A Journal of My Days 2024: 2/19

The theme for this year is “Laser focused, hunkered down and spending as little money as possible.” 

Let’s see how we did this week …

(picture:  rhubarb)

In the Garden:  I worked on getting seed potatoes ready to plant so that we could plant them when the weather cooperates.

I also shelled out dried fall peas from last fall’s harvest.   I got those shelled out and bagged up ready for planting in the later part of June.

I finished shelling out the dried okra from last year’s crop as well.

Our early spring garden is shaping up and so far, we have planted:

Fingerling potatoes

Carrots

Multiplying onions 

Spring greens

Radishes

By the end of the month, I hope to have potatoes, cabbage and broccoli planted as well.  Then it will be on to planting the spring garden.  I break down our planting time frames as follows:

Early spring garden (February) … highs in the 40’s - 60’s

Spring garden (March) … highs in the 70’s & lower 80’s

Early summer garden (April, May and June) … highs in the upper 80’s and lower 90’s

Summer garden (July and August) … highs in the upper 90’s plus (we’re pretty much in garden survival mode during this season because of the heat and humidity!)

Fall garden (September and October) … highs in the 60 – 90 degree range.

Winter garden (November, December, January) … highs in the 30’s to 50’s range (Gardening consist of things that winter over like collards, carrots and garlic along with things that are grown in the greenhouse.)

I plan to plant 3 different gardens this year:

vegetable ... for eating fresh and restocking the pantry

herb (culinary and medicinal) ... for cooking, making spices mixes and herbal remedies

flower ... for beauty

In the Kitchen:   I made a pecan pie for valentine’s day.  We mutually decided that we would not spend money on gifts for each other this year, so I made one of our favorite pies instead. 

I made a big pot of spaghetti sauce, enough for a couple of meals this week and some to freeze for a future meal. 

I also made pizza flavored hot pockets and sourdough crackers as well.

In the Pantry:  
My preserving day this week was on Monday, and I preserved sweet potatoes.  Last fall we were given permission to glean a local farmers sweet potato field after they were finished harvesting.  We’ve had them in storage and have been eating on them throughout the winter, but I noticed that the squirrels had found our storage spot.  In fact, I caught them in the act, they were eating our sweet potatoes and not being shy about it either!  I knew if I wanted enough sweet potatoes to last us until gleaning time again, I had to act.  So, I went through them, culled out the ones the squirrels had been chomping down on, and started the process of preserving the rest.  I simply scrubbed the potatoes, cut away any questionable places, cut the bigger ones in half and placed them in the oven to bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  When time was up, I took them out of the oven and let them cool.  When they were completely cooled, I bagged them up and put them in the freezer.  No sir, Mr. Squirrel, you may not have my sweet potatoes!

Health/Fitness:  One of my most helpful tools in my fitness journey is a food diary.  I write down everything that I eat during the day.  Even now when I’m weaning myself off of counting calories and changing over to intermittent fasting, I still log what I eat, not the calories per say, but the amounts.  I still need that accountability.  My food journal contains more than what I eat though, it contains my stats, quotes to keep me encouraged, fitness goals, stickers and or doodling for making it look pretty and anything else that helps me keep on keeping on in my fitness journey.  It really is a most valuable tool for me. 

Bargain and/or Loss Leader Shopping:  Nope, none, nothing!  We are intentionally staying out of the grocery store as much as possible.  At this point, it's going to have to be a really, really good sale to lure us into the store.

From my Sewing Nook:   I meant too, I really meant too … but I didn’t sew a thing!

What I’m Reading:  I finished reading The Preacher’s Daughter by Patricia Johns and Lydia’s Charm by Wanda Brunstetter that a friend had loaned me.  I haven't decided what I'll read next.

Bible Study:  I completed and posted lesson 18 in our ladies Bible study on Esther.  It can be found HERE.

I continue to work on writing the book of Genesis. I'm up to chapter 9 now.

Continuing Education and Skills:  My husband’s mother used to make the best potato flake sourdough bread. I ran across her recipe this week and decided that I wanted to see if I could duplicate her delicious bread.  I’m still in the ‘feeding’ stage, so no bread made yet, but it won't be long.  

This will give me two different sourdough bread starters, the original old fashioned one and this potato flake one.  I want to learn what can and cannot be done with each.  I found this website that had some good ideas for the potato flake sourdough starter.  I never, ever want to stop learning!

(picture:  sourdough starter for old fashioned sourdough bread.)

Herbs:  I pulled out my herb seeds and am planning what I want to plant.  I'm also making note of when each can be planted along with any other pertinent information related to planting and growing them.

That’s it for this week, what has your week looked like?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

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

Sharing 44 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

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