Category Archives: Square Food Garden

5 Things Friday- Garden Edition!

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I am so excited that our garden actually is producing this year.  Because of the dirt failure of last year, I did have to purchase a large amount of soil.  With that in mind, I decided that I would try to use as many of the seeds as I could to grow to limit the cost.  I have spent around $100 in seeds but should have enough to grow next year as well without purchasing any more seeds.  I do plan to purchase some worms and will be heavily mulching the beds with paper at the end of the growing season.  But now for some exciting and fun news in a different format.

  1. Tomatoes- This is the first time ever that I have attempted to start all my tomato plants from seed.  I used just packets that were given to me.  We ended up planting out about 26 tomato plants after leaving in the greenhouse while we were on vacation.  I was able to make one pot of spaghetti sauce prior to our beach trip and was excited to return to find that the tomatoes began to ripen So far this week, I have made 3 double batches of spaghetti sauce (24 lbs. of tomatoes) a batch of salsa (10 cups of tomato approximately 4 lbs) and we have eaten and shared at least another 4 lbs.  Unfortunately, my basil is very limited this year after 2 failed attempts, but I was able to find some frozen basil from several years ago in the freezer as well as dried basil from last year.   I think that this is the most tomatoes we will get in a week but hopefully we can enjoy several pounds a week to eat.  I would also like to make at least one more batch of spaghetti sauce and Matt has requested another batch of salsa so we shall see.
  2. Peppers- The pepper plants have not looked as good as the tomatoes. I did end up purchasing about $10 worth of starts from the Farmer’s market. I used all of our Waxman peppers in the salsa and ended up pulling out of the freezer enough green peppers to use as well.  I did notice today that we finally have pepper blooms, so I am hoping to get some to eat and freeze during the month of August and September.
  3. Squash- I have actually planted two batches of squash and zucchini. We have been able to harvest and freeze approximately 8 bags for squash casserole and are eating squash at least every other day.  It is not an abundance, but we are enjoying, and we do have enough to use for at least one casserole a month!  So, this is definitely a success.
  4. Green Beans- frustrating!  The first set of seeds produced less than 5 beans total. I planted the second batch, and they are now beginning to give a couple of beans a day. I have also planted a third batch which hopefully will produce in the next month or so!
  5. Cucumbers- We have struggled with these as well. I have been able to harvest maybe 5 total cucumbers. I did start a second batch and they have flowers so these may turn into a nice harvest…time will tell!

For the record, this spring was extremely dry.  And that trend has continued this summer.  I am honestly glad that we did not lose everything during the week we were on vacation. At this point, we are watering every day unless it rains    We have needed to use water from the county for 3 days, but we also have decided to add an additional rain barrel in hopes that we cannot use county water again.   The goal is to get this tank up and running this weekend but we will need to flush at least once so I am hopefully for the additional water collection to start in August.

Holiday Plans

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This holiday (4th of July) weekend, we have been focusing on some project around the house.  First was installing a bike rake on the trailer.  We also ended up replacing some of the trailer wiring and working on a couple of the bikes. Next was finishing up the kitchen floor, we ended up removing the top layer that has been in place for 2 years. The ultimate goal is the replace this floor but first we need to have a bathroom floor replaced and we also need to decide what we want to replace the floor with.  The other big project will be to finish up the chicken coop area.

While most of this has not been frugal it is needed. We have been able to cook and eat at home for all meals except one and all have been under $5 each.

Saturday breakfast– pancakes
Saturday Lunch– Steak um sandwich- pack of steak-um was $4.97 from Aldi, used a green pepper and onion already here. Zach and I ate on hot dog buns that needed to be used, Matt and Lily used hamburger buns that needed to be used.
Saturday Dinner– I made scallop potatoes and ham. The ham is from the freezer so completely free.
Sunday Lunch- We has squash from the garden, I added onion and a pack of stew beef (purchased on clearance last year) that needed to be used this week.  We also cooked rice. We will sauté another squash on the Blackstone and have a second meal from these.
Sunday Dinner- BLT sandwiches, we have our fresh tomatoes from the garden again lettuce from another meal that needed to be used.
Monday Breakfast- Sausage patties (purchased for $2.34 on clearance) and eggs on bread. We also have an excess of bread this week.

The current plan is for Monday lunch and dinner to be from the refrigerator to use up left-overs. We could also have tomato sandwich or chicken salad or pimento cheese sandwiches as well.

Here to finishing up some projects!

