Thanksgiving Essentials You Can Make Not Buy!

 Here comes the holiday season!  It's just around the corner!  I've already started to see the commercials for Christmas, and Thanksgiving hasn't even happened yet.  To be fair, Christmas decor made it's way to the stores right after 4th of July, so who are we kidding.  Retailers aren't kidding when it comes to competing for your hard earned dollars.  That includes grocery stores.  I don't fault them for this.  It's their job.  Their job is to get as many of your dollars as they can.  Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to keep as many of your dollars as you can.  This isn't Mission impossible!  It can be done.  You just need to be a little more savvy, and you win.  Part of that savviness is in making more of the things grocers tell you have to be bought.

Many of these recipes I've listed before in one way or another, but I wanted to place them here for convenience.  Both for you and me.  Before you grab a premade, possibly chemically laced bottle, can, or package of something for the holidays; look here to what you can cross off your list.  It's a bigger list than you think!  Full disclosure, I don't know why the next two recipes are highlighted white, but I couldn't fix it so.....

Sweetened Condensed milk

2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp vanilla

On med/low heat whisk the milk and sugar together. Keep stirring occasionally while the milk mixture reduces by about half ( you're shooting for 14 oz. I weigh mine to get it exact). Once reduced, remove from heat and add the vanilla.  Mix well. Makes 12-14 oz and you can use this recipe anywhere sweetened condensed milk is called for.

Evaporated milk

This is incredibly easy.  Simply pour 3 cups of milk into a pot.  On a med low heat simmer until reduced by half.  Use where ever evaporated milk is called for

Cream soup mix

1 1/2 cups dry milk
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 ts salt

mix all together then cut in

1 stick of  butter.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge.  To use for plain white sauce just use 1/3 cup mix to 1 cup of water.  If you want cream of chicken, use chicken broth, cream of mushroom: open a can of mushrooms and drain, add water to the mushroom liquid to equal 1 cup fluid. Then follow the rest of the recipe.  You can also add 1 cup of cheese and 1 tsp. yellow mustard to make cheese sauce. If you don't have dry milk, you can simply make a white sauce using 2 TBS melted butter, 2 TBS flour, 1/4 tsp salt and 1 cup liquid of choice: milk, chicken brother, mushroom, etc.  This recipe will take the place of your cream of chicken, cream mushroom etc.  I used this recipe last night to make queso cheese sauce for our fajitas.  It was very good, and popular.

Homemade Poultry Seasoning

2 tsp ground sage
2 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Marjoram
3/4 tsp ground rosemary
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground black pepper.

Just add everything to a jar and shake well.  Just keep it in your spice cabinet for use whenever you need poultry seasoning.

Homemade pumpkin pie spice

4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Chicken Broth

Cook a whole chicken for dinner.  SAVE THE JUICE FROM IT"S COOKING!  After it's use for that meals, remove the rest of the meat.  Save that meat in the fridge of freezer for other meals.  Take the bones from the chicken, and the cooking liquid from cooking the chicken and place in a crock pot or stock pot.  If you have the giblets, add those too.  Add some celery (2 large stalks), some carrots( one large), half a large onion, couple of tsp salt, and 2 tbs vinegar.  Covered it all with water, put the lid on and set it to low.  Let this simmer at least a day.  If in a stock pot, let it simmer during the day and check on it periodically.  Add water if it cooks down too low.  You want to keep everything covered.  At bed time, turn off, then resume cooking on low the next day.  You want to cook both crock or stock pot, until you can take a bone out and crush it with your fingers.  That means the vinegar has done it's job and removed all of the minerals from the bones, and the broth is now infused with those good for you minerals.  The broth is now ready.  Strain the broth to remove the bones, and vegetables.  The bones are so soft after cooking broth that I will mash up everything, veggies and all and give it to my dogs.  They love it.  Place the broth in the refrigerator to cool.  Remove once cool and skim the now solid fat off the top.  Your broth is now defatted.  This should a make at least a few quarts of really good bone broth.  Bone broth cost big bucks at the store.  You got it cheap cheap!  

Stuffing

Save the heals of loaves of bread, left over hot dog bung, hamburger buns, corn bread, and biscuits.  Keep this stale bread in your freezer.  If you don't have left over corn bread or biscuits, simply make them and freeze to use for stuffing for Thanksgiving dinner.  No one should have to buy( and pay crazy money) for stale bread.  Saltine crackers are also a great stuffing addition.  Use your favorite recipe, just don't buy the dried stuffing.  

Pie crust

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup lard or butter.  Please don't use shortening, and make sure the lard you buy isn't hydrogenated.  I use butter most of the time.

6-7 TBS cold water

Mix flour and salt together.  Cut in the butter until it's crumbly.  There shouldn't be a piece bigger than a pea.  Make a well in the center.  Add the cold water a TBS at a time, tossing it into the mixture.  It you need t add a little more water, add just enough to get a nice dough that doesn't crumble, but isn't sticky.  Divide in to two pieces.  Roll out each onto a floured surface.  Makes two crusts.  You can flour parchment or wax paper and roll the crust out on the paper, then roll and freeze or refrigerate until needed.  

Baking powder

2 TBS Baking Powder

2 TBS Corn Starch

4 TBS Cream of Tarter

Mix all together in a jar.  Use as you would any store bought baking powder, only this will work way better.  Much cheaper.

Brown Sugar

Mix in 1 TBS of Molasses into 1 cup of granulated sugar.  You can blend this to mix, or use your hands to mix well.  Use just as you would any store bought brown sugar.  Way cheaper this way.

Powdered Sugar

I've actually done this.  I know it sound crazy, but to make powdered sugar you need to put a cup of sugar into a blender and blend on high.  You'll need to stop it periodically to loosen things up, but it works.  

Okay.  That's all I can think of at the moment.  If I think of anything else, I'll add it here.  Please comment if you know of something I've missed, have a question, or just want to say hello!

Could be now, but definitely for future use.

 So not waxing political.  I'm just wanting to give some tips and tricks to folks who are currently on food stamps and facing no food stamps for November.  This information, while initially for current EBT recipients, is also useful for anyone facing a financial emergency that takes grocery money out of their bank account.  I've been there.  I've been on food stamps.  When my daughter was a baby I was on food stamps for a few months after the company I worked for closed and moved to North Carolina.  I took a job at McDonalds to get off of them. I will say this.  Be careful who you let control your food, housing, and healthcare. These are things that are essential for living.  It's best to be in control of them yourself.  

Okay.  All that being said; there are times when there's no choice but to get help from Uncle Sam.  This post is to help strengthen you and your family during that time as well as those in a bind financially.  I've been there too!  More than once!  

**When it comes to scratch cooking, I have many recipes on this page, as well as "How to's".  

Regardless of food stamp "money" or your own money, these tips will help you get through any financial crisis. First lets get you through this one.  

1.  Food Banks/Pantries- I know it's not ideal, but look at food banks in your area.  There are also churches that have food pantries.  Many of these offer canned or shelf stable products to people in need.  This is because they can be donated and stored until they are given to those in need of them.  In the food pantry where I served, we always tried to think of staples with the boxes: canned vegetables, canned meats, peanut butter, oil, salt, flour, sugar, etc.  With those items many different meals can be created.  

2.  Scrounged money-  Your family has to eat, so if you have a few dollars, great.  If you don't, some things will have to go by the wayside so groceries can be brought in.  Streaming services that are about to come out; cancel them.  Any unnecessary expenses need to be put on hold: gym membership, hair dresser, nail salon, date nights out, etc.  Your family eating takes priority.  When funds are available again, these services can be reinstated.  You may actually get a better price when you come back!

3.  What do you have on Hand? - Take an inventory of what you have in your pantry, freezer, and fridge.  Think of what you need to buy to make a meal out of what's already there.  

3.  Shop wisely -  You aren't going to have a wind fall of cash despite what you do, so you'll need to be smart with how you spend.  Basics are what you're looking for.  Staple items.  Coke, snacks, "Fun foods" are out.  It doesn't mean you can't have them.  It just means you'll have to make them!  You can do it!  Switch lunch meat for a whole chicken or turkey. Walmart has these on sale right now for .97 lb..  That's cheaper than a whole chicken.  These can be cooked and used just like lunch meat.  You will get many meals from a whole chicken and especially a whole turkey.  Don't forget the bones!  Once you've used the meat on the chicken or turkey, those bones can be slow cooked a couple of days in a croc pot and make broth!  That broth is highly nutritional.  You have kids; they need milk.  Under 2 it should be full strength whole milk, but over two you have the option of stretching 1 gallon of whole milk into 2 gallons of milk.  Mix whole milk half and half with water.  Voila!  2 gallons of milk!  It will be the taste and consistency of 2%.  Flour, salt, sugar, potatoes, onions, carrots, tea bags, etc..  Yes I said Tea bags.  We're in the south Honey!  We drink tea here.  Ya know what?  You can make sweet tea, and still have less sugar than drinking a coke.  Well maybe, some of you southerners like really sweet tea.  I'm a half cup sugar to a gallon of tea type girl.  I know.  I swear I was born and raised in Ga!  However my family came from Pennsylvania laying railroad, so maybe that's it.   So you are looking to fill in gaps with what you have at home.  If you have a question about anything you need to learn to do, You Tube is a cornucopia of info.  Mary's Nest is a great resource.  Nice lady.  

4.  Stretch what you have and buy-  You may think "I have one can of corn.  That's not enough for 6 people".  Well it is if you take that corn and make soup or corn chowder.  Dice onions and peppers in it.  Add it to corn bread.  This is just an example.  The idea is to make what you have go further.  In 1976 when I was a kid.  Inflation was bad.  My parents had 5 kids to feed, and groceries went up over night.  To stretch ground beef, my mom added chopped onion and bread crumbs( from left over bread).  To this day it's my favorite way to eat ground beef.  Our daughter, her husband and our grandson lived with us for about 8 months years ago.  We had 6 adults and a toddler here to feed.  Not a lot of money to spare.  I made a chicken pot pie, actually two 9x11 casserole dishes, with two chicken breasts.  I doubled the carrots, onions, potatoes and celery.  Everyone ate what they wanted and no hungry bellies.  I had no left overs, but everyone was fed.  I did the same thing with frying chicken breast.  I took two large chicken breasts.  Pounded them flat, cut them into strips and double breaded them.  Everyone was full.  Left over meatloaf becomes the meat for chili or spaghetti.  Left over egg/milk mix from french toast becomes muffins for another day.  Leftover mashed potatoes, rice, and oatmeal can be added to muffin batter to stretch the number of muffins.  Stretch what you have!!

 So those last tips are some of the options to get you through now.  The following are so you don't have to have it this hard again

1.  Build a pantry. .  Set aside a place or, if there isn't a set place, use every nook and cranny you can come up with to put food that you are going to begin to set aside.  Like I said in the beginning.  This may not be helpful out of the gate, but it will in the future.  There will always be financial crisis.  Doesn't matter how much you make.  There will always be problems with EBT.  I mean we are talking about the government.  How efficient do you think they are?  

2.  Buy staples!  -  The best thing you can do financially and health wise is to begin to cook all you can( and it's a lot that can be made) from scratch.  Getting away from highly processed food will leave you with massive amounts of food stamp dollars at the end of the month.  What do you buy with those?  More staples; meats, produce, etc.  You can freeze a lot of things, and if you have jars and a big stock pot you can water bath can a lot. Learn to ferment.  The idea here is by purchasing staples and putting it in your area designated to be the pantry or food storage.  You will never have to worry about something happening like this again.  You will have food laid by, and it's like money in the bank.  You will shrug when another government shut down or financial crisis hits, because you will know that regardless of it all, your family will still eat.

3.  Shop sales-  The next few months are the best, in my opinion, for buying staples.  Using food stamp or grocery money to focus on staple items on sale is the best combination to stretch dollars.  Many people don't realize coupons can be combined with food stamps, just as if using cash.  

You may have to be on food stamps for a time, but that doesn't mean food stamps needs to control you.   The same goes for any financial crisis.  You can breath easier knowing you can eat from the pantry, saving the money you would have spent on food for whatever financial need arises.  It's also money in the bank.  

Something practical, and a recipe!

 Good morning!  Rainy day here, and damp cold!  Brrr.  DH and I are both sitting down to a sausage and cheese breakfast sandwich and a cup of coffee.  Yum!

So sausage is expensive you say?  Well it doesn't have to be.  In fact, using this recipe one can get not only a great flavorful sausage inexpensively, but also get a good whollap of protein to boot.  Way more than store bought sausage.  How?  Well no fillers in this sausage.  It uses a pound of ground meat; cooks choice : ground pork, turkey, chicken, or beef.  The beef will make it pricier.  FYI.  Todays' sausage was made with 85/15 ground turkey.  I've used ground pork before.  In fact if you have a grocery store with an independent butcher( Ingles for example).  Watch for whole boneless pork loin to go on sale for $1.99-$2.49 lb.  Get them to slice the center into chops, but grind the ends.  You can also just get them to grind the whole thing, and then freeze it into 1 pound packages.  Ground pork is also a great substitution for ground beef if pinching pennies.  

Without further ado:

Indiana Farm Sausage

1 pound ground meat

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/3- 1/5 tsp marjoram

1/5 tsp thyme

1/3-1/5 basil

1 tsp salt

1 rounded tsp sage

1 rounded tsp parsley

1 tsp onion powder

Mix all together in a mixing bowl.  You can make it ahead the night before to let the flavors mix, but today I simply made it up and cooked it immediately.  You cook it just like any other sausage:  brown it in a pan.  I've used this recipe to make sausage biscuits, breakfast sandwiches, pizza, sausage gravy, and sausage cheese balls.  

I can get ground turkey for $1.99 at Aldi, and watch for the pork loin to go on sale.  The cheapest I've seen sausage on sale is $3.99.  This ends up being half that.  Well worth the effort!

My second practical tidbit today is our bread.  It's sourdough.  I used to think I lacked the sourdough gene.  It seemed like every time I tried to make a starter, it would die.  I was... a starter killer.  Then my sweet niece, Lydia, gave me a starter from her stash.  Her starter had been kept alive for about 2 hundred years!  NO PRESSURE! So I fed it religiously.  I was so afraid I'd kill it.  I kept it going for a while.  Then I made the mistake of listening to someone on the internet that said you could freeze starter.  Yea.  You can't.  Once again I killed it!  So I decided to try once again to make my own.  I felt I'd learned a lot from caring for my niece starter; especially not to freeze it.  So I gave it a try, and made my own!  It is much easier than people think, but it does require attention.  

So here are the rules for starter' mainly making and caring for your own.

1.  You can buy distilled water, but who needs yet another thing to buy.  Fill a jar with water and let it sit out, lightly capped or covered, over night.  That will let any chlorine dissipate.  I keep a jar filled on my counter, next to my starter.  

2.  Don't worry about flour and water ratios.  Just take a good scoop of flour; say a cup if you need a measurement, and add water to it until it's the consistency of pancake patter.

3.  You will need to discard starter and add more flour and water at least daily in the beginning.  I don't go by a set time when doing this.  I check it periodically during the day and when it's not bubbling very much I'll pour off some starter then add more water and flour.  When the starter is strong enough, it won't have to happen as often.  It will become more a routine where you're using the starter and feeding it for next time.  I fed this starter this morning around 7 am.  It's 9:30 and it's bubbling away.  

4.  DON'T THROW YOUR DISCARD AWAY!  The easiest thing to do is pour it into a heated cast iron pan or pizza pan.  Sprinkle salt on it and bake for a quick easy pizza crust.  I'll make these up and freeze them for easy meals.  There are other things to do with your discard.  I'll cover those later.  When your discard is strong enough, you can use it to make bread like I did today!

5.  If you don't have time to deal with the starter or don't have anything to bake anytime soon, you can refrigerate it.  You'll want to feed it after about a week.  Maybe sooner if your starter is still new.  When you do take it out to use,  feed it, and let it sit on the counter and get to room temp before you use it.

                                                          

6.  DON"T use stainless steel!  Not even for stirring.  I have a rubber spatula that I use, but wooden spoons are fine as well.  My starter began it's life in a 2 quart mason jar, but now lives in a crock that stays on my counter.  The lid to the crock is broken, so my starter has to have plastic wrap to cover it.  I want to use it though because it's the pattern of my dishes.  I decided on the crock because I can scoop the starter out easier and the lid to the mason jar kept getting crusty with dried starter.  I like this better.

                                                       

7.  DON'T FREEZE!  I don't care what the internet says.

I will say having sourdough is a plus.  Not only do I not have to buy yeast to make our baked goods, but true sourdough breaks down the gluten making it easier to digest.  It also is a fermented product, so is good for the gut.  Plus the pizza crust and the cracker recipe have become a go to for me. 

Sourdough crackers

1 cup flour

1 cup sourdough starter (discard)

1 tsp salt

3 TBS fat( butter, lard, avocado oil, etc.; cooks choice)

Mix flour, salt, and oil/fat together.  Add starter and mix well.  Let sit, covered, for 30 minutes.  Take a third of the dough at a time, and roll out thin ( 1/4 inch)on either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.  I cut mine with a pizza cutter, but you can use a knife.  Lightly sprinkle with salt.  Place parchment or mat on cookie sheet.  Bake 12 minutes at 350 until the edges brown.  These will taste like saltines, but are much lighter.  

Relax. I'm no AI.

 😁 I heard yesterday that a growing number of internet articles are now AI.  That includes many names that are well known in media.  Even they have jumped on the AI band wagon to help with their writing.  Well you can rest assured that isn't me!  😉.  Can you tell?  

Full disclosure;  I recently started asking Chatgpt some questions.  I see the attraction.  Chatgpt helped me decide what colors to paint my living room and dining room.  It helped me in repairing a vinyl dolls eyes.  Which is great, since I'm teaching myself to restore vintage and antique dolls.  It helped me fix our sliding glass door.  You get my drift.  The one thing I haven't used it for is my writing.  Good or bad grammar; it's all mine.  Not giving that up.  I don't care if it might make it sound better.  It isn't me.  So know when you come here all the thoughts, information, antics, mistakes, etc. are all my own.  I will be your contact with reality!

Okay, so now, back to reality:

I finally got around to taking the 12 roosters to the processor.  One of those twelve got a last minute stay of execution because the processors wife needed a rooster.  She choose from the lighter of the 12.  So he now has 10 ladies of his own.  I'm happy he got to get a reprieve.  I'd reprieve all of them if it wasn't for the fact that I had 15 roosters crowing at 5 a.m. every morning.  My neighbors can only take so much.  The two roosters we kept were the low man on the totem pole so never put on enough weight.  In fact he almost starved.  I had to remove him from the roosters and feed him alone in order for him to come back.  The second, miraculously was the one who laid his head on my shoulder a couple of weeks ago.  He'd been lost in the crowd of identical roosters until I picked him up to load him in the truck.  When I went to carry him to the truck, he once again laid his head on my chest.  Of all of the roosters, he's the only one that did that.  I've named him Swanson, and I think I'll name the second one Sanders.

We learned a lesson with these guys.  These were meat birds and we should have been feeding them a high protein 24% feed at the point of hatching.  We didn't.  We fed them chick feed according to the directions on the chick feed bag.  Had we done that one thing they would have been ready for processing weeks ago.  Instead we had to wait longer, and therefore pay more in feed over time to get them to a decent weight.  We did change feed a few weeks ago, but we've still lost time and money.  Now we know.  In fact we're switching to the high protein feed for everyone, layers included moving forward.  This will help the layers during molting, and can increase egg production.  We hope!  

My house looks like a tornado struck because of the painting process.  I'm hopeful I can get it all together soon.  I have to say Chat did a great job with his paint recommendations.  I choose from the options he offered, but he gave me some good option.  I'm loving the colors so far.  I will post the finished pics later. 

