20th (or is it 21st?) century Pioneer

So, as of late - and by “late” I totally mean “last weekend”, I have decided to become a 20th (or is it 21st?) century Pioneer. You read that right. I'm planning on taking sewing classes and with the small exceptions of a mini van, cable television, The Internet, electricity, VS underthings, my iPhone, frequent WalMart trips, an outside-the-home-job, and debt, I am basically a modern day Amish lady. Could practically be twins.

You: “How did it come to this, oh wise one?”

Me: “Dear loyal blog reader: that is indeed a very good question. And I shall answer thee accordingly – I want to save money, eat healthier, and in general – Be Green (er)”

You: “Dos thee dare say Greeneth?” (at some point in this conversation you turned Elizabethian)


Me: “GREENETH INDEED, GOOD SIR!” (….and I am now British)

You: “How would one begin to endeavor to conduct ones manner to reflect a Green lifestyle, Sensei?” (now you are a Ninja)

Me: “Check this, partna. First off, I made homemade laundry detergent and it’s so fresh ‘n so clean clean! Then I holla’d at MP and was all, “Look homey- shawty needs a garden”. I’m still working on the chickens though and MP is all, "Look, chickenhead - MP ain’t down wif da chickens” (and I am a rapper)

So what started this whole thing was last weekend when I did approximately eleventy trillion loads of laundry. I went thru like 2 bottles of detergent and a bottle of fabric softener. That’s like $15 bucks, by the way. Anyway, as luck would have it, my mother has been getting into frugality. In conversation, I mentioned all the laundry I’d done and she told me that she’d just made homemade detergent ala “The Duggars”. Now, there aren’t nearly as many of us as there are the Duggars, but I would challenge them to a laundry dual ANY.DAY. Brogan can’t handle getting anything on her clothes so she changes about 12 times a day and Swaid? Well, let’s just say that the boy could flood a pool. He doesn’t “tinkle”, he waters our lawn. And the neighbor’s lawn. And possibly yours too. We got lots o’ laundry, is what I’m saying.

The recipe for this detergent is cheap and super easy. And since "cheap" and "super easy" are two of my favorite adjectives, I tried it:

2 parts Borax (I used 4 cups)
2 parts Washing Soda (I used 4 cups)
1 part grated Ivory soap (1 bar equals 2 cups, so I used 1 whole bar)

Other than being environmentally safe, the best part about it is the cost. It was like $6 to buy everything, but I still have 2/3 box of both the washing soda and the borax and still have 2 bars of soap left. You only use 2 TBSP per load – 3 if it’s a large load. It might be the best stuff ever.

I also found a recipe for fabric softener as well, but I haven’t made it yet. When I do though, I’ll let you know.

I’m hoping we can get out garden started this weekend. MP has a work day at deer camp (he’s a hunter / gatherer, you know) and still has long paddle scheduled so we’ll see if there’s time. I plan to take pics of the before, during and after!!! And I'll keep asking about the chickens. Maybe next summer we can have some! Maybe. I might have changed my mind by then.....