Medicinal Uses of Cream of Tartar

Disclaimer.  I am not a licensed health practitioner.  This is just another post on an item you might wish to have available if needed so that a physician can treat you and your family as best as possible.  No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician.  Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only.  No treatments should be substituted for conventional medical advice or medicine.  This information is for a time when there are no hospitals and no alternatives.  It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical care.  A qualified, licensed physician or other medical provider should be consulted before beginning any herbal or conventional treatment.


In the process of writing a post about baking essentials, I came across a lot of information on the medicinal uses of cream of tartar.  I was just a little too intrigued to not pursue this further.  Especially after writing about cream of tartar and baking powder and wishing that perhaps I hadn't gotten so much cream of tartar.  But now I'm thinking I might want a little more.

High blood pressure. 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice in one cup (eight ounces) of water. Take one to three times per day.  This is only for high blood pressure due to a potassium deficiency. 

Urinary tract infection.  At the first sign of an infection, take 1/2 teaspoon (either directly on the tongue or in two size 0 capsules) cream of tartar with 8 ounces of water and a few drops of lemon juice.  Use twice daily before meals for best results.  To prevent re-infection, use a half-strength dose once per day.

Bacterial infection.  As an adjunct to antibiotic treatments, mix 1/2 teaspoon in 1 cup lukewarm water.  Stir well and drink.  Cream of tartar helps restore the body to its normal pH range and make antibiotic treatment more effective.

Edema.  Also known as dropsy, edema causes redness and swelling of tissues and may affect different parts of the body due to general dehydration or obstruction of the urinary tract.  Increasing potassium intake helps reduce edema.  It is a natural diuretic.  Mix 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar in one cup of lukewarm water.  Take this once or twice per day to reduce edema.

Smoking cessation.  There are lots of anecdotal reports online of using cream of tartar and fresh orange juice (never from concentrate, but no one says why) to aid in quitting smoking.  Unfortunately, fresh orange juice (or any orange juice, for that matter) may be difficult to come by post-collapse, but if you're lucky enough to live in a warm climate, this may be of benefit to you or someone you know.  Mix one teaspoon cream of tartar in a glass of fresh orange juice every night before bed for one month.  Good luck!

Constipation.  The trace amounts of magnesium in cream of tartar help regulate bowel movements.  Take two teaspoons of cream of tartar in a glass of lukewarm water at bedtime to relieve constipation overnight. 

Caution.  Excessive or long-term use of cream of tartar may lead to hyperkalemia (excessive potassium in the blood), dehydration, and/or diarrhea.

Links to related posts:
Baking Essentials:  Cream of Tartar, etc.
DIY Baking Powder 

For further reading:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3570668/ 

05.20.19

Start Right to End Right: 3 DIY Soil Sample Tests to Perform to Insure Your Garden Is as Productive as Possible

When we reach the time that we are really gardening when it counts—when our home gardens have to produce all the vegetables we need because we can’t get them from a grocery store for whatever reason, we need to do more than throw some seeds in the ground and hope that they grow.  We need to do some homework first—soil science and chemistry homework.  The assignments are interesting and easy.  As a couple of bonuses, the results are more accurate than those obtained from using commercial kits, and you can get them on the same day, instead of waiting for days or weeks when using a service. 

Method #1—Taste Testing

Several times over the years I’ve read that farmers of old always conducted soil tests before planting.  Of course, they didn’t have fancy tests kits or Cooperative Extension offices.  They were on their own—just as we will be when society collapses.  These old-time farmers would put a bit of soil in their mouths, moisten it with saliva, and then determine whether it was sweet or sour.  Alkaline soil would be neutral or sweet.  Sour soil was acidic.  It was hugely convenient for the farmer because his soil test kit—his mouth—was always with him.  People today can conduct their soil tests the same way.

I am not going there.  And I don’t understand why they did.  Animals poop on the dirt, for Pete’s sake.  Maybe the soil taste-testing farmers are totally confident that any animal manures have completely decomposed, but I am most certainly not.  I just know I’d find a hunk of cat doo if I ever tried this.  And then there are all the worms.  I don’t need to go there.  I don’t need to go asking for trouble.  And you don’t, either.

