Changes in grocery shopping

  We have cut back from once a week, then every other week to one major shopping to 4-6 wks and only getting a gallon of milk or milk and a loaf of bread between. We spent about $325 a month.

Yesterday as we stopped and I ordered the prime rib for Christmas eve, I brought up reducing the grocery list and using what we don't spend on paying off the house. 

Then we talked about limiting the grocery list. I had used Kroger's app to finger out what he thought we could buy for $100 a MONTH.... I figured it to be $50 a month using the list I had on me. 

I brought up the book I had reread, Prepper's pantry and that we had in the pantry everything to stay healthy evenif we wasn't taking a vitamin pill so that took that worry off. No sense doing something that is going to make your health worse. 

He came back with let's just buy milk (I can make yogurt and ice cream). 

I added heavy cream and or half and half once a month or every other month for whip topping and custards.

Then he suggested we split the savings between stocking back up and the mortgage. Suggested we start Jan 1st. and go to Lent.

I said NO, now. I already paid for the prime rib and that's the only thing that would not be regular groceries. We would do the next 14 wks (around Lent) and see how that goes.

Going to be an interesting year.

quick update

 Hubby's younger brother text last night his wife is going back in for heart treatment  on Friday(day before their mother's service) and might not be there. This is the 6th time she's had the treatment trying to get her heart to stay in rhythm. This is basically the same issue MIL had last couple years. * She was there but said they were looking at her getting a pacemaker.

FIL doing okay, said he just focuses on that fact she can sleep (was only sleeping 2 hrs before the shortness of breath would wake her) and he isn't worried about going to get groceries and coming home to find her on the floor where she fell and something broken.

Using drying rack almost daily even after hanging on the line. Can't tell wheither something is damp or just cold.

Largest turkey that was in freezer is canned. Second turkey thawing. Three beef roasts thawed to can in chuncks this morning.

Carrots and celery to blanche for freezer today also.

We have below freezing weather coming in tomorrow so I will finish hanging the last of the winter curtains also.

Doc told Hubby to get his steps in as he isn't losing the weight like he needs to,otherwise we are in good health and I am still off meds.

Everyone be safe, have a good holiday 

Blessed be

Odds and ends

 

Son2 moaned over this. Daughters 1,2,3 and 4 crabbed. Guess who uses this ...

Washer repair guy told us to replace the washer as the gear box seal went bad and the oil was on the floor. Gave us a couple suggestions , Maytag, Whirpool and Speed Queen but make sure we had a local repair guy for Speed Queen as they don't do those repairs. Got  a Magtag at Menards with 11 % rebate. Lowes had some on sale but they were too small.  

I wrote down while sick, 30 casseroles, 30 soups, 30 beef main dishes, 30 pork main dishes 30 poultry main dishes ,etc. As I use that dish I mark it off. Has worked well. I did scan the lists to my computers so I don't have to rethink it again LOL. The hog and 1/2 beef is paid in full. 

Took this last week. Snow is starting to go away,supposed to get a warm up to 40s/50s this coming weekend. We will reload the wood and coals then.

Hubby's dad let us know his bowel blockage (cancer) is back for the 3rd time. Then called to let us know Hubby's mom had a heart attack. She had congestion heart failure for years and has had several bad attacks. This time she passed. Miss her but glad she's not suffering any more. Her service is Saturday. His Dad told the 4 kids if they wanted to go to lawyer about her will, that was fine. He will update his the following week and the 4 kids are welcome to go with him. 

Amish neighbor's families had 6 deaths in the last 2 wks.

Got our vaccines. Hubby usually has a mild reaction, this time it was me, just achy. 

Got the beef freezer defosted,inventoried and organized. Poultry/veggie chest freezer the last one. 

I started thawing the largest turkey I had in freezer to can this week, probably will be doing the other 3 between now and Tday as 2 are on the small side. Will make a good size hole for pork that is coming in as it's in the pork freezer. 

Hope everyone is well, stay safe

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be

Here's a rainbow for everyone

 Faint in the back ground but it's there.

Hubby is doing well... our clothes washer stopped spinning out and I am now recovering from a nasty bout of flu (Doc said due to worrying about Hubby) that involved dry heaves.I think I picked it up at Walmart when I went to get my glasses fixed (yes they broke of course) and went and got bread. The store was packed!!! Since I have the flu, I rescheduled the repairman for the washer, no sense sharing this crap. He was grateful as his grandmother (80s) lives with him. THEN my filling came out of my tooth  SIGH. That will be fixed after I quit runing a fever for 5 days.

House needs cleaned but it has been aired out daily for at least an hour. Wood stove is back on after 4 days off. Means windows are open to keep the temp below 80. We air out daily when wood stove is on, Doc told us to do it even with regular furnance is on... I used to when the kids were in school and my kids didn't get sick like the other kids did.

After laying on the bathroom floor for 2 days I took to laying on the bed for another day. Yesterday I moved around slowly. Did work on the budget for next year.

The hog and 1/2 side of beef we bought is paid in full. That will be processed end of Nov or middle of Dec. That will give us enough meat for at least 1 yr if not a yr and a couple months. I asked an Elder Amish lady (just her and her hubby) how she makes sure she has enough and she gave some good advice since I am now trying to get away from the stores as much. She processes her meat then divides it out by month... say she processes 120 lbs of pork, and she wants it to last 14 months (says you always want a few month extra incase of bad times). That means pork is served 8 times a month. I will still have to buy my smoked sausage. Do the same with beef. I can do that with poultry , just have to think about getting it done. She thought it would help with meal planning also... She does 14 meals of beef, 8 meals of pork, 16 meals of poultry, 12 meals of eggs and 10 meals of beans and 30 meals of leftovers as soup or casserole... that's eating 3 times a day for a month. She used to go to the store twice a month.... I was shocked until she told me what she was getting was to fill in. So she started growing winter squash for when potatoes run low, and using more soup beans.Cut her costs in half. To use up stale bread she made French toast or bread pudding or stuffing or all of it. 

Anyways. Since I am still not wanting to eat much at all LOL.I did decide to work on the menu so that info helps.I have pushed grocery store to every 6 wks except for milk every two weeks. I cut the food budget down to half, even with helping Son2 with groceries.He should be okay now if he stays careful with his shopping. 

Blessed be everyone

Stay safe. 

prayers for peace

weeks run together

 Son 2's cat died . He was 20 yrs old. He still has the younger one but had stated he will not get another cat due to his own health going down. His paperwork is on hold for his medical retirement while the gov't is shut down but since he has his Army medical retirement he is ok. VA did give him some good news, they connected with an Urgent Care close to him so he isn't looking for a ride to get there as he no longer drives interstate.He laughed when he found out it was our old doctor's before we moved here. 

Daughter 4 is now sharing  a car with her older son so they could buy a chest freezer. Younger son is walking to work to save $$.  She's glad the oldest and her family are doing ok.

Daughter 1 has blocked family due to ALL of us reporting to her doctor/law she was drinking and selling her prescription drugs. Her husband backed us as he worried she was going to end up killing herself. She's in rehab now so it's wait to see how this goes. 

Daughter 2 is worried about losing her job working at the school, last hired is first fired,she is still bartending but acknowledged her tips are way down and her hours there have been cut in half. She has 2 of her boys (adults) living with her still but they told her she should start looking at getting a smaller place as they are looking at moving next summer.

Daughter 3 said she is working 2 part time jobs, she has the 2 younger kids still at home both are working part time with still being in school.

Son 1 said he is doing fine, still working steady at IT company. 

Parents in law are doing good but Hubby's SIL of his younger brother was in really bad shape between heart and other issues. She's doing better after she said something to her heart doctor that our son had been zapped and it fixed he AFIB.SO they tried it.... it straightened it out like his did. 

Hubby got over pneumonia, Doc decided he wanted another test CT scan with dye on his lungs. Found granulomatous, passes through genes, affects immune system. He has recovered but we now know why he gets sick easily. Will have to work on a better routine for home blessing and making sure he eat healthy.

I have another tray of green tomatoes turning . I will add them to the ones in the freezer to cook into sauce.

I gathered thoughts of what I wanted to do with the beef that will be coming in late Nov thru Dec. Made the list so I wouldn't side track and not remember something. Already decided on the pork.

We have the wood/coal stove on for the last 2 weeks. I've been doing most of the keeping the wood in house. 

Hubby checked on the whole house generator and the solar well pump. He does a monthly test run to make sure they are in good working order. 

I still need to finish the deep cleaning. Slow process since there was several medical appts for Hubby.

I checked the pantry, medical supplies, etc. Have 2 out of 6 deep freezers to defrost, clean, organize and inventory this month. Picked up a few things we were low on. 

Worked on finances for next year. Need to check a few more things before we set those numbers. 

Set for a hard winter they keep talking about.

I hope everyone is healthy, got supplies for your homes and find something daily

Blessed be  Stay safe

Hubby's birthday.

 This is from the other day but he loved how well it turned out. Ribeye steak, baked potato and asparagus I froze will be his meal for his birthday.

Son2 is now off work for medical. His employer suggested he file for assistance thru VA as he can't stand very long on his feet. PAIN just runs down his legs through the feet. Doctors don't have answers of why YET, more testing  to come.  He can pay his bills, maintenance on car and house but limited on groceries with the cost that just keeps going up. He was an idiot (his words) and gave his emergency back up incase of electric failure to his girlfriend that is now his ex.   We raided ours, found stuff that we will not use here since we have a wood/coal stove to heat and cook on, solar pump for the deep well, hand pump on cistern and 2 generators. He ordered a grid down "bucket" of dried food that will stay good for 25 yrs. Figured that would cover some of the food issues.  One of those , I don't need to have a pantry as the store is 3 blocks from me. Store manager put a sign out if they lose electric the store would be CLOSED as they don't have a generator to run the store , just protect the freezers and frigs. 

