# May 2013 Prep Journal and To-Do List



## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

May is here! Time for a new thread and a new to-do list. Mine has some repeats from April and earlier, and a lot of gardening on it. What's on your list this month? Where are you on your prep journey? What little steps can you take each day this month to get further on? 

Sometimes a goal seems totally overwhelming in its totality, but if it's broken down into small steps, taken one at a time, it can be reached over time. For example, when I look at my neglected-last-year, totally overgrown garden, it seems impossible to get it cleaned, tilled and planted. If I just concentrate on one bed at a time, use tunnel vision to keep from looking at the big picture and getting overwhelmed, I know I can do that little area. Pretty soon, that spot is done and I can move to the next. Eventually, I know my whole garden will be looking good and back to being productive this year.

So, join us! Tell us what you are doing each day to improve your emergency preps. You don't have to post every day, although you CAN, of course! Share your successes and even your failures. We all learn from each other and encourage our fellow preppers along the way.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

The sunshine is calling my name, but I want to post my May To-Do List first.

1. Fill 6 more five gallon buckets with off road diesel for a total of 100 gallons of fuel for the generator. Add Pri-D to all 20 buckets.

2. Build a small shed for the generator and diesel storage.

3. Weed my way through the raised beds and get them planted. May do some restructuring of the beds while I'm at it, to make it easier to get a wheelbarrow from gate to the beds in the far corners, and to replace any rotting frames.

4. Have the corn plots in the gardens tilled up for me. Plant, lay soaker hoses, mulch for weed control and fence in any corn plantings that are not in the main garden area.

5. Plant the 3 fruit trees waiting for me, replace any fruit trees that didn't make it through the winter, contact the suppliers to use any replacement/refund policies for dead trees and bushes.

6. Set up the soaker hoses and mulch beds for weed control and water retention.

7. Clean out chicken house and fertilize garden with old bedding. 

8. Do some chicken house repairs and screen air vents to keep out wild birds. Cover the fruit trees in the chicken pen with netting - I want cherries! 

9. Get the pig butchered (finally admitting I'm never gonna get around to doing it myself - just too many other things on my plate) and take apart the pig pen.

10. Level the ground in the former pig pen and get swimming pool set up for water collection.

11. Clean off the metal barn roof for better quality rain water collection, and add gutters/filters/pipes to water tanks.

12. Clean the compost out of the stalls the pig was occupying and use on raised beds and corn patches.

13. Finish the shed/lean-to roofs, set up for water collection there, too. 

14. Shop for more water totes, barrels, tanks, etc.

15. Finish the pantry shelves and inventory pantry contents.

16. Defrost and clean all fridges and freezers, inventory contents.

17. Take down the HughesNet dish!

18. Build the frame for my greenhouse and/or sunroom. Get some help to install the windows and get the sliders up on top for roof - too heavy for me to do solo.

19. Continue to clear brush from woods and cut firewood. Build more woodsheds from pallet wood to contain it all.

20. Continue working on LTS pantry: Have 40# of apples to turn into dried apple slices, applesauce, apple pie filling, etc. Buy 1-2 cans Nido per payday. Buy Bountiful Baskets and preserve what I can't eat fresh. Can some of the pork from the pig.

That's a powerful list and probably a bit overly ambitious, but if you don't set your goals high, how are you even gonna reach the stars?


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Today's to-do list:

Get the HughesNet dish taken down, now that I have the right tools.
Weed out 2 more raised beds and the pathways around them.
Rake up the wood chips from walkways, put down feed sacks or cardboard, spread chips on top.
Plant peas.
Work on pantry shelves.
Move rest of lumber out of living room (don't ask  ).
Defrost freezers.


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## hillbillygal (Jan 16, 2008)

Goals for May:
Finish portable chicken coop (dd and I are doing this project ourselves)
Move calves to new field
Plant seeds in garden
Transplant started plants in garden
Weed strawberry/garlic bed
Set up better rain collection
Keep searching for cheap wood chips/mulch


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

May:
Get the garden in.....need to wait this year, they are implying a late cold snap :grit:
Dig up the flower bed and down "feet" and try to find why the basement wall is leaking. Since it's a 130 yr old house....and the wall is brick.....I'm expecting a "messy" solution.
Finish school up with the kids then plan my "work" for summer break.
Get to the basement and consolidate the canned food so I have a place for empties. We are starting to stack empty jars in front of full ones.
Get the attic of the garage straightened up. Need to do that SOON before it gets too hot up there, it's usually +20-30 over air temp up there (but as cold as outside in the winter).


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

Cold Front coming here, too:grit: 87F today... expecting 38F tomorrow 40+mph winds...I can't win...I cover everything up.... I uncover it... do it again, and again, and again. It's MAY in *TEXAS*, for the love of Pete!

Deep watered the orchard after I got off from work, turned drip on in Strawberry beds , watered and covered all newbies,cukes, warm weather loving stuff.... etc. 

Still trying to get my canning done... got derailed....really have to get back to it!

MGM - I won't ask about your living room....if you don't ask about mine! BTW... that is some- kinda lofty goals you have there! I'm worn out just reading them. You also forgot something... 21. SLEEP!

Till next time.....


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## farmersonja (Mar 9, 2013)

1. Order trees for mini orchard and get them planted
2. Set up drip for orchard
3. Clean up front flower bed and establish wildflowers there.
4. Finish potting up Herbal seeds
5. Move Warm season stuff outside to the beds
6. Set up deer fencing
7. Clear out entire kitchen and organize it. Do I really need my mixing bowls AND daddy's?
8. prep for canning season - buy more jars


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

Goal for the month is get the garden planted. Since we are at this moment getting snow, sleet and freezing rain (complete with thunder and lightning) and more is forecast thru Friday my goal is on hold. 

I mentioned in April that I got a Kitchenaid mixer that I'd been saving for for 2 years. I don't have counter space so I put it on a typing table which is working but not ideal. When I was working in the basement I noticed a metal stand on wheels that dh dragged home as a freeby from the nursing home. I think it was originally a night stand. It has a formica top, drawer and door and is 32" high so is much better height than the typing table and not as wide both of which are pluses. Also the drawer is perfect for storing the mixer attachments and the door section large enough for my grain mill. We started roughing up the ugly brown paint ready to spray it bright yellow. The only cost is for the 2 cans of yellow spray paint bought for another project awhile back. We'll have to wait to paint until it warms up enough to do it in the garage as we have gas water heater and furnace which could get explosive if we spray painted in the basement!

I got my peppers transplanted from flats to pots today. Only one green pepper germinated but I have 3 yellow and 7 of carnival mix. Plenty to plant and to share.


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## hillbillygal (Jan 16, 2008)

Dh is going after my 275 gallon totes today. He's not too impressed with going after them but knows I've been looking for a good deal on them quite a while. At $25 a piece and with them previously holding a food item, I don't think it can be beat. I asked him to ask if they had any of the barrels with the twist on rings while he's there. 

According to our 10 day forecast, we're going to stay in the 50's over the weekend but it's going to be wet.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Allergy season is in full swing here  I'm trying a "new" med to see if it's better then what I usually take. So far, no better but I'll give it a few more days. Ibuprofen is at least taking the edge off my headache and I'm not the least bit congested. So in all I'm not too bad off.

Missed my church's garage sale last week, but I made it to the one across the street today! They didn't have but maybe a 1/3 of what they normally do. I'm betting it's the economy.....keeping stuff to re-use or sell at the city wide sale in a few weeks to put money in their own pockets. Maybe the city-wide one will be good this year, DD NEEDS a dresser. The 50+ yr old one she has is falling apart and too small to fit her clothes (worked great when she was tiny).

I did find a nice full size sheet set for $.50. It's a nice light silky fabric in a pretty light blue. Should make nice night gowns for DD.....she's very excited. Also found 3 one-gallon jars with lids for $.25 a piece. Kids already claiming them for dried apples, lol, guess I'll be drying 2-3 bushels this year. Hope they are ready to help peel.


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## Billie in MO (Jun 9, 2002)

I think I am just giving up on a "to do" list. It is snowing right now. Started out as rain last night and turned to snow today. Forecast is for this front to stall over us and just sit. We may see the sun next week sometime. I have 12 tomato plants sitting in the window. Garden is not tilled or ready. Been too wet from our April rains but I am not complaining about the moisture at all. It is all welcome.

We moved our freezer in to the pantry last year from the garage (it got too hot during the summer) and that really took a bite out of my storage space. So I guess my only goal is to try and figure out the best use and reorganize this space, somehow.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

Six inches of heavy wet snow here so gardening is on hold. Forecast is for more of the same until at least Monday.


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

We don't have snow, but we have a "HARD" mist, 40mph winds and a freeze warning tonight... about 44F right now. :shrug:
Jen - I think I tried to "borrow" your Apple peelers in the past! LOL!!
I have the allergy sniffles and sneezes, too.

HBG - I pay $100 for the 330 gallon...so, I'd say you did well on the pricing.

Well, eveyone keep warm... and we will garden another day.
Take good care.


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## MoTightwad (Sep 6, 2011)

Yes, gardening is on hold for a bit. Rain, sleet and snow here. Had to cancel the Royals game in KC due to snow. Hopefully it will get this over with so we can plow the garden and work the raised beds and plant the rest of the seeds. Only have lettuce, radishes and carrots and a few onions out so far.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

TDD- yes I've offered to rent my apple peelers out to you. They work cheap....it's the shipping and handling costs that are the killer, LOL. Although, this year it looks like I may be putting them to work planting my garden long before you could use them.

