12 Natural ways to clean the air inside your house!

It's winter in most areas and the windows and doors are shut tight to keep out the cold. Unfortunately, that keeps in lots of allergens, contaminants and irritants that we're breathing in constantly.

The more all that toxic stuff builds up, the more it tears us down and that is the last thing we need this time of year!

So how do you clean the air? I mean really clean the air, not just cover it with a blast of perfumed spray! I have a few different methods I use to keep the air inside my house naturally clean.

Here are 12 different changes you can make for cleaner air...

My top posts of 2015

As the new year kicks off I can't help but look back at 2015 and see how things went here on the blog. I've figured out the top posts of last year according to views, shares, pins etc. I wasn't too surprised to see that many of the top posts were garden related. That's definitely a good thing since I have a lot more that I worked on during gardening season. I just have to actually find the time to get them written now. I also have another EO experiment and several healthy living posts to tell you all about!

Without any more rambling I give you the top posts of 2015 starting with the most popular:

• 8 Ways to keep rabbits out of your garden: Easy ways to chase the wild rabbits out of your garden before they eat all your veggies!
• Make your own Hummingbird nectar: Why buy it when you can make it? It's simple, easy and you probably have everything on hand.

Homesteaders Holiday Gift Guide

Updated for 2025

Can you believe the holidays are almost here already? Ugh! I'm so not into shopping this year, but luckily I've already purchased a lot of gifts for my homesteading and gardening friends so I won't have to spend too much time Black Friday shopping! 

These are some of my favorite items from the last year....I think you'll find many of them quite useful around ye old homestead! 

I did my best to try not to be too much like every other gift guide out there. I think everything on this list fits the homesteading lifestyle. Everything here is useful, practical and/or makes life easier, cheaper or simpler.

Click the blue text to take you to the products.

If you're looking for a gift for a plant lover here is my Indoor Gardeners Gift Guide. Most homesteaders also like to grow things indoors especially in winter.

Gifts for homesteaders

Herb Scissors: I'm going to start with my newest favorite kitchen tool, herb scissors. I seriously love these as they make it super easy to chop or dice fresh herbs.

Simply snip herbs like you're using regular scissors. The 5 sets of blade work perfectly to cut your herbs without having to haul out the cutting board and chopping knife! 

These are perfect for the homesteader that grows and preserves their own herbs. They make quick work of all the chopping that needs done before the preserving can take place!

Dry Safe bag for Outdoors: This bag is a must have for hikers, ATV enthusiasts, campers and survivalists alike. Or...pretty much anyone who might get caught in the rain!

I got one of these for my son to take kayaking after a particular wet trip that cost us an iPhone, and with this bag even if he ends up soaked, everything inside stays completely dry.

I keep mine in the Gator or atv when doing outside work on damp days. Perfect for carrying you phone, a small towel or some tools when doing farm chores in the rain. Totally worth the cost!

10+ ways to shorten a cold naturally

Cold season is here and that means that a good bunch of us are going to be sick really soon! If you're anything like me you hate that 'medicine head' feeling that OTC cold remedies give you. I hate it so much I generally just tough it out and wait for the whole thing to pass. 

I've tried just about everything to get rid of a cold fast and while you can't exactly get over a cold in 24 hours, I have found several natural options that help me to feel better faster. 

Thankfully, none of these natural cold remedies give me that 'wide awake ready to fall asleep' feeling that commercial cold meds do! Give these 10 options a try....

How to shorten a cold naturally

End of the harvest spiral veggie dinner

It's always with a heavy heart that I pick the last few veggies from the garden. This year an impending frost ended gardening season sooner then I'd liked (and a crazy work schedule that prevented me from getting things covered in time) 

So as I grabbed the last few items from the garden I decided to make the best of it and create a "Summers End" veggie dish using the last zucchini, kale, basil and some carrots that definitely would have liked to grow longer! 

I use a spirilizer for the zucchini in this dish because it cuts the zucchini into fine strips that resemble pasta. You could actually use zucchini like pasta noodles when it's cut like this. It holds up really well as long as it's not over cooked! At this point in the year I'm about over zucchini so anything that sort of disguises it is great for me!