I checked with the girls and Son 1... they said they would be okay for at least a week. I told them to push that amount to 2 wks (comparing to Blizzard of 1978). I will ask again next month. Two of the girls live across from each other, one will have heat, the other has a grill so they decided worse case grill gets carried across the street along with blankets and pillows. LOL

We cleared the gardens. I froze the tomatoes to can later. The last of the winter squash will be cured Thursday so I can move it to the basement then. 

We did a trail run of the wood stove since we changed the cap on the chimney.

Started nicer ... Hubby put 1round log (8 inch wide, 15 inches long) in for night time at it was down to 40 ℉, just one and it ran us out of the house at almost 90 ℉ with every window open GEEZE.  Hubby might have to cut them in half and only use 1 instead of the 6 we used last winter . He thinks it was Birch wood as it burns hotter but doesn't last as long. Took a good 24 hrs to get the house back down to mid 70s 😌

I have all 3 refrigerator freezers organized and 4 of the 6 deep freezers sorted and organized (and inventoried) Still have the beef freezer and the other freezer that is a combination of poultry, seafood and veggies. I restocked nonfood items and otc meds. 

I didn't go to store yet so it will be 8 weeks since we did a shopping except for milk and I picked up large bag of carrots, 2 celery and 25 lbs of bread flour as I shared what I had with M and she just gave me the cash to replace what I gave her.Bulk store was out of all flours and was waiting for delivery. Came in almost a week late. She sent a pie over with the cash . 

I paid all the bills, that's always a sigh of relief. Stayed on budget for groceries/nonfood/ OTC meds.

Now I need to finish the fall cleaning 😕SIGH. 

Blessed be, stay safe

Prayers for peace

Rolling into Autumn

 Kalettes did not produce due to drought  😞

Harvested last of winter squash to cure. Moved cured squash to basement. Gave what we didn't want to neighbor.

Eggplant is not turning. Hubby said he would recheck it this weekend and if it's still green he will pull it.

Tomatoes need picked and plants pulled.

We harvested the last of the potatoes, didn't do well at all.

We harvested the last of the sweet potatoes that did extremely well. Probably will end up sharing that in a couple months or so.

Hubby redid the ruined insulation in the pump house. Wore a cover all for it but didn't bother with a face mask... caught pnumonia and was down for two weeks and still gets tired very quickly which means I was doing his work along with mine. 

I got a sinus infection, so running a fever SIGH SIGH SIGH...neighbor on other side burnt drywall and didn't warn anyone and the smoke drifted all over the neighborhood. Even my Amish neighbor complained.😮

I only bought 1 loaf of bread and 2 gallons of milk in Sept. 

Not as done with autumn work load as we had hoped to be due to health issues but still doing decent. 

Hope everyone is well and that you have something to smile about. 

LORD GIVE ME STRENGTH

 Sister in law, went into AFIB and they found a lump at her pancreas. The surgeon said it didn't look to be cancer but being a nurse she went Googling it and said she's sure it is. She has long term Covid. Lump was removed and sent for testing. Her heart doctor will see her Monday.

Mother in Law didn't use her walker and fell AGAIN. Doesn't help that she has polio and heart medication that does increase the chance of falling.Still she's been using a walker for YEARS so we are trying to figure out why she isn't using it now.

Son2 has hired a lawyer to deal with his civil side of military of work that doesn't agree with the Army side that he is disabled and Army put him disablity with pension...SIGH. 

We now have wasps to go along with the yellow jackets and bees(not honey bees as we had E come check) so since the wasps nests are 20 ft up in the area ,we hired that to be dealt with. I am highly allergic. Decided when Hubby seen termites in the woods across from us (not were we get our wood) that he would have a contract for quartly inspection. Last year it was RED ants. Actually will be less than the costs he was spending on sprays and such.I kept track LOL.

 Our hog could be butchered anywhere from end of Sept to Dec. I defrosted the pork deep freezer. Cooked sausage to make 52 meals of sausage crumbles (pizza, casseroles, etc). Inventoried what was left. I need to move a bit yet but can just stack it. Son2 is taking some of it.

Beef (1/2 steer) is coming in December. I will defrost and inventory the beef deep freezer before then.

I need to defrost the poultry/seafood/veggie deep freezer next as Turkeys will be coming on sale in Nov. 

I canned 14 qrts. and 8 pints of M's veggie soup. I thought Hubby was going to stick his head in the pot I made it in LOL. I did scrap out a bowl for him. 

I paid the bills and changed it to to paying all of them midmonth. I deduct the automaticwtihdrawls/pays also. 

The 250 truck needs to go in for oil change etc tomorrow.

The silverado will be next month, maybe.

I paid the bill for the stuff we needed for replacing insulation in pump house. Hubby took out the damaged insulation, repaired a couple studs and started installing the new insulation and a vinyl wall to help protect the insulation if a pipe blows again. He ordered a 10 cubic "clean up" bin from our refuse company. That is paid already.

Our house and auto ins agent left the company so we have a new agent. Actually is within 30 miles of us instead of 90 minutes since we moved to the farm.

The electric is DOWN $10. Instead of running the AC we are running the furnance as it's too warm (for us) to use the wood/coal stove. I turn the furnance off when the day is up to 68 but nights are around 40 degrees. NO rain, pond is really low, cisterns are drying up for several Amish, ours is low. Can tell the deep well is low also. 

I only got dairy and some salads at the grocery store. 

We harvested tomatoes (in freezer to can sauce later), eggplant,and winter squash.

I know we will be harvesting more winter squash, potatoes and eggplant this coming week.  Not sure about anything else. Sweet potato vines are starting to die so I will be checking on their sizes before I start harvesting. 

Hubby was given some firewood that needs cut so he's been working off and on dealing with that even though we don't need it for this coming winter.

Charlotte is due for her shots so we will get her nails cut also when we take her at the end of the month when we got to chiro. 

I decorated for fall.... still need to do deep cleaning and change out curtains. But decorations are up and done. 

I pray you are all well, stable in your homes and doing decent. 

Prayers for peace and healing

Blessed be

why I do long to do lists Sept/Oct to do

ONE... Hubby and I work off the same list. Once in awhile he will tell me he has some other work to do, writes it on a scrap paper and within a couple days it's lost so I write it on the main list also. His cognitive disfunction AKA brain damage due to head hits in sports and farming happens daily.

TWO... Due to my own health issues, I look at the whole list, and think

How do I feel today? What absolutely needs done? Can I do this job in sections (different days) or is it a one day job deal? How can I do it easier?

A morning of doctor appts with in an hour drive, wears us out but we can add vet appt for Charlotte or grocery store stop as I can get in and out in 30 minutes ...but then we are done for the day after putting the food away. There very few doctors now in our area. We now call the local hospital a bandade center. Would not be surprised if it closes. 

I know Monday I will start defrosting the pork deep freezer and probably canning some of what is in there as the hog is expected in a couple weeks (or beginning of next month) , the beef freezer will follow with it being butchered when deer season starts and the poultry/seafood freezer will be last. The other freezers were just defrosted due to veggies coming in. 

I need to move canning supplies off set of shelves so I have a place to store the meat I can that is coming in. I need to deep cleaning the basement since that is where the canning/ freezer stuff goes before I start on that. I keep it dusted and swept but I want to check shelves etc and make sure things are in correct areas not just shoved here and there. Hubby put tomato paste with soups and I thought I was out and ordered more... SIGH.

Besides the pork and beef coming in I have other things to process along with garden slowly coming in that needs dealt with. Soups and apples to can or dehydrate. M gave me 6 dozen of eggs so I can make my noodles for winter. When the butternut squash is harvested I will make butternut ravioli so will be making more pasta then.  

I need to set up where I am storing onions, sweet potatoes, potatoes and winter squash

I have deep cleaning (wood stove is done) to get done and winter curtains, bedding, clothing to deal with. Hubby needs to wash the house, deal with some yellow jackets and deal with the pump house.

There are 64 listed on the to do list not counting appts and grocery store. I think we can do with just milk runs during Sept. Meal will be quick or what ever I am canning. M's MIL gave me bread so I don't have to deal with that the next 2 wks. I put some of it in the freezer to cover that.

BUT today I am just checking lists, planning what is first (pork freezer defrosted) etc.

Prayers for peace, Stay safe

Blessed be

canning meat

I have canned raw meat and precooked meat.

I strongly suggest you check out  this website. I have seen canning stuff on social media that could put you in the hospital or kill someone. 

https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/preparing-and-canning-poultry-red-meats-and-seafoods/meat-ground-or-chopped/

IF you have a local ag extension, call them and ask. 

Amish vegetable soup for canning

 Due to meat being in it a pressure canner is required. 

This recipe takes time with all the dicing, you could use veggies from canned goods or freezer. 

2 1/2 gallons of tomato juice...(M uses only 4-6 qrts) 20 qrts if using orginial recipe , closer to 16 -17 qrt using M's with less juice.

1 quart each of corn, peas,small dices of carrots, small dices of celery (M removes strings first) small diced onion, and small pieces of green beans. Make the dices all the same size.

2 sweet bell peppers diced small.

2 quarts of small diced potatoes.

1 of 15/16 oz can of navy beans 

1 of 15/16 oz lima beans

2 lbs ground beef (or other meat) precooked and grease removed and in very small crumbles.

12 oz box of macaroni

2 cups brown sugar

salt to taste

2 tablespoons dried parsley

4 small packages of beef stock (M used Knorr slow cooked beef stock)

1 package of each seasoning... beef stew, meatloaf, sloppy joe and taco.

