into practice

Hope everyone had a good simple Thanksgiving.
DD#3 and I spent the day preparing & then watching both the parade and then a dog show here @ home. DH and DD#2 went hunting. Later on we ate pie by the wood stove and toasted marsh mellows. No traveling, no crowds just us.

$20.52 on Monday at my local Aldi store. Besides purchasing coffee creamer and a few gallons of 2% milk I stocked up on their brand of all purpose flour. It was 15 cents a pound (75 cents / 5 lbs. bag) so I bought 40 lbs. Long term storage plans are to vacuum seal in mason jars.
Thinking I should go back and score another 60 pounds.

Food Budget has been going well the past few months mainly because of our well stocked pantry and the occasional great deal on advertised loss leaders at local stores. I should clarify that in my definition a great loss leader is usually either meat or sugar a dirt cheap prices without a limitations.
Tops Super markets had Turkey for 29¢ per pound. We're not big on turkey so I didn't buy an extra. Stuffing was made from all that speciality bread that I dehydrated into croutons last Summer and vacuum sealed in jars. That bread was gifted by a friend since it was past it's prime. Vegetables from either pantry shelves or the freezer originally are the bounty of our gardening & gleaning efforts. We were blessed with adbunance of pie pumpkins from our church garden this fall. I have also been experimenting with regular pumpkins gathered from our neighbors who no longer had a need for them after their decorating value had expired.
These varieties have a bland taste so they need an extra bit of some thing some thing to spice the custard up. Maple flavoring has been a big hit so far.

Heads up to anyone who is near a Quality Market grocery store in Western New York. They're expected to close soon so be prepared as this is an excellent opp to score great deals. Aim for staples like baking supplies, canned goods, OTC meds, and items such as foil, freezer bags, and canning lids. Really anything that has a good shelf life like dish soap. Most will be hitting the meat which is okay but IMHO even if you freeze it only has a 6 mos. shelf life. But items like dish soap will hold out far longer. Consider alternative choices. It's been 4 years since I stocked up at a simular store closing (final days discounts of 70%) and to date we still have rice, bread flour, cleansers, and foil among other items.
Make it a point to visit the in store bakery to score deals on their bulk spices and flours such as caraway, poppy, bread flour.
Check expiration dates. Bring an extra person to cart sit as peeps do shop out of any cart perceived to be abandoned even if your only a few feet away. And if your flush with money they can push that 2nd or 3rd cart. Don't bring a purse or bag. You want to be stealth just a cell & method of payment in your pocket. Water bottle, gum, a few cough drops, tissues, tiny bottle of hand sanitizer if you can.
Don't be surprised if they won't take coupons just go with the flow.

This is the 1st time in our marriage that my husband has actively hunted.
While this can be a great way to supplement the family food stores it isn't for everyone. Myself included.
DH & DD#2 came home with venison after hunting on a friend's land last week. I'll let him tell you about his and my daughter's woods running on his blog. All I need to know is that they came home with meat and a huge smile on their faces. A good time was had by all despite cold toes.

Their endeavors produced the following bounty; Sausage - 15 ½ pounds of Italian. $12.16 for 4 ½ pounds package of pork ground to order. Italian seasoning sausage packet was $2.69 bought at the mega mart. Total cost was 93¢ per pound. Patties were wrapped & frozen.
During down time this Winter I‘ll research sausage making then gather what we‘ll need for next year's hunting season. Besides Italian I’ll like to learn how to make pepperoni, summer, and bratwursts varieties. Also need to come up with a better source for pork.
Venison Roasts - tenderloin cuts from a yearling doe = 14 pounds butchered and bagged by DH.

Tuesday’s dinner prepared by my husband. Tenderloin medallion with mushrooms & onions. Sides were baked sweet potatoes and wild rice. The venison was melt in your mouth good. This coming from someone who dislikes game meat.

I finally rendered that 17 pounds of pig fat that has been on a freezer shelf since March on the wood stove. Worked out to five quarts for soap making. The lard isn't cooking quality so I'll make plain laundry soap. Good to have the freezer space.

