Good times

Knee high by the Fourth of July? Maybe to an elephant! This corn is growing fast. I just hope I can beat the squirrels to it when it's time. That's a two foot tall raised bed the corn is in. The plant in the middle is a yellow squash. It's growing straight up to get to the sun!


My favorite part of the 4th of July parade!

So that's what I've been doing instead of updating this blog. I've been thinking, though. The good part of life isn't expensive. The Fourth of July parade was free; we stopped and got food at the grocery store. Seed for the corn came from what I bought to decorate last fall.

There's been very little money out over the last few weeks, yet it's been a good time. Priorities, priorities...

Looking forward to harvest

I'm still in the gardening mode, but now I'm looking forward to harvest. I even went so far as to count my canning jars, lids and rings and make a list (very short!) of what I will need this year.

A couple of years ago I looked for lids and rings and had a hard time finding them, but this year, I see them everywhere. Maybe more people are interested? "The economy" is to blame for a lot of things, so if they're all sold out before I get out there and stock up, I'll blame it for that, too.

Stocking up on freezer bags and glass jars for dehydrated food is on my mind, too. I usually have enough of both, since I reuse as much as possible, but maybe a few more will be needed this year.

I will definitely need more if my ambition and energy keep pace! I can just see it now... all those jars of canned and dehydrated food lining the shelves of my newly renovated store room in the basement... well, everyone has to dream! :)

Old recipes: prepared mustard

Yesterday was an almost rainy, quiet Sunday afternoon and I found myself going through some old recipes. I hate to throw recipes out, even though I've had them for years and have never (yet!) got around to trying them... be that as it may, I rediscovered a few that I really, really should have tried a long time ago. They would have saved me some money and been fun, too.

One of them is how to make prepared mustard (for your hotdogs and hamburgers):

1 1/2 ounces mustard seed or powdered mustard (If you grow mustard greens, let some go to seed and use it, or you can use wild mustard seed, pennycress or even part radish seed)
2 ounces of water
4 ounces of vinegar (1/2 cup) - the recipe doesn't say, but I would use apple cider vinegar
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp turmeric - probably optional; it gives mustard its color
1/4 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar - this seems like a lot of sugar to me, so I'll taste it before adding it all.

Blend all ingredients and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick and smooth. Again, the recipe doesn't say so, but I would mill the seed first (use your blender on high), then add the rest.

If you try it, let me know how it works for you!

New rhubarb, old beans... and Jerusalem artichokes

This is a rhubarb plant I set out just before all the rain began to hit (about a month ago and counting). I wasn't at all sure it was going to make it; it seemed so little when I put it in this great bare spot.



And this is the result of some old red beans I planted last year; about six of them. It was one of those things I kept intending to throw away but never did, so come planting time I got one of those inspired moments and soaked them and planted them around some corn. They didn't grow all that well, but they did produce several long, tender pods. I left them to mature and gathered the dry beans to use as seed this year. They're looking good, in spite of a hail storm a few days ago.

It isn't a big crop, but there should be enough for a canner load of green beans and some for seed again next year.



And this is the result of 2 pounds of Jerusalem artichokes. Not a cheap bargain, but hopefully I'll get a good crop and enough 'chokes to replant for next year, too, so over the long run, I'll get my money's worth.

I hope.

Gardening can seem like betting on a roulette wheel sometimes. This year's weather has made some of it iffy, but keeping my fingers crossed and praying a little now and then, too, maybe it will turn out fine after all.

Pictures

I finally took some pictures! The first one is a climbing rose that was here when I moved it. It perks things up when it blooms, and it blooms all summer and sometimes very late into the winter.

This is the east raised bed. Onions in the foreground with beets in the background. They're both doing well with all our rain and cool weather.


And this is the west raised bed. Corn, beans and squash are all crowded in here. You can see the walls are beginning to bow out some on both beds. I should have reinforced them this year but didn't think of it until I'd already planted. That will be a fall project after the harvest.

More pictues later!

A hundred years ago...

If people living a hundred years ago suddenly could see the "things" even the poorest of us have now, their eyes would pop out!

I'm not just talking about technology, although that's mind boggling, but every day, "normal" kinds of things. People weren't consciously frugal, that was just the way life was.

Take clothes. Most people used to only own two or maybe three changes of clothing. Go ahead, count how many changes you have. Granted, they wore them for a week before washing them, but do you have more than a week's worth? I do and I know I'm not alone in the frugal community!

Shoes? They used to have two pair. One for "every day," and one for Sunday.

