Sunday Garden Update

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Spring has sprung!  The temperature were above 80 for several days and we still have at least one spring frost left. But things are growing!

Tomatoes and peppers- maybe 2 weeks left before we plant but maybe one and half.

Marigolds are the smaller plants and more peppers!

These are cucumbers and squash that were planted last week!  I hope to get these plant at the end of next week. I am worried they may not last that long…..

I have an abundance of loofa plants…. not sure where they will end up but I have plenty!

Excited to see the potato plants are grow!

first planting of sugar snap peas

garlic

Asparagus bed

Radishes with a few carrots mixed it. My attempt to thin was not successful so I stopped!

See all the volunteers… I am thinking they are basil (actually crossing my fingers)

Volunteer cucumbers?

These are cosmos and Borge  all volunteer!

These actually came with the house 33 years ago.  Now I know I need to work on this bed! .

 

March in Review

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March has been a very busy and productive month. We have focused alot of time and some money on outdoor projects. Specifically, completing the deck and making the gardens a little more self-sufficient. I also have attempted to start all plants from seed. My goal for the year is to only plant flower starts.  We will see how it goes. Financially, we are still working on reducing debit by reducing our budget.  I think we may have hit the tipping point this month were we are spending less than bringing in. So I am hopeful that this will continue and gain traction in April. Spring break is late this year, so April begins the countdown to SUMMER!

Emergency Fund- Goal is $1000- We currently have $250 in this fund which is $50 less than February and $250 less than December. I have planned for our tax payment on April 15th, so I am hopefully this starts moving in the right direction.

Groceries- Goal $820 per month.   We actually managed to decrease the grocery budget in March spending $450.  One thing that helped was cash back from Costco.  We are also continuing to focus on using items in the pantry and freezers. My overall goal is to continue with this focus until June when school is out. I would love to keep the budget under $500 until then but we shall see.

Gas- Goal is $500. March total is $329.70 Unfortunately gas price took a huge jump on April 1st so this may be difficult to maintain in the future.

Blogging- For 2025- the goal will be 10 posts per month.  Woo HOO This is post number 13 for the month!   As busy as this month was I am really impressed with myself. I am hoping to stay above goal each month.

Debit- Goal is 200000 total debit for the end of the year! I am hoping to start moving the needle in the right direction.  Lily is also paying off her debit which should help.

Health/Exercise- Progress this month is that I had a doctor’s appointment and will be changing meds which will hopefully bring this to easier place.  Goal is 175 and exercise regularly. Blah, Blah

Reading through the Bible this year- Our church and myself are following “The Bible Recap” program and I have currently managed to stay on track for 90 days!

Monday Menu Plan

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This week may just be one of the most full for the Spring season. We have four baseball games to attend!  I am really starting to think about what I want to accomplish over this summer in regards to food preparation but this also means I need to make an effort to clean and organize the foods we have in order to make room for new items.

Breakfast- Saturday-Pancakes and sausage balls.  Sunday-biscuits and gravy.   Monday- Mini muffins- used up the last 3 packs for this.  Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (breakfast burritos,bagel thins (previously purchased on sale) oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, , sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs.

Lunch- Saturday- pick a convenience food or left-over Sunday-Mexican at a small place in Welcome  Monday- crackers  Tuesday,  Wednesday, Thursday- left-overs.  Friday- eat out.

Dinner- Saturday- Flatbread pizzas Sunday- Salisbury steak, gravy, mashed potatoes, and green beans Monday-  Spaghetti and garlic bread.  Tuesday- Chick A Filet ,  Wednesday-  Hamburger and French Fries, using homemade buns. Thursday- Pepper Steak and rice.  Friday-  Cheeseburger pizza

Pantry Challenge

1. Use at least one “meal/meat portion of the meal” from the stand-up freezer each week. (This is where most of the meals are)   hamburger patties and pizza filling.
2. Use at least 3 jars a week from the canning pantry. We will use several jars including spaghetti sauce and green beans this week.
3. Use one item a week from the connivence freezer in my room.  We used sausage and convience items this weekend from this freezer.
4. Each Monday after menu planning provide a list of how I followed the guidelines for the week.  Done!

Sunday Garden Update

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It is definitely Spring, we have lots of things growing.

These are Raspberry plants, I have purchased 9 so far and may have two that are actually growing.

We added two apple trees, replaced a pear tree a second time and attempted a peach tree a third time. All of the new trees have buds and these established trees are starting to bloom.

We actually have eaten a couple of Asparagus stalks, and the rest will grow and go to seed as this is our second-year growth.  The picture really does not show how tall they are. Interestingly we have something growing in the bed in the front of this picture. I tried to thin out the radishes yesterday, but I may have just killed half of them if they don’t perk up I will

I tried to identify, and it said a butterfly bush, but I am thinking either loofas or cucumbers.

I may have overplanted the loofa as I have 15 growing in the greenhouse!  This should at least provide a years supply of sponges.

Snap peas from the first planting have started to shine, 3 broccoli plants that have survived begin transplanted and some very small spinach is also starting to sprout.

Tomatoes and peppers are really enjoying the greenhouse!   I am watering every other day or every third day depending on my schedule. The current plan is to plant these our the week of Spring Break which is three weeks away!

This year is the first time I have attempted to start Marigolds from seeds. I currently have 36 small, tiny plants less than 7 days after planting!

No potatoes yet!

I am probably most excited for this tray. I started cucumbers, squash, zucchini and basil all from seed yesterday!  This is also the last tray that I will be starting inside as we start planting outside in 3 weeks!

 

Saving on Saturday

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Today, we spent most of the day outside working on projects. I am hoping that we have only 1 more full Saturday of outside work and then things go slow down or at a somewhat maintenance level.

These are our two new chicks; they are approximately 8 weeks old and were hatched and cared for up until now by Zach’s agriculture class. As I talked about yesterday, the chicken run needed some repairs and some more predator proofing.  I purchased 50 feet of poultry wire at Tractor Supply on Thursday night for $20.00.  We, Matt myself and Zach worked hard on getting this net installed. We used the metal wire from the poultry netting to connect the existing netting, We also went around and found all the wood at the bottom from different areas. I am very happy with the result and the overall cost was $20. I also spent some time picking up and cleaning out around the chicken coop itself.

Next up we worked on completing the deck project from last summer.  I knew we need some type of barrier for around the outside of the deck as it is elevated off the ground and I don’t like fighting to keep it neat and tight.  We purchased two 16-foot cattle panel pieces for $47.00 We used a grinder to cut to size and they turned out PERFECT!  We have to cut and place both end pieces, but these will take some more time and energy that we were out of!  They will be finished hopefully next weekend!

Productive but exhausting Saturday!

 

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1. I did not post a garden update last week. On Sunday, we went to the movies with friends and so I was not home most of the day. I did have pictures, but this week has shown a lot of growth and change so I will just share an update this Sunday.  I did start 42 ish marigold last weekend and have been amazed that we have over 50% germination even before the 7 days.
2. The weather continues to be on the improving side. We had a frost on Wednesday night/ Thursday morning. And the high today is supposed to be 78*
3.  My chicken math! Over the last 6 months, we gave away a rooster, lost one chicken to a predator and lost another to natural causes. That leaves us with 5 total hens. We are getting 3 eggs a day but honestly, I would like to be getting at least 6 a day with more in order to store. So we need at least 4 if not 6 additional chickens this spring/summer to keep us happy with eggs! I also think this is the best time to get chicks as our older 3 chickens are 3 years old, the younger 2 are 2 years old so this should be a good time to add so that our egg production stays steady. So yeap we need 6 chicks!
4.. Zach is currently taking an Agriculture Class in which they are incubating and raising chickens.  They keep the chicks at school until they are ready to be outside without heat lamps!  This is the perfect time for us to get these as we can work on integrating into our flock. We are picking up 2 chicks today and likely another 2 in a month!  We made a run to Tractor Supply to purchase some chick starter and a new watering container as we can’t seem to locate ours!
5.Last Fall we lost a chicken due to a failure in the wire cage.  I decided last night that we would go ahead and add a layer of poultry netting around the bottom of our existing chicken run. In the past when we have had smaller chicks, we have added cardboard because the current wire has a large enough opening that smaller chicks could escape.  By adding the poultry netting this will eliminate the need to add cardboard when we get additional chicks as well as a layer of protection!   We are planning on installing the netting as well as finishing up the deck this weekend!

Saving on Saturday

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We have been spending quite a bit of time working on getting the yard and garden ready for the Spring and Summer.

This old jeep wheel makes a perfect hose holder!

When we finally got the deck replaced last year the construction cause us to lose our compost box as well as one of the side flower beds.  Since the weather has turned a bit nice, I have been working to get these spaces back to use this year for either flowers or vegetables.

All the wood has been reclaimed from the “waste of the deck” I have been adding shredded paper in order to make a weed barrier.  We also “salvaged” some lumber screws in order to connect the pieces to make it more stable.  This actually has taken several weeks to get together. Finally,

this weekend, I was able to purchase dirt on sale. I am really loving it’s new look. We will be adding cattle panel across the bottom to help give it more of a separation and hopefully keep animals from under the deck.

Next I ended up paying Zach to level the area where the old compost bins sat and He used brick edging that had been removed from our front yard. I am thinking that I will plant either watermelon or Sunflowers in this area.

I think that it is small details like these that always improve the look of our house!

Monday Menu Post

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The almost fail of the week was that again I forgot to put the chicken pie in the oven before the game on Friday.  I was able to recover with a quick chicken pasta that I made after the game which was an instant hit and requested by Zach.  I am hoping to use the chicken pie this week.  I did spend about 2 hours on Sunday, working on preparing meals for the week as well as making more items convenient to grab for lunches as well.

Breakfast- Saturday- bacon and eggs and cinnamon rolls.  Sunday-Cream cheese egg casserole (it was ok not a repeat) Monday- zucchini bread.    Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (breakfast burritos, oatmeal, omelets , sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs.

Lunch- Saturday- Chicken and green bean casserole   Sunday-Breakfast time Monday- Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday- left-overs.  Friday- eat out.

Dinner- Saturday- Lily cooked! Totchos Sunday- I snacked but everyone else had white chicken chill. Monday- Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans Tuesday- Arby’s after the game.  Wednesday Taco Rice bowls Thursday- Spaghetti and garlic bread.  Friday- Attempt number 4 at chicken pot pie from the freezer.

Pantry Challenge

1. Use at least one “meal/meat portion of the meal” from the stand-up freezer each week. (This is where most of the meals are) I pulled some ground beef from the other freezer this week.
2. Use at least 3 jars a week from the canning pantry. Lily used a jar for her dinner meal and I will use a couple of jars during this week. I am going to say this is good for this week.
3. Use one item a week from the connivence freezer in my room.  Frozen chicken pot pie is hopefully coming from the freezer as well as taco rice
4. Each Monday after menu planning provide a list of how I followed the guidelines for the week.  Done!

Sunday Garden Update

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I am so EXCITED to share this update with you!  On Saturday, I spent over an hour up potting a bunch of tomatoes and peppers!  They have been moved out to the Greenhouse where we have a heater that comes on when the temperature is below 50 and a solar fan comes on after 95* Hopefully

these will thrive for the next 5 weeks till we can plant them out!

We still have more peppers, broccoli and loofa in our bedroom!

Outside we have garlic We plan to add squash and a couple of tomatoes.

We have radishes starting out strong.

The biggest and best surprise is the asparagus

Finally, we have some spinach starting

5 Things Friday

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  1. The weather has absolute beautiful with highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s.  I have decided to turn off the heating and air unit in order to save money. In the past I can typically turn this off the first of April but even if I need to turn it back on then we are still saving money!
  2. Zach has been having baseball games or practice 5 days a week which means that our evening are even more pushed and busy.  I am learning that for away games we need to have a food option with us and home games we can typically eat at home if something is ready.  Unfortunately, this was an expensive lesson as we ended up spending $65 on a game day for food and entry.
  3. I am hoping that we are able to complete some outside upgrades and maintenace this weekend as we have 5 weeks till our typical last frost date.  I am planning on continuing with my weekly garden updates on Sunday.
  4. Zach’s truck sold this week.  I have decided that we will not be on the lookout for another vehicle until the end of May.
  5. The pantry challenge is starting to work. I heard from kids yesterday that “there is nothing to eat at home”   In reality we have plenty of food but things have to be prepared and made ahead. I have plans to also do some of this prep work this weekend.