#self-sufficiency

Edit: Please see my updated post regarding baking soda in your gardens!

Welcome, gardening enthusiasts! Today, we’re going to explore the incredible uses of baking soda in your garden. This common household item can transform your gardening experience in ways you never imagined. Let’s dive in!

Fungicide: Baking soda is a natural, non-toxic fungicide. Mix four teaspoons of baking soda in one gallon of water. For powdery mildew, mix one tablespoon baking soda, one tablespoon vegetable oil, and one tablespoon dishwashing liquid into one gallon of water. Spray weekly on overcast days.

Soil Booster: Mix one teaspoon of baking soda into a gallon of water to improve the quality of alkaline-loving plants.

Soil pH Tester: Wet the soil and apply a handful of baking soda. If it bubbles, your soil has a pH level of 5 or under!

Weed Control: Pour baking soda in garden cracks and crevices to keep weeds at bay.

Tomato Sweetener: Sprinkle baking soda on the soil around your tomato plants to sweeten the fruits. Note! Avoid sprinkling directly on the plants.

Gnat Control: Mix four teaspoons of baking soda and one teaspoon biodegradable soap in a gallon of water. Spray affected soil or plants.

Cabbage Worms: Mix equal parts flour and baking soda, then dust over affected plants.

Crabgrass Killer: Pour a heavy amount of baking soda on crabgrass. Be cautious not to get too much on your grass.

Slug Deterrent: Spread baking soda over areas where slugs are present, but clean it off your plants after.

Compost Deodorizer: Add baking soda to your compost pile to neutralize odors.

Bonus Tip!

Ant Repellent: Mix equal parts powdered sugar and baking soda. The sugar attracts the ants, while the baking soda kills them.

There you have it! Baking soda is a gardener’s best-kept secret. Give these tips a try and watch your garden thrive. Happy gardening!

New Forest House, New Forest National Park, United Kingdom,

 In a previous column, we introduced the concept of local, self-sufficient communities as a way of providing for some of our needs and acknowledged that such an effort would be challenging to accomplish. Despite these long odds, we forge ahead in defining what such a community might look like here in rural northern Minnesota.

Self-sufficient communities are communities that meet many of their own needs from within the community and are interdependent. Community members work to promote the common good of the community as a means of supporting their personal well-being.

Note that self-sufficiency talks about “needs,” which means that we must differentiate our “needs” from our “wants.” Needs and wants can be tricky things for us to separate, but differentiating them is really quite simple.