How to Make Your Own Compost

Compost is nature’s finest fertilizer and you can start your own compost pile easily in the backyard. By making your own compost, you’ll be taking care of your plants while properly disposing of household and backyard waste. If you’re ready to start your own compost pile and need composting tips, here’s enough to get you started.

Make a Compost Area

You must make your compost in a certain area, so section off a plot of land that is three feet square. You can make your compost heap larger, but smaller may prove tricky. Build a simple box if you’d like or you can purchase a compost box from your neighborhood gardening center.

Give Compost a Good Start

The best way to start a compost pile is by using someone else’s compost. Look for compost donations from neighbors or friends and make a small pile. You can also buy compost if you’d like. Make a small pile with your new compost and then you’re ready to start adding your own ingredients.

Adding Compost

Adding to the compost pile is simple. You’ll want to add twenty brown items for every green. The green items, such as fresh leaves, are wetter than dead, or brown, leaves. You’ll want to limit the amount of wet on your pile. Add a variety of items to your compost pile to avoid burying it with too many leaves and their carbon or making your compost too acidic with pine needles.

You can add both of those things in large amounts, but be sure your amounts are balanced. You can also add fresh manure from pets in the yard, but you would do well to let the manure age first as it may burn plants if used too soon as it is so rich while fresh. Go ahead and add household trash as well including shredded paper, eggshells, and food remains from plants, but not meats or fats.

Using Compost

Soon your compost pile will be a beautiful collection of leaves, pine needles, weeds, grass clippings, orange peels, old vegetables and more. Stir it once and a while to let it oxygenate, and then pull the richest compost from the bottom and middle to use on your garden and plants. Your plants will be thriving in no time.

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How to Plant a Vegetable Garden

A backyard vegetable garden can satisfy your craving for fresh vegetables as well as sate your thirst for the feel of achievement as you grow your own food in the ways of our forefathers. Growing peppers, tomatoes and other vegetable in a backyard garden is simple enough if you are dedicated to establishing the garden and maintaining your plants carefully.

Till the Soil

Your first step to plant a vegetable garden is to find the proper patch of soil and remove all grass, rocks, and other obstacles. The ideal patch of ground should have at least six full hours of sunlight a day. The ground should be well drained with no chance of puddles after a rainstorm. You should also have good air circulation around the garden, but reduce the chances of strong wind that can break or dry out tender stalks.

Design the shape and size of the garden to suit your own preferences and abilities. Prepare the soil by breaking up chucks, adding compost and fertilizer, and removing debris before beginning. Consider surrounding your vegetable garden with a tall fence to keep out dogs, rabbits and other animals. The fence will also act as a trellis for tomatoes, beans or peas.

Plant the Vegetables

There are many options for what to plant in your vegetable garden, but the obvious choices will be vegetables enjoyed by your family. Water your garden thoroughly the day before you plant to give young plants the best shot at healthy development. Map out the locations of each plant in rows with tallest plants on the north side to avoid shade over small plants.

Plant each vegetable plant leaving space around it for future growth. Avoid overcrowding plants, and keep plants with similar growing seasons together. Plant bedding plants in holes slightly deeper than the plants had been growing in containers. Water before and after transplanting to ease the process.

Water, Weed, and Grow

As your vegetable garden grows, be sure to allow your plants at least one inch of water per week. You may have to give your garden extra water during dry spells. Mulch between rows to keep moisture in and to help eliminate weeds. Check your vegetable garden regularly to eliminate weeds and to spot pest problems. The earlier a problem is detected, the faster it can be dealt with. Enjoy your efforts!

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How to Lose Five Pounds Fast

It’s definitely swimsuit and shorts season, and there is nothing worse than pulling on a pair of shorts or last years suit and discovering it just a bit too tight. If your warm weather wardrobe is pinching in all the wrong places, it’s time to lose five pounds FAST.

Losing Five Pounds

It seems everyone is always trying to lose five or ten pounds, but for many reasons, it just doesn’t seem to happen for most of us. Fad diets, faulty portion control and too many opportunities to fall off the wagon are the primary reasons for yo-yo dieting, but you can’t afford to join that group – you need to lose the weight the right way.