Thought I'd include a few of my past projects.  These were done before I met Chat.  The top two are circa 1940's total composition dolls.  The last one with the long hair is a 1955 EeGee Susan Stroller doll.

 

I failed.

 Yep!  I went over my grocery budget, and it was intentional.  I already know where I made my mistake; bad planning on my part.  

You see, we have chickens.  Well, actually we have a lot of chickens.  Back in May we decided to buy specifically meat birds with the intention of starting a sustainable meat bird flock.  The idea was that we would buy 24 birds.  Of those 24 birds, half would be hens, and half roosters.  We'd keep one rooster to keep the flock going, and the rest would be processed.  We chose a heritage breed call "Jersey Giants".  Males can be up to 13 lbs. at adulthood and females 10 lbs.  

Two things have thrown a wrench in this plan: we didn't know to give them a high protein meat feed starting at birth, and we didn't realize DH would get an opportunity to tour with a wrestling group.   So when we had planned to process the birds, they weren't at a decent weight.  That meant a longer wait, and more expense for chicken feed.  We have since changed their feed to the high protein, which is a little more expensive than what we were feeding them.  That's when we found out they should have been given this feed from the time they hatched.  So because these guys are needing a more expensive feed, and they're still here, means I went over my budget.  In addition, because of DH schedule, we've found a processor to take care of these guys when the time comes (needs to be soon.  Imagine how much fun it is to hear 14 roosters crowing at 5am.).  So even more added expense.  So now we know.  This lesson cost us some dollars, but now we know.  We're still following our plan as far as raising meat birds, but now we know where we went wrong and can tweak things moving forward.  

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up one of the roosters to see if he had put on weight.  The stupid thing laid his head on my chest like he was cuddling me.  I'm like DRAT!  Okay.  You get to be the one that stays with the hens cause now I can't process you.  Well that worked for a couple of days until he got out of the enclosure for the hens to be with his brothers.  I did tell you he wasn't that bright.  Now I can't tell them apart.  They all look the same.  I looked up the breed and apparently this cuddling behavior is common among this breed.  That's terrible!  They should be ornery so I have no problem letting them go.  If they cuddle me every time I'll never be able to process them.  Sigh.  

In other news, one of the reasons I've been quiet on here the last few weeks is I have yet again another project.  I'm now painting our living room and dining room.  I don't think I shared my kitchen, pics, I did that a month or so ago.  

That red phone will be in use soon, as soon as I can figure out what VOI system I want to use.  I miss being able to work and talk on the phone at the same time.  You can't hold a cell phone on your shoulder. 

 This picture frame is my favorite piece in my kitchen.  On the bottom is the actual WW2 food ration book, with unused stamps inside, that belonged to  my great grandmother.  It has her name, Ollie, on it as well as her address.  I looked up the address in Atlanta and her house still stands.  Anyway, I framed the ration card along with some pictures of her and my dad when he was a boy

My garden is done for the season except for some peppers and a few valiant tomatoes.  Once we have a first freeze I'll get out there to put it officially to bed for the year.  I've decided my garden will slumber through next season as well to give it and me a rest.  With DH touring, I don't want to get into an "over my head" situation like I did this year.  

So that's my update.  I'm off to start painting again!  Thanks for reading!  Have a blessed day!

Thought this might still be relevant

 Hello again!  Hello cousin "K"!  How are things?  STILL EXPENSIVE!  Even with the rate of inflation down, it doesn't mean there is no inflation.  Throw in supply line issues, drought, etc.  Gone are the days of a $400 grocery budget.  (sigh).  $400 was our average for years, but when DH and I got married, I could fill our pantry and fridge for a month for about $150.  (double sigh)

I've been trying to get us back on a good grocery budget, and by a good Grocery Budget I'm shooting for $600 a month.  This would include all pet food, chicken feed, paper products, and cleaning supplies.  This may be a bit of a challenge, but I'm determined to at least find a comfortable budget in the ball park.  $600 was the budget I had in August.  I stuck to it pretty well, but had some accidental debit purchases I'd not planned on.  September was the same, but, again, lost track of some things so not exactly sure of numbers.  So I'm trying again to do a cash only grocery budget.  October 1st is the day I get my grocery money.  Not sure how this is going to go, but in lieu of my foray into the grocery battle; I thought I'd bring forward an article I wrote o so long ago in 2021.  I found it useful for my own situation and thought it might be helpful to you dear reader.  I'll let you know how it goes.  😓

Stretch what you have

What can I say?

Charlie Kirk was a day younger than our son, Einstein. That doesn't make his assassination any worse than it already is, but it does strike us as to how young he was. DH and I were up last night talking about it all. Not just Charlie Kirk, but the senseless murder of the young Ukrainian woman, Irina Zarutska, on the subway in NC, and also the general state of things. I'm stunned, saddened, and worried. DH is MAD. Mad at what happened to Charlie and Irina, but mostly mad at the politicians that have whipped people into such a frenzy that a young man and woman are no longer here. He's calmer now than he was the day Charlie Kirk died, but still mad.

DH says he changed that day. I asked him what was different. His initial reaction to the death of Charlie Kirk wasn't a positive one, and he knew it. It was visceral. Now he confesses he's more guarded. He's keenly aware of the fact that someone could take something he posts and use it to target him or his family. He believes one on one he'd be bolder. During the course of our conversation, however, we determined that to be silent in any capacity is to give a win to the shooter.

To me, and this is my opinion, politics and faith go hand and hand. I believe this because our political beliefs are usually guided by our faith and values. I say "usually" because politicians are very adept at twisting faith to fit their narrative. Because I believe they're intertwined; I can't speak out about one without the other. For instance, I'm pro-life. Therefore I vote for candidates with a pro life platform. I wavered from that this past presidential campaign season when RFK Jr was running. He's the closest I've ever come to voting for a Democrat. The reason I came that close was due to his approach to abortion. To quote RFK Jr " every abortion is a tragedy". His plan was to find a way to support and incentivize mothers to keep their children rather than just a blanket statement that women shouldn't have abortions. I still would rather abortion not exist, but he was at least trying to solve the problem.

So I'm not supposed to be silent about my faith. As a result, my politics will show up! So just so you know, dear reader, I'm a conservative. I believe in the Father, Son, and Holy ghost. I believe in being responsible for my actions. Dh and I learned long ago to live our lives in such a way as to NOT need govt help. We learned that tough lesson a long time ago. We live within our means and want the government to do the same. I believe we are made in the image of God. God doesn't make mistakes. If he intended a child to be a boy; it's a boy. As an aside. I will never, ever, refer to a man by female pronouns. You haven't paid the dues buddy. You're a dude in a skirt. Anyway. I believe in Biblical marriage. I believe my husband is the head of the house, and Christ is the head of him. Does that make me weak or dumb? No. Does that mean he can abuse me? NO! I believe in life at conception. As unplanned pregnancies go, my first was not stellar. My daughters biological father was married at the time, and not to me. I worked at Wendy's. I lived with my daughters biological father AND HIS WIFE. Top that Geraldo! I was married, technically at the time, but separated from my then husband. I had to tell my parents!!!! Ugh! I had every reason in todays' world to have the pregnancy quietly terminated. I didn't, and I wouldn't. Even in the midst of the craziness of my heathen life, I still was prolife. I've never regretted bringing my daughter into this world. She's beautiful, funny, sharp as a tac, and she gets it all from me😁. Read my testimony here

So there you go.  You know me.  I will not be silent.  

