Bone meal

In the process of trying to learn how to use everything (or at least leave as little waste as I can), I started thinking about the bones and veggies left over when I made stock. A few months ago I searched high and low, and while I can't remember or find the exact links now, this is what I came up with.

I took the bones out of the stock and set them on a baking sheet,just a small one from an old toaster oven. (I noticed when I took them out that the bones were VERY soft, and this will be important later on in this post.) So then I just let the bones sit out on top of our toaster oven. We don't have a microwave, so the toaster oven is our go-to appliance. Every time we used it, the bones heated and dried out. I left them there for many months, although they were probably ready after about one month. First, they got really hard. It was when the bones moved past this phase and into brittle that they were ready for grinding.

They were brittle enough to grind into a fine powder with my little kitchen food processor. It took a few minutes, but it was certainly easy. Then I dumped it into a bag and it was ready to go.

Yep, a plastic baggie. I said I'm working on no waste, not that I've gotten there!! But it's all ready to go out onto my garden when spring fully arrives.

Remember how I mentioned that the bones were really soft when I first took them out of the broth? Then they hardened as they dried? Well, that got me thinking. What if I just ground them up, veggies and all, then threw it on the compost pile? I know that meat and the like can attract unsavory critters, but a small amount, well buried, seems like it should compost quickly enough to avoid the problem. So when I had another pile of stock leftovers this morning, I decided to try it.

I took my freshly drained stock leftovers and a little water and tossed it all into the blender. It took only a few seconds to puree.

It looks gross, but it smelled just like stock. This could easily be buried in a compost pile. Which is better? That depends. Time wise, they both took minutes. The dry meal has to dry, but that's just sitting time. The wet meal has to compost. So the work is really a matter of now or later? The end product is different, compost vs a dry, storable bone meal. So it mostly depends what type you'd prefer. The nutrients get into the garden either way. Your personal tolerance for bones drying in the kitchen or the risk of pests in the compost pile factors in as well. Ultimately, though, both are easy ways to use those leftover bones and turn them into good garden food!

Happy farming!

Orange Peels

Like most things that catch my interest, today's little moment of learning came from a random observation. I was peeling an orange and noticed that the peel had a LOT of oil in it. It was spraying all over my hands. So I started wondering how one might go about "harvesting" this orange oil for use in soaps, or cleaning products, or whatever.

I love the internet. You can learn so many wonderful things on the internet. Today I learned that there is indeed an easy way to make orange oil from the peels. The best part is that it uses dried peels, so you can save them till you have enough. No need to have loads of fresh peels on hand. And once the oil has been harvested, the ground peels can go into the compost pile.

While I was researching, I found several lists of other ways to use orange peels around the house. I really like the idea of using up everything, somehow. Of creating very little to no trash.  Here's the list of orange peel ideas I liked best:

Due to the high content of flammable oil in orange peel, dried peel makes a great firestarter or kindling
 

It seems that cats don't like the smell of peel, so you can place them around plants where you don't want cats digging
 

Using a "zester", the top layer of an orange peel can be scraped to produce zest. This can then be used to strong flavor to foods, such as sauces, soups and salads. The zest can be dried overnight and then stored in airtight bottles for future use.
 

Dried orange peels can be placed in a cloth bag and placed in closets and cupboards to reduce musty odors
 

A puree blend of orange peel and water can be applied to an area to discourage ants from crossing.
 

Most insects hate limonene - the oil in the peel. Small piles of zest can be placed around an area to keep it free from flies and mosquitos. Some people claim rubbing orange peel on your skin willprevent mosquito bites.
 

To deodorize a garbage disposal unit, throw down a few peels while it's operating
 

While on the topic of garbage, placing orange peel at the bottom of your trash can, before putting the bag or bags in is said to reduce odor and also help discourage insect infestation.

Use the orange skin to scrub and deodorise your kitchen sink.
 

Candied orange peels are a tasty treat that seem very simple to make. Plenty of recipes can be found on the Internet.

Add them to your compost pile


The list above can be found here. And another good one (some overlap, but some different ideas, too) is here. Happy farming!