Diet

It all boils down to your diet and your nutrition. You should be eating plenty of food every day, it just needs to be of the healthy variety. To lose five pounds fast, you can simply chunk all of your soda (even the diet ones), chips, cookies, ice cream, and other treats out with the trash.

Leave yourself fruits, veggies and complex carbohydrates such as whole wheat bread. Eat when you’re hungry, and chew some gum if you’re not hungry but have the urge to nibble. Removing all the empty calorie snacks you would normally just toss back will also help to cut back where it counts.

Exercise

If you’re just looking to lose five pounds, you’ll want to choose your exercise carefully. While muscle building exercises such as lifting weights are terrific in the long and short-term, you’re interested in short-term gains. You want to see results quickly, and who can blame you? Stick to intense cardio such as jogging on the treadmill or the elliptical. Swimming is another good way to burn calories fast, but you might not be ready for the old swimsuit just yet.

The bottom line here is that you’re consuming fewer calories than you’re burning, but you’re doing it in a completely healthy way. Fasting or eating five bites of cabbage a day doesn’t help you lose real weight, plus you’ll just over indulge when you reach your goal creating a yo-yo diet situation.

Drink Water

Finally, while you are dieting and exercising, increase your water to over a gallon a day. You’ll be using up quite a bit of water with your intense exercise, but you’ll also be helping to flush out any stored water which might be making you look or feel bloated. Diet, exercise and water is all you need to lose five pounds fast.

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How to Become an Egg Donor

There are countless families in the world who are desperately trying to have a baby, but struggle for any number of reasons. One of the increasingly more common reasons in the modern family is the age of the mother when its time to conceive. Older mothers have had an opportunity to build their career and experience the world, but unfortunately their eggs have aged along with them. Younger women have the opportunity to help build the family they want while making a bit of money for the time and effort spent.

Become an Egg Donor

Becoming an egg donor is not often mentioned in social circles, but donating eggs to friends, family or strangers is becoming more common as science advances and more families start at later ages. Women who are unable to use their own eggs or struggle getting pregnant sometimes turn to younger women whose eggs are younger and healthier for a donation. The donated eggs are then fertilized with the partner’s sperm and implanted to begin a pregnancy.

The Egg Donation Process

Donating eggs is more complicated than donating sperm. Women release a egg from their ovary once every menstrual cycle, usually once a month. That egg travels to the uterus, waits to become fertilized and then leaves the body if it is not fertilized. Unlike men who can technically produce sperm until they die, women are born with a set number of eggs and those eggs age and are used overtime. At a point after the thirties, the likelihood of releasing a healthy egg that is ready to be fertilized and grow diminishes. This is why these women need your younger, healthier eggs.

To donate eggs, you would contact an egg donation agency and submit a profile. When a family who is in need of eggs decides you’re the ideal candidate you will be notified and the process will begin. You will likely be paid a portion of your fee upfront. (The total fee can easily be upwards of $6000.)

You will be given hormone shots to encourage your body to release multiple eggs at once in the upcoming cycle. When you ovulate, doctors will carefully extract the eggs using a long needle and your job will be finished. Once the eggs have been harvested and the process is complete, you will be paid the remainder of your fee and you can enjoy that money knowing you’ve helped to make a family’s dream come true.

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How to Make Gelato Ice Cream

If you’ve traveled to Italy, you’ve likely stared in wonder at the many flavors of ice cream in Gelato display cases. If you can’t get back to Italy any time soon, but are craving the sweet taste of gelato ice cream, why not make your own? Here’s how to do it.

Assemble Your Ingredients and Gear

To make gelato, you’ll first need an ice cream machine if you don’t have a specialized gelato maker. The rest of the instructions assume you are working with a traditional ice cream maker.

• 2 Cups Whole Milk
• 1 Cup Sugar
• ¼ Cup Fat-free Powdered Milk
• 8 Egg Yolks
• 1 Cup Light Cream (Half and Half will do)
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• Chocolate Syrup (The richer the better)
• One Ice Cream Maker
• 2 Cups of Table Salt
• 1 Large Pot
• 1 Spatula
• 8 or more cups of ice

Heat Dairy Products

In a heavy bottomed pot, begin by heating the milk, sugar and powdered milk. Bring the mixture to a low simmer to dissolve the sugar then reduce the heat to keep the mixture warm.

