Making Green

Quick update on my efforts to generate a limited cash flow growing money.
If I'm just counting coin & not the barter goods I made from my plants then I made $32.
Sold $12 @ yard sale that I piggy backed on to which was held @ my gf's the coupon queen front yard. Her home is on a busy city corner so I was hoping to I'd get enough foot traffic to sell out.

Did enjoy hanging out, meeting new people in her neighborhood & catching up with fellow urbanites that I hadn't seen in a while. I also sat on her front porch playing online games for swagbucks        (free groceries) and perhaps got a referral by emailing one of the ladies who was shopping @ the yard sale. She was interested when I told her that I got free food of of Amazon and really perked up when I mentioned that Amazon also sells diapers. She was holding a 9 month old who was all boy.

Sold $20 worth of veggie plants to a gf which will go to buy rabbit feed. I think there might even be a Tractor Supply coupon/discount going on for 20%.
Every little bit helps as the price of feed has gone up this past year.

Here's what I spent for gardening 2011 - $9 for organic bone meal, and discounted French Marigolds. $3.25 for a pack of seeds (yeah I know pricey huh read my growing money post & u'll see why) and 3 big bags of potting soil which were $3.50 each ... Let say an even $25 and I still need to buy a another flat of marigolds for bug control.

Best case scenario is that I break even and start this years garden with a clean slate no debt.
That every tomato & green bean or cucumber is pure profit. 
But then again I'm already ahead if I count in the bartering (groceries) I got from bartering plants.

Thank you God, I'll stop complaining now.

~~ pelenaka ~~

Growing Groceries

Follow up to my post on growing money.
So far no real cash flow but allot of great bartering opps of grocery items that we need from barter friends.
Most current was yesterday when my gf the coupon queen stopped by for her plants. She picked out almost a flat of Strawberries, a 6" pot of Rhubarb, 6 - 2" pots of cucumbers, and 3 each of 2" pots heirloom tomatoes the beefsteak variety so Howard German, Cherokee Purple, & Valencia.
This is a pic of what I got in return minus a can of soup, & a small bag of dark chocolate.
The shaving cream is for the girls of the homestead it is after all Summer now.

Good for coffee as I was running low. I haven't saved up enough swag bucks to make an amazon purchase but if I can get coffee by bartering then I'll of course use the "free money" for other items.

Bounty from a plant barter yesterday; coffee,pistachio, clam chowder soups,saving cream, & spam.

Locally grown & butchered pork; mild Italian ground sauage, bacon, ham steaks.

This barter haul earlier in the week was from an old coworker who has decided to plant her garden this year. Last year she choose not to because her house was on the market.

Last Fall she ordered half a pig. The butcher offered her the other half @ a discount because the original buyer's check bounced. What's missing is a small pork roast that cooked up in the crock pot the day we did the exchange.

She accepted 3 - 2" pots of each of the heirloom varieties I grew, & 6 cucumber seedlings. While I was over at her house her Mom stopped by & I got two yellow pepper seedlings & two zucchini seedlings.

Last week I also bartered tomato plants & Shasta Daises for farm fresh eggs.

Next Friday planning on carting what ever is left of the seedlings along with an assortment of potted perennials like Purple Cone Flower to a gf who is having a yard sale. I would like to recoup the cost of potting soil, organic bone meal, & if possible have a small stash for seed buying in this Fall when packets are discounted.

~~ pelenaka ~~

New Throne

Remember how I was complaining about the gods realizing I have moolah. Well lets just say that while I didn't quite out smart them I did give them a run for the money.
Our one & only not counting a flush camping toilet, broke, started leaking.
Not out any money on that john because I had picked that one up curb shopping in an upscale hood about 8 years ago. The lady of the manor actually came running out of her home waving & shouting that there was nothing wrong with the toilet. She was just changing the color of the powder room in the pool house. Yes, apparently Buffalo has homes with pool houses. Go figure.

So I go down to Lowes with my trusty gift card that I purchased back in April read post on fiances & score a deal on the last in stock dual flush commodes by American Standard For $198. On the website it's listed for $398, really ?
But it gets better since Lowes had run a promotional adding an extra $100 to the gift card so the new crapper actually cost just $100 (adding in transportation cost & a new supply hose). 
Hubby gave his lovely assistant a.k.a. dd #2 a lesson in installing a toilet.

