homemade environmentally-friendly weed killer

You can make this weed-killer with ingredients straight out of the pantry. Speaking of which – my new pantry finally arrived and here it is:

I don’t know why every kitchen isn’t built with a pantry – it doesn’t make any sense to me having food stuffed in random cupboards all over the kitchen.  I dream of having a huge walk-in pantry – like the ones built in Edwardian and Victorian homes. My friend in Melbourne had a pantry as big as a small bedroom – complete with leaded glass windows. It had an ancient wood door – painted with layers and layers of old paint and an old iron doorknob. All of her china and glassware were neatly stacked and displayed along one wall and on the other two walls were shelves of preserves and dry goods and beautiful tins of biscuits and glass jars full of oatmeal and raisins and lentils. Along the floor were huge baskets for storing root vegetables and apples. I visited the pantry every time I went over. It had this wonderful old-world smell that reminded me of grandfather’s larder in England.

My new pantry is made by Mennonites in St. Jacob’s, Ontario –  from solid, old,  reclaimed wood. It’s sturdy and practical and beautiful and now I finally have all the food off the bookshelf and so the books might just find a home.

To make this weed killer – you only need three ingredients – vinegar, salt, and regular dish soap – and a spray bottle. You can recycle an old spray bottle here but make sure you label the bottle. The weed killer is very effective but DON’T use this on your lawn because it will kill it. It’s very useful for patios and rock gardens or driveways or anywhere where the weeds are not surrounded by grass or other plants. I looked up the toxicity to pets – and though it’s much safer than commercial weed killers, you might want to keep your pets inside for a while after you spray.

• Time: 2 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

• 2 cups vinegar
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp dish detergent

Stir all ingredients together and pour into a spray bottle. Spray on weeds – remembering that it will kill any plant life it comes in contact with. Best to spray on a day it is not going to rain. Will take about two days and the weeds will shrivel up and you can either pull them out easily or let them disintegrate by themselves.

 

 

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