Prepare the Egg Yolks

Whip the egg yolks by hand or with a mixer until thickened. Then, add one cup of the heated milk mixture while continuing to whisk. When the eggs and milk are blended, pour the contents of your mixing bowl back into the pot.

Simmer

Increase the heat under the pot and continue to simmer the mixture until it is thickened like gravy. You’ll need to stir constantly. When the mixture is thick and has reached a temperature of 170-180 degrees Fahrenheit, stir in the light cream and vanilla.

Refrigerate

Remove the mixture from the heat and refrigerate overnight or even 48 hours. At the minimum, refrigerate the mixture for 6 hours.

Freeze!

When it’s almost time to enjoy the dessert, add a generous amount of chocolate syrup and mix the chocolate in smoothly. Then pour the mixture into the freezing canister of the ice cream maker.

Layer ice and salt around the canister until the canister is completely surrounded by one inch layers of ice separated by ¼ cup of salt. Turn on the machine and let it freeze the ice cream. You’ll know it’s done when the machine strains to turn the mixture. Then, serve it and enjoy!

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How to Make Homemade Banana Pudding

If you are ever in need of a special desert that is rich with flavor and unique, consider a homemade banana pudding. The banana pudding that comes in a box is nothing compared to the creamy goodness of a true pudding. Here’s how to make your own homemade banana pudding.

Ripen Your Bananas

Ripe bananas are the key to tasty banana pudding, so be sure yours are sufficiently ripened. They should be bright yellow with brown spots. Bananas ripen best in the dark, so leave them in a paper bag until they are ready to be used.

Gather Your Ingredients

For banana pudding you will need:

• 1 Cup of Sugar
• ½ Cup Flour
• ½ Teaspoon Salt
• 2 Cups Whole Milk
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tablespoon Butter (NOT Margarine)
• 4 Egg Yolks
• A Box of Vanilla Wafers or Other Wafer-like Cookie
• 4-5 Perfectly Ripened Bananas

Prepare the Pudding

Place vanilla wafers at the bottom of a 9×9 baking dish.

Peel the bananas and cut into ½ inch slices. Quickly cover the slices to prevent browning.

Combine sugar, flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir together and mash out any lumps.

Place egg yolks in a heavy saucepan. Whip the eggs briskly using a fork or whisk over medium heat.

Add flour mixture alternating with milk and vanilla until all are combined.

Bring to a gentle boil.

As the mixture thickens, add the butter and continue stirring

Stir consistently as the mixture boils gently until it reaches a pudding like consistency.

Remove the pudding from heat.

Prepare the Dish

Pull out the 9×9 baking pan already lined with vanilla wafers. Add a layer of banana slices on top of the wafers being careful to keep the bananas tightly placed together.

Pour half of the pudding mixture into the dish, smoothing it out with a spatula. Then, add another layer of wafers and bananas topped with the remainder of the banana pudding.

Prepare the Meringue

Make a quick meringue by beating four egg whites on high until they form soft peaks. Then add ¼ teaspoon of cream of tarter and five tablespoons of sugar – one at a time, beating on high speed throughout. When the mixture forms stiff peaks, fold in ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Bake and Serve!

Spread the meringue over the layers of pudding being sure to seal the edges of the pan. Then bake the pudding at 375 degrees until the meringue browns (about 12-15 minutes.) Serve and Enjoy!

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How to Plan a Pregnancy

A pregnancy is an exciting time. But many fail to realize that preparing for pregnancy is as important as actual conception. If you’re ready to become a parent, here’s how to plan your pregnancy.

Prepare the Body For Pregnancy

The woman’s body should be as prepared as possible for pregnancy. She should stop taking birth control pills or remove any other chemical or hormonal birth control devices well before starting work on conception to give her hormones a chance to stabilize. This also gives the body time to clear away any lingering chemicals.

The mother should be at a healthy weight for her size for an easier conception and to ensure fewer complications during pregnancy and delivery. Regular exercise is good during pregnancy, so it is wise to be in the habit prior to conception.

The prospective mother should also begin taking prenatal vitamins before conception. The first few weeks of a pregnancy are when these extra vitamins and minerals are most important, but often a woman doesn’t experience pregnancy symptoms until five or six weeks into the pregnancy.