Giving up on waiting....good rains are coming the beginning of next week. So either today or tomorrow the garden plants are going to start moving to their permanent homes. I need to get my herb seeds in the ground, too.

I think this "new" allergy meds is worthless for me. My sinuses have hit overdrive this morning.


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## farmersonja (Mar 9, 2013)

I bought a bread machine 2 days ago. It should be here by Monday. I figure I am running out of time to do this particular chore so machine bread is better than store bought and no bread at all. Less dependance on a store bought product is a prep, right? 

Today's To Dos:

Get my tomatoes that have true leaves on them potted up
Finish potting up my herbals (got some more potting soil)
Start on front flower bed with some weed pulling
Ship the soaker hose to DD
Costco run - I am totally out of vinegar
Lunch with a friend

PS: gardening totally counts as a workout, right? Trying to justify not going for my run today.


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## cnichols (Jan 5, 2010)

Well, with so much to be done around here, maybe having a list posted will help make sure things get done instead of put off, lol



Finish the doors and add to the newest rabbit hutch.
Move the males to the newest rabbit hutch.
Breed the female does. (which should have been done so they'd be ready for the 4th of July weekend but I totally brain farted on that one.)
Butcher most of the younger chickens.
Sift rocks for the outdoor kitchen patio.
Get the chicken incubator made.
Enlarge the garden area outside of my raised bed garden.
I know that doesn't sound like alot to most people but for us it'd be a miracle if we got it all done! Especially considering we really need to do some short haul loads in order to get the trailer/insurance payments caught up before the 4th of July, which is when DH's family reunion is supposed to be (which they've asked if they can have here!).


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

I broke down...I got the trimmer out for the first time this year (it was either that or sit and braid the grass along the raised beds, lol) I also planted some of the larger pepper plants. May get more in later tonight (after I recover from running the trimmer) or may wait till tomorrow.


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

Plan for tomorrow: Get up super early and get a couple of canner loads run.......................THEN......go to the range for a 3 gun meet!:dance: Starts with a Pistol, then a rifle....... wait for it......then a Shotgun.....:viking:Now that's is my idea of FUN!!!
Then get my bo-hiney home, for a bit of gardening, before my shoulder drops off! LOL!!
I should be sufficiently sore when I am done!

Jen - I think I was stareing at 4 bushels of Apples at the time....I would have gladly paid the shipping and handling!! I did all those by myself! {{{SHUDDER}}}

Placed feed store order. Next get my range bag inventoried and packed. 

Cnichols- Good to see you! Glad things are going well

BTW - We set an all time record low temp last night.... Talked to my Sis in TN. She was running around trying to cover her tender stuff , too.

Be good, all....


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## jessimeredith (Sep 12, 2004)

Thanks to bipolar Ma Nature, my May to do list will be including restarting the garden I'm sure. It's a snow/rain mix out there right now with temps in the mid 30's, so I'm going to say pretty much everything is toast except MAYBE the onions and potatoes...maybe. I knew I bought extra seed for a reason.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

As part of my preps I'm always on the lookout for pre-1950's cookbooks. A few years ago I bought a 1946 Joy of Cooking. Today I got a The American Woman's Cook Book which is at least that old and perhaps older. In the 1946 book it refers to "Mechanical Refrigeration". In the American Woman's book it refers to "Automatic Refrigerator". The title page that would show the date of publication is missing so I'm trying to guess the date of publication. Any ideas???


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Ann, I don't have a clue on your "new" cookbook, but I've gotta say, the 1946 Joy of Cooking is my favorite cookbook!

I feel so guilty...I'm basking in beautiful, 70* weather while so many of you are still battling snow and ice!  < shudder >

I managed to get the walkways weeded, tarped with feed bags and spread with wood chips, but didn't get as much weeding done as I would have liked. I can walk through my living room without tripping over lumber, but the HughesNet dish is still holding fast - some tough bolts there. So, I have a lot that I didn't get done on my days off. I kind of ran out of steam and napped today, since I have to be up all night tonight and tomorrow night. Only have one night off and then back for a night at work then, so I doubt I'll get much done for a bit.

Lots of lovely lists! TDD, it's a deal...we won't speak of living rooms,lol. Oh, and I'm totally jealous of the bargain price on the totes, Hillbilly Gal!


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Ouch...I can feel yesterday's fight with the trimmer, lol. What do they tell you when your muscle hurt....work them again...I did that today. The question is will I be able to move at all tomorrow???

Started in the attic of the garage while it was still cool this morning. I didn't get it finished.....but I worked a good hour and a half and now have it all sorted and organized. Was getting too hot up there to finish it off. If I don't make it up there again this spring, I'll still call it a success. DH wants to get up there and build some racks for the lumber up there. They would give us allot more space. The wood piles are the "messes" I didn't get to.

Garden is about 60% in, herb seeds put in, DH filled the wheelbarrow 8 times with compost for my beds (I can barely move it when it's full...I can only do half loads). I turned that compost into my herb beds that have never had compost...hope the seeds I planted enjoy it! We live in a mostly clay soil region....so it should be a big improvement. Rest of the loads I just used to top dress some of the beds. Topped off 3 raised beds this year, other 3 will get topped off again next year (they got loads last year). Since all the soil in the beds are from the compost pile, not reason the "mix it in". Tomatoes are in. They have been looking unhappy the past few weeks....too big to be inside, not liking the sun and wind outside. They will get adjusted. 6 sweet peppers and 3 cayenne peppers are in......have a few more to plant, yet. Broccoli hasn't made it into the ground yet....but that was the last bed top dresses....I'm out of steam. Maybe tomorrow. Medicinal herbs need a bit more time till they will be ready to transplant into the raised bed. Guess they will have to wait a week or so.

Now to clean up and get ready to go out. DH's b-day is Monday and his buddy from High School's is tomorrow. Back when we were all young we (DH, his buddy, a second buddy, and I) use to go out for Cinco de Mayo every year to celebrate the boys b-days - yeah I was the only girl....the other 2 boys were bachelors years longer then DH - although DH originally trying to set me up with one of them, lol. That backfired. Now that we are all married with kids we don't take time to do that......we are changing that this year  with kids in tow.


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

Pretty good day here.....8 Canner loads plus 2 water bath loads ... IT'S ALL DONE!!!....70quarts of Green Beans and pickled Asparagus.... Not bad for 1 day............'course, I started canning at 2 a.m.

Had a great time at the range...pretty day... but,...... I am feeling the residual of those shot gun mule kicks!! I swear, my teeth rattled a couple of times, with all the recoil I absorbed. :shocked:

But, I did well on all the targets, with all the different shootin' irons, and different patterns, I had to navigate!! Sheer poetry in motion.......NOT! LOL!

No gardenig done today...I did get the compost pile turned and watered. I plan to have a date witha shovel early in the morning to get some plants in the ground......I am out of steam too, Jen.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Jen and TDD, how are your muscles feeling this morning? I have a feeling I'll be groaning by tonight. It's forecast to hit the high 80's here today, so I am going to try to go straight home from work and get into my gardening clothes. I have weeding to do, seeds and bulbs to plant, and maybe most importantly, I have to build frames to cover my strawberry bed and any other beds I get planted. I'll staple curtain sheers to the frames to keep out the birds...not the robins I was planning for, but my own chickens! They've decided my freshly transplanted strawberry bed is perfect for dust bathing!  I hope the plants survive being rolled on and beaten. :grumble:

Got my BB order and shared it with a friend. I bought a half gallon of coconut oil this time - plan to put it with my soapmaking supplies. It's about time to make a few new batches of soap, and coconut oil helps it lather well.


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

MGM - YEP...SORE!! Shooting vest, although padded, didn't keep me from bruising! Oh well, it was good to be shooting. I have to admit, I kinda have some remorse, using ammo, I cannot replace right now.

Piddiling in the farm house this morn...... Cool out and dewey. I'll go out after it warms and try to till, plant, water and weed. I have so much to do and re-do, I don't even know where to start.:grit:
Ann- I have my mom's treasured cook book.......The Women's Home Companion. It's older than I am , and went thru a house fire. Needles to say.....It was worth saving. If you ever run across one....grab it.... it is AWSOME!!

Garden gals......If you would like some inspiration, look at the 2013 garden pics here on HT.


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## farmersonja (Mar 9, 2013)

Can I add to the sore peoples support group here? Spent my entire weekend clearing out that front bed for wildflowers. Pulled all the weeds that were hip high on me on Friday. Yesterday I pulled up 10 wheelbarrow loads of river rock out of there, the worse than useless weedmatting, put down 9 cubic yards of bagged garden soil and sewed wildflower seeds. It is DONE! It will look so dang pretty when everything blooms. We are getting a wonderful rain today. So after work I will work on house stuff! Have a great day everyone!


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## WV Farm girl (Nov 26, 2011)

Continued building up my bank with bundles of newspaper and hay from the chicken coop. Seems to be working well. 
I planted mini indian corn and picked up chocolate mint, sage (to replace what the chickens destroyed), and thyme. My herbal selection is coming along nicely.


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

No action here with temps in the 40's, damp and chilly. Supposed to warm up Mon. and Tues. and then start raining AGAIN. Grrrrr....out of firewood and not going to get the outdoor wood boiler going again so making do with oil space heater. These old bones don't like chill and damp at all. I'd much rather be outside getting sore and stiff!

Only blessing is the greenhouse where I can putter and warm up. It's a good thing I didn't get rolling early this year as nothing will be going outside for quite awhile. Many early birds here are totally having to replant. From what I can see my 10# early potatoes are a loss. Rotted in the ground. Sneaked through and all the fruit trees had finished blooming before the cold hit. We only got a trace snow on this side of the state but way too much rain. See the rocks are growing well though.....


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

Phew! I'm beat and SORE. When I got out doors this morning, I started planting the 3 flats of perrenials I had bought, then planted Basil, Sage, Dill, Thyme. 30 pots of Geber Daisies. Worked in that area till my back hurt. 

Next, I went to the orchard and dug weeds, mulched and deep watered it again. The last cold snap and wind took all of the Plums and Apricots off the trees.....Peaches are still hanging on.

OK...This is where I lost my mind......I have been trying to dig a HUGE ancient Willow stump out.....Danged, if I didn't do it. I got it out....don't know what I am going to do with it....but, I shouldn't trip over it anymore...It's as big a my car...what a hole it left!!

Then to further test my sanity....I mowed about 1 & 1/2 acre. 

DH & I unfurled the 20'x 60' Billboard vinyl for the raised bed area....., Then I tried to till an area....notice I said "tried." The ground here is very much like concrete...It is so dry.. The tremendous winds have really sapped anything of any moisture. The tiller was bouncing and hopping and dancing....it was NOT tilling!:shocked:

I am going to go hit a hot shower and call it a day... I am so dirty, I hope I don't clog the drain!!!


MGM - Corresponded with Radiofish today. All is well. He promises to join S&EP again very soon!

farmersonja.....Yes. Come join the sore mucles support group......and please pass the Ben Gay!


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## pamda (Oct 14, 2004)

- Corresponded with Radiofish today. All is well. He promises to join S&EP again very soon!


I am so glad to hear this! I was getting ready to try to find out if someone knew him to check on him. I don't post much here but I really enjoy reading and learning and he is full of great info.


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

Not too much going on today.
Picked up discounted seeds at a couple of stores.
Placed a bulk order on line.
Found a long garden hose on clearance for $9
Bought more sore muscle cream.......:shrug:


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## farmersonja (Mar 9, 2013)

Got both my bread maker and my new sunglasses today! Already got one loaf working. I refused to buy the store bought crud. Yay!


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## hillbillygal (Jan 16, 2008)

We managed to get our calves across the road and in their new field. I just checked on them and they are happily munching grass. The goat that lives with them was thrilled to be back in his home field.

Hoping to get my tomatoes and peppers in the garden this week once the rain has passed. Makes me anxious having them in the greenhouse instead of in the ground. 

Need to make it to town today or tomorrow. Hoping for some great loss leaders at the stores this week.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

DH had a good B-day. The SR45 I bought him 2-3 months ago has a minor issue. Since he took the day off work he called Ruger.....they said "!! - send it back, we'll fix it and you should have it back in a week". They e-mailed up a UPS shipping label, but UPS service station is only open 8-11 and 3-6...so we had hours to kill (can't use a UPS Store for firearms....has to do directly to the depot). It was a b-day present, it was his actual b-day....so to the range we went (4 people 11 guns ) We did it all (we were the only ones there). Stated with rifles, when to shootguns and, finished with hand guns. DD (10) wanted to try the SR45.....she usually shoots the SR22, has never shot the SR9 as she's afraid it might kick. She LOVED it!!! Yes, she can control the kick with no problem (wonder if we can convince her to try the 20 ga now, lol). DS (14) had his nose a bit out of joint over it. He had a "run in" with his dad and went storming off and sat in the truck (his choice....not sent away). His little sister got to shoot the 45 before he did. Needless to say seeing her shoot the gun he had been drooling over snapped him out of his pout and brought him up to the firing line, ound:. Yes, he got to put a few rounds down range, too. 

Guns shipped out and should be back in a week. Issue is sometimes when DH puts the mag in, the slide closes on it's own, negating the need to rack it back to shoot. Since I am cross dominate, I carry the gun in my left and put the mag in with my right.....it ALWAYS does it to me. So we don't know why it does that, but since we got one of the first ones out (it like # 6000) and we know that many of first guns are proto types, we don't know just how "early" this one it. It could be an issue that has since been fixed....or not. Either way they are totally being helpful, jumping on the situation and fixing it for free. The fact that I never have to rack the slide to shoot the gun doesn't bother me a bit.....but the fact that the gun is doing something it is not supposed to make me want it fixed (and DH too....he's more bugged by it then me).


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

Finally a beautiful day...70's and mostly sunny. Got the cabbage,onions planted out. Son moved all the peas to a new patch as he didn't like how patchy they came up! Lots of flower seeds started,too plus got busy in g-house and transplanted just about everything as growing out of their flats. Whopped tonight! 

Glad I'd made the fixings for enchiladas this am...delish black bean/spinach/chicken with homemade sauce....first harvest spinach from the garden. Got thumbs up from all the family and leftovers for lunch tomorrow which is always a plus! Somewhere in there made a couple loafs of bread,too. 

Went to the Baker Creek Seed Company festival over in Mansfileds, MO yesterday. Very good turnout considering the off/on rain showers. Some good speakers and lots of good vendors,too. Lots of plants,too. Hit the Mennonite store while we were over that way. Found a great deal on Columbian coffee beans. Bought 50# sugar and another 50# ruce okys 5# black beans which I cooked up today and froze in 2 cup bags. Dug in freezer and found t-bones which are marinating for supper tomorrow. Suppose to rain but we can run in and out. 

Getting pretty low in the meat dept. and haven't seen a good sale in ages. Pulled a Protiva chicken and cooked in crockpot for my enchiladas...we ration these thru the year. Pastured and organic and soooo good.


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## Raymond James (Apr 15, 2013)

No work on any preps today. I did get the dogs (2 Golden retrievers ) to the vet for immunizations. Transplanted collards, kale, lettuce, cabbage . Very wet but much warmer today. Mowed the orchard, around the asparagus bed and black berries. 

Picked up broken branches from our 6 inch heavy snow falling on trees with new leaves. Lots and lots of branches. Cut the bigger ones for fire wood got maybe a half a cord. Goats and cows seemed to like the leaves on the maple limbs. Got a shipment of beer making supplies. Talked to some buyers about 3 freezer beef. 

Tomorrow planning on mowing around garden beds, dog runs, front yard. Do some planting- squash, zucchini, cucumbers, G Beans, peas. More lettuce. Have a lot of started tomato, pepper plants but need to wait on night time temperatures. Hopefully get 5 gallon of beer started. I usually have 10 gallons on had but am down to a six pack.


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## farmersonja (Mar 9, 2013)

O.K. this is bizarre. Tomorrow is going to be our 4th straight day of rain. I live in what is normally a desert. Not going to complain about not having to water though. Every bit we can save means less that we have to pay for. Once we get some sun, which is looking like Friday, things are gonna be popping up all over! I love growing things!


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Looked at our summer schedule. Yet again I realize that I will likely have to wait till both of my kids graduate from school (only 8 more years) before I can get any "summer chores" done, lol. In the 8 weeks we have for summer break ....my kids will go to 7 different camps (same day and some overnight). Sounds expensive, but it's not. DS does fund raising with scouts to offset his costs, our church has a camp scholarship fund so ever child can go to church camp for $40 (church picks up the other $200), girls scout day camps are CHEAP and they learn so much (and have fun). SO it really is cheap fun which sneaks in a BUNCH of learning. But running them from here to there keeps me from getting done some of the chores I want to do :shrug: Oh well, the chore will wait - I don't really NEED a yard that I spend hours a week in keeping perfect, the longer I wait to quilt something the more fabric I will have to work with,.....and I can rest when I'm dead, lol.

I think I will let the rest of the flower bed edging go for today and instead pull some rhubarb and can it up. The grass encroaching on the flower beds will still be there later.....but ruhbarb has a window of "idealness". (is that a word??)


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Another member of the sore muscles club checking in! Pass the Ben Gay here next...I'll need it even more by tonight. I've been rebuilding raised beds and digging out weeds and sod. Sod! How do I get sod in the beds when I can't grow a lawn worth the name? I've even tried transplanting the sod from the beds to the lawn, and it dies, lol! If only I could just transplant the house to the garden, instead. Then I'd have a lawn by the house, and I could make a new garden where the non-lawn is.

I'm making good progress on the garden, with a frame built over the newly transplanted strawberry bed and covered with sheers, and straw mulch on the bed. I still need to reinforce the sides of the frame and staple on the sheers, then remove the screws holding the frame to the raised bed box. I have another strawberry bed to weed out today and will need to build a cover for it, too. I've weeded out a couple more beds, ready to plant as soon as I finish the rest of the beds in that area and lay the soaker hoses again. All in all, I'm getting there. 

On the rest of my to-do list, I've moved all the lumber out of the living room, and I left a message with the farm butcher to arrange for the pig to be butchered. I defrosted both freezers as well as the tiny freezer compartment on the mini fridge, cleaned out the freezer compartments on the fridges, too, fed a lot of nasty old stuff to the pig (kicking myself for wasting food), and now I have room for pork. I've also been working on filtering water for storage, and cutting the crosspieces for the pantry shelves. Doesn't seem like much in comparison to *digging out whole car sized willow stumps*  , but I'm soldiering on!

TDD, thanks for checking on RF - I was getting ready to e-mail him and ask if he'd been in a horrific accident or had the surgery he was contemplating? He is missed around here. I always enjoy hearing what he's working on, and the WDD (World's Dumbest Deer, for the uninitiated) updates.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

20+ c of rhubarb and 4 c of sugar makes 7 pints of goodness!! I'm amazed every year how much rhubarb cooks down. Plan to to go out and pull more tomorrow for a pie. If I wasn't going out tonight I'm make one for today....I love rhubarb (especially raw without sugar!!). 

My back is getting sore from the little bit of edging I did this morning....I think I'm glad I stopped when I did. So pass the BenGay then way next,

DS has learned the art of bartering, lol. Right now my 14 yr old son is getting ready to have a tea party with his 10 yr old sister. It was the bargain he made with her....if she helped him clean his room, he'd have a tea party with her. That girl is GREAT at cleaning anything other then her own room. She got all dressed up (my mom finds 1980's prom dresses for about $1....that "princess look" from the 80's is a big hit with DD)...but I think DS will be going in his cargo shorts and tee shirt - dressing up wasn't part of the deal :runforhills: He likes to dress up even less then I do - and I didn't think that was physically possible.


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

As I expected the two long rows of 'taters I planted have all rotted in the ground. Arrrgh. Good thing I still have ten lbs. I put back to sucession plant. With son's help got much of the garden in yesterday....raining again today. Feel like we're living in the NW! Will wait until next week for the tomatoes/peppers/corn...assuming the rain ever stops. Grew lots more nice rocks this year....big ones, little ones, pointy ones,smooth ones......

Pa is busy putting new oak boards into a rescued iron bench. Will be so pleasant to put it by the garden for rest stops. thank goodness for IcyHot in early spring. Got a bunch more herbs started in g-house. Not necessarily for this years' garden but to grow into good size starts for the future. Many around here have had to totally replant their gardens so am leary of getting too gung-ho.

Went to the local greenhouse and picked up pepper plants and large enough vincas for my porch flower boxes. Just transplanted a flat of vincas but late start means won't be ready to plant for another month so put them in big pots. Don't know why more people don't grow vincas. They laugh at sun and heat...100 degree heat...and besides the flowers they have beautiful foilage,too.

Today will be good day to finish last two quilt blocks. See Connecting Threads has quilt batting 30% off and I can get the wool batting I want for it to use as winter cover for our bed.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Monthly shopping trip today. Picked up a case of beans & tomato paste, more barley, bacon, etc. Now I just pick up fresh produce as needed and loss leader items for the next 4 weeks.

Had to call my mom and confess, yesterday. I am turning into her!! When I was a teen my mom would ohh and ahh over the shirts, dress, etc in the coupon section of the newspaper. Many were offered by Blair.....they were "old people" clothes, lol. She would order this or that top and I would just shrug and roll my eyes. I just got my order of 3 tops from Blair, yesterday, LOL! I'm blown away by how in a short 25 yrs their tastes in clothes have improved :hysterical: It couldn't possibly be that I "aged into them". So far, they are the only place I can find shirts long enough at a good price (I love the longtail T's at Duluth....but they are pricy). I even got a nice pink one with scalloped edges for church. My mom laughed, then told my my grandmother (her mom), who I take after in personality and build, LOVED anything with a scallop on it. Guilty as charged..... Best part is they have real short sleeves....not the tiny bit of fabric hanging off the shoulder they call a sleeve. I want a short sleeve that comes within a few inches of my elbow.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Got the chicken house cleaned out and new shavings laid. Still have a huge double-wheeled wheelbarrow load to mix with the raised bed contents, but it will have to wait for more days off. 

Worked on the raised beds a bit more - oh, I have so much more to do there! I pulled apart 4 beds that I made out of 1x boards last year and am running them east to west rather than north-south. Adding 2x8x12 sides to them, so I have a lot of digging to do.

My pig has a date with the farm butcher next Friday. Just my luck, he's gone fishin' this week.  I'll be glad to get him in the freezer/canners...he's becoming quite the noisy pest while I'm trying to garden. Doesn't matter that he's been fed and watered...he knows I'm pulling weeds that will be fed to him! I enjoy my quiet time in the garden, and I'm not getting it!

Had my med check with my MD yesterday afternoon...other than my weight being up from last time, all is well. Had labs run and they were all spot-on. I'm working on the weight issue, and have actually lost a bit from my high point of the winter, but it's a work in progress. 

Gas prices are going crazy here - I posted a thread asking if anyone else is seeing sudden jumps in their gas prices.


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

Not much prep wise this week....other than a bit of gardening.
We are turning some of our attention, into the interior of out abode.
New wood floors, some paint, a few new pieces of furniture.......

Oh, we did buy new tires for one of our vehicles.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Canned up more rhubarb....this time with some blueberries from last year. Need to get them out of the freezer so there is space for this years berries. 7 more pints.....makes cobblers so fast later 

DH and DS are out delivering roses - Scout fund raiser. They called and aren't going to make it home for lunch, so DD and I ran to the store and bought 2 pieces of fish from the fresh food counter.....a little "girls treat" for lunch. Stopped by the bakery and picked up 2 buckets (free). They aren't washed, but I told them that was fine. We'd wash them we got them home. With "cake season" starting I'm hoping to get a few each week.....may even pay $1 each for some from Wal-Mart if I can get the square ones.

Storms came though last night. That's good and bad news....now that the low has passed my joints have stopped aching. That must have been a slow moving low, I hurt for 3 days - usually I only feel it for 12-24 hours. On the up side the temps dropped...I love the 50's-60's. BUT then again they are dropping too far....going to be in the upper 20's Sunday night :flame: I have to figure out how to protect my 2'+ tall climbing tomatoes!! I wasn't expecting a hard freeze this late in the game!! My peppers are going to be hard to cover too....they are well over a foot tall.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

Paid what is hopefully the last of the dentist bills with money that should have gone for other things! I guess getting teeth fixed or in dh's case replaced is a good prep.

Our weather has remained cool and wet but is supposed to moderate from now thru most of next week. I'm considering that the green light to plant my garden. I'm still fighting (yes fighting) with dh who insists he is going to do the tilling. That's after the tiller got away from him, dropped him to his knees and took out a section of the garden fence. One of our Pastor's boys LOVES to help with the garden especially running the tiller plus our son will come and do it if asked. Guess I'm going to be doing some asking which will no doubt bring down dh's ire on my head. Oh well.

My tomato plants are doing great and really need to be in the garden soon. I took my sweet potato vines apart today and put them into water to root. They are not looking as healthy as I would like. After a very slow start the pepper plants are looking good.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Going to have the Christmas Lights on tonight, lol. We put them out at Christmas just so we don't look crazy....but the real reason is to keep the trees warm in the event of a late freeze/frost. Yep....going to freeze tonight. Wool blankets wrapping the tomatoes climbing the trellis and "newspaper sleeping bags" around the bush tomatoes. I leaned large pieces of cardboard against the wool blankets on the west side....just in case there is wind. Peppers are all "packed" in moving boxes and icing buckets, lol.....maybe I should say they are wearing box and bucket hats. It is what it is, we can afford to replace the few things we might loose this year (assuming the greenhouse gets all their stuff inside). I have to get my flowers, yet, so picking up 1-2 peppers or tomatoes is no big deal. Beans just broke the surface of the dirt 2 days ago. I'm letting them brave to cold. I can re-plant if need be, I think beets, radishes and lettuce can take a freeze...but I tossed a chunk of cardboard over them just in case since they are nearing harvest.

DD wake me up at 2 am (after I got to sleep at 1am, lol) to remind me what being a mom means......she was throwing up. She a strange bird.....after TOTALLY depleting her entire digestive track of everything and not getting another wink of sleep, she was a happy go lucky kid. Meanwhile, every joint in my body was "aching to sleep", lol. Finally got her to sleep about 2 pm for a few hours (second time I had sent her to try to take a nap), I snoozed on the couch. DH and DS were trouper and took care of everything else. DH even washed dishes!! Something he doesn't do if there is ANYONE else in the house. Boys make brunch and dinner....and it tasted great!


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

Ohio Dreamer...hope you made it thru the freeze unscathed. It was 32.9 here Sunday am...so glad we are on the top of steep hill as could see heavy heavy frost all around the valley below.

Going on road trip with son this week and decided to hold off planting tomatoes/peppers until we return. Supposed to be in 80's by tomorrow. Pa up early to get his beehive checked before the wind picks up. 

Will plant first batch of sweet corn and get my overgrown sweet tater plants out plus 10# lbs spuds sprouting like crazy in my kitchen today. Weather has been so up and down have been afraid to plant them as the first I planted totally rotted in all our rain. Yesterday I cleaned out my major pantry cupboard,boxed up all the empty jars and happily carried them to the wonderful storage shelves Pa built in the shed. Don't mind a few cobwebs but hate clutter.

Road trip to Wichita for a quilt show plus visit some old haunts from when I worked there...Indian museum, Kwan Court for chinese,yum, favorite bookstoes and hit a few antique stores along the way. My husband just hates traveling so Jesse and I have decided to go together. Three goals...chicago to visit all the museums I enjoyed as a kid on visits to my grandparents, New Mexico, and someday the Smithsonian again.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Mutti, have a wonderful trip. I haven't taken a roap trip in a few years...if I had the time off available, I would love to drive to Utah, go to the national parks there, and then to Arizona to the Grand Canyon. 

Hope all of you in frost zones came through without losing too many plants. We've had odd weather here today - sun and then thunderstorms, which we don't usually get that often. Had thunder boomers right overhead, hail and hard downpours to the point where it was difficult to see from the house to the barn! Even knocked the satellite off the air for quite a while. Dropped the temps nearly 20 degrees with the downpours. Supposed to improve for the next couple days, though, so hopefully the garden will dry out enough to get back to weeding and digging by tomorrow. At least the rain buckets are full of fresh water now. 

Really haven't done much on the prep front over the last few days. I've just been very tired, so I've been listening to my body and catching up on my sleep. I was called off work Saturday night as our census is down, so that helped, although it means my paycheck will be a bit short.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Weather man is blowing the "all clear". He thinks we are done with frost/freeze. I haven't gone out to uncover, yet, today. Yesterday I had one tomato that looked "stressed" from the cold even though "he " had been covered. Not sure if "he" was up to night #2. I'm going to wait till tomorrow, when it will be in the 80's and chance of rain, to get the plants the took shelter inside in the ground. May hit the greenhouse in the next day or two to pick up some items. I don't start flowers....those I buy. I have a limited space for starting seeds....Id' rather start vegetables. I can live without flowers if I can't afford to buy some.

Life got a bit too busy the last few weeks so I didn't start any cuc's and such. May go out and toss some seed on the ground today so they can get started. Not sure the soil is warm enough today - going to be a chilly one, but in a day or two all should be well.

The new GFS ad has some pre-made taco meat and BBQ'd pulled pork or chicken at great prices. I'll be over there on Friday so I'm going to stop in and read the labels. If it's doesn't look like it's full of fillers and "nasties" I going to buy some and put up a bunch of freezer meals. We are getting low on burritos in the freezer....down to 2 meals worth. If I can get the meat pre-done that would save a bunch of time! Not to mention the price for 5# of taco meat is only $8....which is why I'm a bit suspicious and will be reading labels. Can't found ground beef for less the $4 a pound these days. The BBQ meat is 5# for $13....which seems more "inline". When you add in my time and energy, not sure I can make it for that price.


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

Here we go....again....Wildfires in the area. Some folks have already been evacuated.
Prayers PLEASE!

I have been shopping for paint, furniture, flooring, etc....so, other than my auto ships....my preps are on a hiatus. I need to manipulate everything for more room.

My strawberries are turning red!:sing:
Garden is now tilled...but DH hurt his back doing it! The ground is stone hard. We still need to work on more raised beds and I hope to get the Tomato's in the ground in a day or two.... the reason I am holding out.....we are supposed to get rain tomorrow:thumb:.

We were 90F today...if we get another freeze....I AM GONNA SCREAM!! And, I mean it!!
Ok I feel better now...................Thanks for listening.
Every one have a nice nite!!


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

TDD...may it stay warm and WET for you!!! If you have to bug out, please find a safe spot to check in from and let us know.

First load of grass mulch has been placed on the garden, verses added to the compost heap. Mulched around the tomatoes and peppers. Piled the rest between the bean rows (they are only up about 1" right now).


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

May 1 we had 7" of heavy wet snow --- today it hit 100Âº. Have to love Iowa weather. If we go one more day without a tornado we will set a record for the longest number of days without a tornado reported in the State. Good record to achieve!!!!!!!

I planted 9 peppers -- 3 yellow, 1 green, the rest Carnival mixed out yesterday. Then 19 tomatoes. Jubilee, Bloody Butcher, Mortgage Lifter, two varieties of Romas, Better Boy, Delicious, large cherry and small cherry. I still have some of each tomato in the house in case the weather decides to do something crazy again. I also planted green beans (2 varieties), zucchini and chard. Ran out of time and energy but hope to set out cabbage and plant beets, carrots, melons, cucumbers and a bunch of flower seed tomorrow.

I love sinking my hands in our rich black soil. After I finished planting yesterday I just sat in the middle of the tomatoes and sifted my hands thru the dirt. Best therapy in the world for whatever ails you.


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## farmersonja (Mar 9, 2013)

I was on vacation Thursday through Sunday. Nothing got done and it was glorious. I will be transplanting my maters into separate pots after work today. I have to replant the zucchini seeds, mine never sprouted.


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## cnichols (Jan 5, 2010)

Well, hubby finished the rabbit hutches for me for Mothers Day! :thumb:

Was able to breed 2 of the 4 does and will take them for another "visit" this evening. Will give it another 2-3 days and breed the other two, since they didn't want to have anything to do with the whole situation.

Got more of the garden prepped and will be planting out the remaining tomato plants and the bell peppers today.

Fence line has been being cleared since my middle DS came home for his week of personal time from Job Corps. 

So out of my original list the following remains for the month.


Butcher most of the younger chickens.
Sift rocks for the outdoor kitchen patio.
Get the chicken incubator made.
Am happy that over half has gotten done already and extra has been done too!


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

Planted more garden today. Still have a few things left to plant but need to move some piles of composting grass and leaves first. 

I spray painted the cabinet that I'm redoing to hold my Kitchenaid. I have to say I do not like spray paint or the end results. Its expensive and a pain to use. I have a feeling I'll be doing a light sanding and then repainting with a can of good enamel paint and a foam roller. I used a dust mask but am afraid I may end up with lung issues from breathing the fine particles. Should have used regular paint -- hindsight.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Man the winter has taken a toll on me. Worked in the garden for about an hour then I was done it. On the up side, DS stuck to it much better nad longer then in years past. And I had him doing the hard stuff this year (digging the garden while DD and I picked up the weeds he loosened). We did get in a dozen more peppers, 6 egg plant, parsley, thyme, & broccoli. Plan to go out this evening and do some more. The end of the garden for melons is turned....so those should get in tonight. Need to toss some seed in a few patches and do a BUNCH more watering. DD did a good bit of it this afternoon.....but we need to do more. We are not using the hose and city water, but filling up the watering can at the rain barrel....so it's tiring.

Going to get a group order in for Vitacost tomorrow. They have a nice sale going on some things. We order as a group so we can 'earn" free shipping. None of us can usually get to $49 alone....but together we are mighty :bowtie:


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

I am going to quit fussing about Wildfires...My brothers home was demolished last night in Granbury's tornado's. Thankfully, everyone is doing ok. I was freaked. Tornado (F4) after tornado touched down there. All three of my brothers and their families live in that area. Of course, I couldn't reach any of them. 
The area where my bro.'s house "was", is off limits right now....they are still trying to find any more folks in the rubble and destruction. 6 dead, more than 100 injured and about 8 missing...so far. In the scheme of things...they are doing well.​ 
We got a bit of rain, but not much, considering the storms that kept rolling thru. We did loose power for about an hour...but, no biggie.​ 
Received an Amazon autoship today.......that's about all I have managed to buy prep wise this week!​ 
Happy prepping,all!​


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## Jan in CO (May 10, 2002)

Helped our son all week on his house and yard, getting them ready to put on the market. He was tossing out a lot of food that had been stored on shelves in the kitchen and garage, until I found out and told him to hold it, give it to Mom! He thought I'd be poisoned or become brain damaged from BPH, but the macadamia nuts that expired in 2000 are actually not too bad. Maybe a little stale, but tolerable and not wormy. Gives me hope that some of my preps will last, anyway!

Sad as I am about the breakup of his marriage, and having to sell the house, I did score some good storage shelves, containers, pots, gardening tools, etc.

TDD, sorry about your brothers' homes. Glad no one was hurt, that's the important thing. Houses can be replaced. Hope you are able to talk to them soon!


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Hugs TDD...ye all (TX) has been through the ringer the last few years. Praising God your family is safe.

Have most of the garden in, now. I have to do it in short bursts as the sun is making me sick  Weeks like this remind me why I need to live in NE Ohio, lol, I need the clouds! Bunnies, or some similar scourge, found my peppers and ate the banana peppers to the ground! DS and I used some hardware cloth to make up some "cages" to protect what's left. Looks like it works, no new damage. Will pick up a few banana pepper plants when I'm in town later. I only started 4, so I'll just pick up a 3 pack, re-plant and call it even.


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## CCCC (Nov 21, 2011)

TDD, wishing your family the best.

Haven't posted in a long time, got a few minutes this am been a crazy month.

Cut down the trees that needed cutting and they should be ready to cut into smaller pieces come fall.

Finished most of my fence and could take in livestock, just need to hook up the electric fencer and get a water tank. Still wanting to get some panels up in a few spots.

Planted the garden finally keeping my fingers crossed it stays warm enough while I am on the road next week.

New fruit trees planted, all the ones I planted last year seem to be coming back in really good shape all except my peach tree which appears to be dead, so we will have to get another on of those. I think the rabbits ate right around upper trunk even with the protection I had in place.

Need to build a wood shed, dog house and chicken coop in that order. Then try to stay ahead of the weeds. 

Good Luck Everyone.


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## NBC3Mom (May 14, 2005)

TDD - so very sorry to hear about your brother's home. I hope you were able to talk with them to ease your worries.
Didn't do any planting last night, just walked around spot checking. The strawberries are all in blossom, tons of little peaches on the tree, most of the potatoes survived the floods and frost, blueberries looking good. Plants moved from greenhouse to harden off on the porch. On the negative side the only seeds that sprouted are herbs, lettuce and spinach in raised beds and radishes. Will have to replant all of the others. 
Got some sour dough starter when I visited my cousin in NC a few weeks ago. This will be a baking weekend - 3 loaves of cinnamon bread, whole wheat bread, rhubarb pie, cookies. And need to get the garden replanted. Going to be warm and sunny for the next week. Hope it isn't the start of another drought already.


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## hillbillygal (Jan 16, 2008)

TDD: Hope all is okay with your family.

I've been gone all week with dd and dh has had to handle all the gardening/animals. He did a good job and even got the tomatoes and peppers out before this rain started. I've been checking on all the plants and the critters. They all seem to be doing well though the plants that are still in the greenhouse need to go out asap.

Nothing left in the prepping budget this month so unless I find an unbelievable deal at a yard sale, I'll have to get back at it next month! There's plenty to do around here with our garden to keep me busy though!


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## farmersonja (Mar 9, 2013)

TDD I am so very sorry to hear about your brother's house. I am glad everyone is o.k. though. Got my plants transplanted into their own pots this weekend and restarted my zucchini seeds. Got my watermelon seeds started at the same time. My taters are up as are my sugar snap peas. And I'll be a monkeys uncle if I don't have some spinach up. I had completely written those off. The broccoli went straight to seed, but those 4-legged hussies haven't gotten to all of my lettuce yet. I may still get a salad this month.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

TDD, have you heard from all your kin yet? So sorry to hear about the loss of his house, but you're right...houses can be replaced! Not so with folks!

Well, I'll have my pig for another week. The farm butcher sat in my driveway and phoned me, evidently. I was out back and never heard him...didn't honk or anything. Instead of knocking on the door, calling out, or something, anything, he just drove off and left a message for me to reschedule. Well, I did...with another farm butcher! New butcher date is the 27th.

Been working on little repairs around the place. I had all my coolers out when I defrosted freezers, so I took the time to scrub them thoroughly and do some repairs. Most of my coolers came from dumpster diving or garage sales, and I've found the most frequently needed repair is the hinges. I cut plastic from bleach or vinegar bottles and place it between the body of the cooler and the plastic hinges, screw through it and it works great! Also had a strap to replace on one cooler (keeps the lid from flipping too far open) and used vinegar bottle plastic for that, too. One of my Coleman coolers that needed new hinges had a ton of duct tape all over it, so I had to spray WD-40 on all the tape residue. It looks pretty darn good now! All in all, I cleaned and repaired 6 coolers - still need to spread some silicone caulking over a few surface splits in the last cooler and I think I'll be done.

While I was cleaning coolers, I also cleaned out the Berkey filters and top buckets, then refilled them, transferred filtered water into the rest of the 1 gallon water jugs and started filling the bigger jugs. It's getting into summer where I'll need to transport water to wash my whites, so I also scrubbed and rinsed out several 5 gallon buckets suitable for transporting water from the taps at the county park. I have them in the back of the truck tonight, for filling this morning when I get off work. I even remembered to bring my hose. 

I paid my property taxes and picked up 10 bags of layer pellets on the way home from work Thursday, as well as stopping to see my ds and dgds that morning. Guppy is finally walking more than she is crawling, and I cried when she realized I was leaving. Also saw my ex that morning (he lives next door to my ds) and he sent a 2# package of sausage home with me to try. It was excellent! I'll be ordering the same mix that he used from SausageMakers.com.

It rained most of my 2 days off, and now that Ihave to work 3 in a row, it's supposed to be nice...until my next days off, when it is forecast to rain again. Not complaining too much, though...it's better than wildfires.

Take care, all!


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

TDD...so relieved to hear your family members are all safe.With friends in all parts of the country via the internet I always worry about the weather where they live. Looks like we are next in line for violent storms all the way till Tuesday. Need to batten down the hatches. Get all the lawn furniture in the shed,barbecue,etc. Weather Channel shows storm tracts skirting our part of the Ozarks but that can certainly change.80% humidity here at present.....

Been working on a bunch of small projects. Fixing a deck step, putting in new sink fixtures,fixing leaky stock tank. Stupid insurance company, once again, wants us to put in new electric lead in to house even though the Co-op engineer was out...again..and says it is perfectly safe. And we need to put a concrete pad in front of our outdoor boiler...it is already dirt around it and no where near anything combustible. Duh. Last time is was the eleletric and we needed a fence around our pool which is already in a totally fenced yard. I think these summertime doodies they send out are told to find something/anything. We've never had a claim .

Greenhouse bursting. All of a sudden stuff is growing noticably everyday. Gotta get those tomatoes in when son comes tomorrow. I never stake them but he wants to this year so have at it! Corn,beans up. Planted another flat of onions and one of beets. Picking lettuce,spinach daily. Mowing the grass way too often.Also need to get my herb beds tidied up; oregano already needs picked and dried.


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

Thanks all. Yes they are safe...just going thru all the aftermath and realization of the loss.

My heart go out to all those in the OKC/MOORE area......just unreal. It sure looks like this is going to be the year of rough weather and destruction.

We still have not gotten any rain.....but, there are strong storms forecast for this afternoon. We have had winds 45mph and it is beating my tomato plants to death.

Still working on the inside of house. Trying to go thru old records and shred them.....they become mulch for the garden. Also, The carpet we are replacing, is going in the very bottom of the raised beds we are building......it will decompose, and help hold moisture.......

Gotta run......Have a good one!


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## hillbillygal (Jan 16, 2008)

Got to stop by the thrift store for the first time in a couple of weeks. Found a knee brace and a pair of coveralls. Spent $3 on all. On the way home, I saw a black plastic crate on the side of the road and turned around to get it. It's in fine shape with just a couple of scuff marks from the drop. I opened the back of the car to put it in and my dd yelled "GROUND SCORE!!!". We are training them well, lol!


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

Holy Toledo! Did we have some weather today. 76mph (SEVENTY SIX) winds, rain from all possible directions and a 22F degree drop in a matter of minutes. Thankfully, no Tornadic activity. It was a wild ride for a little while. But all is well.

My heart does so go out to those in Moore, OK. They were just drenched several times again today. Poor, poor souls. Just insult to injury. Mother Nature can be very cruel.

I hope all HT family members are out of harms way in the middle of these storms paths.

HBG - Smile on your ground score!!


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

Looks like all the bad weather threats are over for awhle so determined to get rest of garden in today. Plants getting massively overgrown in greenhouse. Peppers,cukes,zucchini,lots of flowers and another flat of onions. Plus need to get another planting in. Had a handful of garbonzo beans that wouldn't fit in a jar so planted them and they whizzed out of the ground....think I'll plant a few more.

After arecent events we've thought about doing something sturdier on our basement entrance. All we have is an older traditional type slanted lift up door with nothing at the bottom of the stairs. A steel door would be a good addition there although a tornado would have to be heading right at me to get me down there. Damp,spiders,snakes. No,no, and NO! When we put on the new metal roof we finally got eavestrough so no longer have inches of water down there after heavy rain. Several neighbors have put in underground pre-fab shelters lately. Seems to me that the weather patterns are getting stranger and more violent.


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## NBC3Mom (May 14, 2005)

Stopped by Sam's last night to stock up before my husband retires on June 3, and he gives up his Sam's business card. It was a nice perk to have. Now we have to decide if we will renew it and pay for it ourselves. For the 2 of us it would not be worth it but we buy for a soup kitchen and it saves them money when we buy in bulk. I think I just talked myself into renewing the membership! 
Weather is turning cooler today into the weekend, and as Mutti mentioned, the bad weather threats are over for now. The tomatoes, cabbage, peppers and broccoli that we grew in the greenhouse have been sitting on the porch for 2 weeks waiting to get into the ground. I have babied them since March and will not put them into the garden to be beaten down by hail and blow to pieces by the winds. We had a small tornado the other night (FE0) so I am glad my babies were still on the porch! 
Our rhubarb is doing great this year. Getting a lot frozen for pies and crisps in the winter.


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## hillbillygal (Jan 16, 2008)

It was raining again this morning but the kiddos and I drove out to a couple of yard sales. At the first I bought 3 little boxes full of hinges for $1, a box with two hand planers and other sanding doodads for $1, one small percolator for $.75, and a larger percolator for $1. Only supply type thing I picked up at the second was a new kid's fishing pole for $1. 

Rained again yesterday so I still have squash and other plants needing to go out. Looks like there might not be any more rain until Monday so we need to spend Sunday planting. Friday's low is down to 35 so that's no fun.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Blessed Rain! They have been telling us for the last 36 hours that it could rain at any time.....finally it has (we are bone dry, no measurable rain in 15 or more days)! Temps are now coming do to where I like them in the 50's (ok, my garden won't be happy....but for a few days it's ok). They are even saying that frost might hit us on Saturday morning??!! After suffering through 90 degree heat on Tuesday, I will not complain about frost. I'll just wrap up the garden and deal with it.

City wide garage sale tomorrow and Saturday. I have friends that live outside of town on a little used road. They are coming over in the morning and setting up in my yard (I live on Main st). I have 2-3 large ticket items to stick out there and the kids have a few tchotchke's to sell. I am excited to toss DD's dresser out there with a $20 price tag on it. I was able to find her a larger one for $30 at a church garage sale last weekend. It's longer with deeper drawers, but no taller - Perfect!

I seem to have "bugs" eating my garden. I need to look into how to get rid of potato bugs, I'm guessing. They have totally infested my one bed and there are larger "communities" here and there through out the garden. I've lost 4 or so more peppers. I thought it was rabbits....but nothing that big can get through the cages we built. Must be the bugs (my beds are full of tunnels....looks like swiss cheese). May do a bit of the research during the sale tomorrow. Or maybe my girlfriend and I will leave all the kids to tend the sale and go garage sailing ourselves. They are all home schooled, so it would count as school time if we make them do it all by themselves,  2 oldest are in 8th, followed by a 6th and 5th & 3rd grader, so they can do it.

ETA: okay after a few minutes on the "net" I find the potato bugs (roly poly's) are not my problem - but they still make my skin crawl. Guess I need to look into those tiny black ants I saw.....they were tending TONS of little white "babies". Maybe they are my problem. Only other thing I remember seeing were worms, and those I want  Any hints on how to "evict" the ants but not hurt the worms??


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

45.3 this am...I should have realized it might be cold this weekend with it being the full moon but I barged on and planted all my peppers. Hope they don't sulk too badly. Everything in the ghouse was roots to the bottom of the pots and would wilt badly in the pm's so planted it all out yesterday. Over 60 tomato plants of various varieties,4 doz. peppers, hot and mild,cukes,zucchini and loads of flowers. I take all those pkts. flower seeds and plant some at the beginning/end of ever row and in the middle,too if I start a different variety of plants. Also got in 3-50' rows of green beans and a second planting of sweet corn. Stiff as can be today...can't seem to remember I'm no spring chicken these days. But feels darn good to finally have the garden in after so many delays. The flats of beets and onions I planted last week are really doing well. Picking spinach and lettuce daily but supposed to heat up to 80's so they won't last long. 

Bet alot of folks around here will be planting their gardens this weekend. Several I know replanting after storms and flooding rains. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend. Son so happy to have best friend home from Afganistan this weekend. ...and their new little garden is thriving. Their first garden ever.


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## hillbillygal (Jan 16, 2008)

Couldn't stand it and went out yard sale-ing this morning with the kiddos. Went to one new one and two I had visited on Thursday that were still happening. Bought some shorts for the kids at the first as we are always running low on shorts around here. At the last sale I had already visited, I bought an outdoor umbrella that goes on picnic tables. Dh had mentioned that I should have bought one when I saw them the other day as he's planning on building us a picnic table. The lady was telling me that this one has a broken pin but stays open when you put something in the pin hole. She let me have it for $1. As I was looking around, I saw 5 pint jars sitting on a shelf. I asked her if they were for sale and she exclaimed that if she knew jars would sell, she'd brought more out. I told her I love to can and would buy any jars she wanted to sell. She said she's getting out of canning as her family eats out all the time and would sell me dozens of wide mouth jars for $1.50. :banana: She said she couldn't go look through them yet as she was watching the sale for her daughter but would go look when her daughter got back. I left her a paper with my name and number and am waiting for a call. I told her I would buy any canning supplies she wanted to get rid of. Hope it turns out well! Dh said she'd probably lose my number but I know her daughter and will call tomorrow if I don't hear anything. Yay! I'm hoping for huge yard sales next weekend 

ETA: She called just a little bit after I posted. She said she had gone ahead and counted out two dozen but that she had to go back to work at the yard sale so she didn't get to look through it all. I went straightaway and picked them up for $3. She said she had some that needed to be dumped and cleaned. I told her that if she didn't want to do all that, just to call me and I'd do all that. She laughed and said she might take me up on that offer. She said she kept my number and would give me a call.:thumb:


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## cnichols (Jan 5, 2010)

Well, when middle DS "cleared the fence line" all he did was chop down the trees. So they were all just laying there. DH and I have been working the past two days cutting them up, burning the branches and stacking the pieces that are large enough.

Have squash coming in! And quite a few "flowers" budding. I look forward to our first fresh veggies out of the garden! The tomato & jalapeno pepper plants are flowering but I haven't seen any fruits on them yet. 

Discovered "Cedar Rust Spots" on our two apple tree's leaves but at this point can't do anything about it. I'm pinching pennies so tight right now they are screaming. Luckily the trees are young and have no fruits on them so I'm hoping that they hold out.

Plan on finishing up the fence line clearing on the front side of the property tomorrow and starting the work on the "pad" for the picnic pavilion in front of the outdoor kitchen tomorrow. DH want's to till it up to even it out a bit before we lay down the plastic and start piling on the rocks.

We are also back to giving serious thought to getting goats. It'll probably be next year before we can but they'd be a huge help around here during spring/summer/fall with keeping all of the undergrowth down.

We still haven't processed the roosters. Out of the 21 chicks we brought home, 2 have disappeared and 7 are hens (who have all started laying). That leaves 12 roosters for the canner/freezer. I'm hoping we can get them done on Monday. We'll probably just skin them since I really don't want to spend the time to pluck them! 

And I mentioned to DH that the three extra male rabbits *must* go! We can't afford to be wasting feed on something that isn't going to produce something for us in the future. They've reached their full potential size wise so keeping them is costing us money!


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

HBG, great "ground score". Mine was another 5 gallon oil bucket (perfect for genny diesel) and a handle for my cultivator, complete with the little screw to hold it on! I'm tickled for you, getting jars for that price. I used to be able to find them for 10 cents apiece, but that was many, many years ago.

I am envious of those of you getting your gardens in and shopping great garage sales! It's been pouring rain daily here, which has put a real damper on things, so to speak. I went out to the barn to feed the pig his "last supper", and ended up staying out there for about a half an hour waiting out a downpour. Wonderful for filling buckets with rain water, but not so much for working in the garden. At least I got enough dry weather yesterday to scrub out those water buckets and do laundry. I shouldn't be grousing about the rain, though...not when I watch the news and see tornadoes causing so much destruction and loss of life. 

Today, I finished cutting the rest of the boards and cross pieces for the pantry shelves - just need to cut a few uprights and I can nail them all together! I might get to it tonight, but at this point, I'm tired out from a day of scrubbing my house (and molasses buckets for sugar storage). Decided it was time to check in with all y'all and see what's up. 

I have grapes in the dehydrator, along with silica packets. As soon as the packets have had a chance to dry out, I can move sugar from 25# bags into the molasses buckets. If I remember right, a 4 gallon square bucket will hold about that much. I found 5 molasses buckets at the transfer station a while back - they were very sticky, but they all had lids, and are definitely food grade! It won't get all of my sugar into buckets, but it's a good start.

My older dd and her family came up yesterday and picked up a chair and computer desk from me. So nice to have a little more space here now. I still have a long dresser and another chair for her, but that will have to wait for another day. It was fun to have the grands out here. They have so much fun running wild, riding bikes, and generally just being kids. I can't wait for my dd to get her license so they can come out more often.

I just got a call from the farm butcher confirming he will be out around 8:30-9:00 in the morning. I will be so happy to see that pig go to freezer camp!


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## WV Farm girl (Nov 26, 2011)

Not too much done in the way of preps this month. Did get some herb plants and my veggies are doing well. Trying to focus on building up cash reserves now.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Been a good weekend. DH dug out a section of our foundation by the downspout. We have had leaking during heavy rains. 800# of concrete made and poured in the hole . Extra dirt given to the nectarine tree that was in need of dirt.....it was planted in the old play area which is full of pea gravel. Best part is we planned 3 full days to do this. It only took 4 hours on Saturday and another hour and a half today!! We expected some "issues" to arise, none did. Ground in that spot wasn't as hard as concrete to dig (it is not more then 18" away). Our foundation looked great!! The inside side of the wall is "icky" looking....the outside looked not more then 40-50 yrs old.....verses the 130 it actually is.

Extended the flower bed in the area we were digging. It now is a straight line so mowing will be easier. The flower bed had followed the shape of the house (jetting in and out). Added 1-1/2 bales of peat moss to the VERY packed dirt in the new bed area then transplanted in my 2 patio blueberries that have been living in pots for 4 yrs. I think they will be much happier spreading out a bit. Their "twin brothers" are.....they were transplanted into the strawberry bed 2 years ago.

Got to the range to shoot my .22 lr bolt. DH and I are going to celebrate our 20th anniversary by going to an Appleseed Shoot in July. We discovered that we are not as young as we were, lol. Shooting from the seated position wasn't comfy. We have a few months to loosen up our limbs so we won't be hurting in July. Shooting the bolt we realized how slow it is......we've been thinking about a 10/22......we are now the proud owners of a 10/22. Now we have 2 semi-auto 22's. We will likely all be going to am Appleseed next year. Now we will only need to barrow one .22 from FIL so we can all shoot. I'll have to shoot my bolt then, as I'm the only one that shoots left with long arms. And it's MY bolt....so it's a lefty. Raining today, so the 10/22 will have to get broken in another day. I will not take it out in the rain till it has been stripped and oiled, I don't trust any factories "oil job". Had it been fair weather we would have gone out without the cleaning.

