"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Friday, May 16, 2025

More Rain ~ Garden Prep

 I'm posting a bit late this morning.  I am so worn out and tired, and have not even planted the actual vegetable garden yet.  I got parsley planted in the herb garden, and I see my seeds that I planted for everything else are coming up nicely, other than feverfew.




I brought in more asparagus.  The one good thing about all this rain.  The rest of the fencing was pulled, so we can till the garden now.  Our tiller is not working (of course it's not), and my husband's work hours don't give him the time to fix it.  I have no clue what's wrong with it.  All we know is that we need the garden tilled, and the tiller fixed.  We may have to resort to hiring someone this garden season.

There were to be bad storms around midnight last night, so I ran around after garden work, laundry and did storm prep (in case we lose power).  If you have never had a property with a well, you won't know that if the power goes out, your well pump won't pump water (hence why people have hand pumps installed) - no water to water your animals, no water to wash dishes and clothes, no water to flush toilets etc.  I also charged batteries (runs a smaller generator), and any/and all chargeable lamp light bulbs, and lamps.  

I also took down my windmills, so they would not be destroyed by wind.  By the way, the mole chasing windmills do work.  My windmill out by the vegetable garden broke last year, and there were tunnels everywhere inside the garden.  When the windmill was up, there were no tunnels inside the garden (or within an area of where we put it).

The odd thing, is either the storm never came, or it wasn't as bad last night. Or we were both dead tired, ha ha!  Neither of us heard much.  It appears to be somewhat dry out too, and I do not see heavy puddles of water either.  

It got up into the 80's yesterday, with a heavy humidity in the air.  It should be a bit cooler today, but you never know.

In between work outside, I was running inside to fetch laundry to put on the clothesline, and cook a breakfast (had to thaw some sausage).  I am so glad I made my homemade facial toner.  As you can see if removes dirt from your face.  It's a very nice refresher when I come inside, and have to work a bit, then go back out.  If you haven't made it, the post is HERE (Butterfly Pea Flower Skin Toner) on this blog.

More Rain ~ Garden Prep   ©  May 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Thursday, May 15, 2025

Random Bits

 



(A Year of Positive Thinking, by Cundie Spiegel)


Picked this in the rain.  So thankful for the harvest.




I restocked our homemade condensed mushroom soup.  It is so good, it is so worth the time to make it and freeze it for quick access while cooking.  It's just shallots, fresh mushrooms, butter, a bit of flour, milk and vegetable broth, a bit of black pepper (organic/non-gmo ingredients) and that's it.  I always salt everything while cooking, so I do not add salt.  So good.  I would have had 5 "cans" in the freezer, but I ran out of shallots.


Current library loot.  I am so far behind on reading these, and/or simply looking for what I am looking for, that it's crazy.  I have been doing "stuff" and rather busy, despite rainy days.

Random Bits  ©  May 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart