Today I thought I'd share my experience storing and cooking a Fairytale pumpkin. I bought it at Walmart in October, because I liked the way it looked. After Thanksgiving, I put all of my decorative pumpkins/squash in the garage in cold storage.

*****

Rabbit trail: I experimented a lot with cold storage in 2020. It was part of my "there are no canning lids available" food preservation strategy. Let me say this: cold storage is amazing. It is so much easier than canning, freezing, or drying. Things I put in cold storage this year were: tomatoes, pears, apples, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, spaghetti squash, butternut squash.

The tomatoes, pears and carrots didn't do as well as the others. Tomatoes, of course, aren't really designed for cold storage. But, by picking green tomatoes and bringing them indoors to ripen before the first frost, I was able to extend my fresh tomato harvest another month or two. About two-thirds of the tomatoes rotted or molded in cold storage, but it still left some for us to eat. The pears, similarly, lasted about a month before they started to brown. The carrots weren't from my garden, but just a bag that I bought from the store. I didn't bother putting them in sand, but just left them out in the garage. They turned slimy and rotted a bit after a few weeks (at the time, it wasn't all that cold in the garage... I'm sure they'd do better now that it's about 45 degrees F out there).

The apples (also from the store) have wrinkled a bit, but they are still mold- and rot-free, and taste good. I wrapped each apple in paper before putting it in a dish pan for storage. After 3+ months of storage, I think that's pretty good! I bought the winter squash and apples about the same time, and the squash also have few signs of damage. I noticed the other day that the squashes packed closer together have some small mold spots. The squash with good airflow, not touching each other, are in excellent condition.

​*****

Anyway, back to the Fairytale pumpkin! I put the pumpkin into cold storage at the end of November, with the other decorative pumpkins; I had one large one from a neighbor, and one small one that we'd received as a freebie from somewhere.

The two other pumpkins were so molded and rotted after three months that I had to throw them on the compost pile. The Fairytale pumpkin only had a 1-2" mold spot, so I simply cut it off before cooking the pumpkin. You can see the inside of the pumpkin below:

I cooked the pumpkin pieces in the Instant Pot. The resulting pulp was a little bit watery, so I strained it from 3+ quarts down to two quarts, using a cheesecloth. It tasted almost as good as butternut squash, which is my favorite!

I also saved all of the seeds. I will use some to grow new plants for my garden next year (and I'll save some for 2022, as well). I will use what seeds are left to grow microgreens.

Speaking of microgreens, that was the topic of my latest Rumble video. You can click on the picture below to watch it:

I love winter squash! Not only is it tasty, but it's a perfect candidate for cold storage. And, in the dead of winter when fresh veggies are scarce on the homestead, those seeds can be turned into microgreens for a splash of color and nutrition.

*****

Lastly, I wanted to switch gears entirely and share a video I watched last week. It's an interview by Alisa Childers (formerly part of the band ZOEgirl), talking with John Cooper, from the Christian rock band Skillet. John put into words what I (and many others) have been thinking over the past few years. I watched the interview a couple of times, because I couldn't believe how similar his ideas and feelings were to mine.

Don't let his tattoos scare you. Watch the video! As liberal media has taken over the internet, I've felt very alone, marginalized, and even targeted by liberal "haters". I will probably get a hater comment on this very post. Whenever you share certain truths, certain statistics, certain facts... you get called a racist, insensitive, naïve... basically, like your experience, not to mention straight up facts, don't matter. If people know you are a Christian, it's worse. They say you're "confusing your religion with your politics" or "being a Christian nationalist" (FYI, that is the new bad thing to be). 

We are told to separate our conservative political leanings from our faith, but I've consistently found this difficult (if not impossible) to do in the last several years. Not because of Trump, but because of troubling trends in my church, my friend group. There are things happening that should not be happening.

Facts matter! Truth matters! And John Cooper says so in this interview.

I've listened to a fair amount Alisa and John on their individual channels this week. Alisa's focus is Christian apologetics, and she leans more on writings from the "church fathers" and different theologians in addition to the Bible. John's podcast, which is more political than apologetic, exposes the same problems in the church, but I feel like he leans heavily on Scripture and brings solutions to the table, more so than Alisa does. You should check out his channel as well as this and some of Alisa's other interviews. They are very eye-opening.

Anyway, that's what I have for you! I hope you are all staying cozy and finding new and fun ways to make the most of your time.