DO NOT SKIP THIS or it will not be as good. (M skipped it and said she would never skip it again LOL. She used McCormick as that's what to store had)

Fry onions , cook macaroni half way done

Cook carrots,celecry,and potatoes until soft. Added beans. Mix with meat and onions. 

Mix seasonings with tomato juice (4-6 qrts if following M )

Mix everything together and pack in jars.

M adds more corn and green beans. You can change up the veggies.

Processes in canner 90 minutes up to 2 hrs.  

good morning. two weeks worth

  AUG 11th 

Laundry is on the line, dishwasher is unloaded, supper is picked out and I flung 27 items and decluttered 15min.  I pulled the last half loaf of bread out of the freezer. 

We have a gathering to go to this weekend so I need to decide what to take. Won't be any veggies as their gardens are almost as big as ours. 

Our electric went up $45 ... ran the AC for over a week, add on new freezer (switched it to all freezer instead of frig/freezer) 3 dehydrators and having fans running so was not surprised. Well ....we were surprised it wasn't higher.

 Did a lot of maintenance last month and those bills came in.Best to get it done because costs is only going to go up. We have one more project to buy for, going to use Menards rebates to lower that cost.

Hubby is going to drag 4 more trees up that are cured and 2 more that aren't. We don't need them cut to size right now but he figured he would move them out of E's way for maple syrup time this winter. We need mineral spirits for oil lamps still but waiting until the next order comes in so it's fresh. We used 4 gallons this past year.That is down from the year before but will go back up as I replaced an oil lamp.

The "winter get it done" list is basically deep cleaning the house and replace insulation in pump house in cooler weather, that's the last project. That's good since it's still Aug and not late Oct like a couple years ago.

Winter squash is starting to come in. Onions have been pulled and are curing. Looks like we will have another round of potatoes to harvest.  Moving canned goods also to make sure we used the oldest first.

Son 2 and I have been sharing and writing down meals. He is off work due to medical.Income has been cut in half. He said money wise he is okay as long as he is careful and his paperwork for disability goes through in 3 months.  You would think if the Army said you were disabled that would go for all the rest of disability  BUT NOOOOO. 

Mother in law fell, gave herself whiplash. I and her daughter are taking turns helping her in the shower as she still can't raise her arms to wash her hair,face, neck and back. Father in law is doing housekeeping and meals.  Grandson stayed for a week until she could get out of bed by herself and to help do odds and ends.

LORD HELP!!! Aug 28th.

Laundry on clothes line, watching as we are to get rain, fingers crossed as our cistern is almost dry and Amish neighbor's is completly dry. But I hope the laundry is dry or close to being dry before it hits.FINGERS CROSSED.

E's dad was hit from behind while in his buggy. Thankful he didn't have any of the grandkids in with him as he usually does. Guy said he was too busy watching the storm come in while driving and didn't realize he was that close to the buggy. E's dad was thrown 20 ft into field. Said he landed on a shock of straw that helped soften the landing. He is doing OK, guy that hit him is now helping with the chores before he goes to work and at night. Admitted he was distracted with watching the storm come in.He called the sheriff and reported it all.

Half cow and the hog meat will be in during Sept/Oct. I need to move things in freezers before doing house deep cleaning.  I can either freeze it or can it or both. Son2 suggested I can what I have in the freezer and make room for the fresh to go in freezer.That way I will have quick meals ready while dealing with the fresh meat. Sounds like a plan.

Have winter squash, mini eggplant,some cherry and paste tomatoes (regular did not do well), sweet potatoes still blooming, potatoes probably in next 2 wks. I pulled the last of the banana peppers, Might get some of the colored small bell peppers still. 

I went to store and got dairy, 4 salads, carrots and celery. I might buy some fresh apples for eating during the winter but what I bought is what I think will be our standard need to buy list when we go to the store this winter. When the gardens are completely done I will start growing sprouts. Amish family that we help their Dad while in surgery for 4 months off and on, got together and had an Englisher buy the stuff  from Amazon for us as that is now what they are doing for "fresh" veggies during the winter for last 3 yrs. 

We still don't have the furnance on ( update..just turned it on as house is dropping below 65 rain is spitting here and there), won't start wood stove until it stays cold during the day. Today it's low 60s but starting Saturday it will be back up into 70s. Might have to turn furnace on this evening because its not even noon and the house is back under 65 but that's okay. I planned for those type of days when I ordered propane.

M sent over small eggs from her new chickens, I mentioned I needed to make noodles and since her new chickens (pullets) are ALL laying she is getting over 5 dozen a day along with her older chicken laying, She sent 6 dozen and said she had more as they are now laying twice a day. Charlotte will get some since she is itching due to allergies and the eggs calm it down. 

On the to do list

We got the pump house insulation stuff when we went to help MIL so that is on site. Hubby called our trash collector and they said we could have what they call a "clean up box" the week after the fair (next week), they just need a 3 day notice to deliver it. 

I need to can apple jam, onion chutney, vegetable soup (M gave me recipe for 20 qrts). Need to freeze eggroll mixture for eggroll bowls. Need to make noodles to dry, dehydrate apple slices and peels and cabbage. Need to make granola for bfast cereal. 

I need to fix the freezers to get the meat in or plan on canning all of it.... or some of it. That's around 600 to 700 lbs of meat  coming in.

I need to deep clean home and flip to fall/winter clothes. Local plants and animals are forcasting colder than normal winter. We have been going more with plants and animals that the local forecast. LOL

Stay safe, prayers for peace and sanity

Blessed be

HEAVENS!!!!

 Health wise we are doing okay. Weather is okay, garden got away from us when it rained almost daily but the last couple days it's been dry after lunch so we could catch up.

Kids are doing okay, working 6 days a week except the one that is filing 50 million papers for a early medical retirement.Paper work will drive you crazy. Army declared him 80% disabled but he still has to do all the paper work for the civil side, seems to me that the paperwork done should have covered both sides, but NOOO it has to be other paper work.He laughs when I mention it and says that's the military for you. 

But everyone is eating or I would be getting phone calls.Couple of the grandkids are moving out on their own. They are in their 20s.

Insurance and property taxes are now $9000  a year with the discount of homesteading. OUCH. 

I will be repeating myself most likely.

I ordered summer fill of propane and 400 gallons for winter propane. I am guessing that we will have extra come next summer when it's time to fill. My company will move what ever $$ is left over to the next year. 

We have 6 tons of coal. Three of it is regular lump coal, the other 3 is nugget (small pieces).

We have the wood shed of night time wood FULL. The 1st barn stall have daytime wood, we have 12 cords *think the size of a RV*. We decided to not get the other 2 wagon loads of sawmill blocks until we were down at least half way on what we have. So we could keep the truck and tractor in the barn through the winter.

The half cow we ordered will be ready probably late Nov, early Dec. We were asked if we would need it before then... NOPE.

The whole hog will be ready Oct or Nov.  That is fine as I should be done with the gardens. We already lined up the bacon, hocks and ham to be smoked.

I am still looking for areas for the storage of onions, sweet potatoes, potatoes and winter squash. Pretty sure I will do the winter squash where I did last year.

I have winter squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, zucchini, yellow crockneck and Brussel sprouts still growing in the gardens. Tomatoes are just starting to come in. Might have some turnips. Collards might come back up. 

I made some sourdough starter and froze it. Right now we are not eating bread as we eat tortilla wraps during warm weather, Hubby actually prefers bagels instead of bread for his bfast.

I have to clear room for the meat coming in or I will be canning it. I checked, I do have enough jars and canning lids. So if the freezers can't hold it, it will be canned.

I've been focusing on harvest and redoing the budget. Sleeping, Charlotte is up a lot at night wanting out, found out there was a fox running around and she's doing guard duty. Our yard is fenced but if the fox is small enough it could get through the back fence. Hubby put some extra wood there to help stop that. 

Blessed Be

Prayers for peace

Short update before I go to eye doctor

 as my left eye keeps getting bloodshot. Since  I have a cracked head 25 yrs ago and it caused a stroke and then I threw out my neck really really bad last week, all the doctors want my eye checked out. 

We listed everything we needed/wanted to have done by Sept. 30th for this winter last Saturday. It's 4 sheets one side (notebook paper), took us 2 days to think it through.

The list has 210 items, some are easy and can be done quickly others will take days or weeks. It does NOT contain daily work like harvesting, processing and replanting gardens or mowing the yard and around the pond.

We have a half of side of beef and a whole hog coming in during Oct/Nov. Which is why we decided to push to get things done using a list. Other wise Hubby's cognative disfunction kicks in and he just wonders around.

He went over to E and asked if he added to our "to be cut" wood pile as he found a large trunk under the other wood he remembered needed cut... Nope he had pulled it up himself but buried it under the other wood when he brought it up from the woods and he has a least one more of the same size if not two still back in the woods.

It's raining so I did paperwork, credit scores froze and updating what is needed in escrow as the house ins went up and the mortgage co thinks the property taxes will also by the same amount.At least they warned me.

Have a blessed Day

prayers for peace

Garden etc

 Done with berries, walked across pasture and told M , they can finish picking mine as I need no more. They were happy as theirs just was planted this year and didn't make much. I got a mixed berry pie out of it, a loaf of bread(cut it in half and froze half of it) and 2 dozen eggs. 

I harvested broccoli twice, zucchini  3 times, cauliflower,string beans(multicolor beans) 4 times, swiss chard, turnips (silky sweet type) cherry tomatoes twice... think they are almost done and rest of tomatoes are being SLOW, got a couple off Amish we bought the house from. Just barely have room in the veg/fruit freezer. But except for zucchini being dealt with everything is processed. Have started curing the winter onions as they mature. Every time I see an Amish they ask if we need peas, green beans or zucchini. Guess everyone is getting ran over.

Bought new microwave after other died. Was on sale . Saved $100.

