June is a month where there is much to enjoy from the garden, despite the 110ºF/43ºC temperatures.
I cut flowers from the garden.
We picked blackberries and figs from the garden. We picked the last of the lemons from the garden. It’s been amazing that we’ve been able to keep so many fresh on the tree for so long.
We picked apples from the garden.
I cut artichokes from the garden.
I planted seeds in the garden for basil, vincas, zinnias, dwarf hollyhocks, alpine strawberries, and beans.
We had some fun at home making giant bubbles.
We also had some fun in the library making arenas with blocks.
I sewed 8 burp cloths for the baby using some flannel that I had purchased years ago.
This time of year, the bugs come out, followed by the bug company salesmen. It’s normal here for people to have a bug company spray every month or every other month. I used some spray I had bought last year to spray around the house, which is a huge savings over having a company come out.
I spent time decluttering and putting aside some things we are no longer using, which we’ll take to be donated, as it’s too hot this time of year to have a garage sale.
I made pasta salad, lemonade, mini pavlovas (with blackberries and strawberries from the garden, and garnished with chocolate mint and borage blossoms from our garden; recipe will be in the next post), fig sauce, blackberry upside down cake and blackberry popsicles.
What did you do to save money last week?
Last weekend we went ice skating. It’s a frugal activity but I took a spill and injured both arms including a broken bone. Luckily where I live we have national healthcare and supplemental insurance plus an employee discount that had me paying $100 usd out of pocket. My accident instance should reimburse that cost.
I asked my 13 year old neighbor to stop by to help with a few things around the house as I can’t do my height now. I give him $1 per hour he stays. He’s happy to get a little extra pocket money.
We took a weekemd trip to a museum & stayed overnight. The hotel was basic but at $60 I couldn’t complain. We stopped at a supermarket to pick up essentials for the trip so we wouldn’t be so dependent on restaurants. The next day we went to a local area and dug clams. We are keeping the clams to ad to soup soon.
A new. Local bartering FB page has become my favorite. I bartered some uneeded things for some foodstuffs. Each person only pays for shipping on her end so I only spent $3.
Would you share the BlackBerry upside down recipe?
Those are some gigantic bubbles! Looks like a lot of fun the kids are having.
I’ve been in the garden a lot this past week. I made a new herb garden at the back of the vegetable garden. I bordered it with bricks that used to landscape my Mom’s yard. Here are the rest of my frugal ways this past week.
http://www.vickieskitchenandgarden.com/2016/06/my-frugal-ways-this-past-weekwhat-was.html
We planted our first garden. We started quite a bit inside. We have already harvested kale! Some pumpkins and cantaloupe died becaude of bugs. I needed room for watermelon so it worked out okay.
We made compost tea and really helped the strength in the stems!
We finally got rain! And it completely filled my rainbarrel. Today I need to go out and duct tape some cheesecloth on the underside of the lid; the lid’s holes are not small enough.
We gave so many trees in our backyard and we have so many mosquitos that even with spray they eat you up. I am thinking of purchasing a mosquito barrier – mean ingredient: garlic. . I hope it works!
One of our closet were being used for misc things- o decluttered and put things away where they were suppose to go. Repainted and created a little office space. All I need is a small stool. Decor and paint reused from other projects.
Making more meals at home. And getting cookbooks from library. – noodle bowls with fresh veggies will be on rotation for summer! I’ve also had some fails but alas I’m learning new things!
PlayDate at splash pad and also at am indoor jungle gym. Brought a picnic for lunch. The kids really enjoyed these days!
I just finished a 4 week ‘course’ in a business mastermind group on FB. Learned a lot and applied tips to grow my following for my etsy shop.
Paid off a credit card. Another debt should be paid off next month!
Hi Brandy,
This weeks frugal achievement are
Cleaned out the fridge and freezer of bits and bobs and made the following- 10 jars of lime butter, stove top creamy cinnamon rice pudding, blueberry and honey jam, light and fluffy pancakes using whey, sultana scones with Chantilly cream and strained some marked down natural yoghurt to make Greek yoghurt
Cleaned the house with home made cleaners
Made a loaf of light rye bread from scratch
Have a great week.
Fi
So glad you have been able to enjoy your fruit and flowers. Love the huge bubbles. Could you share how you made wand and bubble solution ? I saved this week by sharing large cartons of strawberries, pears , lettuce,grape tomatoes, and watermelon with two neighbors . Also made ant killer solution cost 32 cents rather than $4.99! 1cup warm water 1/2 cup sugar 1 T borax
Dissolve and saturate cotton balls or cotton from medicine bottles. Place along ant trails. KEEP away from children and pets.
The pavlovas look delicious! Yummy! Last week:
-I scored free fabric softener sheets ( I don’t buy these but will use them if they are free), free deodorant, 2 free 96 oz bottles of Hawaiian Punch, .50 toothpaste, .25 pack of razors for hubby, .25 mouthwash, a free box of facial tissues (saving for school for my daughter), .98 gallon of milk, .25 half gallon milk ( clearanced), .98 for a 5 lb bag of potatoes, sour cream for .98. When I was at one of the stores I walked by the dumpster area and there were LOTS of flats of veggies they were throwing out, most looked ok, too. I took a flat of lettuce, a flat of combined broccoli and cabbage and a hanging plant. I planted these as soon as I got home and are doing very well in my garden 🙂
I used newspaper to spread out around my plants in my garden to deter weeds. I don’t have time to weed and hubby won’t usually do it. He came up with the idea after seeing something on Facebook. The newspapers were the free papers we get that we saved all winter.
I took all my food to work with me and drank water. They throw the magazines away from the waiting room when the current month shows up so I saved a couple for my hubby and daughter.
I borrowed a couple books from the library to read on my lunch hour.
I received a $10 off $20 coupon for our local Shopko so I used it to purchase a new school outfit for my daughter. I also took advantage of a decent sale at another local store that is expensive ( I never shop there) and purchased her another school outfit. These will hang in the closet until school. I also have 2 Buy one get one free coupons for Salvation Army I will use this week as well. My husband found a tub of clothing in the garage (yay!) that had clothing that fit our daughter and a few things that were too big. These were from his friend’s former girlfriend from a couple years ago (she gave us bags and bags of clothing and shoes that were her daughter’s that were now to small). I found lots of summer clothes for her now and two pairs of sandals that fit her.
My mom is having her rummage sale this coming Saturday so I am gathering the rest of my items and will help her that day.
Spent lots of time watching the baby robins outside a back window. We also spent lots of time outside.
Have a great week everyone!
I live in Northern Canada, zone 3. I am still waiting to be able to harvest from my garden but the rhubarb is almost ready!
This week to save $:
– bought 20 lbs of pears at 88 cents a pound and canned them
– used leftover canning water and collected water from our basement dehumidifier to water the gardens
– planted 4 blueberry bushes. They won’t produce this year but I’m looking forward to future harvests.
– as blueberries need acidic soil to grow (it is recommended to mix in lots of mulch to lower the soil ph) I mixed collected pine needles. These will naturally (and without cost!) lower the ph.