-Bethany

Hi everyone! It's been quiet around our home, which is something I love. Here is an assortment of thrift for weekend inspiration.

Using Up Eggs

I have about six dozen eggs in the fridge that need to be used up, as I know more eggs will be coming in the spring! Right now our chickens are laying about six eggs per day. If I go a few days without using up any eggs, they start to pile up in our refrigerator.

I cooked a bunch of boiled eggs in the Instant Pot. I've discovered that our daughter LOVES boiled eggs, just like I used to when I was a little girl. I used some of those boiled eggs to make deviled eggs. When our jarred mayonnaise runs out, I will be making some mayo from scratch, and probably doing French toast this weekend.

French toast is a great way to use up both eggs AND stale bread. The last episode of my Rumble show, "Meals From the Bunker", featured an easy French toast casserole that I've made in the past.

Coupons

I cut out some manufacturer coupons for products that I will or may use. I also cut out some fast food coupons just in case we find ourselves eating out in the net few weeks.

That is all I have time for today. I've decided to write on the blog regularly again, so expect me to be back here at least once a month. In the meantime, you can check out my new Rumble channel.

Stay frugal!
-Bethany

Hi everyone! It's been a long time!

I still haven't figured out quite where I'm headed next in my author/blogger/vlogger journey, especially as national events seem to be at a rolling boil compared to when I last wrote in August.

Now, more than ever, I think being a homemaker is so important. I'm not sure where we're headed in the coming months—let alone years—but wherever we end up, I feel like the quality of home and family life will be of utmost importance. To that end, I want to stay visible online to share things that I feel are especially pertinent.

I want to do my best in 2021 to strike a balance between public (i.e. online) and private life. I have some big goals for the homestead this year, and I've been making good progress on home projects and a few other personal goals that I have. I've cut down a LOT on social media use over the last month, and now am mostly using it to keep abreast on local events. I do want to be more involved in local stuff in the coming years, as I feel there will be a bigger need in that area.

For now, you can find me at Youtube (I'll be posting occasionally over there) and Rumble.com. I'll posting at least twice a month on Rumble. Right now I'm working on a series called "Meals From The Bunker". It's a prepping-themed twist on my usual cooking/thrift content.

I've also set an ambitious goal for myself to finish 10 books this year. Some of them are pretty thick, but I hope to at least give them all a good once-over. I have a bad habit of buying more books than I have the time to read. Before the China Plague came along I was going to the library regularly, but now it's not as fun. So I just buy books. Many non-fiction books are a pretty good investment anyway.

Hello everyone! I thought I'd pop in to say hi.

My blog here has been quiet for a while, and that hasn't been unintentional. As events unfold here in the United States, I become weary and simultaneously shocked at what all is going on. Contact tracing. "Secret police" enforcing masks. Government instability (and by that I mean "unofficial dictatorship"). Riots. Grid problems. Spotty grocery store shelves. It reminds me of Guatemala, to be honest. Guatemala is great for visiting, but there's a reason we don't live there.

I've deliberated for over a year now on what I should do with the Renaissance Housewife brand. I know there's a lot of people who like my books, and I think now more than ever they'll be able to help people. So I want to keep them available. At the same time, this blog has never had a lot of traffic, and it takes a lot of time to do. Back in January I said I was going to quit blogging, and I did for a month or so. But then I missed writing, so I came back to it.

My biggest issue with keeping the blog going is privacy/trolling/internet bullying issues. Thankfully these problems have been minimal so far, but I feel like the stakes are higher now with our daughter getting older and the country/state in the predicament that we're in. So for the most part, I'm lying low. I have been doing a little "debranding" around the Renaissance Housewife blog and social media outlets. I will likely get rid of all RH social media besides Youtube (where I'm still posting about once a week, if you're interested in watching). I will also remove some pictures here on the site, and probably do a little re-working of my books. Of course most of it will still be here, but I'm just letting you know what's going on if you notice some changes. 

I expect to get on here once every couple of months from here on out. Mostly to keep some content fresh on my Amazon author page. If I want my books to keep selling, I have to do at least a little marketing. Until I figure out a different way to do it, I'll continue minimal blogging for the meantime.

*******

What I've Been Doing

So now that all the serious stuff is over, a little update for those of you who don't watch Youtube. Since I wrote last I have been undertaking some new projects.