I’ve been reading Native Harvests Recipes and Botanicals of the American Indian by Barrie Kavasch, 1979. Requested through my local library’s inter library loan program this copy came all the way from Niagara Falls. One aspect of this cookbook is that the author included botanical charts which list the plant, plant part used, usage either for food, technology, or medicine, and harvest time. Unfortunately the plant illustrations are few.
Two good books that compliment Native Harvests are the Peterson field guides; Edible Wild Plants and Medicinal Plants. Great color photos and clear illustrations.
Black Walnut trees can be tapped just like Maples for their sap. Hmm may have finally come up with a reason for that Walnut tree in the vacant lot behind my house.
　
~~ pelenaka ~~
　
　
　
　

Home Fires

This has been a project in the making for almost as long as I have owned this house.

Starting with buying a chimney cleaning brush on clearance in August of 2000. Then there was the bellows bought @ a tag sale four or five years ago. Last year was the class B double walled pipe, thru the wall kit, brackets, and braces.

Then in early October on our way to buy seconds @ an Apple farm in Leroy we stopped into a stove & fireplace dealership. LSS bought a floor model - Jotul F 602 CB. Heats 500 square feet so ruffly half of my home.

After ordering the rear heat shield I think I wrote a check for $800 something. I'll get back on the exact cost after all is said & done since, yeah you guessed it I'll be running a cost comparison. Wood heat vs. furnace.

Furnace hasn't been on since the stove got the heads up from the code man on Tuesday. Granted it has been slightly warmer than norm this month and I also keep that house on the cool side when it's just me during the day.

My brother did the tile work. He's a professional. As you can see it was worth every penny he does beautiful work. Between DH, myself (gofer), my brother, and nephew who actually climbed up on my 12 12 pitched roof the job got done.

As you can see I'm already utilizing the stove for cooking as well as proofing a few loaves of bread (extra large bowl). Far left is a two bed warmers made of soap stone that DH collected years ago. Cast iron tea pot back from China Lake N.A.S. when we had quarters with a fireplace.

Large trivets are actually plant stands from Martha.

Sad irons hmm gotta be from a steam show flea market.

Poker was a gift from a lady who was surprised that I knew what it was. She said it was in the cellar of her 1880's home.

So in honor of our new stove there is a new category - Hearth

~~ pelenaka ~~

Carpe diem

Seizing the day or rather opportunity is a vital part of homesteading be it urban or rural.

Not so much having the skill which enables you to take advantage of whatever opps comes your way, but rather having a means to acquire the knowledge along with the desire a.k.a elbow grease.

Could I make vinegar before this opp came ?

Nope.

Did I have the desire ?

Not so much but this was an easy do. No special equipment and I already had the supplies.

Now what am I going to do with one and half gallons of Apple Cider Vinegar ?

Earlier this month as a member of PW I helped out with K.P. duty for November's monthly 20/30 club dinner for my church . While there the head cook & bottle washer was pouring out one of the jugs of cider left by the Kiwanis a week earlier from a pancake fundraising breakfast. Seams that the abandoned 14 gallons of cider was starting to turn hard.

What can I say. It physically pains me to see a resource go to waste. At the very least I could water my raised beds with it. Instead I decided to add to our pantry and perhaps use as possible gift giving. More the latter since I had forgotten to come up with this years Christmas gift back in June.

The jugs were bought @ a tag sale years ago by DH for future wine making adventures. He spent a dollar each for these half gallon clear ones. I used a discard sheer curtain that is 100% cotton instead of cheese cloth and rubber bands scavenged from pharmacy deliveries @ my old job to fashion debris barriers.

These will rest in the cellar under the stairs away from light for 8 weeks. Then I'll strain out whatever scum there is & re bottled in quart mason jars.

Of course this new windfall now means I have to find ways to use my homemade Apple Cider Vinegar. Not to mention learning how to tritrate (test for acidity) the vinegar.

Well, I have a 3 more weeks to gather the knowledge ... and the desire.

~~ pelenaka ~~

P.S. anyone out there asking what happened to the other gallons of cider that weren't poured down the drain or fashioned into vinegar ?

Yeah, say it with me ... Hard Cider.

Funny thing is that making hard cider wasn't even on mind until the rest of the kitchen crew all began recounting tales of fathers & grandfathers all brewing hard cider.

Where the money flows

I got a comment on my last post asking if I would enlighten my readers on the state of our finances and the methods that we use to cope.

Here's the low down on what it takes to pay the bills on our urban homestead.

