garden update

Here are some pictures of the garden so far, the first picture is of the new shade garden( aka the old compost pile ) we put in last night! Need to add some more plants , but very happy with it. We have 3 kinds of peppers green, red and yellow. Alot of onions ( I am thrilled about, Tom not so much! LOL)
The carrots are doing awesome I am quite happy this is my first year doing them.The cucumbers are just starting to peak through the soil! yay! Our beets are coming up really well too.
The picture in of the big metal bucket is where the red potatoes are planted along with a small section in the side garden.
The broccoli are doing really well, the sun is getting to them sometimes, but they are still doing really well.
I just planted a basil plant and some onions up front so hopefully they will do well too.
Spinach is doing awesome as well!! Yay again that will be my lunches!
And last but not least our strawberries are doing great, they are flowering and we can see some green berries on them!! Can't wait!
How is your garden coming?

homesteading

I took a part time job that I could work from home with, we thought this would be a great oppurtunity for me and us as a family. We found out it was just way to stressful with two children under the age of 5. So we discussed it and desided this just wasn't working, more importantly it was taking time away my children and I didn't like that at all! So I am back to being a stay at home mom! Yay! It really makes you grateful as a mom to have as much time with your children as you can! We said the extra money would be nice but not worth sacrificing family time with our boys.! We really prayed about this and felt God saying this isn't the route I want you to take.

So anyway, I am back to working on homesteading things around our house again.:) It has been to long. My latest experiment was yestereday using vinegar as a laundry softener. Now if you read other blogs about homemade laundry detergant and using vinegar as a softner you probally had the same reaction. " I don't want my clothes to smell vinegar!". Well I am not a big fan of the clothes feeling "rough" should we say when coming off the line. haha So yesterday I said okay why not lets try it! Of course I only did a load of rags to test , just in case it did stink them up.
So as I anxously waited for the rinse I finally put the 1/2 cup of vinegar in the load. After the laundry was done I took it out and took a sniff. WOW!!!!! It didn't smell at all! Just clean! So now I am a believer and a vinegar user on my laundry! I would recommend you try it! The clothes are softer for sure coming off the line. I am very happy and a bit suprised!

Have you tried anything new that you would like to share? I would love to hear!


~Katie

garden '11

I haven't been here for a while and wanted to update on the garden. So far we have planted two rows of iceburg lettuce and 3 rows of spinach ( tom was less then thrilled LOL) . all are coming up great! Lots of salads this summer!

I have planted two rows of snap peas which are doing great as well! I am so excited I hope they keep up okay , last year they didn't produce very much. So hoping they produce alot more. I am going to plant a few more in amongst the ones that have come up. so hopefully that will help.

I have planted 4 broccoli plants ( yes once again Tom not thrilled haha) and they seem to be doing really well as well. I want to plant onions which I am behind on doing. I don't want to plant them while we are getting so much rain because the ones I did plant got drowned out or washed away :( so I will be trying to plant some this weekend if the weather is nice.

We have 4-5 rows of various carrots that are coming up through the ground and so are the 5 rows of beets that are coming up! yay!!! I planted a basil plant as well.
I just planted a row of red and green peppers the other day as well so hoping those come up.

I am going to go to hostetter's and getting a few tomato plants to plant.

I am also researching blueberry bushes. I am looking into getting 2 or 3 bushes to plant for next year. :)

The strawberries are doing great this year!! We have alot of blossoms on them. Kyle is very excited!!! :)( I am too)! I bought 3 plants to put in the one garden of them and will be getting a few more to put into the other patch.

In the garden we are doing at a friend's house while they are gone is in the works.
We are getting a ton of asparagus!! we planted potatoes and peas so far. But no sign of those hoping they didn't get rained out!
We are going to go up and start planting this weekend. We are going to plant corn, tomatoes, beans, peppers, lettuce, and some other things my mom is wanting to plant.

So things are busy around here gardening. We are still praying and waiting patiently for God's timing to get that homestead of our dreams. We know he has it out there somewhere! :) And we are excited to see it!!!

What are you planting in your gardens? I would love to hear!

Hope you all have a wonderful day and week!

Katie

Shopping Trips 2/26/11

Okay I first went to Rite Aid this morning to snag some deals. Here is what I got:

5 lay stacks= $1.00 each on sale, $5.00 get 5 UPR = free after UPR

4 Combos=$1.00 each on sale, $4.00 get 4 UPR= free after UPR

6 Special K protein bars on clearance for 0.80 each =$4.80

4 Nivea lip balm-on sale 2 used $2.00/2 coupon = free after coupon

2 Arm and Hammer laundry soap on sale for 3.99 used (2) $1.25 off one coupons = $5.48 or 2.74 each

1 Folgers cofee= on sale for 2.99

I also had a $2.00 upr I used on this transaction.

Total with coupons and $2 UPR= 19.49 got back $11.00 worth of UPR so payed $8.49 for $32.68 worthof groceries! :)

GIANT

Rice Krispies 4 boxes at $11.56- the $6.00 instantly- (2) $1.00/2 coupons = $3.56

For the Kraft instant savings I did:

4 International delights - used (2) $1.00/1 coupons and (1) $1.00/2 coupon = $8.52

Oscar Mayer Deli delights - on sale for 3.99 (1) $1.00 / 1 coupon= $2.99

total on Kraft items = $15.54 plus the $5.00 off instantly and coupons = $6.54 for $25.00 worth of items

Dad's Dog Food - $8.99 used $1.00/1 coupon= 7.99

chicken legs- 0.99 cents/ lb. = $4.03

Frozen peppers strips - $1.29

Pillsbury Sweet moments- 4 @5.70- (2) 1.10/1 coupons= $3.50 ** Treat for Tom for working so hard :)**

Heluva block of cheddar on sale for $2.00 used(1)0.50/1( remembers it doubles)= $1.00

Gallon of milk- $3.70 ( OUCH!)

Total with coupons and bonus Card savings =$35.85 (23.24 in savings)

Target

1 Finish tablets-on sale for $2.50-$1.00/1 coupon= 1.50

1 Wrangler jeans $15.99 used $3.00/1= $12.99

1cereal =$1.89

8 vegetables frozen- 0.97 each , used (2) $1.00/4 coupons = $5.68

Coffeemate = free with free coupon

total: 22.14 ( $9.15 on food items)

Going to weis will be back with deals and coupons from that later today. :)

high value coupons!

go to www.readyseteat.com.

There are high value coupons for Marie Calliender's, Healthy Choice and La Choy. Great coupons to match up with sales!

stouffer coupon

Go this site stouffers.com website and on the right lower corner and you will see a $1.00 off one Stouffers Corner Bistro stuffed melts and soups. Don't forget to hit the back button a couple times to print two off! :) This woud be a great coupon to have during a sale! Expires: 3/7/2011

Udi's GlutenFree

udi's.com

Here is a $1.00 off any baked product when you sign up for their newsletter! You can print this twice! yay!! This does go on sale at Giant every once and a while. This coupon expires 5/6/2011