1. I am purchasing plants and working on a new herb/cut flower garden. I also got myself a lemon verbena plant for indoors and a rosemary plant to bring indoors this winter as a topiary. As I mentioned before, now is a great time to purchase plants, because it's the end of the season.

2. I am experimenting with alternative food preservation methods; mostly dehydrating and lacto-fermentation. These two projects were spurred on by the freezer and canning lid shortage.

The dehydrating is going great. In addition to actually drying foods, I'm cooking a little with them just to make sure the food is something I can actually use. So far, success.

The fermentation is going okay. The ferments in the fridge are great. The ferments I put in our basement seem to be molding, even when all of the vegetables are submerged in brine. It is about 60 degrees down there, so I thought they would be okay. I may try to just store them in the refrigerator until temps outside (and therefore, in the basement) cool down a bit.

For those who still have canning to do but no lids, you can always reuse store-bought jars and lids (like spaghetti sauce or jam jars) for water bath canning. Also, I know it's not "officially" recommended to reuse canning lids, but you can if you're careful about which lids you use (minimal dents, scratches, etc.). I've done this several times, especially for low-value foods like applesauce.

3. Sourdough. I've had a lot of success with this project and it's allowed me to make pizza crust and bread dough without store-bought yeast. I've also made very good crackers, pancakes and cookies with the dough.

4. Campfire/cast iron cooking: I am all about the Instant Pot. And easy cooking. But I've always been jealous of my SIL who makes amazing campfire meals. For years I've told myself I would learn how to do it, and just the other night I made my first dinner (it was only egg sandwiches, but still...) over the campfire. I've been cooking with cast iron already for several months, so it's just a matter of cooking those same meals over an open fire rather than a stove top. I want to master at least five different recipes before cool weather comes.

Of course there are a lot of other things I'm doing, but I won't be sharing on here because.... safety. Privacy. Freedom! I've decided that future writing projects need to be directed away from the Renaissance Housewife brand (which is also connected to my address, real name, etc.) or shelved and published later when society isn't so volatile. 

If you have any thoughts I would love to hear them. 

Hi everyone! I know it has been a little quiet on here lately. As always happens this time of year, I've got too much dirt beneath my fingernails to get on my computer and pound out a post.

As I sit here and type, the wonderful smell of bacon is circulating throughout the kitchen. We're having breakfast for dinner, since my four hens have started laying eggs galore! We also have chicks out in the garage... although since they're almost four weeks old, I'm not sure they qualify as "chicks" anymore.

As the thrift stores have been closed for almost two months now, I've found fun and new ways to repurpose or find old things. I've been reading a lot of good books that I'm excited to share (once I've finished them, of course!). I started three new fermentation projects in the last several months: saurkraut, strawberry wine from last year's strawberries, and sourdough. I'm most excited about the sourdough, since after three tries, I'm finally having some success with it. 

Below is a meme I shared on my personal Facebook page:

For real, though. I've spent sooooo much money on Amazon. I think part of it has to do with there being nothing to look forward to (and most of the summer events are being cancelled as well... WAHHHHH!) in combination with my working on many, many projects. Which I am SO happy to be doing. :D

I'm guessing some of these things will be showing up in Youtube videos, which I am uploading about as often as I update this blog. LOL. I've also fallen off of Instagram, because projects. But, yeah.

Anyhow, I have another project to work on, so... off I go!

I'd love to hear what some of you are doing these days. Leave a comment!
-Bethany

Hi everyone! Yesterday I wrote about some practical preschool-age skills that I'm teaching our daughter. Today I'm going to share some "school-ish" things that I'd like to teach her before she turns three years old.


​Colors and Shapes

I didn't have colors or shapes on my preschool list because our daughter already knows them. I found the book below at a garage sale when she was a baby, and it was her favorite for a good year or so.

When she was about 18 months old, she really got into this book. I would say, "Where is the button?" and she would point to the button. Eventually she got to know the shapes, especially the tiny shapes on the border of the left page (below). The first shape she began to recognize was a circle, which she called a "ball". Rectangles and squares were the hardest for her.

It was the same way with colors. I would say, "Where is red?" and she would point to the red squigly. It took a while for her to register the concept of different items being red, but she could name most colors by the time she was two, mostly thanks to this book. I mean, we sure read it often enough! We still sometimes read this book. If I remember correctly, the first colors that she recognized were blue and green. The colors that were most difficult for her were black and brown. Even now she still sometimes gets those two confused.

