Frugal Tip

Frugal Tip
Tuesday
Tuesday August 31, 2010

Buying homeschool books can be
expensive. It definitly is an investment
into your childrens lives. I have learned
to buy these items on used curriculum sites.
Yahoo has many different types of message
boards you can be part of. There is also ebay
of course and craigs list.
Today I have been going through over 10 years
of education material. I am hoping to make my
load to Kentucky a lot lighter.

Why I homeschool?

Why I homeschool?
Friday August 26, 2010

You wake up one morning and ask
Why do I homeschool? Well, I have
pondered this question many times.

I need to teach my children about Jesus.
Because this is what is important to my
husband and I. We don't care for the things
the world teaches our children.

I love teaching to my children in a family
environment. Where Jesus comes first.
Everyone learns how to live with each other.
It is important to teach children that family
comes first. When my first son was home with
us he was involved in the daily activities. He
helped make dinner and do other activites that
needed to be done. The best part is we did
it together. We learned many things about
each other both good and bad.

My son struggled with ADHD and we
learned how to help him through his diet.
Ritalin was never a consideration.
Through our trials we learned the
way God wanted us to be a family.

Becoming a christian while homeschooling
was how God became the center of our life.

Eggplant

Eggplant
Thursday August 19, 2010

Eggplant got a slow start this year. To be
truthful, it always gets the backseat to
everything else. This year I have 15 plants.
They are all about the size of the eggplant in the
picture.


Below I planted a few late bloomers on the deck.
The deck gets a huge amount of sun. Why not
grow late season plants that still need the heat
to keep them producing. We will see which ones
do better, the ones in the garden or on the deck.

Happy growing!

Barley

Barley
Tuesday August 10, 2010

What can you do with it?
Its very sensible to put it in your diet.
The cost is very small.
I bought barley for 1.79 lb, the
beans were 1.45 lb and the tomatoes
are from my garden.
Especially, when you come into
the kitchen and you want something
to eat. Here's a great cold salad.


Barley and White Bean Salad
with Parsley-Caper Dressing

Barley Salad

1 1/2 cups barley cooked in broth
15 oz of cooked navy beans
chopped parsley or basil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 medium garlic chopped
3 large tomatoes chopped

Cook your barley in chicken
broth for 25 minutes, then
add navy beans, chopped garlic
and onion to pot and let
them warm in the pan. Then,
place in bowl and add your dressing
and toss. Adding your dressing while
the barley and beans are warm is extremly
important. The flavors will soak in much better
when they are warm than cold. Then,
add the rest of the ingredients and chill.


Dressing for salad
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon of capers
1 1/4 cups chopped fresh parsley

Recipe taken from
A year in a Vegetarian Kitchen
by Jack Bishop

Planning

Planning
Thursday August 5, 2010

Many, many years ago my husband and
I began thinking how we were going
live a more frugal lifestyle. I began
reading a book called The Tight Wad Gazette.
This is a great book showing how one family
starting saving money for their future home.
This idea to me seemed like a great plan.
Since, my dream was to one day leave NJ.
I must figure out a way to live more frugally
than I was already living. That is when I decided
every dollar counts. That means if I could save
a dollar on one thing whether in groceries. or
some other way. That dollar I saved would go
to pay extra on my mortgage. Month by month
I would track where I was saving. I began
investing a certain amount of time each week
devoted to working on my budget. If you don't
plan for something how will your dreams ever
become reality. The first step was to plan what
I was going to do and how was I going to get there.
Being a stay at home mom, I had the means to plan
for our future. Learning to plan many things in our
lives has helped us make these plans work.


The biggest way I know how to plan for is the food
budget. When you make all your own food you will
begin seeing how the savings will add up. This will
not just happen for you if you don't plan for it.

This will take some time so make sure you set time
aside for meal planning. Meal planning I also feel
helps you understand what you have in your cabinets.
You will know what is in your pantry. This is an area
to stop overspending.

Making clothes I feel is another way in savings. This
has been something I learn to plan into my week.
This works quite well in the winter. This is an
area I struggle with in the summer months.
I have only made a few items this summer for
my daughter. But I am on a role now.

I can start new everyday and strive to
do better. With the Lords help I can do
many things in His strength.

He's Always Been Faithful ~ Sara Groves

He has always been faithful to me!
Thursday July 29, 2010

This song just touched my heart this morning.
As God continues to direct my families life.
The Lord is moving us out of New Jersey.
Our new home will be in Kentucky.

I have started a new blog called
Faith Lane Farm

Calendula

Calendula
Friday July 16, 2010

Calendula is an annual that blooms in summer.
If you leave it in the same garden area it will
come up voluntarily. Here is another plant that
gives seeds generously. The secret is timing
if you want to collect the seeds.

I started growing this flower because it is
considered to be an herb. Being a soap
maker, I was looking for more plant material
to make soaps. I am hoping this year to dry
some of the flowers since I am growing this
in greater abundance. Making a tea from the
flower will be how I will add it to the soap.

The different tones of oranges and yellows
have always attracted my eye.

Simple Living

Simple Living
Saturday July 10, 2010



Simple Living is something I have always strived
towards. That to me is living without worldly things.
Its not hard to see what kind of world we live in .

I received a letter yesterday from my
sponsored child. The best part about her
letter was her picture and how proud she was.
I sent her 10 dollars and she went and bought
food for her family. She was so proud.
This brought tears to my eyes and just
touched my heart. I think this is what
Jesus was talking about when he was
talking about loving each other.


Eating out seems to be something us Americans
seem to think we deserve. When we don't feel
like making dinner, we make excuses for
ourselves. I began thinking how some people
in this world just want to eat food.

Eating out to me is worldly, especially if
you think about 25.00 and how it could
be used. I can buy 25 lbs of wheat berries
for 25 dollars. That will last me about 2
months, maybe even 3 months. What do
I do with wheat berries? Wheat berries
turns into flour, which I then turn into
food. Like waffles, loaves of bread,
muffins, biscuits, or even a salad.

Growing food is also another example of
this idea. How much do you spend on
lettuce for dinner for your family?



What happens when you decide to grow the
lettuce. Did you know it only takes 22
days to grow lettuce in your garden.
You don't have a garden or the space.
You can grow lettuce in a rectangle
container at your back door.

Lets rethink how we think about food!

Collecting Seeds

Collecting Seeds
Wednesday July 7,2010



Today while moving the water sprinkler
in the garden I started collecting seeds.
Cosmos are always the first flower to go
to seed. Thankfully, not at all at the
same time. Last year I was not
faithful at collecting seed.
Not always a bad thing though.
These are the annual flowers which
I like to call volunteers.




Cosmos Bright Lights




The early cosmos had some dry seeds.
Due to not having no more than a little more
than 1% rain fall in June. All's I can say is
New Jersey looks like its heading into a
drought.

Watering has become quite a chore.
Everything is dry. I do mulch which
is what probably is saving my plants
from dyeing.
Lets pray for rain!

Garlic Harvest

Garlic Harvest
Wednesday July 1, 2010



The garlic harvest was plentiful this year.
I will be tying the garlic next. The best
thing about growing your own garlic is
not having to go to the store and buy it.

I love growing my own food.
I have always like how when you
need something for dinner you
go see what you got stored.
Storing food is not hard, it
just takes a little planning.
You must always need to be
thinking about the next growing
season.

What's Blooming

What's Blooming
Friday June 25, 2010

The orange and yellow mixed in this flower
gives it a nice sunny look. I planted them
last summer and here they are when
there's not a lot of time.

This is the stately Wine Red Hollyhock,
that's what Rachel calls it. This plant
has climbed to 6 ft tall.

The raspberry's are coming. Slow and steady
that is . I had to revamp the whole bed
early this spring. Luckily I had some good
chicken manure.