– have set up and mended both rain barrels
– put two new large gardens in the front for some edible landscaping. I will be growing strawberries, swiss chard, chives, pumpkin , corn, sunflowers and haskaps (like blueberries. They come from Japan and are very hardy). I think it will look very pretty once properly landscaped.
– made all meals and desserts from scratch.
– made lemonade popsicles. First time! We were inspired by you Brandy 😀
Brandy – I know you’ve struggled producing milk for your babies in the past. This time you’re having much more success. Can you think of anything you’ve changed or done differently that has helped this time around?
– could you please post your new scedule with baby? Pretty please! I am so curious as to how you are still getting so much done while having night time feedings. Do you get to nap? Do you sleep in? Please share your baby secrets with us. 🙂
A friend told me about a sale on blackberries- 2 baskets/$1, so I bought 3 flats (36 baskets) and canned 12 pints and 13 half pints of blackberry jam! Yum!!
I also canned 8 pints of black beans using my dry beans from the basement! It’s surprising how often these show up on our meal menu when I know that I have them canned and ready to use on my shelves!
We enjoyed freezer meals a few times for dinner this week and the other meals were from scratch from our pantry. What a blessing to have!
We were asked to make a state outline of Ohio out of the leftover free pallet wood we have. Our client asked for 10 of them! We delivered those last Monday and by Thursday she ordered 15 more! We will deliver those today (Monday) , netting $250 in profit! I happened to post a photo of them on my Facebook page to show our friends what we had been doing and was stunned to have another $150 in orders!!! Between the planter boxes that we started out with for the RS gardening class we taught and had the ladies each make (for free) and take home and the extra ones we sold online locally and other pallet projects we’ve been hired to make, we’ve made a net profit of about $800 since May and rather than slowing down, this little side business seems to be gaining momentum! We have now been asked to make Idaho, PA and CA for friends! Templates made, we will get those finished later today!!
We bought our new to us (2005) minivan with stow away seats last week for $1000.
This week we sold the minivan we were replacing for $500, making our total cost for the new minivan just $500!! Our mechanic was stunned at the excellent condition of the new one! Our daughter has asked us to use our system for finding great used cars for a reasonable cost to get a car for her new driver daughter. We have been given a budget of $2500. This should be pretty simple to do!
To declutter, we decided that we don’t use our 30 foot or 40 foot aluminum extension ladders any more so we will put them up for sale. That should net us a few hundred dollars and give us a bit more workshop space!
We are enjoying leafy greens from the garden with other veggies looking happy!
All in all, a wonderful week!
Wow, that arena looks amazing! The bubbles look like lots of fun, too. I love the skirt your daughter is wearing as well. Sounds like your getting a lot of lovely produce from your garden. We won’t see apples until the fall. I’m always amazed at the timing of your harvests, Brandy. So different from ours up north!
Another quiet week on the frugal front for me. Nevertheless, this week’s frugal accomplishments are as follow:
*I went to work and made money instead of spending it. I took my lunch and an insulated cup of ice water to work with me every single day. We shared treats made in the village a few days.
*Cut my daughter’s and my bangs, saving us a trip to the hairdresser. My daughter is trying to grow her hair long and, well, I need mine long so I can put it up in a bun for work.
*Meals made at home included baked chicken smothered in cedar cheese soup with mashed potatoes and corn, perogies topped with cheese and bacon, chicken souvlaki with rice and corn, BBQ chicken and cheese quesadillas with left over veggies, and tacos with salad.
*Cut some fresh oregano from the garden at work and dried it in the dehydrator at home. This is the first time drying fresh herbs for me, so kind of a free experiment. After the oregano was dry, I crumbled the dried leaves for use in recipes and put the remaining stems in my “veggie scrap” bag in the freezer to use for making stock.
*This year I soaked my bean seeds between wet paper towels for over 24hours before planting them this year. For those who are gardeners, yes I know you may be thinking “well, yeah, that’s what you’re supposed to do”. I’m a little slow at learning gardening skills, but I thought I would share for those “new gardeners” like myself. Anyways, on Sunday the beans were just pushing out of the ground and by end of Monday the little seedlings were 2-3 inches tall! Nearly every single bean seed has sprouted this year too. I will most definitely soak them before planting from now on!!!
*My husband and I attended a Dragon Boat practice session this past weekend for some free exercise and a lot of fun. We will be taking part in the dragon boat races next weekend for some more frugal fun and exercise!
*My daughter needed new sandals for the summer. She has very wide, flat feet that are hard to fit properly and one foot that turns funny. She is also becoming a teenager and wants to fit in. A lot of the kids at school are wearing Birkenstocks. After some searching, we found a good pair of Birkenstock type sandals that fit her foot. They were expensive but on sale, costing me $79. I consider these an investment as they should last more than 1 summer (at least I hope). I also bought her some cheap flip flops to use at the beach or as a quick slip on shoe 3/$10.
Can’t wait to learn more frugal tricks from everyone. Hope you all have a lovely week!
The bubble making looks like great fun. I have much to learn about sewing. I don’t know what the stitch is, but when I looked at your sweet burp cloths, the stitch reminded me of chicken scratch :o). The flannel looks like it would be so soft. So happy to hear you’ll be sharing the blackberry pavlova recipe. I picked the first few over the weekend. Joining in here: http://abelabodycare.blogspot.com/2016/06/little-princes-frugal-accomplishments.html
I am in constant awe of your productivity Brandy. Especially with these high temps in your area. The moment we hit 90+ degrees, all I want to do it turn on a fan and lie down
Brandy, the burp cloths are beautiful, I love the feather stitching! Do you have a recipe for the giant bubbles solution?
I’ll be looking forward to your mini pavlovas recipe! That looks delicious. I’ll have fresh raspberries in a couple of weeks. Maybe I can use them in this recipe.
I bet your kids had a blast making those giant bubbles! My 2 year old absolutely loves blowing bubbles. Our neighbor has a dog that chases them and pops them. Watching our little guy trying to blow them and watching the dog pop them is a lot of entertainment! haha
Here are my frugal accomplishments for last week: http://www.mediumsizedfamily.com/5-ways-weve-saved-money-week-37/
What fun going on at your house! The pavlova looks beautiful.
My income is down this month and there seem to be a lot of bills. I am mostly making do with what is in the house, though I bought a whole chicken at a great price to add to the one left in the freezer from another great sale.
Frugal accomplishments include:
-Cutting an apple into pieces and putting them in a container with rock-hard brown sugar. The sugar softened up overnight and I made oatmeal cookies.
-In the morning, I am making instant coffee from a jar at the back of the cupboard, instead of buying a bag of fresh ground.
-There are beans soaking for tonight’s supper. I’ll make rice and beans and add a packet of salsa that I made and froze last September. It has lots of veggies and tastes great. This will give a few meals of leftovers as well.
I’m going to spend the month getting some work done around the house and yard and going to a provincial park for an afternoon or two.
It was another frugal weekend, but we had plenty of frugal fails as well (womp womp!).