​We also have a shape puzzle and shape blocks, but her ability to put together the puzzle lagged far behind her ability to simply recognize the shapes and colors.


Numbers

At this point, our daughter knows the idea of one and two. She can't recognize the symbols for one and two, but she does know the difference between one item and two items. My goal for the next six months or so is to get her to recognize the idea of other numbers; for example, that three is more than two and four is more than three. I'm not concerned about her knowing the symbols for each number at this point.

I'm using a few different methods to instill the idea of numbers. I count things aloud as often as possible. We sing a counting song about fingers and toes. I also made dot flash cards to use as a type of game. I have her count out nuts (or candies, or whatever) onto the flash cards, and then she gets to eat them. If any of you have ideas for counting, please let me know!

Alphabet

I started introducing letters shortly before our daughter turned two, since she was very capable of recognizing shapes. She doesn't know any of the letter names, only the sound that the letter makes. Each letter (or, as many as possible) is connected to a person she knows. For example, my letter is "Mmmm for Mama". Right now she can recognize most of the letters and, of course, their sounds. 

I'm not going to attempt to teach reading or writing until she can say all or most of the sounds properly, or when she shows an interest in doing so. I will also hold off on teaching her the names of the letters until she begins reading. For now, she knows that letters make words, and you don't know what a word says unless you can read. I think that is really enough at this age.


Reading

As I said before, I think we are a year or two away from any kind of reading. That being said, I adore reading to our toddler. I've purchased a decent amount of secondhand books and I try to read at least 3-4 books per day. If possible, I try to read books that instill good values or some kind of educational content. 

In the last couple months, I've seen how her little brain sucks up information and spits it back out. Sometimes words, phrases or concepts in our books come out in her play and reasoning. She is learning about all sorts of animals, foods, vocabulary, even abstract ideas like how our earth is suspended in the solar system "where angels and Jesus live". I can't believe how much she understands as a two year old!

One of her favorite books right now is a story called The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown. It's a nonsensical story about two kittens who mix together paint to make different colors. Several weeks ago when I was doing laundry, I poured blue detergent onto a yellow shirt. It made a big green spot on the shirt.

"Mama, that shirt green!" she said.
"You're right," I said. "I poured blue soap on that yellow shirt, and it made..."
"Green! Like the Color Kittens!" she exclaimed.

I love introducing her to new worlds and ideas through books.


Art, History, Science, etc.

I try to make our everyday lives as educational (and fun!) as possible. We definitely don't have a curriculum for anything around here. I really like the idea of Charlotte Mason style education, so I'm trying to incorporate some of that into our day. For example, teaching her the names and/or uses of different plants, pointing out what happens during different seasons, etc.

Last week I bought her a $3.00 paint set. She has already muddied up the colors quite a bit, but I love to see the joy on her face when she paints. I framed one of her pictures and set it on the kids' table in her bedroom.

History is something I love, but I'm not sure our daughter understands the concept of. So for now I'm just introducing her to my favorite historical characters and their stories. The other day we dumped out my change purse and I showed her the pictures on all of the bills and coins, and pointed out how George Washington was on the dollar and the quarter, and how Lincoln was on the $5.00 bill and the penny. 

Science, likewise, is something I don't go out of my way to do. I try to show her how the plants in our garden are progressing, or how we cook something to make it soft. I try to point out if something is melted, frozen, rotted, etc.

In short, academic subjects are not as important to me as instilling the love of learning into our daughter. Whether or not she becomes a great artist, writer or inventor is a choice that I will leave to her. Right now I think the most important thing for us to focus on is building good habits and fellowship in our family.

I hope this has helped or inspired you in some way!
​
Til next time,
​-Bethany

Hi everyone! Today I thought I'd share a little bit of what I'm doing for preschool at home for our 2 year old. I know that some of you may not have young children anymore, but these ideas would also be fun for grandchildren. Also, I am not some kind of educational or parenting expert; I'm just sharing what my plans are and some ideas that have worked for us already. Along with that comes a little bit of my parenting philosophy, too. Sorry, can't help it. 


Goal Setting for Kids

About once every six months to a year, I sit down and make a list of what I would like to teach or try with our daughter. I keep these in a notebook so I won't have to do it again with the next kid. Making goals for your child isn't making goals for them... it's making goals for yourself to do WITH them. 

