Pantry Re-organization

About a month ago, I sent Girl 2 into the pantry to retrieve something for me.  A few minutes later I hear, "Mom!  I found it, but I can't get out!"  Sure enough, she was able to climb over all the canned goods stacked in the floor in order to get in, but once her hands were full, she couldn't get out.  I rescued her and then moved some of the stuff from the floor into the guest room -- definitely a temporary fix.

We're actually blessed to have a very large pantry (like it? It can be yours!  The house is for sale, you know!).  However, with all the canned goods and homesteading cookware, it's managed to spill over into the kitchen, guest room, and guest room closet.  It was time for a reorganization.

Before pics:

As with any re-organization project, it's best to start by determining what you want out of the space.

 For me, I wanted . . .
1.  to be able to find things easily
2. to showcase all the beautiful jars of food I'd slaved over all summer
3. for my children not to get stuck when they venture in

Guest room floor

Step 2 is to empty out the space.  Resist the temptation to clear only one shelf at a time, clean it, and place back the items you plan to keep.  You won't be able to completely re-invent the way the space works, unless you can see it empty and get a good look at what all needs to go back in.

It's during this emptying out phase that you need to ask yourself the hard questions.  For example, why did I think it was a good idea to keep the paper shredder in the pantry?  Or, is it necessary that this be the location where I collect the newspapers for recycling?

As I mapped out my new layout plan, I kept a few things in mind:

1.  What items do I want the kids to be able to access easily?  Goldfish.  Nutella.  Cereal.  Popcorn.

2.  What items do I not need/want the kids to access easily?  Baking items.  Chocolate.  Glass jars.

3.  What items ought to be stored together?  

After pics:

Drawer units store less frequently-used/not-easily-stackable items.  

Canned goods are visible and adult-accessible.

Baskets corral similar items and keep them organized.

Bottom right: snacks are easily accessible.  

Potatoes no longer have to reside in the dining room.

Top left:  canisters made from recycled grapefruit containers store staples like rice and sugars

Top right:  herbs in large quantities are stored in a tray on a high shelf for when the small jars (stored in the kitchen) need to be refilled

Bottom left:  beautiful, beautiful jars!

Bottom right:  frequently used baking goods are stored in a basket together that can be easily carried to the kitchen 

I can't wait for Girl 2 to get home and see that surviving the obstacle course is not a pre-req for after-school snack time today.  

Not a bad way to spend a rainy day!

All Will Be Well

It's raining and, well, just pretty nasty outside.  I should know.  Between trying to coax my rain-a-phobe goat into the milking shed and going for a wet run, I've spent considerable time out in it already today.  

So, it's a bit dreary out. What better time to look ahead to the sun that will shine tomorrow?

Though it has very little to do with homesteading and I'll have to ask you to forgive the language in order to preserve the rhyme, it seems like a good day to consider some of the lyrics from the Gabe Dixon Band's "All Will Be Well":

The winter's cold,
But the snow still lightly settles on the trees.

And a mess is still a moment I can seize until I know,
That all will be well.


Even though sometimes this is hard to tell,
And the fight is just as frustrating as hell
All will be well.

. . . All will be well.
You can ask me how but only time will tell.

:)

Lazy Layers

Chickens naturally slow their egg production in the winter.  Many folks follow that up by mistakenly believing it has something to do with cold temperatures.   In reality, it's the shortened daylight that causes chickens to lay less frequently.  

Our weather right now is good proof of this.  Our mid-October days are shortening even though our temperatures have remained relatively warm.  Still our gals are pretending it's time to buckle down for winter and turn off their laying machines.  Egg production has dropped off tremendously.  I decided it was time to put a low-wattage bulb in the hen house.

This allows us to extend their light exposure, fooling them into believing the days are longer than they actually are.  When it actually gets cooler, I can switch the bulb out for a higher wattage to keep the gals warm throughout the winter.

Farm Find

Last night, as they were "exploring" at the farm, the kids found this guy.

Through the walkie talkie, I heard, "We found a BIG spider!"

"Is it a tarantula?"

"I guess.  It's brown and black and hairy."

Immediately, I remembered that Little Boy was caught playing with a dead mouse in the backyard earlier this week.  And, just in case you're not keeping up with us very well, Little Boy is my 4-year-old son, not the backyard cat.  When I expressed my disgust that he was touching it, he said, "What?  It's dead,  I guess I can get my gloves."

Anyway, as the girls were describing the spider's physical attributes into the walkie talkies, I could hear Little Boy's excited voice in the background and all I could picture was him swooping in and picking up the hairy fella.  Since I wasn't physically present to swat it away, I just blurted into the walkie talkie  "Stay back!  They can jump!"

You should've heard them all scream.  Apparently, the idea of a giant spider was great, but a potentially-jumping, giant spider is just plain SCARY!   These kids are so funny-- never a dull moment, I tell ya!

Owls, Beautyberry, and Scat -- Oh, My!

Yesterday, I accompanied Girl 2 and 2 school buses full of 2nd graders to Crowley's Ridge Nature Center in Jonesboro.  Our favorite part was learning all about owls and even getting to pet one.

Did you know that owls' eyes are fixed in their skulls, so they can't move them around in their heads?  That's why they need such extraordinary range of motion in their necks.

Did you know that their eyes make up about 5% of their body weight?  That would be comparable to us walking around with eyes the size of softballs!

Did you know that they can hear a mouse scurrying from 75 yards away?

Anyway,  as I was walking into the building, I saw the most beautiful plant.  I snapped this pic and then, a little self-consciously, went inside to ask the ranger at the desk whether she knew what type of plant it was.  She smiled knowingly and directed me to the stack of flyers they'd printed out to offer the MANY visitors who inquire.  Wow!

It's an American Beautyberry but is also known as a French mulberry.  Here's some basic info I gleaned from the flyer . . . 

This 6 ft. tall shrub is a member of the verbena family and flowers in the midsummer.  In the fall, it develops bb-sized purple berries that drape in gorgeous clusters.  

It's berries are a favorite of songbirds and deer, and it's crushed leaves deter mosquitoes and ticks.  

It's a perennial shrub that fruits only on new growth, so it is best cut it back to the ground each winter.

It will flower and fruit in medium to heavy shade but will produce much more if it receives at least some direct sunlight each day.  

The ranger said that most of the Beautyberry shrubs she's seen other places pale in comparison to the ones located at the nature center.   She theorizes that this is because gardeners fail to cut them back each year and because the nature center is home to LOTS of pollinators.  

I'm hoping to be able to find a source for the Beautyberry so that I can put some in at our new place.  Anyone know where they are sold?

While Girl 2's favorite thing was petting the owl, a close second was the scat and print exhibit.  She's been hunting tracks out at the new farm, so John and I picked her up a field guide while we were in Minneapolis last week.  Since then, she's been using it and going around the backyard replicating the tracks from the guide by drawing in the dirt.  Then, she and Little Boy go exploring, field guide in tow, and she tries to get him to identify the various species we've got roaming around our backyard.  Elk?  Who knew?  ;)

I Was the Lady Tearing Through the Grocery Store Today

I was once introduced to someone as "Ashley, her family grows all their own food."  Believe me, our backyard efforts may decrease our monthly grocery bill somewhat, but if all we had to eat was what comes in the backdoor, we'd be in pretty sad shape.

I had another person ask me whether my kids had ever "been exposed to" high fructose corn syrup, like it's the latest virus going around.

Yes, we make an effort to eat healthy most of the time, but for those of you who think that we are some ridiculously healthy household that wouldn't recognize a trans fat if it knocked on the front door, I offer you this confessional . . .

First, I am a stress eater.  I know this is a very bad thing.  But, when I'm anxious (and can't go for a run), I find solace in the pantry.  And, then the fridge.  And, then more than likely the pantry again.

Confession #2= My name is Ashley.  And I am a candy corn addict. (Maybe I should introduce myself like that.)  The first time this year that I saw them looming there by the cash register (and it was shortly after school started, mind you.  What's up with that?), I had a ridiculously long inner-dialogue.

"Oh, the kids would be so excited if I brought them home some candy corn."

"Who are you kidding, Ashley?  Those kids would never see that bag of candy corn, and you know it."

"I'll just get this one bag and that'll be it for the season.  If I can just get past October 31st, the temptation will be gone for another year."

"Who do you think you're kidding?  You buy this one bag, and you're just breaking the seal.  Next thing you know, you'll be adding it to every grocery list from now until Halloween.  And, before you know it, you're inventing another thing you need from the store just so you can snag another bag."

"Well, would that really be so bad?  It is sweetened with honey, after all."

And on.  And on.  And on.  Suffice it to say . . . I won.  That is, I avoided buying the candy corn that first trip and felt very proud of myself.  So proud, in fact, that I rewarded myself on the next trip to the store with a bag of candy corn.  It's basically been a downward spiral since then.

So today, I'm in the middle of the grocery store when I get a text that sends me reeling.  There are few problems in the world that can't be solved by candy corn.  And, even though this text relayed a problem far too large to be solved by that sweet conical goodness, I had to have them anyway. And, I had to have them right then.  My candy corn addiction had met up with my stress eating disorder and created a perfect storm.

I high-tailed it to the candy aisle.  You've got to be kidding me? No candy corn?  This Autumn Mix mess is not an acceptable substitute.  Surely they have some by the checkout.  No?  I'm turning corners on two wheels as I realize we're about to be late to Little Boy's immunization appointment (a whole other story) and head toward the Halloween costume section.  Surely they keep at least some candy over there -- the very special candy, at least.  No?  Back to the candy aisle.  I'll not put up with any of that chocolate-y mess in the Autumn Mix, but desperate times call for desperate measures as I grab a bag of Mellowcreme Pumpkins.  I'm pretty sure Little Boy was using a judgmental tone as he begged me for trail mix on our way out of the store.

The point of this post is two-fold:  to make you smile and to dissolve any last notion that I am some oh-so-healthy hippie who is above the struggle to eat well.  Believe me, I'm struggling right along with you.  But, I do believe the struggle is worth it.  Here's looking toward Halloween, so that I can finally put this addiction to bed for the year.  At least Thanksgiving just entails one day of gluttony.

Fall Gardening

I know that everyone gets all excited about gardening in the spring.  And, while I too love to put in a spring garden after a long, cold winter, I've about decided that I prefer gardening in the fall.

We love lettuce and other greens, which are easily grown during this season.  And, I keep checking the leaves, but it appears the worms and other pests have decided to pack it up for the year.  Those beautiful greens are growing undisturbed.

Fall gardens are also lower maintenance because cooler temps mean that plants require less frequent watering.

I do need to get out my cold frame and be sure it's ready to go for when those overnight temps dip.  Other than that, though, the most fall gardening effort I've expended has been tossing out a few seeds and harvesting delicious greens.

I know that this is the season when most gardens sit unkempt with the last of the season's tomatoes rotting on the vine.  And, yes, many gardeners are just ready for a break from the intensity of summer gardening.  But, if you're not entirely burnt out, don't miss out on the opportunity to extend your growing season by fall gardening.  It's worth the (minimal) effort.  :)