August 2011 Preps, Halfway Through!

I know some of you have seen this and some of you haven't. This is the quick pic of our canning. There was 1 full case to the side that I coudn't include in the photo because I didn't want the table to bow lol.

We've been canning since March 20th and have given away about 20 jars. But we still have 22.5 cases of canned food. It is the best addiction ever and it puts your mind at ease to look at the "food room"

Lemon Juice and Acetone...keep it on the shelves, keep notebooks too folks.












I really try to buy domestically made stuff.













Last week this chicken was only 1.89 a lb. But this last WEEKEND boneless skinless breast was only $1.49, the drumsticks and thighs were only .68 cents a lb. UNBELIEVABLE.









Tonight we also went to purchase more ground chuck (our local store here does 90%lean for chuck) and it was holding at $1.88/lb. All I know is that I have this feeling that prices are going to hike astronomically because our prices here are UNBELIEVABLY cheap.







Canning Chicken is one of my favorite things out there. I like how it looks, how it makes the house smell and how it tastes.










I already reviewed this. Just click on the receipt below so you can feel the amazement.












There's my jardiniere and peaches in the background. I just have to keep it up.












Proof is in the Pudding.

Click on it twice to enlarge the pic.













Walgreen's is getting harder and harder to hustle.

Contact Solution: 8 bucks with instant $8 rebate
BPA free baby spoons: $1.09 clearance
Lindt Choco Truffles: $1.50 each
Aquafresh Whitening: $1.29 clearance
Johnson 500pc Q tips: $1.99





I recently started watching youtube videos on how to make your own laundry soap. Last week while I was out shopping I was just keeping an eye out for Fels Naptha/Octagon soap. I didn't find any here in the West Valley so I stocked the Lirio laundry bars (white for whites and yellow for coloured clothes)

The fels is only $1.39 at Food City in the East Valley and the 400g lirio is only .89 cents


The borax was about 2.60 a box and the washing soda is close to $3 a box. Even just having this much would make at least 110 gallons of laundry soap following the most basic recipe.









We stopped by Wally World to pick up my briquets for my brother. Well Mr.Man and I habitually cruise their clearance. Well I saw this coconut oil but I said it's still pricey. Well as we walked away from it this little Asian lady made eyes at him and said What do you Want Hunny I will mark it down for you! He said I will take these for $2...she said Ohhh only $2.50 is my Max Hunny. He said, "I'll TAKE em"




I was helping my brother organize his pantry, house and garage and I found this 25 compartment organizer thrown in the corner of his 3 car garage. I noticed the corner just needed a bit of duct tape and said Hey Can I take this and he said take it.

I'm going to use it to divvy out my first aid kit a bit. The other week Mr.Man got a pretty deep thumb cut and I had to dig inconveniently.


I had that $8 coupon for walgreens. So I went in there to use it before it expired. I found these baby wipes 3 - 100 packs for only $2.50. I also found Keri Lotion for 5.99 with a $5 rebate. Next to Cetaphil and Jergens, Keri is my next choice. I ended up paying $4.78 and they gave me a $5 instant rebate. LOL.

The white choco nestle chips were only 95 cents each at the local dollar store.



Hydrogen Peroxide was only 99 cents a quart at the 99 cent only store. That is one of the best prices I've seen for 32 ounces. We still have a few cases of hydrogen peroxide so I figured 5 quarts would suffice.








We went to the East Valley to drop off some canned stuff and things I got for the Father In Law while I was in Asia. I was really pushing my luck asking Mr.Man to stop at the Asian store when he barely got off a flight from a 4 day bachelor party. But he's a good sport and he went.

The sake was only $6.47 a bottle but they only had 2 left. I also picked up shredded seaweed, wasabi powder, toasted black sesame and salt, green tea incense and good rice flour.

While contemplating what to can I decided to throw a batch of creamcheese brownies for the boys and girls at Arizona Shootersworld - since they are SO nice to us.









While that baked I went outside to push the cucumbers aka WEEDS around - and don't you know I found a cucumber. A nice big 8 inch one that was happy to see me...









I looked again and saw this 5 inch one...













And sleeping under the other side was one more.

