New Use for Toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls

After wrapping gifts you can prevent the paper from unrolling by slicing a paper towel, or toilet paper roll up the side and placing it around the paper on the tube. It will hold it and keep it from unrolling! Works great! Merry Christmas!

Making The Peanut Butter Twix for Christmas!

 

Today we are making Peanut Butter Twix! Our eldest daughter, Joy, always loved the original Peanut Butter Twix candy bars when Twix still made them. Now the company makes the PB Twix with chocolate cookies. We make her Peanut Butter Twix, like the original ones. It isn't hard and only uses 4 ingredients. Lorna Doone shortbread cookies, creamy peanut butter, powdered sugar, and milk chocolate chips.

 

You start with the Lorna Doone cookie. Open the package and place the cookies on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet.

 

Mix together 1 cup of smooth peanut butter and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. You can use a spoon or a fork to mix it. You do not have to use a mixer, just mix it in a small bowl.

 

 

 

Using a knife place the peanut butter mixture onto the individual cookies. I angle the peanut butter towards the center, from the center down towards the edges.

 

 

Next pour the milk chocolate chips into a microwaveable dish and microwavwe it for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave an additional minute. Stir. The chips should all be melted.

 

 

Turn the cookie over and lightly coat the bottom of the cookie with the melted chocolate.

 

 

Place the cookie with the chocolate coated bottom, chocolate side down, on the waxed paper.

 

Use the knife and pick up a bit of the melted chocolate. drip and coat the peanut butter mix on the cookie. Only touch the peanut butter mixture LIGHTLY, as you don't want to push the peanut butter mixture off of the cookie! 

 

 

Don't forget to coat the edges and encase the whole cookie in a thin layer of chocolate. I find that the melted chocolate smooths over the peanut butter easily.

 

 

 

If the chocolate in your bowl begins to set up, microwave it for one minute and stir. It will be 'drippy' once again!

 

 

 

 

When the cookies are all coated you can either wait a couple hours for the chocolate to harden, or you can set the tray into the refrigerator and in about 30 mins. the chocolate will be hardened.

 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

26 random acts of kindness aren't all that many - especially done one at a time!
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/18/15999109-if-you-do-good-youll-feel-good-ann-curry-explains-origins-of-26acts-of-kindness?lite

Our youngest son has just discovered that his Mother was correct! Yes Justin, if you have a light bulb, or even a Christmas light, that has had it's base broken off in the socket, twist a raw potato into the light's base and the jagged edge of the broken light. The broken light bulb will grab onto the potato and you will be able to remove the broken bulb from the socket! If it is a Christmas light, simply use a smaller potato! Merry Christmas!

The Victorian Kitchen Garden in December

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The Victorian Kitchen Part 8 - Picnics

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The Victorian Kitchen Part 7 - The Dinner Party

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The Victorian Kitchen Part 6 - Supper

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Victorian Kitchen Part 5 - Dinner

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The Victorian Kitchen - Part 4 Afternoon Tea

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Victorian Kitchen Part 3 Luncheon;

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The Victorian Kitchen Part 2

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Cooking during the Victorian times was quite a task. This video shows a bit about it;

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LARGE SCALE RECIPES - SCHOOL CAFETERIA FOOD RECIPES
For any of you out there who need to cook for a large crowd, or who just like cafeteria food, this one is for you!
http://www.nfsmi.org/Templates/TemplateDefault.aspx?qs=cElEPTEwMg==

MAKING YOUR OWN HONEY VANILA LIP BALM (CHAPSTICK)

Mix together; 2 TB Petroleum Jelly, (Also known as Vasoline); 1 TB Beeswax, and 1/8 tsp Vitamin E oil, (I used a pin and opened a Vit. E capsule); Place in a microwaveable container. Heat in microwave for 2 1/2 mins. stir and heat again in microwave for 2 1/2 minutes. Stir. The ingredients should be all melted and stirred together. Let this sit for 5 to 10 mins. Then stir in 1 tsp. of vanilla and 1 tsp. of honey. When all stirred together and still warm, pour into the lip balm container you wish to use, (i.e. an empty lip balm / chapstick container; or any other container). They say that this can store up to 6 weeks without refrigeration, however we have used it longer with no ill effects. (You could store it in the refrigerator).

