SATURDAY EVENING POST

Just got the boys to bed. Looking at tonight's harvest. 2 eight ball zuchinni squash...1 eight ball that turned orange and the last of the squaghetti squash.



Time to pull up the squash and cukes to make room for a fall crop.

Lettuce, red, green, speckled and more
Spinach
Broccoli
Cabbage
Beets (I can never get these to grow but I always try because they are my fav)
Collards
Carrots
Garlic (a whole bed of this)
Fava Beans – this will be my first try
Turnips
Basil--to make and freeze pesto

My peppers are still producing pablanos and jalepenos. I dehydrate them as soon as they come off.

If you have never had fresh off the plant broccoli please grow some. It is amazing.

Jack from The Survival Podcast says that the fall is the best time to grow. It is scorching now of course so seeds won't start outside but you can start them inside.

I am going to try leaving some carrots and turnips in the ground for storage to see how they do.

I will have a salad frame that I hope to keep going through winter so that we can have fresh green salad until it is time to plant the spring crop. I will plant several different types and keep track of how they do with a large batch of Black Seeded Simpson.

FIRST STEP IN FOLLOWING A BUDGET

1. CUT COSTS:
TO ME THE LARGEST COST CUTTER IS A SIMPLE CLOTHES LINE. WHEN I LIVED IN THE CITY AND WAS A YOUNG BRIDE, I CALLED THE POWER COMPANY AND TALKED TO THEM ABOUT WHAT I COULD DO TO CUT COSTS...THEY SAID PUT UP A CLOTHES LINE....MY DRYER WAS USING A FULL 1/3 OF MY POWER BILL AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT. WHEN I STARTED LINE DRYING MY POWER BILL WENT DOWN INSTANTLY. TO ME 103 DEGREES WITH A STIFF WIND = THE PERFECT LAUNDRY DAY.






AND I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT THERE IS NOTHING LIKE CRAWLING INTO LINE DRIED SHEETS AFTER A COLD SHOWER....I CAN NOT WAIT UNTIL TONIGHT.

2. RAISE YOUR OWN MEAT
I DIDN'T TAKE A PHOTO OF THE MEAT CHICKENS BUT (KNOCK ON WOOD) NOT ONE HAS DIED. THEY ARE 2 WEEKS AND 3 DAYS OLD AND THEY ARE TWICE AS LARGE AS THE EGG LAYING PULLETS THAT I BOUGHT AT THE SAME TIME. EVERYONE IS MISERABLE DUE TO THE HEAT BUT OTHER THAN PANTING, THEY SEEM TO BE DOING FINE. THEY EAT, DRINK AND LAY AROUND. I WILL HARVEST ONE IN 4 WEEKS TO SEE IF THEY ARE LARGE ENOUGH.

NEXT HERE IS A PICTURE OF THE RABBIT FRAME. JOHN IS A GREAT CARPENTER. HE DID THIS BEFORE I TOOK HIM AND THE GRAND BOYS TO THE PUBLIC POOL TO COOL OFF. HE WILL PULL OFF THE SLATS ON THE BOTTOM AND USE THEM TO FLOOR THE LITTLE TOOL SHED. THE DOORS TO THE RABBIT CAGES WILL BE RIGHT AT CHEST LEVEL SO THAT THEY ARE EASY TO MOVE AROUND. THE RABBIT POO WILL FALL TO THE BOTTOM ON TO HAY THAT I WILL LAY THERE AND IT WILL BE MOVED TO THE COMPOST PILE NOW AND THEN OR DIRECTLY TO THE GARDEN. IN TX THIS IS NOT A GOOD TIME OF YEAR TO START RABBITS SO I WILL WAIT UNTIL SEPT TO GET MY FIRST DOE AND BUCK. I WANT TO START SMALL SO I CAN LEARN.




WITH BOTH OF THESE IN PLACE I WILL THEN BE LOOKING FOR A SECOND HAND PRESSURE CANNER. I WILL CAN MOST OF THE MEAT I RAISE.

GOTTA RUN...THE NEXT LOAD OF LAUNDRY IS READY TO GO OUT.

THIS REPRESENTS $4200

AND IS THE LAST OF MY CREDIT CARD DEBT.

TOMORROW IT IS GONE.

GETTING READY TO TAKE A BITE...WISH YOU WERE HERE

STRAWBERRY BED AND RABBIT FRAMES

Today John worked on moving the wonderful dirt from the far back raised bed garden into the kitchen garden. It is time to start plants for the fall garden.

We also moved the strawberry bed into place. I hate to do it but I am going to have to buy round up and spray around the edge of the garden. The bermuda grass is going nuts.




The bunny came out to say hi to us. I know he misses his buddies.



We finished cleaning under the carport and dragged over the wooden frames.

This one will be the rabbit frame and will hold the meat rabbits. Ignore the not finished paint job please.



This one will be my tool shed.



I harvested 4 speghetti squash from the garden. One more to go and that is it. It still more than paid for the cost of one seed packet. At about $2/lb each one is worth almost five dollars.



And the best of all! John made a home made apple pie! Home made crust. Fresh apples, fresh butter, spices!!! It is baking now.

STRAWBERRY BED

Now that it is painted, I hate to turn it into a strawberry bed. I need another bedroom!!!




And this is going to be my camping table. This table is the one my parents used when I was a little girl. I can't wait to use it.



I THINK I WANT MY FRONT DOOR THIS COLOR!

NEW CLOTHES LINE POLE

John made me a 2nd clothes line pole and reset my old single pole.

Now I can cut costs by hanging out my clothes to dry and also I love the smell of sun dried sheets.



And towels that scratch your back when you dry off! Totally cool.

The baby chickens are getting fat. They are growing out of their feathers and are starting to look naked. The turkey (we lost one) is growing normally.

IT'S DONE!!!

THE YARD NEEDS TO BE CLEANED BAD. BUT THE PORCH IS DONE!

WE SHOULD BE DONE TOMORROW

In theory we will be done with the deck tomorrow. So far I love this deck!

STILL BUILDING

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Last night was a big night. The boy who is putting on the porch and I went to Home Depot and purchased the materials for my new deck!!! (Yes I am a lazy chicken and hired it done).



Then when we got home the breaker box kept blowing so that we gave up and opened the windows; The last time I looked at my hot clock...it was 2am.

I got it to come on a while around midnight but by this morning the breaker blew again and I knew something had to be done. I found a local electrician and crossed my fingers. You never know what you are going to get when you use country contractors.

They were wonderful. They worked for 2 hours before they finally told me that I needed a whole new breaker box. They don't manufacture mine any more.




So when I got home I had a whole new box and my wallet was $1300 smaller!

Then Tim got here and the work on the deck began; I am sorry they are not in order: