Page 12 - Home & Garden

  When you're looking at deworming your horse, the amount of information out there can be confusing and overwhelming. But don't worry. Below you will find not only the answers to many of your questions, but the answers will be straight forward and simple. From step-by-step instructions on 'how to administer dewormer' to a handy veterinarian secret that will improve the effectiveness of your dewormer. Check out our selection of dewormers online here. So let's start at the beginning, because without an understanding of worms, you may likely be treating them incorrectly. How do horses get worms? Horses get worms from other infected horses or pastures that are infected. It's a normal occurrence in winter when our horses are put up in the barn, or spending more time with other animals to avoid the harsh weather. Are there different type...

A bat house provides crevices for the bats to rest and roost. As dusk settles on a warm summer evening and bats take to the sky for their nightly meals, my family loves to sit on the porch to see how many we can spot. Dipping and dodging, we can’t glimpse the insects in their sites, but we know they fill an important niche in the ecosystem, keeping insect populations in check. Bats are renowned for their insect eating proclivities and that is not lost on Dan Bachen, senior zoologist at the Montana Natural History Program. “Primarily up here they eat insects, which is why they are absolutely important,” Bachen said. In terms of agriculture, bats save farmers billions of dollars in pest control. In addition, many bat species hold imperative roles in pollination. For those reasons, and others, it’s not a pretty pi...

Even though it’s still winter, it’s time to take care of your fruit trees. Pruning allows you to control the shape and size of your tree (at least to some extent since you can’t make a standard variety stay the size of a dwarf), as well as creating a healthier specimen with larger and more abundant fruit. What tools do you need to prune your trees? Before you make the first cut gather the tools you need, and make sure they are clean and sharp. Hand clippers are invaluable for trimming out small branches or water sprouts, anvil or by-pass loppers can handle the bigger branches, and a small handsaw is useful for taking out the larger pieces. If you didn’t store them in the fall with a new edge on them, grab a rasp and do so now. Nothing is more frustrating than fighting with a little piece of bark that won’t cut because a blade i...

Life hacking refers to any trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method that increases productivity and efficiency, in all walks of life. It is anything that solves an everyday problem in an inspired, ingenious manner. Crush Pills & Make Paste for your Horse When you need to crush pills and make a paste for you horse, try this instead of mixing a paste in a cup and then trying to spoon it into a syringe. Put all of the pills into your dosing syringe, then suction some water into the syringe. Looking for equine supplements, shoes, gear or feed? We've got it all online here. Shake and wait for your pills to dissolve in the syringe. No mess to clean, and all of the medication is ready to go! Monitor your Horse Trailer Temperature Get an inexpensive indoor/outdoor thermometer to keep tabs on the temperature inside your trailer (with...

Despite Johnny Appleseed planting fruit trees throughout the Midwest—by sowing handfuls of seeds on his land and selling the small trees to local farmers—all modern fruit trees are propagated by grafting the desired variety (called a scion) to the appropriate rootstock (meaning another tree) for your region. Appleseed’s trees produced what we call “spitters” that produced fruit that’s best suited for cider. Since most of us desire good eating apples, grafting is the only way to control the variety. My father grafted for years, often having several types of apples on the same tree. That grafting and mixed variety always intrigued me, so more than a decade ago I visited the friend who taught him how to graft. He boasts of having nearly 200 varieties in his small, suburban yard and was eager to give m...

What is a corn cob light? Well, as you can see from the video above, a COB LED is a light shaped surprisingly like an ear of corn. What is it? COB stands for “chip on board” and is simply that: a light emitting diode (LED) embedded into a substrate (board) that has an electric current passed through it so it will light up. That means the acronym COB matches the actual shape of the light itself. The COB LED light we are talking about in this article, and the one you see above, is the GT-Lite High Lumen LED Bulb we stock at North 40 Outfitters. If this is the first time you’ve seen a bulb like this, then you probably have a few questions. Is this light as bright as traditional halogen or CFL lights? Absolutely it is. Does this COB LED use less energy or more energy? Less… up to 80 percent less actually. Does the corn cob light get ...

Dehydrate your own tomatoes for a delicious ingredient to recipes Long before pressure canners or even freezers came along, dehydrating was the best means of food preservation. As long as you can remove enough of the moisture from foods, which inhibits the growth of the microorganisms and enzymes that lead to spoilage, dried food easily lasts for months. Dehydrating foods also saves space, which is a precious commodity by the end of the harvest and hunting season. I’ve found a pound of ground beef dehydrates to roughly four ounces (or a good handful) of meat. I can easily store the equivalent of three-to four pounds of ground meat in a quart jar. It’s also very convenient. Dried berries of all flavors can be tossed into oatmeal or desserts, entire meals can be created within minutes with boiling water, and it’s easy to have enough ...

It’s that time when sniffles and sneezes are the chorus of the season. When I feel under the weather, the first thing I reach for is a fresh clove of garlic and the jar of honey. Because of their antimicrobial properties, the combination of minced garlic and its sweet counterpart help my body fight the latest bug. Plus, I figure if I eat enough of it, no one will want to stand next to me, which is probably one of the best ways to prevent the cold in the first place. All kidding aside, our parents and grandparents often had an arsenal of remedies in their gardens and kitchen cupboards, ready to make us feel better with these old-fashioned concoctions. While eating garlic to treat a cold (or any illness) is far from being recognized or approved by the FDA, there’s a reason these remedies have been around for centuries, or even thousands...

Spring is just around the corner and that means we need to get ready to clean up our lawns and gardens. With the DeWalt 20V weed whacker (some people call it a "string-trimmer"), the battle on weeds has never been easier. This product features a patented gear drive design for amplified torque when powering through overgrowth. The bump feed head provides 13" of swath with DEWALT's 0.080" line. The variable speed trigger offers precise power control as well as performance and runtime management with the Hi/Lo speed control switch. Well balanced and only eight and one-half pounds, the string trimmer is easy to maneuver and puts less stress on the user. Watch the video below to learn more.   Ditch the gas cans and the extension cords, and check out the 20-volt DeWalt Lithium Ion XR Stream Trimmer. Powered by a 20-volt max five amp p...

A steam juicer is an invaluable tool for jelly making. Homemade jams, jellies, or preserves is a heartfelt and delicious gift at Christmas—whether given to yourself, friends, or family. Making these when the weather is cold is equally satisfying as the house fills with a warm, sweet summer fragrance. What’s the difference between jams, jellies and preserves? While these sweet condiments have similar beginnings, the difference is in the final texture. Whether you only use juice or all of the fruit, depends on personal preference. Jellies are the refined version, using fruit juice as the base, which results in a smooth spread. Instead of just using the juice, jams also use the fruit in a mashed capacity. Jams have a chunkier consistency and a heartier texture. Preserves use whole or large pieces of fruit, making it ideal for topping he...

By Amy Grisak There’s snow in the mountains and frost on the ground at home, so it may be difficult to think about spring during the middle of fall, but, by doing so you’ll ensure a bright, colorful garden in April and May. And, by planting spring bulbs during fall you’ll grab a few more enjoyable moments in the garden before the snow puts everything to bed for five months. Fortunately, spring bulbs are some of the easiest flowers to grow, and very satisfying to see after a long winter. Their riot of color is a welcomed change after the monochromatic season, and a number of varieties are known as much for their fragrance as for their intense beauty. Bonus: These spring plants are practically fuss-free. In fact, pests are rarely an issue, a light frost doesn’t bother them, and spring rains take care of watering. This is why taking...