Bought new Midea..3 in one. Top can be frig, bottom freezer, OR all frig OR all freezer.AND it's garage suitable so it's in the barn. Right now it's being used for flash freezing the produce coming in. On sale $400 off. We have a frig starting to not hold temperature. Repair guy said not worth fixing (good friend of kids and sees no point in buying new when you can repair.) Repair was going to cost $600. 

Hubby's miter saw died in middle of making a casement cover. Blasted thing was only 30 yrs old... SNICKER. That's okay, he had another tool die that was 40 yrs old last  month.  On sale $300 off. We had all of it delivered for $29.00 and Hubby and I didn't  have to lift a finger. 

Took the $800 we saved and put on the mortgage. 

Electric bill came in... Hubby asked how I kept it down to budget with running AC. I don't let sunshine in the house when it's HOT. I don't run the AC during the night at all, have windows open and fans pulling the cooler air in OR rotating fan. Ceiling fan in bedroom as it's right above the bed.  I also set it to only be 10-15 degrees cooler than out side.That's what was advised when I worked childcare.

Hubby is finishing cutting the sawmill blocks to size. Said he didn't have as many that was too big. He has the base of a tree to cut and split at the wood shed as it's nigh wood. Said maybe next week he will do that. He also has the one in E's woods to cut limbs off and then drag that and trunk to cut up. It's more for NEXT year.Weather forecast for this winter is to be colder and wetter... hoping wetter is SNOW not freezing rain.

I started up my sourdough. Got Daily Sourdough by Lisa Bass. She has a lot of recipes to use the discard sourdough also which is my main problem with sourdough. Hubby is now deciding wheither he wants brownies or cookies or both. I was thinking pancakes so I could make extra for bfasts or even suppers later. Also ordered Everything Worth Perserving by Melissa K Norris. Had interesting cabbage preserving recipe, will be trying it as I have cabbage starting in and don't need kraut. Added thesourdoughgal.com blog to my reading list.

We went to store... got a gallon of milk every 2 wks last month. Grocery fund went in saving for meat in fall. Won't go to store until Tuesday Will be checking of what is needed. 

Hope everyone is good and doing well

Blessed be 

Prayers for peace

My computer is slowly dying

 Microsoft and Norton are fighting again. Since Hubby's old company he retired from requires Microsoft to file for refund of dental and eye bills, we have to have it other wise I would go back to open office or something along that line. My computer is from 2007. I have a newer one that Son2 is going to set up for me when he gets over the ickies that he picked up at the doctor's office. 

Hubby got his stitches out from carpal tunnel and trigger finger surgery. Surgeon cleared him to go back to lifting but to take it slow for a couple weeks. So he is sorting the 3 cords of wood out of the wagon in the barn one at a time. He checked the barn and then the wood shed for night wood. Thought one more load and then E came over to tell him that there is a tree that was cut down last fall that a person just let him know they aren't going to get so we can have it when ever he gets too it.  That will save us $130 plus.

Gardens are "wilting" in this heat. All the greens finished wilting over night.Got something that didn't even come up. Planted more lettuce seeds in pots moved them to vegepod, did the same with Jan. King cabbage.

Black raspberries are still coming on so making black raspberry butter. Red raspberries are starting. Barely getting any blueberries of any size. Blackberries are blooming

 Hubby is watering every other night as he is trying to keep the winter squash going. I need to tie the cauliflower up tonight. I see blooms here and there.

I paid off all the bills including the coal,propane, and wood without pulling from savings. 

We will need diesel and gas on site by Sept. That will be around $700. I actually have it in a CD set to mature at mid Aug. So that will pay that instead of the propane.

 I have the Meat coming in Oct, so the CD coming in Sept that was going to pay the propane so it's paying the meat instead, another worry off.

I moved our savings to another bank. We earned 2 cents on our savings, the other bank paid us a LOT more for the same amount. I will keep the checking there since it's free at this time.

I counted my canning jars, I have plenty to can meat in if I don't have enough room in the deep freezers.

I straightened the small barn freezer, mostly for block ice for E and M. I found some corn that got moved to the proper freezer and tossed some freezer blocks for packages that came in the mail.Moved the dogs biscuits (keep in freezer to keep out drug store beetles) to that and that cleared half a frig freezer drawer.

Out of habit I try to make 2 meals out of a meat. I seared chuck roast both sides on the grill and then tossed it in the crock pot on slow (no liquid) for 8 hrs. Fried 1/2 onion leftover and 2 small cans of mushrooms, then shredded half the roast in that. Served in tortilla wraps with cheese. Took what was left of the wrap mixture and dumped in with rest of chuck roast. Added 2 cups of hot water turned on HIGH and added 2 cups of Amish noodles, stirred and cooked for 30 minutes, Stirred and added 15 minutes and it was done. Side of mashed potatoes along with it.

 Hubby loved it but did mentioned that was making it a bit harder to get things down in the freezer. UNTIL I mentioned if we ate the cheese sticks, twiced baked potatoes, the breaded mushrooms, the potstickers, boxes of seafood, etc there would be a lot more room. Things HE is the one picking up LOL.

We know we need to figure out how to deal with a 20% cut if/when Social Security has to cut. Actually that's the truck payment and that will be paid off by 2031 that they are saying it will be cut in 2033.

Something to work out. 

How are things going for you?

Be safe.

Blessed be

SIGH ... Just ran over.

I pray all of you are well, that you have the strength to handle anything that comes your way. 

Hubby had hand surgery. Can on lift 5 lbs instead of the 10 lbs he thought he would be able to. He's at a stand still of doing much at all as even a gallon of milk is 8 lbs so he's putting his hand in his pants pocket when he gets in the frig for the milk . I am making sure we eat foods that he doesn't need to hands (AKA sandwiches that are messy). He was able to cut his own meat since he holds the fork with that hand.He didn't want to put a knife on that palm until the stitches come out on the 26th.

We got our 1 ton of nugget coal in, the company put it on our trailer for us so one of the Amish sent their son over to unload it off the trailer. So Hubby can still use the trailer to haul odds and ends.  

One offered to unload the wagon full of sawmill blocks when he gets out of the hay fields at end of month. Ones needing cut to size will be put to the side on a pallet for cutting later (Something for Hubby to do in the winter).

Our "meat order" will be in Sept/Oct. I need to make sure I have room for storage as I am looking at canning at least half of it. I have the jars etc. I might want some for the freezer so will need to make sure I have that room also.

Winter squash is up, hoping for a decent growth even though we are getting hit with high temps of feel like over 100 ℉.

We had the AC on for the day when we had bad storms go through (tornado north of us). Turned it back off when the weather got better. Only put it at 78 ℉ instead of Hubby's preferred 72 ℉.I have curtains pulled to keep heat out, windows opened in AM, as long as there is a breeze, the windows will be open. We put an umbrella at the French doors to keep the sun out of the dining rm/kitchen.

We did our mid year budget. Couple things won't get done this year since we got a different truck. We decreased our retirement withdraw bracing for Social Security to drop in payment.

Our biggest outlay now is the meat order coming in this fall . repair for pump house due to water line break, needs new insulation and wall covering that is water proof, and the propane order for summer fill ($1.699/ gal) and winter fill ($1.999/gal)  I just put on my credit card to get points and give us a month to finish getting that amt out of savings. We have 2 months emergency fund that I DO NOT want to touch and would like back up to 3 months.

We can tighten the belts and get it done with planning and staying with it.

Nephew is doing okay. Said he thought he was going to die and was okay if that was GOD's plan. 

catch up

 This is one of the coldest springs we have had since 2018. I am running the furnace at 70 ℉ at night at 10 PM It goes down to 60 ℉ at 5 AM. We are just at 38% in propane tank. I am crossing fingers we can stay above 30% until October winter fill. Winds are higher than usually also.

There is a possibility of Hubby having to have wrist surgery. He sees the surgeon this coming week to see exactly what is needed. One doctor thought carpal tunnel, another thinks it's coming from a broke bone repair done 40 some years ago.  EITHER way, he won't be cutting or moving wood or coal for a couple months after it's fixed. 

Son 2, who is single, is filing for medical retirement on advice of 4 of his doctors and his top boss. He's had 2 mild heart issues in last 2 months along with his feet going numb and swelling. He has to walk for his job.

I am definitely hitting the red zone of over load.Thankful for Son2 best friend willing to step in and shoulder some of the weight from the military side.

I am using the grill for cooking meat or the air frier to keep the usage on the main propane tank on the low side. Our water heater is propane. Hubby already turned the pump house propane heater off.Thankful he did it before we had a main water line break and spray every where. Thankful that our baby monitor in there let us know there was a change.

We cleaned the wood stove pipe. I want to do another cleaning of the actual stove. 

I ordered the creosote cleaner stuff, which is good as it was on sale.

I ordered our dishwasher soap as it was on sale also after checking prices locally.

We ordered our nugget coal... 1 ton, it will be in on the 14th for us to pick up. That will make 3 tons of nugget coal and 3 tons of regular coal.

We ordered 3 wagons (est 3-3 1/2 cords per wagon) of blocks from the sawmill. First wagon load is to be ready next week.

E gave us 2 birch trees that is cured, Hubby is cutting them up, there are 2 more in E's maple woods he needs hauled out when the woods dry a bit more. 

I will call Monday to see when I can order the 700 gallons of propane.

I harvested strawberries and dehydrated them. Will continue doing that.Will make some strawberry butter ( https://www.wyseguide.com/how-to-can-strawberry-butter/ ), first time for that but sounds good. We like fruit butters usually especially Hubby over cottage cheese or cream cheese.

Other berries are starting to come on.

I found a few spears of asparagus that just came up so harvested them. We have a decent amount of ferns to make asparagus next year.Hubby is talking of making a box to fit over them to cover them next year if we get hit with a cold spell like we did this past spring.

