Sowing Our Wild Oats

Actually, oats are one of the few things we DIDN'T order to plant...

We filed our taxes on Saturday and went through our list of seeds, trees, and plants last night to remove extraneous items and get our list to a more-manageable volume and price. Today, while I was home sick, I ordered all those items. The damage:

• 15 fruit, flowering, or windblock trees
• 24 bushes for a hedge
• 18 bushes for a windblock for the driveway
• 143 fruit plants/bushes
• 2 packets of herb seeds
• 8 "decorative" plants
• 31 vegetable seed packets
• seed potatoes for white, red, and blue potatoes
• starter sets for red, white, and yellow onions and leeks
• 1/4 lb of sunflower seeds
• 1 lb of jerusalem artichoke starter
• all manner of food processing, storage, collection, and garden-maintenance supplies

In total (after taxes, shipping, handling, etc.): $541.86

And those totals do not take into account the 30 or so seed packets that we already have, the seed starter supplies that we already have, or the "free" seeds and plants that we will get as "valued customers" from three of the four companies we ordered from...

Sure, some people might say we're crazy. And M says he definitely didn't till enough ground for this garden, but these are not all going to be planted at the same time. We have specifically planned so that we will have some replantings, so some sort of vegetable production from late spring through fall, and even possibly into early winter (weather winter, not calendar winter). And several of the varieties we bought are heirlooms, rather than hybrids, so we can harvest the seeds and use them next year and know that we will get the same plant next year as this year...so, we won't need to buy as many seeds next year. And we'll already have a good windbreak and a small orchard/fruit yard started, in addition to perennial and re-seeding annual flower beds to keep calling pollinators back to our garden and yard year after year.

* Stringham high: Tax refund not as high as we had hoped, but combined with money put back, definitely enough to pay for plants, the installation of the coils for our geothermal heat pump, and a nice sum on a credit card.
* Stringham low: M is still going to be unemployed after this Friday.
* Stringham super-high: M is less stressed about being unemployed than about continuing in his current job (as attested to by his fingernails)--how sad is that?

State's Unemployed Worker Total Increases by 1

M called me as I was leaving work yesterday to tell me that, yet again, he will be unemployed. At the end of next week (February 27), he will be (for the 3rd time since July) "let go" by his company. Once again, his boss is considering going directly to the president of the company to plead for M. After all, he's really the only one working on a couple of extremely important projects, and definitely the only one who knows what's going on in every top-secret and high-importance project they have.

Yes, of course, he's bummed, but we have a plan. So long as the state's unemployment funds hold out, with our current budget, we still should be able to pay all the bills. But we're still going to scale back in a couple of places. We have been preparing for this since last fall, buying dried beans and nuts and canned goods and rice, etc. So we may not be able to eat as healthily as I would like/need to lose weight, but surviving is far more important, and I'll just switch diet tactics.

Not that it's all about me. Oh, no. M is handling it far better than I expected, though part of it is that he hides more from me now, I'm sure. And, hey, this is the third time in 8 months, as I mentioned earlier. By now, this is getting to be old hat for him. :) At least this time, he has warning...

We're getting our taxes done this weekend, and then we plan to order our seeds and plants so we can further cut our grocery bill (one of the very expenditures we have any control over) this spring, summer, and fall. And then we'll be setting up an appointment for our geothermal heat pump to be installed for the end of next month. (Click the title of this post for more information.) Yes, a big expenditure, but oh! how much money it will save us! (Our propane was filled yesterday for the 4th time since October...$300-600+ per fill. Sheesh.)

And a few years ago, we discovered the joy of the crockpot. We mentioned to M's mom that we liked using it, and she got us a FABULOUS crockpot cookbook. We have now nearly exhausted the recipes in it. So I ordered 4 more on Half.com (possibly the best book-lover's website out there). We have three of them. I'm excited!

Is it sad that I get so excited about a garden and crockpot recipes? I don't think so. It's better than getting all worked up about, say, the results of a football game that doesn't impact my life at all....

And I got a book today about eating properly to increase chances of fertility. It may be an utter crock, but from what I saw when skimming it today, it seems well-balanced, a load of practical information and tips, and far more credible than things like Atkins or South Beach. So what the hell, I'll give it a try. (And it's meant for men OR women, so M can maybe now get rid of his "baby belly" and transfer it to me....)

That's our life in a nutshell at the mo'. Stay tuned for more.

* Stringham high: Geothermal heat pump. Woo!
* Stringham low: Unemployment. Bummer.
* Stringham super-high: The freelance work for Steph just keeps pouring in. And she just keeps sending it out to others because she's got so much. Oh, and the contractor came and fixed our roof last Friday afternoon...Damage on Wednesday, complain on Thursday, fixed on Friday. Damn, I like it here!