Rooms in their homes: Most houses only had a kitchen, a living room and bedrooms and some had less than that. Even adding a bathroom when it became available, entire homes a hundred years ago would fit on some people's patios.

Besides patios, we have dens and dining rooms and decks and "master" bedrooms with attached personal baths. Only kings lived like that a hundred years ago, but now most of the most frugal among us have more than one bathroom and more than three rooms in their homes.

But remember... gout was a "rich man's disease." The only overweight people were the rich ones. Heart attacks were few and far between. Something's wrong here....

All purpose cleaner (I thought I posted this... )

I couldn't find it, so maybe I put it somewhere else... anyway, this is the all purpose cleaner I use most of the time. It sometimes takes a stronger version, but this one does almost everything and it's a lot cheaper than commercial cleaners.

1/4 cup of ammonia (lemon scented makes it smell nice)
1 teaspoon of good liquid dish detergent
3/4 of a pint of water.

Mix with a spoon - don't shake to mix because it will suds a lot. I keep mine in a spray bottle.

And if you find it already posted on this blog, let me know!

Electric traditions revisited

If you read the post, "Electric traditions," did you join us in making an enviromental statement a frugal one?

If you did, how's it going? Once a week? More? Once a month? Less?

To be honest, I forgot to do it on a regular basis. I sometimes do it just because. It's on my calendar now, once a week. Maybe more.

Not only does turning off the electricity make us aware of the times we waste it, it makes us appreciate it when we need it. Turning it off for an hour will save a dollar or so on the electric bill in most households and that's more than vacuuming the refrigerator coils. Four times a month times 12 months... do the math, then increase or decrease it to suit yourself.

It's an easy way to save a buck and it can be an opportunity to teach your kids, create a family time and relax and reflect.

Egg drop soup

I have no idea of why, but I got one of those sudden urges for egg drop soup! I looked up a few recipes for it to be sure I remembered what was in it, and discovered that there are many variations. Now if that isn't an open door to experiment, I don't know what is and I've never been one to shut the door on something like that, so...

First, I put in a couple of tablespoons of rice, three cups of water and a couple of chicken bouillon cubes. While that was cooking, I went to the back yard and got a fistful of dandelion leaves, lambsquarter, salsify leaves and a few stalks of chives. Once the rice was cooked, the greens went into the soup and cooked briefly while I beat an egg, the dropped it a little at time into the boiling water.

And that's all there was to it. With a slice of homemade bread it made a surprisingly filling meal. I haven't calculated the exact cost, but with the price of eggs now, it was very cheap - potentially less than a dime a serving.

I know not everyone can step outside their back door and pick wild greens (or even domesticated greens), but you can use whatever you happen to have. Spinach, radish tops, mustard or turnip greens or even cabbage will do.

It may not be genuine Chinese egg drop soup, but it's a very good Americanized substitute!

Garden ramble

My mind has been on the garden and the weather for the last few weeks. I have everything out: tomatoes, peppers, squash, corn, beans, onions, beets, lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, spinach, peas and a few potatoes. I also started rhubarb and Jerusalem artichokes. Growing from before is horseradish and strawberries.

Hopefully this year I'll be canning tomatoes, zucchini with tomatoes, green beans and beets. I'll have onions to braid and hang, and a few meals' worth of potatoes. If I'm lucky, there will be a few peas left to freeze, corn to freeze as well as make cornmeal from, peppers to dehydrate and tomato sauce and tomato juice to freeze.

Not bad for a city backyard, but I'd like to grow more. With prices still going up and up and up, anything you can grow yourself will save money. Even if it's a few herbs in pots, if you don't have to buy them, you save.

The more you can grow, the more you save, of course, but don't not garden because your soil is like fired brick or beach sand.

Compost, compost, compost. Spring, summer and fall are the times to compost, so now's the time to start. It doesn't take much of anything and you don't need a fancy composter. Just designate a piece of dirt (or a container of dirt) and start putting in used tea leaves, a few coffee grounds, chopped raw vegetables, cooked vegetables if they don't have salt or butter, a few grass clippings, leaves, shredded paper... keep it damp but not wet and turn it now and then, whenever you think of it. Soon it will turn into rich soil.

Mix it into your garden area and make more. And more. Nature is bountiful. Not only does it create new, wonderful dirt from what we call trash, it grows wonderful, healthy food from the same dirt. Trash to food. Can't beat that. That's the original recycling plan and it works.

What a miracle of life, to watch and be a part of the entire cycle.