Vaccine Vent. Well more of just my thoughts, but "vent" goes well

 Do you, dear reader, believe vaccines work?  This isn't a trick question.  I happen to believe that some do.   The idea of injecting a weakened or dead form of a virus for the immune system to learn and fight off is a good idea.  In fact I believe the return on the investment for some of these vaccines is worth it.  Vaccines like Polio.   However, I do believe there is a limit.  I don't believe every virus needs a vaccine.  Chicken pox for instance.  Our idea of a Chicken Pox vaccine was to nurse our children through it.  All three of our children caught the Chicken pox.  Yes it was miserable for them, but they're through it.  Before anyone brings up Shingles; vaccinated for Chicken Pox or not; it's still a possibility.  Vaccinated for Shingles isn't fool proof either.

What I don't believe in is the number of vaccines given to children before the age of 18. 72 if I remember correctly.  I also don't believe they have to be heaped on babies as they are.  In the first 2 months of life, it's recommended that an infant have 7 vaccines with 2nd shots given before they're 4 month old.  2 at birth, with 6 of the 7 having second doses between 2-4 months of age.  Some of these are a cocktail of illnesses rather than just one.  Rather than list them all here, I've included a link to the CDC website for child vaccinations.  Click here to see

I will pull out one of these vaccines; Hepatitis B.  This is given to every newborn regardless of potential risk: mothers drug use, mother having multiple partners, or diagnosis of Hep B.  While it is possible to decline this vaccine for a newborn; many times the hospital presents this vaccine as "newborn care" or phrases it in such a way that many parents don't realize they can opt out.  If a mother is at high risk the vaccine is prudent.  However, if the mother doesn't have Hep B, isn't a drug user, and/or hasn't had multiple sexual partners, opting out is an option.  As an aside, part of my nursing assistant, and home health training, was in wording requests in such a way as to get compliance from my patients.  It isn't just obtaining vaccine approval.  ALL medical staff knows the best way to approach a patient to get compliance.  During a hospital stay, my mother refused physical therapy.  We told staff she was independent.  She was in the hospital for a digestive issue and not a mobility issue.  She refused physical therapy out right.  Instead of honoring her wishes, the physical therapist showed up again the next day and pushed her into a session.  This physical therapist even acknowledged her prior refusal!  Unfortunately I wasn't with her at the time.  She was afraid if she refused they wouldn't treat her so she complied, even though she was too sick.  I'm hopeful my mother never has to attend a hospital again, but should she have to; I'm packing a bag and I will be camping there until she comes home.  Anyway, I digress.  

What I also don't believe is that the Covid "vaccine" has a place anywhere.  What started as "95% chance of not getting Covid or spreading it"  went to "well you can still get it and spread it but it won't be as bad".  In fact the 2024 strain specifically targeted people who had been vaccinated!  My husband was vaccinated.  My sons and I weren't.  We had Covid naturally twice; once in 2021 and once in 2022.  Then nothing else so far.  Even though all of us were exposed, he alone got Covid last year.  In addition are the recent revelations that have come out about the side effects of this vaccine.  No Thank you!  Myocarditis in young men especially, increase chance of heart attack and blood clots.  In fact we suspect the issues my mother had the year she was hospitalized came from her having been vaccinated a month prior.  

What set me off on this tirade is an interview on CNN with Senator Mark Mullin.  During the course of the interview the News Lady ( I don't watch CNN so forgive my ignorance of her name)  made a statement about her vaccinated child being at risk if another child wasn't vaccinated.  She, and others that believe like her can't have it both ways.  Either vaccines work or they don't.  If they don't, vaccinating a child is just mean.  If vaccines work the only person at risk of disease is the unvaccinated person.  So let people make their own INFORMED choice.  Let them know the risks, and benefits.  Let them know clearly that they can opt out or even take the shots at a pace they're comfortable with.  My choosing to not vaccinate either myself or my children doesn't in any way hinder another's choice to do so.   Full disclosure, we did vaccinate all of our children when they were small.  Not as many as are offered now, but we did.   However, by the "booster time" we knew enough to say "No".  To each his own, but know how, why, and when.  Be willing to accept the risks of each decision.  Just be informed.  Don't let the media tell you what to think.  

Finally Finished another room!

 Hello again.  I just wanted to take a minute and show off my new laundry room.  It's not a new addition; just a revamp of the old.  I've been looking at this same laundry room for almost 30 years.  Aside from having new floors put in last year due to water damage; nothing else has been done to it.  That changed this past week.  

This is the after.  I wish I'd taken time to get a before picture, but I didn't.  Sorry.  Think dreary, aged wall board original to the mobile home.  The pattern had faded and the wall board had yellowed with age.  The cabinets, also original, were dark cherry colored and had no shelf, except the floor of the cabinet.  I had no other storage between the washer/dryer, and cabinet.  Still need to replace the side door, but that will be, hopefully the end of September beginning of October.

We had to have our AC changed out last month.  It was a must do.  Our power bill last month was $682, because the unit we had couldn't handle temps over 85.  We've dealt with that every summer for the past 24 years, but never could afford an alternative.  This year we ended up having to change it out, so spent what we were going to spend on converting the back deck to a screened in porch to replacing the AC.  So we've put off the screened in porch until March/April we hope.  Because we had a total change out of the AC, or I should say heat and AC, we had space in the laundry room where the old indoor unit had been.  Our new unit is under the house.  This new space became a broom closet; taking all of my floor cleaning and dusting stuff out of the laundry room area and into this new "broom closet.  I did the conversion, such as it is.  It's no where near professional, but it works for now.  It just needed to have the duct hole covered so the cats won't go down it, and be set apart from the water heater.  I'm proud to say, and you can probably tell, that I used materials I already had on hand.  I had the paint, but not the primer, so the primer was purchased.

Last but not least is my area above the freezer.  I neglected to mention that I added shelves to the cabinets over the washer/dryer.  This allowed me to store a huge amount of things I had sitting on these shelves.  Now these shelves are for my canning equipment.  That rather old looking canner at the top was my grandmothers.  I can't use it anymore; although I did use it for a long time.  The base is cracking and so it isn't safe to be put under pressure.  You can read the story about that canner here.