1. I taught Mr. Picky Pincher how to make ciabatta. We still need to work on getting better air holes in it, but it was definitely bread!
2. Mr. Picky Pincher made enough beans for the next two months. Total cost was about $5 after electricity.
3. We went out shopping for two hours and didn’t buy anything. 🙂 But it was good to get out of the house!
4. Sunday night we didn’t feel like having more sloppy joes. So we both scrounged around the house instead of picking up fast food.
5. My work pants started to fray at the hem, so instead of tossing them, I mended them.
I planted 4 rows of strings beans, 2 hills of cucumbers, 2 hills of zuchinnis, and 3 tomato plants. I have to get a few more tomato plants. I will plant more string beans in a couple of weeks so we can have fresh beans until late september. With my husbands help I am well on my way to getting my flower beds in good shape. I will continue mulching this week. I took mulching out of compost pile and put around some of my plants. I was able to get seeds and plants planted before a rain storm hit our area so this was awesome. The seeds should pop up quickly. It is a beautiful sunny day here so plan on accomplishing much outside. I bulk shopped at Sam’s to resupply my freezer of meat. A few weeks back I bought a ham at 1.29 lb which is good for our area this time of year. It will provide many meals. Probably one of the biggest accomplishments I am striving at is learning to cook for 2 after raising 3 active hungry boys. I must learn to save in this area. I did cook a beef roast and put small portions in ziplock bags and froze for individual meals. Our local store is high priced and I am 30 minutes away from Sam’s and Aldi’s. I am used to bulk shopping but produce and vegetables are not getting used fast enough. So I am looking at ways so use them or freeze them for later use. Have a wonderful week. I love the pictures. Is a recipe for the bubbles posted somewhere on your blog? My friend’s children would so enjoy them.
Your little girl’s skirt is adorable. Is it a basic “tube” skirt or a pattern?
I’m a firm believer that not spending money is the most frugal thing we can do, but most of my accomplishments lately have involved spending. I bought a new to us couch and chair for $25 at a yard sale (our old ones were falling apart), an air conditioner at a yard sale for $25 (we’d budgeted $165), dried black eye peas for $0.60/lb, and eggs for $0.50/dozen.
We also paid $1000 extra toward debt in May. Hopefully we’ll be done with that by the end of the year so we can move! The area where all of our family and friends live, where we attend church, and where my husband works is an hour and a half away from our house now.
The mini pavlovas with the chocolate mint and borage flowers look delicious. Here is a link to my weekly savings post: http://ahomeinthecountry.blogspot.com/2016/06/weekly-savings.html
Someone who was moving gave us a huge bottle of bubble solution, but you can also buy it in bulk in the summer at places like Walmart and Target. My son decided to dump most of a bottle of shampoo in it (!!!) and somehow it still worked out, but normally, I just buy the solution in bulk; making my own doesn’t ever work out for me.
You can use any fruit you want; they are just sugared and spooned over the top. Raspberries are my favorite; I would definitely use those!
I’m not sure on the exact definition of a tube skirt, but I didn’t use a pattern; it’s just a piece of fabric cut the whol width of the fabric, hemmed at one end with elastic sewn in a casing at the waist.
I have to garden early in the morning, preferably before sunrise, and at night, after sunset.
Sure thing! Look for it this week as well!
The wand is a metal coat hanger, bent into shape. We used bubble solution; you can buy it in bulk in big bottles.
It’s hot for the Seattle area (93 F yesterday) but thankfully not Las Vegas hot. I saw this recipe for artichoke stem salad http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2016/06/artichoke-stem-salad-recipe-cheapskate.html. Looks like another tasty way to use the plant. Looking forward to your pavlova recipe.
This week:
– A local farm store sells compost tea for $5 a gallon. I decided to try my hand at making it, since I have access to free worm castings from my worm bin. I found instructions online. You mix compost or worm castings with water and a small amount of molasses in a bucket, stir frequently and let sit for 24 hours. I then improvised a sieve from a colander and nylon net, strained the mixture, and poured it into two gallon jugs I had saved. It turned out great, so I am definitely going to do this again. And it cost me nothing out of pocket.
– My husband’s grandmother died so he flew to the Midwest with several family members for the funeral. I stayed home, and am using the time to clear out bookshelves in our back bedroom. For me, it’s easier to do do big projects like this when I am home alone (I can leave things a mess for a few days and not worry about cleaning it up in the interim).
– On the way back from taking my husband to the airport, I stopped by Ikea and enjoyed free coffee (it was early so the store wasn’t open yet, just the restaurant). My next stop was Winco, where I got some great deals. I never make a special trip to Winco though (even though I love that store), because all of their locations are at least 20 miles away (and the traffic is awful here). I have eight grocery stores within a five-mile radius, and it’s not generally worth my while to make a special trip.
– I picked a few stems of lavender from a huge plant that was growing along the side of the road.
– I used mint, lemon balm and oregano from the plants on my patio.
– I cooked all my meals from home. My summer CSA share started this week, so I enjoyed a lot of fresh vegetables. There was more than I could use (since my husband is gone) so I shared several items with another member.
– I did all the things I normally do: walked to work, took my lunches, made yogurt and water kefir, etc.
Hope everyone has a great week!
Good morning Brandy,
I love your pictures of children having fun and all that you harvest. You gave me an idea to send a summer gift to my grandchildren ages 9 and 11 in Idaho. The figs and apples look amazing! How many years did it take for your apple tree to start producing? My tree we bought last year is a semi dwarf, grafted with 5 different types of apples, and I do not see flowers yet and it looks healthy growing larger and has many leaves. I did not prune it last Fall, and thinking I may this Fall. Your burp clothes are sweet..did you use a special stitch ? I love that you had some flannel from years ago that you could use. I inherited my Auntie’s Pfaff’s sewing machine which has not been used in about 5 years. It does not have all the fancy bells and whistles on it however she made very nice things. She was like you in making most of our clothing , aprons ( which I have stored and cherish ) I am excited to start using it now. I also was blessed to have her hope chest full of material. What type of sewing machine do you have?
This week my husband and I are busy preparing our yard and home for his family reunion . His family will be here from Boston for a week. I found red bell peppers on sale 4/1.00 ( I picked up 8) , green beans 99cents/lb, tomatoes here are still about 1.99/lb . Our plants usually do not produce until August-Sept. I do have abundance of 3 different types of lettuce, kale, green onions and swiss chard..and need to use this quickly before it bolts as we are having very warm weather this week ( 90’s). It will cool down by this next weekend. I plan to make 2 types of soups this week to use the kale and sauté the swiss chard for dinners. We eat salads every day with the wonderful harvest of lettuce. I will plant more seeds this week of kale, carrots, swiss chard, and plant my ( orange ) bell pepper starters.
Have a beautiful and blessed week , I just love seeing your blog on Monday mornings 🙂
bless you,
Patty from the NW
Last week we had dinner at my in-laws’ for Memorial Day. They always make far too much food, so we took a lot of the leftovers home with us. We were able to get two dinners plus several lunches from what we brought home. I had bought a large watermelon to contribute, and I just cut the last of it last night. We’ve been enjoying our fill of watermelon.
