How does your garden grow?

This entry is ideas for what to do with my garden once it grows!  Hopefully, it grows and I can make delicious things with my produce!

Cilantro
Husband likes this in his salsa.  I've got tomatoes and jalapenos on the list, so hopefully, we'll have some good salsa.

Sweet Basil & Oregano
I want to make my own spaghetti sauce.  So why not use some fresh herbs?

Dill
Can't have dill pickles without dill!

Thyme
Husband has acne.  I want to try this homemade astringent to see how it compares to store bought products.

Black Zucchini
I just adore zucchini bread.  I also have a recipe floating around this house somewhere for a nice light summer salad with zucchini and white whine vinegar.  Boy LOVED it last summer.

White Kohlrabi
Husband swears this is some crazy German vegetable, but whatever!  I'm German and I love some sliced kohlrabi sprinkled with a bit of salt.

Purple Kohlrabi
I've never had a purple one before.  Something fun to try! 

Purple Dragon Carrot
This just looked too cool, not to try!  A friend of mine wants to see how this would look in carrot cake.  I can't wait to find out!  There will be a post about this! I really hope these grow well!!

Rainbow Blend Carrots
Yellow, orange, red and purple.  These will add color to our salads, coleslaw, spaghetti sauce and veggie platters!  Plus, the more color variety you have in your diet, the more nutrients you consume!

Edamame
I was introduced to edamame by my father in law.  I thought eating soybeans was kind of odd, but it's a tasty and healthy snack.

Peas
I really like frozen peas.  I bet I'll like the even more when they come fresh from my garden!

Pickling Cucumbers
I don't like cucumbers, but I do LOVE pickles.  I want to give a try at making my own.

Red Cabbage and Green Cabbage
I make a mean coleslaw if I do say so myself!  Plus, adding cabbage to your salad mix gives it more substance; making it more filling and it lasts longer.

Yellow Pear Tomato
Last summer, Boy discovered the joy of eating these little beauties right off the vine!  They are lower in acid and have a lot of flavor.

Prizehead & Oakleaf Lettuce and Spinach
Hello salads!

Red Zebra, Pink Hybrid, Big Boy Hybrid, Roma
Just a couple tomato options.  I'd like to make a variety of tomato products.  Tomato juice, vegetable juice, stewed tomatoes, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, salsa, tomato paste.  And anything else that strikes my tomato fancy!

Pumpkins
Bread, pie, ice cream, juice!  Pumpkin anything is just delicious!!!

Spaghetti Squash
A great healthy alternative to spaghetti noodles.  I have trouble eating noodles.  And this is much easier to digest for me than pasta.

Sunflowers
Boy loves sunflower seeds almost as much as his father does.  Plus I can't wait to see the look on Boy's face as he watches them grow.

I'm so excited about all these possibilities and more.  Now if only the rest of my seeds would arrive!!  My smart gardener says it's still a little early to start my seedlings.  But I've been working on making space under a sunny window in my office for them.  If you've got ideas on how to use some of these foods that I haven't thought of, I'm all ears.

Don't be afraid of the ISO

For those of you who don't know, ISO can be explained in a couple ways.

In Search Of

Or

Is Seeking Out

Either way you look at it, the three letters in caps, catch the attention of a person who potentially has something they want to get rid of.

When you want to make changes that require "stuff" and you're on a budget, it can be difficult.  But an ISO post can be your best friend!  Find rummage groups on Facebook.  Post an ad on Craigslist.  Find your local Freecycle.  All of these options are free to post.  With an ISO on Facebook or Craigslist you'll likely have to pay for the "stuff," but on Freecycle, everything is free!

Don't be afraid to post in unlikely spots!  About half an hour from me is a church that hosts a children's rummage twice a year.  I casually commented that I was ISO canning jars.  I said I knew it was a long shot, but I wondered if anyone would be selling canning supplies.  Well, within a day someone contacted me from that post with a what would be a great deal on jars for me.

