Growing Potatoes in a Laundry Basket

 

I bought the laundry baskets at a local dollar

store (I have 2 baskets).  I filled the baskets with about 2" of soil & compost, then put a seed potato into each basket (each potato was cut into about 3 pieces with 2-3 eyes each).  I then covered the potato with soil, and have been gradually filling the baskets with soil as the potatoes grow, simulating "hilling" the potatoes in a garden.  The garden center that recommended this method to me said each basket should yield 8-10 lbs of potatoes.  So far, so good!  It's been fun with our kids too, because the potatoes are growing out of the holes in the sides of the baskets. Be sure to keep the baskets watered well - it takes some patience (ie - slow watering) to not have all the water run out the sides of the basket.

You can use grocery store potatoes if need be, but most are bred and treated to NOT grow eyes quickly or easily, and they very likely may not be organic. You can order seed potatoes through a variety of online sources (Google organic seed poatoes and you'll find a ton) or you can likely find some at a local garden center. Heck I think last year I even saw them at the WalMart garden center (non-organic). You'll likely have quicker growth and a more plentiful yield from seed potatoes. I also now line the laundry baskets with straw to help keep the dirt in, but still allow the potato shoots to grow through the sides. And yes, when you "hill" the potatoes you cover up all but the top few leaves. It's best to hill every 7-10 days and add a little dirt more often than a whole bunch of dirt over a big chunk of the plant at once.

 

DIY LAUNDRY DETERGENT

Today, our sweet friend Jen, from Blissful 55 is guest posting on Dirty Laundry. No, I am not talking about the problems and dirty little secrets of our lives….we are talking legit, dirty, smelly, laundry; or more importantly, how we get that dirty laundry clean. 

It took me a while to come around to the idea of making my own laundry soap. I tend to be very particular about my laundry detergent. I need it to not fade my colors, smell good, and most importantly clean well. I do not have children at home who like to get their clothes extremely dirty but I do have a husband who insist on coming home from softball games each week looking like the Dirt Monster (he enjoys sliding…and is usually always safe). I have never opted for just the cheapest, non-smelling detergent. I love my clothes and was always worried that, by paying for the cheapest detergent possible, I would “get what I paid for”. My favorite detergent was Gain’s “Liquid Apple Mango Tango” with the coordinating fabric softener.

It met my every need, with the exception of the price tag. We always bought the size that says it contains 48 loads for $10.97 (Wal-Mart price) and that was just the detergent. The fabric softener was $4.47 for 52 loads. Both lasted us around 3 months based on our 4 loads of laundry a week. That brings the total to around $60-$65 a year. I don’t know about you but I would like to have all the extra money I can get. The husbands law school expenses tend to cut down on my craft budget and that is just unacceptable! I need my crafts to keep my sanity so I started looking for ways to save money. I was seriously a huge skeptic when it came to homemade laundry soap but when I realized the price difference, I just had to try it! I did a ton of research and looked up so many varying recipes and then determined what I thought would be best. I tried one smaller batch, thought it was okay but knew there was room for improvement so I went back and did more, yup you guessed it….research! I’m thrilled to say that it was all worth it and I love our homemade laundry detergent. So what do I have to do to entice you to run to the store and get these ingredients? How about I share how much it cost….are you ready? Try approximately $28…A YEAR! That’s based on 6 loads of laundry a week (It’s just me and Mr. Awesome at home so we normally only do around 4, which means this will last around 18 months!) Now let’s get started.

You will need…

1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax- Found in the detergent aisle

1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda- Found in the detergent aisle

1 (3 lb) Container of OxyClean- Found in the detergent aisle. (This is optional but I highly recommend adding it)

2 (14.1 oz) Bars of Zote Soap- Found in the detergent aisle (we chose to do pink for the scent but the white would be just fine. You can also use Fels Naptha)

1 (4 lb) Box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda- Found in the cooking aisle (You could also get two 2 lb box, we couldn’t find the larger 4lb box when we went)

1-2 (55 oz) Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener- or use 3-4 bottles of Scentsy Washer Whiffs. Scentsy washer whiffs are my top choice, (they smell out-of-this-world amazing – my favorite is Quiver), but when in a hurry, I opt for the Purex, (which can be found in the detergent aisle).

The hardest most time consuming part is grating the cheese soap. The hubs thinks it looks like pink cheese….has anyone ever seen pink cheese? Ya didn’t think so! I’m not fortunate enough to have a food processor so I was stuck doing this with a typical hand grater. I did try a blender just for kicks and giggles….total fail! Stick to either a hand grater or food processor if you are blessed enough to have one. I should make it known that the soap dissolves just fine, even in cold water. I know that tends to be a concern but you need not worry. Oh and I would recommend using a large mixing bowl to grate into and using the fine side of the grater.
 

Another option is to microwave the soap before hand. First, cut the bar into chunks, like this:

Pop it into the microwave for about a minute. It will expand… a lot…but then it is dry and just crumbles into tiny bits!

The hardest part is now over and all that’s left is to mix everything together. I used a very large bucket that I got from my Father-in-Law and took a layering approach to mix it easier. I took a small amount of each ingredient and layered it on top of each other, then I grabbed a large mixing spoon and mixed it together. I did this probably 5 times but it was so much easier than dumping all the ingredients in at once and then trying to mix it well.

Here it is in all it’s mixed up glory.

Colleen Lanning <colleen.lanning@gmail.com>	9/15/13
to Tim

This batch makes A TON! Now for probably the best part…you only need 1-2 Tablespoons per load depending on the size…I’ll give you some time to re-read that since I’m sure your in total disbelief…recover yet? That’s right, you only need 1-2 Tablespoons per load! Now here comes the stroke of genius, if you opted to put the Purex Crystals in your batch, you can scoop the detergent right into your bottle and use the cap as your measuring spoon. There are 3 lines on the side and the middle one is approximately 2 Tablespoons…genius right?

Just to give you an idea of how long this bottle lasts, I’ve used about half this bottle and have done around 40 loads, not to mention the huge amount still left in my bucket.

I know that I’m not the only skeptic out their so to put your mind at ease, take a look at the comments!

I thought I would answer the question that has been sent in the most by our readers. The question is how well it worked in a High Efficiency Washer. It actually works really well! This is mostly because it doesn’t create any suds. It took me some time to get used to that but it is actually better for the washer.

Hope this motivates you all to run out and make our own batch. We would love to hear from you whether it be your questions, concerns, or reviews of the soap after you have made it. And don’t forget to stop by and check out Blissful 55′s other projects!