I spent much of last week preparing for a neighborhood garage sale. I was able to get rid of a lot of clothing items that no longer fit my children; I made about $50, plus a bit more from some things I’d sold through Facebook yard sale groups. I will list some of the things that didn’t sell.
I used some of our Discover cash back to purchase a puzzle on Amazon to send to a friend’s daughter who is recovering from surgery.
We received the title to my car in the mail after paying it off. Not having this payment every month will allow us to start saving for when my husband’s car eventually needs to be replaced.
I found a recipe that called for water, dish soap and then a tablespoon of corn syrup. I found that if you don’t add the corn syrup the bubbles don’t stick together well. I’m sure if you googled it you could find something similar.
Lea
Crazy busy and hot week here in British Columbia.
Despite the heat, we were able to do what we had to do to save our money
While I was at work on Monday, the Man made me a lovely shrimp curry using up the bits and pieces of veggies from the fridge.
Tuesday was firewood day. We spent the morning out in the bush cutting firewood because winter is coming.
I visited a friend to take a look at her new home. It is very nice. She gifted me with some parsley, which is now drying. I will use it to make seasoning mixes.
Took my cheque to the bank. While I was in town, I took my bottles and cans for recycling and made $1.05 for my Christmas fund and I took some stuff on behalf of my neighbor to the thrift store. Of course I had to have a look while I was there. I spent my bottle money on a novel for lazy summer reading, something for the advent calendar, and a stocking stuffer.
We keep to our usual frugal practices. We ate all meals at home and hung the laundry out to dry. For my pantry challenge this week, I washed down the pantry and cleaned out all the old jars of food. Now I have a better idea of what I need and where everything is.
We took a look at the bank fees we are paying. We are committed to finding ways to reduce these fees, which in my opinion, are getting out of hand.
My wonderful neighbor is moving. She passed on to us a table that will get used as a work bench and a queen sized mattress and box spring to us that we will use in our guest room. The current bed in there is so old and broken down its criminal.
The rest of the week was work, work, work. I spent a day working my temp job, a lot of time on an online gig, and I picked up an extra shift at the grocery store. Not only did I make some extra money, but I got to enjoy free air conditioning during a sudden heat wave.
Have a good week everyone!
https://hiproofbarn.wordpress.com/
Newspaper has never worked great for us but cardboard works very Maybe we didn’t do it thick enougb. I save boxed all year. I have even been known to use some Preen. 🙁
Wow! Your kids sure had a good time this past week. I need to learn to make bubbles like that. Our weather was 91 degrees yesterday, and I was afraid to leave my house. Ha!
We attended a free live concert that I had to do for school. My son and husband picked flowers for me from the yard. I completed two math classes in one quarter so I essentially got a “free” class.
Here are some of my frugal efforts last week:
http://2minimize.blogspot.com/2016/06/last-weeks-frugal-efforts.html
Your fruit is inspiring! Ive never done much with fresh figs but im sure they are packed with nutrition. What do you eat with the fig sauce? Im not sure i can grow figs in utah but it would be wonderful if i could. Do you happen to know?
We grow hascaps, although we call them honeyberries, in interior Alaska, too. They make it through winters of 40 and 50 below zero, require no shaping or trimming and produce such yummy fruit! I wish I could find recipes for using them in pie, as I tried but had an epic fail. Now we just eat them out of hand.
Your photos of food always make me hungry. Especially the figs *laugh*.
The giant bubble blowing looks like fun. My son would be in seventh heaven. He LOVES bubbles.
I’ve been thrilled with the cooler weather this summer. It’s really allowed me to do things like get more canning done and it doesn’t super heat the house so it’s intolerable. It’s really helping me to get a head start on preparing for winter without having to rely on store bought canned goods as much (and for cheaper prices yet!) which is wonderful.
My list for the week can be found here…
http://makedohomemaker.blogspot.com/2016/06/frugal-friday-money-saving-weekly-recap.html
maybe someone asked this already and i missed it… what spray did you use for pests? we need to have it done, but it’s not quite in the budget right now….
we sprayed for mosquitoes using an organic thing i got at ace hardware, would love to spray for the rest without harming any of the good guys like bees!
Brandy, what type of fig tree do you have? I do like figs but we only can get them dried. I checked with the mail order nursery that we’ve used and they carry 4 kinds. They are all for zones 5-10 but it said they do well in pots so are good for those who can move them inside and out depending on the weather. We finally got the lemon tree last year and that is doing good in its pot.
Thank you for the “free” chuckle.
This past week I learned my husband is frugal under cover around his parents (shared a house/family vacation). Sneaking down to re-fill water bottles, rescuing fruit from the trash that was perfect, but deemed “not going to be eaten” so tossed. It was entertainment. His parents scoff at frugal-ness. Makes me love him so much more.
With said fruit – after coming home we made a fruit salad and crumble.
I harvested salad greens, a bunch of herbs for drying and my first radish from my garden. Some of my seedlings didn’t make it, so I am trying again since it is borderline early enough to do so.
I have been using the clothing dryer less. I realized I prefer air dried bed sheets over dryer dried sheets.
Brandy, thank you for linking your summer menu again. I re-visited it and was once again inspired to cut some meat out of this months meals.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week!
Ruthellen, thank you for the ant solution. They will be getting in house soon as peonies are about to bloom.
We have always used newspaper and then topped with a thick layer of grass clippings. We don’t treat the grass. The newspaper here gets thinner and thinner all the time so it’s hard to stock up enough.
I should mention too that we have 5 months of above 90º weather.
I cut my husband’s and my son’s hair using our clippers. I signed up for Duolingo and am practicing my French and learning some Spanish a few minutes a day for free.
Rhonda, Birkenstocks should last her more than a summer, even as a teen. They should last years. I am waiting for 3 pair to come back from the cobbler…I am having them re-soled. All 3 pair are greater than 5 years old. My oldest girl took a couple pair in also and I know for a fact one of them was a pair I bought her when she was in high school.
yay for paying off debt!
The apple tree was a year old plant from the nursery, and it usually takes at least 3 years to start seeing any fruit. On apples it can be 5-10 years, but this tree is 8 years in the ground, I believe; I planted it to replace a different tree that died.
On the burp cloths I used a featherstitch setting on the machine. I have a Janome machine.
With 5 months of above 90º tempearures here, not leaving the house would be really hard!
It’s when it gets 110 that we have trouble leaving 🙂 I do grocery shopping at night then, and take cold bags and/or a cooler with me for the food.
We have pork roast with the fig sauce. We also put it on mashed potatoes with that meal. It would be good on chicken, too.
You should be able to grow figs there; just get a type that grows well in your zone. Check with your local nursery.
I have a Mission fig. I used to buy them dried. What is neat about the Mission fig is that it crops twice a year!
I used to have this tree in a pot, years ago, but it is a big tree; the largest in my yard, in fact. It grows a lot each year and we have to keep it cut back so that we can reach the fruit.
