| How to Save Spaghetti Squash Seeds Posted: 23 Jul 2018 01:00 AM PDT Spaghetti squash is a popular variety of squash that, when cooked, naturally peels into pasta-like strands. Though the fruit is seasonal and can only develop during the colder months of the year, you can harvest and store the seeds to help them beat the heat. EditHarvesting the Seeds - Get a ripe spaghetti squash. For the best seeds possible, pick a spaghetti squash that is firm and fairly heavy. When fully ripe, the squash should have a rich, yellow color; if it's green, it's not ready. If possible, avoid harvesting seeds from squash that are cracked or soft, since they may have been exposed to bacteria.[1]
- Cut open the squash. Open up the squash using a sharp, clean kitchen knife. Then, separate your squash into 2 halves, revealing a soft, stringy interior.[2]
- Remove the seeds. With a spoon, scoop out every bit of the stringy substance from inside the squash, then set it aside for later use. The stringy substance is made up of the fruit's seeds and the pulp connecting them together. When you're finished, the inside of the spaghetti squash should look completely smooth and uniform.[3]
- If you plan on cooking your squash, make sure to harvest the seeds before doing so.
EditCleaning Your Seeds - Place your seeds in a bucket of water. Grab a bucket and fill it with a large amount of cool water. Set it in an area where it will not be disturbed, then drop your seed and pulp mixture inside. This will give your seeds a chance to both get clean and germinate.[4]
- Let everything ferment until the mixture separates. In addition to simply cleaning everything up, the water will help you determine which seeds are worth keeping. Good seeds, ones that are still alive and rich with nutrients, will sink to the bottom of the water. Dead seeds, along with pulp, will rise to the top. Let the seeds sit until they are fully separated, which normally takes about 1 day.[5]
- Discard the seeds and pulp on the surface of the water. Once they've had enough time to sit, carefully pour out the water so that the dead seeds and pulp escape while the healthy seeds remain in the bottom of the bucket.[6]
- Rinse the good seeds off with cool water. To make sure the healthy seeds are as clean as possible, fill the bucket up with new, fresh water. Let the seeds soak for a few seconds, then pour the water out. Repeat this 3 or 4 times. Rinsing the seeds thoroughly will remove dirt and grime, preventing them from sticking to the drying sheet.[7]
EditDrying the Seeds - Place your seeds on a drying sheet. Once you've rinsed off your seeds, move them to a glass tray, a ceramic plate, or a sheet of flat newspaper. Spread the seeds out so that they each have ample room and are not touching the other seeds.[8]
- Let your seeds sit in a dark place until they are completely dry. Put your seed tray in a dark area, like a basement or closet, and let them sit until fully dry. If you do not have access to a dark area large enough for your seeds, cover them with multiple sheets of newspaper. Your seeds should be completely dry after 2 or 3 days.[9]
- Check on your seeds twice a day. While checking your seeds, look out for any that may be rotting or decaying and remove them from the tray. Make sure to clean off any pooling water and, if necessary, remove wet and soiled newspaper.
- Remove excess pulp if necessary. Once your seeds are completely dry, you may find that there is still a small amount of pulp left on them. To get rid of it, simply peel they excess pulp off the seeds and dispose of it.
EditStoring Them Safely - Wrap your seeds in paper. To keep your seeds contained, place them inside a small paper envelope or wrap them in a dry paper towel. This is especially important if you plan to store different types of seeds in the same container. After placing your seeds inside, examine the paper to see if any moisture appeared. If some did, give the seeds another day to dry, that way you don't encourage mold or mildew growth.[10]
- Seal your seeds inside a jar. Get a solid glass container, like a mason jar, and wash it with antibacterial soap. Rinse out all the soap and dry the jar. Once the jar is completely dry, place your paper packet of seeds inside. Cover the container with a lid and make sure to close it tight, thereby keeping as much bacteria out as possible.[11]
- Label the jar. To avoid mixing the seeds up with other strains, and so you remember when the seeds were cultivated, label the jar in clear, legible handwriting. Include the seed type, when you harvested the seeds, and when you plan to place the seeds in storage.[12]
- Move your seeds to a refrigerator until you're ready to plant them. To keep your seeds happy and healthy, store them in a refrigerator or similarly cool place. Seeds need consistent temperatures, so choose a spot where you won't need to move them often.[13]
- Do not store your seeds for more than 6 years. While in storage, spaghetti squash seeds can last anywhere from 3 to 6 years, though they are best when used as soon as possible.[14]
- To test if your squash seeds are still good, check for rot or mildew. If you don't see anything, place the seeds in water; if they float, they've gone bad!
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| How to Get Rid of Ants in the House Posted: 22 Jul 2018 05:00 PM PDT Having ants in your house can be a pesky, frustrating problem. Fortunately, most ants are easy to get rid of! As long as you're diligent about keeping a clean house and making sure there's no food lying around, your ant problem will disappear as quickly as it came! However, if you find any damaged or wet wood, you might want to call an exterminator to help you get rid of your carpenter ant infestation. EditKeeping a Clean House - Sweep up any crumbs and wipe up any spills immediately. Wipe up any extra water or crumbs from your counters, and sweep and vacuum daily. This is especially important for your kitchen and dining area. Ants are looking for food, so make sure there's none for them in your home![1]
- It is helpful to establish a weekly kitchen cleaning routine and a full pantry clean. One day a week, sweep and mop your floors and wipe down all your kitchen surfaces, including your pantry.
- Dispose of all garbage from your home daily. Make sure you dispose of all trash into garbage bags. It is also helpful to take out your trash every day, so there is no food remnants for ants to find.[2]
- Don't leave dirty dishes in the sink since they will attract ants. Sinks are popular areas for ants because of the leftover food that may remain on the plate. Washing your dishes cuts down on any potential food for ants to find.[3]
- If you are putting your dishes in the dishwasher, rinse them thoroughly.
- Put all food away and use bag clips, bags, or air-tight containers. Store perishables in the fridge, and put a cover on top of any non-refrigerated food. Bag clips, plastic bags, and airtight containers help seal away your food so ants can't get inside. Proper food storage will decrease the opportunity for ants to find food in your home.[4]
- Rather than leaving your bag of chips on the counter, make sure you clip the bag and put it in the pantry.
EditUsing Natural Repellents - Spray a mixture of 1 part vinegar and 3 parts water to destroy any scent trails. You create a natural ant deterrent with your vinegar and water mixture. Ants will not travel where vinegar is sprayed, so spray an even layer of your mix over ant scent trails or any place you've seen ants. This will throw the ants off course.[5]
- This isn't a way to kill ants but rather deter them from coming into your home.
- You can also use soapy water instead of vinegar.
- Sprinkle ground cinnamon or coffee grounds as ant deterrent. Grab some of these kitchen basics you may already have, and dust them in any area ants tend to go. You can use a heaping spoonful or more, depending on your ant problem. Ants are not a fan of these smells or tastes.[6]
- You can also sprinkle these natural deterrents at any entry point, like your doors and windows.
- You can also use chili powder, peppermint essential oil, or garlic for other natural alternatives.
- Purchase natural ant repellents if you want to use commercial products. Try EarthKind's Stay Away Ant Granules or similar products. You can purchase these online or at most health food stores. These are helpful for defensive strategies to prevent ants.[7]
- Create a borax, water, and sugar mixture to attract and kill your ants. Borax is a natural mineral known for its cleaning power. Mix of warm water with sugar and of borax. Pour your mix into a small bowl or cup, and place this where your ants travel frequently. The sugar will attract the ants, and the borax will kill them.[8]
- When the ants consume the borax, it starts to break down their digestive system.
- It is one of the most effective methods to get rid of ants, and it can kill the entire colony.
EditTrying More Extreme Solutions - Seal any open cracks that may allow ants to enter your home. Use a waterproof silicone caulk or sealant to fill in cracks or holes. Windows or doors are popular entry points for ants. This will make it more difficult for ants to find a way inside.[9]
- Try to seal as many holes or cracks as possible. You may not be able to get every single spot, but this will help with overall ant prevention.
- Set up ant baits through your house to control your ant problem. The ants will be attracted to the bait, then get stuck and die. Baits come in either gels, granules, or stations. Most baits also come in two forms: sugar-based or protein/grease-based.[10]
- You can use any type of bait, though it is recommended to use one that has both sugar and protein bases.
- Spray insecticide around any entry point to keep ants out. Use insecticide around where the ants are entering your house to deter them from coming back. Keep about between your spray and the surface you are spraying. This will prevent more ants from coming inside.[11]
- You want to spray enough to wet the surface, but not soak it.
- Use an insecticide that contains bifenthrin, permethrin, or deltamethrin.
- For more serious ant issues, you can also spray around the perimeter of your house.
- Call an exterminator for help, especially if you suspect carpenter ants. Exterminators can help assess the problem and catalogue the extent of the damage. For severe carpenter ant infestations, an exterminator is your best bet to help remove the repeat infestations and apply insecticide as needed.[12]
- Call a few exterminators to compare prices and make sure you're getting the best deal possible.
- You might have carpenter ants if you have any damaged or wet wood in the house.
