It is amazing what one can raise in a small area. For example, one gardener’s family enjoyed a wealth of fresh vegetables for up to eight months from a garden of 500 square feet.

Advantages of Backyard Gardens

One is never too old or too young to pursue gardening. Gardening becomes a great interest to many of us; as time passes, most are tempted to try more complex techniques. Not only is this activity entertaining, but it is also extremely rewarding because of the bountiful fruits and vegetables that are available to eat.

In addition, backyard gardens lower food costs and provide healthful vegetables. They reduce the environmental impact of transporting and warehousing food, make meals more personal and appetizing, and connect family members with the weather, growth, and renewal. Children also build memories of these gardens and of working together.

First Steps in Backyard Gardening

First, one must clear the land of unwanted vegetation such as volunteer trees, ornamentals, and any other growth. This makes space for planning and planting. This area must be designed to manage water runoff and increase rainwater infiltration.

Once the gardener understands what is in the yard to work with, it is time to improve the soil, select plants, plant them, and take steps to promote their well-being.

Soil is vastly important in backyard gardening. Check the type and composition of soil in your backyard. Soil analysis is usually worth the nominal fee charged. Healthy soil assists in repelling pests while producing healthier plants with greater strength and resistance against illnesses and insects.

Soil should be prepared early in the spring or even during the previous fall. Remove all stumps, unwanted shrubs, and volunteer trees. Dig up the soil to about one foot. Add 2 or 3 inches of rotted leaves, aged manure, and compost. Mix this into the soil and level the area. Before planting, be sure to loosen the soil. Most plants require adequate fertilization and good sandy loam soil high in organic matter. If desired, starter fertilizers can be added. However, if the soil is rich, this should not be necessary.  If fertilizer is needed, use 8-8-8 or 10-10-10 (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) each month while the vegetables grow. The fertilizer should be kept 4 to 6 inches away from the plants. Always water plants after fertilization.

Planting Choices for Backyard Gardens

There are many choices for backyard gardens, and they largely depend on the family’s needs and tastes, as well as location and climate.

Most backyard gardens include herbs and spices which add texture and scent.  Some are so attractive in appearance and scent, that gardeners can’t wait to add them to their cooking. These plants are also low maintenance and generally do not require fertilizers.

Annual herbs can be started from seed. However, woody perennial herbs are better started from cuttings or seedlings.  If seed is used, first moisturize the soil. Then, spread the seeds evenly so the plants will not be too close together. The depth should be three times the size of the seeds. Some types of seed should be dropped on top of the soil because they need sunlight to spout.

Some gardeners use pots to start plants. Later, when the plants become seedlings, they are transferred to the garden. This practice ensures that most plants will grow and thrive.

Vegetables for Backyard Gardens

Decide the amount of available space and how much energy you want to exert in vegetable gardening. Select the areas for growing certain vegetables.  Be sure these areas have full sun for at least five to six hours daily.  Check the path of shadows during the day from trees, fences, or buildings in the yard. Areas with the maximum amount of sunlight will be best for the plants.

Some gardeners double-dig gardens first removing rocks and roots with a pitchfork. Then, they use the same implement to turn up the soil. The fork more easily penetrates the soil and saves more earthworms.

Vegetable beds can be any length. However, keep the garden beds narrow because widths under four feet make areas easier to weed. Design pathways wide enough for a wheelbarrow; twenty-four inches is ideal.

Select the vegetables to be planted and decide how much room you have for them. Space most vegetables two feet apart. Some that do not take up as much space may be planted closer together. Allow extra space for vegetables that require cages or poles. Vegetables will have different planting times, growth rates, and harvest times. Plant taller vegetables in the back rows. This prevents them from stunting shorter plants with their shadows.

Seeds can be planted at any time the soil is ready, however, cloudy day or evening plantings are best to keep potted plants from wilting. Dig holes and place vegetable plants slightly higher than they were in containers. Tomato plants are planted deeper, sometimes covering two-thirds of the plant.

Most vegetables take about one inch of water weekly during the growth period.

Weeds, at times, mean more labor. However, a layer of mulch two to four inches deep will prevent weeds and evaporation of moisture. Cultivation is another means of getting rid of weeds.

Fruits and Berries for Backyard Gardens

Fruits and berries are investments in time and energy. Of course, some fruits require more labor. Again, choices rest on the individual’s tastes and desires. Also, be sure that choices are well-suited to your area’s space, climate, and soil.

Goji berry, black currant, Chinese chestnut, American hazelnut, and juneberry trees and shrubs are good in backyard gardens. Also, Nanking cherry, peach, pear, sand cherry, pawpaw, beach plum, quince, and fig trees are possibilities.

One backyard gardener managed to plant 200 trees and shrubs within one-third of an acre of land. Some of those trees may have been dwarf varieties which require less space.

Success in growing fruit depends on a variety of selection, soil management, fertilization, pruning, and pest control. It is best to plant only what can be cared for.

Small fruits offer advantages, such as requiring a minimum of space for the amount of production. In addition, these trees bear fruit one or two years after planting and pest control is more manageable.  Small fruits should be planted in the full sun as close to your house as possible

Fences, trellises, or arbors can be used to support grape vines and raspberries, or for vertical-growing plants.

Berries and small fruits don’t generally take up as much space as trees. However, a full-size, highbush blueberry plant may grow up to 12 feet high and 6 feet wide. Blackberries, too, can grow 6 feet tall and spread wide.  Planting these in a raised bed will keep them manageable.  Blueberries may be planted to form a dense hedge or planted along a foundation.

Strawberries can serve as borders for vegetables. They also do well in raised beds or even in hanging baskets. These plants are the easiest and most rewarding to grow if the right variety is chosen. Strawberries are usually at peak production for just one to three years. Of course, this can be increased if the strawberries are thinned. Try the everbearing plants which produce two smaller crops or even a newer variety that produces fruit all simmer.

Blackberries, dewberries, and boysenberries are good choices for backyard gardening. The boysenberry, easily killed by cold, should be planted only in places with mild winters.

Currants and gooseberries, hardy and easy to grow, are good also choices. One gooseberry plant will generally produce enough fruit for a household. These plants, which grow in almost any soil, require little to no pruning.

Raspberries, having shallow root systems, should be planted about 6 to 12 feet apart. This allows mulching or space for cultivating to keep out weeds.  Well-tended, these should bear for ten years.

Blackberries planted one year produce the during the next year. They like full sun and will do well in less-than-ideal soils. They require little care. One cup of blackberries gives 50% of the RDA for Vitamin C.

Today, most of us are taking a good look at what we are eating. Some far-sighted individuals are taking control of what they eat by growing food in backyard gardens. Most efforts go beyond a few tomato plants growing in pots. An edible forest of onions, chard, potatoes, spinach, lettuce, and squash not only provides healthful eating but is also a money-saving venture.

In most cases, one doesn’t have to “go rural” to see these amazing gardens. City dwellers are becoming more self-sufficient and gaining more self-esteem with their unique creations of beautiful, productive gardens.  The benefits of such a venture are enormous, leaving a legacy of memories and an abundance of fruits and vegetables.

The post Backyard Garden Dreamin’ appeared first on Homestead.org.

If you assume that you can only grow fresh vegetables or attractive flowers outside your home, this assumption is wrong. Fresh vegetables, as well as flowers, can be grown indoors without any difficulties or hassles.

Now, with certain modern innovations, it is possible to move gardens indoors for continued yields or even raise garden vegetables indoors. You won’t need a green thumb or a costly budget to achieve this. Plants can thrive indoors all winter under artificial lighting. So, if the right plant combinations are chosen, vegetable gardening can be a year-round activity with the right growing conditions inside. Keep in mind, though, that you probably won’t achieve indoors what you would in bright sunlight. Of course, expenditure of money and work often indicate results.

Indoor gardening in winter will not only improve how you feel, but it will provide fresh vegetables for you and your family.

Selecting the Proper Plants for Indoor Gardening

Because some plants are more demanding than others, indoor gardening means selecting the proper plants. Dwarf varieties of certain plants like tomatoes and peppers do very well under indoor conditions. Tomato plants do better if they are staked to bear the fruit’s weight. If the plants are shaken occasionally more pollen is released bearing more fruit.

Round varieties of carrots and radishes with shallow roots do well indoors if seeds are planted in late winter or mid-autumn.

Using LED or Fluorescent Grow Lights

Some garden vegetables can not be cultivated indoors because they are more demanding than others. However, most sun-loving edibles can be grown in containers under supplemental LED lights or fluorescent grow lights.

LED lights have become essential in a short time. They take less energy, grow plants better, and the lights do not need to be changed as frequently. Changing them often occurs from three to five years instead of three to five months. Select bulbs according to your gardening needs. For example, daylight white LEDs are for fast growth, blue LEDs are for larger yields, and red LEDs are for more productive plants.

Light is very important to plants. Without enough light, your plants will become leggy and photosynthesis won’t give them enough energy to grow well.

It is true that nothing takes the place of ”healthful doses of sunlight.” However, this lighting has many advantages. Bulbs do not have to be changed as often and this lighting takes less energy helping plants grow normally.

Why Use Lights?

Actually, plants in soil grow five times faster if the ideal climate is created by LED lights. Kits can be purchased for this purpose. These lights can also be used as supplementary lights to help plants grow. If many lights are needed, consider a commercial high-intensity discharge system. Also, remember that fluorescent lights, either fluorescent tubes or a series of compact fluorescent bulbs are good growing lights for small or medium indoor plants.

All plants require light in order to convert light, carbon dioxide, and water into sugars for feed so that plants will grow. And, also, each plant has a different light requirement.

What Plants Can Be Brought Inside

Think about bringing some of your hardier tomato plants indoors. Dig up the root ball of a healthy tomato, place it in a clean container with gravel and rocks in the bottom, and bring it indoors. Cutting off the top of the plant will encourage root growth.  Be sure the soil is good containing compost. Fill the pot 3/4 full leaving space for watering. Green peppers can also be brought inside.

It is also possible to cut some slips when cutting back plants for a fall garden. Root them for indoor winter growth.

Lettuce, radishes, collards, green onions, peas, carrots, and herbs can be grown inside under lights. These not-so-tall plants tolerate less light and cooler temperatures. Actually, lettuces, leafy greens, sprouted seeds, radishes, carrots, and herbs are the easiest to grow as they tolerate cooler temperatures and limited light.  They do not grow as tall and mature quickly.

What Flowers Bloom Indoors

Flowers such as amaryllis, hyacinth, and daffodils can be forced to bloom during winter months under lights. Impatiens and African violets will thrive through the winter months. Herbs include mints, creeping thyme, patchouli, parsley, cilantro, lemon verbena, oregano, rosemary, and bay. Also, included are edible blossoms such as nasturtium and violet and micro-greens sprouted from kohlrabi, sunflower, radish, and broccoli seed.  Plants that bunch together also do well inside. These are plants like green onions, herbs, kale, and beans. Proper lighting means that the dwarf varieties of green peppers and tomatoes produce crops if grown under sufficient lighting.

Some evidence is present that during wartime, some people successfully raised beets in their basements. Beets are known for providing a lot of nutrients with low calories.

The Humidity Problem

One problem faced by some plant growers is humidity in winter. One suggestion is to keep a spray bottle filled with water and another is to install a humidifier. Some indoor gardeners keep fans going all the time to circulate the air.

Separating House Plants From Vegetables

One problem can be avoided by keeping vegetable growing areas separate from houseplants. Houseplants may be responsible for bringing aphids and insects into the garden area.  If your plants have insect infestations such as white flies, aphids, or spider mites, wash or spray leaves with a mixture of mild soapy water.

Ideal Places for Growing Indoors

It is possible to grow some plants near a basement window without artificial light. For example, using a south-facing window for maximum sunlight, it is possible using cuttings to grow oregano,  parsley, thyme, or even rosemary.

The Benefits of Indoor Gardening

If you are new to gardening, an indoor garden on a limited scale is a good way to learn the different aspects of gardening which helps a person move on to a garden outdoors.  The knowledge you obtain will surely help with additional gardening efforts.

Indoor gardening has good results in that plants brighten homes, provide moisture to a dry indoor environment, and supply oxygen during the day. It is believed that indoor plants cut down cold-related diseases. They increase humidity levels and aid in purifying the air.

Many advantages are associated with homesteading with outdoor gardens, but there are even more advantages and benefits associated with gardening indoors. Indoor gardening can be a challenge. However, with a bit of knowledge, a few plants, and great expectations, indor gardening can be a joy to behold.

The post Indoor Gardening in Winter appeared first on Homestead.org.

As homesteaders and producers, we have a different outlook on the importance of dirt or soil. Our crops begin in the soil. But crops often need some help with conservation measures. The word soil has much greater meaning and importance when we consider its role in successfully raising crops. Soil, necessary for our survival on earth, is an ecosystem of nutrients and living organisms on our farms and ranches. It provides structural support, water, and nutrients for crops. The top layer of soil is even more valuable and must be conserved at all costs.

What Is Healthy Soil?

