Chickens & Garden 2026 Update

 

Last year I added three new peeps (most likely my last set) to the flock as my senior hens were in their final year and egg production was minimal.  I am really happy to report these ladies have grown up strong, healthy and happy and they are excellent egg layers.  They comfortably reside in the coop and pen area I built fourteen years ago (hard to believe it is that old!) and expanded   years ago.  I continue to keep it well maintained so it holds up and keeps them safe from predators.

 

The ladies are enjoying a rather charmed life with good feed and lots of goodies to keep them healthy and happy.  I give them the leaves I rake up in the fall and the weeds I’ve been pulling up from the yard this spring to add variety to their diet and it helps to keep them from getting bored.  The leaves have the added advantage of keeping mud at bay in the pen area and become next year’s compost.  The weeds have given them added nutrients as well as some nice variety.  I can attest that the eggs they lay are delicious!

 

Last month I turned the soil with added compost and I am allowing it to sit for a full two months untouched to allow the earthworms to do their job.  Next month I will be turning it in just before I start planting and then I will rake it nice and smooth.  I will be using bunny litter to mulch and fertilize what I plant this summer, which is going to be rather minimal.

 

At this particular time I am blessed to be well stocked with food so I don’t have a need to plant out a full garden.  I want to put some zucchini seeds in the ground, cultivate what garlic I already have in the ground and perhaps a tomato plant or two, but other than that I am going to let the rest of the garden beds rest again this year and then re-evaluate things next spring.

 

My flowerbeds need some transplanting, rearranging and fertilizing so I’ll be working on those this summer.  The bunny will be helping me out by providing all of the fertilizer I will need so I won’t need to purchase that.  It’s too bad the farmers don’t have access to bunny manure because it is good stuff.

 

My fruit trees are healthy and I’ve sprayed them for insects, twice now.  My hope is that they provide me with enough fresh fruit to enjoy, share with others and maybe can some too.  I have an apple tree, a pear tree and a new plum tree.  I’m not expecting much from the plum tree as it is still quite young.  I’m super grateful to have these trees.

 

That pretty much sums up my 2026 garden plans.  I am keeping it pretty minimal this year as you can tell.  Will I ever plant out a full garden?  Probably not, but who knows?  Gardening really isn’t my jam, as I’ve mentioned before.  I suck at it, but I truly do love a fresh homegrown tomato.  There is just nothing quite like it.

 

 

 

My Simple Thrifty Linen Closet

 

The linen closet serves two purposes.  It keeps my bed linens where I store my sheets, either my one set of flannel sheets or my one set of cotton sheets depending on the season, a couple blankets, my dining chair covers and the bin where I keep my electric blanket during the warmer months.  The guest bed has only one set of sheets which is adequate so I have nothing extra to store for that bed.  My linen supply is rather minimal and that frees up the remainder for my household essentials.

 

On the top shelf of the linen closet I am able to store a good supply of toilet paper, facial tissues and a small supply of paper towels.  I don’t use paper towels all that often so keeping just a few rolls lasts me a very long time.

 

The remaining two shelves store my cleaning supplies and extra toiletries.  I easily have about a two year supply of these items for two people.  I keep my cleaning and hygiene routines very simple and I’m very careful not to overuse any products and minimize potential waste so I don’t really need all that much to get the jobs done.

 

This current supply allows me to have plenty on hand and gives me the time I need to shop for replacements at the best possible prices.  I like to wait for the sales cycles.  By stocking for two people I am also able to donate products and help someone in need.  As I move into the future I will pull the older products first and then shop only to replace what I have used.  A pull and replace method allows me to stay well stocked and saves me a lot of time and money in the process.

 

Stretching My Food $$ - Oatmeal

 

I’ve noticed, along with everything else, the price of oatmeal just keeps going up and up.  During the pandemic I could easily buy a large tub of store brand oatmeal for $1.98 and now that same size tub of oatmeal is $3.98.  I stopped buying those tubs and now I get my oatmeal from Costco because it is the best value five pounds for $10.  Nonetheless, despite inflation, oatmeal still gives us a lot of bang for our buck.

 

I love to add raisins or cranberries, cinnamon or maple syrup

Shrinkflation has definitely affected the size of a box of breakfast cereal over the years and the price for those boxes has increased.  When you compare the cost of a serving of cold cereal to the price of a serving of oatmeal the difference in price is incredible, especially as people rarely are satisfied and full after a single serving of cold cereal.  Most people eat two or three servings.  Oatmeal, by comparison, is mere pennies.  It is also a much cleaner food than what is in a box of cold cereal.  A serving of oatmeal keeps you fuller longer too.

 

Homemade oatmeal cookies with dried cranberries & chocolate chips

In addition to being a wonderful breakfast staple oatmeal has a multitude of uses.  I use old fashioned oats to make my own healthier homemade granola and I use it in my homemade honey oat bread.  Homemade oatmeal cookies are my personal cookie of choice.

 

Oats are great to use as healthy meat extenders.  I use them instead of bread crumbs when I make meatloaf or meatballs.  To extend breakfast sausage or ground beef patties you can add in oats to make it go further as well.  Oats are also good to use in black bean burgers as a binder.

 

Making your own oat milk is definitely a less expensive option over purchasing it at the grocery store.  And when you are finished you can use the spent oats in homemade granola bars, cookies or as a meat extender so nothing goes to waste.

 

Homemade granola

Even though the price of oats has doubled it still remains one of those economical foods we should all be taking full advantage of.  Gluten free nutrition that is good for us, heart healthy and still very affordable.

 

 

My Tireless Retirement - Week 213

 

Another fabulous week is in the books.  I am now focusing solely on myself as I am marching onward after the disappointing outcome with our situation at work.  In order to save myself I need to take really good care of ME and that is what I am doing.  I’ve hit that point, where sadly, I have to stop caring so much.  It is especially sad because we are in a time in our lives where people need to care, but at what cost?  With the help of my therapist I am effectively heading into the “I don’t give a $h!t” zone”.  Moving forward in a friendly and positive way is really the best solution, regardless of what that may become of the future.

 

Over the last weekend I devoted a significant amount of time to revisiting and researching options for my 5 year plan, which is now more of a four year plan as nearly a year has passed since I started.  Travel ideas, relocation prospects, housing options, all that fun stuff.  It reinvigorated me and got me thinking.  A lot!  I also firmed up some plans I have for having fun this year too.  I even added a few small things to my camp gear that I had lying around the house.  I am getting excited to be outdoors and go exploring this summer.

 

On my last camping trip I found a Coleman camp griddle leaning up against a tree.  It was super sticky with grease so I slipped it inside a plastic trash bag and brought it home and stuck it in my garage.  Monday morning I brought it in and sprayed it down generously with oven cleaner.  Using my most aggressive scour pad I was able to remove all of the sticky greasy residue and get it all cleaned up.  Now I have a beautiful “new” griddle to add to my gear and use next time I go camping.

 

After much thought I ordered a complete set of window covers for the Subaru.  I had toggled back and forth between making something or buying something, even going so far as to make window templates to use as patterns.  Once I sat back and really thought about it though I decided it was not only going to be cost prohibitive and fairly labor intensive, but as picky as I can be about certain things it would probably be far less frustrating to just go ahead and order the set.  I am happy with that decision.  Next payday I am hoping to get a 12V refrigerator.  I am slowly ticking away on my list to off-grid efficiency and future travel.

 

Because I embarked on a pantry challenge recently I am working on clearing out the freezer on top of my refrigerator.  I pulled out enough items to feed myself all week without much cooking at all.  Mostly, I just reheated items and it was a nice little break from cooking.  I enjoyed leftover meatballs in sauce, some stuffed bell peppers from the freezer, beef burritos, soup and cornbread muffins, smoothies, eggs and toast, etc.  It was a delicious week!

 

Pressing The Pause Button & Changing It Up

 

In April I spent a fair amount of time in my kitchen and I accomplished a lot.  I was able to complete most of the spring canning projects on my list, fill up the deep freezer in the garage and restock the LTFS shelves as well as fill in some gaps in my kitchen pantry.  With no more space on the shelves or in the freezers I am pressing the pause button for a while and for the next two months I only plan to purchase fresh produce, dairy items and replace frozen vegetables and pantry staples as I use them at the best possible prices.

 

I made my own freezer meatballs

I completed a personal goal, which was to have a two year supply of shelf stable and frozen foods in my LTFS for two people.  I do believe, if push came to shove, and as long as I was very careful, between what is in the deep freezers and on the shelves I could live off of what I have without shopping for at least two years.  However, in order to do this I wouldn’t be able to donate food or help those in need so I do still plan to buy items on sale when I can so I am able to do that.  Right now though, my donation shelf is looking fabulous!

 

Popular donation item

In my linen closet I have enough toiletries, laundry supplies, paper products and cleaning supplies to last for two years.  Again, that would mean no donations or helping others so I still plan to purchase items on sale for this as well.  Soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes have been my main donation items this year.  I hope to continue to do that for as long as I can.

 

Blessed with abundance 😊

At the end of this two month period I will re-evaluate where I am at, both as far as my inventory and finances, and decide what I plan to do next.  I may need to postpone my next Butcher Box order if I have no place to put it.  This is a good problem to have and I feel very blessed and grateful to be fully stocked at home and have extra items to share with others.  It makes me very happy!

 

This Month's 2026 Grocery Spending – April

 

My plan going into April was to make sure I am fully stocked up.  I was able to top up both deep freezers, add to the pantry and restock my LTFS.  Several canning projects took care of filling all the gaps on my shelves and a Butcher Box order took care of the gaps in the deep freezer.  I am feeling really good as far as groceries are concerned.

 

A trip to Costco for beef stew meat and boneless skinless chicken was high on the priority list so I could get that canned and on the shelf.  While I was there I grabbed two more loaves of low carb bread as well as some organic salad mix.

 

My next shop was to Winco to restock some of my favorite spice packets.  I prefer the Winco brand of taco seasoning and their au jus so I picked up four of each plus and extra taco seasoning to use to can carne asada.  I picked put the beef strips, one of which was on markdown, and a couple bell peppers there too.  I added a large well priced chuck roast to my cart as well.

 

Fred Meyer provided me with a ham priced at 75¢ per pound!  I processed it into meal size portions, vacuum sealed and stashed it  in the deep freezer for future meals.  I also added four pounds of good quality bulk pork sausage at $2.99 each, restocked the butter at $2.49 a pound and picked up a few other items on sale to stock in the pantry.

At Albertson’s I picked up two jars of my favorite blue cheese salad dressing on a special offer.  I was also able to restock the emergency/camping/donation shelf in my LTFS with Knorr rice and pasta packets at $1 each.  A few bananas too which made for a nice treat, especially while I waited for my bus to arrive.

 

Before

After! 😁

My Butcher Box order arrived and I was able to fill up the deep freezer in the garage.  A really good sale on organic grass fed lean ground beef added another ten pounds of ground beef in addition to my regular order.  I am thrilled to be blessed with all of this wonderful, healthy and very delicious meat.

 

My nonfood items this month consisted of restocking the canning lids I had used this month, some toiletry items and cleaning supplies.  My total spent on nonfood items was $39.81.

 

My food spend was a bit higher than I was originally planning, however with reports of rising prices in the coming months I decided to fill some gaps, add a few more things to my LTFS and get my canning projects completed.  I was pleased with the prices I did pay and I am happy to have everything stocked and completed.  Total spent on food this month came in at $182.19, not including the Butcher Box order which was $232.00 and included ten extra packages of organic, grass fed, lean ground beef in addition to my regular two month order.  How do you think I did?

 

Vintage Cookery – Cornbread

 

Cornbread is one of those items I like to have with soup or ham & beans.  This recipe is my mom’s and I think it is the best tasting cornbread recipe.  Warm, topped with butter or honey butter – so good!

 

Variation:  Corny cornbread – reduce the milk to ¾ cup and add a can of creamed corn.  Stir it in well and bake. 

Variation:  Mexican cornbread – stir in 2 Tbs. chopped jalapeno pepper and a cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese.

 

These days I typically make cornbread in muffin cups.  I freeze half of it and keep the other half in the fridge to keep it fresh and eat right away.  I do find that cornbread sours if it isn’t kept in the refrigerator.  If you like cornbread be sure to give this one a try.