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:
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:
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.
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:
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