Having spent the summer immersing ourselves in the pioneer era of living, it makes me think of the old time granny ladies that were the center of any village, town, or homestead. Granny ladies were the doctors long before we had medical clinics and health care facilities. Specifically called granny ladies so as not to be confused with religious healing or any other type of healing (aka “witchcraft”) although sometimes granny ladies would provide a good whallop to the side of the head for those needing a good kicking or a sympathetic ear for those needing what we now term mental health counseling. But they mastered in herbal remedies. They were midwives, surgeons, pediatricians, dentists and veterinarians to name a few of the areas they practiced in. Everyone went to the local granny lady for all that ailed them.
If you go to some of the more remote areas of the Appalachians you may still find a form of granny lady, but much of the traditional healing arts have been lost to the use and access of modern medicine. A granny lady could be 16 years old or 60 years old. The age didn’t matter. It was the knowledge they held that made them granny ladies, especially in an era when brides were often 12 years old and considered adults … so we must get the age out of our minds when discussing granny ladies.
One thing every farm and homestead had was an herb/medicinal garden but the granny lady also knew how to forage for wild plants that were medicinals. Like willow bark for fevers (it contains a form of aspirin) or Slippery elm bark for sore throats. So much knowledge has been lost that it truly makes me sad.
Which brings me to why I am writing about granny ladies lol. I don’t profess to be a granny lady, but I keep getting request for my recipes for keeping away mice and critters from the home and RV. So I’m going to repost some oldies but goodies.
1. This one can be used outside in a garden sprayer for many things. My number one use is to spray all around the house / RV (for the RV pay special attention and extra spray for anything touching the ground like tires, septic lines etc). I reapply after it rains or every other week as needed. Keeps squirrels from chewing wires in the RV, no snakes, bye bye biting bugs, no ants, so long mice… etc. I also use this same solution inside for mopping floors! It smells great, cleans great, and keeps those household bugs and critters away. If you have fruit trees you can spray it on the fruit to prevent bugs from maiming your prize apples too! Sooooo many uses. In a garden sprayer or common spray bottle depending on how much you want to make: fill it with water and add enough liquid peppermint Castile soap to make the water turn a milky color. That’s it. That’s the recipe. Now go spray stuff lol if you really want to go down a fun rabbit hole of knowledge look up how Castile soap is made. Basically it’s organic… so no worry about chemical pesticides in your living spaces 🙂
2. This next one is a quick and easy fix too. By now you probably know critters don’t like peppermint, but I do 🙂 lol. So go to your local supermarket and buy the biggest box of peppermint tea bags you can find. The cheap box is fine. Now go home and open it up and start tossing those tea bags in closets and drawers. Yep that’s my secret. A cheap peppermint sachet! Makes the clothes and linens etc smell nice and keeps mice and bugs away. Don’t forget to toss them in the kitchen cupboards too… basically just go thru the house room by room (or the RV) and open every drawer and cabinet and closet etc and toss in a tea bag. Done! Replace the tea bags in the spring 🙂
3. This is my all purpose cleaning spray. But it also works great to kill ants and ant trails. Works great to spritz the room, carpet, pet bedding, people bedding etc as an air freshener. The only thing I don’t clean with this is glass or mirrors because it will leave streaks. If you spritz this on and wait a few seconds then clean with “bar keepers friend” it easily removes iron water stains from bathtubs etc. seriously I basically tossed out everything else as far as cleaning products go and always use this instead lol. Get a spray bottle and place 2 TBLS each of baking soda and apple cider vinegar. Let those two fizz together for a second or two and then turn on the tap and add 2 cups warm or hot (your choice) water. Next add 20 drops of peppermint essential oil. However! I have to say I prefer “Aura Cacia” brand essential oils for this because I have tried other brands and they just don’t work for this particular recipe for some reason. So it’s your call on trying a different brand, but I will be sticking to my “Aura Cacia” Lol. Now go clean something!
4. Now back to granny ladies and why I started this article. Mustard plasters! Hubby recently strained a back muscle and that made me think: “mustard plaster”. Traditionally mustard plasters were used for coughs and colds type remedies… but I have also seen references (few, not many) to them being used for muscle pain. So guess what I will be trying next lol … if you would like to try it please do diligent research because mustard plasters (if done incorrectly) can actually burn your skin depending on how strong they are made, how long they are worn, and how much skin contact there is between the cloth holding the plaster and your skin (if that makes sense lol). But there are plenty of recipes for those online should you wish to try a very old herbal healing recipe that has been around longer than even traditional granny ladies lol.
5. Conestoga Chuck has to have a doggie recipe in here too. Obviously I would NOT EVER spray the pups with peppermint oil based products because that would sting the skin and he would be very mad at me! However, I do use the recipe in #3 above ( baking soda, vinegar and water) in a different (properly labeled) spray bottle and substitute rosemary oil instead of using the peppermint oil. (No peppermint oil in this one!). Rosemary oil is know to keep away fleas and ticks. But I honestly use it as a quick and easy spritz bath for when the pups smell stinky and it’s either too cold for a bath or I don’t have time to give them a proper bath. The vinegar and baking soda neutralizes the stinky smells and the rosemary smells great to me and it may or may not help with fleas and ticks (we use prescription flea and tick products from the vet so I can’t tell you if it works on fleas and ticks or not from experience). I’m allergic to the store bought doggie perfumes and sprays …and honestly I haven’t found a store bought one that doesn’t actually stink (gag!) worse (in my humble opinion) than the actual smelly dog smells lol.
Ok, so now you know my recipes that I use. Maybe I might qualify as a granny lady in training? Lol… Or something like that??? … lol all I can say is this is what I do and you are welcome to give it a try should you wish to do so. But please, if you are ill (mentally or physically) make sure you see a qualified physician! I am NOT a qualified physician… just an amateur student of history 🙂
Also the above recipes are mostly repeats of previous posts (with a few new things added) but I have been asked to repost them again for our new readers (welcome new Conestoga Chuck fans!) so make sure to go to some of our other older posts. I especially love the doggie paw ointment (who my friend swears cured her dog from skin irritation caused by fleas and even got rid of a majority of the flea problem when used as an ointment) as well as the recipe for the lotion bars which honestly is my personal favorite and I use that one every day!
**Sorry for the long time between posts, but we have been mostly doing short posts on the Conestoga chuck facebook page because of limited internet access at our current campground 🙂 cell phone signal is non existent here lol which is honestly sorta nice (giggle giggle) so we can reflect on our pioneer history without the interruptions of “current events”.
Conestoga Chuck 