A different kind of lifestyle

Lots of the same things continue to go on as usual but there are little changes happening here and there.

We are rearranging the Gathering Areas of the house and firming up plans for our Patio Garden. Still no photos but there is little to photo just yet. But, the seeds have been ordered, I'm so excited! This is my first garden since digging potatoes and shucking corn as a kid at my G-Mom's country home. I've order yellow crook neck squash, Zucchini, Brussel Sprouts (for hubs, who isn't sure they will grow), Jalepeno peppers, onions, beefsteak and Roma tomatoes, Bell peppers and Black diamond watermelon.

This morning on the back patio, the new garden space, hubs informed me this garden thing is 'his' baby. Oh, well ok.

There is a lot to learn and that's ok. Like everything else in life we learn by doing and watching others. So this time next week we will be planting seeds. We can plant tomatoes for the fall until mid July apparently. We are gathering up the old pots, crocks and potting soils.

I've been reading Homesteading blogs and have joined homesteading groups in our area and across the world. I would love to make a move 'out' of the area away from the concrete but that is most probably a dream for now. Though I did find a few homes 'out' that would be perfect. I even found a condo in the city for Hubs to live in during the week. I think it would be perfect, no mortgage, get some animals and chickens, and an out door shower.

For now, I'll enjoy the luxury of living 3 miles or less from any and everything we could ever need or want. During the next year or so I hope to learn about gardening AND new ways of eating what we grow. I'll going to experiment this week making an alfredo sauce for veggie pizzas. Veggie lasagne's will become part of our meal plan and I also want to learn how to make quality, tasty breads. Zucchini bread, carrot breads, i would love to grow strawberries and blueberries to make syrup for my famous pancakes, yep I got pancakes down good according to the males who live here.

Maybe one day we will have a goat and make goat cheese and I'd love to be involved in a micro economy where we share and barter our goods. This year, I'll share with the neighbors and my family any surplus.

We picked up some yellow and orange bell peppers at Sam's this morning, Albertsons has Red Bells on sale so I'll pick up some of those and then slice 'em all up and store them in meal size portions in the freezer. The last Bell's I froze didn't loose texture through the freezing process so I'll be that much further ahead this winter when we want Stir-Fry.

This time next year I hope the Bells will be from our own garden.

And then there are Raspberries. Beautiful fabulous Expensive Raspberries! Been told we can't grow them here in the Crock Pot of Texas. So I bought them frozen along with blueberries and blackberries frozen at Sam's. So, smoothies with yummy yummy berries! We will go to the Dallas Farmer's Market later in the season and hope to get some of these yummy berries to freeze up and make a jar of jam or two for the winter. When I was a little kid my neighbor had a mulberry tree in their back yard. We would eat them and they were wonderful.

Hopefully next post I'll have a photo of our little sprouts.

Till then,
Melissa