Mortgage - $346.81 This includes insurance, property & school taxes, principal, and interest. Rents on comparable properties in my area run over $600. Needless to say it pays to buy less than what you can afford. I can't stress that enough.
For the first half of this year I was paying an extra $100 on the principal. For every hundred I threw on I knocked off $55.00 in interest owed. Even for just the short amount of time the mortgage was shortened by a year.

Electric - as I wrote about in an earlier post we have an ongoing battle with our electric company which boils down to the fact that they charge me more bringing me a kilowatt then the actual cost of the kilowatt. This month for example our bill was $50.15 up from $43.31. Of the $50.15 the first $38.16 was basic service (not including use age), delivery (anyone know what uniform da electric man wears?), delivery adjustment (what is that really?) tariff surcharge, & sales tax. We used 263 kWh this past billing cycle. Up from 220. Electric dehydrator was plugged in almost nonstop in August due to our crappy weather. I haven't used the solar dehydrator DH made us for the most part this Summer.
Also important to note is that the price of a kilowatt rose from $1.32 in 2008 to $1.51 in 2009.
Methods to conserve electricity; use of power strips, CF light bulbs, use of nonelectric appliances such as our ice box or an in closed porch in Winter, or simply don't flip the switch on. Instead our first choice when reaching for a tool is always the nonelectrical version.

Natural Gas - $24. The hot water heater has been set on vacation temp since last Spring which has meant cooler than preferred showers. Cooler Summer this year meant that the water temp coming directly out of the tap was quite cold. Currently the water heater is the only appliance running. However, it has dropped below freezing this past week which means that the house has had indoor temperatures of the high 50's. Have been resisting the urge to turn on the furnace.
Hot water heater is 8 years old so fairly energy efficient. If money was no object I'd change out the heater for a tankless one.
The furnace was installed 9 years ago. It's 85% efficient natural gas. Generally speaking we keep that house @ 60 degrees when the children are home even in January. Now my kids are teenagers who wear layers of clothing including hoodies and thick wool socks. When they were younger I keep the heat on 65.
When it's just me home alone then the thermostat is set back down to the mid fifties.

Our only other monthly debt is a home equity loan that runs $210 a month. I've had it paid off several times & no doubt it will be paid off once again only to be used again.
The last time was in 2000 when my current vechile died. I purchased a base model compact car, standard, no a/c for 7 grand new. Figure a third of the monthly equity loan is a car note.


Insurance is $340 a year which is paid out of our income tax refund. Maintenance runs around $200 a year. Gas is about $30 depending on traveling. MPG is 35 per gallon.
This is our 2nd year being a one car family. Initially it was difficult making the adjustment but the savings have been worth it. The shoe leather express (city sidewalks) makes a stop right in front our our house. I also have a bike with baskets as do my children. There are 2 $ stores and an Aldis within walking distance. DH changed jobs to be more local.

Clothing - other than buying two packages of socks & unders for myself & daughters that about covers it this year. Daughters and I worked @ a clothing swap this past September sponsored by our church were we were able to get over 100 articles of clothing. Many were new and very high end. I am glad not to be back to the time were my children were constantly out growing or wearing out clothing. Also purchased running shoes for DD#2 who runs cross country.
DD#3 scored soccer shin guards from a cousin. Thankfully neither daughter needed new cleats.
All sports uniforms were financed by fundraisers. We are blessed to live in a school district that has a great athletic program. Only one child still participates in music. She receives violin lessons through the school. Violin purchased used 2 years ago.

Huge budgeting tool has been to simply not go to places such as a mall or a mega store. Let's face it you can always find something that you want when your in Walmart.
A need is a need a want is a want.

Food - you'll have to just read through my blog posts as that is what I primarily write about.

Tithing - aim for $20 a month and give about 20 to 30 hours of our time a month working wherever there is a need in our church. Currently I co-chair a garden, assist with food baskets to members of our congregation who are home bound, usher for funerals when needed, and various deacon duties.

Medical - without going into too much information it lets just say that we spend almost a mortgage payment on medical insurance and prescription meds.
Using a nettie pot has greatly helped not only our bottom line but our health. Usually at least once a year I come down with a sinus infection which quickly turns into a chest cold then leads into bronchitis or pneumonia. My last bout of pneumonia cost me over $80 after an office visit & a trip to the pharmacy. Thank you Dr. Oz for teaching me the way.

Entertainment - if it's free then it's on the on. Besides taking advantage of DVDs &Videos from our public library we attend area concerts, minor league baseball games, collage sports, and events sponsored by our city for youth. We also enjoy just hanging out at church. This weekend daughters are away at a youth retreat though church.

Calling it even it costs us a in the neighborhood of $1280 per month to live for the past 6 mos.
Winter heating will add about another $200 to $300 a month this Winter using natural gas.

Per the 2008 Federal Poverty Guidelines a family of 4 who lives below $21,200 qualifies as poor.
Interesting.
I don't feel poor.
Just broke.


~~ pelenaka ~~

P.S. 10/23/2009 - My bbgf who chased me down here @ the library since I'm san cell has informed me that I forgot to include the cost of our cell phone plan. It's around $80 for 2 phones. One is the house phone with our old land line #. The other is labeled the away phone. That phone is carted around by either DH or the girls when they go out either on errands or hunting. Daughters use it to let us know when they are done with practice or on their way home from an away game. I have timed their commutes from either school or practice fields both on foot & bike. If their late then I can call. Also there's the safety factor when there out.
Plus I didn't want anyone home without a phone. Kinda funny when you think of it as I went years without a phone when I was a young adult.
No text nor email on the plan.
It has been a bit of a learning curve for some of our F&F to remember to call us from either a Verizon cell or after 9. So far no issues with going over our minutes.
I go bum phone service off my Bro when I want to call my Abuela in P.R. or out state peeps who don't have Verizon & are in bed by nine. Also score phone time @ church. That comes in handy when I have to call say the electric company to discuss my recent rate hike.

There was some great questions posted in the comment section by a reader which I thought should be answered in this post.

Does living on your income cause any tension in the home?
For the most part no. There are times however when I would love to have extra for the little things. DD#3 was asked by her soccer coach to participate in an indoor soccer league - cost $75. She has emailed her father and put the word out to church family that she needs babysitting gigs.
I know DH would love to have the extra cash flow to do more local traveling, hunting/camping.

I was also asked about an urban homestead aspiration, ... something that is being saved for to improve the urban homestead?
That would our long drawn out process of installing a wood stove. Seriously I have been collecting items toward this aspiration for over 8 years now. There is the bush kit on clearance bought in 2001 so I can be my own chimney sweep. Then there's the tools like a coal shovel bought @ tag sales last year for a buck.
I'll be blogging about that soon.

Bitter Lesson

Quick post as I'm sitting in a Starbucks cafe @ a Border's bookstore on the far side of Rochester.

Battery level on my lap top is @ 43%, despite all the trappings of wealth here there isn't an outlet to be had. Not to mention I have been milking this over priced cup of coffee long enough.

Garden update; Well add to the list of produce that is a bust this year - celery. It's bitter really really bitter or rather strong. Way way too strong. DH said I should have blanched it. I grew this variety before Summer Pascal didn't blanch it without an issue.

Besides the celery my pitiful Green Bell Peppers that have finally matured enough to pick are also extremely bitter. Same reason for both (our freaky Summer weather)?

Whatever the reason I'm still SOL as I finished off the last of my dehydrated celery 3 months ago. I was counting on this crop to last me for the next 2 years.

Really brings home the reality that was our ancestors not to long ago. If it wasn't grown or harvested then it didn't exist. As simple as that.

First it was a devastating tomato harvest, then a poor fruit crop, now my peppers & celery.

I'm out here in Pittsford snagging some semi free (spent $1.98 on coffee) WIFI after picking apples @ my brother's. Was only able to snag less than a bushel of yellow apples. I had plans to barter a bushel of apples to my bb for a bag of powdered milk in lieu of gas $. Unfortunately much like everyone I have spoken to his fruit harvest was also pitiful.

Really looking not to pay retail for fresh apples. We are completely out of home canned applesauce. Canning hasn't gone well to say the least. I have been scrambling to find free/cheap produce to can.

Slowly enjoying not having a land line. Monthly phone bill is down by $40.

Did receive a special offer from Verizon to reestablish the land line (w/DSL). It was a difference of all most $50. When I called on it I told them that if they had offered my that package to begin with then I would never had switched over. Reminded them I had been a customer for 10 years ... blah blah blah.

Jerks. I bet they only offer that package 3 mos. after the big switch.

