Update on Habits and Goals for 2016

I felt like it was time to revisit the earlier post from this year on habits we wanted to cultivate or goals we wanted to accomplish.  Some things we're really working towards, others might just have to wait until later in the year when baby is a bit older and we're getting a bit more sleep.

Know Where Every Dollar Goes:  We're steadily working toward this.  We continue to look for a deal on YNAB.  We've also contacted a new financial planner, as our current one just isn't really serving our needs.  We look forward to meeting with this new planner in April.  We're also in the process of finalizing our taxes, so that's helping us assess last year's spending.

Invest More for Retirement:  Meeting with the financial planner will give us a clearer picture of exactly how much each month we need to invest.  Once we have the upstairs space rented, this will be easier, as well as having the home equity line paid off.  Currently, any additional income we make is going toward the baby fund or the home equity line.

Intentionally Work on our Home Improvement Projects:  This year, we've got several things on the list that we'd like to tackle.  Many of them are small projects, but they're also the type that we tend to put off just for that reason.  We'd like to be very intentional about checking these off each month so that they're done by the end of the year.  A lot of these projects will be tackled in the evenings after little man is in bed, or while he is at preschool, or on weekend afternoons.

• Paint trim in boys room, including closet doors by March.  (This includes new caulk, etc. where needed)  Maybe we'll get this done.  Right now it's up to Benny, and I know painting is his least favorite thing to do.
• Touch up trim/paint in rental spaces by end of January. Yay!  This is done!
• Advertise upstairs rental through Samaratin's Purse and have rented by February, if not sooner.  Advertise both spaces for August/when lease runs out and have filled by April for upcoming season.  We've got the apartment rented, but are still advertising the upstairs space.  We're hopeful that some of the recent inquiries we've had will pan out.
• Install Ecobee thermostat in apartment by January 15 (this is when our new tenant moves in).  This was done on time, hurray!
• Organize garage space by March 15.  This includes installing some drywall and pegboard, as well as generally sorting and storing tools, etc. Ha, this is a mammoth task, especially with a three year old and pregnant mama.  We are going to try to tackle another small corner this weekend.
• Have new mulch spread and gutters cleaned by March 15 (this is a job we will hire out).
• Paint shelving and trim in craft room downstairs by March 15.  Paint chairs to go around table in craft room. We are thinking that once the home equity line is paid off, we might have the funds to pay a painter friend to spray these with his industrial sprayer.  It would get the job done faster, and with a more professional finish.
• Move forsythia bushes to front bed and plant creeping Jenny ground cover.  Have this done around the same time as mulch is spread so that mulch and compost can go here.  (March-ish, depending on soil workability.)
• Mulch leaves with mower and add to compost by end of February. If the ground and leaves are ever dry enough, we'll get this done by the end of the month.  We may also just add a few handfuls of leaves here and there as we add kitchen scraps.  Hopefully they'll break down this way.
• Have mower serviced for spring by April 30. The local hardware place is running a 20% off labor for spring service right now, so I think we'll try to take advantage of this soon, maybe after payday.
• Paint exterior doors in chosen new color by June 30.  I'm hoping this will be able to be done well before June, since it's a small job.  Maybe it'll be something we can tackle while I'm home on maternity leave.
• Have new front porch railings installed and bead board on the ceiling of the porch.  Maybe an outdoor ceiling fan installed over the table area?  by June 30
• Can at least two batches of peach salsa and two of berry jam for Christmas gifting and personal use.
• Have both porches re-stained (we're thinking of hiring this out to a contractor who Benny does a lot of work for at the paint store).
• Maintain garden beds with regular weeding and trimming throughout growing season.  Prepare for fall/winter by October 30.
• Make curtains for craft room shelves to hide some supply bins by November 30.
• Make reusable coffee sleeves for Christmas gifts by November 30. (And learn how to use new sewing machine)
• Make at least one batch of citrus marmalade by December 15 for Christmas gifting.

Have at least 26 dates with Benny:  This works out to be at least two a month, which I think it do-able with a newborn being around.  We're working towards this.  Weather and Saturday school have gotten in the way, but we've had a lot of family time thanks to snow days.  So, maybe it evens out.  We are sure to have one date this coming week when Benny's mom comes up and has agreed to hang out with little man while we do an early dinner out with a gift card.  Maybe 13 dates in a year is ok...

Read at least 26 new books this year:  I've been doing really well with this one.  So far, I've read a few books on toddler/preschool games for speech and educational growth, am working on my annual reading of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and I've put together a Barnes and Noble order for some new books to read while I'm nursing the new baby.  We'll purchase these with Christmas gift cards.

Try at least two new recipes a month:  This one has been going really well and has definitely added some new things to our menus.  We've enjoyed breakfast banana bars, crockpot lasagna soup, crockpot Asian chicken, crockpot quinoa tacos, and baked pumpkin spice oatmeal.  I still have another muffin recipe I want to try this month.

Frugal Accomplishments

This week was pretty good for us in the budget department.  It was snowy all week, so there was no school for kids, and I got to work from home most days.  We also made great use of our pantry and freezer, so we saved quite a bit on groceries.  There were a few things we "splurged" on, but they were also things we would really use in the long run.

• All meals were cooked at home.  We did two crockpot meals this week, so that saved on energy.
• Turkey stock was made from the Thanksgiving turkey carcass in the freezer.  We used the meat  and some stock to make turkey noodle soup.  The rest of the stock was frozen for later use.
• Black bean chili was made with dried black beans from the pantry, and all other ingredients were in the pantry/freezer.  We made cornbread to go with this.
• We made banana chocolate chip muffins, foccacia, and banana breakfast bars (I added raisins and nuts to these bars) for breakfast treats using ingredients we had on hand.
• Our Valentine's treat was homemade cheesecake brownies, a new recipe.
• Because of the snow, the food pantry didn't have many clients this week, so we graciously accepted extra bagels, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, and oranges.  We'll process the peppers for the freezer.  This was extra nice, since we had already used all of our frozen peppers from the CSA this summer.
• All clothes were washed in cold water, towels and sheets on warm.  Everything was hung to dry.  We continue to have success with potty training, and are doing much fewer loads of laundry because of it.
• On Thursday, little man had preschool, Benny had to work, and I had a workday.  So, we took one car out and combined trips.  I was able to drop them off, and I took the car to work.  I also combined this with a doctor's appointment and a quick grocery run for some cheese that was on sale, kefir, and bananas for our weekly fruit.  (We find that having fresh fruit around keeps little man eating healthier snacks.  Prior to little man, we made do with our frozen stash of fruit or winter veggies to eat more seasonally.)  Combining all this saved on gas.
• Little man helped to make all the Valentine's cards for his friends at school.  We saved by not having to purchase any, and didn't give any candy.  (At least in our house, this causes more grief/meltdowns than anything.  So, we chose to not give candy to others.)
• We did venture out on Friday for some errands.  We "splurged" on the cheapest birdseed to refill our bird feeders (it is fun winter entertainment).  We planned the most efficient route so we were conservative with our fuel.
• We also went to check out the new Goodwill, which had some awesome finds.  I found a new straw cup for little man (his previous one had broken), discounted egg dye for 75 cents, and some brand new fun tights for after this baby is born for five dollars (they would have normally been over $15).  They had a fabulous teal storage ottoman that I really wanted to snatch up for extra storage in the living room, but because it was still brand new, the price was more than normal Goodwill prices.  Benny and I gave it the 48 hour wait test, decided we could sell a few more things on eBay and trim grocery spending a bit more, and call it Valentine's Day present (we hadn't done anything for each other).  We picked it up this afternoon. Little man has had a ball filling it with his toys, and it emptied the smaller basket for the baby toys, and forced us to go through the current toys and weed out a few things he no longer plays with.
• Because we didn't have school, I didn't tutor this week, so no extra money from that this week.  I did manage to sell some Mary Kay, so I made about $60 from that.  It also helped to clear out some more of the closet space.  And it will help to round out the baby fund.
• We continue to advertise the upstairs rental space and hope to have that filled for the coming academic year.  Our current downstairs tenant is really sweet, and we hope she likes it enough to stick around beyond her year long lease.
• Ebay items continue to be posted, and we probably have a few more things we need to put in the mail.
• After signing up for Ebates, we received our first check in the mail.  We plan to put that toward the home equity line.
• We received our explanation of benefits from the recent round of testing for the baby.  It was more than anticipated, but maybe in the long run with other medical expenses this year, it will be a wash because it will help us reach our deductible sooner.  We'll wait for the bill from the hospital and see if there's any room for negotiation if we agree to pay it in full.
• I made another batch of orange cleaner for the bathrooms, and we mixed up some citrus vinegar cleaner to use on the floors and windows.  Little man really enjoys helping clean, so this is a cleaner we can feel ok about him using.
• I cut little man's hair at home, saving on the cost of a haircut.  
• We're beginning garden plans, thinking that we'll keep things easy this year with mostly herbs.  I may try to start some from seed, but with the baby coming, we may just opt to purchase plants this year.  We go through a lot of basil and cilantro, so we know we'll have those.  We planted our garlic in the fall, so it will be ready to pull in June.  All other herbs are perennials.  We're also looking forward to hopefully a bigger berry harvest this year, perhaps including raspberries (free from a friend) that we planted last year.

What about you?  I'd love to hear how you're living and saving green this week!

2016 Goals and Habits to Cultivate

We've never been huge on setting New Year's resolutions in our house.  It just seems like these are generally things we've put off or don't do, and then come the new year, we think we should all of the sudden change.  This year, we're taking the approach of cultivating habits that will help us achieve those goals that we're already working toward as a family.

Know Where Every Dollar Goes:  We'd like to begin using You Need a Budget to really narrow our focus on our budget and be sure that we're making the most of every dollar we earn.  This is even more important as we look toward adding baby #2 to our family in March.  Of course, we're already really frugal and try to keep close tabs on things, but the idea of You Need a Budget is to live off of last month's income, so that you've essentially already got a one month emergency fund.  We'd really like to totally pay off our home equity line this year, and have already paid off the new-to-us car, and we think this is a budgeting tool that can help us.

Invest More for Retirement:  As a part of using YNAB, we think it will allow us to see more clearly just how much more we can invest toward retirement.  Since Benny has been a SAHD, we've cut his contributions some, but we're really feeling like we could be contributing more toward his retirement.  This will of course be easier once we've paid off the HEL, but we think by using tools like Acorns or Betterment, these microinvesting tools might make the retirement contributions even easier.

Intentionally Work on our Home Improvement Projects:  This year, we've got several things on the list that we'd like to tackle.  Many of them are small projects, but they're also the type that we tend to put off just for that reason.  We'd like to be very intentional about checking these off each month so that they're done by the end of the year.  A lot of these projects will be tackled in the evenings after little man is in bed, or while he is at preschool, or on weekend afternoons.

• Paint trim in boys room, including closet doors by March.  (This includes new caulk, etc. where needed)
• Touch up trim/paint in rental spaces by end of January.
• Advertise upstairs rental through Samaratin's Purse and have rented by February, if not sooner.  Advertise both spaces for August/when lease runs out and have filled by April for upcoming season.
• Install Ecobee thermostat in apartment by January 15 (this is when our new tenant moves in).
• Organize garage space by March 15.  This includes installing some drywall and pegboard, as well as generally sorting and storing tools, etc.
• Have new mulch spread and gutters cleaned by March 15 (this is a job we will hire out).
• Paint shelving and trim in craft room downstairs by March 15.  Paint chairs to go around table in craft room.
• Move forsythia bushes to front bed and plant creeping Jenny ground cover.  Have this done around the same time as mulch is spread so that mulch and compost can go here.  (March-ish, depending on soil workability.)
• Mulch leaves with mower and add to compost by end of February.
• Have mower serviced for spring by April 30.
• Paint exterior doors in chosen new color by June 30.
• Have new front porch railings installed and bead board on the ceiling of the porch.  Maybe an outdoor ceiling fan installed over the table area?  by June 30
• Can at least two batches of peach salsa and two of berry jam for Christmas gifting and personal use.
• Have both porches re-stained (we're thinking of hiring this out to a contractor who Benny does a lot of work for at the paint store).
• Maintain garden beds with regular weeding and trimming throughout growing season.  Prepare for fall/winter by October 30.
• Make curtains for craft room shelves to hide some supply bins by November 30.
• Make reusable coffee sleeves for Christmas gifts by November 30. (And learn how to use new sewing machine)
• Make at least one batch of citrus marmalade by December 15 for Christmas gifting.

Have at least 26 dates with Benny:  This works out to be at least two a month, which I think it do-able with a newborn being around.  This might be as simple as popcorn and a movie at home one Saturday afternoon, or maybe dinner out somewhere. We're going to set a budget of $5/date, which doesn't sound like much, but I think with giftcards, coupons, and having some free at home, we'll be able to make it work.  We know that we're much better as a couple when we spend some time for just us doing something we love, so we'll make this a priority.

Read at least 26 new books this year:  Again, this works out to about one every two weeks.  It'll be a mix of adult fiction, young adult fiction, nonfiction, and devotionals.  I know that reading is one thing that feeds my soul and gives me the quiet time I crave each day.  I also know that I'll probably read more while on maternity leave than I anticipate, with many nursing sessions, and I tend to read more in the summers than during the school year, so it may not be exactly one every two weeks, but it seems like a good goal.

Try at least two new recipes a month:  We tend to get into ruts with our menus, as I know many people do.  I'm hoping that this goal will grow naturally out of my habit of reading cookbooks for pleasure, and will introduce us to some new recipes that will become family favorites.  Some may be a total flop, but I'm hoping that most will be a success.  (Do the new ones I tried for Christmas gifting count?!)

What are your habits to cultivate in the coming year?  I'd love to hear how you plan to live and save green in 2016!

September Menu Plan and Updates

I realize I've been kind of absent from the blog for a while.  I was home with little man for the summer and that kept me super busy.  In addition, we're expecting baby #2 (yay!), so I haven't felt up to doing much beyond the necessary.  Now that school has started back and I'm almost at the end of the 1st trimester, I'm feeling more normal and have a little more quiet time to do some blogging.

Budget updates:  We've been really enjoying our new tenants.  We have one downstairs in the apartment and one in the upstairs bedroom.  They're both great fits for our family, and we're hoping that our upstairs tenant will get into grad school in the spring so she'll be able to stay on longer with us.  Having both of them has really allowed us to pay down some of the home equity line this summer, as well as having Benny back at work full time for the summer.

We're looking into replacing the Jetta, which would be a hit to the budget.  While we love the Jetta, it's almost 15 years old and in need of some major repairs, which we're having trouble rationalizing when we feel like we'd like a slightly bigger vehicle now that we're going to have two kiddos.  Thankfully, we have a friend who has a car for sale that looks like a perfect fit for us, so if it all works out, we'll be able to purchase that for about $5,000 out of pocket, after the sale of the Jetta.  Doing all this certainly means more debt to pay, but we feel like it's worth it in the long run.  And every little bit of extra cash we earn (from Mary Kay, tutoring, extra hours at the store, eBay sales, gifts) will go toward this, so hopefully we'll have it paid within a year.

Little man got into preschool!  He starts next week, and we're hoping he'll love it, although it will certainly be an adjustment.  We're only doing one morning a week, but it will give him some much needed time with other kids and will allow Benny some time to pick up more hours at work (which will allow us to pay down debt a little faster).  He already has some friends from church who are in this class, so we're hoping it will be a relatively smooth transition.