I plan on putting more newspaper down later in the summer. I also put down a thick layer of papers. 🙂 I have cardboard I plan to put down in the fall with my compost.
Mission isn’t one of them. The 2 that span zone 5-10 (the others are 7-10) are Brown Turkey and Chicago Hardy. Hmm, they can get up to 20-30 ft when full grown. Little big for a pot then. The Brown Turkey ranges 10-20 feet, though if could keep it pruned to a smaller size maybe that would work.
Hello all,
Wonderful photos this week, it is great to see your kids in action 😉
Frugal wise, made all but three meals at home, baked bread and cooked from scratch. Big success making chocolate pudding from scratch! Found a make your own mix recipe and tried it out. DH is very picky and the gold standard is jello brand cook and serve. Happy to say that the homemade version passed with flying colors! I didn’t do a cost savings analysis but it has be cheaper. Found whole chickens on sale for $0.52 so added two to the freezer. I am valiantly trying to work through what is in the freezer before fall comes and turkey and ham go on sale 😉
We had purchased a stand type mixer at a thrift store and it started making very odd noises. Husband took it apart and greased this and that…now it works again. He did say that it is in its dotage so be aware it won’t last forever. Yet it lived through another batch of banana bread this morning. Perhaps all it needed was a spa treatment 😉
Hello Everyone! This list is from the last two weeks:
*I was work nurse over Memorial Day Weekend and the actual holiday. So I will have holiday time on my next paycheck!
*I found and purchased a 10# bag of lentils from Costco for $5.97. Shared half with my aunt and uncle.
*I said ‘no’ a lot more than I wanted to. I am finding this practice helps me save both time and money.
*Stayed home a few days during each week. I am able to get a lot more done during my day, spend no gas money and save at stores.
*Went to a subdivision garage sale. Found a bike for my son for $5.00. It was originally marked $8.00, then marked down to $5.00; purchases some nice clothes for this coming Fall and Winter for my son; bought a whole stack of aluminum food pans for $1.00. I use these when I take meals to people who are sick, have just had a baby or need encouragement- I was excited to add them to my stash! All my children found treasures in the ‘free’ bin at the garage sales too!
*Went swimming numerous day at our neighbors pool. They have a beautiful backyard with an underground pool and allow us to swim anytime!
*Enjoyed a free outdoor movie night at our church. Popcorn was provided. We took blankets water and other snacks we had at home. It was a super fun family night.
*My aunt made my son (who loves to watch Wild Kratts) a creature power suit. She had all the material on hand and he LOVES it!
*My parents invited our family over for dinner and sent me home with 2 pkgs. of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I froze them for later use.
*Was at Target this week and found 3-pack of Kleenex Brand tissues for $1.98 per/pack. Making the boxes $0.66 each. I picked all those packs up and am now stocked up on tissues.
*Did all my regular: library for books/DVDs, recycled, turned off lights, composted, ate at home, listened to Pandora for free, opened windows when it was cool enough in the morning to turn the AC off.
*My local farmer is starting to sell strawberries and next week will start selling by the flat- so I will have strawberries to freeze and jam to can next week!
I am off to read everyone’s comments….Have a great week, ya’ll!
They must not grow well in Northern Ohio because I have literally never seen a fresh fig in person.
I have a Brown Turkey here in PA. She’s only about 5′ tall. I get enough figs to enjoy fresh. I do keep here in a container (recycled industrial mop bucket with wheels on the bottom). Right before the first frost, I wheel her into the garage until spring. Wheels help.
Thanks for the recipe. We’re having a few scouts so I’m going to try it when I identify a trail.
We returned unused supplies to Home Depot and Lowes from our bathroom remodel project last week.
I picked blueberries, the first of the blackberries and the last of the black raspberries from the garden.
I moved some plants around to better spots in the garden. I fertilized the trees. I spread grass seed in the bare spots in the yard. I planted 2 more pineapple tops. I wasn’t going to do any of it last weekend, but wanted to get it done to take advantage of all the rainfall I knew was coming with the tropical storm.
I worked on my garden calendar, adding fertilizer schedule.
I bought a greek oregano and lemon thyme, planted them in pots I already had, and put the obelisks my son got me for mother’s day in the pots with the plants spilling out around the base.
Made a better list of what I need to do with the money from closing on my father’s house. I cannot afford to be frivolous with it.
I asked the assistant office manager to write off the balance due from when I saw one of the doctors I work for, which she cheerfully did.
Have a great week everyone!!
Great finds at the yard sales! And congrats on making such a large extra payment towards your debt!
I bought semi-dwarf apple trees and planted them in 2009. I didn’t get apples til 2014. That year i had 7 apples; last year i had five. Late frosts both years. This year, it looks like i’ll have a great year; no late frosts! I’m so excited! This looks like a stellar year for my cherry tree, too. Growing fruit trees is a lesson in patience for me..
Hi Brandi and all from Australia and hope you have all had a wonderful week.
Love the large bubble maker, I used to do similar with my children when they were younger and they loved it and it kept them occupied for hours. The mini pavlovas look delectable.
Here is our frugal accomplishments –
– made all meals from scratch.
– harvested free to us vegetables all week from our gardens for tea.
– turned off all power point to appliances when not in use.
– looked up off peak times with our electricity company and am now doing most cooking and washing at night at those times to reduce the power bill.
– saved 540 lts of town water by missing 2 scheduled garden watering’s due to lots of lovely rain falling.
– watered the house lawns by hand with saved grey water from our washing machine and shower all week saving on town water use.
Just for something staggering and a frugal living exercise worked out that we are saving $9000 dollars each 15 months in our groceries by growing our own vegetables for a two person household, pricing current prices of organic produce in the stores here. Also all our garden equipment, seeds, watering systems, ride on lawn mower, tiller, garden stakes, manures is all paid back with what we have saved in this time and we are around $2000 in credit so far.
Amazing when you write everything down and work it out just what you can save.
I have a dwarf fig tree that I grow in a pot. I believe it is a brown turkey. It does really well in a pot.
Thank you for the input Jenifer. I think I will go with the Brown Turkey then. If I can keep it pruned maybe it can live for years in a pot. Otherwise I it gets too big I guess we’ll put it in the work trailer and bring it along and go visit a relative in a warmer state.
Oh my goodness! is that Cyrus making the bubbles? Goodness, he’s grown up so much since the last photo I’ve seen of him!
We make schaumtorte … is pavlova a newer name for them? I never heard of pavlovas until the last couple of years. We don’t make a schaumtorte when it is humid. Brandy, you wouldn’t have to worry much about that. 😀
Tadpole, I actually know what you mean. Everything we do now IS because winter is coming.
Brandy, I forgot what apple you grow. They look so much like transparents. I have two Ukrainian aunts by marriage and they grow them. The apples ripen in summer rather than fall but they don’t keep well. The aunts use them for sauce, jelly, baking. Just about everything except eating fresh. They sell them at the stand and have a steady supply of customers.
It’s Ezrom. Cyrus wears glasses and is as tall as my dad now 🙂
They’re called Dorsett Golden. They are sauce apples and not long keepers, but if picked early enough they have a bit of tartness like a Granny Smith. They’re the first tree to flower in the garden (they bloom in February) and they are great producers.
My biggest concern is that her foot grows another size. She just turned 13yrs old, so it is possible her feet are still growing. I’m just hoping they grow slowly so she gets at least another year out of the shoes.
Do you have a link to the homemade pudding recipe, Hilogene? My family is picky about things like that as well!
What a price on blackberries! Your price is fantastic!
They were on sale here last week: $2.50 for 6 ounces! 6 ounces is a tiny amount! Meanwhile, I harvested 2 full colanders of berries! They are definitely worth growing; I would never be able to buy that many at that price.
Congratulations on the new vehicle!
Rhonda,
I have a recipe for chocolate pudding under desserts. It’s the pudding popsicle recipe; just make the pudding but don’t put it in popsicle molds. It’s rather simple to make from scratch!
Good point; I have heard meringues can be tricky with humidity. No, that’s not a problem here!
I think they have several names; an old cookbook of mine calls them tortes. Could depend on the region/culture/language.
This time, I started pumping right away, from the first day. I made sure the baby had a good latch every time from the beginning (thankfully he was good about this; not all of mine have been willing to open their mouths enough). I’m making sure to drink a full glass of water at every nighttime feeding, which I haven’t done at night in the past.
I’m taking a nap about every other day. I can’t get much done on those days, but it gives me the energy to get things done on the alternate days. I don’t have a great schedule yet, but I have slept in many days, and also gone to bed early whenever possible. I’m trying to be in bed by 9:30 most days, but sometimes it is 8:30! That helps wth my energy levels.
Lorna, thank your for the calculations of money saved! What an encouragement to all of us gardeners!
Hi Rhonda,
I found it on Cath Armstrongs site, Cheapskates.com.au. I tried to post the link but it doesn’t seem to work. It is under “make your own mixes” in the recipe section and called chocolate pudding mix. Ingredients start with 3/4 c powdered milk, 1 cup cornflour….I looked up corn flour and that is an Australian term for US cornstarch. See if you can find it. If not, I can copy it on this site, it is a short recipe.
Last fall, I put a layer of cardboard/newspaper on my community garden plot, and then covered it with a layer of compost. This worked GREAT – I probably have 10% of the weeds I had last year. It made huge difference.
Picked up more grounds for gardeners at Starbucks. Took 2 bags to my oldest daughter, along with some heirloom garden seeds, when I went to visit her on Wednesday, & used the rest in the “fill” mix for the back perimeter bed.
Took the soda cans & tin cans in to recycling for the project I do with two of my grandchildren.
Continued to work on setting the Lodgestones for the edge of the back perimeter bed, & filling in the new bed with compostables covered by grounds & dirt, topped by a mulch of grass clippings. Picked up another 15 Lodgestones at Home Depot on the last day of the Memorial Day sale, using pine cone money & some other cash.
Cleaned & put away the glass cloches beneath the garden seat under the grape arbor, until they are needed in the fall.
Dehydrated the rest of the parsley in one fell swoop. A large ant colony appeared in the flower bed where my parsley is, next to the driveway. I harvested all the parsley & took it inside, then came back outside, agitated the colony, then sprayed it. Two days later, a some stragglers were swarming on the same spot, so I sprayed it again. for some reason, the ant colonies seem very active this summer. For the last 2 years, there has not been much activity, but this is the 4th colony I have had to remove this year.
Continued to fill at least one tree tub of weeds from the garden & perimeter every day except Sunday. Most days I did 2 or three, but always at least one. It is the only way I can keep up with the weeding.
Planted the tomatoes in the garden, now that the threat of frost is past.
Still working on thinning the peaches on two of the trees. Since they are still the size of my thumb & under, I am using the thinned peaches as part of the “fill” int he back perimeter bed, as they will compost in place & add humus to the soil there.
Used the drying racks instead of the dryer for laundry whenever possible. As a bonus, drying the laundry ont he rack inside helps cool down the house, since the heat to evaporate the water comes from the heat in the air.
Stocked up on Gatorade when it was on sale, since we were getting low & my husband uses it frequently for his stomach issues.
Cut some of the yellow climbing roses & brought them into the house.
Stayed home for the most part, using what I had on hand for meals, buying very little. Lights off and blinds open for sunlight. Hung our clothes out to dry, Noticing that our electric bill is going down a little more each month even with the AC on.
It looks like your kids are having such fun! What wonderful memories they are making.
I’m always amazed by your garden! I grew up in Phoenix; we had mulberry trees but no other edibles.
We had a pretty decent week in terms of our frugal efforts:
* Made more yogurt (We actually prefer the homemade over store-bought now.)
* Son and I both signed up for the summer reading program at our local library. Son received a free book, and I received a $1 coupon for the library’s used bookstore.
* Hubs trimmed one of our macadamia nut trees.
* Played Monopoly as a family. (It took us two days to finish the game.)
* Grilled chicken from the freezer for Memorial Day.
* Bought 50 lbs. of bread flour. Even with shipping, it was less than $1 per pound.
* Hubs bathed the dog. (No need for a groomer! :))
* Noticed that the dog’s license fee would be only $20 (instead of $60) if we included documentation to prove she’d been spayed, so I made a quick photocopy of the form we’d received from the vet. (Somehow I missed doing this last year. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk.)
* Hubs replaced the screen on our sliding door (fresh breezes and no bugs!).
* Took public transit (train and subway) on a family outing (no gas, no parking fees, and–best of all–no battles with LA freeways/traffic!).
There’s probably more, but that’s all I remembered to write down.
Have a great week everyone!
Hi All,
I took advantage of the warm weather we are having here in the Pacific Northwest by washing all the bedding and hanging on the line to dry. My area rug was really dirty- it is the area the dog likes and also the area where my grandson drops food and also gets carried away with his coloring and has left marker stains. I took it outside and sprayed it really good with the garden hose, using dish soap and a soft brush and then left it in the sun to dry and I was hoping it would fade the color a little to give it a more subtle, aged look. It turned out great- it looks awesome and very clean.
I also took advantage of the warm weather to dry a large batch of parsley outside. Two days on trays outside and it was totally dry and ready to seal in jars.
Yesterday my piano teacher daughter held a recital for her students. She used a local church with a very nice piano for the recital. I made lemonade and cookies for the event. It was so hot that my daughter purchased a box of ice cream bars to serve. We left a can of frozen lemonade, and many left over ice cream bars and a bag of ice in the freezer for the church to use for their vacation bible school.
We enjoyed using a box fan I had bought on clearance months ago to keep our house cooler- we do not have a/c.
We are still helping our son with his fixer upper house. We have been working on the deck. There was a small area in the deck skirting that was bare and needed some lattice skirting. There was one section of fencing that for some reason had a lattice top when the rest of the fence had no lattice. My husband removed that lattice and cut it to fit the bare spot in the skirting- no cost and problem solved!
Would you share your bubbles recipe as well? We have four grandchildren staying with us this summer, and that looks fun! I assume you made wands out of metal coat hangers?
Hi Miss Paula and most welcome 🙂 , and we almost fell over when we worked what we saved from gardening rather than buying when we worked it out too. It is such a huge saving as you will see below on our local prices.
We live in a small country town with only 1 fruit and vegetable shop and only large supermarkets. Our prices in the supermarkets for eg on organic snow peas is close to $33 kg, organic strawberries are $22 kg and it slowly gets worse from there if that is possible. Our local prices are the reason we are saving so much, but seriously I don’t know how families can afford to buy any organic produce in our town 🙁 .
I’m looking forward to developing gardening skills like yours! Our first year’s effort in this climate, and tomatoes are going like gangbusters, but we’ve lost almost everything else!
Our frugal accomplishments over the past week include:
I bought two pairs of work pants from my favorite store for $20 each (normally $55).
Attended a fix-it clinic hosted by my local library and hemmed another pair of pants for the first time ever!
I went for the semi-annual dental checkup and cleaning that our insurance covers… Maintaining good health is frugal! Also, my dentist did a little work to make a crown fit better (he didn’t do the original work), and didn’t charge anything for it.
I started a new work assignment: 4 hours a week, one evening a week, for eleven weeks. We’ve had several large expenses lately, and this job will help re-build the savings we spent on them.
We watched a DVD as part of our free Netflix trial month.
PKR, I’m sorry to hear of your broken bone…wrist? I broke mine about a year ago, not skating, just clumsiness. Hope you heal quickly.
Rhonda, I hope they work for her. At least she can widen the straps too as needed…the straps are pretty generous. Birkenstocks also come in wide size.
They work best for me and my feet and joint problems. They are very stable, have good arch support. I have been able to get a couple pair off Zulilly during a sale and Amazon during a sale. Full price they are $$$.
Cheap pancake syrup works too since it is made with high fructose corn syrup.
I do enjoy your frugal accomplishments. We try to keep our budget low too, but you do a much better job than me. http://frugallyservingtheking.blogspot.com/2016/06/easy-simple-and-cheap-meals-that-feed.html
We are enjoying the warm days. They will be gone soon enough. There are a couple orange leaves on my service berry…way too soon. The garden is coming into productivity and keeps us daily busy. We have not used air conditioner yet…it is still cool enough at night to use quilts and comforters.
Brandy, my girls all have dark hair and if your daughter had her hair in braids down her back she would look just like my daughters did when they were young…skirt, barefeet and all.
Apricots were “on sale” here for 1.99/lb, which might not sound cheap, but they normally run closer to 3.00/lb and more. I bought enough to make one batch of apricot preserves. Red peppers are still running cheap at 1.59/lb as opposed to 3.99 so have been buying those every week now for about 6 weeks. Adding them to just about everything. Butter last week was 1.98/lb limit 2 so we bought another 2 anytime we were passing the store. Helmans mayonnaise large was 2/6.00 and also used the extra store coupons and the mgfr coupons from the paper and I bought 8 of them. Corn on the cob was 8/2.00 so we bought 16 for eating. Bananas from gas station .35/lb. Ambrosia milk chocolate blocks (for dipping etc) were 75% off so I bought 2 pounds.
Been picking spinach, lettuce, rhubarb, radishes, chives, parsley, rosemary, cilantro, mint, kale and chard. Planted more rows of green beans and wax beans, more lettuce, more radish, planted potatoes.
The wedding for my husband’s youngest sister was Saturday. The rain did not totally hold off as we hoped, but it was on and off showers and sun. Some of the folks that were tenting set up in our basement instead, tents and all, since the dome tents support themselves. The wedding was very nice, very traditional. That is why I had the new dress made, what with all the Amish and the Old Order Menn that would be there. Got to practice my German. Her sisters and sister in laws came over early and started the cooking and baking in the church kitchen. My girls helped too along with some church women. I made 10 rhubarb slab pies…that is a pie in a jelly roll pan so cut into squares to serve. I also was in charge of cole slaw. There was a lot of food to make as over 350 would be present for the lunch. The sisters had every Nesco going to cook up that approx 100 pounds of pork shoulder that they bought a couple months ago. The food was delicious.
The week before we had her church bridal shower…she chose a recipe shower, so that everyone brought a recipe and some of the ingredients for that recipe…I gave her all the ingredients to make Chex mix–the cereals, pretzels, Worchestershire sauce, mixed nuts, 1 lb of butter and onion powder and a glass container to store it (I used a large canning jar w a lid). My girls all went together and got her a waffle maker, buttermilk powder and 5 lb flour. Susie and Bernie now have a well stocked kitchen with all the items they received.
I had mentioned that a few of the Amish relatives were coming and they did, 3 generations…2 sets of grandparents, 3 fathers, 2 mothers, 1 nursing baby and 4 teens. One of the mothers stayed home with a newborn and all the younger children stayed behind with her and other relatives. They came a week early and did a lot of sightseeing and checking out properties. They did literally buy a farm.
Did all the usual of hanging clothes to dry, recycling, composting, using up leftovers. I took lunch and snacks with me the 2 days a week I work in the summer. I thawed a chunk of ham left from Easter and sliced it thin for sandwiches. Now my brother in law is back with us until Labor Day weekend. So for lunch some days we have 7…my youngest baby sits 3 children and 2 days a week they get dropped off her and 3 days a week she goes to their house in town so they can get to their activities.
Last week they were out bicycling in town and came upon a large pile of pulled up bulbs…the facility was cleaning out their gardens and do not reuse the bulbs…they said, sure take them, so they filled up 9 plastic grocery bags full. I went to pick her and the bulbs and bike up since she couldn’t get them home…the next day the kids came out and they spent time laying them out on screens to dry. They were wet and muddy, the bulbs and the kids. But they all had fun and by the time they were done there were almost 200 tulip bulbs. After the bulbs dried off and the greens shrivelled she split them with the children… the parents were pleased with the windfall also. They would have just been thrown away otherwise!!
I live in WA and I have a mission fig tree that I grow in a big pot. I have it on rollers and move it into the garage in winter. My husband named it Newton 🙂
Depending on where one lives in Utah, you *can* grow figs, but you need to take special precautions for them for winter. I’m in SLC and grow mine in a pot because I’m not willing to spend as much time as needed to box them in for the winter. On the other hand, they’d probably produce more if I grew them in the ground…
That wedding sounds like it would have been wonderful to attend, Athanasia. I love the bridal shower theme she chose. What a great way to start a well stocked pantry!
I can’t believe the luck your daughter had to happen upon those bulbs as they were being thrown out. What an amazing windfall for everyone!
Too funny!
Athanasia,
I just love the idea of the recipe shower! What a smart/fun/helpful thing to do! This is the first i’ve ever heard of this sort of thing.
I like your writing, too. It’s a story in each paragraph.
I use a credit union where I am.
I have heard good things about Presidents Choice Banking.