Last 3 nights have been frosty, had to pull out hte tomato cages and cover everything. Friday into Saturdays was brutal......killed some of my plants even though they were covered! I picked up a few plants to replace the ones I lost. Will have to get them in the ground later in the week.


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## hillbillygal (Jan 16, 2008)

We have our garden in the ground now. We worked super hard to get it in because we thought it would rain this afternoon but now it looks like there might not be any rain all this week! I'm just happy to have it all out there.

Gave me a chance to go through some seeds I had stored away. Had enough for our planting and to share with my brother who's planting a different variety of beans than us but that I happened to have bought a bunch of in 2011.

Hoping for a good week and lots of yard sales this weekend!


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

WVFG - cash reserves are an important prep, too!
HBG - congrats on getting the garden in...I really need to concentrate on that this coming week. Not only do I need to get the vegies planted, but I have several bucketsful of spring tubers and bulbs that MUST be planted ASAP.
Jen, glad to hear your 130 year old foundation is in good shape, AND that a 4 day project, wasn't! Hope you get out of the deep freeze soon. That's the main thing I worry about with my garden. I sit in a frost pocket. 

Piggy went to freezer camp right on time. I had heart for lunch and again for dinner tonight at work...yummy! If the rest of him tastes as good, it's gonna be go-ood eatin'. 

I made good progress on the pantry shelves - all the wall supports are up, the rest of the uprights are cut to length, and what I did went smoothly. I'm looking forward to getting back at it this morning. I'm trying to take pictures as I go, but it's a little tight in that room with all the stuff that's supposed to go ON the new shelves just sitting in stacks all over the place. Once the shelves are done and everything is organized on them, I should have MUCH more room...maybe even enough to have a guest bedroom again!


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## WV Farm girl (Nov 26, 2011)

Scored at the local grocery today. I got 5-5gal frosting buckets with lids for $1 each. I've been wanting some food grade buckets and decided to ask. Couldn't pass them up.


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## hillbillygal (Jan 16, 2008)

I picked up a few buckets yesterday too, lol! My mom was with me and she's about got bucket fever as bad as I do now.

I had to buy a 10 lb bag of sugar yesterday as I RAN OUT!!! I can't believe I ran out! I haven't been to the supply store to buy a 50lb bag in a while and I paid for it this past week. I'll be going on Monday to buy two. I need to clean out a couple more buckets to get ready for that.

I have plans to clean out the 55 gallon barrel dh got for me a few weeks ago but I first have to get this house cleaned up. I've been working outside for the past 4 days and the house needs a major picking up because of it, lol!

MGM: Dh has been trying to resist the urge to get a pig this year. He's planned on it for next year but he's about talked himself into it, lol!


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

Got an order in to Honeyville. Barley,instant milk,instant taters,oat groats. Trying some products to see if we like them better than EE. Been eating primarily out of freezer in anticipation of sending steer off to butcher soon. A good brisket recipe would be greatly appreciated! Crockpot would be even better. Ate some T-bones last nite...local ad has them at $8.99/lb. We seem to eat less and less meat anymore even with a freezer full.

Hoping some of the predicted rain will hit our area tomorrow and Sat. North of here they are suffering with up to 7" but all we've gotten in high winds and actually having to water new plantings. More corn/beans in yesterday. Early tomatoes blossoming. Found source for really clean straw so everything well-mulched. Small apples,peaches,plums so might be a good fruit year for us. No frosts at blossoming time.

Pa got supers on the bee hive. Garage full of bee equipment and us with only one colony after the bear attack. He can't decide whether to keep on at all. I keep reminding him of new stainless steel extractor we bought! Not cheap.

Trying to put in a hr or two everyday clearing out barn for yard sale. So much stuff...where does it come from? Alot of horse stuff,tools,stuff they kids leave. Keep telling them this is not a free storage unit.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Mutti, funny how grown kids seem to leave home, but their stuff doesn't! Then there's the stuff from raising animals you're no longer raising (but might again, someday), all the prep stuff that isn't needed at the moment, but ya need to keep....I've always said I need a really small house and a really large storage unit!

HBG, if your dh decides to get a pig, get at least 2...they eat better with the competition and you can sell the extras to help pay for your freezer camp pig. 

Seems like it must be bucket gathering season, lol. I found some in the bins at the transfer station recently, along with a whole lot of lids. I need to remember to call W-M on the nights I am gonna be working and have them save them overnight for me. I can have them for free, but I have to let them know so they don't throw them out at the end of the day. I can also get various sized buckets from the kitchen at work, plus my ddil works in the bakery at my favorite grocery store, but she forgets to bring them to me!

The first wall of pantry shelves is up and I've been busy loading it. Even without building shelves on the other walls, I'd have a well organized pantry once I get the extra dressers moved out of the room (and out of my house). No guest room that way, though. Actually, I'm saving for a garage with a basement...much of what is in the back bedrooms is actually stuff that could be stored either in a storm shelter (basement) or any dry storage building.

I missed a call from the butcher telling me how much the pig weighed and asking how I wanted it cut, so I'll need to call him in the morning. I don't think I'm going to do hams, just bacon (that I'll cure myself), boneless chops, and a lot of ground pork, which I love for just about anything where you'd use ground beef, as well as the obvious sausage.

The weather is finally supposed to warm back up, so I hope to spend much of tomorrow in my gardens.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

We finished mudding in the garden on the 20th. Good thing since we've had around 7" of rain since. Its a tribute to how dry we were that we do not have any water standing in the garden. Actually, despite the cool/wet weather the garden is looking good. Everything has come up except for a row of peas planted with old seed. I hope it dries off enough for me to do some weeding next week. I also need to thin the carrots as they are way too thick. I over planted because I usually have poor germination of carrots and I think every single seed germinated this time!!!

I am planning to hit a couple thrift shops later today and garage sales tomorrow. I don't really "need" anything, but you never know when you'll find that special something you can use.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Made 10 pints of strawberry jam, yesterday. The first 3 set up nice (used pectin) but the last 7 (no pectin) is still "loose". Debating if I want to rebatch it or just go with it. It's thicker then syrup, but a bit thinner then soft spread. I'll likely leave it as it is, so I don't have to run the stove.

A friend that also homeschools has a friend that does clinical studies. Long story short they are required to keep their records for 10 yrs.....then they can shred/burn them. That leaves them with LOTS of binders to get rid of. SO my friend get boxes of free binders every few months!!! we use alot of binders, and they are expensive to buy. She invited a bunch of us over to comb through them and take what we want. I couldn't make it last night when everyone else did, so we went over this afternoon. Had a GREAT visits and realized we are more alike then we realized (we both are anti-social/homebodies - completely happy to be "stuck at home for weeks" and don't think anything of it, lol). I came home with 10 or so binders, and she made me promise to call if we ever needed any more, she'll be getting a few more boxes at the end of June. I came home with 3" down to 1" size binders:bouncy::bouncy: I think she save me about $30!!


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Nice score on the binders, Jen!

I made it out into the garden for a bit today, but I'm just totally feeling overwhelmed out there! So many weeds to tackle every direction I turn. I finally just called it a day and came inside, watched mindless TV and read the Kindle book Angie recommended, The End. Good read!!! Anyway, I'll try again tomorrow, take my meds first thing in the morning so I can concentrate (something I didn't do today), make my June To Do list, and try to focus on just one small area at a time, like I know I should.

Looking over my May To-Do list, I got the pig butchered, built my shelves, and a few other minor things, but there is a lot left to move onto the June (and probably July, August and September) list(s)! I'm still feeling pretty good about even getting the shelves in, so I guess it's all good!


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Ohio dreamer said:


> May:
> Get the garden in.....need to wait this year, they are implying a late cold snap :grit:
> Dig up the flower bed and down "feet" and try to find why the basement wall is leaking. Since it's a 130 yr old house....and the wall is brick.....I'm expecting a "messy" solution.
> Finish school up with the kids then plan my "work" for summer break.
> ...


Well, I didn't do half bad, although I did have a short list, lol. The only thing I didn't get to was working in the basement. But honestly, holding that off till June is not a bad thing. It's so cool in the basement compared to the un-air conditioned house . Kids aren't quite done with school....but that because I won't let them be. I decided to do some writing and continue spelling into June. All other subjects are finished, and unlike school when I was a kid....we actually get to the end of the book before we call it finished.

I'll work on June's list later...


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## hillbillygal (Jan 16, 2008)

Went yard-saling today :gaptooth: Mainly went for things to re-sell as I'm challenging myself to see how much I can make in a summer doing what I love. Still ended up buying a few preppy things. Got one small oil lamp but it needs a globe/chimney. At another sale, I bought a small personal pocket size Grundig Shortwave radio for $.25. Put batteries in it and it works like a charm. Also bought two audiovox two-way radios. I'll need to find some rechargeable batteries for them but when I put in regular AAA's they both worked well.

Plan to hit the grocery store Monday as we are out of several things.

We're supposed to have rain and thunderstorms tomorrow so at least the garden should get a good drink!


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