We had a new water filter and water softener installed for the whole house this summer, which we used our tax return to pay for.  This will definitely save wear and tear on our appliances and will mean that they will last longer, so it's a worthwhile expense.  We're also going to have the guttering on the front of the house replaced, as it was only a patch job when we did the new roof a few summers ago.  We're also paying to have leaf guard installed, which will save us some money on having gutters cleaned.  (Since we live in a 2-3 story house (two on the back, three on the front), we're not comfortable having Benny doing that job.)

Our plan for September includes a no-spend month, so except for regular bills and absolutely essential groceries, we're going to try to not spend any extra cash.  I stocked up this month, especially during Harris Teeter's super doubles event, so we shouldn't have to spend much on groceries.  We're also moving into fall when soup is more appealing, and that definitely stretches the budget.  We'll continue not eating out and will take advantage of leftovers, gifts of food, the abundance of garden tomatoes and herbs etc. to make the budget stretch.  So, without further ado, here's the plan:

September Menu Plan

Breakfasts:  egg and cheese sandwiches, oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts, homemade yogurt with frozen fruit, smoothies, "big boy breakfast" for the boys which includes bacon, eggs, and homemade hash browns/toast, muffins/sticky buns on the weekends

Lunches:  leftovers, egg salad sandwiches, tuna salad w/ crackers, BLTs

Dinners:  loaded baked potatoes, black bean tacos w/ rice, beans and rice with chopped tomatoes, cheese and homemade peach salsa, vegetarian chili with cheese, plain yogurt, and salsa, crockpot pesto chicken with noodles or rice, roasted root veggies with barley or brown rice, breakfast casserole with eggs, cheese, and veggies, winter squash pancakes with hash browns and smoothies, crockpot cabbage, tomato, beans and sausage soup, pesto pizza with veggies (x4 we do this almost every Friday), homemade mac and cheese with some veggies, tomato basil soup with garlic toast, meatball sandwiches with steamed veggies or fruit, lentil sloppy joes with steamed/roasted veggies and peach & blackberry crisp

Things to bake/make:  loaf of bread x 4-5 (I think we have one loaf in the freezer), muffins x 4, sticky buns x 1, homemade yogurt x 2-3 batches, peach salsa to can x 1

How're your budget and menu plans shaping up?  I'd love to hear from you!

Making the Most of Your Garden

This spring and summer, I've been working hard to make the most of our garden space.  We've added more garden space, but also improved the space we have to make better use of it.  We're also working to do some smaller projects to boost how we use the space and beautify things.

We've added some more garden space out front simply by clearing out some weeds and filling in low spots with some dirt.  This will be an ornamental space that we'll keep low maintenance by mulching it well with newspaper or cardboard, and then free mulch from the landfill.  We'll transplant some forsythia bushes that have multiplied in the back, and fill in the space with some transplanted ground cover to crowd out weeds.  This will really finish off the front and make it a little more maintenance free because it won't have to be mowed in the summer.

Another small garden space was added where we put in the stone patio under our deck.  This space is along the foundation, but is fairly narrow, so I'm going to try to fill it in with perennial herbs and some ornamentals, like hostas, blazing star, sage, and bronze fennel.  I'm trying to go for a variety of leaf texture in this bed, and I think this mix will all be really pretty together and will give flowers throughout the season.  I still need to add some newspaper mulch, compost, and free mulch from the landfill to this bed, but I think it will look really good when it's done.  We plan to get a little creative with this bed and edge it with recycled wine bottles, which will require a small trench being dug and then inverting the bottles in the trench.

In trying to make the most of our existing space, we've started a lot of herb seeds in places this year.  I started cilantro from seed in the garden, and it's just started producing.  We also planted garlic in the fall, which we're looking forward to harvesting next month.  Some raspberries were transplanted to a raised bed, and we allowed some wild blackberries to flower in some unused spaces this year.  I'm also working harder to harvest our perennial herbs, mostly sage, mint, chives, and lemon balm, throughout the season, so that we can dry and freeze them for use throughout the year.  I also experimented with making dandelion tea this spring, and found I really liked it (and it's really high in vitamin K, which is good for eye health, and has many anticancer properties).

We worked last weekend to add a step barrier to the end of our gravel and stone path to help keep the gravel from invading the yard.  This was made with some bits of leftover railroad ties we had from building the retaining wall a few years ago.  We also used some found rocks to edge out the bottom of our central flower bed, which looks really nice now.  Next week, we plan to visit a friend's garden, where she regularly splits perennials to share with us.  And it's always such fun to see her gardens, and we're looking to little man's first trip out there.  And we plan to finally get our rain barrel installed this year so that we can really use it, instead of watering things with potable water.

I'm also looking forward to painting our exterior doors this summer.  It's a small project, but I think it will really make our house pop, and will bring together the flowers we have in the planters along the entryway.  I'm also thinking about putting some bulbs in our larger containers in the fall so they'll be ready to bloom in the spring.

I'd love to hear what you're doing in your garden!

May Menu Plan

This month is all about anticipation of our CSA starting in June.  We're also taking advantage of strawberry season and stocking up the freezer with yummy fresh berries.  We're looking forward to restocking the freezer with berries and fresh produce this summer from our garden, the CSA, and the farmer's market.

We also have a little fruit monster on our hands, so we're having to increase our grocery budget to accommodate that as well as our desire to eat a little more healthfully (we were already pretty good before).  We're planning to make fresh fruit smoothies, popsicles, and pureed soups for the freezer with our new Ninja blender.  (Thanks to the in-laws for the birthday/anniversary gift early!)

We're also looking forward to the Duke intern from church joining our family for the summer later this month.  It'll be another mouth to feed, but we love doing it and it's so good for little man to have someone new to interact with around the house.

You'll notice a breakfast for dinner theme in our menu.  We love breakfast foods, but they're often too much work (i.e. more dishes) for weekday meals.  So we reserve them for dinners.  This time of year, our friends' chickens are laying really well, so we're getting lots of wonderful fresh eggs to use in meals.  Breakfast eggs are easier to fix than quiche, though we love that too, and usually breakfast for dinner comes together pretty quickly, which means we can spend more time outside together as a family in the evenings.

So, without further ado, here's this month's menu:

Breakfasts:  breakfast burritos, oatmeal, eggs and grits, whole wheat banana muffins, winter squash muffins with pumpkin seeds and raisins, strawberry coffee cake, egg and cheese sandwiches on homemade bread

Lunches:  egg salad sandwiches or wraps, leftovers, black bean salad with barley, homemade yogurt with granola and fruit

Dinners:  winter squash pancakes with eggs and fruit, dinner salads with hard boiled eggs, dried fruit or fresh, and cheese, quesadillas with refried beans and avocado, roasted turkey with broccoli and herbed rice pilaf, turkey tacos with squash and greens, french toast with bacon and fruit, roasted root veggies with barley and herb butter, tomato basil soup, meatball sandwiches with fresh fruit, breakfast for dinner (roasted potato hash browns with yummy blue and red potatoes from the farmer's market, fried eggs with garden chives, grits, and fruit or sauteed peppers and onions), beef and cheddar pie with rice pilaf

I'd love to hear from you!  And a happy belated Mother's Day to all the moms, "adopted" moms, and women longing to be moms out there!

Putting the Gardens to Bed for the Winter

We've never done it this late before, but the weather was perfect.  (A few years, we've totally skipped this step and I've regretted it in the spring.)  We put our garden beds to "sleep" for the winter on November 30 in the span of about two hours, with the little man in the pack on Daddy's back.  So we got some family time outside to boot.

How'd we do it?  We tried the lasagna gardening method, which was super easy to prep.  We started by laying out our layers of newspaper in the gardens after cutting back the old plants (and weeds!).  We collected these newspapers from friends and from our days of purchasing the Sunday paper and now we're using them in the garden, which means that we're totally saving green in both senses of the word.

