Howdy Ho all!!! It is a glorious morning here in my area. Cool, sun is shining, little humidity, and the birds are singing! It kind of looks a little hazy, but that will burn off as it heats up. We got a nice steady rain yesterday morning - I swear it looks like the tomato plants grew a foot!!!
All are fed, and right now Bitsy is getting a treat - a window open and sitting in the fresh air!
I hope you are all well this morning.
As cleaning and sorting in the last week - I have been reminded (by myself) that we need to use what we have!!! Use it or lose it! The items we have in our freezers, refrigerators and pantries is MONEY. Yep, you spent good money to have those items - make sure you use it. The things you have grown and preserved took time and labor - you don't want to waste those either.
Try to come up with as many ways you can to use what you have. Make it a game. Get the family involved. This prevents throwing away good food and money. Once you start using what you have, just watch sales and clearance and restock as needed.
Make sure to learn to use those leftovers. It doesn't have to be the same thing day after day. It can be re-invented into a new dish or a casserole or soup. Eat them for lunch or breakfast. Just eat them! Don't stick them in the fridge to become the next great science project! LOL
Plan your menus around what you have. ALWAYS shop your home first before going to the store! It truly helps to reduce that grocery budget. Groceries are the one discretionary item in our budget. We can choose how to spend and what to spend on. That isn't always true with the remainder of our bills.
When you do shop - make a list! Along that note - always check clearance as well - you never know what you may find. That is when you add things not on that list. Check ads before going out and buy sale items only if at all possible.
Never shop hungry!
Right now, gardens are starting to thrive and within the month we should all be harvesting lots of goodies. Whether it is tomatoes, zucchini, beans, lettuce, herbs, onions, carrots, etc. USE it! Find new ways to use that item in your menu. Enjoy this time of the year - it ends all too soon.
If you don't grow - think about farm markets or roadside stands. Many folks set up 'honesty' stands - where you can get produce and leave the money for it in a slotted box. Lots of times homeowners or farmers do this around here.
Be smart, be thrifty and use what you have and get CREATIVE. Enjoy the wonders of the season to the fullest.
Have a lovely day - smile - and enjoy the little 'glimmers'.
I can just see Bits in his window, enjoying the fresh air. Better than him being outside, dealing with predators and bugs.
ReplyDeleteShop your house to save money and then get creative! That should be stitched on a pillow...ha! Haven't been to any of the farmers' markets this year. We generally have all we need here. The cucumbers are prolific. Twelve inches long is the average and that's a lot of cuke. We have been eating the yellow zucchini as they ripen. The Farmer planted some beans called 'yardlong'. They certainly grow just like the package said. Haven't prepared any yet but I think they might be good stir fried with some onion and a pepper from the garden. The "Jade" beans that we can have baby beans on the plants. The red raspberries finally have started ripening. I had some with goat yogurt for breakfast. Blackberries are not far behind. Still have some cabbages to harvest. The red cabbages didn't grow well so they will go into the compost.
You are so right about enjoying all these grow-ceries while we can. The season won't last as long as we might like.
Going out to work on the dreaded weeds...again. Enjoy your weekend!
Hmmm - may have to think about a pillow!! LOL
DeleteLovely that you are getting so much wonderful produce right at home. I haven't been to a market yet either, and there is one every Sat. right up the road. Those beans will be super. I now have zucchini coming out my ears - not complaining - just getting creative!
Enjoy your harvest - every bite. Stay cool today!
My garden is far behind y'all's, but we got 1.5 inches of rain last night in a thunderstorm so maybe there will be a growth spurt this weekend? :) Unfoirtunately the deer are watching the garden as well.
ReplyDeleteI tell myself, "Everybody has to eat" and "God feeds the beasts". So maybe my garden is doing God's work? Sigh....
MaryB
Mine is behind a lot of peoples - but I planted Memorial Day weekend. So kind of late. I hope everything starts growing and the deer stay out!
DeleteIt is true but it is exasperating when you work so hard on it.
I am covering my lettuce with dollar tree waste baskets. I had 3 of them from leaving a job and bought 2 more for 1.25. I hated buying them but it is easier and cheaper than fencing at this point. I also found 2 feezer baskets I am putting around some other GROWceries. This is a time to clear out extra and be creative with what God provides.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good idea. Using what you have. The freezer baskets were good to use too. When I was guarding baby plants I used what wire I had, mesh and whatever there was around. I also covered some plants the metal parts of hanging pots that weren't being used as little domes.
DeleteYes mam, let us all get creative with our gifts we are given & our bounties.
Excellent idea re: freezer baskets. I wonder if some could be picked up at a dump station? I've had to put wire around a Borden rose to keep the deer from eating it.
Deletewe had zucchini last night, and I picked three nice eggplant, gave some to neighbor.
ReplyDeleteNICE! I have stuff for neighbors this evening when they get home. Zucchini is plentiful at my house!
DeleteI've been harvesting chives for over a month, and my lettuces are still producing. In the heat we've had, they get wilty, but have crisped back up with cooler overnight temps. My tomatoes are starting to ripen -- the first Early Girl round tomato has blossom end rot, but the others still on the vine still look good. My plum tomatoes are starting, too, and look good. There are a couple of green and yellow banana peppers about ready, too. I planted a few onions and carrots, and could probably pull those, but am waiting until a time when I really need them. Love that I have the ability to grow and harvest some of my own fresh produce from my deck garden.
ReplyDelete^^^ Lori K
DeleteGood that you are still getting lettuce. By now mine has always gotten bitter, in years past. I have lots of blooms, not a lot of toms yet. Hope you get plenty.
DeleteIt is so neat to be able to walk out and just PICK! Love it. We are really blessed. You have come up with great ideas for using your deck. You do great.
I am cleaning last years harvest out of the freezer and using it up. Today I made an apple sauce cake (my first ever) and tomorrow I am pulling the frozen tomatoes from last year to make sauce with. No waste allowed this year if I can help it.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Good for you. I bet you will love the applesauce cake.
DeleteGood use of the tomatoes. No waste - perfect.
Now that we're back from vacation, we're meal planning again and using up items in the freezer. Our plan always includes at least one night of leftovers (though I do enjoy them for lunch too).
ReplyDeleteOur peas are nearly ready to pick for the first time. The strawberries aren't producing much and need to ripen, and the carrots and onions need thinning. Our tomatoes and peppers aren't flowering as as yet, but I expect it won't be much longer. Our harvest is generally later in August as we can't plant until around the end of May.
Sounds like you have a good plan. I always like using up the leftovers too.
DeleteThose peas will be so good. I bet you get some good harvests. It will all taste better than store bought.
I think we will have a bonanza of tomatoes in a few weeks. I splurged on a new metal shelf so I can hold more stuff where I can easily see it. You need to see what you have so that you use it. I have been splurging on fresh fruits recently. We can't grow that much, and my goal is to really eat the rainbow. But I have had good luck eating from the refrigerator and freezer.
ReplyDeleteEat the rainbow - I love that! That is how we should all be eating. The colored foods have so many nutrients and vitamins in them.
DeleteThe shelf should help a lot. Yes, if it is hidden away, it gets forgotten very easily.
I am guilty of putting things in the freezer and then forgetting about them. A neighbour asked me if I wanted any gooseberries, but when I checked I realised that I still had some of last year's harvest sitting there unused. Must try harder!
ReplyDeleteVery easy to do. I understand - I do it too. I think it is something many of us have dealt with. That why it is good to go through and straighten and sort and see what we have and then to USE it!
DeleteI'm guilty of freezing things and then never getting around to eating them. I must do better.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to do! Things seem to go into a never, never land in the freezer sometimes. I understand. I think we are all guilty of not doing better at times.
DeleteI love this time of the year. I love okra, summer squash, watermelon, homegrown tomatoes, Vidalia onions, fresh berries, figs etc. I do keep a years supply of dried beans because my grandma was a canner and she canned lots of beans and purple hull peas in jars from her huge garden. She also canned the best tomato juice/ sauce for her stews. She also made homemade canned grape jelly from our grapes. She lived with us. I use the dried beans because they are easy to keep and are a cheap and easy source of protein. I build my meals around them. While I keep a years supply of dried beans. I usually only keep about four months worth of other food and most of that is canned vegetables, tuna, fruit, etc. because I have a small refrigerator with a very small freezer compartment in the top of it. I eat out when I go to conference and maybe four times a year with my sons, and maybe airport food when I fly once or twice a year to see family. There are zero restaurants in the tiny town where I live, and very few where I work, plus I don’t have time at work to leave for lunch anyway. I drive through country roads to get to work so no gas stations if I go the back way either. I can either go to the high priced grocery store in the town I work or drive twenty miles from where I live to a grocery store. We do have a Dollar General in the town where I live and I do utilize them a lot to buy pasta, canned vegetables, etc.Cindy in the South
ReplyDeleteIt sure is a fantastic time for all those fresh goodies. I agree!
DeleteSummer squash and tomatoes are my have-to's! Fresh green beans - yum.
Sounds like grandma had it going on. She knew what to do. They had such great insight. I have tons of dried beans - they are a super protein, and I have lots of pasta and rice - so if worse came to worse - I would eat!!
That is amazing that there are no restaurants around. I guess that is a good thing. Here there is at least one it seems every block - maybe more.
You have a good plan and way to eat even with the tiny freezer. Good job.
The town I live in is a tad less than a thousand people. There is no bank nor a grocery store anymore but we do have a Dollar GeneralS Hot food plates are served in gas stations around here and on Saturdays some enterprising individual brings a bbq food cart downtown and there is a line. The town I work in has a Piggly Wiggly grocery store, and one fast food joint (Hardee’s) and a couple of local restaurants and a gas station that serves food. I take my lunch to work. Cindy in the South
DeleteI should say the town I work in is larger, about 3 or 4 thousand folks. Cindy in the South
Delete