Tag Archives: it’s the economy

Gardening Tips I Found Elsewhere

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subtitle: And my reaction.

Tip: The next time you boil or steam vegetables, don’t pour the water down the drain, use it to water potted patio plants, and you’ll be amazed at how the plants respond to the “vegetable soup.”

Daisy says: Down the drain? No way. The water left after steaming vegetables becomes part of a soup broth. The water leftover after washing dishes in the sink – now that can water the plants.

Tip: Water in the morning. This will give plants a chance to drink their fill before the sun and warm winds evaporate the moisture. With a morning watering, plant leaves will dry easily with no risk of getting mildewed overnight.

Daisy says: Well, maybe. I prefer watering in the evening. I put on mosquito repellent, hook my watering can under the spigot on a rain barrel, and water section by section at the root of the plants. Only the smallest of plants will get their leaves wet; that’s only a danger when using a sprinkler. With a sprinkler, a large portion of water will evaporate. What a waste!

Tip: “Farm to Table” is a trend that’s past its prime.

Daisy says: What?! Garden to table and farm to table and farm market to freezer are still popular. If the trend isn’t making headlines any more, maybe it’s no longer a trend. Maybe, just maybe, eating fresh and local foods is becoming a habit, not a fad.

Readers, expect more posts like these as I skim the newspaper and the interwebs for gardening ideas. If I find good advice, I’ll pass that on, too. 

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The Garage Replacement Drama

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I haven’t decided if it’s a tragedy, comedy, or just straight up entertainment, but the replacement of our garage has not been uneventful.

I came home from school on Thursday, introduced myself to the worker who was carefully taking down the garage door to be reused later, and I am not making this up this conversation.

Worker Dude: Do you own the house?

Me: Yes.

Worker Dude: How long have you lived here?

Me: About 20 years (it’s really 19, but I rounded up).

Worker Dude: Really? ‘Cause I used to live in this house.

Whoa! He lived at this address about 30 years ago. My next door neighbors (the wife is the fourth generation of her family to live in that house) remember the guy.

The next day I watched the demolition crew destroying the remains of the garage sides and roof. One commented that it went down “easier than expected”. Um, yes, people. There’s a reason we’re having this done.

Then the contractor came to the door and told us he’d run into a snag. Any project in a house of this vintage (1890) is unlikely to run smoothly. They had encountered a second slab of concrete under the main one. Since this would increase the weight of the waste, which would increase the cost of dumping, this discovery required a signed change order. No problem, except we were climbing into the car to attend my stepfather’s funeral. Chuck took a minute, signed the change order, and we still made it to the church on time.

So on we go. Over the weekend, we dug up a few of what I call “fun rocks” – souvenirs that may not have value, but might have history. I might be able to guess at the history, or I might not, but these pieces make my rock garden more interesting. Pictures and stories to follow – sooner or later.

Our next door neighbors also loaned us their metal detector to search the area where the garage used to be. We found several nails, a few industrial staples, and a tiny glass bottle. I’ve gotten most of the dirt out of the bottle. Again, pictures to follow. 

How will the drama play out next? Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of… wait, wrong script. Tragedy? Comedy? I know one thing for sure: it’s entertaining.

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And again, the pharmacy

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Dear Pharmacy that Shall Not be Named;

Once again, it’s the system, not the people. The staff was as bothered by the mix-up as we were. The exact same mix-up had happened at least once in the past. It wasn’t new.

I overheard someone checking into the computer saying, “It looks like both were ordered, but only one printed out.” So you’re saying it was the call-in system that messed up? Okay, I’ll take that explanation. But now let’s look at a true fix: how to prevent this from happening a third time or even more.

This is the toughest kind of problem to solve: the problem that doesn’t start with a human. Since it seems to be a systems error, there will have to be a solution that changes the system. In this case, someone at the top will need to call someone in IT and say, “Can you modify this code?”

Yeah, you’re right. I doubt it, too. And the Pharmacy That Shall Not be Named was doing so well. I haven’t written a Pharmacy post in ages. Their customer service has improved greatly. Now, the challenge rests with the folks who run the system. Pharmacy That Shall Not Be Named, can you fix the system? We’ll wait in suspense for the answer.

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Doomsday? Not so fast.

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I blog about life, my life, and that includes a lot of gardening, canning, and otherwise preserving summer’s fresh bounty for the long winter months. Every now and then, I get comments or emails from so-called Doomsday Prepper groups. These are people who share my fascination with self-sufficiency, but for different reasons. Many Prepper groups expect the world as we know it to end soon and without warning. Their fears range from the massive changes due to global warming to a complete collapse of our government.

I’m not a doomsday type of person, but I do like to stock up when the veggies are fresh and I have time to can. This stock-up process gives us good quality jams and pickles and more goodies in the pantry and locally grown vegetables in the freezer. We don’t do it to prepare for some mythical End of the World, but it does ease our winter grocery budget and bring a taste of summer to the table when there is snow on the ground.

So when I started reading Michael Perry’s book Coop, I could identify with his statement in the Prologue.

Whether through prescience or too much nervous reading, we have developed a low-key doomsday mindset regarding the imminent future, and believe the time has come to store up some potatoes and teach the young’uns how to forage.

He hit it right on the head. Maybe I should stop reading so much dystopian fiction. Or maybe I should just water the seedlings, spread the compost, and always remember to vote.

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Celery?

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My wonderful sister-in-law has started getting organic produce delivered to her home regularly. She now has a dilemma: what to do with all the celery. Since she didn’t take my suggestion and get a pet rabbit, I’ve decided to come up with a list. Friends, family, and Internet acquaintances, please chime in.