The next layer was about a two inch layer of our compost.  Our composter was bursting at the seems from our kitchen scraps, yard waste, and what came out of our gutters after cleaning them.  It felt great to be able to almost empty the composter and put that black gold to good use!  We still had a few whole egg shells and citrus peels in there, but hopefully after composting some more over the winter, it'll be good to go in the spring.

Then, we added a layer of straw.  We'd purchased this straw bale about a year ago, and hadn't gotten around to using it as mulch between our raised  beds as intended, so we used it here to heavily mulch these beds.  We probably added a 3-4 inch layer of straw to each bed.  If we have time, I'd like to add a layer of leaves to the top when we clean out the ditch and culvert below the driveway.

I'm hoping that by doing all of this in the fall that our beds will be ready to go in the spring.  I'd love to plant one with raspberries, one with rhubarb, and one with asparagus.  We did go ahead and plant the bed that had basil in it over the summer with garlic for the winter, so we'll see how that turns out in the spring.  I'm hoping it had enough nutrients in it to support the garlic.  I've never planted it before.

And, can I just say how good it feels to have that bale of straw out from in front of the house and some of those newspapers gone from the basement?!  And they're being put to good use... even better!

So, what about you?  How're you living and saving green in your gardens this winter?  I'd love to hear from you!

Gleaning to Keep the Budget on Track

We've always enjoyed gleaning and foraging for food.  I suppose it comes from liking the outdoors and enjoying the time outside in the sunshine.  It's only become more fun now that we have a little one to share this with (though sometimes he eats more of the harvest than we come home with!).

A few of the things we consistently forage or glean are blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, apples, and sometimes peppers or zucchini from a friend's garden.  We can consistently count on gleaning blackberries from the roadside in our neighborhood.  We seem to be the only ones who pick them, aside from the wildlife, so we can generally harvest several gallons over the growing season.  We also glean blueberries from my aunt's property (they no longer live here full time), and raspberries from friends who are overrun with them.  We put these in the freezer or use them to make jam for gifting and for winter enjoyment.

We gather apples from friends' trees for apple pie filling, apple crisp, and applesauce.  We generally freeze the applesauce, though you can also can it in mason jars.  There are also many local apple trees along public sidewalks, so gleaning would be an option there as well.  This year, we put several gallons of applesauce in the freezer to use for winter fruit and for baking.

Sometimes, we have friends who ask us to "garden sit" for them while they're gone on vacation over the summer.  This leads to all sorts of wonderful bounty, mostly squash, zucchini, and peppers.  We've also "chicken sat" for friends, which means that we collect several dozen eggs over the course of a week or so (they have 14 hens).

Recently, I've begun expanding the idea of gleaning to other areas.  I realized that we're always the ones to ask for the turkey carcass after holiday meals, which yields a lot of yummy stock and enough meat for a batch or two of soup.  Last year, we were gifted with four turkey carcasses after the Thanksgiving pot luck at church, which was a wonderful gift when we were just getting used to a much stricter budget.

When we have Sunday dinners at Mom's house, I will often save veggie scraps and bring them home to make veggie stock.  She will sometimes splurge on mushrooms or other veggies that are typically more expensive and out of our budget, so it's nice to use the trimmings for a savory stock.  I'll also save the broccoli and cauliflower stems from her house to add to our freezer bag for soup.  Broccoli and cheese soup is just as tasty with the "trunks", and broccoli isn't always a cheap veggie, so it's not something we make often, though we love it.

At school, kids often throw away unopened milk cartons.  They're required to take the milk as a part of a "healthy, balanced meal," but it amazes me how many of them eat very little of what is actually on their tray.  I volunteer to take any unopened milk to use at the house, or if I have an abundance, I will take it by the food pantry at church.

The same gleaning principle can be applied to bread.  I have a freezer bag I keep in the freezer with the ends of loaves of bread, cracker crumbs, etc.  When the bag is full, I buzz the whole contents through the food processor to make bread crumbs for a variety of meals (pecan crusted chicken is probably our favorite, but you could top any casserole).  By keeping it in the freezer, it means the bread won't go stale or moldy while I'm waiting to collect enough to do something with.

It always pains me to see people just throw away these remnants, since they can yield such tasty meals.  I know it's from ages gone by, but saving these things isn't a skill that we should lose just because it's convenient to pick up something at the store.  Often, gleaned produce is more nutritious (because it's fresher) and/or organic, which makes me feel better about feeding it to my family.

Gleaning can also go beyond food into the realm of clothing.  I've learned to just ask friends for hand-me-downs for the little guy.  Often, they're more than willing to clean out their closets and unload the "junk" on us.  I've also used this strategy for maternity clothes in the past, which are often worn only a few times.  I have a few friends whom I love their style, both for themselves and their kids, and just being willing to ask means that I have cute clothes for myself and little man.  I don't mind trading some baked goodies or homemade applesauce for clothes, and often this is for a busy mom who really appreciates something homemade and wholesome for her family.

These basic principles really allow us to stretch our food and clothing budgets.  I know there are others in other parts of the country who can glean other foods (I saw on The Prudent Homemaker how she had recently gleaned olives).  Do you ever go gleaning?  If not for yourself, maybe for Second Harvest?  I'd love to hear from you!

Last Week's Frugal Accomplishments

Frugal living has become a lifestyle for us, often with things we don't even think about anymore.  Here's a list of last week's frugal accomplishments, most of which are second nature now.

Miscellaneous:

We didn't run the heat or AC.  We put an extra blanket on the bed when we needed it at night.

Our tenant paid her rent for her upstairs room on time and cleaned her space prior to leaving for fall break, so we didn't need to clean upstairs.

I found a few clothes in storage that little man can still wear from last year.  He poked a hole in the toe of some pjs that I need to add to the mending pile, along with a pair of jeans he's worn a hole in the knee that need a patch.

I carpooled to work a few days last week to save on gas.  This also meant I could plan with her during the drive, saving on time too.

We used some evening time to work on projects downstairs so we didn't have to pay someone else to do these small tasks (cleaning, installing door hardware, spackling, etc.).  We're in the last 5% stretch to getting it done, so we should be renting that space out by the end of the month (know anyone interested?)!

We took walks for after dinner entertainment, when the weather allowed.  When it didn't, we worked downstairs or played upstairs with the little one.

Laundry:  

We washed our cloth diapers and wipes and hung them to dry on the drying rack or outside on the line.

We washed all other laundry in one large load in cold water and hung it to dry inside or on the line.

Groceries and Cooking:

We prepared all meals at home and took advantage of three community meals at church.

Sunday dinner was with my mom, as usual, so she paid for most things, and I cooked while she played with the little one.

We ate mostly meatless meals, except for BLTs one night, which were made with all local ingredients.

We made bread in the bread machine.

Breakfast for the week was 13 bagels from Panera, which we purchased with a gift card we had.  We bought cream cheese at the grocery store for cheaper than we could have included it as a "bagel pack."

We cooked acorn squash in the crockpot and processed it for the freezer (just mashed it up and put it in a freezer bag).  We used this to make "pumpkin" muffins Sunday morning.

It was super doubles at Harris Teeter, so we participated and purchased some things for free with coupons and some discounted diapers and wipes for a baby shower gift.  We got some peanut butter for 50 cents, which was a steal, and a boon to our pantry since little man is loving peanut butter right now.  We spent about $30 and saved over $50, so pretty good considering the bulk of that was disposable diapers and wipes we don't usually buy.

We cooked chick peas in the crock pot for a soup and a warm squash salad.

We "gleaned" extra apples from the food pantry at church, which got too many for clients to take.

I harvested a few herbs from the garden to season meals.

I planned out our bulk spice/baking order for next month, which will save us on these items in the long run.  We order from San Francisco Herb Company, and have been pleased with the quality.  We plan to order more sesame seeds, poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds, loose tea, and a few herbs.

We purchased some vodka to make vanilla for Christmas presents.  We'll use vanilla beans we purchase in bulk to make this.  I'll make vanilla sugar with the old beans from our vanilla jar.

