​Ah, finally. A quiet moment around here.

Early Thursday morning, we got back from our trip to Guatemala. It was a lot of fun! There is more I'd like to write about that trip, but I am going to save it for another post. Because... we returned smack-dab in the middle of Christmas season!

In the past, I had far more time to made decorations and gifts from scratch. This year my Christmas activities were limited, but I was still able to do some frugal things.


Decorations

​We strung up some lights in the house for decorations, and put up a tree. I put cuttings from the tree into different vases and jars; one each for the kitchen table, bathroom, and bedroom. Ideally I'll make an actual table arrangement before Christmas rolls around... we'll see.

​I also made some decorative pillow covers with drop cloth. These were a struggle for me. Not because I can't sew, but because I don't have a sewing room anymore (thanks to.... baby junk) and our toddler is constantly getting into my projects. Of course there are a million other things I want to do during nap time, so the pillow cases literally took weeks to complete. The workmanship could be better, but really? it was a stretch just to get them finished.

I love the idea of reusable, useful holiday decorations. Instead of buying a bunch of plastic knick-knacks to set out on display, I'd like to use table linens, hand towels, pot holders, and other fabric items to decorate for Christmas (and other holidays). A pillow cover, for example, takes up far less storage space than a piece of artwork or table centerpiece. The linens don't even need to be specifically "Christmas" themed; red fabrics can be used for Christmas, Valentine's Day, the Fourth of July, etc. Green can be Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, etc.

Other ideas for multipurpose decorations are food or consumables like soap, candles, etc. Last year I went to Bath and Body Works' semi-annual sale in January and got two bottles of very nice hand soap. Of course, the soap was Christmas-themed, but I used it all year round anyway. This year I think I'll save a bottle or two especially for the holiday season, or even for some gifts. Soap doesn't really "expire" until it's several years old.

Ideally, I'd make a few strategic changes to my menu plan to make our regular dinners a little more festive. Since this holiday season was cut short by vacation, I'm only doing special recipes for parties, not meals at home. I guess there's always next year!


Gifts

​Hubs and I are pretty frugal, but we don't like to cheap out on gifts. If there is something a family member needs or really wants, we don't have a problem spending more money on that thing. That being said, sometimes it's "just not your year". If someone on my list doesn't give me any ideas, and I don't find "the perfect thing" for him, he will probably get something edible or useful, but not very expensive. My first priority is matching a good gift with the recipient, not spending a certain amount of money. 

Finding a good gift is not easy. Some people are very picky about what clothes they wear or what kitchen tools they buy, for example. And just because someone likes fishing does not mean they'll read a book about fishing, because many folks are not readers. Just because someone likes to eat strawberries does not mean they'll want a strawberry decor item for their kitchen. I'll bet over half of all Christmas gifts do not last a year before being donated, thrown away or banished to a closet somewhere, never to be used. I'm willing to spend a little more for a gift that is guaranteed to be used. If in doubt, spend less. Don't waste money on junk that will end up in someone's former sewing room. We generally exchange gifts with family; I try to stick with a $10-$20 per person budget, but sometimes it's more and oftentimes it's less. For white elephant gifts and small gifts for friends, I try to spend less than $5.00 per gift. Cookie plates, for example, often cost less than $2.00 each; sometimes less than a dollar.

Shopping for your kids: Research shows that most gift spending goes toward children, with the "average" parent spending almost $500.00 per child. Whoa! What a great opportunity to save. Kids under 10 are often not picky at all about what kind of toys they play with, so why are we spending so much money? Kids under three, as the saying goes, "would rather play with the packaging than the toy".  Expensive gifts are often bought because it makes the parent feel good. I've spent far more on our daughter than I ever imagined I would. 

That being said, I want to give our little girl good gifts. I don't want it to all be cheap, plastic junk. Instead of just buying her something at the store, Hubs and I chose to make her Christmas gifts this year. It was more sentimental for us—not to mention cheaper. Hubs made her a little wooden chair. He found the plans online and made a prototype out of scrap lumber. The first chair was a bit too wide, so he modified the plan somewhat and built a second chair out of scrap lumber. The second chair was perfect! I think we will probably stain it at some point.

​For my gift, I wanted something that 1) inspired creative play, 2) had the "collectible" factor (like dolls or Barbies, where you just keep adding to the toy collection year after year), 3) made with natural materials to last a long time, and 4) something generally affordable. As in, not American Girl dolls. What I came up with was peg dolls. Very similar to the Fisher Price "Little People" I grew up playing with, peg dolls are small wooden pegs, painted with clothing and facial features. The 1" dolls I bought were way too small for our toddler, so I ordered 2" ones for $10.00 on Amazon. Then I went to Walmart and bought some cheap acrylic paints for $0.50 per bottle; a ten pack of colors, plus an additional skin tone color. Some of the online tutorials warned against buying cheap paints because it would require multiple layers to get a good color. That turned out to be true, but I was able to buy twice as many colors for the same amount of money. Note: I thought I was saving money by purchasing a multi-pack of paints, but I wasn't. If I were to do the project all over again, I would buy individual bottles of only my favorite colors. I also bought a can of acrylic gloss finish for the dolls.

