Tumbleweeds

I just saw tumbleweeds going through my blog. It has been quite some time since I last posted. We're (the hoosband and I) starting a new blog documenting our foray into self-sustainability. I will try to cross post anything I feel fits the "frugal" category, and try posting new tips and ideas as well.

See you all soon!

Egg-cellent Way to Save!

We have been getting eggs from a few of our hens for about 2 weeks now. They're free range birds, and this summer have hardly touched any bag feed. The cost of keeping our girls has been incredibly low! I can say with certainty, that knowing where our eggs are from, and providing food for my family is incredibly rewarding, on top of the money we save!

Homesteading--the beginning!

We're moving towards a more self-sustainable living--it's a goal anyways. At this point we are working on paying off debt (so we can afford to live of the husband's income alone). We're starting small and working towards what we can afford at the time. Where we are today is a testament to God's grace!

Newest members of our small homestead:
They are actually a bit older now (a little over two weeks) and are feathering out nicely. We have barred rocks and buff orpingtons. Their primary purpose is egg-laying, but they are for eating as well. We'll hold off though until they put on more weight, I'm not in the mood for Chicken Nuggets :)

Frugal in Spring!

There is so much possibility with acreage. We close on our house very soon! Here my girls are holding hands exploring "the farm."

Of course, we save LOTS of money by growing our garden from seeds. I've seen seedling plants at ridiculous prices. My new gardening plot is about 90ft x40 ft. This will be one interesting canning season.

This is just a small dose of what we've started indoors. I've been reading about seed saving to make our dollar go that much further. I can't wait to eat sliced, garden fresh tomatoes!

I hope to start posting more as things settle down!

Frugal 4.0--we're updating our frugal :)

In the next few weeks we will be moving into our new home. It's got acreage. We have been (frugally) saving up pieces of lumber and wood that have been given to us to build a chicken run, and I've already started tons of my plants indoors. We have a lot of plans to move as much as we can towards being frugal and self-sufficient.

I can't wait to share it all with you!

Recycle your Crayons

I apologize for the lack of pictures on this post. I'm in the middle of moving, and I can't find the cord to my camera.

With kids, broken crayons are inevitable. Instead of throwing out the odds and ends you collect, melt them down for shaped crayons for your kids.

You can use candy molds, ice cube trays, or mini muffin pans. I find the mini muffin pans to be easiest. Simply fill each mini muffin spot with the crayon pieces for each color. Put it in the oven until they melt, remove and allow to cool. You can also melt colors individually on the stove or microwave and pour into candy molds or ice cube trays.

Cheap, easy, and recycling otherwise useless crayon pieces.

Home Canning and Preserving

My house smells like fall, more specifically, it smells like apples! We have a friend with several apple trees. I have been canning apple butter, apple pie filling, and homemade applesauce. On top of that I am dehydrating apples for a quick easy snack for my kids (minus preservatives)!

Here's a picture of my homemade apple butter cooking in my crock pot:



Garage sales and Craigslist are great resources for finding canning supplies and cheap dehydrators in your area. I recommend finding a dehydrator that has heat AND a fan. Food dehydrators are not only handy with fruit-- it can also help preserve vegetables to be used later on.

Garden vegetables can be dehydrated and then later added to homemade soups! If you find celery on sale or dig up homegrown carrots, remember they can be dehydrated to use later in the year. A friend of mine even slices up and dehydrates potatoes. You can used dehydrated potato flakes to thicken up a gravy, or make mashed potatoes!