$5 or Less Pantry Challenge: 4/20/2019

It's time to share how we're building our pantries with $5 or less.

Remember this $5 is not part of the weekly groceries budget. It is set aside to be used just for stocking up in any area of our pantries.   

Here's what I added to my pantry this week …

5 cans of cherry filling/topping from The Dollar Tree ($1 per can).

I wasn't sure about the brand but after trying it, we were very pleased with it.

What did you add to your pantry this week with your $5 allotment?

patsi

A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My other blog:  She Hath Done What She Could 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest and on my little cottage industry group page: Pillowcases by Patsi!

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders.  I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked!  

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.

Building My Pantry with Affiliate Money!

Did you know that every time you purchase something from Amazon through my affiliate link I earn a small percentage at no extra cost to you.   Sometimes, it's just pennies, but pennies add up over time.

What do I do with the affiliate money?  It has a special designation. Whenever I receive affiliate money I use it to build up my pantry in supplies and equipment.

This morning I received affiliate money from Amazon and this is what I ordered …

I use these a lot and never seem to have enough so these have been on my wish list with the intention of purchasing them when I had enough affiliate money.  Today was the day!

By shopping through my Amazon affiliate link you're helping me keep my pantry well-stocked and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I just thought you might like to know your efforts matter and are greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much!

patsi

A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My other blog:  She Hath Done What She Could 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest and on my little cottage industry group page: Pillowcases by Patsi!

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders.  I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked!  

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.

Five of My Favorite YouTube Channels ...

YouTube has opened up a whole new way of learning.  In fact, I would go so far as to say that one could find a video on just about anything you wanted with a YouTube search.

With this thought in mind, I thought I would share 5 of my favorite channels (in no particular order) that I try to follow on a regular basis:

(You will find that my favorite channels have to do with frugal living, gardening and pantry building.  The picture is of our row garden.)

The Cheapskates Club

Homestead Tessie

Homesteading Family

Deep South Homestead

Mary's Nest

I would love it if you would share some of your favorite YouTube channels in the comments below!

patsi

A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My other blog:  She Hath Done What She Could 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest and on my little cottage industry group page: Pillowcases by Patsi!

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders.  I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked!  

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.

So, You Think You're Prepared: Week 4, Day 3 (Final Class)

Week 4, Day 3

If you would like to make a one-time donation to help support the writing and teaching of this class, please click the DONATE button on the right hand side of the page.

No amount is too small and I will be most appreciative of your efforts.

This class is written and taught by Patsi @ A Working Pantry on A Working Pantry blog.

Here we are at the last day of class …

The events of this class were real, every single one of them; everyone in our area lived some aspect of it.  This class has only touched the edges of what happened, there was so much more, but time constraints prevent me from making this class any longer.  Many lost everything and had to and are having to literally start all over again from scratch, most without help from their home owners insurance or from FEMA.  

What about us personally?  How did our property fair?  How did we fair?

Our only property damage was that our greenhouse sustained some damage and we had to replace the windshield in our vehicle.  We were planning to expand the greenhouse anyway so it just got moved up on the priority list. 

We did lose power but were prepared and while there were some inconveniences, we faired quite well considering what was going on around us.

We did not have any major flooding of our property.

My husband and I spent 24 consecutive days, not including Sundays, doing disaster relief, helping those who lost so much.   It was exhausting physically and mentally but the things we saw, the people we were able to help, the people we talked to and the gratitude that was expressed to us made every truck we helped load and unload, every box we lifted, every bag full of disaster items we handed out and every sore and aching muscle we had, worth it.  

What do we need to do to be better prepared for the next hurricane?  Our biggest need is to have several huge trees close to our house cut down and removed, other than that, we need to keep doing what we’re doing to be as prepared as we can be for the next time.

During this ordeal, because we were being bombarded with questions wanting to know what was going on and how others could help; I tried my best to post entries here on my blog, A Working Pantry, about our daily activities.  You can read those ‘Hurricane Florence’ entries HERE.  

I’ll be the first to agree that we can’t prepare for everything, but just because we can’t prepare for everything, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t prepare for anything.  

Throughout this class I have tried to help you identify the things you can prepare for and do something about, I hope I have been successful!

Thanks so much for being a part of this class!

patsi

A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

Check out this related link … Preparing for a Possible Hurricane … Again!

My other blog:  She Hath Done What She Could 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest and on my little cottage industry group page: Pillowcases by Patsi!

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders.  I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked!  

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.

Gardening Journal 2019: A Peak at My Garden

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words and this is one of those times …

We are knee-deep in planting and harvesting … yes, harvesting!

