Blooms, a Broody Hen & Frugal Accomplishments

As another week begins, I'm happy to be joining in with Frugal Accomplishments.  After preserving all our winter squash, there were 2 pumpkins left on the shelf, bought for our hayride last year, and used with our own squash as decoration.  One of the pumpkins was a white one.  Unfortunately, it began to rot, but before putting it in the compost, I gathered some of the seeds.  I have no idea what variety it is, or if it is a hybrid, but figure it might be fun to have a vine of white pumpkins for our decorations each year.  If the seed doesn't grow true or if is not a tasty variety, it will still be good food for the chickens and pups.  I made hummingbird food, and put out one feeder.   I haven't seen any yet, though there have been reports of local sightings.

J made some changes to the area in the chicken coop intended for broody or sick chickens.  After putting her eggs in the new nest box, I moved the broody hen there.  She moved one of the eggs to her liking and sat back down on the eggs, looking quite content.  That went much easier than anticipated.  This is a totally private area, which I've read they prefer, and I guess there's the proof.  Did laundry with homemade soap, and hung it on the line.  Went through swagbucks, and paid with my credit card, for a 7% discount on fittings for our rainwater collection system.  Cut asparagus a few days, though I only got a few each time.  There are quite a few slender spears from the new plants,  so over the next few years, our harvest will hopefully increase.  I roasted asparagus for dinner one night.

I gathered flowering tips of broccoli, and wild cat brier tips to add to our salad.  Cat brier has a mild lemony taste, which the ants also like, so I give the tips a look before plucking to see if they are ant free.  Used our garlic when roasting brussels sprouts, baked our sweet potatoes, and used fresh oregano in a mushroom dish.  Made potato leek soup with our vegetables, broth and herbs.  Went through ebates for a purchase and used a coupon code to get a free item.  Harvested kale twice, and made a kale salad.  Mended one of the dog bed covers, whose zipper had come loose during washing.  I also mended one of our outdoor nylon banners.  It was my first time attempting to mend one of these, & it isn't pretty, so I'm not sure I'll bother doing that again.  I crushed a pan of egg shells and added them to the compost bin.

We've all been eating our share of eggs lately, as we have them in abundance.  Thankful for that, and the fact that our broody hen is doing a fantastic job sitting on those eggs, since she got her private spot.  This week, we could have chicks, or maybe not.   But if not, I'm betting on next time.  I added lemon and grapefruit peels to a jar of citrus vinegar.  Watered all the house plants, and added the brown leaves to the compost crock.  The last roselle cutting I started in the fall died :o(.  I did collect a few seeds, but was hoping to have at least one plant to start with this spring.  Our meyer lemon and key lime trees arrived.  The lemon looks happy, but the lime lost all but one leave.  I put them outside every day with our tomato seedlings.

We had freezing forecasts a couple of nights, so J & I went around wrapping and covering everything we could.  One small peach tree lost all its peaches, and our kiwis died back, but other than a few leaves most other plants seemed to make it OK.  I repaired my massage chair, which I use for massage work at Hospice, and also repaired my slippers, sneakers, a vintage photo that was losing its back, and a scarf pin.  Made omelets with our eggs and asparagus.  Did a small amount of weeding in the orchard.  Weeded young lambs quarter plants from a flower bed, and picked a few cabbage worms off the kale, and gave both to the chickens.   What did you do to save money or resources last week?