“A handful of soil has more organisms than the total number of humans that have ever lived.” Healthy well-maintained soil, containing elements like sulfates, phosphate, zinc, magnesium, calcium, and many more, is a great asset to agricultural production. Of course, healthy soil relies on many factors. One authority revealed that, in her opinion, there were no bad or good soils. This may be interpreted to mean that certain soils are better suited to certain weather conditions and crops.

Indeed, there is seldom “one-size-fits-all” soil. In other words, different kinds of soil are suited to different plants requiring different nutritional needs.

What Harms the Soil?

Another problem is that many actions in working the soil can cause damage to it. Soil layers are significant for soil microbiology, soil fertility, and different organic matters that have become polluted from industrial and even agricultural activities. Some damages are easily overcome; others take years to correct.

Harming Soil on Homesteads

There is no magical formula for avoiding damaging the soil on your homestead. However, some steps can be taken to work with the soil to minimize the damage. Crop rotation; choosing adapted varieties; legume cover crops included in rotation; tillage; weed control; and other factors are vital in good soil management.

Saving Your Soil with Crop Rotation

Crop rotation—a way to boost yields—is growing a series of different types of crops in the same areas during several growing seasons. It is growing a succession of the three general classes of farm crops:  cultivated crops, grain crops, and grass crops. This practice reduces reliance on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, and the probability of developing resistant weeds.

Growing the same crop on the same soil year after year depletes the soil. A neighbor unaware of crop rotation raised corn on one field for years. Finally, the corn grew about three feet high with few ears. I doubt if it was worth harvesting.

The Dangers of Compacted Soils

Healthy soils don’t need vast amounts of harmful chemicals, or harbor parasites or weeds. Adversly, in addition to all of those contributors, runoff also affects unhealthy soil.

One farmer looked at his soil water infiltration. After the alfalfa was cut, there was a lot of runoff after rain. He was surprised at how the runoff into that cover crop filtered out and was absorbed into the soil. The reason for this, in his case, was the presence of earthworms. He was surprised how quickly the worms multiplied, and how they affected the soil’s ability to absorb water.

Understanding Your Soil

Once your soil is evaluated and understood, its needs can be met because they are obvious. Understanding your soil also means knowing more about possible restrictions on that soil as well as its advantages.

Maintaining Fertile, Productive Soil

Maintenance of fertile, productive soil is the first requirement of prosperous and permanent agriculture. Today, many farmers have discovered the value of terraces and are protecting the soil structure in their fields with them. Terraces prevent erosion by shortening a long or steep slope into a series of shorter steps. Terraces reduce the velocity of water moving across a field while retaining water instead of allowing it to run off, taking soil with it and causing ditches. So, it is true that terraces are noted for their usefulness in saving soil and water.

Because much of the soil has been laid bare and cultivated crops have removed organic matter, some agricultural lands have been made vulnerable to all kinds of damage from wind and water. In some cases, even heavy farm implements must take the blame for damaging soil.

Compacted soil is especially vulnerable to damage. Traffic, increasing the probability of compaction, is often responsible for soil that is packed so hard it will not soak in rainwater. This leads to flooding and erosion. In some cases, decreased tillage aids in solving this problem. Additionally, limiting the passage of trucks, tractors, and other heavy machines will lessen compaction.

Soil health to homesteaders means building and protecting biological diversity to grow healthy high-yielding crops. Any practice that reduces the productivity level of that land will affect the farm family’s livelihood and those who depend on farmers to produce food. Healthy soil is the key to feeding nine billion people by 2050.

The post Saving Your Soil May Save Your Homestead appeared first on Homestead.org.

Those now living in the Great Plains generally survive whatever weather Mother Nature produces because modern technology aids in dealing with such conditions.  However, years ago, early settlers with few resources had difficulties dealing with severe thunderstorms, tornados, and blizzards.

Because of the location of the Great Plains and the differences in elevation, those living in that area experience a great variety of weather, including blizzards. When a blizzard occurs, the north/south-oriented Rocky Mountains can isolate the lower atmosphere over the Great Plains from warm air over the Pacific. The endless arctic nights allow air over the Canadian Arctic to cool rapidly creating bitterly cold air that plunges south and contributes to blizzards.  In other words, blizzards occur when the Rocky Mountains block warm air from the Pacific from reaching the interior while channeling cold air from Canada southward. The Gulf of Mexico provides the moisture necessary for cloud and snow formation.  History tells us that a mild, sunny day in a mild winter can convert to be the scene of one of the worst blizzards ever experienced.