Method #2—Baking Soda and Vinegar

This second test method is as accurate as the taste-testing method above, as well as being pretty quick and easy.

• Collect 1 cup of garden soil.
• Put ½ cup of soil into each of two containers.
• To the soil in the first container add ½ cup white vinegar.
• If it fizzes, the soil is alkaline, with a pH between 7 and 8.
• If it doesn’t fizz, do the next test.
• To the soil in the second container add about 2 teaspoons of distilled water.
• Add ½ cup baking soda.
• If it bubbles, the soil is acidic, with a pH between 5 and 6.
• If neither of the soil samples fizzes or bubbles, you have a neutral, balanced soil.

Unfortunately, while this method is just as accurate as the taste test method, it isn’t very specific.  You can’t tell whether your soil is slightly alkaline or acidic, or very much so. 

Method #3—Red Cabbage

This final test method is by far the most accurate—better even than the store-bought kits.  It takes less than two hours in all, and most of that isn’t even hands-on time. 

• Pour 2 cups of distilled water into a 2-3 quart saucepan.
• Add 4-6 chopped red cabbage leaves (about 2 cups).
• Simmer for 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let sit for 30 minutes.
• Strain off the bluish-purple liquid.  It will have a pH of 7—neutral.
• To test:
• Add 2 teaspoons of garden soil to a canning jar.
• Top with 2 inches of red cabbage water.
• Stir and then wait 20-30 minutes.
• Check the color.
• Reddish-pink= acidic soil
• Sea blue-yellowish-green=alkaline soil
• Purplish-blue = neutral soil

Figure 1.  Photo courtesy of anishsbioblog.wordpress.com.  This shows the range of color you can get using red cabbage as the indicator.  When comparing to your own results (which will have soil at the bottom and suspended particles in the solution sample being tested), be sure to compare only the shade and not the intensity of the color.

I tested seven different samples of soil from various areas of my garden and yard.  The three garden soil samples all registered about an 8.5 based on the colors and pH scale gradient above.  That was a little surprising to me, but it also perhaps explains why the previous owners’ garden looked so sorry.  Something I had attributed to lack of care because they were busy moving might be better explained by the fact that the pH of the soil was too high.

The four samples of native soil came in at about 7.5 on the scale.  This includes the area where the blueberries will be planted.  Since blueberries require very acidic soil to grow, we will have to amend that soil heavily.

Testing the pH of the soil seems like such a little thing.  We like to believe that if we till the soil a little, start with good seeds, add sunshine and sufficient water, our vegetables will grow.  I like to believe that for sure.  However, and unfortunately at times, that pH is critical.  The soil’s pH affects the plants’ ability to take up nutrients from the soil.  The wrong pH can make certain nutrients completely unavailable to some plants.  When they don’t get what they need, they die.  Just like people.  We can have loads of vitamin C or D, but if we’re missing out on something critical, like niacin or thiamine, we’re going to die, too. 

So do yourself and your family a favor, and test the pH.  Learn what your plants’ needs are, have some synthetic amendments on hand if possible, and start and maintain a compost pile.  Happy gardening!

Food Storage Basics--Salt

As we see cracks develop in the just-in-time delivery system, and shortages in food containers (canned soda and beer purchases were limited last year due to the scarcity of aluminum), I shake my head.  I read of truckers being sent home because there aren't loads for them to haul.  Things are just getting really weird.  I wonder what will happen next.

History can be a really great teacher, if we will but learn the lessons.  One of those lessons comes from a topic rarely addressed in history books, the Utah War.  Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be familiar with the account.  

In 1857, the federal government decided that the Mormons hadn't been persecuted enough.  Driving them from their homes and seizing their lands in Missouri and Illinois wasn't sufficient.  To obtain a little peace and be able to exercise freedom of religion, the Mormon pioneers left the US and settled in Utah, which at the time was part of Mexico.  Shortly thereafter, following the Mexican War in 1848, it became a territory of the US.  The settlers established flourishing communities and farms, but they couldn't be left alone.  Reports reached Washington that the Mormons were organizing a rebellion.  In 1857, Johnston's Army was sent to subdue the Mormons.  Unfortunately for the soldiers, the Mormons decided that they had had enough and several men were sent into the mountains to stop the army from advancing.  

Without killing anyone, the men did their job well.  Many of the army's supplies were spoiled, and one of the items lost was their salt supply.  To replenish, the army bought salt from the local Indians.  They paid $5 per pound.  (That was not the going rate for salt in the eastern part of the country; it was what desperate soldiers far removed from their supply lines were willing to pay.)  Now, put that in today's money.  Figure an ounce of gold was $20 then.  So that salt was the equivalent of a quarter of an ounce of gold.  Gold today is over $1700 per ounce.  An equivalent price for a pound of salt today would be $425.  It makes sense to stock up now on something so critical. 

So how much do you need?

First off, the minimum amount to store is ten pounds per person, per year.  Note, that is the minimum.  It does not allow for any canning, brining, pickling, drying, or other means of preserving.  That deer that crossed your path out in the woods, or that unbranded cow that wandered into your camp?  No, that ten pounds of salt does not include salt for preserving any game you take.  Remember, when times get really interesting, you may not have a freezer to rely upon.  Everything will have to be preserved as it was 150 years ago.  It would not be unwise or excessive to store an additional 30-40 pounds per person.

You have several options for salt, some better than others.

Iodized salt, also known as table salt, has potassium iodide, dextrose to stabilize the iodide, and calcium silicate, which keeps the salt from clumping or becoming solid.  Iodine, in the form of potassium iodide, has been added to salt since the 1920s, to reduce the incidence of dietary iodine deficiency.  Shortly thereafter it was noted that the average intelligence of children increased up to 15 points in some areas of the United States known to be deficient in iodine.  As noted in the post on iodine deficiency (16 January 2019) the amount of iodine in the American diet has decreased over the past five or so years.  Iodized salt is not recommended for canning; the calcium silicate is not water soluble.  So is iodized salt safe for canning?  Yes, it is perfectly safe and acceptable. Unless you are entering the county fair.  Because calcium silicate will make your food look a little cloudy.  And the canning police judges will know.  And they will probably tell everyone in the county what you did.

Iodized salt has a shelf life of about five years.  Of course, the salt does not go bad, but the iodine dissipates and then you have plain salt.  If the iodized salt is stored in a sealed plastic bucket, the iodine content will be preserved for a longer period.

Canning and pickling salt is nothing but salt.  No potassium iodide, no dextrose, no calcium silicate.  Just salt.  Perfect for canning and pickling, in case you couldn't tell from the name.  But because it has no anti-caking agents, it may become clumpy if you have any humidity in your air.

Ice cream salt should not be eaten.  It may contain rocks.

Plain salt contains calcium silicate, but no potassium iodide.  You can purchase this for about $5 for 25 pounds at restaurant supply stores.

Kosher salt can be used in cooking and as table salt, but should not be used in baking except as a garnish for breads.

If you live in an area with moderate to high humidity, you'll probably want to store your salt in plastic buckets or other containers.  Even here in the desert I store my salt in buckets to protect it from getting wet.  However, keep in mind that salt is very heavy.  Unless you are fairly strong, and the handle on your bucket is pretty durable, you do not want to fill a five-gallon bucket with salt.  Go with a 2.5 gallon bucket for salt.  You'll be glad you did.

Modern Survival Online has an article on 35 survival uses for salt.   Most of these uses I would find to be a waste of a very valuable commodity; I'm not using salt to scrub a pan or clean rust off a shovel.  However, I did find a couple of valuable ideas/reminders.  One is to add salt to your cooking water to reduce cooking time (because the boiling temperature is reached faster) and thus save fuel.  If the salt is going to be added anyway, add it earlier and save the energy.  The second is to add a little bit (I use a pinch per gallon) of salt to fresh, refrigerated milk to keep it from spoiling a few days longer.  I don't add this to every gallon of milk, just to those that only have a day or two left before the use-by date, and it always gives us a couple more days.