While the rest of my house has gone to rack and ruin, I have to say I love, love, love this room!  I think I've over done a little with my left wrist, so am taking it easy on projects for today, but come tomorrow I think I'm headed into the kitchen!  I'm going to try out doing a back splash!  We'll see how industrious I get.  Any tips on that?

Simplifying my life by getting rid of some convenience.

 


I know.  That title sounds crazy doesn't it?  It was, however, the best way to describe what I'm doing.  I'm a proud Gen Xer.  My dad worked for IBM as an engineer, and we actually had a Commodore computer in the house.  No internet then.  We played computer games on it: Shamus and another space game I forget the name.  Daddy used it for grown up responsible stuff.  You know BORING!  Lol.  It's not like technology was absent from me as a child or teenager.  However, I was an adult of 31 before my husband and I got a computer and dial up internet because he was going to college and needed it.  We thought it was cool.  I was a woman of 53, I think, before I got a cell phone.  I only did that because our then pastor told us we would need one since we were part of the leadership.  SMH.  I got one.  UGH!  Talk about being tethered.  Where's my phone?  I need to charge my phone.  Don't drop the phone.  Etc..  Crazy.  I've said ever since I've had this phone that as soon as it breaks I'm getting a land line.  As an aside, the best way to insure longevity for your cell phone is to say that very thing.  It will never stop working!  So my phone is going(hopefully) to be replaced by, not the landline I grew up with, but some form of internet phone.  That's what I'm looking at.  I miss being able to talk on the phone and still do a task at home.  Now, with my cell phone, I have to stop what I'm doing if I'm going to talk for any length of time.  I'll probably get a little prepaid number for when I'm away from home.  

My phone isn't the only thing I'm changing.  My husband travels a lot.  When he's traveling, it's easier( and cheaper) for him to eat healthier if he can have groceries delivered to the house in which he temporarily resides.  For that reason we opted to get a Walmart Plus membership.  It does help him considerably.  He says he feels better eating normal food instead of the junk he has to get at restaurants or continental breakfasts.  That's all well and good, but I have to say I use it  here as well.  I've been looking over finances and I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that this membership, with my using it too, is costing us money.  All in the name of convenience.  So while we're keeping it for his convenience, I'm laying off it.  This morning my kitchen is cleaned and ready to receive the groceries I'm going out in person to purchase.  My freezer is defrosted, and my refrigerator is cleaned out and sparkly.  I'll be going by our bank to draw out $600 dollars in cash for my grocery budget for the month.  That month starts today.  I used to could do this for $400, but inflation you know.  Some prices are coming down, but still this will be snug.  I'm drawing out cash because it's too easy to whip out a debit card.  Cash will make me think twice about purchases.  In fact I've cancelled autoship/subscriptions as well.  There's something about having to get up and go to the store to make you think twice about how bad something is needed or wanted.   I also plan to have my phone off and in my car while I'm shopping.  I'm taking a techno break.  

Fast forward to this afternoon.  I'm Back!  SO refreshing!  In addition to the satisfaction of getting my own groceries, I chose to not go into Gainesville and instead opted for the mountains.  There's both an Aldi and a Walmart across the street from each other and I decided to patronize both.  It hasn't been ruined by construction yet, and so I got to enjoy the mountains as I left the store.  Not to mention the staff at the Walmart there were wonderful.  

So what were the plusses of doing things this way?

1)  Saved paying a tip to the person delivering my groceries.  Don't get me wrong, if someone delivers groceries; they deserve a tip.  By doing this myself; the tip was mine.

2) Saved myself from accumulating crazy amounts of bags, and boxes for those items I had on Autoship

3)  Added steps to my day for a little more movement for me.

4)  Got out of the house!

5)  Saved more money by making myself get in the car to go get what I need.  As a result of that, I'm less likely to order things willy nilly.  It's like avoiding all of the last minute buys in the check out line. 

6)  Saved more money by being able to shop mark downs in meat and produce.  I got drumstick chicken legs for .66 lb!  Plus I got to determine what meat and produce to buy. 

7) Saved more money by using cash for my purchases.  Keeps me using my list.

It felt GOOD!  

Now that I'm home I'll get started making the fill in things I didn't buy: bread, mayo, and chocolate syrup.  I might make yogurt.  Haven't decided yet.  I have some milk to use up.    

Sometimes advances aren't necessarily a good thing for every person.  There are pros and cons.   for instance my mom can't drive.  Being able to have her groceries delivered gives her some independence.  That's awesome for her.  It helps my husband when he travels.  Another good thing.  For some of us, this is a crutch we shouldn't have.  I haven't aways been frugal.  I don't need to fall back into bad habits.  o for me this is something that doesn't fit.  Who know.  Maybe I'm just an old fuddy duddy.  

We Need to Just Stop

 Brace yourself.  This might turn into a rant.  

First a little back story.  I commented to a young mom today, on our neighborhood website, whose baby wasn't tolerating formula, and she was looking for a way to get breast milk.  I will throw in the caveat that I didn't specifically state "If you can't find breast milk do this".  I made an assumption that this would be understood.  I guess I need to be more specific.  To my knowledge she had no problem with what I said, but another commenter did.  What I shared was that goats milk and or the homemade baby "formula" recipe that parents used when I was a baby could be a better alternative (If she couldn't find breast milk).  I included the recipe.   Here comes the commenter saying that making your own formula "isn't safe".  Now I'm not mad at this person.  Not even close.  I know she was giving information she believed to be valid.  The comment frustrated me because it shows a blind allegiance to Government Approval.  If the FDA didn't okay it then it isn't safe.  If  the American Medical Association didn't okay it...(yada, yada, yada).  Whatever alphabet group must have more knowledge than us lowly common folk.  I have a healthy distrust of three letter organizations.  They've done me no favors.  The commenter stated it was their job to know this. Well here are my credentials.

1) Was raised on this formula as were most at the time

2)  Ran a state licensed daycare out of  my home, and as a result was part of a food program that reimbursed daycare providers for the food they served the kids.  I was in an area with a lot of low income families.  Because I was a part of this food program, I had to adhere to their guidelines; USDA guidelines.  One of those guidelines was whole milk only below the age of 2; not between 1 and 2.  Below the age of 2.  

3)  Mother of three, and wish I had avoided the baby formula route.  Had I known what I know now, I would have attempted breast feeding with all of my children, and not give up after the first.  Had I failed miserably, I would have gone the homemade formula route, and not store bought formula.  Unfortunately I didn't know that then and so followed 'the experts".  