I picked up our last week of CSA share on the way home from work (saving on gas and another trip out).  We were able to process some of this for the freezer to use later this winter when we don't have these fresh veggies coming in on a weekly basis.

We had free eggs from a friend, which we brought them some winter squash in trade for.  We used the eggs in baking and for egg and cheese breakfast bagel sandwiches.

What about you?  What did you do last week to meet your goals?  I'd love to hear from you!

Gardening: A Frugal and Green Hobby

This spring and summer we've been working on refining our gardens a bit.  Over the years, I've planted lots of "pass alongs" from friends and coworkers, some of whom have moved on to other parts of life or the world, who've brought me starts and splits from their perennial gardens.  After several years of doing this, we finally have some flower and herb beds that are starting to look lush and established.

Of course, as with anything around the house, there's room for improvement and we're always wanting to tweak something.  I have a few plants that I want to move, namely some forsythia that's gotten too big for it's spot and splitting some herbs.  We were gifted two hydrangea plants from a family funeral that I'll plant in the shaded garden behind the house.  I seem to need to split the hostas about every two years, so it's time to do that again.  And we need to add some more mulch to the beds along the edge of the driveway.

We're almost there with our hardscaping, which is so nice.  Those "bones" help a lot and it's something we wish we'd paid to have someone do up front, rather than doing it piecemeal as we have.  Oh well, hindsight... We've got a few more stepping stones to add out back and we need to get a new load of gravel for the driveway.  We're hoping to save some cash on that by having it done by the same guy who will bring it in for our gravel road and combining the jobs.  The patio under the front deck will be finished after we finally finish the basement apartment, starting with gravel and then we'll add the stepping stones.

We've saved some cash already this season by hiring a friend to bring in a load of leaf mulch from the landfill.  It's been a great way to revive our flower garden and was so much cheaper than buying the mulch and paying someone to spread it.  (Now that we have a little one, we're finding that it's more of a time vs. money issue than it used to be for us.)  We might get another load spread in the fall for the other beds, maybe of hardwood mulch that will compost over the winter.  Many local areas do municipal composting like this, and it's a great free gardening resource.

Continuing to compost has really helped us out too.  Not only does it cut down on stinky trash, but we estimate that it saves us about $75 a year because we're not having to purchase bagged compost for veggie beds or container plantings.

Once we get the gutters cleaned out, we'll compost that leaf litter and install our rain barrel.  This will help us water the flower beds with captured rain water, rather than using precious ground water from our well.  We may need to wait until after the patio and driveway have their gravel in to do this, but it will be nice to finally use this.  And it was gifted to us by a gardening friend, so it was free!

We're really enjoying using our fresh herbs this year.  We made an herb butter for the turkey we roasted last week and regularly use the lemon balm and mint in tea and baking.  The sage and oregano are wonderful additions to rice, and along with a handful of green peas and chopped pecans make a fabulous pilaf from plain jane white rice.

How are you using your garden lately?  Has it become a frugal hobby for you, saving you cash on your herbs and veggies?  Do you love your fresh cut flowers or watching those gifted plants from friends bloom each year?  I'd love to hear from you!

Rock Whatcha Got January

Well, we made it through the holidays with only a few extra pounds and lots of chocolate on hand to show for it. Today is all about taking down the Christmas decorations and trying to get the house back in order from the chaos that is the holidays and moving my mom into her new house. Things are still in transition somewhat upstairs, as we totally convert what was once the office to the nursery and make the guest room an office also. But we're getting there...

On to today's topic. It's January again, which means it's a long month for teachers in NC since we get paid prior to Christmas break but don't get our next paycheck until the end of January. It's even more stretched around here as Benny's on winter hours at the store, but we always make it work, and are totally grateful to have the abundance that we do so that it's not always such a shock.

For the grocery budget, we try to only purchase the things we really need, not the wants this month. This is made easier by the fact that we almost always get some fun pantry items in our stockings at Christmas (nuts, specialty dried fruits, coffee, herbal teas and sometimes a grocery store card or two). I totally get that nuts and dried fruit may not do it for everyone, but for those of us who love to cook and bake, they're the staples of winter breakfast muffins and salad toppings. We also try to make sure the the freezer is already stocked with butter, frozen veggies from the CSA or garden this past summer, and meats. (Butter and meats almost always go on sale around holiday time, so we stock up then.) We always snag the turkey carcass from Thanksgiving or Christmas to make stock and soup (we've discovered most people in our family don't want to mess with this step). And of course, we always have dried beans, lentils, rice, barley, and pasta on hand in the pantry to make meals come together quickly.

So, for this month, here's the rough breakdown of menu items:

Soups: smoked turkey and wild rice soup, potato and veggie chowder, split pea soup, chili verde with sweet potato fries, black bean soup, chili con carne, corn chowder, barley and lenil soup

Mexican meals: smoked turkey and winter squash tacos, sweet potato quesadillas, black bean nachos, chicken tortilla soup

Asian meals: egg and veggie fried rice, spicy Thai noodle dish with linguini

Family go-to meals: pecan crusted chicken with baked potatoes, quiche with bacon, sun dried tomatoes, and onion, beef and cheddar pie, whole wheat waffles with frozen fruit syrup and nuts, jambalaya, pasta with pesto or tomato sauce

Side items: mashed potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, okra corn bread, homemade whole wheat yeast rolls or bread, winter greens salad with dried fruit or citrus, braised cabbage

Breakfasts: muffins/scones with dried fruit and nuts, homemade bread with homemade jam from summer fruits, oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts, cereal

Lunches around here are always leftovers. When we're done with fixing a dinner, we portion out the meal into lunch size containers so they're easy to grab and put in a lunch box for the next day. We never buy specialty lunch items from the frozen section, but do occasionally purchase granola bars or individual yogurt cups to help round out lunches or provide an afternoon snack. (Of course these are always purchased with coupons and on sale to make a buck go further.)

So, for the most the only items we need to purchase this month are the occasional fresh produce (we like to have grapefruit on hand for breakfasts and there are always a few veggies we don't have stockpiled in the freezer), cheese (watch for sales and coupons and freeze it if it's going in a casserole or soup where it'll be melted), milk, flour, and eggs. And we'll go to HT this week to get some other staples (cereal, yogurt, etc.) because it's super doubles with coupons.

We also really try during this month to not buy things that are wants, but just needs in other areas of our lives. For instance, the car registration info and bill just arrived for my car--definite need. But the cute Christmas stuff that's 75% off at Michaels right now, not so much. I know that I have enough Christmas wrapping supplies to get us through next year, so there's no point in stocking up now. This is generally our strategy with lots of stuff throughout the year, but we really try during January to cinch the belt a little tighter to make things stretch.

The quote "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without," has really become our
mantra as we try to live frugally so that we can truly live green and save green. It means finding things in the basement that we can revamp with paint for the nursery rather than buying new (picture frames, lamps, furniture), reupholstering the old chair rather than buying a new one, making do with the cars we have and repairing them rather than purchasing a new one, and on and on it goes. And, in the end, it makes us feel good to know that we're not sending something to the landfill or junkyard (though we always try to donate things first if we really can't use them anymore). It also allows us to be more generous with our charitable giving, which means a great deal to us.

So, how are you living and saving green in the days after the holiday season? I'd love to hear from you!

Simple Greywater Solutions

Throughout the summer, I've been indulging my love of reading, which in my adult life has come to mean more nonfiction works in the form of things by Michael Pollan (such as The Botany of Desire and The Omnivore's Dilemma) and other similar works on simple living (of course these were borrowed or from the library, so my reading habit hasn't eaten up any of our budget this summer). Among the things I've been reading about this summer, greywater (water that has been used for laundry, dishes, etc. and could potentially be reused to irrigate the gardens) has been a topic, one which very much intrigues me.

