Planning the Garden

Planning the Garden

    I don't know about you, but I have already started planning out my garden. This is the time to start planting all those indoor plant seeds again. Tomatoes , eggplant, broccoli, cabbage, kale, carrots, celery, cauliflower, peppers some of the cool weather plants and squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, and such for the warmer weather if you plant by seed instead of plants. This year  I hope I can stay on top of the watering since last year it was so dry.

     I pulled up all the old dead plants to prepare my raised beds. I need to add some mulched leaves and such too, and more soil. Have lots of chicken manure to turn in too. My green house is filled with all my  house plants and trees that I have collected and grown over the years. 

    I started my tomato seeds, eggplants, cayenne peppers and my sons favorite, Brussel sprouts in single starter pots so far, and put them in the house for a few weeks. I have already looked at everyone's seeds (non-gmo of course). I am only going to do a garden for the basics, so no full blown growing since the space is so limited here. My herbs take up a lot of space too.

    I want to build a few up right garden planters that will have rows will all the left over wood we had from the renovation just to get rid of some of the mess. Recycle when I can is the best thing for everything.   That will give me a spot to plant more of my herbs, not to mention be easier on the back.   I want to put a few buckets of veggies out too, transplanting some tomatoes and peppers and getting potatoes started in a few too.  

    Sustainability is the thing I really am trying to get better at. Now that we have chickens and ducks we will have the eggs and meat. What more do I need ... a few goats would be nice but that is for a different time and space for now. 

closing out 2025

Closing Out 2025 

    I know it has been a long time since I have posted, but I hope to get back into the swing of things at the beginning of the new year and  here we are at the end of another year. Never in my life time did I think I would make it to 65 but here I am! I only have one person the thank for this too, Jehovah God. He has moved me through some pretty crazy chaotic things in my life so far and I will be sticking very close to him for it too! 

        I have thought a lot about how to supplement our income with a side hustle and I have decided that my soap business that I have neglected will be my thing, now that all my doll houses are pretty much finished up. Over the summer I stock piled my supplies and managed to have a good bit to get started.  I have goats milk, aloe vera, shea butter, jojoba, coconut  oil, olive oil and many more bases, and over 120 scents and essential oils and many different molds to accommodate everyone.  I really should have started before all the holiday stuff started  to make some money, but  there has been so many house projects to get done and poultry pens to get finished up. I have put it all on the back burner.

        I have made shampoo bars and conditioner bars for a trial run to see how well it turns out for us. I have made several kinds of soap and lotion bars also. It is so much fun mixing and matching scents to the molds. I have even used herbs and flowers. I would like to add bath bombs and lip care salves to the mix also.  I also have stuff to make soy candles. I have had great success with the salves for many of my friends for pain, bruises already, especially since we are all getting older and need that TLC. And everyone loves the nature remedies to keep us all going especially when we have big pharma pushing every which thing pill wise down us. If you know me I try my hardest to stay out of all that stuff. I love a spa setting that takes me away from all the daily chaos, don't you? Much of my soap, salves and lotion bars has already flown out the door to friends.

    I still continue to do studies to keep myself up to date on remedies. I will be glad when the day comes when we don't need to worry about being sick or broken anymore. Working on being more sustainable is what I really want to do in the mean time. 

    Here are just a few Bars I have made. Some are shampoo and conditioner bars and some are soap and some of my stock pile of goodies!

    Well I hope we all make it through to the end of this year and we all have a great start to the new year approaching rapidly. May we all be blessed with better things!