For example, you're not going to write "get (child) to say alphabet". Instead, write "sing the alphabet song every day". The end goal is, of course, to get your kid to say the alphabet. But you can't take it personally if your child doesn't learn as fast as you want them to. The best you can do is teach and reinforce good things every day, and hope they stick. If you force "learning", you run the risk of killing your kid's natural love for learning.

​With all that being said, here is a list of things I would like to finish teaching our daughter before she turns three.

You can see that the goals are at the top. At the bottom I've listed a few activities per day that might help achieve those goals. Some of the activities are just for fun. On the reverse side of the paper, I made a list of things I want to do with her EVERY day.

Of course everyone's set of goals and activities to support those goals will be different. I like to do as little formal schooling as possible, and instead choose games, songs, hands-on activities and TV shows to use for learning. These things can be integrated into your regular daily schedule without adding a lot of burden.


Practical Skills

During the morning I try to focus on practical skills (some that we've slacked off on) including getting dressed, cleaning and cooking. Getting dressed and cleaning are actually more about habits than skill. We also get the mail and feed our chickens together before lunch. Sometimes I read a book to her before lunch, but since the weather is warming up we have been spending more time outside.

1. Getting Dressed: This takes a lot of patience for me. It is pretty much watching her struggle for a bit, helping as little as possible, and then congratulating her when she finally gets dressed. The reward is watching an episode of "Barney & Friends" (available on Amazon Prime) while I comb her hair. If you have any ideas on educational TV shows, let me know!

2. Cleaning: Another area I've slacked off on. I've trained our daughter to clean up her own spills, but I have not been very good at having her pick up toys. What helps the most with toys is having a designated basket or box for each kind of toy. We sing the clean up song to help things go faster. Ultimately, I would love to have her clean up her toys by herself, like she does after a bath. But we're not there yet.

Making the bed— There is a bedding product out there called "Beddy's" that is basically a combination sleeping bag and fitted sheet. Very simple and easy to use for small children. Toddler bedding sells for $129 per set though, so I probably won't be buying it. Until I figure out how to make a set at home, I will be making a simple duvet and duvet cover for the toddler bed. I hope that eliminating a sheet will simplify bed-making a bit.

3. Cooking: I try to let our daughter help me make lunch. Most of the time she just helps me pour things into the Instant Pot. I keep several spouted glass cups around so she can pour water, rice, eggs, chopped vegetables, etc. If there is something very soft (banana, avocado), I let her cut it with a child-safe chopping tool.

Right now we're working on spreading peanut butter, mayonnaise and butter. This task will be perfect for summer, when we do have a lot of sandwiches.
​

Free Grocery Toys

Our daughter's latest imaginary game has been "going to the grocery store". She loves pushing around her little pink grocery cart (or carrying around small reusable Walmart bags), filling it with canned goods and peanut butter jars from our pantry. Instead of throwing away food packaging, I've been stuffing bags and boxes with newspaper, taping them shut and using the finished product to fill her own little pantry.

These "new" toys are free, so if they get broken or damaged, we are literally out $0.00. 

In the next few days I will post part two of this series, which will be less about practical skills and more of your traditional "academic" preschool activities.

Til next time,
​-Bethany

​Hello everyone! I can’t believe it’s been almost two weeks since I posted last. Sigh.

Since the 18th, I planted spinach, lettuce, swiss chard and kale. Nothing has come up so far. I’ve been dutifully turning the eggs in the incubator twice a day. Later tonight I’ll candle them to see if there is anything going on inside. My seedlings are coming along nicely! I even had some Echinacea germinate last week, which was great!

​For the past two weeks COVID-19 has been worming its way deeper into our lives. The virus is spreading relatively slow around here, although at the time of this writing we have had 24 positive cases in our county. I think the “panic” phase is over. Now I feel an atmosphere more of suspicion and finger-pointing. Maybe I’m just being overly sensitive. I hope so.

Hubs got a thumbs-up to continue his job, which is great. That being said, he does have to take precautions; sanitizing and such. Of course there are no antibacterial wipes to be found, so he is improvising with baby wipes and a spray bottle of Everclear (that I had, thankfully, bought a few months ago for a project). 