This is one of my favorite flowers,
Zebrina.
You get thousands of seeds from
these little flowers. The flowers are
small but the plant is quite tall.
You will get many flowers on their
tall stalks. These were my
volunteers this year.

The Black Eyed Susan's.
Which it seems I have
everywhere.

Once you have them, they
are here for good.

Happy Blooming Days!

Bringing in the Wheat Harvest

Bringing in the Wheat Harvest
Wednesday June 23, 2010

Most people assume growing wheat
is left to a large farm operation.

It is really about changing the way
we think about growing food.

If you think of farming on
a small scale we would start growing
plants they grow in the field.

Growing wheat has been a great experience.
I started out with a seed and went to a plant.
Then I waited and watched.
It has been 9 months since planting time.
Last week we started cutting down the wheat.
You may laugh, but here it goes. I did not have
a tool to cut with so what did I use.
Scissors.
I usually carry a pair of scissors in the
garden as you never know when your going
to need them.
I then wrapped them with twine and left them
in bundles.
Now they are drying.

Till next time we will be threshing.

Traveling to Kentucky

Traveling to Kentucky
Friday June 18, 2010






We went on a road trip. Rachel got to spend
some time with her cousin in Kentucky. We
got to spend some with the family, it was a
great trip.
God has led us to an open door.
We are going to be property owners
in Springfield, Kentucky.
God is good! His timing is perfect!

Hand Sewing

Hand Sewing
Thursday May 20


Hand sewing is something I love to do.
Last night I worked on Rachel's new tiered
skirt which is a nice light weight linen material.
I am hand sewing the tiers together. I like
how the gathers come out when they are done
the old fashion way.

When I go on trips with my husband
I can still work on my sewing projects. Last
weekend I went on a road trip to Hartford, Conn.
I finished all the of the tiers, but one.

I did get to go look at some historical dresses
at the art museum.
I love studying historical dresses.
So much more detail went into their garments.
It was a true inspiration.

Cool Season Vegetables

Cool Season Vegetables
Tuesday May 18

Cool season vegetables are plentiful.
We are enjoying some very nourishing
food, which is great after the winter.

Due to being one of those people who try
to only eat whats in season. It sure was
nice to eat these vegetables. I am starting
to understand how great food taste when
you have to wait for its season.

We put most of these crops in late October
of last year. This is called overwintering,
which makes your spring work a lot easier.

The Iris's are Blooming

The Iris's are Blooming
Wednesday May 12

My yard is full of color. Most of the Iris
flowers have bloomed. I plant them amongst
the vegetables in the garden. It gives you a
nice splash of color early in the season.

Tulips

Tulips
Friday April 30





The love of flowers,
brings me joy!


Tulip is probably one of my
favorite flowers.

Frugal Tip

Frugal Tip
Tuesday April 27



Frugal tip of the week, making waffles.

My family loves waffles. This is our
typical breakfast. Our biggest expense
is the syrup. In the spring when the
strawberries come into season I will make
strawberry syrup. Then in June blueberry
syrup will get made also. These are my
substuites for the maple syrup.

I can make these in large batches and
put them in the freezer.

Starting Seeds

Starting Seeds

Monday April 26

This is how my husband started our seeds.
Amongst all the wedding activities he sat
down and began planting. This all happened
one day before the wedding, while I was
finishing my dress.

In a small amount of space you can start about
200 plants. We have two lights on top of our
refrigerator which helps with the germination.
Your biggest job at this stage is spraying the
soil with water. We also build our own soil,
using deyhdrated cow manure, peat moss,
triple phosphate.
These squares are called the mini blocks.
You can buy the tool from Johnny Seeds.
All the information came from Eliot Coleman's
book The New Organic Grower.

Whats coming up in the garden?

Whats coming up in the garden?
Wednesday April 21

Red leaf lettuce

Rhubarb

Our two ducks

I have Iris's, daffodils, tulips and

apple trees in this bed.

These are my prize tulip this year.
They were the first to come up.
They open very large.

Enjoy spring!