Just pondering...

I am going to my mom's tonight so I will upload pics from today and yesterday in the laundry challenge. I have had so many thoughts in my head lately I thought I better get them out.

Twice lately, I have had around $100 to feed 7 people for almost 2 weeks. Do the math. Fortunately, I had some staples on hand. The first time I had enough meat to get by. This time I had to buy just meat. If my garden would cooperate it would be easier. LOL
This is my first year though so I do not expect a big yield. Something would be nice. I might have some squash... good enough, I say!

I have big plans for my next garden. BIG PLANS! I have one box now. Filled with who knows what. :) I am going to put in another box probably next week and fill it with some cheater plants from the gardening store. AKA plants I did not start from seed.
I am also researching fruit trees and berry bushes. I have one orange tree we bought a few years ago. I thought we would cheat because our neighbor already had a couple (or so we thought) and we only bought one. I tended it the other day and made plans for another one either this month or next.

By the time we move away from this house I want to be providing most of our produce. Ambitious, yes! Needful, YES! See when we move it will be to our own piece of land. I am doing what I can here with our small piece of property (think subdivision small!!) to learn what I can. One of the main purposes of us moving is to be able to provide most of our food for ourselves.

I was inspired by this video.

I am also going to get a garbage can and turn it into a composter. I have been very aware of some of the great composting materials I am wasting because I have no where to put them. A pile of compost in our backyard is not going to happen. Not with the communist HOA, Im not sure I can even have a garbage can in the backyard. I'm hoping if I put it on the other side of our grill no one will notice. At least for a couple of years. LOL. Yes, I know we moved here and signed the papers, but we were young and modern back then. Just a couple of yuppies!

I am busily researching making as much as I can from scratch. I have started making our bread from scratch again. I want to try yogurt again. I finally got some Kefir grains.... but I might have already done them in. LOL. I make different kinds of beans in our crockpot almost every other day. I buy chickens on sale to roast or boil up. Butter and cream cheese are next on my agenda.

I plan to beg and plead for a grain grinder for Christmas. I really want an electric one but at this point I would settle, temporarily at least, for a hand grinder. You can store wheat berries a lot longer that packaged wheat.

I am trying to stockpile somethings. Not because I am scared but because there are days, weeks, months where you just can't afford to go the store. Prices are going up. The more I have on hand the less I have to buy. The more skills I have with storing, cooking, making myself... the better off we will be.
We have some savings now. We are paying off the few bills that have accumulated lately. Our credit is improving slowly.
We plan to move in two years. We hope to have the house on the market by summer of next year even.

We want to have enough excess to share. To minister to others. We plan to use it to show God's glory and abundance.
I have spent the last two nights learning to repair clothing or cut it up for scraps. I mended and patched some pants and shirts. Sewed on some buttons. Salvaged buttons from clothing that could not be fixed. All from the comfort of my couch while watching Ann of Avonlea. It is so fulfilling to have something in my hands. How much money will we save if I just learn to do with what we have to the best of my ability?

These yuppie city folks are heading back to our roots. We are going to go for a more simple life...with Internet of course..LOL.

We have researched cows, chickens, goats, gardening, keeping bees, sewing, solar electricity... many things we did not even know existed. Many things we did not even know we wanted.

Its an exciting adventure. Neither one of us can believe how enthused the other one is about the whole thing. We both approached the other with trepidation. Knowing that the other would never go for this. HA! We had both been pondering it.

Those are just some thoughts running around in my head!!