It's not much but at least our ghetto garden finally yielded something. I just wanted to can SOMETHING from our first gardening attempt. Looks like I'm gonna get my chance. Thank you Bees for working and thank you Mr.Man for not giving up!

Ghetto Garden Update: end of May 2011

Ghetto Garden Update...end of May..so We've been farting around with germinating seeds for almost 6 months now. And it's slow going due to the learning curve and a dog that just seems to love eating seedlings...

We had a plastic barrier for a couple days but the winds have been strong lately and for this time of year the strongest they have been in the 10 years I've lived here. Regardless - the U of Az planting guide says we still have plenty of time for beans, cucumber, and melon. So we're just letting them grow. Mr. Man put in this wire fencing type stuff -it's not chicken wire but it's called something else. If it keeps the dog so be it - if it doesn't then it doesn't.

I'm sure everyone has some advice feel free to give it - I know some of them are fried and I know some of them are planted haphazardly. I know that square foot gardening is also an option and we have thousands of yards of cotton twine to do it. I know that the tomatoes probably won't make it since it's warming up but I just didn't have the heart to kill the only seedlings that made it. I know that I don't even give a shit - so give your advice and I'll give it back. Truth be told I'm fed up with the garden and I have moments I want to put bbq fluid on it and burn that mofo down...but I won't - coz the Mr. is determined and I won't pee on his parade.

So here's the overall view - He put the metal re-bar or whatever down about 8 inches and then linked the wire crap to each thing. I believe it was around 30 ft worth of wire.









Small Bed...butternut squash, cantaloupe, green beans (contender) and the determined tomato plants and red sweet pepper.











It's on the hot side of the bed it's fried but somehow continues to grow - it is what it is. But 3 of the backups are already peeping through.











This cantaloupe is freakishly strong - we put a wire divider between it so it has something to climb.











There is another stubborn tomato plant alongside the 3 squash. Since they were seedlings one of those squash plants has always been on the yellow side - I'm thinking of just yanking it.










These are what's left of the dog eating the bigger cucumber seedlings. 13 new seedlings. 4 armenian, 5 carolina, and 4 of some other kind of cucumber I put in there. the 7 bigger ones in the white pots were from weeks ago - zuchinni I think. I have no idea where to put them since I'm told putting them near armenians will cause them to become weirdos.






This is all chili and green beans of different varieties...*shrugs* we'll see.



























This is some black squash that I sectioned off with rocks away from the other stuff. There used to be like 5 in there until the dog got to it.











Okra...It doesn't look like it but there's actually 3 seedlings...the dog got those too.












Tobacco and something else.

*shrugs again*











Another stubborn little tomato and his 2 brothers,












Some green beans and chili that finally decided to join the party.


Maybe I should get out of town for a bit then this can all be fun again. LOL.

I hope all of your gardens are doing better than mine.

Ghetto Garden Update, week 3 May

Thpthhh I don't even know what to say - it's becoming this love hate thing with the ghetto garden. I keep an eye on it and things progress and it feels like everytime I go in the yard I just can't sit there and enjoy it I have to poke or prod or mix something...But it's necessary and we have to learn because this is a vital skill that people should learn.

I think I just finally got turned off because our lab-pitt ate a BUNCH of plants - all of the armenian cucumber, almost all the carolina cucumber plants, half the green bean plants, wrestled the remaining green bean plants, ate 3 of 4 black squash plants and chewed up like 8 butternut squash leaves. That's the 4th time our seedlings died/got killed.

6 of 12 seedlings made it but they are super slow. I don't know why...but also under one of the plants in the black pots there are 5 new seedlings lol - go figure










Here are some closeups at high noon.

That's butternut squash - the middle one made it, she's a little slow but she's coming to the party










Here's some tomato plant - i dunno what kind...It was hiding under the squash plant. Everyone keeps sayin oh don't put that close to the squash it will get crowded...lol at the time i moved the plants it was just sitting there and i didn't want to risk killing it Ohhh Kaaaay.








This is the canteloupe plant that survived getting chewed on by our dog. I transplanted them last week and they seem to really like it in there.


Those are green beans to the left - they started turning yellow in the last 2 days. I dunno why maybe i'm a bit of a spazz with the watering.






I'm told this is some kind of tomato plant - I thought it was in a pot that said peppers. This was an accident too I wasn't trying to raise these jokers lol. I was trying to raise those red sweet peppers towards the front of the picture though.









This is a side view of the mystery tomato plant.













This is the long view of the larger of the 2 raised beds. It is completely naked - missing almost all of it's plants











These are the 2 NUBS left from the Armenian Cucumber. Seriously it makes me feel violent when I think about that dog chewing up my plants. I was in the shower exactly 22 minutes and she caused damage that quick. Then 1 morning someone let her out for 10 minutes and she got the rest of them.







But I guess they look all right so far. And if they die oh well I can plant a few more things - and if not just wait until August to start all over again.











Nice and Green...and yellow kind of LOL.













There's Mr. Man looking at where to put the stakes, he's building a pullshade fence type thing to keep the dogs out. It's nice to be with someone who not only loves me but is not afraid to work.

Lucky me.

Ghetto Garden Update, week2 may

Well...basically this is our 3rd round of seeds - the first one I lodged (overwatered - they grew straight up and tipped over), the 2nd ones got fried by a sudden week of 103 degree weather and what did survive was eaten by the dog...Half of this 3rd round grew strong then withered and died.

It's really starting to frustrate me. I'm kind of that typical overachiever and try to get a handle on things early on be it painting, cooking, writing, grades (yeah i'm a 4.0-er), whatever it is - I try to stay at the top of the class. This gardening thing is a whole different monster because you have some control but not complete control.

But it's a learning process and truly I wish I would have learned earlier.

Mom2 said that there are skills that you must learn to get along in this life - spiritual, familial, school, driving, swimming, cooking, cleaning and sanitation, table manners and at least have a grasp on a couple languages...but surprisingly she said shooting and gardening. This really surprised me because she is a Physician. A bonafide doctor. Turns out that part of her externship was being a jungle survival medic for the military. LOL - my GodMomma can rock a machine gun and a glock with the best of them. Mom1 said "I just don't understand why my daughter is doing these things"...and Mom2 said,"because these are things that people should know, especially when America is changing..." I guess we are getting the change the Clown in Chief promised us. Bastid.

Anyhow these are the little metal cubes I picked up at a garage sale and use them for seedlings. Sometimes I look at other peoples garden pictures and it seems like theres are so much further along than ours.

What can you do.







We transplanted the HOPI tobacco - 6 of 12 seedlings survived. Just keeping it pushing along. We also started some sacred tobacco in the house to baby until the fall.
















I think these are black squash...they'd been in there awhile and out of nowhere they came out.

















Same thing happened with these carolina cucumbers - they had been in the dirt for a month and I was just randomly watering them and then all the sudden they sprouted. You can see the tomato seedlings underneath.

Who knows.







There is the evil plant eater. Funny how now her favorite sleeping spot is facing the raised beds. Truth be told it makes me a bit nervous.











We still have some organic potting mix and will get another 50 just in case we need it. The big terracotta pot is ready to go when it's time to put something in there.










My gardening coach Mushroom suggested I plant some random stuff around for the bad doggie to eat so I threw some watermelon seeds down - but she hasn't eaten them. Go figure.










Mr. Man built these nice raised beds himself. Today I found this linen cloth in a trunk and just weighed down the corners with rocks. Mr. Man (aka afroprepper) was nice enough to cut down the sticks and drill them into the corners









As you can see there is a red border around the inside of the bed. All I did was cut up the old bags from the compost and tie them onto the stakes and cut V's so the air could flow through them. It's a little barrier for the curious doggies. Looks like the beginning of cucumbers, peppers and green beans. We have some flowers and other things in the white pots that we will slow grow until around July. maybe.












This is the smaller bed. We put the butternut squash all on one side because we didn't know if they would all make it since we were having such fatalities. That chunk in the middle is canteloupe, on the left are contender beans and in the front is sweet pepper and some kind of tomato plants that hid alongside the squash. I didn't bother to move it for fear that I would kill it.

Maybe we'll start a window farm too.