4)  While not a doctor or nurse ( although I passed the entrance exam to be a nurse; top score), I have been a Certified Nurse Assistant, Home health Aid, Patient Care Tech, Bed Control, Heart Transfers, and Finally Hospice admissions.  I started my employment in healthcare in 1991 and retired 2015; with a few years off to have my daycare.  In college had Human Anatomy and Physiology split session with a final score of 96.  Highest in the class.  I was taking 18 hours which is a massive load and was on Deans list.  Not bragging.  I have a brain.  Vast majority of us do.  

The first 'Baby formula" was developed in 1865 and consisted of cows milk, wheat flour, malt flour, and baking soda.  So for all the years prior to 1865 what did babies do?  Starve?  No.  If the mother didn't or couldn't breast feed, and a wet nurse wasn't available, cows, goats, sheep's milk was widely used.  In writing this post I looked up a name brand baby formula just to double check it's ingredients.  Included in the ingredient list were Seed oils, added because instead of whole milk, non fat milk was used.  Have to add back in the fat, only the fat chosen isn't good.  Why is nonfat milk used?  I'm guessing here, but after the butterfat is removed from milk; the resulting non fat milk is usually given to livestock.  So it's cheaper I'd guess than whole milk.  Then they add back in cheap seed oils to replace the missing butterfat. 

 Seed oils- Vegetable, Canola, Corn, Soy bean, Sunflower are cheap, but bad for you!  

Poly dextrose is a nice way of writing "sugar" without telling parents it's sugar.  I find it amusing that the name brand I researched advertised " no added table sugar".  They didn't say no added sugar.  

Soy Lecithin as a thickener.  The thickener had to be added because nonfat milk is very watery without the butterfat that makes milk yummy.  Soy beans are one of the most pesticide sprayed crops in the US.  So tell me again how Whole milk, Karo syrup, Distilled water and a liquid multivitamin are unsafe? I will say if one can lay their hands on an organic, Non GMO corn syrup; that would be a plus.  However, these basic ingredients far out weigh what's listed in our FDA approved store bought baby formula.

We have to stop allowing the powers that be to think for us!  We need to do our own research and come to our own conclusions!  

Know what else we don't have to buy to care for a baby?  Baby food.  Puree your own meat, vegetables, and fruits.  Baby cereal:  Make your own hot cereal only thin it some and let it cool.  Nursery water:  If you want a special water for your baby just buy the store brand bottled water and save some money.  Coconut oil makes a great baby oil/lotion.  Ivory soap a great bath soap.  

If I was to have another baby (that's not happening post menopause) I would do all of these things, only I do think I would attempt breast feeding.  I tried it with my first and didn't do well.  I think there's more info out there now to help breast feeding moms.  They helped my daughter.

I know I've been fixated on baby formula, because that was the topic that set me off (sorry). 

Here are some gems I personally have garnered over the years from "experts"

1)  Cardiologist "You should get the covid shot".  Me " but I had covid".  Cardiologist " You should still get the shot.  We don't know how long your immunity will last".  Me " but we do know how long the immunity from the shot lasts; 6 months."  Cardiologist " yes, well you should think about it".  I did get covid again, about a year or so later.  Had good medical care the second time around so lasted only three days.  Haven't had it since.  Won't say I won't get covid again.  I will say a covid shot will only enter my body if they hold me down and force it on me.  

2)  Me "Could my heart attack have something to do with my being hormonal?"  to every doctor I saw and the response "no".  Now I know they were ALLLLLL wrong!  Boy they were happy to have me on a Statin that I didn't need, Nitro that I didn't need, Imdur, that I didn't need.  They were happy to bill my insurance for tests I didn't need.  

3)  Here's the one that really ticks me off.  My dad was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphoid Leukemia mainly due to his 6 months of chemo from colon cancer.  His oncologist put him on a chemo pill that he was supposed to take for the rest of his life.  He also had COPD, and CHF.  This pill kept exacerbating both of those conditions and putting him in the hospital.  My mother finally asked how long he would have if he didn't take the pill.  His Oncologist said only three years.  So he stayed on the pill.  He died in 18 months.  Up until the last five weeks of his life he was in and out of hospitals due to exacerbation of COPD and CHF.   Every time, that oncologist would put him on another pill that had the same side effects.  The hospital sent him home that final time with no hospice, no follow up care, and no hope.  It was only my experience as an employee of a hospice service that got him set up so that his final days were comfortable and as peaceful as they could be.  After he passed we found out that the protocol for his form of leukemia is normally to NOT TREAT men his age.  In my opinion that "Expert" took 18 months of time with my dad and for my mom; her husband, away from us.  

Sorry if this is a bit of a rant, but seriously guys, the only way this stops is if we take the power over our lives BACK.  That means asking questions, learning about things, standing your ground, and not blindly following the powers that be.  I promise you this; their priority isn't our welfare.  It's their bottom line.

Self imposed Austerity.

 Now, before anyone that I know reads this and thinks we're in financial difficulty, please know we're fine.  What and why we're doing this is voluntary and I'll share why without too many details.  Just know.  We're fine.  

A little back story.  We got out of debt about 10 years ago, and aside from our mortgage, have been debt free ever since.  We've managed to cash flow any major repairs over the years.  The only exception being the small inheritance we received last year that helped us pay for some much needed repairs and my greenhouse.  This year we had managed to squirrel away enough money to have our back deck converted into a screened in porch.  Unfortunately we've had another expensive issue come up and so our screened in porch will have to wait until next year.  We had the repairs done last week, and everything seemed fine; until they weren't.  Unfortunately there was an underlying issue that wasn't caught before.  So to fix this will add a considerable amount to our bill.  The reason I'm being vague is because what happened doesn't happen often these days.  The company contracted to do the initial repair has not only offered to remedy the situation asap, but to do so at their own cost.  This is a cost that is considerable.  It's also something they can't do often so I remain vague.  

So with that back story in mind, my husband and I are doing everything we can to cover half of what the overage will be.  We're not doing this because the company asked or required it of us, but because we want to honor their work ethic, faith, and generosity.  In this day and age, it's rare to find a business that isn't out for the quick dollar.  Many lay their integrity at the feet of their greed.  This company doesn't.  The owner told me that he knew God would see this cost returned to  him.  We plan to do our part.

So, hence our self imposed austerity.  We're going to do everything we can to gather the funds to help them out.  My part of that is to get back into the kitchen to get meals, and extras covered rather than just dropping an order at the grocery store.  I have gone through my pantry to take an inventory of everything: bought, canned, fresh.  My focus will be utilizing those things first and foremost.  Amazingly I was thinking I needed salsa, and chicken broth, but doing an inventory showed me I had them and had just missed them.  I make our chicken broth, and had put off making more because it was hot.  Then I found it.  Smh.  My recipe is here.  You'll need to scroll down a bit to see it.  It's after Yogurt, Bread, and Mint extract.  My salsa is here.  You'll also have to scroll through a few recipes, but their worth the read.  There are times when I start to take it easy, but then something jars(pardon the pun) me into action.  This is really fun for me.  I like the challenge.  Stretching my frugal muscles.  (Sigh) wish I enjoyed real exercise as much!  