Links to related posts:
Iodine Deficiency and Consequences  
Overview of basic long-term food storage
Wheat
Dry milk
Beans
Oils
Sugars 

For further information:
https://www.mortonsalt.com/faq/#faq
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/865574479/Tips-for-storing-leavening-and-salt.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodised_salt#cite_ref-3  (iodine in salt dissipates)

 18 january 2019

DIY Complete Organic Fertilizer

Yesterday the girls and I and several missionaries from our church spent a few hours working in our backyard.  We made great progress, served the missionaries a respectable-ish lunch and sent them on their way, and Becky and I returned to the yard where our goal is to turn the very blah backyard into a beautiful edible landscape. 

I don’t know how competent the weather forecasters are where you live, but in our area they leave a bit to be desired.  To further complicate the already poor record they have, there is a day shift and a night shift.  Generally the day shift is very conservative in the forecast, especially where snow is concerned.  The night shift predicts copious amounts of snow, and is usually wrong.  Well, chalk one up for the night shift today.  That less than ½” of snow that the day shift prophesied has about 2” on top of it, and more coming.  Yes, folks, I am now entering Fourth Winter.  I would like to note that we are only supposed to have three winters here.  It was clearly beyond stupid of me yesterday to put the sleds away until next winter.  And yes, I know most of you are snickering at me as you continue to plant your gardens and are probably harvesting some greens already.

Anyway, last week I posted about the usage of different manures and compost in the garden.  I do really like our rabbit manure and composting the straw and waste from the sheep.  I think they work quite well for us and I’m generally pretty happy with our harvests each year.

However, not everyone has animals to produce manure and compost in sufficient quantities.  Even I don’t get enough from the animals at times.  Enter Complete Organic Fertilizer (COF).

This DIY fertilizer formula comes from Steve Solomon, author of Gardening When It Counts:  Growing Food in Hard Times and founder of Territorial Seed Company.  His book is a superb reference.  While he uses animal manure in his gardens, it is primarily to add organic matter to the soil, not nutrients.  The reasoning behind this is that the nutrients in animal manures aren’t necessarily balanced, and you can never be sure how beneficial they will actually be.  COF, on the other hand, is perfectly balanced.  It also takes much less space and doesn’t smell.  You could actually store quite a bit of it in a garden shed or corner of the garage for the future.

Here’s the simplest formula:

Complete Organic Fertilizer

16 parts seedmeal (I always use soybean meal)

4 parts bonemeal (or finely ground rock phosphate)

2 parts dolomite lime

1 part regular agricultural lime

1 part gypsum (if you don’t use or can’t get gypsum, double the amount of agricultural lime)

These are all measured by volume, not by weight, and measurements aren’t precise.  Use a scoop, jar, pot, whatever you have on hand.  I usually mix my fertilizer in a 4-5 gallon bucket. 

The best bet for getting the ingredients for this complete organic fertilizer (COF) is to make a trip to the ranch and feed store.  If you live in a city, taking a drive out of town may be worthwhile.  Buying these ingredients in small bags at the nursery is an expensive proposition.

Seedmeal is a by-product of the production of cooking oil (soybean, sunflower, canola, cottonseed, etc.) and is used as animal feed.  Seedmeals are quite stable and will store for years if kept dry and protected from mice. 

Using the three types of lime recommended will yield the best results.  Agricultural lime is calcium carbonate.  Dolomite lime contains about equal amounts of calcium and magnesium, while gypsum is calcium sulfate.  All of these minerals contribute to producing the healthiest plants and produce.  Do not substitute quicklime, burnt lime, or hydrated lime.  Like seedmeal, these limes are rather expensive if purchased in the pretty packages at nurseries and the big box stores, but relatively inexpensive in large bags at the ranch and feed stores. 

Steve Solomon advises sprinkling 4-6 quarts of COF per 100 square feet of soil and then working it in before planting.  That may be a little late for some of you.  (I’ve gotten another inch of snow in the past hour.  And it’s blowing hard from the east.  That’s usually a bad sign that a lot more is coming.  Well, bad in April.  Good in December or January if you want more sledding.  Please note that it is not December or January.)  Sorry for squirrel there.