As a homemaker, not much has changed for me either. That being said, I am really missing our weekly visits to the library. And monthly visit to the thrift store. Date night has morphed into “go for a drive for takeout” night, which isn’t nearly as fun.

​And then there is the carousel of shortages.

Here is a list of things that are sometimes (or always) hard to find, and how I’m improvising:

Hand sanitizer: Using soap and water to wash our hands before and after going to town. Also, as I mentioned, sanitizing surfaces (only for Hubs’ work) with grain alcohol. It’s definitely not cheap, but it is over the CDC’s recommended 60% alcohol.

Toilet paper: still have a large pack left from my haul in January. Trying to make it stretch as long as possible, though, since the toilet paper supply hasn’t bounced back yet. You can get it, sometimes, at Walmart, but you might have to pay an arm and a leg. I bought these bidet attachments and am keeping “family cloth” in the back of my mind just in case TP is still in short supply a month or two from now. Personally though, I think in a month or two the TP shortage will be over.

Vitamin C: I still have some packets that I bought in November, but I’m trying to save them in case one of us (more likely, one of our older relatives) gets sick. In the meantime, I’ve changed our menu to increase vitamin C content. I’m spending a little more money to buy kiwis, mangoes, bell peppers, and other foods high in Vitamin C. Also in the process of looking for wild vitamin C supplements… things like pine needle tea or rose hips.

​Flour: There is still a flour shortage in our area. I will be changing our menu a bit to stretch the flour that we do still have (5-10 lbs). I will not be making as much yeast bread, but rather things like corn bread muffins or biscuits. I’ll likely be experimenting with oat flour (our stores still have oats in good supply) and grinding other grains if the shortage continues.

​Yeast: Along that line, yeast is also pretty much non-existent, which is another reason why I won’t be doing as much yeast bread. Thankfully, the grocery stores still have a decent array of yeast breads, so we might start buying bread just to save yeast. Sourdough or something like beer bread is also an option here, but I won’t be wasting what flour we have left on experimentation.

Ground beef: we are just using whatever other meats are available at the grocery store. I still have a turkey in the freezer and some venison as well.

Elastic: I began making reusable face masks for our local hospital, but I had to stop at six, since that’s where my 1/8” elastic supply ran out. And guess which store near us is selling more? Not. A. One. Anything narrower than an inch is completely sold out. I am going to keep looking though. I’ve read that some people are using elastic headbands from the Dollar Tree. I may also try cutting wider elastic in half.

Masks: About masks. It’s been said that masks don’t really stop the spread of COVID-19 unless you are a health care worker (or someone working right up close to a sick person) or if you ARE the sick person. That being said, I have noticed a lot of people improvising in our community with bandannas, construction masks, etc. I don’t know if these people think they are protecting themselves or if they are wearing them just in case they feel a cough coming on, and want to protect others.

​If a mask helps our community to feel safer around us, I will likely make some for personal use. Our daughter does have a cough, and she just coughs wherever and whenever she wants to, since she’s two years old. In the last week I’ve been torn between taking her with me on errands and leaving her in the car (which, under normal circumstances, is an absolute no-no). I will probably make one for her to wear (which means I’ll probably have to wear one as well… sigh) so I can take her with me without getting dirty looks.

As a frugal person, I am used to cutting corners and using substitutions to save money. What I’m NOT used to is simply not being able to buy stuff, money in hand!! I feel like this is a strange mix of the Great Depression and WWII. In a way, it is kind of neat. When I’m in my sewing room making masks, I feel like I’m “contributing to the war effort”. LOL! And I like that feeling! I hope you are all getting along well, finding everything you need and staying healthy.

Til next time,
-Bethany

Hi everyone! Well, it seems as though the world (literally) has been turned upside down since I wrote my last post. The good news? Life goes on mostly as normal for those of us who already spend most of our time at home.

​
Maple Syrup Update
​
We are still boiling down sap for maple syrup. So far we have got almost five gallons of syrup. That is is way more than I thought we'd get! We over-boiled some (the darkest jars in last week's picture) and it formed sugar crystals in the jars:

Of course those jars will just be for our use. But since we did collect so much this year, I'm considering selling some to help fund my little hobby farm. I don't think we'll sell as many berries this year due to the poison ivy infestation that happened last year. :(

I have just been so pleased with this project. Compared to my last new project (honeybees), this was crazy inexpensive and I was able to get a lot of value from it. This is definitely a do-again project for coming years.