One day we'd love to install a greywater laundry system, since we already use phosphate free laundry detergent (Charlie's Soap or Seventh Generation) and our homemade lavender laundry booster. However, the current NC building code doesn't make this the simplest thing to do in a residential setting, and our budget for household projects wouldn't accommodate it anyway since we're replacing the roof and covering the front deck with a metal roof. So, in the interim (or perhaps forever, depending on how the code and our budget go), we're implementing some simple greywater solutions.

1. All leftover water and icecubes in drinking glasses at the end of the day go to water indoor or outdoor plants. This means that I don't have to remember to water the houseplants once or twice a week and these small amounts of potable water don't go to waste by simply pouring them down the drain. (It's taken a while to train the family, but they've got the hang of it now.) The icecubes are great because they provide a slow gradual water source over an hour or so. We really try to drink only water in our house, though we sometimes succumb to the "need" for sweet tea or juice in the summer, or hot tea/coffee in the winter or mornings. This makes things easy and we don't have to worry about giving the plants something that might not be healthy for them. (Black coffee or unsweetened tea is fine for plants, especially blueberries which love acidic soils, so we sometimes pour leftovers of these on the blueberry plants--when I remember.)

2. Water from boiling pasta, corn on the cob, seafood, or canning is caught and cooled. Then, I take it outside to water the veggie garden or flower garden. If it's salted water, then I am more selective about where I put it (it might go on the weeds growing in the gravel driveway to kill them, rather than killing my flowers or stressing the veggies).

3. Water from washing dishes by hand is caught in a pot/bowl rather than the sink and poured over outdoor plants. The small amount of soap helps to deter pests and any organic matter (bits of lettuce, pasta, etc.) just decomposes in the soil. We try to use phosphate-free soaps here too, so they don't contaminate the groundwater. (This is key for us, since our water comes from a shared well and not a municipal source.)

All in all, I figure these actions lessen our need for irrigation considerably. I've really tried to subscribe to the xeriscaping philosophy with my flower gardens and only water the veggie garden on a regular basis. The flower gardens are watered with all this greywater I've described above. I can't imagine what else I could grow if we had the laundry greywater system in place!

So, what about you... what're you doing to capture greywater or conserve water on a regular basis? Have you experimented with a greywater system, or is yours just hodge podge like ours? I'd love to hear from you!

Foraging for Food

According to Dictionary.com, foraging is the acquisition of food by hunting, fishing, or the gathering of plant matter. I've continued to come across this as a method of food sourcing in many sustainable living guides, including some of my favorites such as Organic Gardening magazine and The Backyard Homestead. But honestly, it seemed like too much work... I mean, really, with a full time job, who has time to go out and hunt this stuff up?

Until I realized that I already do this in some ways. Picking summer blackberries along our road is technically foraging; I am acquiring food by gathering it from a wild source, in this case an overabundance of blackberry canes. I gather apples from our school yard and plan to go with a friend who knows most of the apple trees along public sidewalks in our area (she propogates apple trees by taking cuttings, so she makes it her business to know where they are in town). I use these apples for applesauce, canning pie filling, and making apple butter. When we hike, I love looking for wild berry patches (I am always careful to take my field guide so I know what I'm eating is what I think I'm eating).

Some foraging guides mention common weeds as edibles, such as dandelion greens (which I love for their spicy flavor in salads) and even our dreaded pokeweed for cooking greens (though I hear it stinks to high heaven when cooked, which has kept me from trying it thus far). Lamb's quarters are also edible greens, and the wild daylilies apparently make fabulous little fried fritters when battered like squash blossoms. I know that wild mushrooms and morels are another source of foraging fodder, but am a little too hesitant to try them on my own. I'd love to find someone local who knows what to look for who could show me how to ID these things.

We're also considering having a neighbor or friend get a deer for us this fall so that we have this source of low fat, high protein meat this winter and next spring. We live in an area where processing fees are minimal, making this meat only about $1 per pound, well below supermarket and farmer's market prices. In other areas of the country, it's easy to acquire wild protein sources through fishing or hunting other game.

One of the best things about foraging is that it's a free source of organically grown food (which helps us stick to our food budget and our ever increasing commitment to eat locally and organically). For me, it's also a great time to enjoy nature and spend some quiet time alone, or pleasurable time with friends or family. It also allows us to enjoy the flavors of fresh produce in the off season. By freezing wild blackberries, strawberries(these are the tiny ones that most people rip out of their yards--I try to transplant them when I dig them up and have managed to make my own little strawberry patch for free!), and grapes, we can have them on our cereal in the morning or in smoothies or desserts (they're fabulous over homemade icecream!). Another added benefit is that if I have an excess, I can these items (jams, jellies, preserves, sauces, etc.) and donate them to our local food pantry. Some food pantries will take fresh donations, so you might check your location to see what they prefer.

If you're interested in foraging, Organic Gardening magazine (Feb/March 2011 issue) has a great article and source list on the subject.

What about you? Do you forage for things in your area? What's your favorite "wild" food? Maybe it's salmon berries in Alaska or clams in Maine (mmm, clams... wish we were closer to the coast so I could do some seafood foraging!) I'd love to hear from you!

Unexpected projects and blessings

Summer is a time for outdoor projects, at least around our house. We're still very much in the settling in phase with regards to landscaping. Our budget only allows for one major project a year, and hardscaping (patios, retaining walls,etc.) must be done before my favorite part of installing plants can begin. This means that I've had about three years to dream and plan for some spaces, while watching the natural vegetation (i.e. weeds) take over certain spots.

Last summer, the major project was buildng two retaining walls out front to make a more usable terraced space for gardening and perhaps a fire pit/chimena. This summer's project was a large patio under the deck out front, using concrete pavers and gravel inbetween to blend with the gravel driveway that it will intersect with. Then, we were unexpectedly blessed with some gifted flagstone, but not enough to do the entire patio area. We were considering purchasing more to fill in the entire area, but then along came a few storms...

We lost several shingles in these storms, called a roofer recommended by a trusted friend, and ended up being told we needed to replace the roof as we would lose more shingles in the next big storm. Consequently, this has put the patio project on hold, since we haven't heard back from our insurance company about what they see as reasonable. So, we're in a holding pattern, and now debating whether we go with a metal roof or asphalt shingles again. (Metal would be more environmentally friendly and more wind-resistant and cheaper in the long run, but the asphalt shingles would be cheaper now.) Since we'll have to have the roof redone, we're also considering getting estimates on covering the front deck in the process. We use the deck much less than we'd like in the summer because our house is southern facing (a huge plus in the winter with snow melt, but bakes in the summer). All this is totally unexpected, but we think we have enough in the house budget to make it happen. If we end up renting a room upstairs in the fall, then that additional income would help to make this project more affordable.

So, that blessing of gifted flagstone? We're planning to construct a smaller patio now behind the kitchen. We'll use the same materials, but it'll cost significantly less since we'll need much smaller amounts of gravel and sand. It will be a dry-laid patio, to allow for drainage, and I'll plant camomille and creeping jenny begween the stones to help the patio blend more with the surrounding gardens. Maybe next summer's project will be the patio under the deck.

In the meantime, we'll do what we can to reduce our expenses and "put our heads down" to make the roofing thing happen. I'd love to see the front deck covered, but we'll just have to see about the cost there. Do you have thoughts on a metal roof, or experience with one?

What about you? What summer projects do you have planned? Has an unexpected expense become a blessing in disguise for you? I'd love to hear from you! (And I promise to post more frequently this summer!)

Garden Goodness

We've had rain here for what seems like two weeks straight. It's a bummer for actually working outside, but the plants are loving it. The pass-along plants I picked up at a co-worker's house and garden (phenomenal property... old farm house, two ponds, and drifts of flowers, perennials, herbs, and veggies across the acreage... I was in heaven) are doing well. We went to visit between rain storms on Saturday and came back with a trunk loaded full of perennial geraniums, irises, all kinds of hosta (she's a hosta junkie like I am), herbs, ornamental grasses, wild ginger, and tons of other stuff. Much of it went into our own gardens here at home, but some will be planted by my students into our gardens at school. I'm loving watching my plants thrive in the rain we've had, and it's been a great time to transplant things.

We've also had some lettuce from our garden this week, as well as chives, thyme, lemon balm, and parsley I grew from seed. (I've read that Italian parsley can be troublesome, but I had great luck with it.) My basil isn't quite big enough yet to harvest, but hopefully in a few weeks we'll have some fabulous pasta dishes, focaccia, and pesto for pizza.

Indoors, I potted up some houseplants that were in need of larger containers. Some of these were from my Teacher of the Year "flowers" from my school. (The secretary is a gardening buddy, so she knew I'd want something that would keep on living, instead of a floral arrangement that would die in a week or two.) I've also been reading that you can grow your own houseplants from citrus seeds, avocado pits, and even pineapple tops. How's that for saving some green, while improving your indoor air quality?!

Since we split a CSA (community supported agriculture) share with some friends, we're really looking forward to lots of fresh produce starting in June. We purchased our share through the High Country CSA, but there are lots of others out there. If you're not from our region, check out options in your area. They're a great, and generally affordable, way to support fresh, locally grown produce from farmers in your area. Plus, you usually end up with some fun ingredients that are new to you, so it makes for more fun in the kitchen.

On another note, Benny recently attended a rain garden workshop through our local agricultural extension agency. It was only $20 and included great notes and handouts, first-hand experience with planning a rain garden, and lunch from a local restaurant. For those not in the know, rain gardens are designed to help control flooding and pooling after rain storms. So, they're generally planted in low-lying areas and with plants that can tolerate "having their feet wet". If you don't know much about gardening and would like to get into it, your local ag extension agency is a great place to go. These folks are paid with your tax dollars, so it's their job, and generally their joy, to help you with all things agricultural. They offer all sorts of gardening workshops, from gardening basics to bee keeping courses to Master Gardener certification courses.

So, what're you up to these days? How are you gardening green; are you splitting plants with friends, started your own herb garden, or did you start your own rain garden? I'd love to hear from you!

Pass-along plants and perennials

By now, you know that I don't like to spend money on something I can get for free, or close to it. This is one of the reasons I have so many "pass-along" plants in my garden. I also love finding deals on the clearance rack at Lowe's and Southern States, especially when they're perennials.

Since this week is my spring break, I've been spending some much overdue time in the flower gardens... weeding, planning, dreaming, planting, and moving things around to fit my vision for this year. I acquired some pass-along plants from a few co-workers who know my passion for gardening (I also teach a gardening exploratory course to my middle school students, so we're constantly acquiring new plants people donate.) and through some donations of plants we couldn't use at school (we have mostly sun at school, so shade loving plants don't do well... so I bring them home to live behind the house). I've added some varigated Solomon's seal, more pulmonaria, helliobores, and will add some more hosta tomorrow. I'm working on splitting some of our larger hosta to fill in some areas along the steep bank behind the house (hostas are a love of mine in the landscape... they're so easy to grow and propogate and they'll grow in almost any situation). My phlox and lady's mantle began to self-sew last year, so there are baby plants popping up all over the garden, which is a nice surprise and a great way to fill in the blank spaces. Now that some of our gardens have been in existance for three years, it means that I now have the joy of sharing some pass-along plants with friends, so they'll benefit from some phlox, pachysandra, lemon balm, and lady's mantle.

Of course, with all this spring gardening, this required the obligatory visit to Lowe's. I went with the plan of scoring some Easter lilies on sale after Easter (they'll come back year after year, so don't toss it after the blooms fade if someone gave you one... plant it!). But, alas, there were no Easter lilies to be found... but there were a TON of spring perennials on the clearance rack for, wait for it, 50 cents a piece! They weren't dinky little guys either, one and two-gallon plants. All they needed was a little water, some deadheading, and they were perfect for my gardens. I grabbed five bachelor's button plants and some other things I don't remember the name of, but for under five dollars, I walked out of the garden center with eight perennials that will add color and texture to my gardens year after year. It doesn't take much to make this girl happy... a trip to Lowe's and five dollars well spent!

How's your garden growing this year? Have you had the joy of sharing plants with others, or started your garden with pass-along plants friends gave you? Any good deals you've found at local garden centers? I'd love to hear how you're living and saving green this spring!

Our Ghetto Greenhouse

Back in late February, I began planning for our veggie garden. (Some of this was done over snow days browsing seed catalogs and drooling over Barbara Kingsolver’s descriptions in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.) The seeds were ordered and each day we checked the mail, I was like a kid waiting for a letter from Santa… “Did they come yet?” The little packets of seeds arrived one day and I began the next phase; setting up our ghetto greenhouse.

This began with getting out all the plastic egg cartons and assorted yogurt/sour cream/ricotta cheese containers I’d been saving all winter. (I told you we reuse everything around here… well, almost; we draw the line at toilet paper.) I punched drainage holes in the egg cartons with an ice pick and nested the two halves together. I did the same thing with the larger plastic containers, saving them for transplanting later.

This meant that I could water them from the bottom and not disturb the seedlings’ tiny roots once they germinated. I filled the top one with organic soilless seed starting mix and then moistened each pod. The seeds were pushed into the moist soil and then I slid the whole set-up into a large bread bag and closed it with a twist tie. We started peppers, heirloom tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, basil, brussel sprouts, and cilantro this way. Once these were all ready to go, we put them on a card table in front of our sunny, southern facing window… right in the middle of the living room.

In about six weeks, we had some fabulous seedlings in each pod. I transplanted the tomatoes, lettuce, brussel sprouts, and peppers to the larger yogurt/sour cream containers I had prepared earlier. Using a spoon to scoop them out made this process really easy. Transplanting them to deeper containers really gave the seedlings a jump start.

In the meantime, Benny built some raised vegetable beds for outside in the yard where we’ll transplant the veggies this weekend, after we fill the boxes with a mixture of peat moss, compost, and vermiculite. We’re looking forward to good fresh veggies this spring and summer—as local as they get!

We’ll update tomorrow on how we constructed the beds and managed to fit all the materials into the Jetta. I’ll also fill you in on our new additions to our edible landscaping.

I’d love to hear what you’re doing in your garden this spring, so leave some love in the comments!

Bartering and a CSA

I love living in an area where bartering is still very much a part of life, and where you do things for acquaintances and neighbors, just because you feel like it's the right thing to do.

This year, I'm blessed to teach a fabulous group of sixth grade students, one of whom has her own flock of thirteen chickens. She is responsible for their care, feeding, and checking the nest boxes daily. And she has started bringing me fresh eggs about every two weeks. I offered to pay her for them, but she sweetly said no, that they give away the eggs they can't eat to friends. So, we've been enjoying wonderfully fresh eggs, with far more nutritional content and likely more environmentally responsible management methods, for several weeks now. They've made fantastic omletes, deviled eggs, and I love adding them to baked goods. The yolks are so bright yellow, and it warms my heart to know that they were given yummy veggie scraps from the kitchen with lots of love from this child, rather than some commercial feed strewn about by machines adults getting underpaid for their work. In return for these fabulous eggs, I share my favorite reads with this student, who gobbles up books the way her chickens do blackberries in the summer. All in all, more than a fair trade.

A few weeks ago, our neighbor took out his snow blower and cleared the entire bottom portion of the drive for us. We called to thank him and offered to bake them some homemade bread. I don't think they really expected us to go through with it, but they were thrilled with the banana coconut bread, and I loved baking it as a thank you gift... and it was much more economical than paying someone to scrape the road.