  • Ants on a log: celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins
  • Variation on ants on a log: celery sticks with Nutella
  • Add diced celery to: casseroles, soups, salads, baked beans,
  • Use it as a garnish – to almost anything, not just Bloody Mary or V8.

I ran a search for “recipes with celery” and found lots of suggestions.

  • Apple-celery salad, anyone?
  • Almond baked celery
  • Sweet and sour celery
  • Celery and rice
  • Stuffed celery
  • Celery sauce…the list is endless. And don’t for get celery root! That’s an entirely different flavor.

Then there are the other uses. Slice a long, leafy stalk halfway up – lengthwise (does that make sense? I really need a visual.) It’ll have two “legs” that come together at the top. Set each end in a separate glass of water. Add red food coloring to one glass and blue to the other, and let my darling young niece learn about capillary action.

Does that help, SIL? Readers, give her a hand. What else can you do with celery?

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Bean Soup – times ten

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My sister-in-law gifted me a few delicious bean mixes from the Women’s Bean Project.

Bean soup cover

I did it my way, of course, and didn’t follow the directions exactly. I made it in the crock pot instead. It was delicious. The soup tastes good and does good, too.

Bean soup back

Of course, me being me and liking to cook from scratch, I tried to find out what the spices were. I can replicate the beans, but the herbs and spices were perfect. Can I deconstruct this mix and recreate it?

Bean soup ingredients

 

Maybe not. It just says “spices” plus paprika and turmeric. Readers, what do you recommend? Rosemary? Thyme? Sage?

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Tools – Some Things Stay the Same

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This encore post covers what I’m doing now. The only change is this: we emptied the garage completely because the garage is going down and getting replaced soon. All of my tools, old and new, are in the basement for now. The rest? Everything old is new again.

Tools! I’ve been pulling my gardening supplies and tools out of the garage more and more often. Let’s see: a trowel or two, several pairs of gloves (each fits a particular task – all are dirt covered), blue basket of seeds, tongue depressors —

Tongue depressors?

Teachers use tongue depressors in all sorts of ways. This box came from a retired teacher’s garage sale and served my fourth graders for four years. When I left my classroom behind for a cubicle, I brought the remaining sticks home. They’re biodegradable, easy to use, and a perfect size on which to write. Good thing I had a lot left – look at these tomato seedlings!
 

And if you had any doubt about the effectiveness of my little wooden supplies, take a closer look.

They’ll go into the garden soil near each plant so I know what’s there until the plant grows up and shows its true colors, er, fruits.

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Justice League – Not in Lego Just Yet

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Oh, Lego. This would be awesome. I’d buy a set to sit on my desk at school. After all, it’s art and it’s history, both of which are on my course load.

Justices in Lego Brick

Justices in Lego Brick

Unfortunately, this set of fancy Lego sculptures can’t be purchased anywhere yet. The Lego design team refuses to manufacture the female Supreme Court justices, claiming the set would be too political. 

I guess I’ll have to settle for the Lego White House model.

If you’d like to sign a petition to pressure Lego into making this awesome historical piece, look no further than here. 

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Pennywise

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I’m de-cluttering and de-junking again. Maybe I should say still. As I’m pushing the thick winter sweaters back on the shelves and bringing forward the lighter ones, I’m tossing a few into the ever present bag for thrift donations. Chuck is cleaning out the garage in preparation for its demolition and replacement in a few weeks, and there are items we can donate or sell outright.

Meanwhile, I’m making certain I get all of the wellness “rewards” I’ve earned. I grumble each year, but each year I find myself going through the motions like a rat in search of cheese or a donkey following a carrot. I get blood drawn, take the online health self-assessment, and I’m considering whether it’s worth my time to complete one of their online programs. What’s it worth, really? At this point, I’ve already earned $75 worth of gift cards. The online program would earn another $25. Hm. Think. Think. Think.

De-junking the house will make it easier to clean. I detest cleaning, so making it easier is a good thing. It’s not earning or saving any pennies, though, unless you count the money I’m not spending to hire a cleaning crew.

My products on Teachers Pay Teachers have been selling steadily. I plan to upload a few more when I get time – in June, most likely. It keeps the PayPal account active. Now, the dilemma. Should I sell my teacher books on eBay? And should I sell Amigo’s old baseball tee to Play it Again Sports, or is there a better outlet for that kind of thing? Anything like this will fill the penny jar a wee bit more.

Advice, peeps? What’s the best way to get a few dollars from the de-cluttering process? I welcome your comments.

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Lunch Plans

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Lunch – sometimes it’s exhausting to plan a week’s worth of lunches. I usually put the leftovers together at night, and if I don’t have something I like I’ll make a sandwich or a salad. I haven’t taken the cafeteria lunch since…well, in quite a while. Maybe I should – or I should at least read the menu.

From a coworker —

According to the lunch menu, today we’ll be having seasoned refined beans. How sophisticated! 

She pointed out the error to the cafeteria staff, and they were clueless. They simply stared. The worst part? She said the refried beans weren’t very good.

So in honor of the cafeteria’s “Refined Beans” I give you – ten ways to use leftover frijoles, or refried beans.

  1. Use to thicken a bean soup.
  2. Serve atop Spanish rice.
  3. Add to tacos.
  4. Add to Calico Beans (Calico Beans are already a mix of flavors.)
  5. Mix into a meatloaf before cooking.
  6. Mix with chicken fajitas.
  7. Serve swirled in a cheesy salsa.
  8. Heat up with leftover rice and corn.
  9. Hide in leftover chili.
  10. Refine it with chili peppers and a margarita. You won’t know the difference.

Luckily for me, we ordered Chinese on Friday. I only ate half, and I saved the rest for Monday’s lunch. If only I had an extra fortune cookie.

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