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.

Adopted Motto

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

Thursday, July 9, 2015

The Good ~ The Bad ~ The Very Sad

 The Good:
There is nothing better than creamy, homegrown potatoes.  Last night's dinner was a hit, and I had to post a picture.   Boiled potatoes and green beans, with crumbled bacon.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Menu ~ New Recipes ~ Tidbits

The rain has a way of slowing me down a bit, and relaxing even more. Yesterday was a good day for party planning, shopping, and best of all, baking.  


Oh, and some healthy tea drinking.  I brewed a tea for eye-sight health.  I just love this tea infuser!


While weeding the other day, I dug potatoes from another row and got some goodies. Mmmm!  My green onion is looking great now too.

I actually sat down and wrote out my menu for this week, and I'm trying three new recipes.  I'll be letting you know the family rates the new ones.  For the salmon burgers, I substituted organic oatmeal for the breadcrumbs and eliminated the bun. 

Menu:

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

It's On!

The battle of the weeds has begun.  This is just one section, before Hubby got busy with the weed wacker (or also called a trimmer).  The is the reality of not using a weed killer or other chemicals, and it's too big to tarp over winter.   We thought about putting plastic in between the rows, but with the amount of heat it gets, we were concerned with chemicals the plastic would put into the garden. 

Monday, July 6, 2015

Lessons Learned

We spent the earlier part of the day working in the vegetable garden yesterday.  I took photos, but have yet to decide if I'll post them.  It's not pretty at all, but it is producing a few things.  Hence, the photo of the flowers in flower bed instead.

Hubby and I took one look, and we both let out a long breath of air.  Then he marched to the barn.  Out he came with the weed wacker, and went through many of the rows in the vegetable garden.  Since he took the tops off of a few onions, I dug those up for dinner too. I know it sounds like a crazy way to deal with the mess, but it worked.  We could get in there, weed out the plants themselves, and even till between rows.

Even after several years of planting, we have learned a few things this year.  We planted some rows too close together this year, so we can't get the tiller through.  We are making many notes, and ideas for next year, so we don't have to deal with weed overgrowth.  No matter what, I still think we learn something each year.


In the evening, we invited Mom over, and Hubby grilled out.  We had a nice dinner on the back porch, and enjoyed some garden bounty and family time.
 

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Coffee Hour ~ July 4th Weeked ~ Bittersweet Sunday

Grab a cup, it's a long update.  Enjoy!

The weekend brought us some time to get some work done.  As well as a little rest time.  And even a quick visit from my younger brother, his wife and that cutie-patootie nephew of mine.  Oh my gosh, is he growing fast!  Our oldest daughter even stopped in for a quick visit.

Friday, July 3, 2015

Stitching in Red

One daughter did some mowing for me, but it's still too wet to weed.  The temperature however, has been cool and comfortable.   

I was in the kitchen working, when I glanced out to see our, now 16 year-old, on the mower.  She was driving it across to mow another area, but had her head down looking at her ipod, while driving.  I shook my head.  Yep.  Hubby is teaching that one to drive, not me. 

Thursday, July 2, 2015

A Day of Digging ~ Tidbits

I got my garlic all pulled before the rain arrived, and only lost one of them to rot.  While pulling those, I smelled an awful smell from the direction of the 100-some potatoes we planted.