As I sign off here, my list includes Chocolate syrup, Salsa(I only have one jar), Bread, Granola, Cereal Bars, Frozen Biscuits, and grinding corn, and wheat berries for flour and corn meal.  Whew.  Better get started!

Canning Extravaganza!

This summer has been HOT.  Not the hottest we've ever had, but hot in recent history.  We've had a few years of mild summer weather, so this year has been a bit of a shocker!  In addition to that, we're having AC problems.  These will be fixed come Tuesday!  Yay!  As a result we've been using window units to cool the place out of necessity.  Don't ask me about the power bill!  UGH!  Hence the reason for not heating the house up with canning.  

As the harvest started to roll in, I was minimally processing and putting in the freezer until I could can.  By "minimally processing", I mean tomatoes became sauce, Blackberries became juice.  Then day before yesterday we moved our grill from the back deck to our new deck on the side of the house.  For the past two days I've been happily using our grill and side deck as an extension of my kitchen; pulling out the frozen sauce and juice to combine with the current sauce and juice I've been making and canning it all.  This has actually been quite nice.  In fact I do believe this will become my summer kitchen from now on.  

   

Please excuse the water trail from the grill to the table.  I can be a little messy since I'm outside!

So far my tally is 35 pints of tomato sauce, 12 pints of blackberry syrup, 6 pints of blackberry juice, 14 quarts of tomato juice, 2 pints and 4 quarts canned tomatoes.  That doesn't count the canned rhubarb, and green beans I put up earlier in the year.  Still have many more tomatoes to can.  The amount in the picture has doubled today, even with me processing more tomatoes.  Not complaining mind you.  This is a hot, steamy process with great returns come winter time.  The blackberry syrup is great on ice cream, pancakes, or even mixed in ice tea for a great fruit tea.  

Well I'll Be! Learn something new everyday!

 Many years I've planted corn for fresh eating.  Many years we have a good thunderstorm that flattens said corn.  Not all of it, but a big chunk of it.  At times like that one would find me outside attempting to help the corn stand tall once again.  Over the years I've tried many different planting methods to see if any could give my corn a stronger hold on the ground.  None of them seemed to help.  They all got flattened anytime we had a serious wind.  This year I started my corn plants from seed, and then transplanted them in their rows.  All seemed to be going well until we had a serious afternoon thunder storm.  Then it went how it always does.  My corn was flattened.  Not all of it.  Two stalks were left standing in the middle and it seemed the other corn was surrounding the two standing stalks and paying homage to them. 

                                                            

I was in the middle of a chicken coop/run redo and had no time to get out and baby my corn stalks.  I figured maybe a few would come back, but didn't hold out much hope.  I wasn't too worried as we had another bed of corn in our "upper garden" that was surrounded by field fence.  It was doing great because it had a frame around it.  Wind had no affect.  So I figured we'd just have that corn.  A few days passed and I noticed a few of the flattened corn stalks  began to RISE UP!  I took notice, but no other action.  Then they all started to rise, and tassel!  They were green still!  So fast forward to yesterday.  As I was out taking care of the chickens; I noticed once stalk of corn was actually flat on the ground, but at a point had started growing straight up!  It almost looks as if the corn stalk is doing a sit up. Without looking, I'm assuming it laid down more roots and left the old self behind.  There's a sermon in there somewhere!  So my corn that was flattened is once again standing tall.  We may actually get some corn from this bed which would be awesome!  

So today's lesson is never give up!  Create new roots and leave the old self behind!

Philippians 3: 13-14- "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus"

2 Corinthians 5:17- "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new".

Isaiah 43: 18-19- "Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.  Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it?  I will make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

A Wom(hen)'s Prerogative, lessons learned, and a promising experiment!

 Well she changed her mind.  Yes, our little broody hen has decided not to brood after all.  At least she did it early on.  We think the reason was having to share a nest with other hens.  It doesn't matter that we have another nesting box available.  The other hens HAD to use the one she was in.  As a result two eggs were broken.  Knowing the eggs she was sitting on were now messy, she moved to the other nesting box to sit on clean eggs.  That's what we think.  She might have done okay with those, but we aren't needing more chicks and she wasn't too determined.  We'll see what happens in the near future.  

So now on to the experiments I tried this season.  I always try new things if I'm not gong to be out much.  It's a way to learn, and perfect skills.  This season I tried two different experiments.  

1) Allowing my tomato plants to remain uncaged.  I did have some caged, but I ran out of cages and just let the rest go to see how they'd do.  I was thinking I liked uncaged better, but when all was said and done; caging is best.  In a pinch though, uncaged still works.  Caging did make it easier to view the tomatoes as they ripened so I could get them before they went bad.  However, with indeterminate tomatoes, their continued growth can become too heavy for the cages, so have some good sturdy cages when you do.  The advantage of uncaged tomatoes is they lay down more roots as they spread making an over all healthier tomato plant.  However, the disadvantage is they are so thick I can't see where the tomatoes are.  It's literally a jungle.  Both experiments had yellowing lower leaves.  However it took longer to get the yellowing leaves on the uncaged plants. Still, if I can't see tomatoes, that's a problem.

2)  Elderberry Branches as pest control.  The second experiment was the most promising of the two.  I'd seen a lecture on the benefits of Elderberry plants.  I've known about the benefits from the berries, but this lecture covered the whole plant.  During the course of the lecture, he spoke of Elderberry leaves being good for pest control.  We'd had a storm take down some branches off my Elderberry bushes; so I tried it out by laying the downed branches around my beans and squash plants.  I'm not out anything except branches that were broken off anyway.  I've dealt with Mexican Bean Beetles every year for the past 29 years we've lived here.  Every.  Year.  Today I saw one; middle of growing season, and my bean plants are almost done.  One.  That one was found on the very first bed of beans I planted, and the one bed that had no Elderberry branches placed.  I did find some squash borers on my yellow squash, but it was after the plants were finished producing.  I'd not put more branches around it in weeks, probably longer.  So while my proof is anecdotal, It's enough where I plan on doing that again next year.  I've included a link to the video if you're interested.

Here's the link

So last but not least is my lesson learned.  Do not attempt to trap Japanese Beetles or June Bugs.  The scent will draw every single Beetle/Bug in the surrounding area to YOUR GARDEN!  I chose to stop putting out traps this year and have seen very few of these insects.  The ones I've seen I can easily knock off into soapy water, and give them to the chickens.  NO TRAPS!   Learn from my past mistakes.  Just say NO!

So what experiments have you tried?