From My Home to Yours
9/11/26
~ Fall Gardening ~
Our daily high temps dropped 10 degrees this week giving us temps in the upper 80's and lower 90's! It's still plenty warm outside but not near as bad as it has been! We'll take it with thankful hearts!
Our cucumber vines are keeping us in plenty for us and some to share. This arch is the best way we've ever grown cucumbers! No bending over to harvest ... just reach and pull!
(Those red tubs have potatoes planted in them.)
~ one morning's harvest of cucumbers ~
A second planting of fall cabbage went in the ground this week ... or I guess I should say, they went in a raised bed. We grew these plants from seeds. (Looking at this picture, the cabbage plants look like they are planted close together, in reality they are about a foot apart.)
Look at the size of that mushroom! It's a good 5 inches across the top! I don't know enough about mushrooms to know what kind it is, but wanted to share anyway!
We planted tomato seeds on Monday in 25 gallon tubs to get a head start on growing before they will need to be moved into the greenhouse and they are already coming up. Can you see them in the picture?
I also planted more broccoli seeds as well as pepper seeds. We will grow the broccoli in raised beds and the pepper in the greenhouse.
Speaking of our greenhouse, the renovation is coming along, we don't have it complete yet, but we're hanging in there and trying to work on it a little most everyday. I've nicknamed it our 'Patchwork' greenhouse as we are utilizing scraps of lumber we have on hand and any other materials we already have that will work to keep the cost down. Some things have had to be purchased, so everything we can save is a win! (I'm taking pictures throughout the process and will do one post on our greenhouse renovation once it is complete.)
Now, that I've brought you up-to-date on our fall gardening let's turn our thoughts to preparing for winter.
Winters for us are generally mild in the scheme of winter weather. We do have bouts of cold temps and last year the 'unimaginable' happened in our area, we got a foot of snow! We almost never ever get snow, so to say that this was big 'doings' for our area is an understatement! It snowed over night one night, we enjoyed it all the next day, and the next day it was almost all gone! I'm not kidding, it was a 'here today and gone tomorrow' kind of snow. That's my kind of snow event!
Regardless, predictions and forecasts for winter weather this year seem to indicate that the lower half of the United States could, a high probability is being given, have colder temps and more participation (snow/ice) than is the norm. Hmmmm, while I won't say that I'm not skeptical of such a forecast, meaning I have my doubts, I'm still going to prepare for a harsher winter than we're accustomed to having. You know I have a preparedness mindset that has served me well in my life time, so just in case the forecasters are right, we're swinging into winter preparedness mode. That's what I want to chat a bit about ...
I'm making a plan and a list ...
What would I want/need to have on hand should we lose power due to a weather event in the middle of winter ... or, if it's just an unusually cold year and extra measures need to be taken:
a heating source
a way to cook food
a source of light
a source of water if your water is tied to your electricity
paper plates, cups, utensils for eating purposes
plenty of quilts and or blankets
extra warm coats, head wear and gloves
winterizing for pipes and outside water spigots
winterizing for pumphouse
winterizing for vehicles
... help me out, what would you add to this list? What does your winter prep list look like?
In the 'oh no' category of life, we had a upright freezer door that 'we think' didn't get closed properly and by the time we discovered it, about half of the items were thawed and warm (Items in the door and at the front of the freezer.) We didn't make a big deal out of it, point fingers or play the blame game. It happened, we joined forces and cleaned up the mess ... are you surprised that we are checking and rechecking the door every time one of us opens it now!!! We're also checking it on a regular basis just in case it wasn't 'a door not properly closing' situation but the freezer malfunctioning.
Meals we've enjoyed from our pantry this week are:
left over 'buffet'
one evening I was on my own so I did leftovers again
hot dogs and fixings
steak, broccoli, fried pears, cucumber salad
I continued reading in book 7 of the Bregdan Chronicles, Glimmers of Change, by Ginny Dye (I actually got a chunk of time this week to sit down and read so I made some big progress on reading Glimmers of Change). I finished listening to Rocky Mountain Promise by Misty M. Beller and started listening to Rocky Mountain Journey by Misty M. Beller
No sewing this week!
No additional writing this week!
We've got two weeks left in our $5 Pantry Building Challenge and then we'll start a new pantry challenge. A big 'thank you' to everyone participating in the $5 Pantry Building Challenge, the inspiration is inspiring!
That's it for this week, I hope you've found something in my ramblings that will help and or encourage you in the upcoming week.
Until the next time ...
~ quietly holding the home front ~
Sharing 46 years' experience of frugal living and pantry building (if you include my frugal childhood, well that would add several more years to my experience!)
She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
From This Heart of Mine
Mrs. Patsi on Instagram
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