5 Things Friday

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  1. Today is Kendall’s 14th birthday. She spent the night with friends last night and we are going to Red Robin for dinner.  She chose a pair of platform converse shoes for her gift!
  2. Kendall and Lily are scheduled to leave for Life (a national youth conference) in Orlando Florida, Sunday morning at 6:30am. We are working on getting everything pack for them. They will be joining us at Oak Island once they return.
  3. After much thought and debate, we removed the top layer of our kitchen and dining room floor. This top layer is 2 years old but a tripping hazard that was also very ugly!  We spent about 3 hours on Wednesday night just with the removal. This weekend the goal is to replace the quarter round and to order a couple of rugs.
  4. I finally (after almost 3 weeks) picked up my car from the dealership today. It needed an O2 sensor replaced as well as the radio. However, the radio is on back order to it will be at least middle of next week before it can be totally fixed. I will have to pay $100 due to the warranty on the car.
  5. My other big plan for the weekend is to plant more green beans, So far we have harvested only a handful. So hopeful the next round will produce better.

Weekend Wrap Up

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This weekend was supposed to be a slower than usual weekend however we still managed to get a lot accomplished.

  1.  Decided on our next house project.   We installed a new kitchen floor in March 2020.  The floor has begun to split and we have lots of pieces that no longer fit and it is becoming a hazard.  We have been talking for several months about replacing the floor.  We are not certain which direction that we want to go.  Matt and I talked and decided for the short run (less than a year) we will simply remove the new floor and return to the wood planks underneath. The current plan is to re-adjust the plank and attempt to nail in place. This is definitely not a permanent fix but solves the problem and will at least give us a presentable floor. We are going to undertake this project next weekend.
  2. Ordered the wood to finish the chicken coop and for the fence along the back edge of the yard.
  3. We have been watering the garden using county water for over a week now. It takes around 20 gallons a day to water so I am very hopeful that we will get some rain in the next 24 hours.
  4. Placed a down payment on our cow order. We should receive the cow some time the first couple weeks of August. Now we are focused on trying to decide what meat cuts we want.  I am also working on emptying one of our freezers. My goal is to get this accomplished by the end of July. However, it is fairly difficult when at the same time we are beginning to get in our summer produce.  Check and balance is all I can hope for.
  5. We ended up going to Costco on Friday night to use our reward check, I was very proud that we only ended up spending $26 out of pocket.  But that was short lived as we also went to Sam’s today.  We spend $260 of which over $200 was on food. I did stock up on Slim Jim’s (3 boxes) Hot Pockets (which the kids have been asking for) Biscuits and Pop tarts for breakfast in addition to some treats.
  6. We managed to only eat out one time this weekend. Matt has been practicing cooking on his new Blackstone.  He cooked two meals yesterday in addition to breakfast this morning!

Let’s get this week started on a good note!

Five Things Friday!

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  • The weather is awful!  It is hot and dry. We have not had any rain in almost a week. The last rain was really less than a quarter of an inch over two days. Our rain barrels are empty.  We are continuing to water the garden by hand.  I am hopeful that we will get some rain over the next couple of days.
  • We have been harvesting and drying parsley, dill and a tiny bit of basil. We have harvested squash and zucchini.  I did start a second round of both of these plants so that we can get much more for a longer period of time.  I have started basil in three locations with little to no success. Let’s hope that the third time is the charm. My plan is to remove the dill now that it has flowered and start some basil in it’s place.   I also have started a second round of cucumbers in hopes to extend the harvest for a couple of months.   We do have one watermelon growing and several cucumbers that are very close to being ready.  I have ordered more green bean seeds and plan to replant those as well. This hot weather has made things more difficult to grow but I am hoping that a couple of steady showers will help improve everything!
  • The first full week of Summer break has flown by!  Zach is at Baseball camp this week after Kendall enjoyed a week at church camp last week.  Yesterday we spent the day at the pool with Braxton!
  • We have ordered the rest of the supplies to finish the chicken coop area.  I will be posting lots of pictures in the next week or so when it is all finished.
  • Matt purchased a Blackstone grill to use both at home and in the camper for his Father’s Day gift.  He really enjoyed using the one at Haley’s wedding a couple of weeks ago so I hope this one gets lots of use.

5 Things Friday

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  1. The schedule- Months ago when I started to plan for my summer break, my thought process was that I would schedule as many medical appointments as I could this week and get them out of the way.  This would free up several weeks of time instead of needing to go out once a week to a different appointment. I did not take in account how tired I would be after the wedding festivities.  I had schedule 1 or more appointments for each day.  Adding in some services such as land clearing and septic pumping that I needed to get done and car sharing that occurred made this week crazy busy! I am hopeful that next week and the following weeks, I will be glad for more time but at this point, I am exhausted and really need a break.
  2. Menu planning-  Did not happen this week at all. I have managed to get food on the table every day and no one starved.   I may start some planning next week but if not we still have a ton of convivence foods!  My logic is that we are cleaning out the freezers and making room so why not!
  3. Gardening-  For the first time in years, we had to water with our hose this week.  I have expanded the garden but we managed to empty out both 55 gallon drums of rain water. It has been very hot and very dry but it was dishearting to hook up the hose.   We did get a storm last night so that will eliminate the need to use the hose at least for the next couple of days.  I am praying for a nice soaking rain over the next week so that things will even out!  I have moved several plants to different areas just to give myself some more space and hopefully get a better harvest.
  4. Chicken- Matt agreed to allow the kids to get some chickens as pets. We had an area behind our house cleared this week in order to make room for the said chickens.  I am expecting a delivery of the first part of the coup this afternoon.  I want to make this a pretty and useful area as well so I have been spending lots of time thinking and planning the landscape around the chicken coop.
  5. Weather- It is extremely and usually hot.  In fact, this has added to my exhaustion this week. I need to get out and get any yard work done prior to 9 am or after 8pm in order to even survive!  I am so looking forward to sitting by the pool this weekend!