Anyway, in an ideal world the COF gets spread on top of the soil and worked in before planting.  However, it also works well as a side dressing, particularly for medium- and high-demand vegetables.  Add it at about the same rate after the seedlings have been up for a few weeks.  Continue to side dress every 3-4 weeks.  Soil organisms break it down and release the nutrients to the plants slowly, just the way they want them.

One of the great advantages of using COF is that it is a slow-release fertilizer.  There’s no danger of overdoing the application and burning—and killing—the plants.  COF provides all the nutrients vegetable plants need to abundantly produce the most healthful vegetables for you.  Because it is concentrated, however, it is also easy to store the blended COF or the individual ingredients, even when space is limited.  And, unlike animal manures, COF is relatively odorless.  It just needs to be protected from moisture and mice. 

Enjoy your gardens today, people.  I have a driveway to shovel.

Links to related posts:

Dirty Thoughts:  Manure and Compost Management in Doomsday

Black Gold (AKA Rabbit Manure) 

13 july 2023 

Dirty Thoughts—Manure and Compost Management in Doomsday

We preparedness-minded folks planning for the socialist utopia promised by the powers that be have got gardens, fruit trees and berry bushes, seeds, and hopefully some canning lids or a dehydrator.  And we’ve probably got chickens or other livestock for fertilizing. 

But what if Plan A for fertilization fails?  What’s Plan B or Plan C?  Before coming up with alternate plans, it’s important to understand the animal manure options.  And before that, we’ve got to cover what is meant by hot and cold manure.

In general, hot manures are low in moisture and high in nutrients and release those nutrients quickly, which may result in burning the plants.  On the other hand, cold manures are usually higher in moisture and lower in nutrients and less likely to burn plants.  However, the definitions can get a little blurry.  Some proclaim hot manures to be cold and vice versa due to whether they can safely be directly applied to plants without killing them.  And using these parameters, rabbit, sheep, and even goat manure are sometimes considered cold manures because they are pelleted and can be sprinkled about. 

Safer Manure Options

Alpaca, cold

Chicken (and other barnyard fowl), hot

Cow, cold (the manure from dairy cows is preferable to steer manure as the former is much lower in salt content)

Goat, hot but can be sprinkled directly on soil

Horse, hot

Rabbit, hot but can be sprinkled directly on soil

Sheep, hot but can be sprinkled directly on soil

Unfortunately, what a lot of those who advocate just sprinkling manures on top forget is that it’s not all about whether the plants will be burned by fresh manure.  There is also the issue of pathogens—fresh poop teeming with bacteria, some of which are dying to kill you. 

And that means that all manures, both hot and cold, should be composted before use.  And besides, that helps kill weed seeds as well.  Ideally, we have 6-12 months to compost livestock waste and kitchen scraps before using it in the garden.  We’re able to turn it occasionally and build the pile well so that it reaches an internal temperature of 140-160°F to kill pathogens.

Unfortunately, we may not be living in an ideal world.  We might find ourselves in HIAH (Hell in a Handbasket) world.  Are you going to be able to monitor the compost pile temperature?  Is that temperature going to be consistent?  Maybe some stuff on the outside won’t reach the requisite temperature.  How will you know?  What can you do? 

And then there are all the other fertilization and composting issues of HIAH world.  What if Plan A of using your chosen livestock manure doesn’t work out or is insufficient?  And what if you really have to raise more vegetables and fruits?  Would you consider using manure from the generally forbidden 3 P’s?  Pigs, pets, and people?  Now we’re getting sketchy, but that’s what HIAH world is.  So let’s consider, if not for yourself, for knowledge you can share with others who might need it.

First off, why is manure from the 3 P’s generally considered off-limits?  For starters, pigs and people are too genetically similar.  (I’ve never quite understood that—we don’t look that much alike.  However, before bio-identical human insulin was available in the 1980s, beef and pork insulin were what diabetics most frequently used.)  Secondly, meat-eaters, including dogs and cats, carry more diseases that can afflict us.  In addition, pigs often carry roundworms and other parasites which are not killed in their digestive tract or by composting.  And finally, there are so many pathogens that can develop and breed among those living in close proximity, like people living with other people and pets. 

Sketchier Manure Options, all of which are best avoided when possible

Pigs, really hot 

Cats

Dogs

People

Pig manure should be really well composted, for at least a year to allow it to mellow enough and kill pathogens.  

Realistically, the issue of using cat and dog manure may not even arise except for those few who have stored a lot of food for their pets.  Surviving cats will likely be outdoors, hunting rodents and birds to earn their keep.  Dogs may be doing the same.  If, however, they’re still alive, they will be pooping. 

These points beg the question, can pet and human manure be safely used?

The answer is a qualified (by me) yes.  Joseph Jenkins, author of The Humanure Handbook, asserts that using humanure is more than safe, and a totally responsible practice.  Steve Solomon, former owner of Territorial Seed Company and author of Gardening When It Counts, is married to a woman who was raised in the 1940s in the South Pacific using humanure on her family’s garden.  He and his wife will resume the practice, if the time comes that they have no other options.  I’ve not used humanure and I’m not going to practice with it.  Like Mr. Solomon, I will use it if I have to.  It one of those things I want to have armchair knowledge about, not personal experience.  It’s up there with using maggots to clean wounds. 

So I asked Becky, our resident crop and soil science expert, what the deal is with using manure from the 3 P’s.  1.  Is the danger from pathogens coming into contact with the food and then being ingested?  2.  Or is there also risk of bacteria, viruses, or parasites migrating from the soil and into and through the plants so that they are actually in the food? 

And the answers are:  The pathogens have to come into direct contact with the food.  They cannot migrate from the soil and grow into the food.  The same goes for the pet manure.  So that led to a follow-up question.  If the manure from the 3 P’s is buried deep, say 12 inches, is there any risk to the food?  And the answer is, generally, no.  Those manures can be safely used in theory.  However, there is always the chance for contamination.  If at all possible, 3P manure should be reserved for fruit trees and flowers.

I love the smell of vegetable gardens and good compost.  It makes me feel productive and happy to be growing my family’s food, not relying solely on trucks and just-in-time delivery.  But it’s a dirty job.  And the soil is full of bacteria and perhaps some poop that didn’t compost thoroughly.  They’re out to kill me and my family or make me merely wish I was dead.  Just like the spiders that hide out under the bed planning their attack.  I know they are.

Look, I’m not afraid of a little dirt.  Heaven knows I spend most of the spring and summer in jeans dirty from working in the garden.  I just want the garden soil, and especially the bacteria, to stay in the garden as much as possible.  So what I do, and what I recommend, and what Becky approves, is the following.  It’s a little work, but not that much.  It loosens the soil well every spring, and produces a fantastic volume of vegetables every year.  This method works best for those with boxed beds, but really, anyone can do it.  The first year is the hardest; after that, it’s really quite easy.

The solution is to bury the compost underneath 4-6 inches of soil.  Dig down about 12 inches and set that soil aside.  Add 4-6 inches of compost, and then cover with the soil you removed.  Of course, I don’t just dig one hole at a time; I usually do rows about 18 inches wide and several feet long.  Then next year, this year’s compost will be on top, fully decomposed and hopefully with far fewer pathogens.  It grows beautiful vegetables for me every year. 

It is best to do this in the fall for root crops, lettuce and spinach, and strawberries—really anything that grows in or right on top of the soil.  It allows extra time for the compost to decompose (especially if it wasn’t quite ready) and for pathogens to die.  If necessary, not-quite-ready compost can be buried under 4-6 inches of garden soil for growing corn, beans, and tomatoes.  It actually works really well.

 

Even with allowing 18" for the height of the bed, these tomato plants are over 6 feet tall.

This picture is from a few years back, but basically, the tomatoes look the same every year—six feet tall and loaded with tomatoes. 

 07.06.23