The total cost for this project was about $25.00. Each blank wood doll costs $0.50, but the paints will hopefully last for many dolls and other projects. I'd estimate the cost per finished doll at around $0.60. It took me between 30 and 60 minutes per doll (I did them all at the same time, for several evenings in a row). I only used 12 of the dolls for her Christmas present, which brings the total cost to around $7.20. I know they will last for years, plus they have the added benefit of being more or less gender-neutral. The options for customization are virtually limitless. I can see myself painting cowboys and Indians, presidents, peasants, pilgrims and all sorts of other characters. Hopefully the little figurines will not only be fun to play with, but useful as a teaching tool as well.

Food

Boy, do I love Christmas food... especially the desserts and snacks. All that junk made with cereal and marshmallows, pretzels, chocolate and peanut butter. Chex mix, puppy chow, corn flake wreaths, haystacks, buckeyes, I love it all. Except peanut brittle, but I don't know anyone who likes peanut brittle.

Thankfully, food is one of the more affordable aspects of Christmas. For our first party, I made puppy chow with a $1.50 bag of cereal, one cup of chocolate chips, a half cup of peanut butter and a few cups of powdered sugar. The total cost was less than $3.00. My recipe made enough chow to fill the bowl to overflowing and have some extra to keep at home. For the second party, I took another bag of cereal ($1.00, on sale) and mixed it with butter and marshmallows to make rice crispy treats. Again we came home with delicious leftovers, so the recipe did double duty! Total cost for that was less than $2.00. I will most likely be bringing vegetables and possibly more Christmas-y snacks to the four remaining parties. Estimated cost: $5.00 per party or less.


Other Stuff

There are a lot of other things you can do for Christmas that are free or inexpensive. We are going Christmas caroling this week with friends. We'll probably be watching at least one Christmas movie on Netflix or some other streaming service. You can also find free Christmas movies at your library, or rent them. Our local video store has weekly rentals for $1.00, and they are always giving out coupons of some sort as well. I am hoping this year to make a gingerbread house, which costs just a few dollars and doubles as a dessert and decoration. You can also celebrate the Christian side of Christmas by doing an advent calendar or wreath, or reading aloud the story of Jesus' birth. There is no way one family can do all things "Christmas" in one year! The 2018 holiday season was kind of short for us, but I'm always banking ideas for next year.

Til next time,
-Bethany

​I quit doing monthly hobby farm updates because... well, there's not much to report on from month to month. But I thought I'd at least do an end-of-the-year recap.

Chickens

My last duck died earlier this year, so all I have left is chickens. Thanks to predators and old age, by October my flock was whittled down to 11 birds; 9 hens, 2 roosters. I bought three more pullets from a local 4Her. Those should begin laying in a couple of months.

I've got to say this: it's very nice not having ducks. As much as I loved to watch them swim and play in their pond, it was annoying having to empty and refill the kiddie pool of water every two or three days. The chicken water stays clean for much longer now. Unlike the ducks, they don't need an entire kiddie pool, so I can transport fresh water in a five-gallon bucket. Speaking of which:

I broke down and bought a heated water bucket this year. It was $30.00 on sale at a local farm store. The bucket is thermostatically controlled so it only runs when needed, plus it requires very little energy. Hubs was concerned that an additional heating element would not be worth the added electricity costs, but after reading the label on the bucket, he changed his mind. The heated bucket will reduce the amount of water I have to carry this winter, and also make chores easier for others when we are away.

I also splurged and bought the chickens some "real" bedding; a bale of pine shavings. I had been using sawdust from Hubs' shop, but since he got a sawdust-sucker (sorry, I don't know what it's actually called) it's more complicated to get the bedding when I need it. The bale of pine shavings was far easier to carry than wheelbarrows full of sawdust, plus less messy, and it looks so nice in the coop. For $5.00, I think it was a pretty good purchase.

I grew some oat grass fodder for the hens last week, for the first time. It was very easy and cheap. When we get back from our trip, I'm going to set up a system for doing the fodder. I know, I know... I say that every year. But really, I think I will do it.

I tried using the waterglass technique for preserving eggs, instead of selling the extra like I normally do. The waterglassing was a failure. A third of the eggs were well preserved, but the other two thirds developed "smells" over the months in storage. The good eggs were only good for baking, not scrambling. After starting this project, I read that waterglassing is not ideal for fertilized eggs, plus over time the solution weakens the shells and makes them more susceptible to breakage. One broken egg in the bucket, and all of the rest will develop smells. Somehow, flies got into my egg bucket and started laying their own eggs, which developed into maggots. Disgusting! I won't be doing this preservation method again, unless the eggs are unfertilized and there are only a few to preserve. Also, I wouldn't preserve spring eggs for winter; only fall eggs.


