Mid July & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  With the summer garden gearing up, it seems the days are getting busier.  After working in town, I met a friend to share sweet potato slips and an eggplant. We happened to meet in the parking lot where the Farmer's Market is held, so I took advantage, and got 3 tomatoes.  I wish I'd have thought to check out the corn while there.  I shared cucumbers with a couple of women at work.  At Food Lion, I bought cherries for $1.99/lb., and 10 ears of corn at 5/$1, the best price I've run across.  They also had 4# sugar 2/$4 and get 1 free.  I don't use white sugar for us, but the price is right for hummingbird food.  At Aldi's, I got a seedless watermelon for $2.69, mangoes .49, avocados .95, plus a handful of other things.  I picked up the chick feed we needed at Tractor Supply, and noticed some chicken related items on clearance.  Though not a need, I did buy a water additive that has essential oils in it, and carbon based "coop control" for odors, which as an added benefit is an excellent amendment to add to the compost for healthy soil.  I'm thinking in the future, I may try making the water additive, as I have the ingredients on hand.  I'll research it before I do.

On Wednesday, I was able to cross several things off my to do list.  The chicken coop was cleaned, and the walking path mowed.  Though most of the purslane has been mowed, I was able to harvest enough, along with our basil and garlic, for a double batch of purslane pistachio pesto.  I blanched and froze 6 meals worth of corn, and froze the pesto.  The freezers are very full.  I need to make more of an effort to use things from there, and pulled out a bag of homegrown lima beans and foraged maitake mushrooms.  It's a start.  I vacuumed my car with a shop vac at home.  I listed a number of items on ebay, and have one bid so far.  I received an email informing me of a bag sale at a thrift store.  On the way home from an appointment, I realized I could be there just when it started (it only lasted 2 hrs).  Though I didn't fill the bag, I got 2 shirts and a pair of sneakers for my GD, a pair of shorts for J, and a pair of boots and a vest for myself for $5.

The walk on Saturday morning was especially lovely.  The early morning light sent sunbeams through the trees, which was beautiful. There were also many spider webs, which were lit up in the light. The creek burbled as we walked by.  It all felt a bit magical, and made me grateful for eyes to see, and such a peaceful place to walk.  That evening, I tried a new recipe for squash casserole, which was good, though higher in fat than I'd like to eat on a regular basis (think heavy cream and cheese).  I also made a roasted eggplant dish.  With cucumbers coming in from the garden, asian cucumbers are on regular rotation. I've shared cucumbers with several people, and some eggplant as well.  A neighbor shared a large cabbage with us.  The days have mostly been very hot and humid, so outdoor chores are done early and late as much as possible.  There are always plenty of things to be done indoors, as well as outdoors.

The squirrels figured out a way around the squirrel proof feeder recently.  They would hang on the pole, so as not to trip the weight lever, and grab a seed at a time.  The problem is they did it over and over and over.  So, I enlisted J's help. He created a new pole with longer arms out of rebar for me, which seems to be doing the trick.  While out on errand, we stopped by Big Lots for their 20% off sale.  We got a few food items, but the main thing I wanted to look for were large plant pots.  We found one large ceramic pot among the plastic ones, and purchased it.  We'll repot the avocado or one of the lemons in it.  We had lunch guests on Sunday.  I made a quiche, which used our eggs, garlic, pepper and parsley. She brought homemade peach vanilla ice cream to share, which was a treat. That morning, I gathered a bouquet for the table.  I didn't sleep too well Saturday night, and am too tired to get this post ready as I usually do on Sunday night.  I'll finish it up Monday morning, and send it out then.  I hope the coming week brings you many good things!