Monday Message

"Let us be in a position so we are able to not only feed ourselves through the home production and storage, but others as well." (President Ezra Taft Benson)

As we get ready to plant our gardens this is a good thing to remember. It wouldn't be that much harder to plant a little extra to share. Those that have a green thumb will be great at this. I don't have a green thumb but share what what does grow. My thumb isn't green but I keep pushing on.

I find it is taking me a lot longer to do what I could when I was in my twenties so those who are that young, enjoy it while you can. Those who are older, like me, try to find work arounds I guess.

While I hate gardening, I love to watch things grow and I like to eat.

The little plants are doing well.

The spinach in this pot grew so very fast that I had to use four sticks in and plastic to cover it and then  put a plastic crate over it. It was like a mini greenhouse and kept it growing through that cold weather we got. So just using what I had on hand in the spur of the moment that "mini greenhouse" idea worked great, I will do this again.

I saw on public TV that they showed how to plant herbs in a strawberry pot. I had this one and the herbs I had waiting to go in ground I just pinched so I had roots and planted them in the pot and still have the rest to plant in ground.

https://www.leavenworth.k-state.edu/fcs/docs/Maine%20Mixes.pdf 

https://tipnut.com/baking-mixes-seasonings/ - this site has lots of info to scroll down.

https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-brown-sugar-23023181 - did you know you can make your own brown sugar?

https://www.loveandlemons.com/how-to-make-powdered-sugar/ and powdered sugar too.

How are you coming on your skills?

I haven't had a lot of time to spin of late but have done a little.

I long time ago learned to make chocolates. So that's a skill I have learned. At the time I'm writing this, we have an artist reception coming up next week. We stopped in at the chocolate shop to see what they offered. They had two pieces for $6.95, two that look like what is on my plate here. Well that wasn't going to work for our budget as the reception is for thirtyish people. I think you can figure out the math on that yikes. My husband wanted unwrapped chocolates so I worked up chocolates. This one in the picture is orange flavored milk chocolate. There is white chocolate, and orange chocolate flavored orange, and raspberry chocolate, and mint chocolate that are leaf shaped. So this saved us a lot of money and they taste great. I have no idea how the ones at the shop tasted as they were too steep but mine were fantastic. I will put them on a paper doily on a pretty plate.

Yes, this week has been sooooooo busy but soon it will be over and gardening will continue. If I do a little each day it will get planted.

I picked up three geraniums to put on the porch I planted in my own pots, this is identical to one on the other end of the same step, these are pink. The lady bugs that are in each pot were $1.99 each. I was asking questions about them and I picked up one each for them to figure out, good thing I did because as soon as I picked them up a little boy said "mom, I want a lady bug." By the time I turned around they had grabbed them all. Wow I said, but I got these two. They are solar lights.

I know you will recognize this planter, this year he has a white geranium in him.

Missy says keep your eyes out for sales to stock your storage.

Tippy says keep building your skills and find a patch of sunshine to rest in when you can!