Really really hate not having Internet access @ home. It bites big time which is why I haven't posted in a while. As soon as hunting & canning season die down we are gonna research wireless Internet plans again. The air card from Cricket really blew. Snail mail was quicker.

Since I'm new to this whole WIFI I find it very interesting how it can vary. Our local library is slow. The collage fast. Borders lighting fast.

Going back to our visit to Lehman's in August. Sorry about not posting the pics it took in their store. Unfortunately it cost $ to email the pics off the cell phone. Yeah I'm that broke so here's a quick take on what was interesting to me.

1) off all the grain grinder that were on display the best was their most expensive one a.k.a. over a grand. Ground grain with a touch of my pinkie.

2) The hand cranked washer commonly known as a James washer - flimsy.

3) I think that they hire young girls to wander the store in Amish attire. Seriously why would a couple of teenagers out in town for the afternoon wander around a store full of stuffs that they can find in their own home ?

Bought a huge lid for my backitup cast iron pan, a manual for my steam juicer, and a few bags of speciality popcorn @ the request of my daughters. If your in the neighborhood do visit.

K, getting the boot from a Starbucks drone.

I've worn out my welcome.

~~ pelenaka ~~

Best laid plans ...

of mice & men so goes the famous line written by John Steinbeck. This thought could very well apply to a good majority of gardeners and farmers in my area. Here in Western New York and from what I have read on many online gardening forums most of the northeast has suffered from both early & late season blight to both tomato and potato crops. It was an unusually cool and wet Summer for us which provided the perfect environment for blight.
Besides these two staples onions that normally didn't have a problem grown in low lying fields became too wet & rotted. Watch for a price hike for all 3.

For my own small space in the city the blight hit late but deep. 70 odd surviving San Marzano tomato plants that I had started from seed all came down with the blight just as the fruit was starting to ripen.

We have been using some for cooking but won't be canning any of it. This means that I am scrambling to find a frugal alternative healthy to home grown canned tomatoes. So far many of the local farms haven't had any paste tomatoes to speak of or their supply is spoken for pretty much before it's picked. I won't mention the cost.

I may just have to break down and actually buy canned toms.

Will also rework our Winter menu to substitute something else in place of tomatoes.

Any suggestions?

This is what blight looks likes from a distance. The plants turn brown and look as if they need water. Both stems & leaves have milk chocolate colored patches. This is the cold frame moved to it's new & final location last April.

After this pic was taken all the blighted plants were pulled then it was replanted with salad greens. Also moved some of the marigolds to this bed to help with bug control.

An example of blighted fruit. Top left hand corner is San Marzano Italian paste, on the right is an unknown beefsteak variety that sprouted up in the cold frame a volunteer.

This link is from Penn State Cooperative extension on why you shouldn't can blighted tomatoes.

Here's a pic of the tomatoes (new bed) in July before the blight hit. By August the plants had topped the trellis that DH built and were growing down the back side despite the lack of proper sunshine due to a neighbor's Maple tree. Over all the beds that I doubled digged & layered with organic matter did very well despite the poor growing conditions.

Need to find out if it's alright to use a tomato grown on a blight plant for it's seeds. I have saved one of the larger San Marzano's for next years crop. There is after all always next year.

~~ pelenaka ~~

P.S. I have 3 new bartering buds - two are a direct result of my primary bbgf who introduced me to them. One I traded a plastic office organizer drawer thingy & a pound of DH's garden onions for 3 jars of Ragu sauce & several packets of name brand tuna. The second bb ( barter buddy), traded me a dozen & half eggs home grown eggs for a future take on salad greens which will be ready in a month. The 3rd is a member of my church who I had spoken to early last Spring. Truthfully I really didn't get the impression from her that bartering was an idea that interested her. I was wrong. I bartered a 5 lbs. roast from the beef that was butchered last July, several melons from DH's garden, and 2 pounds of his onions, in return for Frutis conditioner 2 lg. , 2 each of Sunsilk shampoo & conditioner lg., 4 Stayfree maxi 18 count, 5 Stayfree Ultra thins 16 count packages. 1 Palmolive bottle of dish soap 20 onces. I will also come up with a few extra goodies for her since she wasn't really sure on what she wanted besides the roast. She is a very big coupon/rebate gal having figured out that whole CVS program.

Needless to say as God was watching out for me as I was on my last sanitary pad that morning. Yeah, I know TMI TMI.