At our favorite local bakery, we've discovered that if we go in at the end of the day, they'll often cut us a deal on the day old bread, which is already reduced. If they don't sell it by the end of the day, they have to throw it out or donate it, so by having us purchase it for a reduced cost, we're helping them pay for the ingredients and overhead, while still getting a lovely and hearty bread for sandwiches or breakfast. Even though we generally make our bread ourselves, we find that we love patronizing the bakery and that we get ideas for new flavor combinations to add to our own breads. (The apple rosemary bread sourdough we had a few weeks was fabulous both with butter and cream cheese, as well as being prepared as a grilled cheese sandwich. It's definitely something we'll try this fall when apples come around in abundance again.)

We've decided to split a share of a local CSA (community supported agriculture) program through a farm cooperative with another family from church this spring. This means that for about 20 weeks, we'll get farm fresh veggies, with the option of adding eggs, goat cheese, and even meat. For $25 a week, this is a steal for providing ample organic produce for 4 adults and two kids. The cool thing about this CSA is that it has a service expectation with it, so I'll get to spend some hours out at a farm this summer learning just how they do things and helping to maintain some of the veggies. (Or maybe I'll get to help out with the poultry and learn how to care for some chickens... I can't wait!) It's amazing how much further your budget goes when you decide to spent locally, and how much better you feel knowing that more of that money goes to support those farmers directly. Not to mention the benefits of transporting the produce a shorter distance, meaning fewer fossil fuels used and fresher ingredients.

So, how about you? How are you sharing in the abundance that you have, large or small? Are you considering supporting more local farms this year? And how do those decisions impact your budget; are you like us and finding that it's worth it, both for the money and the health of your family and the environment? Or maybe you're not quite there yet, and are still on the fence about the whole local food movement. Whatever your thoughts, I'd love to hear from you!

Updated DIY List and Breakfast Baking

A few weeks ago, I was blog hopping all over the place since we had yet another snow day. I stumbled upon this in my wishful thinking of warmer weather projects and decided I'd begin the hunt for a soda crate of my own to create this living garden art. I found a few on ebay, but with shipping, they ended up being about $20, which was more than I wanted to spend for something I was going to staple to pieces and fill with dirt and plants.

Benny and I were also on the hunt for a pretty and unusual plate to hang in the kitchen to balance out a little vignette we're doing on the wall (I'll post pics when we get that finished), so we took one Saturday afternoon (after I'd had a morning of Saturday school with the kiddos to makeup a snow day)to visit our favorite local art gallery and the antique store down the street. After visiting the main and top floors in the antique store, we were about to call it quits, but decided to investigate the basement level, which is mostly where they keep the furniture. And were we glad we did... we found both things we were hunting for; a silver plated punched decorative plate and a soda crate that had seen better days. So, all told, we spent $25 for both and were pleased with our purchases. Not only did we like what we found, but we were happy that we were able to put our money into a local business, rather than sending it who knows where through ebay. (Not that ebay isn't great for some things...)

I'm super excited about my hanging garden and plan to hang it on the exterior basement wall when we finish the patio area underneath the deck this spring. I think it'll add a nice touch to the seating area under there and it should do well with the amount of sun it'll get. But I'll wait to construct it until it's a little closer to spring here, and I'll give you a step by step rundown when I tackle it.

My next project is to make a Valentine's wreath for my classroom door. I'm thinking a yarn wrapped cardboard thing, something like this. I want something that's going to be simple to make (and I can do it while I watch Arrested Development or one of our James Bond movies with Benny), but will be fun and festive for the kids.

This month has also been about using what we have around here in the kitchen as much as possible, so we've worked down the freezer and the pantry a good bit, but still have plenty of staples to spare. One of the things I had an abundance of in the freezer was bananas and berries. (The school occasionally gets donations from the local grocery, and the cafeteria can't use them, so when they sent boxes full of bananas, I stocked up.) You can freeze bananas right in the peels, no kidding, if you're planning to use them for baking. I just thaw them in the fridge overnight or in the microwave and they're ready to go. I discovered this fabulous coffee cake recipe in my Coffee Cakes cookbook by Lou Seibert Pappas that uses bananas and coconut, both of which we had on hand, and the recipe was perfect for dessert when some friends invited us over for dinner a few weeks ago. You'll find that recipe at the bottom of the page. I also plan to work some bananas and berries into these muffins, which will either get made tomorrow (if we have another snow day) or this weekend.

Banana, Macadamia Nut, and Coconut Coffee Cake

2 c all purpose flour (or substitute 1 c whole wheat and 1 c all purpose)
1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1 1/4 c mashed bananas (about 2 1/2 large bananas)
2 large eggs
1/3 c veg or canola oil
2 T amaretto liquor (or just add some extra vanilla)
1/2 c sour cream or plain yogurt
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 c sweetened flake coconut
1/2 c chopped macadamia nuts or pecan halves
1 T granulated sugar mixed w/ 1 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9 inch cake pan or springform pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar. Stir to blend. In a food processor, combine eggs, bananas, oil, liquor, sour cream, and vanilla. Add banana mixture to dry ingredients and stir to combine, until smooth. Stir in coconut. Pour into greased pan. Top with nuts and sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top.

Bake 30-35 min, or until golden on top and cake tester comes out smooth. Cool on wire rack, and then remove from pan. Serve warm or at room temp, cut into wedges. Serves 8-10 (or breakfast for two all week long).

I'd love to hear what you're up to, or if you try the recipes or project ideas!

Snow Day Kitchen Crafts and Reading

Today is yet another snow day and school's out, so per the 5:15 am phone call to let me know that, I've had a rather productive morning. Outside of the routine cleaning (a load of laundry using some homemade laundry detergent from my fabulous cousin, unloading/reloading the dishwasher and washing up some stuff by hand, and folding some clothes), I've had some time to explore something I've been interested in for a while... spice extracts.

I've been making my own vanilla extract for years now, but I've been curious about other spice extracts. I knew the process had to be similar, so I employed our friend Google to find out what I could about making orange, lemon, almond, and mint extracts. Here's what I found...

Orange and Lemon Extract: Basically, the process is the same as the vanilla extract. Peel the fruit, minus the white pithy stuff, and immerse it in vodka. Allow it to cure for a while, then use as you would any extract. You can leave the peel in, or strain it out, depending on your preferences.

Almond Extract: Again, similar process. Grind the almonds (the recipe notes using blanched, rather than roasted... I suppose roasted nuts might have lost some of the natural flavor oils in the roasting process), and put these in a jar with vodka. Allow to cure, then use. I would probably strain this one, just so you don't get almond bits in your baked goods, if that's not the desired result. Store in a cool dark place, as you would any spice or extract.

Mint Extract: Use 12-14 Tbs of fresh mint or 6 of dried with 3 cups of vodka. Store in an airtight glass container in a cool, dark place. I would chop or crush the mint for maximum extraction. I think this would be great with chocolate mint or peppermint, so I plan to try it in the spring when my mint comes back up. (This was compiled from several different sources, so there's no link here.)

I think any of these extracts would make a great gift, and a collection of all of them in small, pretty bottles would be so special for a friend who loves to bake. I especially love the homemade extracts, because you can control the quality of ingredients that goes into them. I recently learned that many commercial vanilla extracts contain corn syrup, especially the "imitation" ones, so that's even more of a reason for me to make my own, besides the fact that it's so much more cost effective than purchasing those tiny grocery store bottles.

** Note that I haven't personally tried any of these yet, so don't take this as gospel. Let me know if you do try it and how it works out!

Today, I'm also rereading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It was one of my favorite summer reads and has been fun to reread on this snowy morning. It's got me itching to order some seeds and get some veggies started now so they'll have a jumpstart in the spring. I loved my heirloom tomatoes last summer (before the deer found them), so I'm wanting to try some heirloom beans, squash, and root veggies this year. Maybe I'll get a garden plan sketched out before the end of the day...

I'd love to hear from you! Have you tried any of these extracts, or others? Are you finding yourself already hoping for spring after all this cold and snow (especially in the High Country)? Or are you just loving sitting curled up with a book, a blanket, and a cup of your favorite hot tea with your wonderful fuzzy at your feet?