Quote of the Week

                  Picture by Th G from Pixabay

"For all things produced in a garden, whether of salads or fruits, a poor man will eat better that has one of his own, than a rich man that has none."  

                          -- J.C. Loudown

The Viability is on Point

Whenever a gardener can save money on seeds, its a great thing, but seriously many of us still buy seeds anyway--cause why not, experiment with something new or even try to test growing fruit or veggies not usually grown in year planting zone. Come on, I can't be the only one who does this from time to time. 

Last week, I was frantically looking for my seed bag. The seed bag had some unopened seed packets that I never got around to planting last year, and saved seeds from previous years. So, to finally find it, the elation that went through my body was a ten. 

Finding the bag didn't mean, no seed purchases for me because I'd still need to know if the seeds are still viable. 

One easy way to check a seeds viability is to place the seeds on a small plate and lightly water the seeds and cover the seeds with plastic wrap or you could place the seeds in a napkin-wet the napkin and place the napkin on a plate and allow it to get some sunlight, and depending on the seed and warm conditions you create for the seeds you should see some progress within 4 days, if not give it a full week. 

Hope this bit of information helped someone, now I've got to get back to more gardening prep, I have a few more seeds to checkout. 

In the meantime, keep growing!

Shelly 😊

Wordless Wednesday

Lavender in the Pot: Finally

Finally got the lavender seeds settled in their home, yesterday. Supposedly lavender takes some time to germinate - the instructions on the box said, could take 14 days, so I'm looking at March 6th for any signs of growth. 

Growing anything inside my home takes a lot of patience and ingenuity since my home doesn't receive a lot of natural light in areas of my home that I'm used to growing in: my kitchen and living room areas are very much on the dark side which sucks as a gardener trying to use natural light, but as a homeowner, I enjoy the lower energy bills in the summer months, so see, there's pros and cons with my home situation. 

Right now the lavender pot sits on top of my refrigerator---to give it a bit of warmth and sprinkle of sunlight. I don't see this as a long term home for the plant, but until then...the top of the fridge will have to do. 

Quote of the Week

In a way, winter is the real spring -- the time when the inner things happen, the resurgence of nature.

                            --Edna O'Brein

CPI Is Still Hot: Grow A Garden

Well... well...well that CPI report still came in pretty hot at 6.4% even though, some consumer goods showed some cooling off, but the main staples for everyday life continue to go up. Here's a little snapshot:

Eggs - 70.1%, Butter - 32.5%, Lettuce - 17.6%, Frozen Vegetables - 18.6%, Motor Vehicle Insurance - 14.7%, Motor Vehicle Repair - 23.1%, Energy - 11.9%, and Public Transportation - 17.1%

As a nation, inflation is still high, and as a gardener and CFO of my household:I'm ready for this challenge of growing and saving. 

Growing more in the garden- especially more lettuce, greens, and potatoes. Salads are main staples over here, and the plan is to grow more in containers to utilize more growing space along with growing potatoes, usually we only grow a small amount to make one large meal from, but with limited space the garden/garden area might not be able to supply the household with a larger abundance, but it doesn't hurt to try. 

The greens I want to grow more of this year are the two for one greats like: turnips, beets, and radishes - they give you edible seed pods, so you actually get three things from them. This group makes an occasional appearance in my garden, but I plan to make them a bigger part of the garden this year because of the abundance of food my family will get from a seed packet. 

 

What are your plans for this season of your life? 

Keeping growing :)

Wordless Wednesday

Consumer Price Index Report: Will Our Economy Hold Steady

Sitting here waiting for this CPI Report(The Consumer Price Index)....will this report be good or bad, will inflation continue to go up, down or will our economy stay steady? We'll find out soon....report comes out at 8:30a.m.

Quote of the Week

     photo by: Sarah Chai from Pexels

Food is National Security. Food is economy. It is employment, energy, history. Food is everything.

                                   -Chef Jose Andres

The Best Decade Ever Still Continues

Last month I wrote a blog post called, 'Joy Came in the Morning,' the post was about me quitting a job that made me miserable and feeling like I was trapped in my own home. I don't want to rehash all of those feelings, but if you want to read the post, please go read it, and if it can help one person choose themselves rather than a paycheck, then I've done a good thing by sharing my story.

So, I'm in job hunting mode right now; I use one day to send out my resume and the following day is used to do assessments and/or attend webinars, and I continue this system Monday thru Friday and take weekends off, to delve into things I love and enjoy throughout the day/weekend. It could be listening to podcasts, listening to/watching YouTube videos, and/or listening to music while I do household chores. 

Not having a job right now, actually hasn't been real stressful for me, yet--I've only been looking for a week, but maybe I'll never feel stressed about this moment in time, and just take everyday in stride.   

Be happy that I have my health, a roof over my head, food on the table, and most of all, my sanity(cause I almost lost it, with the last job).

Besides having my husband's support, I'd like to thank some online communities (YouTube channels)for their support. Stephanie Perry and the crew, I absolutely love the fellowship we have on  Saturday mornings, and our weekday co-working sessions over at Stephanie Perry Media----the space is truly phenomenal! I've been doubling my time learning French. Even though my co-working time is usually spent with French lessons, I've become inspired to be more intentional about getting organized with my creative adventures, as well. 

Other YouTubers I would like to thank are: Alecia Renece The Artist for her calm soothing unique perspective on life. 

Life After Layoff shout out to you for using your experience in HR to show us job hunters how to act as a free agent.

Finally, I would like to thank PT Pop for all of his hilarious call center videos....all I have to say is, you'll never have to work in another call center again, PT Pop, and you've found your niche. 

Now it's my time to find that next job that'll help me finance my dream of buying a daycare franchise(I've been in chidcare before, loved it!)buying more stocks and other investments, and making plans for a house my sister and I inherited. Seems like a lot, but I'm only in year three of the best decade ever, time is still on my side. 

Here's to The Greeks!

When your daughter has a Greek Salad for the first time(last month) and  now wants them readily available. Our household has always been a fan of pepperoncinis and I like Feta, 

but, never bought it as a household staple, so apparently my daughter has never had Feta before. But ever since our lunch date at our local pizzeria, she's hooked on the Greek Salad, for sure! 

Seeing how large of a jar of pepperoncinis she bought, I think I'll give growing pepperoncinis a try this year---don't know why I never gave it a thought before since its something we often buy, but that doesn't matter...all that matters is, I'm going to grow something new this season. 

Now to the garden catalogs and maybe Amazon in search of some seeds. Let's get growing!!

Wordless Wednesday