Saving On Saturday

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I wanted to update and blog what we are doing and continue to do in an effort to save money. I am watching lots of news stories talking about inflation and how the country is not going into a recession.  Sorry the more you say it does not make it true.   Anyway, here are a couple ways we have found to save money and I will talk a little more about food saving and waste at the end.

  • Running our dishwasher and washer/dryer in the middle of the night. This also helps to keep the heat out of the house so it is easier to cool.
  • Turning off the stove just before food is cooked. For example, I usually cook pasta for 8 minutes to use in dishes. I will turn the stove off after 6 minutes to save just a tiny bit.
  • Using the rain barrels to water the gardens.  This week we have been watering at least every other day so this is a huge saving.
  • Hanging swim suits and towels up to dry only washing one time per week.

Now on to  the food, one of the best ways to save money on groceries is to  eliminate as much food waste as possible. Today, I hope to have gotten at least one step closer to that.  We have a really busy week ahead so I was able to eliminate and use up some different foods this week and prepare ahead.  I have a jar on my cabinet that collects the half containers or less of pasta that does not get used in one meal. It was full of pente, small elbows and medium size elbows.  So today, I cooked it up instead of opening new boxes of pasta.   I used the taco meet from last week, added pasta, the Mexican cheese that had been left open, and couple of other ingredients to make taco pasta. I also cooked a package of Italian sausage I purchased last Sunday to try a new recipe called “Pumpkin Pasta” The recipe made a large batch so I placed half in the pan and froze a bag for later use. I ended up removing the meat from chicken legs that had sat in the fridge to make a Alfredo chicken bake we ate for dinner. This also used up mozzarella cheese that had been sitting in the fridge. We also pulled out watermelon for desert instead of opening a package of cookies.  We froze the remaining grapes in the refrigerator along with the 2 bananas that have been left this week. Unfortunately, I did have to throw out a container of strawberries that were shoved to the back of the fridge and forgotten.

Small things do add up!

Wordless Wednesday- Garden

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Photo credit is Lily

Moved the Tomato’s from the overcrowded beds and purchased $10 of pepper plants on Saturday (5/28)

Zuchnnni and squash- second round planted 5/28.

sugar snap peas

 

 

Sunday Catch-Up

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Another busy weekend has come and gone so I wanted to share what we were able to get accomplished this weekend!   I am still overwhelmed so I am hoping that by being positive I can tackle the rest of the list tommorow!

This is the first Sunday that I have not had to work because the Guam school year has ended.  I really LOVE working with the students, but I do need a break.  This afternoon Mom and I headed to the grocery store, we both had list!  I was so excited to come home and say that I have finally caught up with the list until Zach announced, “We are out of mustard.”  Yeap the story of my life. In other food related news, we schedule to receive our cow this weekend. We are going to purchase a whole cow. It should be ready for pick up the first week of August.  I am going to plan and not purchase any cow related meat for the next two months in order to finish cleaning out the freezer and make room and also to make sure we don’t have something get buried at the back and wasted.   I have stocked up on 2-Liter drinks with a total of 60 purchased this week. If I chose to go to the store again tomorrow to pick up mustard, I will plan to grab another 10. n I did manage to make pickled radish this weekend to use in salads in the next month.  Food Things I have left to get done-  Menu plan, make French toast for breakfast (bread is cut and drying out tonight), make banana muffins to use the remaining bananas from last week, cut up watermelon and cantaloupe so that it will get eaten this week and freeze more Kale from garden.  I should also prepare myself lunch for several days this week as we are not having alot of left-overs currently.

On Saturday, Matt, Zach and I managed to replace the roof of the greenhouse. This should be a permanent fix.  I purchased and planted 7 additional pepper plants from the farmers market and transplanted 4 tomatoes from a bed that was really reallly crowded.  This should finish my planting until July when I will find space hopefully for pumpkin seeds that I already have.   Now the next several weeks should involve watering and weeding while we wait for the harvest to begin.   Garden things left to accomplish-  Get pictures of the veggies growing and post as well as compare to the last couple of years!

I have not touched the budgeting stuff so that is an good chunk of time but hopefully I can get to it this week