I bought mushrooms on sale and dehydrated them. We should have plenty now with canned ones Son 2 ordered for us.

I harvested snow peas , had some fresh in salads, other with stirfry. Will start freezing the rest as soon as peas are ready this week most likely.

M got ran over with eggs so sent me some. I whipped 2 eggs, then put in sandwich bag and froze them. Now in freezer bag.They will do well for scrambled or cakes or for Charlotte as her eating an egg or two a day keeps her from breaking out in rash in spring and fall. Her meds are $150/month otherwise.

I got some cheeses in bulk and am wrapping them to store long term.  Soft cheese in crisper drawer. Some hard in freezer and other is cool dark storage.

I had a person send my sweet potato plants. Purple skin with white inside and purple skin and purple inside. I will be planting them this week. 

I will finish planting the winter squash, another round of Burpee long term keeper tomatoes with in next 2 wks for late tomatoes.I will be starting head lettuce for this fall crop. 

Mint is up so I will make mint jelly (we eat it with chicken or pork) and dry some for mint tea.

I bought some blood oranges to make blood orange marmalade.

I bought some oranges to make orange marmalade. 

I plan to make apple pectin to can when we have the June drop of apples. Trying to get liguid pectin has been limited.

I have leaf lettuce, carrots,beets, scallions, radishes coming in. I harvest from the gardens in afternoon then fill in with what is already in frig before pulling from the pantry and freezers.

I went to the store 2 wks ago, removed half of what was on my list as I wasn't willing to pay that price. Got home and Hubby mentioned that 90% of what I bought was for finishing the stock list... OKAY with me as I am stocked up except with what is coming in from the gardens and SUGAR for jams, jellys, fruit butters.

I would like to get some bulk monteray jack but that's only for the right price.

Take care of yourself. Prayers for peace

Blessed be

Doing what I can

 Harvest strawberries,radishes and their greens and a few green onions. 

Fixed stuffed mushrooms, tossed salad with strawberries, radish greens and green onion tops to go with our steak and rolls. 

Set out tricolor rotini, meatballs, pizza sauce and cheese is in frig for Mock Pizza Hut pasta that I used to get 50 yrs ago for our supper tonight. Got raisin pie for dessert from M.

Having issues getting liquid pectin, got recipe from thespruceeats.com to make it from apples. Got old apples so good to go.

I dehydrated extra mushrooms,radish greens and froze banana slices. Will be adding strawberries when they over run us.

I got a recipe for blood orange marmalade, regular orange marmalade and will save zest for all. 

I have 4 more tomato plants that are sprouted and doing decent to take out later June/early July. I have more squash plants to plant this coming week when this freaking cold snap goes away.

We decided to stack wood on the front porch in June instead of waiting until Oct. Hubby took the tractor in for regular maintainence and the shop found a couple things that was going to need fixed so did it now so it won't break on me while he is down with surgery.

I bought some puzzles he can put together so he has something to do. 

Hubby was going to take the wood fencing down so he could cut down the old oak tree that stands taller than our 2 story barn.... NOPE, because it will sit there 2 years down just like the other one E gave him that he still doesn't have cut up and doubt if he does get it cut up before surgery.  He might if E helps but it's a NO GO on the old oak of sitting in my yard when I swing. 

Got it verified that the truck payment should be set to auto pay. 

Since we went shopping Tuesday and still had some things we couldn't find. I ordered them on line. Since Son2 is off without pay while he battles them over it... I will be sharing groceries. Since he likes to cook it will be more of him figuring out what he can eat alone and not have a lot of leftovers. I worry since he won't have much spending money that he won't have any one visit him. Most of his friends are still working and raising kids. 

Dog needs nails clipped, we have doctor appts next week. Regrettfully we can't take her with us like we do the chiro as she would sit far too long waiting on us as our doctor is ALWAYS late. BUT he is a really good doctor and worth the wait. He's one of those that if you need 30 minutes that what you get. Not the you get 10 minutes and then he is walking out the door before you are doing talking about your issues.

Prayers for peace.

Blessed be

With God's Grace go I.

 First the  4 ft by 100 ft Asapargus bed got hit with freeze.

Then 14 beds of garlic got hit with freeze. 

Now 2 solid months of temps 15 to 25 degrees colder than normal.

The F 350 started nickle and diming... okay it was more like $10,000 a year to keep running so got a 2024 F 250. Had it two days and found lights to connect to trailer did not work. Two trips trying to find the problem when another customer walked over and fixed it. Pin to hold it was half way out. The dealership fixed the other guy's truck for free also. 

Nephew got hurt at work, broked leg, the other leg has 15 stitches and his arm is broke in 2 places and having to have surgery. Thankfully he still lives at home so he doesn't have to worry about covering his bills. Car is paid off also. According to his mom, she must have went to be a nurse for this alone.

Son 2 was home on admin with pay to finish filing his medical retirement... he got notice today they suspended him without pay.His "old" boss got moved to another building .His doctor finished the paperwork yesterday  so Doctor thinks they are trying to get out of covering him.. Now lawyer will have to get involved. I told him to finish his SS first so he has some income coming in. 

Hubby talked to the surgeon's office. Most likely he will not be able to use the hand for 6 months, possible up to 12 months based on how long it took him the first time of recovering. SIGH. He goes in first week of June to figure out when. 

Couldn't figure out why my heels hurt... got planter warts on both feet. GRRRR.

With God's grace go I.

finances.

 Half our bills (the larger part) is due before Social Security comes in. I FINALLY got it so there is enough in the joint checking to pay those bills. It's taken a few months to get it rolled completely. 

BIG relief to look and write out where the new truck payment and increase in insurace is coming from for the next 3 months. We had to take it in to have a connector fixed for the trailer lights, still not working right so it's going back in today. 

ALSO got 3 months of mortgage put back. Goal is 6 months by the end of the year.

The tractor's alternator broke... yes broke and fell off the tractor. Hubby said he had never saw that happen but the repair shop said it happens due to metal fatigue. That got fixed. It's due for maintenances soon.  We have that money put back also.

We have school taxes coming due next month. I have that put back. I am hoping to have enough to just pay them completely off. 

I stocked up on some spices/herbs and odds and ends needed in the pantry. 

Hubby is going to have carpal tunnel surgery so he won't be able to cut or lift wood for awhile . He had this surgery our senior year. We took bets he was going to graduate with his cast that he wore for a YEAR. I really hope he doesn't have the issue of healing again. BUT we decided to prepare that he was down for the year. 

I will be ordering 700 gallons (OUCH ON COSTS but have the money for it) of propane. It's twice as much as we normally order but if he has a slow recovery, we might need the fuel.

 We will buy another ton of coal nuggets.We use "lump" coal for night (last longer) and nugget for the day time.

 We have already ordered 3 wagons( 3-3 1/2 cords per wagon) of the blocks from the sawmill. Lent the wagon to an Amish.

We have a tree cut down and waiting for Hubby to cut it, if he doesn't get to it, we will still be okay as the night wood for this year is already cut (coal will help it last longer) and I can use blocks for the day wood.

He was wanting to finish the rest of the garden beds but I told him to not worry about it. We have a good amount in the pantry.And we have fresh coming in with the garden. We will be okay. 

Son 2 is having serious health problems. He is already retired out of Army.  Looks like he isn't going to be able to continue working like he hoped . He did burn pits 2 yrs in Iraq. He has 8 medical appts this month alone. His boss is trying to work with him to keep him working until he gets disability. His buddy took him to the ER the other day, he couldn't walk, his legs and feet had swollen and was in extreme pain. 

We have rain almost daily. I pull weeds in gardens between them. Not the greatest year with gardens. 

Blessed Be 

Prayers for all

Still raining and why we bought a new truck

 4th day of rain. At least it is a gentle rain even though all day long. Yesterday it stopped through the afternoon and the sun tried to peak out. Raining again today.. suppose to until 5 pm. I remind myself that it's dreary day after day but this summer is forecasted to be hotter than normal so we need to store what we can and bless we are getting good soaker rain not down pour and the river out of the banks.

We bought a 2024 USED F250truck. It was owned by the Ford dealership.

We have been looking for over a year, didn't want a ton of this and that on it... just a basic truck. Didn't need the F350 for hauling like Hubby was doing in his business before he shut it down. He does some hauling ... like a solid metal dump wagon of our wood from one of the sawmills/pallet makers. Or soybeans to the elevator for one of the Amish. Our tractor to the shop that does maintenance.  

Hubby took the F350 in for maintenance and get the truck appraised as he started thinking of selling it on his own when one of the guys asked if he had found what he was looking for. Not yet was his answer. Head of maintenance asked what he was looking for. F250 (smaller truck won't haul our wagon loaded with 3 cords of wood) GAS not diesel. Guy came back as he went to see if they had one on the lot. Two hours later he called him. He found one that was used, owned by on of the dealerships and was a Feb 2024. Did he want to look at it when we went back over to drop off truck for a exhaust job?

We went yesterday morning, looked it over, took it for a test drive and then they crunched the numbers. I had already checked our credit score. Unfroze the credit report. Checked out different loans. I knew an estimate of what the payment would be and costs were going to be that they would have to match or be better.

They took the truck as trade in, they reembursed the charge for fixing the truck on Friday, so I put it on the truck. Got a maintenance plan so when the parts start costing our arms and legs we have a limited outlay. Got a tire/hubcap coverage as Hubby curbs the tires all the time and it's common for Amish to have nails in their driveways. As Hubby said we paid extra for the bells and whistles to keep the truck clean and looking good. For $20/month it's worth it. 

Got 6.5 % interest, 72 months (plan to pay it off in less) and finance dept told us we were one of the very few to have a credit score at any age in the mid 800s. 

We plan on having this truck at least 10 yrs , would like it to be 15 years. My Silverado is 20 yrs old.

Now to redo the budget. 

Blessed be

PRAYERS FOR OUR COUNTRY

Changes..

I planted potatoes in grow bags... not sure how that will do but at least I am trying as some of the Amish have mentioned last year was a bad year for potatoes. 

We will get sweet potato roots to plant towards the end of May to plant. 

 I stocked up some things that look to be very limited or expensive in the coming year like canned citrus and some canned tomatoes from Italy.(spoiled as my Nonna was from Northern Italy) I finally found some seeds for the tomatoes so I am trying to grow them this year.  

We are going to focus more on root cellar foods (Root Cellaring by Mike Bubel)after trying with pumpkins last year and it went well. Means I will be planting through the summer also.

 Amish family bought us a sprouter so we can have fresh sprouts from the late fall through winter to spring. I got a variety of sprouts to try.  Might try them sooner if we really don't like them I can throw them in stirfries or soups. Or just pass it back to the family that gave it to us..

I went through the pantry and freezers , what is low (asparagus, peas, corn, broccoli and cauliflower, not carrots they will go in root cellar). Meat is fine. I rechecked holiday meats... Only need the prime rib for Christmas. I was able to get 2 hams at Easter for 79 ¢/lb. Got one butt ham for Easter and a shank to make broth to can. It's in the freezer to deal with later. Son2 was in the store and found another shank ham that was marked down to 69¢/lb and picked it up and used his military discount and shoved it in his freezer for me to get later. Anytime I find meat at $1/lb or less I try to get it.

I went through the spices and herbs... need anchovies and garlic bulbs since every single one in my 14 garden beds froze. 

I went through the medications and first aid. Pretty much set there.

I am going through clothes. Hubby might need jeans. His weight is floating on him. He is trying to lose weight so don't want to buy much. He was wanting flannel long sleeve for winter but the ones we were finding he didn't like too bulky,so he went with jean shirts. I had some stored in the barn for him. 

I went through garden supplies then canning supplies. Need apple cider vinegar, 10 cases of wide mouth pints and 60 lbs of sugar. I kept track of what I used.

I have lost so much weight since covid that 2/3rds of my clothes don't fit. So they are going to donations. I will stop in thrift stores to see if there is anything I can get to replace a skirt and 2 dress pants. 

I found a cheaper place to get our furnance filters by 25%. 

Got the water softener and refrigerator filters on sale with 30% off so I bought a year's supply.

Hubby called our plumber for a pipe elbow that had sprung a leak, He sold the part to us for his cost. Hubby had it fixed in 20 minutes by himself.Another plumber would only come to fix it not sell us the part and it was $150 just to come look at it.

The silverado is at the point it has to be replaced. Hubby wants to down size he work truck  the F350 as between the maintenance, fuel and insurance it's a bit too much.  We weren't actively looking. The dealership we get the maintence(he was getting oil change and exhaust) from asked if he would like to trade it in. He said MAYBE, depends on if they can get us a F250, gas, four door truck. They found one. We look at it on Monday morning. We are still at the point of needing 2 but I think we can limit the silverado to local and make it last a bit longer.

I looked at our budget, we already know what the 2024 asking, price is, we know what our trade in is worth(they just told us before they knew we were looking) and I know what title, fees etc are going to cost along. I figured up what we can do for down payment. I checked what interest rates were, then figured what the payments would be depending on length and then with changes between down payments. The insurance rates will be close enough to the same even though the truck is newer. It's going to come down to the final payment and how long.

Mean time we decided to try tonight a radish greens,asparagus and radish salad with our chicken salad wraps. 

Back to work... storms every other day if not daily. I get my weight lifting done moving patio furniture. 

gardening hard times

  First the 100 ft by 4 ft asparagus froze... so no asparagus for the freezer. BUT the crowns didn't die, some came up to fern so we will have asparagus next year.

Second, all 14 bed of garlic were killed by the freeze. I actually dug up the beds to see if I could find any that had made it. SO will have to buy my garlic for usage and to plant in the fall. 

We checked our fruit, looks like we lost at least 3 blueberry bushes, maybe up to 5. We lost at least 3 fruit trees with possibility of total of 5. Won't get much or any of fruit from rest as the last 2 freezes came in after they bloomed. Just hoping that only the blooms was damaged and not the trees it's self.

The strawberries are starting to bloom.

The snow peas and peas look okay, slow in growing but it's supposed to be warm this week so should sprout up more. 

The vegepod is slow also but showing signs of growing.I can see the radishes greens up and barely see the other rows. 

I have the first round of plants being hardened off. That's where you take them out of grow cart and take them outside each day, lengthening the time they stay outside. 

I have tomato plants,broccoli,cauliflower,eggplant,kalettes,peppers,collards, and onions that will be planted within the next couple weeks. 

I just planted in grow cart Christmas melon, peppers and a couple tomato plants.

I will be planting more in grow cart but if it's warm enough I will roll it outside and not use electric. 

We stopped yesterday to get flowers from the 2 local Amish greenhouses. I got 8 hanging baskets, some flowers for 2 planters, some herbs as my herb garden got destroyed last year, and a couple veggie plants like lettuce. Both of the green houses went to burning coal to heat with during the freezing spells and said things definitely was touch and go about losing stuff. The one husband slept in the green house to keep the fire going.  They compared it to winters of 2013 and 2014 (polar vortex). Not as bad but bad enough. 

What else?

 Norton won't let me sign in to Onedrive to down load my photos from my phone.

Our Retirment guys didn't think about those of us that work when they set up a webinar for noon so didn't make arrangements for it to be recorded nor is it written so the information gets out those that are working. They are working on it. Can you tell their ages  of not thinking of it. I've told classmates that they need to complain instead of tagging us asking what it was about.

Daughter 4 got a new job that pays more and has health insurance AND only had 1 more payment on her car. One son is finishing high school and looking for full time work. Right now he is working 10 hrs a week after school (would like more but he doesn't get his license until 18) The older son got himself fired and then after NOT looking for work, got himself threatened to be put out by MOM. HE can go mooch off his friends as she put it. She'll help if he was looking but sitting home playing video games doesn't float with her.

Daughter 3 is still employed, two oldest are working odd jobs, the youngest 2 are still in school. Daughter 3 doesn't let her kids work during school year except for their dad until 18 when they start driving.

Daughter 2 is working 2 jobs. Could lose the main one as she is last hired at school. Her boys are all working for their dad for  jobs and fencing and some landscaping. At least they are all working and getting their bills paid. Daughter 2 figures she is going to have to do something as a couple of them are moving out and she's have to add those bills to her own bills. 

Daughter 1 has cut off the family and several life time friends including her late father family since we all turned her in for selling her pain meds and drinking on her medication. We have tried everything to get her help but you can't force them to get help if they don't want it. We just pray for her like crazy.

Son 2 is having sever pain in his feet and legs and throat. VA has tried meds, therapy etc. Sending him for more testing. He is military so worried about his job. Best would be, he doesn't get fired, worst would be he sells his house and moves home with us until he rebuilds.

Son 1 is working steady but said orders were down for the company he works for.

We have been hit week after week with below 30 freezes. Even with asparagus covered 100 ft by 4 ft. IT froze. We crossed our fingers that the crown is still okay and it at least grows ferns or we  will be replanting asparagus and waiting 2 years to start harvesting again. THANKFUL I harvested enough for freezer to go 18 months. I have enough to go through the year if I am careful.

My potatoes should have been planted last week in grow bags, glad I didn't as they would have froze. 

I didn't plant my golden raspberries as soon as they came in on Saturday night. Glad I didn't do that either. 

It has made it very clear that it's going to be a very hard year. 

 

Growing asparagus... ours just froze

 Plant in the early spring at correct depth, and wait 2 years before picking.  Do not fertilize until following year. DO NOT use manure. 

I will be doing this next spring, several 20 degree temps back to back has froze the entire 100 ft by 4 ft row.  The Amish that put it in orginally can't remember what variety he planted.

We have another round of freezing this weekend. Usually will only get a light frost this time of year that a good cover will take care of. 

We are hoping after this comes through that it stays warm and MAYBE fingers crossed, that it didn't kill the "crowns" and only the asparagus. SIGH. 

This is why I can/freeze/dry enough food for at least 18 months if not 2 years.

IN the gardens

 We are getting enough aspargus for a couple meals every other 3 days.

Snow peas,peas, radishes,spinach, couple different lettuces, carrots and beets are coming up.  

I fertilized the strawberries and blueberries.

We had sever storms all night, will have them again tonight and rain daily the rest of the week. BUT in a few days we will have lows in the mid 20s... yes FREEZING temps for 4 days. So the day before that hits no matter what the weather we will be covering garden beds.

I chitted the potatoes...ummm cut them in sections,making sure there are 2-3 eyes and some of the potato to feed them as they start to grow. I have 6 varieties as Daughter 2 was going to start gardening , and I was sharing. She realized that not only did she not have the $$ to start that but didn't have enough time working 2 jobs to make ends meet. Daughter 4 had kept track  a few years ago of the cost and time and shared that with her.  I told her to start with like a tomato plant , lettuce and scallions but she didn't want to set up a water barrel at this time and can't water the garden with city water.  

Grow cart veggies are doing decent. I did have 2 that died so I will start them again this week.

Storms rolling through.

We took some to Hubby's parent yesterday as we spent most of the day there. MIL had eye surgery last week and it was the first day she felt up to visitors. FIL was happy to have company that wasn't just talking about her surgery.

We took them eggs, I gave them enough they could share another 2 families. I still have enough for us. It gets cold again this week like they are forecasting, chicken's won't be laying as much for E and M.

Storms came in early this morning instead of tomorrow so not in the gardens. Not putting my hands in any water as I had friends have their homes hit by lightening. One was in the shower and barely made it out before it hit. She watched the sparks fly passed her. The other one was at the kitchen sink running the dish washer. Came out the faucet (she thinks) and burnt a hole in her wall over the stove across the kitchen. Both have had issues with their eye sight since.

Under sever weather threat for a couple day with a sever drop (below freezing so cover asparagus back up a day or so before those temps hit) for 3-4 days after that. April in Ohio. 

I donated 32 items off my clothes rack of my clothes. Still have a wardrobe, bureau and chest of drawers. I do not have a closet . Hubby has an open closet in his bathroom, a clothes rack and two wardrobes. Goal is to have ALL of it gone through before end of April when I pull the summer stuff out of rubbermaids from barn. Then go through those to donate.... shoes and boots also. I dropped 5 sizes after having covid and have not gained it back in 2 yrs. Done keeping it for if I gain it back.

We might have at least one child moving home due to loss of work as they work for government. They are researching options to try to stay in their home at least if they get terminated. They really don't want to have to sell their home as it's half way of being paid off let alone touch the "I'm adult in 40s and shouldn't have to lose a job after 25 yrs of working it" feelings.

We had one child change jobs. Her old employer called and asked if she would apply. She was working a temporary job, 3rd shift, no insurance, $15/hr, 100 miles round trip daily. Now back to work for the old employer full time, 1st shift,  health and dental insurance,$22/hr, 44 miles round trip. 

Hubby's hearing aids were only staying charged for 6 hrs. He got new ones OUCH on costs, but his doctor told him to keep the old ones as back up incase he lost his or something happened to them.He would still have ones that some what worked until he got new ones.

NEXT DAY... we had sever Tstorm with winds and knocked out electric yesterday before I could hit publish. I could see the storm coming behind us so just unplugged and shut down even though we have a whole house surge protection. 

STAY SAFE.

Blessed Be 

Prayers for peace.

Garden work

We had to cover the 100 ft of asparagus due to a "freeze" spell for over a week. We had just had 2 Amish families come dig some of them up a few days before to start their own asparagus patches. We only need about 30 feet of 2 rows for us.N planted it when he owned the home for selling at the auction. 

We planted 6 blueberry bushes, cleaned 6 of the strawberry beds leaving 6 more to clear and replaced 4 of the old beds with new metal beds and refilled them.

My potatoes  tubers should be in today so the 12th we will be hauling stuff down to kids. Son 2 is paying for lunch. 

I transplanted some of the seedlings to larger pots to be ready to transplant them to the gardens in May.

I bought red onion sets, white onion sets, yellow onion sets and candy onion sets to start planting after this rain goes through.

Rhubarb is starting to leaf out. 

Five different radishes are up.

I cleared the old flower garden on the north side so this year's can come up and bloom.

Charlotte is pacing, wind is starting to go up and it's raining so it makes her feel like a storm is coming.

Have a good day 

Blessed be

in gardens

 E's wife M and one of their sons came over and dug up some of the asparagus last night to plant in their garden. 

W is  around 80 years old is now outside digging with Hubby for asparagus to replant at his house.

We have 100 ft long and 4 ft wide patch of asparagus. 

I planted in vegepod some spinach, lettuce,4 different radishes, bunching onions, carrots,and beets , and in garden beds I planted snowpeas and garden peas. 

 I moved the 2 planters that had 5 "tray " beds each to the east side of barn instead of having it on the deck. Let's it get more sun and rain so I am watering less. I also will not have to move them when high winds happen. There are 2 trays already filled from last year. I put them in the top tray area as it's chamomile.

I have all my pots empty and cleaned out and ready to fill with soil.

I trimmed all the berry vines. 

I will wait at least a week and then do another round of direct sow seeds in gardens.

I'll be putting more in grow cart, not sure what. Need to get onion sets also.

 

Groceries/grocery budget

 Jan 28th spent $63.61 on groceries (left $116 in grocery budget)

Feb 11th bought 1 gallon of milk $3.19

Feb 25th bought 1 gallon of milk $2.98 (left additional $298 in grocery budget) 

March 3rd spent $329.61 SAVED $135.

Kroger's had good sales. I got 3 chuck roasts, 2 boneless pork loins, 3 lbs of bacon, 1 80/20 roll of hamburger, 2- 1lb. ground beef, 1chicken thighs (that scored me 2 free packages of chicken wings). I got carrots (regular, not baby), celery (coupon) broccoli (coupon), cauliflower (coupon), 2 bunches of scallions, 2 packages of mushrooms(coupons), and 3 bags of mixed salad (on sale). I got a loaf of bread for 50 cents. Got  5 salted butter on sale (coupon) milk (coupon) half and half (coupon), cottage cheese (coupon) and yogurt (on sale).  Got peanut butter .... 10 total between Kroger creamy and Jif chunky for $1.49 each, both on sale. Got 3 of 6 pack of coke and one of sprite on a buy 2 get 2 free PLUS coupon.  Had a $20 coupon if I spent $200 or more. I still have one chest freezer empty. 

I still have a couple of boxes of shelf stable mik that I will use this month since they need used up.

Amish gave us eggs and 1 pound of smoked bacon (tonight's supper).

I ordered different dried beans, Great Northern (share with son 2) Pinto (share with daughter 4) navy (share with daughter 2) small red (OURS LOL),red kidney (share with MIL) and black bean (OURS) Split the costs.. our share $128. The kids decided they needed some beans incase things get worse.

We still have $256 left in budget. 

We know we will eat out at the local restuarant that does all you can eat fish through Lent. I called and asked what the price was going to be.Times it by how many times I think we will go and will use what is left in the grocery budget including tip.  Will still have some left in budget. 

I should only spend about $60 in April for dairy and fresh veggies... IF it stays warm I should be able to grow lettuce and maybe spring onions.

Amish neighbor told us he got us a pig that he is raising. We can "donate" food scraps if we want (we usually do even though we don't get a pig) and he was also getting a steer that we could have whole or half (he never has problems finding someone that wants half). Both would be ready in fall. He will also have corn for us. Asked if we needed it for fresh eating or freezer or both. His siblings and parents are grateful for the help we have given while his Dad has been fighting infection and then a knee replacement. Between emails and phone calls to Doctor in Mexico and going after meds and running him to xrays. You would think it was Hubby's dad instead of the neighbors. 

 We asked if he was "helping" the widow on the other side of him. Said she had already "placed her order" age 77 and laughed. The other widow age 80 on our side said her kids were growing gardens  and running her over at times.  

Back to work.

Take care, be safe, and I pray you don't get the flu I caught AGAIN  

Garden work.

 Hubby is clearing the asparagus patch today. I saw some of the "green" that comes up before the spears break ground. Tomorrow it's to be close to 60 before it plunges to below freezing again.

In grow cart I started kohlrabi, collards, 3 different tomato plants, celery, bunching onions, cabbage,eggplant,and brussels sprouts. 

End of this week I will pick more to start.

Our primary doctor and his wife said they have been growing "salad" lettuce all winter in their grow cart and then complained about the $600 electric bill when I pointed out he got an electric car and their electric company has different rates for times of usuage. They checked and found that if he started charging at one time that was on the higher rate, it stays the higher rate until he is done charging. Was in the contract they signed when they installed the charging station. So they put it on an alert on their phone to go out and charge it when the rates go down. They also have the grow cart on at that time. We suggested putting it on a timer since they work long hours. 

So if you are new to growing or even restarting... check what you are using and when. It might make a difference cost wise

LOL... when you have a family member call you

 in an anxiety attack and panicked and you got them doing slow breathing etc to calm them down as they lost their ONLY set of keys to car and need to leave for work...

After several , I already checked theres.. I reminded them that I was walking through their home in my head as if I lost the keys. ... Started laughing when I said check the stove, check the oven (yes I have put them their) check the frig (that was were Pop put his, Mother did the freezer) Daddy always hung his up . 

Check you badge for work... oh that is already on you???? then silence...when they checked the badge they remembered where they put the keys...

IN THEIR PANTS POCKET WHERE THEY PUT IT WHEN THEY PUT THEIR BADGE ON. 

We both laughed and they went to work.

short...

 still trying to get over this bug...

ordered blueberry plants due to last year's not doing very well. 

Propane company filled our tank as winter heating season is ending and the costs of propane is going up. We used 2200 gallons when we bought the house. From Feb. 1 2024 to Feb 25, 2025 we used 246.9 gallons.  Burned 1/2 ton coal and 6 cords of wood(about half that was scap from the sawmill)

I have finished sorting seeds. 

I ordered more dried beans as we consumed all the pintos and are low on small red bean, Great Northern, Navy and black beans.

Sap is running so Amish have tapped the maple trees so in a couple weeks I will be getting maple syrup for the year. 

We have ate enough that we have 1 chest deep freezer empty. Half the corn, asparagus and peas is gone also.

Take care 

GARDEN

 Okay, I am zone 6A... after March 15th I can plant IF GROUND IS 50℉. Dandelions should be up. 

I can plant collards, onion sets, peas, snow peas, radishes, spinach, turnips, beets, kale, cabbage, broccoli,carrots,kohbrabi, softneck garlic,  chard(aka Swiss chard) brussels sprouts, rutabagas and some lettuces.

I usually hold off on cabbage and grow Chinese cabbage instead, save full head cabbage for fall growing.  I take row cover out and set it up so if a late freeze or heavy frost comes in I can just toss covers over it within minutes. 

I can do leeks (have a couple times) Potatoes and mustard after the 25th. 

Since we are still in solid freezes, I held off a couple weeks before starting my seeds. I will be doing that this weekend and finishing up with setting up the gardens as it's to get in the forties..