Prepare the Home For Pregnancy

Is there space for a baby and all the large items that come with it? It is far easier to move before pregnancy than during it to avoid stain and stress on the pregnant mother.

Prepare the Finances For Pregnancy

Babies are expensive. While there is no perfect time to become pregnant, if you are facing financial difficulties, can’t pay your existing bills or foresee financial difficulties you might be better waiting until you are in a comfortable or stable position before conceiving.

Prepare the Mind For Pregnancy

You should be in a steady place in your mind. A baby should not be a solution to any problems or a method to save a relationship. Both partners should agree to try for the baby before stopping birth control.

Timing of Conception

Once you are prepared, the trying can begin. This should be a joyful time, not stressful. While it is hard to wait, most couples take more than one or two months to become pregnant. If you are looking for a specific time of delivery, for example the spring, get started a bit early to give yourself some time for false starts.

While every woman is different and every lifestyle is different, fertility begins to wane earlier than most women realize. In your twenties you have an 80% or higher chance of getting pregnant easily. By your early thirties your odds have dropped to 60%, and by thirty-five you have only a 50% chance of easily becoming pregnant.

Boosting Your Chances To Get Pregnant

To boost your chances of becoming pregnant each cycle, you can monitor for ovulation using basal readings or an ovulation predictor kit. You also are more likely to conceive if you are at a healthy weight, are active, are not overly stressed and eat a healthy and balanced diet.

Timing Sex

You should ideally have sex the exact moment your body releases an egg. Since most women have no idea when this is occurring, you can chart your ovulation using a kit or your temperature to get an idea of when you should be having sex. At the very least, you should be having sex every two or three days to ensure there are sperm ready and waiting for the egg whenever it releases. (Sperm can live up to five or more days.)

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How to Increase the Chance of Having a Boy

It is perfectly normal to prefer, or at least think you prefer, one gender over the other when trying to conceive. Of course many parents are shocked to discover just how quickly they adapt to either gender, but this is necessary as only genetic engineering or embryo selection can absolutely determine sex. But if would like to tip the odds, and you’re wondering how to have a baby boy, consider the following:

The Shettles Method

Doctor Shettles has developed a method for conception that has a relatively high percentage of success. His theory is based on the nature of sperm and the speed with which they travel.

All eggs produced by a woman are X chromosomes. Sperm can carry a Y or an X chromosome. Two X’s make a girl baby, and one X (the egg) and one Y make a boy. The Y carrying sperm are smaller and faster than the heavy X carrying sperm. So according to Dr. Shettles, to conceive a boy, you simply need to get the “boy” sperm to the egg before the “girl” sperm.

Chart Your Cycle

The first step to conceive a baby boy is to chart your monthly cycle so that you know when you are ovulating. You can check for ovulation by keep track of your basal body temperature, checking mucus or by using ovulation strips or a kit. Once you know when you will be ovulating, you can give conceiving a boy a try.

Time Intercourse

To conceive a boy baby you must have intercourse no sooner than twenty-four hours before ovulation and no later than twelve hours after ovulation. Boy sperm live shorter, more frantic lives, so this gives them the best range of time to get to the egg and beat out the girl sperm that move more slowly and live much longer lives. The conditions inside the vagina and cervix are also at their least hostile during ovulation as the mucus is less acidic.

Tips for Success

To be successful, you should consider additional steps in the conception process. Boy sperm can use a running start as many are killed in the vagina due to its hostile environment. To get them closer to the starting gate, consider positions for intercourse that have deep penetration such as penetration from behind the female. Also, caffeine has been shown to make sperm move more rapidly, so have the man drink a quick cup of coffee or soda before beginning intercourse.

Finally, it is encouraged that the female partner have an orgasm during sex. An orgasm makes the vaginal environment more alkaline which is hostile to girl sperm giving the boy sperm that much more of a fighting chance.

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How to Buy Your First Home

Buying a home is one of the primary goals of most citizens. There is nothing like the satisfaction of owning your own property. But buying your own home can be a challenge, especially if you are a first-time home buyer. Here’s how to buy your first house.

