Introduction

I'm setting this blog up for the purpose of preparing everyone for what's ahead. I've posted 2 blogs that I've written in the past on the subject, but I plan on writing more original works, and collecting information from the Internet and posting it here. That will be the main point of this blog, to gather information all in one place, with my comments to supplement it.

I'll also be keeping everyone up to date on my own Freedom Patch exploits. I plan on planting a square foot garden this spring. We just moved into a new house last April. I live in Texas, not sun! We are strapped financially, paying 2 mortgages. No, that doesn't mean we have a vacation home. We left a bad situation, which I won't go into on this forum. We still owe a mortgage on that house, while my in-laws are living in it, and we're trying to sell that house. They own their half, but can't move until it sells, because all the equity is tied up in the house. We have no choice but to save. So I want to share my experiences of how we're doing it.

I have to admit, I'm a capitalist. But, I'm also an American. Any information I can gather on how to do this, I am willing to share, freely. Now, that said, I have a political blog that is not monetized. I will be monetizing this blog. I will also be placing a disclaimer on this blog, as I have no idea what they will advertise on this blog. I'm not responsible if they put liberal clap trap stuff on here. I am very conservative in my political views. I recycle, I try to eat healthy, but I am very conservative politically. Live with it. My political views will leak through this blog. It's who I am. I live, eat, breathe and poop politics as of the last year or so. I have fire proof panties, and I can take criticism, so fire away if you feel you must. I will try to stick to the subject, but no promises.

My plans? A garden to grow mostly salad stuff. I tried last year to grow tomatoes up close, but my patio shaded the spot I picked to well. That, and I made an organic bug killer that worked too well. It killed ALL the bugs and they didn't get on the plant to germinate the flowers, which didn't turn into tomatoes. Lots of flowers, no tomatoes. Live and learn. Now I'll spray the bug killer only after the tomatoes come on. And I'm moving my tomato patch out to the fence row. I don't have a camera yet. Can't afford it. So I can't post pictures.

My brother in law and his wife, both) has a job with AT&T. My only birthday present wish is that everyone in my family pool their money and get me a digital camera.....for whatever gift giving occasion they choose. I would be happy if, for Christmas, that was the only gift I opened. I nice camera. I would be playing with it while everyone else in the family continued to open presents. I always wanted to be a photo-journalist. I only went to 1 year of college before dropping out and joining the Navy as a sub-hunter.

So, I composted all last summer, a patch out by my fence....it's got really nice soil by now for a patch of vegetables. My husband ran out of materials to give me another patch to work on. He has an adopted sister who has a fiancee, who we're going to hire to get rid of our Pampas grass and add another raised bed for composting over the spring/summer. He just has to get more scrap lumber.

In the current one, I'll grow tomatoes, cucumbers (up a trellis), peppers, and whatever else I can squeeze in. I haven't mapped it out by how big it is...it's still cold here in Texas. It's 27 degrees today. Eventually, we want to clear the whole back fence because it gets good sunshine. Up by where I planted the tomatoes last year, we'll plant the herbs like I did last year. They did good. I planted basil, dill and rosemary. The rosemary is still there. I planted cilantro by my roses, but I think the soil was too poor for it to grow well. I need to put more compost around the roses. I read that cilantro will keep your roses healthy. I'll buy more and plant it more freely. Maybe I spread it out too thinly.

I'm also stocking up on food whenever I can. We may be trying to build a series of shelves in the garage for the canned goods. Right now I have them above my dryer. I don't have much money to stock up. Whenever they have a buy one get one free, I do. I buy the big cans at Wal-Mart or Sam's. That's not the best thing to do, but it's better than nothing. One big can of green beans with potatoes and sausage will make a meal.

As a quick note, it's winter, is everyone venting their dryers into the house? You can stick a knee high on the end of the hose, or you can stick it into the end of a can of water and duct tape it around the top of the lid. Or they make special holders just for you to do that. We bought one when it was on sale for something like $7. I do a load a day, to help with the heating bills. Wash, dry, fold and put away. Better than spending a whole day doing laundry, any way.

Lori Ann Smith