Brown Thumbs?

Well, we took the plunge, put on the boots and started the garten.  Yes, it also looks like a Bier Garten.  Can you blame me?

This project kind of just 'grew' (get it?) from a raised bed, as seen on the left (below), Right (above).  Got so excited and discovered a source of throw away lumber and acquired a number of 2x4 boxes.  Stacked them together, secured them, and filled them up with rock, compost and soil and we now have several raised bed gartens.

This is on the southwest side of the house and gets good sun the majority of the day.

So, in September we planted tomatoes, bib lettuce, romaine lettuce, canteloupe (listeria free mind you), corn, onions, carrots, green/yellow/orange/red bell peppers, yellow squash, pole beans, watermelon, broccoli and cauliflower.  Potatoes are next, just need to get them from the feedstore.

Total of 60 sq feet of garden.

Due to drainage issues, built a deck along with it so our feet don't stand in the water after a heavy, heavy rain.  Again, recycled pallet material, even reused the nails!

 Started the corn, tomatoes and Romaine lettuce from seed!

Even had some help with the decking.

So all in all, we should be able to get our ROI this season alone, thanks to the 'recycled' boxes and deck work.  More important, it is a place to relax, reflect and feel proud about the work we did and think back on some fond memories of my grandmother's tomato garden and how sweet they were.

This is our first real garden since we have been here, we had some good success in Ohio, but not on this scale.  Thanks to Megan and Michael to really be an inspiration to get motivated and see it through.  Now only if these brown thumbs can turn green!  (sounds like a Elton John song)

On the plate for this week:  Hanging a truss system for the Blackberry plants.  These are the "Natchez" variety of Blackberries.  They were in the 50% off rack at Lowes, I think I've nursed them back from their distressed state and they seem stable where I want to plant them.  My research says, although they are from Arkansas, they will grow successfully in Zone 9.  Can't wait to see if we are lucky to get some fruit.

Next up...blueberry bushes around the pool cage.

Status Check, or how healthy is healthy?

Greetings!  The Frugalmeister was just reading some of the old posts and thought it be best to check in and give an update on some of the projects we have going on the homestead.

1. Summertime is here, as with any school employee, paychecks stop coming for a couple of months.  Time to live out of the freezer and pantry.  We've been doing it successfully and have even gotten a bit creative with our dishes as not everyone is eating the same thing as the person next to them!
2. Looking around the house for projects on the cheap....well Fraulein Frugal is back in college, furnished in no doubt by the free section of Craigslist.  Wonderful tool and timeless energy sorting through other people's crap to get the special item...but hey.  A Broyhill Entertainment center and sleeper/loveseat combo to furnish the newly created relaxation lounge!
3. Homemade Liqueur is a creative process.  Raspberries were on the cheap, picked up some vodka from the mil and now have a distillery in the bathroom.  Raspberry, Cherry, Orange and Kahlua.  Pomegranate will be next when they come in season.  Another batch of wine will be brewing shortly as well.

4. Victory Garden....finally decided to start it, should be ready for plants when the weather cools off in September.  I'll post pictures/video of the project for others to share.  In the meantime, check out Meine Schwester's garden.

Just some of the items we are working. 

For those that are counting, ebay and Amazon flips, are close to $400 net!

Chat with you soon!

What will 2011 bring?

Happy New Year and best wishes for a better 2011 than 2010!

This is the year we are striving to make a lot of progress towards the simpler life.  A thought that has come to our minds regarding excess spending $$ can be to go simpler.....the basic task of picking.  Yes, you've seen the shows on TV with the Storage Wars, American Pickers and the like, but do some research....you will not always find the golden watch in the old suitcase stored away...you need to work for it.

I've added a couple of websites I found during my research that start to explain the art of picking.  Garage Sales, Thrift Stores, Auctions and Craigslist.  What I've learned, is to simply know your items, buy it at a price that you flip a profit on.

Just to see how 'easy' it could be to get started in this craze, I looked up our Craigslist and found a easy 'Free' item for some Ikea Wardrobe Frames...they retail at $100 each and there were four of them still in the box....missed the item by a few hours, but it was there.  The options were simple...use them at home (future Hoarders), relist them on Craigslist for a few $$ or even better, return them for store credit at Ikea.