Clean Up Your Credit

The first step to buying a new home is to clean up your credit. A home loan is a huge undertaking and the bank is going to want to be sure you are worthy of the risk. Pay off old loans and close all the little credit cards you don’t use or need any more. Leave your oldest cards open, however, unless they charge a fee – these show how long you’ve had credit.

Save Up for a Down Payment

Unless you’re entitled to a government loan, it is likely you’ll need at least 5% of the home’s price to put down when you buy. You’ll also need cash for closing costs which can be another 2-3% of the home’s price. Stash money away in a safe place or get help from family to set up a small nest egg so that you’re ready to buy when the bank checks to be sure you can actually afford the down payment on the home.

Establish the Budget

Before you shop, you should take the time to figure out your budget. A very rough guideline is that your new home should cost no more than twice your annual salary. If you make $50,000, your home should be $100,000. Obviously co-borrowers can afford more. Think about your future before deciding on an expensive home, however. If one of you will be staying home with future children, a smaller mortgage payment might be beneficial. Add up your monthly obligations, take out money for savings and other odds and ends and look at the amount you can pay monthly without feeling pinched.

Get Pre approval

If you’ve worked with a monthly number rather than a broad total, head online to a free mortgage calculator to see exactly what your payments will be with mortgage, taxes and insurance each month. Then, when you’ve reached a number you’re comfortable with, apply with a finance company to become pre approved. Getting pre approval on a mortgage tells sellers that you are a safe buyer and that you can get the loan when the time comes for money to change hands.

Shop For Home Loan Options

Finally, with your pre approval complete, contact a realtor or browse listings yourself and start shopping. By staying carefully within your budget, you’ll find the perfect home in no time at all.

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How to Have a Baby Girl

If you are not interested in genetic engineering or artificial insemination, there is no certain way of conceiving one gender versus the other. There are, however, various theories about how to increase your chances of a specific gender.

Selecting a Baby’s Gender

According to surveys more than 90% of expectant parents have a preference in regard to their unborn child’s gender. The reasons behind the preferences are varied, and when parents don’t get their wish, they adapt and are overjoyed to welcome any new baby to their home. But if you are ready for a baby girl and want to try to tip the scales, here’s how:

The Shettles Method

Doctor Shettles penned the most popular method designed to increase the chances of a girl. Before beginning the method, you must understand the rationale behind it. Women produce an egg every month during ovulation. The egg is always carrying an X chromosome. Two Xs make a girl and one X (the egg) plus one Y make a boy.

Men are responsible for the second X or Y. Each sperm is assigned one chromosome. When a male ejaculates, he sends 200-400 million sperm into the vagina that immediately begin searching for the released egg. Out of those millions, only one sperm gets the prize, and the chromosome of that one unites with the X of the egg, and the miracle has begun.

The Shettles method offers instruction on how to get more X-carrying sperm to the egg and beat out the Ys.

Conceiving a Girl

To actively work at conceiving a girl, you must know your cycle. Chart your cycle for a couple of months to see what day you begin your period and what day you are ovulating. You can do this using an ovulation kit or basal temperature. Then, once you know the day you will ovulate, begin having sex immediately following the end of your period. Have sex at least once a day until two or three days before ovulation. Then stop. (Sorry, guys.)

Y-carrying sperm swim faster than X-carrying sperm. The boy-makers also tend to die out more quickly. By stopping three days before ovulation, you are ensuring the only sperm left waiting around for the released egg are the longer-lasting, slow-swimming X-carriers. (Sperm can live up to 5-7 days inside a woman’s body.) When the remaining sperm meet up with the egg, it is far more likely an X sperm will get the honors.

Doctor Shettles also suggests having sex in the missionary position to deposit sperm as close to the entrance of the vagina as possible. He also suggests the woman not orgasm during sex (Sorry, girls.) An orgasm can make the vaginal environment alkaline which can kill off sperm more quickly preventing any pregnancy.

Easy Step By Step Instructions

• Know your cycle
• Use the Shettles Method to time your pregnancy
• Plan accordingly

Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions

A lot of people have been leaving some shocking comments. If you are able to conceive a child, love it regardless. Trying for a baby girl is one thing, being unhappy if you end up having a boy is pathetic. If you find yourself angry or unhappy at having a baby boy seek professional help right away!

Speak with a Professional about having a girl

Ask a Live Doctor about how you can Increase the chance to have a girl

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