Here's what I got:                               Retail Price
2 dozen jelly jars (4oz)                       $24.00
1 dozen regular mouth pint jars          $19.99
4 dozen wide mouth pint jars              $83.96
23 wide mouth quart jars                    $57.39
Total                                                  $185.34


For price comparison I searched for prices online.  I'm not even counting all the rings and lids that I got!  Four of those boxes of lids and rings are unopened!  The box of jelly jars is unopened!  All 23 of the quart jars have never been used!

So by posting my ISO add in an unexpected place I saved over $160!!!  I paid $25 fall that entire pile of canning supplies!!!!

Don't be afraid of posting ISOs!! Even if the spot seems like it won't get you what you're looking for!!!

Can I become a DIY Diva?

I've been doing reading and watching things that make me want to be more self sufficient.  Or at least less reliant on commercial items that are lower in quality and more expensive than I can make on my own.  I'm using several blogs and websites to help in this.  I've been DIYing laundry detergent for over two years now.  I have gone through several different recipes, but I've settled on this one for quite some time.  I'll write a blog about that on another day.

I watched season 1 of Alaska: The Last Frontier.  It's about the Kilcher family, who homesteads outside of Homer, Alaska.  They grow, raise and hunt all their food.  They split wood to heat their homes all winter.  And they have no plumbing.  Now I don't want to be that off the grid, but I want to be more responsible for creating my own food.

Recently I came across an article on Facebook.  It discusses the likelihood of weather impacting and raising our food costs.  My family is committed to eliminating our debt and so we live on a pretty tight budget.  My husband didn't get very good student loans.  He graduated about 3.5 years ago and we just paid off his loans!!!  With that said, we want to knock out my student loans next and then we'd love pay off our home in less than 20 years.

My first big project is my garden.  Which leads to another minor project, rain barrels, and a major endeavor....canning!

I was discussing rain barrels with my favorite blogger, Becky over at Week99er.  We were discussing options and ways to do this on a budget.  People often use large 55 gallon drums to make these.  But I wanted something that I could lift the lid off.  So she was helping brain storm ways to do this.  The cheapest I found the drums for was $15 each. Becky suggested I check Instructables.com where I found this tutorial.

I did a search at my favorite local handyman's store where I found 32 gallon garbage cans on sale for $7.99!  Nearly half the price of the drums and given that they aren't bright blue, they won't stand out so much.  And I don't have to do a lot of work to get the lid to open!  Winner, winner, Chicken dinner!!!  My little one helped me fill them with snow when we got home.   Spigots will come later.  For now, we're keeping it simple.

Take 2: Timing is Everything

So my first go at following a master list didn't go to well.  As promised I'm not beating myself up about it. Timing is everything.  Last week was a very atypical week.  My husband took off work Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for his birthday.

I didn't get things done on the master list, but I'm not upset about it.  We got a couple other big projects finished.  It was so much easier working together.  We emptied the garage, caulked around the bottom and put things back into the garage in a neat organized fashion.  My van is now parked in the garage.  We got rid of many boxes, a lot of stuff that didn't need to be in the garage and a box spring.  Now we just have to find a new home for our old dryer.  Until that's out of there, Adam's car wont fit in the garage. 

I also got the majority of the tomato plants cleared out of the garden.  I did leave one plant as it hasn't started to wither.  I figure I'll let those tomatoes vine ripen.  I can easily throw one blanket over it to protect it from frost.  While cleaning out the garage, my husband found some old screens.  I was going to sell them online, but I found a wonderful use for them.  Prop them up on some buckets or bricks and I've got racks for all of my green tomatoes to ripen.

So back at it today.  Now if only I can find it!

Hug Your Children

Hug your children just a little longer.
Squeeze them just a little tighter.
Love them just a little stronger.

Why?

Because one day you could be like N.  I've known N most of my life.  She's a part of my family that I'm not related to, they're just family.

N was just a little older than me.  When her little sister and I were in upper elementary, she was in high school and oh so cool.  We wanted to be like N.

N lost her battle with cancer earlier this week.