New throne uses just .8 gallon per flush for #1 & 1.6 gallons per flush for #2/solid matter.
Good maybe we'll see a cost savings in the water bill.

Back in the day I use to keep cash in envelopes earmarked for unexpected expenses such as this. Gift cards are really an improvement since I'm not tempted to "barrow money" from an envelope.

K, enough gloating the gods are listening I'm sure.


~~ pelenaka ~~

Growing Money

One of my schemes to generate + cash flow or bartering opps is to grow plants.

Legal plants otherwise this would be a blog about comparison shopping of bail bondsmen.

My idea isn't a new one just do a search on the tomato mortgage lifter.

My goal is to reimburse myself for all out of gardening related expenses, funds for next years gardening and provide goods from bartering.

The cost of gardening last year was $45.90 for veggie plants bought. I think Woodsrunner started a few from seed like his fav heirloom salad tomato Bloody Butcher. He's out running the streets otherwise I'd ask him. In any case half a C note was unacceptable then and more so now. 

So far I've spent just under $9 on a bag of organic bone meal & numerous 4 packs of discounted French Marigolds priced @ 33¢ each. Marigolds along with Nasturtiums are for bug control.

Fortunately Nasturtiums are popping up all over the garden from last years crop so I'm potting those volunteers for now. None of the Marigolds that I started from seed grew. 

I was bemoaning the fact that we started seeds late but with this excessively wet weather, unless the week of our last frost date is dry no one will be planting.

Thankfully all but a few of the heirloom tomatoes plants sprouted. I potted them up using the last of the black 4" nursery pots that hubby had collected through the years. Will start collecting plastic yogurt cups from f&f for next year plants. For now when it's not raining I keep them on the garden cart so I can move them from one sunny spot to the next.

All total there is about 5 maybe 5 1/2 flats of tomato seedlings that I can offer for sale or barter. So far I have an assorted 6 pack promised to the guy who lets us store my tent trailer on his land. I also have some ear marked for my gf the coupon queen. Also a neighbor down the street has fancy pepper seedlings I want to trade with.

Cherokee Purple - my fav great taste, indeterminate, 12 oz. fruits, matures late season.

Valencia - cool weather tom good flavor, orange, 10 oz fruits, indeterminate, matures mid season. 

Black Sea Man Russian -purple-black intense flavor, skin melts in mouth, determinate potato leaf, mid season.

Bloody Butcher - salad tom deep red good flavor canner, 4 oz. fruits, indeterminate, early season (55 days).

Howard German - paste tomato with good flavor, indeterminate, 5 oz. fruit, matures mid season.

Mr. Stripey - 12 oz yellow& red striped beefsteak, mild flavor, indeterminate, late season.

San Marzano an Italian paste for canning.

Yellow Pear - used to make preserves, indeterminate, 1 oz., fruits in clusters, mild sweet taste.

Burpees Long Keeper - $3.25 for a pack of 13 seeds of which 5 didn't sprout & 2 died after sprouting. This is my first attempt @ growing and I have no idea how they taste. The idea behind this non-heirloom tomato is that you harvest fruit just before last frost then store wrapped in a cool dark place for fresh eating 6 to 12 weeks later.

In addition to tomatoes we also have a flat of cucumbers, Swiss Chard Rhubarb variety, and a third of a flat each of cantaloupe & muskmelon. Had to replant wax beans.  

Tomato seedlings moved to a cold frame hubby cobbled together due becoming water logged. As soon as it stops raining I'll put them out to catch a bit of breeze. Worried 'bout tomato blight.

Pulled what was left of the salad fixings growing in this frame so I could keep our stash of seedlings safe. 

In the front are 6 Burpees Long Keepers, Marigolds, a lone surviving Stevia plant (red headed step son da cat), and San Marzano. Paper coffee cups far upper right corner holds cukes & a few melons. 

Planning on growing melons vertical.

Purple Onions collected from other beds & replanted here. As soon as this area is empty I'll plant it with San Marzano, marigolds, basil & carrots. 