HOMEMADE COOKING OIL SPRAY
The product"Pam" can get expensive over time and really doesn't last a long time. I have a different approach for those wishing to 'grease' their frying and baking pans with a quick spraying. Using Olive oil or cooking oil and water! You can place 1 part oil and 5 parts water into a spray bottle and shake it before use. It works GREAT and doesn't need refrigeration. Try it! You will be saving money, it lasts a long time and you will be saving money! Enjoy!

1700's - 1800's Handwritten Cookbook

Being in love with the 1700's - 1800's life and cooking, I would like to have a handwritten cookbook in old style form. In search of how to accomplish this, I came across this tutorial;
http://www.squidoo.com/book-binding-how-to-make-a-leather-bound-moleskine-journal-craft-tutorial#

Today we made special cupcakes and tried a 'new-to-us' icing for the chocolate cupcakes. Fast! Good, depending on your tastes. Take one 8 oz container of frozen Cool Whip or the like. Place it in a microwave proof bowl. Add 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Microwave 1 min. Stir mixing it all together as much as possible. It will look like this.

 

These were the ingredients that we used. After the one minute in the microwave and the stirring, we placed it back into the microwave for an additional 30 seconds. Upon removal we stirred again until totally combined.

This is what it looked like after we were done mixing the melted chocolate chips and the melted topping together. We picked up the cupcakes and holding it upside down, dipped the tops of the cupcakes into the icing and twisted the cupcakes in a circular motion to coat the tops. It will set up a bit when it cools. We added sprinkles on the tops, but it really would be optional. Fast and easy! The taste is like the semi-sweet chocolate chips so if you are thinking a sweet frosting type, this isn't it. But it was good. Could probably also be used as a brownie topping.

I was told that you should allow the corn to dry in the field on the stalk. We wanted to try drying the corn in our house and thought that it might look 'old-timey' to have them hanging from the beams in our log cabin. We also left some corn to dry in the field.  The corn on the left was allowed to dry in the field. The corn on the right dried hanging from the rafters in our house. The corn on the left had it's husk left on in the field while drying. The corn on the right was dried in it's 'open' state.  We recently brought in the sweet corn which had been left in the field and it wasn't completly dried, (unlike that which dried in the house), so we pulled back the husk and hung it up to finish drying.

Today was the day to store our dried sweet corn as seed for next year's crop. We had selected ears of corn which looked to be some of the best we had grown this year. We clothes pinned them up on cords strung between our beams in our log cabin. These have been drying here for about a month or more.  When the kernels are completely dried and well dented, you can take store the corn seed.

 

We have a large pretzel or cheese ball container in which to save our seed. We label the container with the date and the name of the seed which we are storing. This year we are storing Golden Bantam Cross sweet corn. You can store the seed for 2 to 3 years unfrozen, or in the freezer for a long, long time.  You have to make sure that the seed which you are storing is from heirloom open pollinated plants. This way the seed will stay true to the produce that was grown the year prior. Make sure the seed is well dry before attempting to store it for the next season / seasons as it may mold if it isn't.

 

 

The larger container allows me to stick both of my hands, along with a cob of corn, down into the container. With my hands in the container, I encircle the cob with my thumb and forefinger and rotate my hand around the cob, brushing the corn off of the cob into the container.

 

My son actually just puts one of his hands into the container and pushes the corn off of the cob.

Civil War Handwriting Part 2

Spencerian Ladies' Hand- Mid-1800s Handwriting Part II

Knowing how to read and write in the Spencerian style is fun but also helpful. I have found that being able to read and write in the Spencerian style has allowed me to read old letters and the inscriptions in books and on the backs of photographs easily. It takes a bit of practice but it is worth the effort. Reading Civil War soldier letters isn't such a struggle anymore. I loved to read the letters before, but now I love it so much more. It is immensely helpful if you have to read any large amount of period writing at a time. It is a beautifully romantic script I urge anyone that wants to learn to give it a try.

This is the guide for lowercase letters in the Spencerian script.










Some tips on writing:

* Press as lightly as you can for the thin parts of the letters. Apply a small bit of pressure for the darker parts.

*If your dark parts of the letters are not as dark as you need them at first, you can go over them again until you can do it naturally in one stoke.

* It helps if you mark out lines on the page in pencil to keep all of your letters straight.

This is the stroke guide for writing the lowercase letters. Please forgive its blurriness, I could not get it any clearer.