Chickens

If you're a longtime reader, you might remember last year's fiasco with the bloodthirsty raccoons. I went into winter with just two hens in the coop. Since then, a friend of ours gave me a rooster and three more hens that she no longer wanted. So now I have five hens and one rooster.

I think five hens is just about the right number for us. That being said, it's likely that we'll need some replacements at some point, so I've decided to try incubating chicks. Right now the chickens are laying enough eggs for me to save a few for us and keep the rest for hatching. By the end of this week I plan on powering up the incubator. 
​

Garden

And.... we're moving quickly into gardening season!! Over the weekend I planted the rest of my beet and parsnip seeds. I've read that parsnip seeds are only good for one year, so I hope at least a few of my seeds (from last year) sprout.

In the garden right now, the only things ready to harvest are parsnips and spinach; both of which overwintered from last year. To be honest, I really like the idea of just overwintering a few things to have ready to eat as soon as the ground thaws. I hadn't planned to have any garden produce ready in March, but already I have two things! Next fall I'm planning on overwintering a whole bed of spinach so we can pick from it regularly. Right now there is only about one square foot of plants, so it's not a lot. I planted four square feet of parsnips last year, and that has been enough for our parsnip needs in fall, winter and spring.

​Here is an updated picture of my little collection of seedlings:

You can see that my tomato plants are pushing out their first sets of true leaves! I had one lavender plant die, but the six pictured here are still doing alright. The basil is also doing fine.

I did replant some $0.20 pepper seeds from Walmart, since my first batch of seeds never germinated. None of the new seeds have germinated yet either, but I am really hoping that some of them will.

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Grocery Budget

I planned $130.00 for groceries this month. So far we have spent about $90.00. I've been buying a little bit of fresh or frozen produce every week, but other than that there is nothing we need. I think we'll come out ahead this month. You can see what we've bought so far below:

Walmart Trip

We went to Walmart for date night (which consisted of fast food restaurant hopping, since all of the sit-ins are closed!), mostly because I wanted to see if the empty shelf rumors were true. I think the top picture of this post is a good representation of how full our Walmart was. There were definitely some empty shelves when we stopped in around 8:00 p.m. 

The main areas that got wiped out were toilet paper (no pun intended... lol!), bread and ground beef. Of course there were a lot of empty spaces—more than I've ever seen in my life— but it's not like there was nothing to choose from. For example, most of the eggs were gone, but there were still organic cage-free eggs, and jumbo eggs. A lot of the meat was gone, but some of the more expensive cuts and less-popular cuts were still there.

While the store was empty compared to a normal week, there was still a LOT of food and supplies. There were still kids' vitamins, for example, and plenty of diapers. As one Youtuber pointed out, the bread aisles might be empty, but the deli section (at least ours) still has bread.

As we we roamed the store, we were able to talk to a few employees about the situation. One stocker said that the toilet paper sold out in 15 minutes. The crazy thing is, Walmart is restocking toilet paper (and other stuff) every day. Clearly, people are just buying way more than they normally use. My hypothesis is that, on top of all the panic buying, people just don't know how much toilet paper they use in a 2-3 week period. So better safe than sorry, right?

As far as food goes, the same principle applies. I'm part of a frugal food group on Facebook, and I spent a few hours reading horror stories from members about how their kids and/or husband ate a whole week's worth of snacks in an afternoon. Again, shoppers who don't usually spend all day with their families are underestimating how much their families capable of eating. So they make multiple runs to the grocery store in a week.

I also read a thread that asked, "How much did you spend stocking up?" Most of the commenters spent several hundred dollars ($200.00-$500.00) extra. Of course that is going to wipe out supplies, if everyone buys a months' worth of food at once! And on top of that, according to the Walmart employees we talked to, there really are "crazies" out there who think it's the end of the world. We heard that one shopper bought 30 packages (I don't know what size... but the 1 lb. packs are most expensive, so the packages were probably bigger...) of ground beef. It wouldn't take many people doing that to wipe out the ground beef.

So, yeah. This is not much of a problem for those of us with stocked pantries, and I'm encouraged to see a lot of good Youtube content about working with what food you have, buying reusable personal care products, etc. This is stuff that many of us have been doing for years, but it takes a national crisis to get everyone's attention about it! I also think it's a good thing that families are spending more time with each other. Personally I like seeing parents teach their own children, even if it's only for a few weeks. Some parents are trying to do structured homeschooling, while others are focusing more on life skills. I really like seeing parents teach life skills. Maybe they can prevent another wave of "millennials". LOL!

