Choosing Voluntary Simplicity » Doing It Ourselves

The Final Cut and Summer Memories

Shirley — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:40:11 +0000

This was such a beautiful sight... to have ninety logs "done" and to see only one log still left to be cut. And there's the little "brook" that formed under this log during one of our last torrential rains... and the thick layer of sawdust that is so wet and packed down, we're having to rake it up in stages as it dries.

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Our Load of Logs — A Progress Report

Shirley — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:52:30 +0000

It is raining again this morning. And it rained for a while last night and yesterday and the night before that and the day before that. It feels like it has rained almost every day since our load of logs was delivered to us... and it actually has... last night the local weatherman said we have not had two consecutive days without some rain for the past seven weeks.

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A Truckload of Logs — Our Winter Firewood Supply

Shirley — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:22:49 +0000

For the past four years our winter wood supply has come from the woods across the road from our house... but finally we have cleared out those storm-damaged trees and this year we needed a new firewood source. The price for hardwood keeps going up... currently hardwood that is stove length, split, and delivered is selling for $300 or more per cord. The standard for "stove length" and "split" in this area seems to be huge chunks that are often more than sixteen inches long, even when we have asked for a smaller size, which means that when we have purchased firewood in the past, we have had to do a lot of re-splitting and re-cutting to end up with firewood that would work in our cook stove. Since we would have to do all that splitting and cutting anyway, it seemed that the best solution for us this year would be a load of logs.

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Inexpensive “Cold Frames” — Our Solution to Our Short Growing Season

Shirley — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:08:10 +0000

We really have to work around our short growing season here. If we wait to set out seedlings until all danger of frost is past... and this can be as late as the first two weeks of June... we end up with too late a start on the garden because we can also get frosts on the other end of the growing season as early as late August. Covering plants to protect them gets old very quickly, we have found, especially when you have a lot of plants to protect, like we do. Traditional cold frames never seemed like a practical idea for us either. We needed something that offered frost protection on a large scale, could be left in place without having to be adjusted, and most important of all, something that was really inexpensive. Our solution... "cold frames" made with one-by-one supports instead of solid wood and heavy duty woven blue drop cloths instead of glass!

How To Make Your Own Italian Seasoning Mix

Shirley — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:07:27 +0000

"I used your instructions and made garlic powder over the weekend. It turned out great and it tastes much more garlicky than my jar of store bought. I'm wondering do you make your own Italian seasoning mix and if you do if you would share your recipe. I am trying to make as many things from scratch as I can and I'm finding your blog wonderfully helpful." --Patti

How I Make Garlic Powder

Shirley — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:29:42 +0000

My family loves garlic, and I put it in everything... well, almost! I buy bulbs of garlic in little mesh bags, four pounds at a time (this is the least expensive way I have found to buy garlic)... but I also like to have powdered garlic on hand. I still have a large, almost-full bottle of McCormick's garlic powder that I do not dare to use again because every time I have used it, it has caused me to have a violent soy reaction. Soy is not listed in the ingredients, but a company service representative finally admitted to me that any of their herbs or spices MIGHT contain a binder, and that the binder MIGHT contain soy... and that this fact MIGHT not be listed on the label.