Daddy and several of the Amish plant potatoes by Good Friday, I have always done it mid March 

Still trying to get rid of flu

 At least my potassium is stable. I am eating, Doc told me to eat what I craved and then wondered about me when Hubby told him I couldn't keep broth down but ate 1/4th of a Philly steak sub.... I am a strange one.

Got two more family that got cut off from survivor benefits of social security. They got lawyers. 

Got 3 cut off of Medicaid. One I never could understand how she qualified to begin with the other two are in Medicade nursing homes... so we wonder if something wasn't filed correctly. Used to be the county nursing home but changed hands 4 times in last 5 yrs.Daddy told them to not go there before he went in nursing home himself.

Son2 might get fired, even though he is a retired Army with almost 22 yrs and now 3 yrs at Airforce as civilian, because he changed position, he got promoted, he is considered probationary even with 9 months in the position which is exactly what he was doing in Army for last 10 yrs. He's definitely worried as he is single and will lose his home without work.I told him he can either move into barn with his cats or upstairs. He isn't going to be homeless. He is also worried about his medical as they are shutting the hospitals down in places due to staff being let go by goverment. I told him civialian is understaffed also, has been since pandemic... he just hasn't been sick so didn't realize until the past few months. Too young for retirement. 

Had my Straight Talk acct hacked and someone ordered a new phone. My credit card asked me to confirm the order. Nope Not ME. Even though I could use a new phone, I can't afford it at this time.

Amish are trying to figure out how to go to a medical Appt in Mexico with the border rerestrictions in place. They do NOT do photo id's.

My doctor ran 5 blood works and then told me to finish what ever I still had at home of OTC vitamins/meds etc stuff but not get more. I am now to the point I am growing my potassium, B etc (sweet potatoes, winter squash, Spinach Etc) so he figured I would be saving a good amount of money as that pretty much left me only a multivitamin if that. That is a savings of $838.90 (didn't realize it was that much myself) a year. Hubby is down 2 but went up one that matched the savings. 

 We have 2.5 tons of coal left but on low side of wood.

Tired but holding on

 

menu... OWN YOUR OWN... I had the flu... garden seeds..finances

 after dehydrating

50 lbs before dehydrating

This is a Dickinson pumpkin/squash (yes pumpkins are winter squash). It is the vartiety that Libby's pumpkin in the can is.

I actually got 2 of this size done of the pumpkins. Have 6 more yet to do but figured I would give it another day of making sure I am over the flu first as more than one of the kids/grandkids/greatgrandkids got it back within a few days. I told them to quit giving me that crap through the phone. 😲

Hubby finished up some of the odds and ends. Finally yesterday I fixed a grilled cheese and lunch meat sandwich. I ate 1/2 of one and called it good. He is having pot pie for supper tonight. I am not sure if I will.

BUT since I was sick, I went through the seeds, checked and rechecked what we had and what we needed vs what we wanted since we decided to grow more of our own food...Then decided with how things were going to order enough to go 3 yrs and focus on more heirloom, open pollinated and fewer hybrid favorites. 

Found about 1/ 4th of what I would have ordered not available at all or not available for 2025. A  few was from China (radishes) not available pretty much at any of the of where I shop, it's okay, I just ordered something else. Definitely reminded me of pandemic and trying to get seeds. At least I have enough canning jars. I usually order between 4 to 6 places. It took almost 10. I told Hubby I will pull 2/3rd of what I have,  split that in half and vacuum seal them and place them in freezer for next year and the following year. I will go back to making sure I have a "seed" plant in a container planted away from anything else so it doesn't cross pollionate. Been awhile since I have done that. Might get a I think I have a book on that subject. Might go to library and look for one. 

Since I am no longer grocery shopping every 2 wks. I am starting to feel homebound. A couple of the Amish ladies mentioned it as they had medical tell them it's not good. I told them in the old days my grandparents called it cabin fever and women would have mental issues due to it. My aunt suffered twice from it before my cousin started driving and got her out of the house every other week. 

After a couple of the kids read this...https://itreconomics.com/2030s-great-depression/... I understand their fear... 2 just lost their jobs due to Trumps cuts, one is looking to lose his along with his medical. Grandkid lost his survivor benefits.By time they battle for it back he will already have lost his medical he was paying himself. One working as custodian will lose hers if funding to schools ends or gets cut especially if they go pay to play as most in her area can't afford that and she's the last hired so would be the first fired...So in their eyes a Depression is coming.Even though we don't think it will get THAT bad, it's going to be hard... you can't keep running up debt and not pay the freaking bill off.  A recession is local (like only the USA), a Depression is global is the best way to get them to think of it. Or as I put it, quit doing Door Dash and COOK.

There are a couple things we would have liked to finish changing for wheelchair accessible but okay for now it's not getting done. 

I have to do the finances Wednesday. Electric bill is in early.... it's on the higher side...$150...minus the $15 for security light make it's $135.... I used the dryer for bedding, throws and such twice last month, it ran 4 hrs total (yes I kept track). 5 chest deep freezers, 3 refrigerators, 2 humidifiers running full time . Grow cart will be on. I had already saved the $$ for seeds...and part of the $$ for soil needed for the new garden beds.

Charlotte says it's nap time LOL

I think it came from FB but so fitting for me in the garden.

 

I think I even have a hat like that. LOL

I have listed all my seeds... by color, with each color on a different notebook paper, since we want to make sure we are eating our colors of fruit and veggies... white is a struggle as Hubby's parents didn't eat potatoes and mine ate them 3 times a day EVERY day. I added more white and purple colored veggies. I also added more flowers as two of the Daughters decided they wanted some that no one grows around here or where they are. 

I ordered (on sale) which meant I had to hunt around several sites to get the best price. I paid NO shipping and the least savings was 10%. I increased the order amount as Hubby felt things were going to head like pandemic did with the grocery stores. Reimer seeds are from Mexico. Several Amish are worried about not getting medical treatment as they do not have photo ids.

I brought all the stuff... grow cart, potting soil, seed starting soil etc into the house. Check fertilizer, blossom rot spray, innoculate etc that I will also need. Should be set.

We promised to bring the garden beds we are giving to the one daughter with in 2 wks as she wants to figure out where to put them etc. 

Hubby needs to finish getting the purple martin house fixed so he can finish putting the rest of the metal beds together.He does that in the barn so he doesn't get so cold or rained on.

Kind of feel like I am spinning wheels during Feb. But I know if I start planting in the grow cart and it stays cold until April (been there and done that) it will hurt my plants to plant too soon or too late.

Menu Jan 25 -Jan 30th

 Jan 25th Leftover pizza from freezer and salad 

Jan 26th Turkey Enchilida soup (home canned),left over corn bread from freezer, tortilla chips and sour cream

Jan 27th Beef pot pie with homemade bread *from M*

Jan 28th, Leftover bean soup and leftover corn bread from freezer.

Jan 29th Chinese take out ... Chinese New Year

Jan 30th.and 31st. Leftover Chinese, odds and ends soup with grilled cheese.

Garden plans for January.

I pulled out my note book and checked to see what I planted where last spring. 

If you planted the area before make sure you rotate. Corn is followed by legumes, Legumes is followed by root veg. Root vegs are followed by fruit (cucumbers, eggplant, squash, tomatoes, peppers and melons). Fruit is followed by leaf plants.  This also goes for raised garden beds.  

Also check to make sure if you do companion planting (two different plants in same bed) that they are helpful to each other. I forgot and planted dill with my one bed of tomatoes... it wasn't a good thing. 

We have 4 wooden garden beds 3 ft by 16 ft. Two of them will be going to Daughter 2 . We have 4 metal beds *2ft by 8 ft* to replace them.

The other 2 wooden beds will be cleared out and replanted with flowers only. 

 Fourteen of the metal beds has garlic in them. The company I ordered garlic from made a mistake, corrected it but let me have the "wrong" order for free. Some will be ready in May so I can plant late summer crops in those beds.The rest should be done by mid June in time for me to plant fall crops. I will be checking to see what I can plant with the garlic and after it. I plant 3 seasons so this is doable for me.

 I have potato grow bags (never used this type before). 

I have the vegepod.

I have black grow bags we have used off and on through the years and Hubby said he thought we had 4 to 6 more metal beds in barn to put together. I have flower boxes and baskets.

I checked my supply of seed pots for the grow cart. 

I checked my supply of seed starting soil, potting soil and fertilizer. Hubby checked the raised garden bed soil and put it on the NEED list. Since we are filling new beds I had already budgeted for it plus topping off last years mixed with our compost.

I went through all my seeds and listed them giving each veggie a page and listing variety. 

I have a seed list from Root Cellaring (Mike and Nancy Bubel) and seed list from Victory Gardens (https://u.osu.edu/ohiovictorygardens/) plus what Amish suggested to plant as it grows good here. 

I checked what I do have in seeds against those lists. I added some I have grew for decades such as scarlet runner beans. I ordered purple broccoli seeds and Heshiko heirloom bunching onion you can plant in the fall to have a crop the following spring from Pinetree aka superseeds.com which is new to me.

I want more "color" in a meals to help us stay healthy without getting it from the store unless it's winter, preferrably from my pantry. I want something red besides beets or tomatoes of veggies (have plenty red in fruit).

This week I will go through the lists again, separate what I will plant this spring and where into a container with list AKA brown sack labeled SPRING. I will rearrange the laundry room for the grow cart and put those seeds in one of the trays. Grow cart gets planted in Feb. The weather people are forecasting a warmer, slightly wetter spring for us. SO I will start my part of my seeds early Feb.

Blessed be

Prayers for peace...

prayers for the govt workers having to return to offices. I know the one base here just had water damage and 1/4 of the workers have NO office due to that