I trust that you are all doing well, despite all the craziness. This, too, shall pass. 
In the meantime, go out and plant more seeds! :)

Til next time,
​-Bethany

We had a lot of fun last week boiling down maple sap last week. The syrup started out as "my" project, but Hubs began helping me, and has decided that he likes it almost more than I do! 

We are not done tapping yet, but after just a week our 12 trees (sorry, I haven't counted the taps!) have yielded a good 14 quarts, or three and a half gallons of syrup. In today's market, that's a value of more than $200.00!

We were able to use my in-laws' old taps and homemade burner, but I did have to buy a $4.00 thrift store pot to boil with. After one day, we realized that the pot would not keep up with sap production, so we invested in two buffet pans (steam table pans, I believe, is the official word for it) at $40.00 each. That felt like a lot of money, but they do boil down the sap much quicker and we have already recouped the investment.

To stock the furnace, we used scrap wood from Hubs' shop and sticks that I've been bringing in from our little grove of trees out back (where there are four of our maple trees!). The grove has been an extension of what I call "the backyard dump" for the last several years, but we have been working to get it cleaned up. I would love to make it into a quiet park-like area that we can actually enjoy. 

Picking up the fallen branches and burning them has done a lot for the grove's appearance. We still have a long way to go, but it made me so happy to kill two birds with one stone last week: cleaning up the woods, and then using it to fuel our sap fire. Hubs did the same thing with the front yard and also our little row of grapes near the orchard. I would love to make this a yearly tradition, where March is the official Clean Up Month around here.

While both Hubs and I have helped with making syrup before, neither of us had been through the process 100% on our own. Each day we were able to refine our system a bit more for efficiency and efficacy. As in, more and better syrup for less work. You can see how different some of our early batches were:

The first batch, which has the least amount of ash, was the clearest. We think it was so clear because we were still using the pot, which had less surface area for ash to fall into.

The last and darkest batch wasn't strained before we boiled it down, plus I think I overboiled the whole thing (it actually boiled over when I wasn't looking). It was very dark and very thick. After that I became more familiar with the boiling-down process, and we started straining both before AND after the final boiling down. This helped a lot with the color, but our current batches still have a little bit of sediment from the ash. I'm not too worried about it.
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Thrifting

A couple of weeks ago I went thrifting. Here's what I found and what everything cost:

Another crazy deal... Walmart had a wide variety on food items on clearance last week. You can see below all of the cheese I bought. The mozzarella balls were $0.50 each ($1.00 per pound), the 2 lb. brick of cheddar was $2.50 ($1.25 per pound!!), and the little packets (part of a "macaroni and cheese sauce kit") came out to $2.00 per pound. All of those prices are the cheapest I've seen in YEARS, and only the mozzarella was expired. But it was still good. ;)

Seedlings!

And, a little garden update! I repotted most of my seedlings and some houseplants on Saturday. The seedlings—most of which are tomatoes—are doing well. The smallest seedlings are lavender (to the right), and the pots to the far left are basil. Also in there are a few marigold seedlings.

Lastly, I don't really follow the news, but I've been trying to keep updated on the coronavirus since it has the ability to affect the price and availability of household supplies. I've noticed that several items we buy have been out of stock now and then at Walmart; things like diapers and dishwasher detergent. So far only the Walmart brand has been sold out; there are more expensive brands to choose from, but still. 

At the beginning of the year, I bought six months' worth of personal care and household supplies, mostly for ease of record keeping (Walmart receipts are a bear to record, since they often contain items from 4-5 budget categories). Now I'm very thankful I did that, since I don't have to worry about paying higher prices for things like toilet paper, toothpaste or laundry detergent. Another comfort is that I have the skills to make things that often sell out during a pandemic; things like bread, hand sanitizer or even toilet paper (hello family cloth!) should we really need some.

I'm not expecting any severe shortages, but I do believe we'll be paying higher prices for many things in the coming year if this pandemic gets out of hand. So it helps to have some frugal skillzzz.

Have you noticed any shortages at your local stores? Do you think we are at the brink of a recession?

Til next time,
-Bethany