Blizzards are counted among the top ten worst natural disasters. Years ago, settlers suffered in the cold winds and heavy snows of blizzards. Down through the years, these storms have taken a terrible toll in the form of destruction of homes, deaths of animals, as well as many human lives. Perhaps, this is because of the suddenness of these storms and complacency created by the warm weather that precedes them.

In 1873, the Easter Sunday Blizzard lasting three days, caused destruction and loss of lives. This blizzard, like many others, began on a balmy day but soon was the scene of ferocious winds, rapidly falling temperatures, and heavy snow.

Because the snow was so deep and so cold, many were forced to stay in their homes wrapping themselves in blankets and burning whatever possessions they had in fireplaces to keep warm.  Nebraskan General A. V. Cole related, ”The storm raged for three days and the snow flew so it would not be faced. The house shook, but weathered the blast, for if it had not we all would have perished.”

One of the greatest hardships for settlers was the loss of their livestock. Thousands of cattle were left outside, and much wildlife perished in the deep snow.

Some families managed to survive using every resource available. A farmer in Clay County, Nebraska, housed his 8-member family, one hog, one dog, his chickens, and four head of cattle in one room. Of course, the heat generated by the animals and perhaps milk given by the cattle played a role in the survival of that family.

During the winter of 1880-1881, because blizzard followed blizzard throughout the winter until March, many settlers were snowbound the entire winter. Railway trains were stopped by drifts, two-story homes had snow up to the second-floor windows, and many city streets were blocked with drifts. Because the first snow began in October, many crops were still in the fields. That cut down on food supplies.

On February 2, a second massive blizzard struck which lasted for nine days. At this time, some streets were filled with drifts to the tops of some buildings and tunneling was the only way to get around in towns and on farms where farmers needed to care for livestock.

Another blizzard in 1886 took its toll on the lives of those unprepared for the harsh winters of the Great Plains. Some Easterners were “greenhorns” when dealing with blizzards. One man wearing a lightweight linen overcoat froze to death in this storm. In his pocket was a folder that described Kansas as the “Italy” of America. Evidently, he believed, according to propaganda, that Kansas was a place of sunshine and light rain. He never expected to experience such freezing weather.

During this same storm, a range steer in Lane County, Kansas, burst through the wall of a sod house. The family killed and skinned the steer providing much-needed food.

The winter of 1887-1888 was another time featuring ice storms, snowstorms, and sub-zero temperatures. Towns in Minnesota had 20.5, 39.5, and 33 inches of snow in December.  Then on January 5, 1888, a massive sleet storm coated snow drifts keeping most people indoors.

There seemed to be a reprieve on January 12, 1888, because that day began as a “fair weather” day. It was like a spring day in mid-winter because the air was mild, and the sun was shining. People began working outside their frame homes, sod houses, and dugouts.  One man walked to the straw stack to get straw to replenish the twisted straw he burned for heat in his stove. A ten-year-old boy walked one mile to visit a neighbor.

What these people had no way of knowing was that one of the worst blizzards ever recorded, the School Children’s Blizzard, would soon strike with a massive cold air mass, violent wind conditions, and extreme temperature drops endangering the lives of many living on the Great Plains.

This mass, while racing across the plains, caught many settlers by surprise.  Even if they were prepared, survival was difficult in those days, especially during violent weather.  An incredible drop in the mercury brought snow and howling winds which created white-out conditions in which the ground could not be differentiated from the sky. The temperatures dropped to near 40 degrees below zero.

Also, the so-called snowflakes were not normal.  Instead, they were similar to “speeding ice needles” racing at more than 60 miles per hour.  Many people out in this storm “could not see because microscopic bits of ice literally froze their eyelids shut.”

Most of the “early day” schoolhouses were hastily built structures with gaping walls and tar paper roofs constructed in the excitement of westward settlement. They were not built to withstand the winds and snows of blizzards.

The really bad thing about this deadly storm is that it began in the middle of the afternoon just as schoolchildren were leaving their schoolrooms for their homes. Some teachers kept the children in schools fighting to keep them alive for the two-day duration of the blinding storm.

My Grandmother, Amelia Jones, was teaching in a rural school. Luckily, the husband of the family where she was boarding, came in a wagon pulled by horses.  All the children were loaded into the wagon. The snow was so thick that breathing was difficult. The driver could not see to drive the horses, however, the horses, using instinct, found their way to their home barn, and, using ropes to tie the children together, all made it to the house safely.

One teenage teacher kept the sixteen or seventeen (stories differ according to number) children safe in the schoolhouse staying awake all night and keeping the stove warm by burning books and furniture. When there was no more fuel, and the wind had destroyed part of the roof in this school, the teacher tied her students together and safely led them to the nearby house where she stayed.