Didn’t get to finish yesterday…cooked mostly from scratch since ate at wedding, shower, at relatives. Baked 4 loaves white bread, 1 loaf rye, rhubarb upside down cake, 4 sm loaves orange nut bread, oatmeal raisin cookies, peanut butter cookies. Made 1 quart plain yogurt. Mixed fresh chives into large container of cottage cheese. Made 2 egg bake casseroles for the Sunday am breakfast after the wedding to feed those still staying over…one with sausage in it, the other with just vegetables. Made pasta salad…shell macaroni, chopped dill pickle, sliced black olives, onion, celery and chopped fake crab meat, mayo. One of my favorite cold salads. I added red bell pepper this time as bought so many. Made mint ice tea and/or iced coffee everyday. Grilled hamburgers and bratwursts one night, cooking extra for later. Made oven baked french fries. Broiled asparagus 3 times. Made the peach preserves. Rhubarb struesel muffins off another website. Canned 7 pints of rhubarb sauce.
Brandi , if your ears were burning it’s because we were blessing you for the wisdom that you have shared. Not only did I clean out my frig(it broke down) and it made me feel better, I shared your info on the breast pump with the mother of my grandson’s lady(granddaughter in our hearts), soon to be mommy, She is wanting to nurse but needs to finish her last 2 yrs in nursing and work full time. Her thought was if she can produce enough there is no reason to be buying something that is FREE …I had to laugh when she gestured to her chest LOL. I was also talking to Dad about you, he shared his new favorite soup, beans, corn, potatoes and cabbage with tomatoes if he has it. If he doesn’t have something he will toss what ever is in the frig or on his pantry shelf in it. With enough water (his comment) he can cook once a week and eat all week . He is 89 and grew up in extreme poverty. The Great Depression didn’t mean anything, they were already below dirt poor.
http://chefowings.blogspot.com/2016/06/june-9th-frugal-week-with-refrigerator.html
Ummm….Lime Butter? Is there a recipe you’d be willing to share? Pretty please?!;)
Marivene, what do you spray on the ants? I have several colonies by my raspberries and I want to get rid of them asap! Can you describe your process a bit more? I would appreciate it! 🙂
Rhonda, Movsav, recipe showers are very fun. Nobody is going to give you the exact same recipe and if you get extra ingredients that’s fine, just put them in the pantry. Some ladies call them “poundings” or a pound shower. You can do them for housewarmings too, the idea you are bringing a pound (or more) of food as a welcome. We always do that for a new pastor or for a missionary that will be in the area for an extended term.
Those meals sound delicious!
Rhonda, the birkenstocks will last provided you buy a cork sealant and be sure to regularly re-coat the cork with the sealant, especially the back area around the heel. My Aunt owns a Birkenstock store – we have many, and from experience, the heel area starts shredding if we get lazy about the sealant! I hope this helps.
What a fun time you must have had at that wedding.
I’m always glad to hear how you are doing. I think it’s a case of your “ordinary” days being very interesting to me, because my “ordinary” days are different, and yet similar in many ways. As always, your cooking sounds wonderful. I love cooking for a crowd, and I sense you do too, so it sounds fun to have 7 for dinner. Thanks for sharing a bit of your life with us.
I’m glad to hear your brother-in-law is back with you. I’m sure his visits are nice for both him and you.
Brandy,
I have an awful time when planting the seeds that you mentioned. I never get them to sprout. Any suggestions? I would love hollyhocks and nasturtiums but they never sprout when I sow them. Do you use potting mix or just till your soil?
Joy
Lemon Joy detergent seems to work better than others!
Jade, I used commercial ant killer on the colony. That is why I picked all the parsley first to dehydrate it – I will not be able to use any more of the parsley that comes up this year because of the spray. To get rid of colonies in the red raspberry & strawberry beds, I dump coffee grounds on them, & sprinkle them all over thru the beds. The ants hate the grounds, & the caffeine is supposed to do them in. The strawberries & red raspberry plants love the grounds, since they are a 2-3-6 fertilizer.
Joy,
My biggest suggestion would be to check your soil temperature when planting, and to make sure to keep your seedlings damp. Also be certain to plant them at the correct soil depth.
I have poor germination rates with both of these, but I plant a lot to help with that. I just went out today to re-seed zinnias in places where they didn’t come up. I buy them in bulk, so I have a lot to plant, but both zinnias and nasturtium seeds can be found inexpensively in packets locally, should you need more. The nasturtiums that grow the best for me are those that are self-seeded!
We brought in all new dirt when we put in the garden; the ground here is literally as hard as concrete. When I bought my fruit trees, the saleswoman at the nursery asked if I had jackhammered my holes yet! I have gone that route; it takes all day to jackhammer a hole. We soaked the ground for 4 days before it was soft enough for a backhoe to dig it. But for planting each year, I don’t till, as I have trees planted in my beds. I will add some more manure to the beds on occasion when they begin to settle some, and I can kind of rake it in, but for the most part, I am not adding dirt all the time.
Hi Brandy, I enjoy reading all of your tips. Just wondering…did you know that if you wait until the zinnias are done flowering and dried, you can pull off the heads? I store them in a brown paper bag. The next year, I pull the heads apart (pull the seeds out of the dried heads) and scatter them on the ground, covering with a light layer of soul, water…and wait for them to grow. I never have to buy zinnias again. I also do this with marigolds which I use to keep the bugs away in my vegetable gardens. I have also found that with Portulaca (more commonly known as moss roses) that are sold as annuals, I just let them die off. They drop their seeds and come up by the hundreds the following year…they make a pretty ground cover and are drought hardy.
I just planted some moss roses this year. I hope they self-seed readily! I did know about zinnias. I bought mine in bulk by colors and I have seeds still from past purchasing.
If you’re in an area that allows farm animals… ducks are AMAZING with mosquito control. 🙂
Becky, he really liked his redecorate horse themed room and pajamas for his birthday. I hope to hear you are back in a house soon, before living in the camper gets too tiresome.
Yes, I agree, the sealant is an important part of maintenance.
Your burp cloths look familiar! I love the double layer of flannel with a bit of decorative stitching. And, as always, your garden looks very productive and beautiful.
My garden is full of bush beans and zucchini and sweet 100 tomatoes. The sunflowers are also blooming beautifully despite being smaller than they were in years past. Every meal I make using something from my garden, even if its just a handful of basil, makes me feel great.
I loved the ones you made me so much that I traced around them to make more!
I joined a couple of local gardening boards and they are harvesting beans, cucumbers and zucchini. I planted the above in March, April, and May, but only the seeds in May have come up–or at least survived. I don’t know why the others didn’t come up; it was certainly warm enough. So by the time my plants are large enough, it will be too hot for them to flower. I just hope they can grow big while waiting for a fall harvest. It will be 113º here on Saturday.
I haven’t had a chance to read your blog for several weeks until last night. As I’m scrolling through, admiring the pictures and enjoying your posts, there it is…….BAM……..”I sewed 8 burp cloths for the baby”……Baby?!?! What baby?!?! What did I MISS?!?!?! I had to go back and find the posts about your new baby. He’s a beauty! Congratulations, and I swear I’ll never miss another week! LOL