I checked the Farmer’s Almanac and our average last frost is June 19th and the average first frost is August 23rd. Fortunately for my husband I did not check the almanac until after we moved here, otherwise he would be geo-baching it! I do a couple of things to work around our short growing season.Read More
Plant Stakes Courtesy of My Flower Bed
Or Sometimes It Pays To Be Lazy… Last fall we were caught off guard by an early snow storm. We had not yet completed our fall yard clean up when the storm hit and even though the snow melted in a couple of days, we never found our way back out to finish. One benefitRead More
How to Build Raised Garden Beds
Or Why I sympathize With Mr. McGregor We have herds of rabbits roaming our property, mowing down anything edible. They even eat the plants they are not supposed to like! My husband and son made me several garden boxes last year so I could grow vegetables and are in the process of making me severalRead More
My Small Victory Over Mother Nature
Last month I took a walk around the backyard after a severe thunderstorm to survey the damage. A Russian sage plant lost a fairly large branch. I decided to try to save it. Even though I took several horticulture classes in high school (it was the only way to avoid dissecting a frog) I didRead More
Making More Room in Your Freezer
I buy food in bulk when it is on sale. The limiting factor when it comes to stocking up on meat is my freezer space. I wish that I had a large capacity freezer, but until a great bargain comes along I will continue to cram as much food as possible into the little freezerRead More
Miracle Leftover Night
Miracle Leftover Dinners are served a day or two before shopping day. The goal is to use up as many foods near expiration as possible in one meal. Impromptu Chinese Chicken Salad Some weeks the foods are so diverse in flavor that I create a smorgasbord, other times I may only have one or twoRead More
Salvaging a Dry Roast
Every once in a while a roast just doesn’t turn out as I planned. Maybe I tried a new recipe or a different cut of meat, but whatever the reason the roast came out of the oven a little tough or too dry. That night I will serve it as planned with extra drippings pouredRead More
Breakfast Pizzas
Here is a quick recipe for turning bagels into pizzas for breakfast! This is a great way to use up leftover spaghetti sauce, shredded cheese, and vegetables. Breakfast Pizzas Recipe Ingredients: 4 bagels, sliced in half 1 Cup spaghetti sauce 1 Cup cheese (I use Mexican cheese blend) Optional: vegetables, diced Directions: Grease the bakingRead More
This Post Was Hijacked By a Snowstorm
Today’s post was going to be about inexpensive, organic solutions to common garden problems. I was going to relate how I combined crushed garlic with the water in the milk jugs from my $2.00 greenhouse to make a rabbit repellent to protect my bulbs. Instead I have to share that a predicted thunderstorm arrived insteadRead More
Fast, Inexpensive Do-It-Youself Composter
Make your own composter in under 30 minutes and under 30 dollars with this Home ECOnomics video. The composters that are demonstrated are easy to make and an improvement over my open pit composting. I happen to have the materials to make both of the composters in this video, so it will not cost meRead More
From Grilled Chicken to Pasta Salad
Here are some ideas on batch cooking chicken and pasta to span two days of meals. Day 1: Grilled Chicken, Creamy Garlic Pasta, and Garden Salad The secret to perfectly grilled chicken is to bake it! I put my chicken in a 13 x 9 pan and coat it with my favorite Italian dressing (Bernstein’sRead More
Create a Temporary Greenhouse Using a Plastic Drop Cloth and Recyled Milk Jugs
Last summer my husband made several raised beds for my garden. Instead of making the posts flush with the box, he extended them 1 -2 feet higher than the box, so I could attach chicken wire thus denying Peter, Benjamin, and friends their usual midnight snack. I enjoyed gardening last year and was soRead More
Mistress of the Obvious!
Stop the presses! This news just in: Refrigerating Fruit Keeps it Fresh Longer! I realize that this probably seems very obvious to some, maybe even most of you, but I just realized this last month. Until last month, I kept my fruit in baskets on the counter. My theory was that if my children hadRead More
Do It yourself With a Little Help From Mother Earth News
There is one online resource that has been especially helpful to me throughout the last year and that is Mother Earth News. I found it while searching online for information about perennial vegetables. I have since learned quite a bit about gardening, raising chickens, reusing “trash” and baking from reading their articles. I even learnedRead More
Cost Per Serving Calculator
On Wednesdays I go through all of the grocery store ads and make my shopping list. Most of the time it is obvious which sale price on meat is the best bargain: whole chickens $0.67 a lb., boneless pork loin $0.99 a lb., etc. However, there are times when the decision is not so simple.Read More
Minimizing Paper Usage in the Kitchen
Last year I decided to go paperless in our kitchen and stopped buying paper towels and paper napkins. I pulled out the cloth napkins and put them on the counter. And most importantly, I introduced my family to kitchen towels. I purchased most of my napkins at after-holiday clearance sales. Some I made myself byRead More
Alternatives to Buying Bottled Water
Or Spending Money to Save Money The tap water in our area doesn’t taste very good. It is safe to drink, but it has a faint taste of chlorine. For a long time we bought 2 1/2 gallon jugs of water to use in our kitchen and cases of bottled water to take with usRead More
How to Make Dishwasher Detergent
I make my own dishwasher detergent because we have a septic tank and most dishwasher detergents contain bleach which is bad for septic tanks. Making my own dishwasher soap allows me to use septic safe ingredients in my detergent. An added benefit of making my own dishwasher detergent is that it is much more frugalRead More
Recycling and Reusing Items to Save Money
We used to live in an area where our waste collection company gave us 3 cans as part of our standard service: One for yard waste, one for recyclables, and one for garbage. When we moved to our present location the waste company asked if we wanted to go with the same plan as theRead More
Miracle Leftover Chili
Here’s one idea for combining leftover meats, beans, and vegetables and making a delicious result we’ll call “chili.” I find an odd pleasure in making a meal out of seemingly unrelated items. One night a week I have “Miracle Leftover Night”. Miracle leftover night is always more of spontaneous event rather than my usual premeditatedRead More