In one area, students trying to find shelter took refuge in a haystack. Eighteen hours later they were rescued by Daniel Murphy and his hired man.

Many adults also suffered the effects of this storm. One German immigrant walked to town on the day of the storm. His body was not found until a week later. He left three children and his wife who was expecting another child.

Austin Rollag described his experience: “About 3:30, we heard a hideous roar… At first, we thought that it was the Omaha train which had been blocked and was trying to open the track. My wife and I were near the barn when the storm came as if it had slid out of a sack. A hurricane-like wind blew so that the snow drifted high in the air, and it became terribly cold. Within a few minutes, it was dark as a cellar, and one could not see one’s hand in front of one’s face.”

Carl Saltee, from Minnesota, remembered that, “A dark and heavy wall builded (sic) up around the northwest coming fast, coming like those hevy (sic) thunderstorms, like a shot. In a few moments, we had the severest snowstorm I ever saw in my life with a terrible hard wind, like a hurrycane (sic), snow so thick we could not see more than 3 steps from the door at times.”

Even those people who made it home during the storm faced multiple problems. One newspaperman, living on the second floor of a building, went to his apartment to find the front door forced open by the wind and the stairway filled with snow. When he reached his room, the bed was covered with several inches of snow which had filtered over the threshold and through the keyhole.

Someone reported, “For years afterward, at gatherings of any size in Dakota or Nebraska, there would always be people walking on wooden legs or holding fingerless hands behind their backs or hiding missing ears under hats.”  Laskin

Some land was buried under 30-foot-high drifts of snow which did not melt until June.

Another severe blizzard, named the Great Blizzard of 1888 or Great White Blizzard of 1888, occurred on March 11 through 14th. This severe blizzard covered the Atlantic provinces of Canada as well as the area from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine in the United States.

Some reports stated that the day was mild before the blizzard arrived. Soon, however, the storm began and lasted one and a half days. Snow drifts averaged 30 to 50 feet created by winds moving up to 80 miles per hour.

Transportation was not possible because of the high snow drifts. Some say that this storm was partially responsible for the creation of the first underground railway system which opened nine years later in Boston.

The telegraph system was also disabled isolating Montreal and other northeastern cities. Trains could not travel because of drifts of snow.

Blizzards!  These storms often bring the beauty of sculptured snow and glittering ice, but they also are capable of destroying hope, dreams, and even lives. The strong winds, blowing snow, and sleet as well as freezing temperatures are life-threatening to all living creatures. Those blizzards of past days were more deadly than they are today because, at this time, people have gained knowledge of blizzards from others’ past experiences. Today, observing weather reports and having advance warning of such weather blunts conditions and promotes preparedness. We who live on the Great Plains know how greatly blizzards can impact lives. Blizzards are, indeed, nature’s furies.

Living through Blizzards ‘Way Back When

Those living through blizzards often had some health problems. The following relates “cures” for common complaints during winter weather from an 1889 NonPareil Practical Cookbook (Note: Some of the spelling in the cookbook was not right according to today’s English.)

Chilblains.  An inflammation followed by itchy irritation on the hands, feet, or ears resulting from exposure to moist cold. Roll the affected parts in linen bandages, sew up well, and dip several times daily in a solution of half a fluid ounce of tincture of capsicum and one fluid ounce of tincture of opium.

Night Cough.  A drink of warm milk with whiskey in the proportion of one tablespoon of liquor to two of milk, and as much sugar as will dissolve. Also a tablespoon of rye whisky, thoroughly sweetened with rock candy.

Cough Syrup.  Break a stick of liquorice and quarter of a pound of hoarhound candy with quarter of a pound of gum arabic, pour over them one pint of boiling water. Shake before using.

Earache.  A few drops of laudanum or belladonna mixed with almond oil and heated to blood heat. dropped in the ear or on a piece of cotton. If pain is very severe, wring a flannel cloth from hot water, apply over the ear and cover well with another flannel. Inflammations are better subdued with hot than cold water applications.

Sore Throat.  Chlorate of potash, pure and taken dry on the tongue every hour, day and night, if it is a severe case. Gargle with a solution of potash and water, make a pack with linen cloths wrung from cold water, put around the throat and cover with oiled silk or flannel. When taken off, wash the throat with cold water or alcohol.

The post Blizzards: Furies of Nature appeared first on Homestead.org.