Bluebirds on the Ground. An update from Vicky in Ohio.

This week we have an update from Vicky in Ohio.  She has been very busy!   I am going to point out all her beautiful trays of seedlings sitting out ready to plant.   She does not mention that she grew these all from seed first.  She got her timing right and didn't plant them too soon as they did have a late frost.  So she did so well!   They look amazing!  Now over to Vicky...

 Hello Bluebirds, 

Where I am things are up and down. Some of the shortages have been easing up and shelves being restocked, but the prices are higher so when something we use is on sale I make sure to stock up on it because it used to be the stores sales cycles were about the same, but within a few weeks of each other so that if I missed one sale I could go to another. That's not always the case now. The price of meat is still high so recently during a few good sales I made sure to stock up on enough to last us and since we just put in the gardens I bypassed some of the other sale items putting meat at the top of the list and used the bulk of my grocery dollars for that. The price of eggs have come down here, but milk has gone up, butter is still around $6 or more, vinegar is $7 a gallon, canned vegetables are $2 or more, even the cheap bread at Aldis went up .50 a loaf.  Across the board everything is higher.  Our electric will be doubling in cost next month and even the things my husband uses for repairs are costing alot more or are out of stock. Paint, oil, etc. Even being frugal it can be challenging at times. 

We planted our yearly gardens and I will be restocking my cellar with my canning.  Behind the fence is our oldest garden that needs to be left alone for awhile and the hubby needed a place to park his junk so we found the wood fencing pieces for $19 each because they were mismarked, but they had to give them to us for that price. The other garden we plowed up by the road for additional planting, but it just looks like dirt right now because it's where we mostly planted seeds. I can share better photos of that later. 

We are always on the look out for wood so a cherry tree that had to come down in our yard because of some rotting is now in our wood pile. Plus networking is fantastic! Two guys we know drink a lot of coffee. I have a lady that brings me cans of coffee that she doesn't want so we give them to the two guys and they just brought us some really nice sized pieces of ash wood so we will cut them and more wood for the wood pile. All it takes is just one really cold winter to make you realize the more wood you have the better! 

We added 21 chickens to our flock. We raised them from babies for the first time so I'm really pleased because we only lost one tiny one. We sell and trade eggs. 

Roadside finds are starting to pop up here and there so some pieces of chicken wire that we picked up is perfect to keep on hand even for craft projects if someone doesn't garden or maybe trading. Sometimes it's just the little things that can make a big difference. A little garden, a little junk, a little of this and that. Something is better than nothing. 

For right now, because there is so much going on in the world,  we are keeping our goals simple, the ones that are the least stressful because right now the world can be a stressful place. Everyone seems to have a cause or agenda and wants to fight about it. My 89 year old aunt just passed away and I remember her telling me if you ever do one thing keep your place in the world. To her this meant not to depend on others or the government, especially the government, but to do what you can, when you can. To stay grounded and focused. And this we can do. Even if it's just growing a small patch of green beans or tomatoes. Keeping our hands busy and our pantries full. 

XOXO

Vicky

Thank you Vicky,  your garden and new chickens look beautiful.   You have inspired us all! xxx