Bees

Unfortunately, my beehive this year was not a success. I did not harvest any honey, and yellow jackets invaded the hive without me realizing it, until it was too late. I made quite a few mistakes along the way, but I also got the hang of doing routine hive checks, using the smoker, etc. I'm slightly less terrified of bees than I was a year ago.

​I thought that after I started working with the bees, my fear of them would go away. It definitely did not. About halfway through the summer, they plastered their entire hive with propolis, a sticky, gooey substance made of tree sap (I actually saw them collecting the pine sap one night... it was very interesting!). I dropped an entire frame one day while checking the bees, which definitely made them mad. After that I just felt like a terrible beekeeper, and it was like pulling my own teeth to go out there. Everything was covered in propolis and burr comb and a huge hassle to get into. I stopped checking the lower deep, for fear of crushing the queen, who I hadn't seen in weeks. When I went out to check the supers for honey, I thought the bees were moving slower, acting almost drowsy. The supers were entirely empty, though there was still capped honey in the upper deep. In September, I noticed a few yellow jackets crawling around the hive. Just a week or two later, there were more yellow jackets than there were guard bees. That was pretty much the end of my bees. In October there was a very small population of honey bees still in the hive, but I doubt there is enough to make it through winter.

I would like to try the bee project again. I'll order another package of bees, and maybe build another small hive just in case my old one is bad. I would love this project to be a success, but it didn't happen this year.

​Strawberries

The other new project for 2018 was selling strawberries. I planted my strawberry field in 2017, but this was our first year of harvesting and selling berries. It went okay. I really should have got a babysitter for our daughter during picking season. The deer ravaged my plants and they only produced half of what they should have. By the end of June I was about to go crazy, and the darn plants still needed weeding. I took July off of strawberry farming (a mistake) and made up for it tenfold by weeding the berries almost every day for the next two months. 

Financially, the strawberry project more than paid for itself. I made $500.00 net profit, when all was said and done. Next year I will not have as many costs, and hopefully will harvest more berries and thus, earn more money like I had expected to do this year.

​Garden

I didn't realize how much the strawberry patch would interfere with my gardening time. I also didn't realize how many BEES would be swarming around my raised beds and how much that would bother me. The bees actually scared me away from weeding and harvesting, which cut my garden yield. Next year I will plant the bee-friendly herbs and flowers farther away from the garden.

For spending almost no time in the garden, I got a decent yield. Chinese long beans were a smashing success. Beets were a success. The heirloom tomatoes I planted were beautiful, but not very good for canning and didn't produce much for all of the space they took up. Peppers were a fail (I think it was the hot weather?). All throughout the summer I had sprinkler and hose problems. I did actually grow some watermelon, which was a first for me!! Sweet corn patch was a fail. Pumpkin and acorn squash was a fail.

​One success for the garden this year was an extended lettuce harvest. We invested $40.00 into a plastic greenhouse panel and used it to make two cold frames. The first cold frame had pepper plants in it, which froze right away. The second frame had lettuce in it, and the lettuce is still growing in early December! We save about $2.00 per week by not buying lettuce, plus my lettuce is organic (in which case, the savings are probably even more). We've already saved $16.00, so the second frame has almost paid for itself.


Re-evaluating Profit and Loss

Ultimately, I think the hobby farm balance was a loss. I sunk $600.00 or more into bee supplies, a couple hundred dollars into chicken feed. I think I spent about $100.00 on garden supplies (greenhouse panel, seeds, bulbs, landscape fabric). The strawberry profits probably covered chicken costs, but that's it.


I've spent the last several years trying to make my hobby farm earn an income, or at least pay for itself. I've had goats, chickens, ducks, a sheep, a farmers market stand, a farm stand, and and Etsy shop. Trying to make each project pay for itself was very difficult. Some projects just aren't very economical. Bees and chickens, for example, are definitely "hobby" projects. Milk goats and strawberries, on the other hand, can easily support themselves plus bring a profit.

The most efficient way to get your hobby farm to pay for itself is to have a cash crop (or "cow", if you will) and use that to pay for your other unprofitable projects. Even so, I've discovered my hobby farm is much less about earning money than it is about providing good quality food for my family, learning new things and getting outside. I also want to keep the hobby farm going so our daughter can reap the benefits of gardening and learning animal husbandry.

Looking Forward

Next year, I'm going to make the hobby farm my "local food fund". Any profits from the strawberry patch will either be put back into the farm (paying for chicken feed, beekeeping supplies, etc.) or spent on food from other local farms. This will technically increase our food budget (hopefully, anyway). It will allow me to contribute to the local economy not just by consuming, but also by producing. 

At this point, I don't have any new projects planned. My goals are to 1) double profits on the strawberries, 2) get some kind of honey harvest, 3) extend the garden growing season and 4) keep my chickens happy and healthy. I'm excited to see how much I can do with the farm in 2019!