Entertaining can be expensive, but cost shouldn’t keep you from being social. Organize a dinner group and you can entertain while still being on a budget and frugal. Schedule your dinner group meetings regularly and you’ll see your friends more often and try new foods. The idea behind a dinner group is that it’s a… Continue reading How to Organize a Dinner Group
Tag: green living
Growing Vegetables in Small Spaces
We live in the city and have very little space when it comes to gardening. I’m always trying to find space to grow more vegetables. I try to carve out small spots in our yard that I can grow vegetables up instead of taking up lots of ground space. [amazon_link id="1579548563" target="_blank" ]The Square Foot… Continue reading Growing Vegetables in Small Spaces
Sewing Project: Repurposed Tote Bag with Pocket
One item there seems to be an endless supply of at second-hand stores is tote bags. I love sewing and always want an excuse to use some leftover fabric and create a bag. After seeing all of the used tote bags at second hand stores, I decided to take the time saving, easier route. I… Continue reading Sewing Project: Repurposed Tote Bag with Pocket
Raised Garden Beds
Growing your own vegetables is very satisfying. Eating food that you’ve grown in your own garden is a wonderful way to embrace the idea of farm to table. Many homeowners don’t have much space to devote to growing their own food. I definitely fall under this category. We live in the city with a small… Continue reading Raised Garden Beds
Fresh Eggs From Our Backyard Chickens
By far the biggest benefit of having backyard chickens is getting eggs. Chickens don’t normally lay in the winter months, unless they receive enough light on their eyes. This is why many chicken coops are lit. We don’t light our coop so we don’t get eggs in the winter but we do miss the fresh… Continue reading Fresh Eggs From Our Backyard Chickens
Tomato Cages – Go Gingham Style
Planting tomatoes means staking the plants. For several years, I used the old standard, cone shaped tomato stake. I’ve never had much success with these. My tomato plants would get too tall or I couldn’t reach in to pick the fruit. Then, I read the book, “Square Foot Gardening” by Mel Bartholomew and got inspired… Continue reading Tomato Cages – Go Gingham Style
Preparing For Tomato Season
Spring is fast approaching which means vegetable and tomato planting season. I’m a novice when it comes to vegetable gardening but I do have a few tricks to share. These tomatoes are from last year’s garden. It was a horrible year for tomatoes in Portland in 2010. Hopefully, this year will be much improved! Here’s… Continue reading Preparing For Tomato Season
Catalog Choice: To Receive or Not To Receive
Receiving catalogs in the mail used to cost us money. Even though I wasn’t actually purchasing anything from the catalogs, just looking at the non-tattered, cord-free, cleaned-up pictures made me think about how our gently used, well loved furnishings were showing a little wear and tear. When looking at catalogs, everything is so shiny and… Continue reading Catalog Choice: To Receive or Not To Receive
Green Living: Once-a-Month Garbage Collection
Our family is celebrating 10 years of once-a-month garbage collection. Everyone always wants to know the secret of how a family of four can do this. Well, there is no secret just some simple steps you can take to reduce the amount of trash you generate each month. You and your family should give it… Continue reading Green Living: Once-a-Month Garbage Collection
Backyard Chickens
We have chickens. I still marvel at this statement. It's not the same as telling people you have a dog or a cat. We purposely have these creatures, in our very small backyard, in the city. Here's how it happened... Our family was exchanging homes with a family in Gouda, The Netherlands, near Amsterdam. We… Continue reading Backyard Chickens
Go Gingham 