letters from the wilderness
I love, love solar lights. Given Virginia's electricity cost, I am all about finding ways to use solar. I bought this type of light in December for our Christmas lighting. It's worked fairly well illuminating the front of the house, though I may need to move them once the leaves appear on the trees. For... Continue Reading →
This week I’m adding more alfalfa pellets to our flower beds. This brand (40 lb. bag) has been on sale at Tractor Supply for $17.99. So far, I've purchased 8 bags though I could use an additional 8. Why Alfalfa Pellets? I first heard about it through the Virginia Gardening Facebook group. One of the... Continue Reading →
Since we moved the greenhouses upstairs to our breakfast room to avoid the field mouse inhabiting our basement, I've been busy starting more seeds. I'm using a combination of Burpee seed starting trays, trays from last year that held Jiffy seed starting packs, and recycled plant containers. Vegetables and Herbs Started Creeping Thyme Tomato Cabbage... Continue Reading →
This weekend, I made room in my indoor greenhouses for more seed-starting trays. I want to start ALL THE THINGS! As I mentioned, I have 3 trays of amaryllis plants that I've grown from seed. I have the trays in the greenhouse, but I need the room. I decided to move the plants into sunny... Continue Reading →
I am developing an amaryllis collection. I need to share some and find a permanent solution for growing them inside my home. I have 13 bulbs for 3 or 4 years, maybe longer for 2 or 3 of them. I tried throwing several that looked dead in my compost pile, and they rose from the... Continue Reading →
Believe it or not, my green thumb for vegetables and herbs is an outside one more often than not. I tried growing tomatoes inside this winter and didn't do too well. I've tried growing basil, lettuce, and rosemary inside in the past without much success. However, I have been successful growing parsley. I started the... Continue Reading →
Late last year, work crews came through and dug up large sections of our thyme bed to put in fiber optic. We were NOT happy about the digging. They probably destroyed close to a $1,000 worth of plants, bulbs, and soil. The area is covered in straw and grass seed courtesy of the work crew,... Continue Reading →
Even though we've had quite a few expenses recently between a funeral, car repairs, and medical stuff, I'm focusing on saving where I can. Recently, a financial newsletter I read weekly talked about saving money as the skill of spending. I really liked that! Not buy Starbucks or Joe Beans coffee; made coffee at home... Continue Reading →
I'm trying something new this winter - growing black cherry tomatoes indoors in my basement greenhouse. To this date, the only expenditure in this experiment is electricity and a few plant supports. Everything else was already purchased or recycled. As I mentioned in my frugal Friday post, I transplanted my tomato seedlings this week into... Continue Reading →
Using stuff up in the fridge - We have a somewhat empty fridge this week. Now that I think about it, I like having a somewhat empty fridge because it pushes us to get creative with our cooking. We arrived at this status thanks to a trip to Pennsylvania for 3 days for a funeral.... Continue Reading →
2 dogs and a house 