Before I share with you what we're harvesting, let me give you a tour of this section of our garden.  The focus of the picture are our tractor tire raised beds.  There are 6 of them, starting in the lower left corner (you only see part of the tire) I have turmeric planted.  It's not up yet but I'm watching it closely for any sign of turmeric life!  The next tire holds asparagus (we've just begun to harvest it, new shoots pop through daily).  Some of it sorta of got away from us and ferned out, oh well!  The next tire holds horseradish.  It is literally filling the entire tire/bed!  Directly across from the horseradish is Inchecium garlic (this garlic reportedly has high medicinal properties).  It's neighbor is elephant garlic that I got from my mom.  It is huge!!! The last tire (the one you do not see) has ginger in it.  It hasn't come up yet either, but it shouldn't be much longer before it does.

That takes care of our tractor tire raised beds, right next to them is our chicken coop.  We wanted our garden spaces close to the chicken coop/run so that it would be easier to feed the overgrown harvest to the chickens.  Not to mention, it also means we don't have as far to carry the chicken poo when it's time to add it to the soil each year!

At the end of the chicken coop and around the back side are raspberry canes, they absolutely thrive in this location!

In front of our chicken coop/run is our row garden.  You can see our potatoes.  We planted Kennebec and fingerling potatoes this year.  Since this picture was taken, I've planted 20 Amelia tomato plants.  This is our first year to grow the Amelia variety, it was created for the southeastern part of the United States because of the unique diseases of the soil found here.

Next to the row garden you get a glimpse of our greenhouse.  I love having everything grouped together like this, it makes gardening easier.

This is not all of our garden, we still have other areas that are grouped together in a similar way in different areas of our property.  I'll share those in future posts.

Oh yes, I was going to show you what we're harvesting!  We are harvesting …

… radishes, spring onions and not shown chives and lettuce.  

These were grown in my container garden, which is part of a future garden tour post.

I hope you've enjoyed the first part of my garden tour, I'll get part 2 posted in a few days!

patsi

A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My other blog:  She Hath Done What She Could 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest and on my little cottage industry group page: Pillowcases by Patsi!

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders.  I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked!  

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.

So, You Think You're Prepared: Week 4, Day 2

Week 4, Day 2

If you would like to make a one-time donation to help support the writing and teaching of this class, please click the DONATE button on the right hand side of the page.

No amount is too small and I will be most appreciative of your efforts.

This class is written and taught by Patsi @ A Working Pantry on A Working Pantry blog.

It’s time to do an assessment of the last 3 weeks …

How did your house fair? 

Do you have a lot of repair work to do on your house? 

How did you and your family fair mentally? 

Did you have enough food? 

What about water, did you have enough to meet your needs? 

Overall on a scale of 1 - 10, with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best, rate your assessment of how prepared you were.

patsi

A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

Check out this related link … Preparing for a Possible Hurricane … Again!

My other blog:  She Hath Done What She Could 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest and on my little cottage industry group page: Pillowcases by Patsi!

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders.  I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked!  

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.

So, You Think You're Prepared: Week 4, Day 1

Week 4, Day 1

If you would like to make a one-time donation to help support the writing and teaching of this class, please click the DONATE button on the right hand side of the page.

No amount is too small and I will be most appreciative of your efforts.

This class is written and taught by Patsi @ A Working Pantry on A Working Pantry blog.

Remember where we left off last week?

You had just been evacuated from your home and had to decide where you were going to go once the National Guard had gotten you to a safer place. 

Fast forward a few days and you’re finally allowed to go back to your home, what do you find?  

If your home is in a low lying place, your home has been flooded and is uninhabitable.  

If you live in an area where you have some elevation, the water rose to your door step and your yard is full of debris and anything and everything the dirty water brought with it.  

If you live in an area where your elevation is high, your home is safe.

What do you find?

Think carefully about this:  We saw pictures of a house that was built on stilts 18 feet off the ground.  The owners built it this way because of potential flooding from hurricanes.  You would think this house was safe, it was not!  The water rose 23 feet and the house flooded.

patsi

A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

Check out this related link … Preparing for a Possible Hurricane … Again!

My other blog:  She Hath Done What She Could 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest and on my little cottage industry group page: Pillowcases by Patsi!

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders.  I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked!  

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.

Weekly Goals: 4/15/2019

(These are my lemon trees, lime trees and orange trees growing in my greenhouse.)

It’s the beginning of a new week and time for our 'Just One Goal' check-in … 

What was your goal for last week?

Did you meet it? Tell us if you did or didn't, we get encouragement both ways.

What is your 'one' goal for this week? 

My last 'just one goal' was to get everything moved into our greenhouse and set up to start using.  I did it, I got everything moved back in but in reality getting it all set up like I want will take several weeks/months.   Why?  Because some of the things we want to add will have to be purchased or constructed.  At any rate, we have started!

My 'just one goal' for this week is to start planting the 'warm weather' seeds and plants such as tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, peppers, etc. Our last frost date is today, April 15th, so it's time to get these things in the ground!

What about you, how are you doing with your 'just one goal?'

Patsi
A Working Pantry
She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My other blog:  She Hath Done What She Could

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and on my little cottage industry group page: Pillowcases by Patsi!

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders.  I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked!

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.