Something with a single long taproot seeded itself prolifically in my front ‘flower bed’ last year. Now that spring is just around the corner, they all sprouted with a vengeance!
So that it doesn’t become a bigger problem I started digging out all the plants that I could reach.
But I was dismayed to see how thickly they were sprouting in my rock feature at the downspout. That digging stick wasn’t as effective in the rocks as it was in the soil.
What if I told you that you could use an ordinary paper feed sack to significantly reduce your time spent in the garden weeding, plus help preserve moisture in the soil and feed the earthworms at the same time? It’s true, y’all.
Here in NE Texas it’s the time of year when many gardeners are thinking about planting those potatoes! I’m a big fan of growing potatoes, especially since they’re such an easy crop to grow.
In past years I’ve planted potatoes in a raised bed right in my garden. Of course that worked fine but this year I’ve decided to do something different.
Remember I’m a big fan of growing an Edible Landscape? Well not only will this different way of planting potatoes give me some effortless beautiful greenery on my back porch during the summer months but it will also help make harvesting those potatoes so easy.
This natural lip balm is made in minutes using beeswax to soothe & protect your lips. It really couldn’t be easier – only 3 ingredients! There are easy ways to tint it with color as well. Check it out, y’all.
When RancherMan & I bought this piece of NE Texas paradise we were enamored with the rich history of the property. Apparently over the decades it’s been home to several homesteads, I’m assuming one of the first was in the 1880’s when our barn was built! The most recent home was located at the front of our property but it burned down in the late 1950’s. We’ve discovered whispers of their past lives that they left behind – so amazing!
There were two deep cement cisterns located where we think were either side of the house. One had to be covered up when we moved here, but we preserved the deeper one to use as our Outdoor Irrigation for my veggie garden.
At the time we were living in the big city. Someone had a small cedar fence that they pulled down – it was almost brand new. That would be PERFECT to frame in our little cistern! So we brought it here and constructed a cute little wishing well with that discarded fencing & some leftover metal roofing. It looked cute & kept the cattle out of trouble when they were around the cistern.
I hate food waste. Now I’m sure we ALL hate food waste, but for some reason it’s a deep-seated hatred for me. I’m not sure where such strong feelings originate – I never recall going hungry a day in my life. But for some reason I simply cannot stand food waste. I keep an eye on food freshness in my kitchen like a ninja!
I’ve spoken before about my Cook-Once, Eat-Twice method of cooking where you cook a boatload of main dish & freeze the rest for future meals. These entrees will be served exactly as they were cooked. Homemade Meat Ravioli or Stuffed Bell Peppers are two examples.
But there’s another method of cooking I often employ to stop food waste in its tracks: Planned Leftovers. This is a little different, a main ingredient is made in large quantities and then the leftovers are made into completely different dishes.
Now hear this: recently I purposely made massive quantities of Slow Cooker Pork Roast. One of my all-time favorite leftovers planning is Carnitas Tacos. Oh man you’re gonna love this!
RancherMan & I are self employed. As any self-employed person knows, the toils are more meaningful but c’mon it’s true – the time requirement is much higher & the income is much less. We’re both very frugal minded though, and that helps bunches. We’re mindful of ways to save money (and even more importantly ways not to waste money).
Having this mindset allows us to live & work right here living a life that speaks to our hearts because our income requirement stays low. It’s just a state of mind, y’all! Come see 5 Frugal Things we did this week to save money.
I made a cute pour spout sugar jar to more easily sweeten our tea using a repurposed canning jar and an empty box of salt! Work smarter, not harder as RancherMan always says. This is a quick & simple repurpose, y’all!
