Use and Re-use

Reusing some items is easy to do and very cost effective. I am refining my kitchen re-useability. I have started composting again (having stopped when Elias was born) and instead of just throwing scraps and ends out I am saving them to juice with other veggie scraps. I combine the juice and the pulp, add seasonings, simmer and then strain off and freeze. This has cut down my broth cost and the leftover mash is perfect worm/compost food! My garden is producing lots of squash, so I think many pots of broth are in my near future!

Home for a Meal

Wow! What a summer it has been. We have been traveling nonstop the last two months...starting with two trips to Cottonwood at the beginning of June. Followed by over a week in Colorado and then a good 10 days in Cupertino. We have been eating out for most meals and were ready to come home and go nowhere!

Unfortunately, with a 10 day absence comes an empty refrigerator. I really didn't want to go to the store yesterday, so it was oatmeal (oats, almond milk, applesauce in cupboard) for breakfast. Craig picked up bread for lunch (grilled cheese with tomatoes). Dinner was going to be a challenge, but my garden came through with tons of squash, zucchini, tomatoes, bell pepper and gobs of parsley, basil and green onions. I made some 7 (ish) grain pilaf with lentils, added the sauteed veg and mixed in some leftover feta and herbs. Some fresh sliced Armenian cucumber and some fresh made chapatis rounded out the meal. It is good to be home!

Garden Abundance

Over the years we have put in small gardens. When Elias was born, the garden became even smaller with less attention put into it. In the past our winter garden has produced radishes, lettuces, beets, spinach and broccoli. The summer garden has never done well producing tomatoes and on occasion zucchini.

Elias loves to garden and as he is becoming more helpful and interested we have decided to scale up a bit. We built five more beds this summer and put in a late garden of tomatoes, watermelon, peppers, squash, eggplant, beans, cucumber and numerous herbs. Even with the late start and inattention due to my absence the last month and a half the garden is starting to flourish. We are working on watering issues (the beds are getting too much) and would like to add more plants.


Over all I doubt it is saving me much money (except in herbs!) It is still a small garden, but it gives the kids some experience with different types of plants and how they grow. We watch the critters that hang around, measure the veggies as they grow and the kids love to eat all the produce fresh picked!

Big Fat Juicy, Itty Bitty Teeny Worms!

What kind of pet do you have!? Worms? Okay, maybe they aren't pets, but they are awfully fun to watch. Elias loves to pick them up, feed them compostables, talk about the microbes they are eating, count babies, shred paper and in the future mix the worm castings into the garden soil.


We have been working on keeping a good moistness, enough food and a bug free environment for our worms. We are still in the learning phase and there have been many adjustments. It is too dry and hot for the worms outside and the bin is easily flooded. I think I am getting the hang of it and might even order a few more worms. I look forward to all the wonderful worm castings that will enrich our garden soil.