It’s a LIME
I have 2 citrus trees that lead a very pampered life. If you remember, I purchased them on my trip to Monticello in 2010. The prime window acreage in the living room is all theirs during our cold NE Ohio winters. They’re even lovingly carried out to the front porch to enjoy any unseasonably nice weather we have in late winter. These two plants truly are my favorite houseplants, mostly because I want them to produce fruit.
This spring, the key lime tree produced 3 or 4 blooms, sadly none of them were pollinated. That gave me hope that it was finally old enough to fruit. I’ve been watching it like a hawk all summer waiting for blooms. Sure enough, two weeks ago I noticed buds. Last week it started blooming profusely. I moved it to the front porch right by the catnip plant, which is blooming at attracting tons of pollinators thus hopefully increasing the odds of pollinating the lime blossoms.
Sure enough, earlier this week I noticed that at least a few of the blooms had been pollinated and were sporting tiny lime fruit. Will they mature into fruit? You really never know when it’s the first time a plant blooms. Sometimes it takes them a cycle or two to figure out what’s going on. I certainly hope all these little blooms turn into limes, if so, our glasses will be filled with limeade in a few months!
When we get to Maine I hope to add to my citrus collection. I’ll have a bigger house and more windows to house them. Kumquats, Meyer Lemon and a few other varities are on my “must-buy” list.
Do you have any favorite houseplants? Do you grow any edible houseplants?
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Friday Unfavorite: Talking on the Phone
Generally, I find myself in the glass half full category. I’m an optimist. Thus I have the Friday Favorite posts to talk about things I love. Every now and then, however, a dislike should make it on the list, so you can get an idea of a few things I don’t like.
I have a HUGE aversion to talking on the telephone. I’m not sure why, it’s just not really my thing – at all. It’s hard to remember a time when I wasn’t like this. Most likely it’s part of my introvert personality. When the phone rings I cringe, hoping it’s not for me, which thankfully it rarely is.
Lucky for me, Mr Chiots doesn’t mind talking on the phone. Thus he’s the secretary and makes most of our phone calls. Funny how it often works out this way, our spouses are skilled at those things we aren’t so skilled at.
Do you have any aversions?
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Baby Steps
The 19th of September is scheduled to be moving day. The day we’ll be en route to Maine in a big moving truck and a car. One of our neighbors is planning on making the tirp with us, so we’re hoping to hit the Common Ground Fair on Friday and maybe Saturday.
I have no desire deal with the stress of living in a house full of boxes any longer that I have to, so our plan is to spend the 17th & 18th packing the things we use every day. That should be more than enough because we don’t have a ton of stuff. Most of the items we owned are use fairly frequently and can’t be packed up now.
There are, however, a multitude of gardening and preserving items that can be packed away. All of my terra cotta pots from the garage, the basement seed starting area, any of the canning jars I don’t plan on filling this summer. I’ve been slowly packing it all into boxes, a few each day. Whenever I start to feel a little stressed out, I pack a box or two.
I’ve had my share of moving experiences. Growing up we moved almost every other year, from one country to another. During the first four years Mr Chiots and I were married we moved four times until settling here. Thankfully it’s been 10 years since our last move and hopefully we won’t ever need to move again after this one. I’ll certainly be glad when it’s all over.
Any great tips for packing/moving?
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Non-Toxic Drain Cleaning
Back when I first started the non-toxic cleaning series, someone requested a drain cleaning post. A great topic since drain cleaners are among the most toxic of household chemicals, you definitely DO NOT want to keep them around. Not only are they very dangerous and caustic, they’re not good for your plumbing. The people we purchased this house from used drain cleaner instead of cleaning out the drains and it actually ate through the metal in the shower drain and caused leaks in the pipes.
Most of the time drain clogs are caused by hair and soap scum buildup. It’s easy enough to clean them out by removing the stopper and using a wire hook to pull out hair. Not a pleasant job to be sure, but not as yucky as all those caustic chemicals. We use a piece of a wire coat hanger that we cut and bent into a hook. It resides in our bathroom cabinet for drain cleaning.
If drains are still running slowly follow this process:
- clean hair and other debris from drain
- pour a stock pot full of very hot water down drain
- let sit a few minutes
- put a half cup of baking soda down drain
- pour a cup of apple cider vinegar down drain
- after a half hour, put another stock pot of hot water down drain
- check drain to see if there is any visible debris
- if you see debris, remove it
- check drain flow, if still slow, repeat steps 1-8
Following these steps will clear most drain clogs. I’ve had great luck using this system, it works great. Mr Chiots has been very impressed with how great it works!
If you have a problem with clogged drains, consider adding a product that contains beneficial bacteria regularly. Just like regular consumption of yogurt and probiotics helps our digestive system, the same can help with your drains. Here at Chiot’s Run I use FLOW from Gardens Alive once a month in our drains. It keeps the them flowing freely and thus we no longer have issues with clogged drains. Once our kitchen sink was horribly backed up with a clog was somewhere in the long run of pipe between the sink and the big sewer line in the house. We tried everything, including a pipe snake to no avail. At our wits end, we tried this stuff and it worked. Ever since then we’ve been using it as drain maintenance.
To keep your drains clean and running smoothly, clean hair, soap and other things out of the drains regularly to keep them flowing well. Pouring hot water down the drain every so often to keep things running smoothly and will help you avoid future clogs. You can also use the process above every few months to keep drains clean. If you do experience a backed up drain, don’t reach for the drain cleaner. Try the baking soda/vinegar method above.
Do you ever get clogged drains? Any tips/tricks for non-toxic ways to clear them out?
NON-TOXIC CLEANING SERIES
Stocking Your Non-Toxic Cleaning Kit
Learning to Love Castile Soap
Make Your Own: Foaming Soap
Make Your Own: Infused Vinegar
Make Your Own: Multi-Purpose Cleaner
Make Your Own: Color Safe Oxygen Bleach
Non-Toxic Bathroom Cleaning
Friday Favorite: Charlie’s Soap
Friday Favorite: Twist Sponges
Homemade Whitening Scrub
more to come…
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Feeling Footloose
Humans are among the most footloose of species. Pilgrimages seem to be almost instinctive, or at least derived from behaviors now so ingrained in our species that it’s difficult to distinguish between genetic and social origins. Of all the animals that migrate, we are surely among the most restless. But humans retain the influence of the geophysical habitat in which they pass their formative years. And often, it seems, we are drawn back to our childhood homes–if not physically, then mentally; if not out of love, then out of curiosity; if not by necessity, then by desire. Through such ramblings we find out who we are.
John Janovy, Jr in Vermillion Sea found in A Year In The Maine Woods by Bernd Herinrich
In late July I started to long for a camping trip to the mountains. Perhaps it’s a response to all the busyness in my life at the moment. Whatever it is, the need to get away and disconnect is quite strong at the moment.
There’s no time in my life for such a journey, instead time was spent looking through all of my images from a few of our previous trips.
Mr Chiots and I have been talking about where we will end up on our next trip. A journey to the Southwest is in our future, as well as a long trip to Alaska. Hawaii is also on our travel bucket list, not so much for the tropical aspect but there are a few national parks on the islands.
With the big move this year, we’re not sure any of these are going to be feasible this coming year. Good thing the Catskills are right in the middle of our new home and my parent’s house here in Ohio. Perhaps a couple nights there on our trips to/from will cure our travel fever.
What locations are on your travel bucket list?