I've updated my Paypal account as well as our Ebay account and will start the Thrift Store circuit.  There are a number of them I pass on my daily commute.

We'll see if we can make some $$ on this deal as we start to save for Christmas of 2011. As this builds, we'll let you know how we do!

It's been a while......

Well I think we can call it a summer.....we have gone camping, gone to the beach, cooked out on the grill a lot and are now back in school.  Funny, there is more a sense of a new year at the end of summer (Labor Day) then there is on January 1st.

From a frugality perspective, I guess you could sum up daily living by just practicing mindful spending everywhere you go and just about everything you buy.  For us, the savings have been continous.

Bought a car, traded in the motorcycle.  The car I bought is a gas sipper, namely due to the length of our commute each day.  Why get a vehicle you are going to wear out at 17 mpg, while you can do it at 28 mpg?

We are in the process of cleaning out the house, in anticipation of putting it on the market next June.  Simpler house, means simpler things.

We will tell you, going through things you haven't touched in years, really bodes the question, do we really need this?  We have gone through round one, next is round two.

We have been crazy on craigslist as I am moving some bicycles along.  We hope to get a tandem to start out daily riding and possible some overnights in the area....we shall see what the market bears.  It looks right now, there is a wide choice at the $150 level....if only I get them at the $100 level.  We shall see.....

Happy trails and start to look for those Christmas bargains......Black Friday is just around the corner.

"Are you ready for the summer?"

Yes....are you ready for the summer?  Great movie, one of our top ten of all time to watch.  Reason why I direct your attention to it? 

The Frugalmeisters, well three of them, have bartered our way to summer camp for three weeks.  Frau Frugal will be on a team of registered nurses at camp, Kleinen Frugal will be just having a ball and Herr Frugalmeister will be arbeit just about anywhere at camp.  In exchange for our services, the camp has agreed to pay for our travel to the great state of New York and waive the campers fee which was significant.

We leave in a couple of weeks and have pretty much the month of July to enjoy in the Hudson Valley.  Plenty of pictures to post when we return.

The blog postings have been silent lately as we are working hard to achieve a few goals:
1)  We have found a potential small scale farm location and it currently in foreclosure, bankruptcy, etc....we are doing what we can to see if we can pick it up at auction and then put our house on the market.
2)  Our house is currently the house of never ending problems....pool sweeper, won't sweep, leak in the sprinkler system, finish painting, flooring and a pesky stair step crack has opened on the side of the garage.  We don't know if it is part of a sinkhole or decaying tree roots from a large maple taken out several years ago.  Can't report it to the insurance company as it is now hurricane season.  More investigation to follow.

Anyway, we have found a piece of eden, we are working to secure it as ours and then another step in the right direction of providing for ourselves and only ourselves.

So, I think we are 'ready for the summer', off to see Morty and the gang at camp and more fun on the future.  Thanks for checking in.

Haiku's

Creating Haiku's are something that is fun, easy and will convey a 'thought of the day' to those around you.

Here are a couple from this past week that were in Frau Frugal's lunchbox:

"Hey Spaz where are you?
Exploring his own brave world.
Welcome Home, again"

Somebody left the gate open or it was opened by neighborhood kids and Spaz got to wander around the neighborhood for a couple of hours.  We found him, all dry and safe.  This one is pretty self explanatory.

"Wake up sleepy head
Drifting dreams and pleasant thoughts
Deep REM so restful"

Try one at home and share!

The Family Fleet

The Frugal household has reduced the fleet.  We are down to basically a single vehicle and have been one for over a month.  Herr Frugal still has the fachhandler, but we as a family rely on a single vehicle.

We are saving on gas, on insurance and to some degree, car maintenance.  We may be taking a toll on the remaining vehicle, but with regular service, we should be just fine.  In fact, (knock on wood), we just passed 185,000 miles!  Pushing for 250K!

In doing some research for this post, I discovered some interesting information:

• about 35% of all households own one vehicle, these households have an income of over $250,000 or between $25,000 and $35,000.
• the average household has 2.28 vehicles
• the most common combination of vehicles are a full size pick-up and a mid-size sedan
• South Dakota has the highest % of households in the U.S. that has 5+ vehicles

So, consider the changes you may be able to make, not withstanding the decrease in CO2 emissions.  (I think I saw automobiles were responsible for 30% of the CO2 emissions)