We have had some incredible late February weather for Southern Wisconsin. This has given us a unique opportunity to build a long dreamed of cold frame.
We decided on a hoop style cold frame due to simplicity and low cost. I have to admit, my loving husband Mel did most of the work, but I did help!
First, he framed the base with two untreated 10' 2x6 boards and two untreated 5' 2x6 boards.
Hoops were formed with four 10' long 3/4" PVC electric conduit, sunlight resistant. Mel bent it using a weed burner torch. He felt the heat was necessary to help the hoops hold their shape better with less chance of cracking or breaking over time.
We then put 4 mil plastic sheeting over the top, securing the back side by drilling an old 2x4 over that end of the plastic . The opening side was stapled to another old 10' 2x4 we had laying around. We plan on just rolling that over the top to open as weather warms. The ends are currently just being tucked under until we can figure a better method.
I spread used bedding from our bunnies around the back bottom to help insulate.
And now I wait. In about 2 weeks I'm hoping the soil inside will be thawed so I can work the soil. My first things I will plant will be spinach & lettuce. Later, I'm also going to set all my seedling in there to start hardening them.
If this works well, I also hope to plant winter crops this fall. I've been researching what grows best in cold frames through winter. Fresh lettuce in January? Yum!
So yes, I'm already planning for next winter too.
I often hear the comment that eating organic foods is too expensive. At first, it seemed that way to me too. I’m a stay at home, home schooling mom. We only have one income so I have to be extra careful with our money.
As I’ve mentioned before, when we started out, we only changed one thing at a time so it didn’t seem so financially painful. (We are still in that process.) This helped greatly and was less overwhelming.
Next, find sources that won’t break the bank. At first I did visit big name stores like Whole Foods and not so big name such as Basics and Outpost which are stores in my area. Very expensive, but it was what I knew.
Years before, I was already part of a local buying co-op. Mostly I was just buying bulk items as they were cheaper. Now I buy most of my bulk sugar and grains, yogurts and many of my supplements and frozen foods this way.
The co-op I belong to is just a group of families who order every 4 weeks from UNFI (United Natural Foods, Incorporated) Most of us meet the truck, help unload our order and work together to sort & distribute everything. We’re fairly large so we receive a 15% discount which makes many things less expensive than grocery and health food stores.
I do grocery shop, but I really do keep an eye on prices. My favorite store in the world is Woodmans. For the most part, their prices are very reasonable. I buy most of my organic fruits and veggies here in off seasons. They also have carts at the entrance of discontinued, dented or day old items. I have found some amazing affordable organic items here.
I also buy things I like only when they are on sale. If it’s not on sale, I don’t need it. If I really need it, I’ve already figured out the best place and price to buy it.
Some things I am just willing to pay more as it is the healthiest option. I found a local butcher that sells naturally raised sides of beef. No antibiotics and locally grown. They know the farmer they get the beef from. Last year it cost us just over $900 for one side. Our freezer is full and I trust what we are eating. I also don’t have to continually buy meat when I do shop.
This year, we have also decided to invest in a CSA - Community Supported Agriculture. To learn more about what a CSA is, please visit this site: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
We look at this as an opportunity to support a local farm and receive fresh produce for 20 weeks. We know who produces our food and how it’s grown. The cost, when compared with what it costs to travel to the grocery and my time spent, is quite reasonable. It will also encourage me to seek out other local sources.
Eggs. We eat a lot of eggs. Organic can be quite expensive in comparison to conventional. However, if you purchase them for $4/dozen and eat 2 eggs at a meal, that only works out to .98 for that meal. I get eggs from friends that run $2-3/dozen. They aren’t organic, but I know what they are fed.
Organic isn’t always necessary. Do your research as to what is o.k. as conventional and what isn’t. Seek out suppliers. Once you do the leg work, it’s really not that complicated or expensive. Your family will be eating better. Your health will improve. You’ll feel better. You won’t need to visit the Dr. as often. (another big savings)
So you’d like to eat healthier but don’t know where to start?
Well the first step is to realize that most foods that you buy in the grocery store are not created to make you healthy, nor will they give you much nourishment. Just try to read the ingredients of most boxed and canned items in the store. If it reads like a science experiment, don’t consider it food.
Over the last several years, my goal has been to only bring food into our home that has as little processing as possible. I look for food as it was created by God, not man.
As you can see from this box of hamburger helper, there is very little actual food in the box. MSG is listed not once, but twice! That's what yeast extract is. Natural flavor is also very possibly, MSG. So it may be listed 3 times!
Next step, get rid of “foods” like this. Become a habitual label reader. If in doubt, don’t buy it. If you don’t know what it is, why in the world would you put it in you mouth, much less that of your children!
I then gave away or threw away much of what was in my cupboards. Folks at church loved that!
For those of you that are old hands at this, please remember, this is a starter's guide. All people change at their own speed. This is how I started.
I mostly stayed out of the center aisles of the store and just shopped around the outer edges. We would stick to “real” foods. Produce, meat, cheeses (real, not processed cheese food), eggs, frozen vegetables (plain, no sauces), frozen juices (not juice cocktails).
You may have noticed I didn’t include milk. That’s because it was one of the first things we changed. Because I live in a state where the farmer can’t legally sell me fresh milk, I went underground. Suffice it to say, I can now get a safe source of healthy, delicious milk. There is more information about fresh milk elsewhere on this site, if you would like to check it out further.
Next, I learned to cook from scratch. This actually is easier than it sounds. Most meals I can have done in one to two hours, some even less.
The slow cooker became my best friend. Slow cookers can make anything taste awesome and tender. Seasonings are part of the secret. The best thing about slow cookers is you take 5 minutes to throw everything in, first thing in the morning and supper is ready at the end of the day!
I will try to include some simple recipes in future posts.
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