A Fairy Ring & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  So many things are coming into bloom here, the sights and scents are lovely.  On Monday, I hung a load of laundry before heading out to run errands and deliver soap.  Then I processed the 15 spaghetti squash, freezing most in meal sized bags.  I tried a recipe for sp. squash carbonara for dinner, using vegetarian bacon, which I would make again.  I shared some with M, and froze the rest.  I changed out sheets, swapping out the winter flannel for cotton sheets.  Batches of hummingbird food and bird suet were made.  Wanting to eat more legumes, I tried a new recipe for roasted spiced lentils, which are meant to be added to salads.  They were OK, but next time, I'll tweak the spices a bit, to make them more to my liking.  If I get them perfected, I'll share the recipe.

mushroom fairy ring

Last week, J worked out of town several days.  I decided Tuesday would be a me day, to take advantage of it, and do whatever I wished.  I gathered a bouquet for the house, gave myself a pedicure and painted my toenails.  I give them a break over the cooler months, and always find it cheering to have pretty toe nails again.  I was hoping to finish sewing the summer bed cover, but the machine didn't cooperate once my bobbin ran out.  If J can't fix it, I'll bring it in to be serviced.  Seeds of zinnia and jewels of ophir were planted.  While planting the zinnia seeds, I noticed a nearby fairy ring.  I made dinner from almost entirely homestead ingredients... sweet potato, lettuce with cat brier tips and violet leaves, asparagus, and maitake mushroom with garlic.  Except for salt, olive oil and a couple more salad ingredients, it was all home grown or foraged, which is a satisfying feeling.

On Wednesday, I used up the left over asparagus and maitake in an omelet.  I finished cleaning the last several kitchen cabinets, which was started during spring cleaning.  I fertilized several new plants, then picked up trash from the ditch at the road.  I started out with a regular grocery bag, but had to come back and get a feed bag, and filled them both up.  I just don't understand the sort of person who would throw their trash out the window.  There was even a chewed up tire out there.  Sheesh!  A friend had shared a couple turmeric in the fall that another friend had grown and given her.  I had thought I might try dyeing with them, but decided to try growing them, for future food and dyeing.  I planted them in the largest available pot.  A batch of sweet potatoes was started in the dehydrator.

My main goal on Thursday was to clean a winter's worth of straw and poop from the chicken coop, which I succeeded in doing. Over the years, we've tried various things over the colder months, and the deep litter method has worked best for us.  Some time in October, I stop removing any straw, instead just throwing the used nest box straw on the floor before replacing the nest boxes with new straw.  The material on the floor keeps the coop noticeably warmer during the cold months.  Does it get stinky?  Yes indeed, but that's life.  I noticed earlier in the week that some of the long ago planted mint (bad mistake) was edging its way into the garden, so I took the opportunity to pull up a 5 gallon bucket worth, and distributed it among the nest boxes.  It smells lovely in the coop for a couple of days, and now that I've gotten up all the old stuff, and there's more ventilation with the warmer temps, it should be more pleasant in there.  I'm happy to cross that chore off my to do list.  I made an asparagus frittata with our eggs and asparagus.

The winter clothes were switched out to summer in my dressers.  I also switch around my sock drawers and closet arrangement, to make it easier to access the current seasons things.  While I was adding the summer things to the drawers, I decided to try the Marie Kondo method of folding clothes where you can see them all, rather than piled on top of each other.  So far, I like the ability to see my choices.  Whether I can keep the drawers tidy remains to be seen.  Though I haven't mentioned it in a while, I'm still growing my gray hair out.  Who knew after 8 months, there would still be such a long way to go?  J was able to fix the bobbin problem on my sewing machine, so I need to get back to sewing. 

Almost every day, there are a few asparagus to harvest.  A friend and I went to a local antiques festival on Friday.  She kindly printed a coupon for me, saving .50 on admission, and gifted me 2 hazelnut and 2 persimmon trees.  We each brought home one small treasure.  Mine was a vintage glass refrigerator dish.  On Saturday, I ground all the dried bread ends up into bread crumbs, and froze them.  Egg shells were crushed, and added to the compost bin.  I tried another recipe for lentil salad sprinkles, and baked them during the cool morning hours.  J's son came, and helped him fill the remaining raised Trex beds with soil.  I shared a dozen eggs with he and his partner.  J plasma cut 6 metal barrels into thirds, giving us 18 containers to grow tomatoes in this year.  I put layers of newspaper on the ground before placing the barrel pieces.  In the evening, we bought top soil and mushroom compost to fill them with, and will mix that with our shredded leaves and aged mulch.  We're hoping for a bountiful tomato year.  I was mad at myself for a frugal fail, a $10 off $50 coupon I forgot, which expired that day.  I did find a 6 pack of lavender, normally $9.98 for .50 on the mark down rack, which eased the sting slightly. 

Windows were opened for fresh air each day, and closed on warmer days, to keep the cool in.  Another batch of sweet potatoes was started in the dehydrator.  I went through the remainder of sweet potatoes in storage.  There were a number that went to the compost, and several that I used the good bits from for the pups. A recipe my MIL sent was made, a sweet potato, cheddar, pecan dutch baby.  I suppose it was geared more for breakfast, as it said to serve with bacon, but I made it for dinner.  I cut the sugar from 1 tbs to 1 tsp, but it really needed the extra sweetness.  J enjoyed finishing it the next morning with maple syrup.  Received my first free Southern Living magazine through Recyclebank.  Swiss chard seedlings were transplanted into larger pots.  Frugal fail:  I was mistaken about when a library book was due, and paid .30 in fines when picking up more books.

On Sunday, J & I filled the 18 tomato containers with a mix of topsoil, shredded leaves, aged mulch and mushroom compost.  We then planted them with the heartiest seedlings.  I replanted the two parsley I overwintered in the house, and planted the 6 Ellagance lavender purchased for .08 each.  Two are pretty spindly, but I think they might all make it.  A batch of yogurt was made.  It appears we have 3 broody hens.  As soon as I cleaned the coop earlier in the week, they must have liked those fluffy, fresh nest boxes, because they've been broody since.  So far, I'm collecting all the eggs.  We have two roosters on the side that the broody area is on, and have to do something different before we can let one sit. 

An order was placed through Swagbucks for 4% off, and a $5 coupon code used.  Our canned green beans were used for garlicky green beans.  I tried another spaghetti squash recipe, this one a vegan version of Pad Thai.  I thought it was pretty good, but J was not a fan.  Oh well, back on the lookout for other spaghetti squash recipes to try.  J & I planted the hazelnuts and persimmons.  He also dug up some figs that came up at the edge of one, and we replanted those.  We're a bit tired and sore, but it's been a good gardening weekend.  Wishing you a beautiful week!