Tag Archives: summer

Aug 22 2011

Gardening Fail

Yeah, the garden? Well it hasn’t gone very well.  We had a wet spring and very mild summer.  So far I’ve harvested  about six strawberries, two small zucchini and have three misshapen bell peppers on the plant.  I have yet to see a ripe tomato.

My funky bell peppers.

Zucchini, the most forgiving of all vegetables. You almost can't mess them up, but I've come close.

The first (SMALL) tomatoes are starting to turn red. Maybe by September we'll have some to eat.

I can’t blame the weather completely. My watering schedule has been hit and miss.  I have only fertilized once. And I think the containers I used were too small.  But like everything in life, we learn from our mistakes (at least we should be learning) and strive to do better the next time.  And who knows, we could have a warm fall and still see some produce from this year’s garden.

 

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Jul 26 2011

Sandbox as a Kiddie Pool

It has been warm here on the Central Coast of California.  Nothing like what the East and Mid-West folks were experiencing last week, but it’s definitely feeling like summer.

My mom bought the kids a plastic sandbox shortly after we moved.  I filled it with nice play sand from the hardware store. None of that gritty beach sand that I got as a kid!  Well, somehow my kids managed to make two bags of play sand disappear in just six months. When I opened the lid last week all that was left was a few handfuls of sand.

A few days ago the kids had a friend over and it was getting hot.  I set up the water table and that kept them busy for a while but we needed something more.  I dumped  out what little sand was left drug the sandbox over to the patio.  I hosed it out a bit and “ta da!” we had our very own kids pool.  And they loved it!  They thought it was the most amazing thing that they now had their very own kid-sized pool to play in.  So, if you are feeling the heat and short on cash give the sandbox pool a try!

Coincidentally, sandbox toys make good pool toys!

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Jun 24 2011

Frugal Friday: U-Pick Berries

Audrey was a great berry picker. She did get some nice purple hands in the process!

Our MOPS group doesn’t formally meet over the summer, but instead has play dates for moms and kids to get together.  Our first summer field trip was to a berry farm.  It was a bit of a drive, but well worth it!  They had strawberries, olallieberries, boysenberries and blackberries in season.

We hit up the olallieberry patch.  The kids loved picking the berries and I got about seven pounds to take home!  That’s a lot of berries.  The frugal part – the berries were only $1.90 per pound!  Compare that to $2-3 for a pint at the grocery store.  Wow, what a savings and great fresh fruit.

I spread them out in single layers on baking sheet to freeze.  Then once frozen, transferred them to zip-lock freezer bags.  They will keep for months in the freezer.  Fresh berry cobbler in the winter is a wonderful thing!

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Apr 25 2011

Summertime Savings

Wondering how to keep your kids busy over the summer?  My suggestion is to check out all of the local attractions within a 2 hour radius of your home and get some season passes.

We purchased a season pass in November for our local amusement park.  With it came entry to the special Christmas events, unlimited admission in 2011, free parking and 20% off food inside the park.  If that wasn’t enough, the park has IRS 503(c) status as a charitable organization so the cost of our season passes was tax deductible!

Check online for your local zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and theme parks for season passes.  Most of the time it is a huge savings if you can make it to the place a few times over the year.  In my case, we only need to go once more to make it a savings over the regular admission.

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