has been around longer and is widely recognized. In addition to the cleaning agents, the natural or recycled cleaning products offered by this line include paper towels and napkins.

Green Seal recommendations. If you’d like a more comprehensive list, go to Greenseal, a non-profit company that applies science-based environmental standards testing to household cleaning manufacturers. Green Seal checks ingredients to ensure they don’t contain lead, carcinogens, mutagens, or other toxins and they that don’t deplete the ozone, contribute to poor air quality, or display a host of other dangers. Green Seal’s website offers a list of household cleaners that pass their stringent inspection.

But buying household cleaners isn’t the only way to clean green. You can also use homemade cleaning remedies made from vinegar, baking soda, water, and other items in your kitchen. On the exterior of your home, you can use a hose or a pressure washer when needed, utilizes nothing else but water and force. In other areas around the home, simply sweeping the driveway, de-greasing the grill with citrus, or using mild soap and water on your windows may do the trick.

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Organic Container Gardening Secrets

May 29, 2007 - Posted in Organic

Do you want fresh organic vegetables but don’t have space for a garden? It is your lucky day because I have the solution for you. Organic container gardening fits just about anywhere, and it’s even easier than having an organic garden plot.

Your container can be anything that will hold soil. It can be a butter tub. Just make sure you give your container drainage holes. You could use a drill for a plastic container, like I did, and give it about three holes. You need drainage holes because plants are not happy with too much water. I use organic soils, that are a mixture of sphagnum peat moss, perlite, vermiculite and regular potting soil.

I add compost to my pots for its fertilizing abilities. You could also use fish emulsion, bone meal, kelp meal, or any other organic fertilizers. For controlling insects, you can use beneficial insects, horticultural oils or insecticidal soap. You can also pick off larger insects with your hands.

When buying seeds for your containers, you should purchase organic seeds. Last year, I purchased organic heirloom seeds from rareseeds.com. This year I will seed save from the harvested vegetables so I won’t have to buy seeds next year and so on.

You can plant just about anything your little heart desires in a container. The only thing you need to be concerned with is how big will the plant get and do you have it in a large enough container. If it is a houseplant, you can always transplant to a larger pot. If you are talking about a tomato plant, you should pick a large container like a 5 gallon bucket.

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Ceramic Butter Keeper

April 23, 2007 - Posted in Shopping

I’ve been trying to find a Ceramic Butter Keeper for ages. Some people say it’s known as a “Butter Bell” in France. What a Butter Keeper does is it helps keeps butter fresh and spreadable at room temperature for up to 30 days without refrigeration. I do use a lot of butter but dont quite like the containers that i find at the local stores.

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I was told that i just need to add 1/2 cup cold water to the bottom of the bell, then invert the butter filled top into the container. The water will seal out the air, keeping the butter soft and sweet. I hope to find a Ceramic Butter Keeper that measures around 4″ tall by 3 3/4″ and holds one stick (1/4 pound) of butter. How do find these Ceramic Butter Keeper?

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