Remember if you mess up there are two acceptable period corrections you can use:

1. You can “go with it.” Just leave it as it is, if it isn’t a big mistake, no one may notice it. If you don’t believe me, take a look at America’s most famous document: The Declaration of Independence.

Spencerian Hand Writing

Spencerian Ladies' Hand- Mid-1800s Handwriting

Period handwriting is beautiful. A long time has passed since such a beautiful, aesthetic hand has been taught in schools. A common script in the mid-1800s was the Spencerian Ladies' Hand. It is a type of copperplate, similar to the kind that our parents (maybe??) learned in elementary school. There were numerous booklets and pamphlets written at the time to demonstrate how to write it. Many men and women also used Round Hand, which is very similar.
For those of you interested in learning how to write in a period style, Lessons in Calligraphy and Penmanship is an amazing resource to learn virtually everything you need to know to learn. They have scans of original teaching books, as well as modern guides and videos that teach you all you need to know.

I have been trying to learn myself . I wrote out a guide in Spencerian Ladies' Hand (Left.) The darker parts of the letters are made by increased pressure, not by twisting the pen, like is common with other calligraphy "fonts". The nib you should use for this "font" should be very fine with a lot of bend to it. You can still buy Spencerian Pen Nibs. They can also be found by the boxes on Ebay. I just use what I have at hand.

I couldn't find many guides that showed the order in which to write each stroke. I wrote out the order that I used to make the strokes. I tried to make the strokes in the most natural way of writing. Hopefully, if you are interested in writing it, it will be comfortable. (We have to thank Andy for the pretty red ink I got to use for the arrows and numbers.)

HOMEMADE "SHOUT" LAUNDRY STAIN REMOVER

To make "Shout" laundry stain remover I used the following directions. We tried the results against the 'real' "Shout" and like it equally as well, if not better. Try it and let me know what you think!

MIX TOGETHER:
2/3 cup of Dawn liquid dish soap
2/3 cup of Ammonia (a cleaning product which acts kind-of like a bleach BUT we did spray this on colored clothes and leave it there for over an hour, then washed it out with no ill effects. BUT if you have a very favorite colored shirt, or whatever, please use at your own risk).
6 TB Baking soda
2 cups of warm water (warm to hotter will help the baking soda to dissolve)

After mixing these together ...you can start by mixing the hotter water with the baking soda to dissolve it first then add the dish soap, water and ammonia, (please keep your face away from the ammonia bottle),...... Place in any spray bottle, (such as an empty "Shout" bottle?), and use! Give it a good shake before using it each time. Spray the stain, rub it together, let it soak a few minutes, Wash.  PLEASE try this on a colorful rag or something to see if it takes the color out of your clothes before using it on colors ..as I said it didn't take the color out of ours.

More Good Tips From Friends - Thank You!

HOME TIPS FROM FRIENDS;
Place a rubberband across the opening of an open paint can. You can pull the paint brush across the rubber band, after loading it with paint, and the paint will drop back into the paint can and the edges of your paint can will stay clean. I have also been told that you can po...

ke a few small holes into the edge of the paint can where the lid fits down in the groove. The lid, when closed, closes off these holes. The holes, when the lid is open drains back into the paint can.
Store your paint cans upside down and not on the cement basement floor. To remove any lumps from the paint after it sits for quite awhile, place a nylon stocking over the opening in the paint can and pour through the stocking / panty hose into a paint pan, (it will strain the paint).
A stocking placed over the end of a vaccume cleaner hose will allow you to pick up small items that you wouldn't want to go up into the hose.
To clean a shower head, place the shower head into a baggie filled with white vinegar, (heated works well), and attach it to the shower head holder / attachment with rubber bands. Leave this at least overnight to work. This will clean the scale from the shower head cleaning it.
A shampoo bottle with part of a side and the top removed removed, the other side left but cut so as to leave the bottom attached and the tall side cut with a hole near the top will allow a plug from a plug in device, (such as a cell phone), to go through the hole and plug into the outlet. The rest of the bottle will hang down from the plug and you can insert the phone, or device to be charged, into the base of the shampoo bottle which will hold it for you.
You can make a similar one out of an empty milk jug and fit the hole over the spout on a large drink container, (as in 5 gallon), to catch the drips at a party.
A pop tab has two holes in it. You can fit the top hole over one of your hangers in your clothes closet and a 2nd hanger in the remaining pop tab hole. This can double the space in a small closet.
You can paint the top half of your keys different colors with fingernail polish to be able to tell your keys apart!
By cleaning out an empty suntan lotion bottle and cutting off the top of the contain in a matter that you could fit it back together, you can use it at the beach to hide your cell phone, money and keys in your beach bag.
You can carefully use toothpaste to clean hazy car headlights to clear them.
If the rounded button type thingy that pokes through the bottom, from the top of your flip-flop sandals, (we use to call them thongs way back in our days!), pulls through the bottom, because the hole in the bottom has enlarged, use one of the plastic flat bread wrapper type closers, around the stem of the button after it pokes through the bottom, just above the button.
You can use a can opener to open blister packs and avoid cutting yourself.
Use a hanging door shoe rack, (cloth with pockets), and store your cleaning supplies on the back of a locked basement door to organize and store them away from children.
Use a foam pool noodle, (or two!) under a fitted sheet on a bed to block in a toddler to help them from rolling over out of bed, onto the floor.
If you have been saving toilet paper rolls and not knowing what to use them on ... make a cuff by slitting them open down the length of the empty roll and use it on a roll of wrapping paper, (Christmas wrap), to keep it from unrolling.
A walnut meat can be rubbed on wooden furniture to cover up dings.
You can use a staple remover, using the pointed ends to push into a key ring to open it to enable you to add or remove keys.
If you have a bucket to fill with water and a sink that is too small for the bucket to fit, and you don't have a tub to use to fill the bucket , nor an outside hose!, AND ...if you have a dustpan that is the kind that clips onto the handle of a broom, place the wide part of the dust pan under the facuet and the handle directing the water out over the sink edge, into the bucket, being funneled through the handle of the dustpan.

Saving Seeds For Next Year's Planting

SAVING SEEDS FOR NEXT YEAR'S PLANTING; In using heirloom, open pollinated type seeds, you can actually save seed from your plants to grow a crop the following year ..or two or three! (Much longer if you choose to keep the seed in your freezer). Let the plants finish growing. Remove the seeds from the plant or produce and place in water for approximately 3 days. You are allowing the seeds to ferme nt thus removing the protective coating on the seeds. Seeds won't be able to germinate through this protective coating. You may remove the scum from the top of the water if desired during these 3+ days. I cover the top of the jars with a coffee filter rubber banded to the jar. On the coffee filter I first write what the seeds are and the date. The coffee filter allows the air to circulate into the jar. The fermenting water / seeds will not smell good! :) After the seeds have separated from the scum, pour into a stainer and run water through the strainer/ seeds to rinse the scum off of the seeds. Place the seeds on paper towel, waxed paper, or other to throughly dry them. I place them onto the coffee filter that was used on the top of the jar which is already marked with the name and date of the seeds. This allows them to dry for storage. You can store the seeds in a sandwich bag marked with name of seeds and date, or glass jars, or in the freezer.

Homemade Dishwasher Soap

HOMEMADE DISHWASHER SOAP I had tried different home-made remedy dishwasher detergents before and they clumped together and I didn't like how they worked. 1st let me say that if your dishwasher is dirty, and let's face it they all get that way from time to time, run it through a cycle with 1/2 a container, (regular size), of Tang. It will clean the dishwasher and make it sparkle. Of course if the seals of the dishwasher are caked with crud, you may need to use that butter knife and remove the excess grease and dirt that have accumulated there. Now then .... Dishwasher Detergent Purchase a container of Oxi-clean or other kind of oxygen bleach, "Sun" at the Dollar Stores ..... To the soap dispenser of the machine, or into the bottom of the dishwasher add 1 tsp. of Oxi-Clean or other oxygen bleach. Then add ONLY 1/2 tsp. of Dawn dish soap. (I haven't tried other brands but I'm not sure why they wouldn't work. We use Dawn to degrease our dishes and also our sheep's wool before spinning so we use that). Then place 1/2 cup of white vinegar in a small cup or other container on the top shelf of the dishwasher. That's it! Just wash the dishes as per usual! Oh ...also ...you can use the white vinegar in your rinse aid section of your dishwasher. :) It does a good job for that also!