Rain rain go away, come back in August. 

~~ pelenaka ~~

Broke

Apparently the gods realized I have moolah because everything on the homestead is breaking.
It started a few days ago and is gaining speed.

1. My oven died. And of course one only realizes it when one is ready to bake - in this case a two loaves of rye bread (still have 1/2 pound of Easter ham) and a few pies.
2. I broke my lap top. don't ask I don't want to talk 'bout it. Suffice to say that apparently I can't fix everything. Hubby's net book has a virus that he can't fix so he's seeking professional help (we'll both be offline for a while). 
3. My bicycle has a flat.

I don't no which to cry over first.
My circa 1949 Hot Point or the fact that I won't have access to the world and all that wonderful knowledge. Or that there's no fresh baked rye bread.
Or that in about another month & half I'll be broke. That what is left of income tax money will after paying the car insurance, co-pay for daughters wisdom tooth extraction (she vetoed a home procedure), and the down payment for her orthodontics, the cushion that I've been using to keep the homestead afloat will be gone.
Time to be gainfully employed.

On the backside the other half of my Amazon order came - 12 jars of Fisher brand creamy peanut butter, 28 oz. each. Expiration date is 07/07/11 but according to that website I wrote about in my last post the peanut butter is good for another 2 years - 2013.
12 jars is pretty much a year's worth stocked for free via swagbucks
I'm looking at buying a bulk order powdered milk next. Followed by tuna, then hmm what else can't we produce nor live without ? Coffee, creamer, mayo ...what other shelf stable items would u buy with free money ?
Yeah say it with me ... canning lids.

Spent yesterday in the backyard potting up seedlings for both our use and my upcoming plant sale. I also hope to have enough for bartering opps. Just as I was washing up to get ready to pick Violets for jelly it rained again.
I won't complain because the few inches in my cellar is nothing to complain about when u think about all the flooding tasking place down south.
This weekend is suppose to be dry so besides doing laundry (clothes line) I'll be working outside.
I might have a line on permission to forage for plants on a few city lots.
I also need to cobble together a solar oven. I picked Rhubarb from the garden and coupled it with a can of crushed pineapple out of the pantry. Gonna try and bake a pie using solar.

Pray that I can pay the computer guy in pie err pray that I can build a decent solar oven so I can offer pies.
Geez I need a hankie.
Did I mention my bike has a flat ?


~~ pelenaka ~~

Greased the budget

Greased the budget a.k.a. free food.
I've been doing the swagbucks like crazy so I could convert them into free Amazon gift cards. My big plan was to use the accumulated gift cards for gift giving and other items that are on our wish list.
Then I found the manger's section on amazon.com about the same time that I realized I only had half a container of lard and had an up coming pie orders. Did I mention my pocketbook is empty ?
Not to mention what's a Puerto Rican cook with out a supply of manteca.
Amazon charged $1.03 per pound for 15 pounds, no s&h. 6 tubs of lard Armour brand, made in the U.S.A.
No, it's not organic. USDA inspected for all that's worth.
I didn't have to rearrange our schedule so I could snag the family car, nor convince a gf to tag along out to the store to grab this deal. Actually I know that this deal isn't out @ my local grocery stores so that's a mute point.
I'm unsure about the carbon foot print of ordering food online other than the fact I didn't have to commute to purchase the lard. The lard after all is shipped to the store where I would then have to drive over to buy it.
Entire order was packaged in recyclable materials which have made their way to the recycle bin already.
Anyone care to give me the low down on this ?

Expiration date or the best by date is listed as Sep 28 2012.
However after researching on the website StillTasty the lard has an extra year of shelf life. Good to know because other than pie crusts, and making refried beans I don't really use allot of lard in our everyday cooking. Like I wrote, I'm Puerto Rican and we tend to suffer from high cholesterol.

I'm happy about dropping my cost per pie down due to the free lard. Add in the deal I got on Gold Metal flour for $1 per 5 lbs. bag, I think on fruit pies at least I've got the cost to around $1.50. That depends of course on  if I was able to can pie filling for cheap. I really need to do a price point calculation on my pies.

The other half of my order arrives in a few days.

Don't ya just love free food ?


~~ pelenaka ~~