Small Steps I: Give Something Up.

In honor of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day (April 22, 2010) I want to do a series of posts on Small Steps you can take to live more simply. OKAY? Here goes... Step One: Give something up.

Sound over-simplified? Maybe. But if it's so simple why are we all so bad at doing it? 3 years ago we gave up TV for Lent. Not just "didn't turn it on," but canceled it. We didn't have pay TV for a year until we moved here and could get NOTHING without it. No weather, no news, no PBS. So now we have TV, but that year without it started something. It snowballed into us moving to the woods, homeschooling our kids, downsizing, and paying off our debt. Putting in a garden, cooking from scratch, becoming farmers, and becoming active in our small community.

So what am I giving up now? I don't know. Eating out at chain/ fast food restaurants maybe. We still do that way too much, and when we do? It's not very good. My "seasonable" veggies the other night at Applebee's included summer squash and zucchini. ??? Far more memorable was dinner the next night, at home. Sausage and Asparagus with Sweet Potatoes. Delicious. Simple. Fresh. Local. Better.

So, my suggestion is, find something you can do without, and do without it already! Okay? Good.

Garden Update 3/21/10

So, since the last time I updated you on our driveway garden, we've made some serious progress. Mr. Incredible built me this sweet gate from leftover pickets. AND behind that you can see all of my raised beds laid out, ready for dirt. This sight is what I came home to after work Thursday night! (Happy dancing ensued...)

Friday morning we road-tripped to Morton's in McMinnville, TN for some of their ready-mixed growing medium with worm castings. How much dirt did it take to fill all those raised beds?
150 cu. ft. We looked like crazy people who live in the woods and only go to town once a month. Oh... Wait... We ARE those people! Check it out...

So, We lined the beds with the Moore County News, and opened all those bags...
This is what it looked like Saturday when we were done...

Do you notice something green in there? I couldn't help myself. I had to plant SOMETHING! So I strung my square foot grid per Mel's instruction (using some metal screws and mason's twine) and got to planting! So far I have Cabbage, Red-Leaf Lettuce, Romaine, Red Onion, Yellow Onion, Swiss Chard, Spinach, and Marigolds. I've only filled a FRACTION of the beds.

Of course, I broke the #1 Middle TN gardening law of don't plant before April 15th. So today, with cold temps predicted for the immediate future, I had to get creative protecting my tender little plants. This is what my garden looks like now...

Good thing I saved all those vinegar jugs!

Daddy's little helper...

Curly Sue LOVES to help her dad with projects.
The other day she helped him finish my garden fence.

Teamwork.

She's becoming a real pro!

Not to mention an excellent supervisor!

Look at that face! Farmgirl tough!
"Don't mess with me, boys, I've got a drill, and I know how to use it!!"
What a cute kid!

Quick Garden Update...

This is what my front yard looked like 2 weeks ago. Bare gravel, that's it.

by last week we had progressed to this: mini Stonehenge. (this is where we left off, after the adventure with the post hole digger.)

Now, it looks like this! The fence is up, and the concrete has set. All we need now is the gate, the raised beds, and lots of dirt. I love the way it makes the front yard looks like already, you know, like it has a purpose? More to come soon!

Another Week, Another Post of Excuses...

Or: What I've been doing instead of blogging...

It's been a week since I've posted on either my blog, or my website, and I'm starting to hear some complaints from friends and family who like to know what we're up to. So, here goes...
(brace yourself!)

• Monday was a brew day. So the kids and I went to the library. We actually got a ton of school done in a reasonable amount of time, although I had to let Curly Sue listen to her MP3 Player since she said it was too quiet. Whatever works. We had lunch at the coffee shop (big shocker) and then spent the afternoon doing some local shopping for a swap I'm doing on MaryJane's Farm. I wanted to send local stuff, since that's my thing. Then we had a quiet night at home with Mr. Incredible.
• Tuesday it snowed. A lot. The girls played outside until they were cold and wet, then came in to burn through some more schoolwork. We had to cancel coffee with Sherrie, their 1st piano lesson, and there was no 4H trip to the horse barns, but we sat around drinking cocoa together, and getting caught up on some baking. Mr. I worked late at job #2 in the afternoon. (and brought me home 25 lbs of flour from Falls Mill WOO HOO!)
  
• Wednesday, we had breakfast at the coffee shop (again, big shocker) and then we did a ton more schoolwork. Wed. night, we had to go to ballet for Little Bit's pictures. She was beautiful. I'll share when I get them. We picked up a pizza on the way home. Everyone was tired. Mr. I worked all day again at job #2.
  
• Thursday was crazy. Up at 6, I left by 7, leaving Mr. I. in charge. (I stopped at the coffee shop for an Au Lait and a Scone, surprised?) I went with 2 other gals from the farmers market and our county extension agent to a direct farm marketing workshop in Spring Hill, TN. It was an all day affair, with tons of good information, lots of local "farm celebrities" to meet and greet, and some awesome local food to boot! I came home with a pile of reading material, and plans to attend some other meetings/ farm tours going on in the area. While I was gone, the rest of the family tackled school and ran errands, and generally held down the fort just fine without me! I got home in time to pick up the girls, trade cars, and head to work at the gym, in Tullahoma. When the girls' class was over, Mr. I. picked them up , trading cars again, and I got home at about 8 for chicken pasta salad for dinner ( our first of the season, as we usually eat this in summer.)
• Friday (today, I think) started early again (6 is the new 7 at our house.) Mr. I. was out the door by 7:30 for job #2. The girls and I tidied up the house, then got school started by 9 and done before noon. Since it was near 60 and sunny today, the ladies spent the rest of the day outside, and I opened some windows and did some heavy spring cleaning. (I washed windows, curtains, shampooed the carpet, dusted, and moved furniture ~yes, again, Jared~ and generally cleared the clutter...) I called my nephew to wish him HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEFF!!!!! I also got to talk to Dee (HI, DEE!!) whom I've missed! Mr I. got home in time to change his clothes for job #1, then we all went to dinner out (Chinese), since he had to drop off his work truck with Matt somewhere, and he'd be right there anyway. After dinner, he headed off to work for the night, and the girls and I went to TSC (Tractor Supply for you non-farmer types.) We admired the baby rabbits, decided Mr. I would kill us, and settled instead, for a stash of farm magazines, and a cheese making book. There were no ducks. I might have gotten ducks. (don't tell Mr. I. hi Mr. I...) After that we stopped by Grammie's house to say hi, and then called it a night when Little Bit started to fall asleep every time she sat down. Once we got home, I got the girls and chickens to bed, gathered up 17 eggs that were waiting for me, chatted for a bit online with Anna (we shared a beer over the internet) and began doing some writing and blog maintenance.

SO! That is why I've not have time to blog. My life has been taking over (getting messy again.) It feels good to be busy again, though. The only bad thing is that we are eating out (or bringing in) a lot more. Last week I was really good about fixing something before I left, but this week schoolwork kind of took over, and well, that's not really a bad thing. We hope to finish for the year by Memorial Day, and have the whole month of June off. June is really great here. We can see the end in sight, so the girls are willing to work hard again. Take it while you can get it, you know what I mean? Now, I must go to bed.

Tomorrow is slated to be a busy day again, with laundry on the line, wood to stack, seeds to order, bread to bake, groceries to buy, blogging to catch up on, and a sleepover for the girls to coordinate. Not to mention it's First Saturday. (at Goodwill, people, pay attention!!)

Thanks for reading this all. Good Night!

My New Garden...

Evidently, this is the year we change the look of our property...
First the shop, now my garden. Come See...

This is what our front yard looked like on Feb. 25. We'd moved the lumber, and the woodpile, and done some serious planning. You can see the shop progress, the dog kennel/ turned rabbit & chicken yard off to the right, and the porch & clothesline in the background. The small rock pile in front of the slab is the temporary ramp that lets me say I'm "parking in the garage."

These are my picket fence panels. Waiting...

This is the pile of the nicest, clearest dimensional lumber ever. It's killing every man in town (especially mine) that we're "just" building raised beds with it.

This is my new favorite machine. The "your wife won't have to help" post hole digger. Worth every extra dime over the two-man job. It was still way harder than it looks.

And, this is what it looks like right now. Stonehenge all over again. And that, my friends is the beginning of "How to garden in the driveway, 101."