Homemade Laundry Soap

HOMEMADE LAUNDRY SOAP Using a gallon, or other, bottle or container; Add 4 cups of very hot, (but doesn't have to be boiling), water. To this add 3 TB Borax (20 mule team), powder; 3 TB Washing Soda, (NOT BAKING SODA. You used to be able to buy it at Wal-Mart, but not lately. I bought it at I believe Giant Eagle in the clothes washing soap isle ... Arm & Hammer brand in a yellow box!.), 2 TB of D awn dish washing liquid. Swirl it around to mix it together until it is dissolved. Use 1/4 to 1 cup or up to 2 cups on very dirty laundry in a top loader. I used about 1 cup to a load in our front loader. Cost - about 20 cents per gallon. If you can't find Washing Soda this can be made by placing regular baking soda on a pan in the oven @ 400 degrees until it turns grainy.

Our Chickens

We also have chickens! Egg layers that is! The black and white stripped ones are Barred Rock hens, the white ones are Leghorns and the Red brown ones are Rhode Island Red. Chickens were a new project for us this year also. We were originall...

y given several 3year old chickens through Freecycle an internet group which posts free items wanted or to give away. We were also given several from my brother, Gary, these were Silkies and lay smaller eggs than the above mentioned chickens. This week we brought home 13 additional chickens from our friend Marcie and her husband Bob

 The laying chickens will begin to lay around 1 year old and will lay eggs, (not continually!), until they are about 3 years old. We also found that there is a big difference between egg chickens and meat chickens. The meat chickens have more .. meat! .. and are ready to butcher after only months time and before a year. Laying chickens after 3 years of age are tougher and not as much meat as a meat chicken. You can still use roosters and laying hens for soup as you boil the meat and it will not be as tough as if you would be using it for say .. fried chicken. Chickens do not lay an egg each day. Eggs come from the chicken with a protective coating on the shell to keep it from needing refrigerated. When you wash the egg, this coating is washed off and you will need to keep the eggs in a refrigerator. An unwashed egg can be left on the counter for weeks without 'going bad'. If washing the egg in hot water it will open the pores of the egg shell and allow bacteria into the egg. Cold water will close the pores and hold in the bacteria. Also the use of soap, as in dish soap, may get into the egg while the pores are open, thus using lukewarm water and just a bit of soap on the egg is best.

 

Homemade Fabric Softener

Homemade Fabric Softener

We make this Fabric softener and use it in our HE type front loader washing machine. It would be good for top loaders as well.

Use a gallon bottle, (I like the Lucky Leaf apple juice jug, or the jug that white vinegar comes in as they are heavy duty. You will be buying the white vinegar anyway and these type of jugs are quite heavy duty). Place the jug in the sink or som...

eplace where water will not cause a problem. You need the following ingredients: READ EVERYTHING 1ST PLEASE!

(You can look in the cleaning isle at a store like Wal-Mart or Sam's Club or the like and buy a huge bag of baking soda. I called the Arm and Hammer company myself and asked if it was of food quality. They said as long as it says Drug Facts / Nutrition Facts on the bag you can use it for cleaning AND for baking. Since our package didn't say "Hey! Use this for baking!" I was worried that it wouldn't be eatable ..so I asked! Our bag is Net Wt. 13.5 lbs.
1 cup of Baking Soda
8 cups of water
6 cups of white vinegar
Since Baking Soda and Vinegar are sworn enemies, you need to know that they will produce a LOT of bubbly action! (Hence the sink!)... OR the way in which you assemble the ingredients.
Into the gallon bottle, (I use a funnel for this), place 5 cups of water, (any temp can be used but I find the hotter the better in helping to dissolve the baking soda.), Add the 1 cup of baking soda and place the cap on the bottle. Shake it until the baking soda is dissolved. Next SLOWLY add 1 cup of white vinegar. It MAY bubble and it might not, so go slow and be prepared. Add the remaining 3 cups of water and and the remaining 5 cups of white vinegar. Stir or shake it together. You are diluting the vinegar with the water, so it may not bubble over! I usually let this sit with the cap half open so that the gases from the baking soda / vinegar can be expelled for a day or so. Use about 1 cup per load of wash.
To use you can add this to a Snuggle fabric softener ball, (Wal-Mart has them), or directly into the fabric softener dispenser of your washing machine. For us we found that it made our clothes brighter and the vinegar did act as a softening agent for the clothes. It isn't as great as a fabric softener shet for the static cling so when we took the clothes out of the dryer we sometimes needed to give the clothes a 'snapping' shake to release the static electricity.
Give a shake before using each time. If any crystals develope on the lid you can just brush them off or add them to the softener, it will be fine! Keeps for months at a time!
You can add up to 15 drops of essential oil for smell if you like, or store in an old fabric softener bottle to let it pick up the scent.

Yipee! I managed to figure out how to create a Facebook page! I wanted a page where I could ramble and people wouldn't expect me to just be friendly with a minimal amount of verbage. I could polute the page with pictures to my heart's content and no one would care. A page about living in the past . (1700's - 1800's), and go on and on about cooking over the fire and LOVING the DAGGETT house in Greenfield Village! Yipee! I've done it!!
YEA ME! :)

Last night I created homemade pizza dough and homemade pizza sauce. Yummy! I shared with our daughter's family and our son's family who live in our neighborhood. We also had 2 pizzas here at home for one of our other sons and dughters as well as my DH and myself.

The Pizza Dough Recipe starts with a flour mixture which consists of the following:
6 cups of flour, (a mix of 4 cups of bread flour, 2 cups of all purpose flour or a mix of whole wheat flour and white flour), 1/2 cup of corn meal, 2 1/2 TB sugar, 1 1/2 TB salt, 1 1/2 TB baking powder. I place this in an ice cream tub to mix and to store. When making pizza, you use 3 cups of this mix at a time. I...

usually double the recipe and make 4 large pizzas so I can share with the neighbors when I make it.
To Make the pizza dough;
(I make 2 batches at a time in my Zojiroushi lage size breadmaker which will hold 6 cups of flour in making bread).
To the bread pan in the bread maker, I add the following:
(I will give the recipe for a single batch, which I double);
1 cup of water, 2 TB Vegtable oil or melted shortening, then add 3 cups of the above flour mixture, and 1/2 TB of dry yeast. I then use the 'dough' cycle to mix the ingredients. After the dough has finished mixing, let it rest on a lightly floured surface for approximately 15 mins. (This allows the dough to relax and is then easier to roll out and pull out into the pizza shape). I either use a pizza stone, or a pizza pan upon which to bake the pizza. If using a pizza stone, you need to place it into the oven on the lowest rack setting and pre-heat the stone WITH the oven at 400 - 425 degrees. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a pizza pan, or cookie sheet, (about the size of the pizza stone). I oil it with olive oil and sprinkle corn meal on the paper. I then 'create' the pizza , rolling out the dough and shaping it , add the sauce, cheese and meat if desired. By using the parchment paper I can easily slide it onto the pizza stone and then back off the stone after it is done baking for about 15 - 20 mins. or so. :)

The Pizza sauce recipe is just an easy one; but was fast and we liked it;
Pizza Sauce
Into a sauce pan on the stove, I placed 3 cans of Hunt's spaghetti sauce, (2 Meat variety and one 3 cheese 26.5 oz each), (remember I doubled the pizza dough recipe!), I added 3 tsp. of sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. oregano, 1 1/2 tsp. basil, 1 tsp. thyme, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, 3 bay leave...

s, 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice and 3 tsp. grated Parmesion cheese. I brought it to a boil then lowered the heat and simmered for about 30 mins. or until I needed to use it on the pizza crusts! I also cooked up some sausage from our pig we had done this summer. Unfortunately it turned out to be maple flavored!! So I offered it on the side to add to your pizza if you wanted. (I ate it seperately as I don't like maple flavored sausage on my pizza! :0) I also topped the pizza with mozzerella cheese and cheddar cheese and pepperoni!

I did write something about this picture earlier ...so if this is a repeat please forgive me as I'm a bit new at this "Moderator" thing!
These are a few of the raised bed gardens which we planted this year! We needed the metal "hardware clo...

th" in the bottom of our beds as we have voles in our area which come up from under the ground and steal our veggies. Jenny is working here on the garden paths. She is leveling the ground and putting down weed block and gravel. It worked wonderfully with hardly any weeds this whole summer. The chairs in the background didn't get very much use this year!

 

 

Husband Roger, son Justin and daughter Jenny worked making the raised beds on our trailer then taking them to the garden area. Here Jenny is directing them where to 'drop' the newest raised bed.

 

Living In The Past - Homesteading and Fireplace Cooking!

We have decided to create a blog! We have a FB page of the same name. Living In The Past - Homesteading and Fireplace Cooking.  My daughter, Jenny, is helping me to create this blog with skills that she learned in a class at the local University, (which she swore she would never use!! :0)