N has young children.  She won't get to see them on their first day of high school or college.  She won't see them married or their first apartments and homes.  She won't hold her grandchildren.   She won't even see them trick or treat at Halloween or open Christmas presents this year.

So because N cannot hug her children any longer;
Hug your children just a little longer.
Squeeze them just a little tighter.
And love them just a little stronger.

Change #1: The Master List

An innocent comment from a friend on Facebook lead to on an internet search.  She wanted to know if anyone used a master cleaning list.  I went searching and found hundreds of choices.  I found one that I thought had potential for me.

I don't want house cleaning to continue to be this thing I do when people are coming over.  I am going to stop having anxiety about people seeing my mess.  Because I AM going to work towards reducing my mess.  Right now getting everything done on my master list seems completely overwhelming.  But if I keep chipping away at areas that need a lot of help, they will eventually become manageable.

I want to be clear that the originals came from Lovelaughterandlipstick.com.  Hailey did the creating and posted downloads, which can be found here.  I don't want anyone to think that I am trying to steal, pirate or copy her work. 

 I simplified and personalized this to my home and needs.  I'll be honest, Hailey seems to be a much neater person than I am.  I don't know if I could stay sane if I tried to follow her schedule to a tee.

Today was Day 2.  I started on week 2, because I accidentally saved my Week 2 over Week 1 and then I ran out of black ink for my printer.  Can you tell that my house is in severe need of a tighter reign?

Yesterday, I didn't do too bad of a job.  Today, sinus pain and pressure hit.  I brushed my teeth this morning and kept my child fed.  That's an accomplishment enough for me today.  Tomorrow is another day and I can try again.

I put a lot of pressure on myself to live up to some standard that I haven't articulated.  All that I know is that I just don't measure up.  I constantly see myself falling short.  I realize that by having this list, I could very well be setting myself up for failure.  I can look at the list and and berate myself for not getting every thing done.  I'm sure I will have nights or weeks where I will try to go down that path.

However, as I start this I'm giving myself the following permissions:
I am not perfect, I will not complete this list perfectly.
I am a wife and mother first, it is not my job to be the quintessential maid.
I can take my time, change happens gradually for everyone; including myself.

Welcome to Harborview

Welcome to Harborview.

Sounds like a nice neighborhood, doesn't it?

Don't get too many pictures in your head.  There are no big fancy houses here.  My husband and I recently bought our first home.  I think with most people, we didn't know the name of our neighborhood until we saw it listed on our documents for purchasing the house.  I like the name; Harborview. 

Harborview is a working class neighborhood.  Most of the houses are owner occupied, but there are several rentals.  Most of the houses are single family residents with a couple duplexes thrown in.  Most of the houses were built in the early 50s.  Mine was built in 1953.  Harborview is nestled between Lake Michigan and a Union Pacific Railway line. We also hear sirens frequently, because there is an assisted living center one block over.

My son, who will be two in less than a month, loves hearing the trains rumble by multiple times a day.  He also loves when we walk down to the lake to play in the sand.

In May we went from a two bedroom apartment with a dining room to a four bedroom house with a full basement, two bathrooms and an eat-in kitchen.  I still haven't unpacked a majority of our boxes.  I feel like I'm floundering while trying to keep up with housework, laundry and parenting a toddler.  I'm trying to climb out of a bad slump of depression.  There are days when I want to lock myself in the bathroom and hide.  There are days I want to ignore all of my responsibilities.  There are days when I just want to stay under the covers and not get out of bed.

But none of that is going to make the kind of changes that are required to turn my life into the life I want.  I have to be willing to work.  I have to be willing to do the things I don't really want to do.

I'm tired of having to scramble to get my house presentable for company.
I'm tired of hiding mess and clutter behind closed doors.
I'm tired of feeling like I'm drowning under laundry and housework.

I want to love welcoming people to my house at any time!
I want to love my house!
I want to do fun things with my toddler!
I want to have enough funds to paint some walls!
I want to have a home and family life that I can be proud to call my own!

So welcome to my journey living Life in Harborview.