- You can use over the counter ant sprays, but often these sprays only kill the ants and do not fix the problem. If you do not remove ants from your home, the ants will just go around the spray to get to the food source
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| How to Care for a Miniature Horse Posted: 22 Jul 2018 09:00 AM PDT A miniature horse can be a wonderful addition to your stable, as they are fun animals to raise and interact with. They are typically easy to care for and their daily cost and the space they require is less than that of an average-sized horse. That said, a miniature horse does need all the same daily care that any horse would need in order to keep it healthy and happy. Overall, it's important to make sure it is housed, fed, groomed, and cared for properly. If you make sure all of these things are done, you will have a happy, healthy miniature horse for years to come.[1] EditHousing Your Miniature Horse - Set up a stall for your miniature horse. A miniature horse needs to be kept in clean conditions and needs to be provided with shelter from rain, sun, and wind. A 3-sided stall set up in a pasture typically works for miniature horses that are not being shown. This gives them protection from weather but allows them freedom to roam.[2]
- If you already have a horse barn, you can adapt a regular horse stall for a mini. Simply swap out the door and lower the water and food bucket hooks to a mini's height.
- If you are showing your miniature horse, you may want to keep it in a stall in a barn to keep it clean. However, be sure that the horse's stall is set up specifically for a mini. It should have short walls that the horse can see over and a lot of air flow to keep the horse healthy.
- Provide access to a pasture. It is important to make sure that your horse gets exercise and freedom while roaming a pasture. To give your horse the freedom to wander when it likes, you can construct an open stall door leading to the pasture. You can also simply turn the horse out yourself every day.[3]
- Giving your miniature horse time in a pasture will give it access to grass and will give it daily exercise.
- While the pasture does not need to be as big as you would use for an average-sized horse, a miniature horse should not be kept in a small space, such as a dog run. You should provide approximately 1/4 acre per miniature horse.[4]
- Secure all pasture areas. Since miniature horses are smaller than other horses, they can squeeze out of holes in fencing that an average-sized horse could never get out of. Before you put your miniature in a pasture for the first time, make sure that there are no holes or broken areas that the horse could escape from.[5]
- A miniature horse will not need fencing that is as tall as that made for an average-sized horse.
- Make sure the fencing slats are close enough together that your mini can't jump through, but wide enough that it won't get a leg stuck.
- Provide a companion animal. Miniature horses should not be housed alone. Ideally, you will have several miniature horses that can keep each other company. However, you can also use other animals as companion animals, such as donkeys, dogs, sheep, or goats.[6]
- Miniature horses are social creatures, so they should never be kept alone. However, you do need to take their individual personalities into consideration when choosing a companion for them. For instance, if you have a grumpy horse, you will want to give it a companion animal that will give it some space and will not respond poorly to its stubbornness.
EditFeeding Your Miniature Horse - Give your miniature horse access to grass or feed them hay every day. Forage, either provided through grazing or given in the form of hay, should make up most of your horse's diet. A miniature horse will eat 1 to 2% of its body weight in forage every day, so it's important to provide enough for the animal.[7]
- For example, a miniature horse that weighs should be given of forage every day.
- Miniature ponies that aren't worked and are on a good grassy pasture typically don't need to be fed hay if there is enough grass. In fact, if they are fed too much it may cause them to become overweight and it could even cause colic, a digestive illness. However, if a horse is worked regularly they should be fed to keep a stable weight.
- Supplement your miniature horse's diet with grain if necessary. In addition to hay and grass, your horse may need a limited amount of grain, although some minis don't need a supplement at all. Talk to your vet if you're not sure. If you do provide grain, do so sparingly, as too much overall and too much at one time can be bad for a miniature horse's digestive system.[8]
- In general, most miniature horses can eat approximately of grain every day, split into 2 feedings.
- Miniature horse owners should feed their horses a pre-mixed combination of grains. These mixes typically include corn, oats, wheat, and barley grains. They are specifically created to meet a miniature horse's dietary needs and typically contain a mix of dietary supplements as well as grain.
- Take your horse's size and body condition into consideration. When determining how much to feed your miniature horse, you should feel the animal's body for areas where fat has deposited and for areas that are overly skinny. If your horse is overweight you will want to feed it less, and if your horse is underweight you will want to feed it more.[9]
- An easy way to tell if your horse is at a good weight is to feel along its sides for its ribs. If you can feel its ribs but not see them, your horse is at a healthy weight. If you can see the ribs, the horse is underweight; if you can't feel or see the ribs, it's overweight.
- Miniature horses are prone to becoming overweight. The ideal weight for a miniature horse is anywhere between , depending on the size of the horse. Keep an eye on your horse's size in order to fine-tune its diet so that it can stay at an ideal weight.
- Monitor your mini's weight when on pasture. Miniature ponies have a tendency to gain weight easily, so it's important to keep an eye on how much weight your mini gains when on pasture. If you notice it growing heavy, you may need to get a grazing muzzle to prevent your mini from overeating.
- Provide access to clean drinking water at all times. It's important that your miniature horse can drink water whenever it needs it so that it stays properly hydrated. Be sure that the water is clean and that the container you put the water in is clean as well.[10]
- Clean water containers weekly so that they do not harbor harmful bacteria, which could affect your horse's health. Simply rinse the container with cold water, add a few drops of dish soap, scrub it down with a brush, and then rinse it out.
- You can add a drop or two of bleach to the horse's water to keep bacteria and algae at bay. This will not harm the horse and will keep the water more palatable.[11]
EditGrooming Your Miniature Horse - Secure your horse before grooming. Before starting your grooming routine, you should make sure the horse's reins are tied up. This will ensure that the horse cannot bolt and that you can keep a firm grip on it while preforming your grooming tasks.
- You can tie up a horse using a variety of knots, such as a quick-release knot.
- You should always have a quick-release option, in case your horse gets stuck or distressed.
- Let the horse know that you are approaching it. Although miniature horses are small, their kicks and bites can still injure you. As with all horses, you should approach them in a way that lets them know you are coming. Make noise as you are approaching and make sure they can see you coming.
- You can approach the horse from the side and touch it as you do so but never come up on a horse from behind. This will eliminate the chance of a fear response if you touch them when they don't know you are there.
- Stand at the horse's side, not behind it. While grooming, you should position yourself so that you are out of harm's way. Standing directly behind a horse may result in you getting kicked if the horse gets spooked or agitated, so always stay to the side.
- Pick the horse's hooves and assess their hoof health every day. Miniature horses need the rocks and debris removed from their hooves so that the hooves stay healthy and they don't become painful to walk on. Working on 1 leg at a time, pick up the hoof and use a hoof pick to get all of the rocks, manure, dirt, hay, and other debris out of the inner part of the hoof.[12]
- Once you have cleaned out a hoof you should look at the surface to determine if it's healthy. Look for injuries or swollen areas inside the hoof. If you spot a problem, seek out the treatment advice of a veterinarian.
- Many miniature horses also need their hooves trimmed because they typically grow faster than they are worn down. In general, a miniature horse will need its hooves trimmed once every 5 weeks or so.
- Brush the horse's coat daily. When caring for a miniature horse it is important to keep their coat clean, soft, and shiny. Use a soft-bristle horse brush all over your miniature horse's body. Remember to brush with the grain of the horse's hair and inspect the animal's body for signs of illness or injury while you are brushing it.[13]
- To keep your miniature horse's mane and tail untangled and shiny you should also brush them every day.
- Brushing is especially important for miniature horses that you plan on showing, as the state of their manes and tails will be judged.
- Brushing your horse every day is a great way to bond with the animal. It is quality time when you can show the horse that you care for it and that you are not a threat to it.
EditKeeping Your Miniature Horse Healthy - Give your horse extra care during cold weather. While miniature horses are actually quite hardy, they do need a bit of care in freezing conditions. For example, during cold days they need to be rugged to help them maintain a stable body temperature.
- A rug is a blanket that is put on the back of a horse. They can be bought from a local riding shop, although rugs for miniature horses are harder to find than those made for average-sized horses.
- Get them annual veterinary care. Your miniature horse needs regular veterinary care to ensure that it is healthy and does not have any emerging health problems that need treatment. The veterinarian will also set up a schedule for immunizations and other preventative care that will keep your horse healthy in the future.[14]
- Common diseases that minis are often immunized for include tetanus, rabies, influenza, and rhinovirus.[15]
- Give your horse deworming medication every 6 to 8 weeks. One of the most important things your veterinarian will do is to prescribe deworming medication and to set a schedule for giving it to your horse. Deworming is vital for the mini to remain healthy, as all horses are prone to parasitic infections and these infections can be very serious and even life threatening. This medication is typically given to your horse every 6 to 8 weeks.[16]
- Deworming medications given to miniature horses will typically protect them from strongyles, ascrids, pinworms, roundworms, and other common parasitic infections.
- Care for your horse's dental health annually. In addition to general health exams, miniature horses should have a dental exam every year. The veterinarian will inspect the horse's teeth and ensure that they are healthy. Any problems in the mouth can lead to serious health problems, such as malnutrition, so it's important to keep up on your miniature horse's dental health.[17]
- Check your horse's teeth regularly to make sure their teeth look healthy and that their bite is normal and is creating even wearing on the teeth.[18]
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