"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.

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Very Cold First Morning of June

The evening temperatures are still cooler than we'd like.  It would be great if we were camping, but we are not. 

Woke up to 38 F degrees this morning.  Way too cold for much of anything in the garden.  I'll be out to check on my tomato plants (there are a lot of them, so I am concerned).


Yesterday, the last day of May, I thought I picked the last asparagus from the garden.

I then found another one while out working on the garden.  I don't see anymore new shoots, so this should be the end of asparagus this year.

On a good note, the garden fence is up.  It's not perfect, but it looks good. The remainder plants will not be planted until these cold nights warm up, and I am even hesitant to drop any seeds just yet.  It's been a very strange May this year.

I planted some chamomile seeds, not realizing we'd have another night of very cold weather.  I also have already planted two types of radish seeds, two types of swiss chard seeds, and a some Russian Red Kale seeds.

My hands are cut up and dry.  I have not acclimated to garden work yet this year.   I can tell you I'm already in a fight with the 200+foot garden hose too.  It has to be pulled back to the house on mowing days, and my luck, the minute I pull that hose all the way out to the garden, I have to turn around and pull it all back.  

Putting in the garden is also a frustrating time with housework, and meals.  It is so hard to find a balance with cooking/making a proper meal, keeping up with everything indoors, and getting the outdoor work done all at the same time.  My house is a hot mess right now.

I am using anything and everything I have for repairing my dry hands, so crochet work is at a halt right now.  I am too tired to do much of anything by evening, but wash my face and crawl into bed.  I have easily forgotten how much energy you need for this amount of garden work (especially with not much help this year).

I sure hope this is the last cold spurt we have, now that it's June 1st.

Very Cold First Morning of June  ©  June 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Saturday, May 31, 2025

This and That

 Any writers here?  Are there any free downloadable programs that are similar to what Word offers?  Other than Google docs and notepad?  Looking for one like Word, in which to use for writing, with options to save to a removeable drive as well as save to the computer.  Font options, italics, underscore, paragraph widths and all the options that Word has. Or an inexpensive program to purchase similar to Word?

Our Word program expired a few years ago, and I do not like notepad at all.  It comes in handy for a recipe, but that's about it.

Thanks to anyone who can give me recommendations.  I think I follow a few that write books, and possibly a few that keep journals (not blogs, but actual personal journals) using their computer/laptap or tablet.  



This tip may be a repeat tip.  Sorry if that is the case.  I started buying 2# bottles of Dawn on sale, and use them to refill our smaller bottle.  Saves us a lot of money, as we can, preserve, cook from scratch, and there are always dishes to wash.


I also save a few of the lids from the bottles.  They come in handy for other containers and they come in handy to replace the existing lids on the bottle we use daily.

Short post today.



Cleavers.  I'm considering making a tincture this year.  Anyone have any experience with Cleavers as a tincture?

This and That  ©  May 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart