Hello and Happy Monday! Today is going to be a muggy one around here with temps in the low 80’s and thunderstorms in the forecast for this afternoon. According to the app on my phone, the humidity level is currently at 87%. Wowza.
I didn’t get to snap a whole bunch of meal photos this week because most of our meals were taken on the go in between mowing and garden chores. The past few days I’ve been working on fixing up the bit of growing space next to, and behind our mini greenhouse.
It took me a while to come up with a game plan, but after a walk around our property and finding 7 small peony plants scattered around the perimeter, I finally decided what to plant in the somewhat awkward garden space.
First, they’ll be a rock border, then a row of purple coneflower, then pink peony plants, and then at the back of the bed I’ll have lupine for a little height.
I have already planted the coneflower, the peony plants will be transplanted in the fall, and the lupine I’ll be starting this week from seed. So really, the garden bed won’t come into fruition until next year, but at least I’ve got a plan. This season though, I’ll be filling the space with some lemon queen sunflowers for the bees and birds to enjoy.
I also found some mint growing in the back. I have no idea what I’ll do with it though.
And the other project that I’ve been working on? Well, that one is going to take some time to fine tune as well. We have a really nice pond in the back woods, but once spring rolls around and the trees begin to leaf out it’s hard to get back there.
So I thought, why not line a path down to the pond with old logs and clear the path and build up the sides with our garden trimmings. Who knows, maybe in a few years all the compost will have settled down and I’ll be able to plant a boatload of spring bulbs along the side of the path and maybe even add a bench down by the pond.
Gardening. It comes with so many distractions and it never seems like you are really ever done. Once you have one area figured out, you are suddenly off in 10 different directions again.
Lil’s Cafe in Kittery, Maine. They have the best crullers on the planet earth. The PERFECT gardening distraction if you ask me. And, Lil’s makes a mean London Fog as well.
Bob’s Clam Hut in Kittery, Maine.
For date day last week we ended up in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and since Kittery is just a hop step and a jump away, we had breakfast at Lil’s Cafe, then spent a few hours checking out the Strawbery Banke Museum {I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow} and a few other spots before heading to Bob’s Clam Hut for lunch.
Clam shack season. It’s here. Giddy up!
Market Basket $78.76
While I was busy dyeing wool the other day, the HH and The Girl did some grocery shopping.
I’m not sure if they were planning on a pickled beet blind taste test or what, but I did notice they spent nearly $8 on on beets. {Sometimes it’s just better not to ask why they bought what they did in my opinion. But maybe I’m just saying that because I didn’t want to have to eat a plain boiled beet}.
ALDI $10.85
They also stopped off at ALDI to load up on our favorite crackers. 🙂
Overall I’d say our grocery bill has been a bit out of whack since we moved here a little over a year ago. We are spending more on food, and eating out on average once a week. I don’t know if we are making up for lost time {like, the past 25 years when we rarely went out} or are just throwing caution to the wind a little when it comes to buying more of what we want to eat, vs what can we get for the lowest possible price with coupons {which honestly was a lot of junk and prepared food}.
It’s kind of weird, and I don’t really know what to think about it.
We are swimming in eggs!
1690 House Bakeshop and Cafe in Wells, Maine.
Heather and I stopped in for breakfast on Saturday morning before our spoon making class for one of their handmade croissants filled with an over-easy egg, ham, brie and dijon. It’s my favorite thing to order there {well, that and the mini pear almond tart}.
And after a long day at our spoon making class, we had {grilled} chicken Caesar salads waiting for us when we got back home thanks to the HH. Wasn’t that nice of him?
This past week was a busy one, and now that summer is here, and the garden is going to demand more of my attention, I know things are going to go be crazy around here for a little while. And that’s okay. I just need to remember to SLOW down and throw something in the Crock Pot before I head out for the day. 😉
How did you do this week? Is your garden starting to take over every ounce of your free time these days too? What are you doing to stay ahead of the meal prep game? Curious minds, we want to know.
Have a wonderful day Monday everyone.
~Mavis
Total Spent on Groceries This Week $89.71
- Total Spent on Groceries in May $193.35
- Total Spent on Groceries in April $284.56 {My husband bought a smoker and a BUNCH of meat!}
- Total Spent on Groceries in March $321.69
- Total Spent on Groceries in February $220.92
- Total Spent in January on Groceries $41.19
- Total Spent So Far on Groceries in 2019 $971.89 {Goal is to average $150 – $175 a month for the year}
You can go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.
E in Upstate NY says
Re your found mint, let it live exactly where it is! Mint is HIGHLY invasive, and jumps over well intentioned borders. There are many gardeners who wish they or their neighbors hadn’t included mint into their gardens.
While there’s an arm length list of gardening chores to be done this summer from ignoring them for two summers, I have a house to clean out by the end of August. Have cleared out the basement, taking lots to the dump and the rest relocated to the first floor. The attic also was moved to the second floor. This allows me access ease. Most things have been boxed, so I have to set myself up with a few boxes and go through things. The contents include my mother-in-law’s house clean out, 40 plus years of my married life, and my parent’s/brother’s house clean out. And guess of those three houses, which one is the smallest? Mine of course. Have to get it cleared out so it can be sold. Unfortunately I’m at the stage of life where I’ll never live there again.
Didn’t mean to be such a Debbie Downer, but this is where my head is right now. Mavis, I so enjoy reading your blog. Thank you for still putting your time into it.
Susan Dillinger says
I loved to eat the hard boiled eggs that my mom would slip in the pickled beet juice leftover after eating the beets. Try it
Mavis Butterfield says
I need to remember to try this!!
Mavis Butterfield says
Cleaning out houses is a BIG task. Thanks for stopping by everyday E in Upstate NY. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Diana says
Be careful with that mint! It’ll take over the world, someday, lol… Grow it in a big pot so that it doesn’t take over. It’s super invasive.
Susan H. says
A friend suggested when I plant mint to line the hole with old brick to prevent the mint from taking over. I went back (I had moved) a couple of years later and it hadn’t spread! I know what you mean about garden chores taking over!
Katrina says
I like the egg picture, your hens sure lay pretty eggs.
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks Katrina.
Susan says
I planted a few things in mid-April when we had some nice weather- radishes, kale, baby bok choi, dill, pea pods, and arugala.
Picked the radishes, picked the 2 rows of bok choi and have a large crock of kimchi in the pantry on the floor and gave some fresh to youngest daughter to eat.
Dried a gallon bag of kale and sent a big bag of fresh home with her, too.
Pea pods are climbing the strings, and arugala is looking so-so.
I planted 25 tomato plants last weekend, all started indoors and transferred to hoophouse before planting. All look great!!
Corn and beans are about 2″ tall- planted 10 days ago. I will plant another couple rows of beans soon.
I still have a large section to plant pumpkins , squash and and cucumbers.
Sunflowers are about 3 feet high and potatoes and nasturtium are coming along.
I kept the jalapenos in the hoophouse- They do good in there. Just a few plants.
Even my rhubarb plant is doing better than last year. My mullberry tree has lots of foliage and growth, too.
Happy it made it through the winter 🙂
Susan says
Drooling over your clam dinner picture!!!!!!
Mavis Butterfield says
Good job on your tomato babies Susan!
Alice says
Summer is here???
Mel says
The garden is starting to really get going. We have a relatively small patch of strawberries, and they’ve never really done much, but they went nuts this year. I’ve picked 4 lbs in 3 days, and there are more out there! I made one shortcake this weekend, and I’m making at least one more this week for a potluck.
Our grocery bill is also a little whacky. It’s a combination of factors–not planning as closely, not being able to stick to the plan after some unforeseen complication (LOTS of that this past year), not making quite as much from scratch (again, those complications). I’m hoping to get it a bit more under control over the summer and fall, but I also am not too worried by it. I’ve recently discovered that we actually prefer many of our go-to meals vegetarian (nachos, for example), so that’s one obvious way to trim the budget–why pay for meat we truly won’t miss?
Mavis Butterfield says
4 lbs in 3 days is a lot!!!
Judy says
Hi Mavis, we have tons of eggs as well every year. I freeze them, six to a freezer bag, then lay flat and stacked.
Wendy says
Do you hard boil the eggs before you freeze them? Or just freeze the eggs, period?
Linda says
Mavis you asked for suggestions for your blog and I would love to know how you care for your Meyer Lemon tree. I’m on my third one and it’s not thriving. What kinds of soil do you have yours in, do you fertilize and with what and how much water do you give it?
Linda says
When I was about 11, my Mom had my youngest sister. She had serious problems afterwards and was in the hospital for two weeks. My dad had culinary expertise in only two things: toasted peanut butter sandwiches and fried egg sandwiches. Every time I see your pictures of egg croissants or sandwiches I think of how he kept 3 hungry kids going on those two things. Good memories.
charwelsh says
That sure looks like poison ivy behind your potted mint!
Mavis Butterfield says
It is! 🙂 And it’s EVERYWHERE!!!!
Lissa says
You might enjoy reading The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner. I’ve liked most of her books. The Last Year of the War was excellent as well.
Elaine says
I love mint – in my iced tea, muddled in my rum
I have it in a big planter and do absolutely NOTHING with it. It grows, dies, grows, etc…
Just don’t plant it
Emily says
We relocated from the west coast to PA about the same time you did last year. I came across your blog shortly after when I was trying to brainstorm ways to cut down on our grocery bill. I think you do very well with your groceries, especially since you don’t coupon anymore, or meal plan, or even really seem to shop sales. You are averaging less than $200/month in a state that everyone complains is expensive, for 3 people. I don’t know how you do it, but I find you inspiring. I never thought I would be interested in gardening or having chickens, but I’ve totally done a 360. I am also inspired to keep up with doing date days with my husband, because of you. So even if you are spending more than you used to, you are doing a great job.
When we were younger and paying off stupidity, we lived off of rice and beans (not literally, but close), and I spent hours couponing/scouring over sale ads, so that I could feed us for $200/mth. Now, we’re debt-free, have a higher income, and I don’t work anymore (well, at an outside-the-home-formal job, at least). I try to keep our groceries at 5% of our take-home pay, but I don’t spend hours couponing and such anymore. I’d rather spend that time playing in the grass outside with my son and our pug.
Mavis Butterfield says
What a nice compliment. Thank you Emily!! 🙂 And I love Pennsylvania countryside!
Gail says
Thanks to the recent reader who suggested watching “Bramwell” on Amazon Prime. We’ve seen four so far and really like it and other period dramas.
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes, thank you!!! I am already on season two and have been enjoying it each night while I work on my rugs. It’s a wonderful series.
Susan says
I love reading about everyone’s harvest from their veggie gardens. I just wish you’d all say where you’re geographically located. Approximately. 4 lbs. of strawberries is 2 days? Wow! Where do you get a bumper crop like that?
Mel says
I’m in southern Maryland (zone 7B), Susan. We have Tribute Strawberries from Stark Bros. They were bred at University of MD, so I figured they’d do well in our climate. It took us a few years to get them going–a tree root was strangling that raised bed, and it was too shallow–but they did better after we cut down that tree (it was dying) and upgraded the bed and soil but left it in the same location. We now have white vinyl raised beds that are about 12 inches deep, and we have about a 50/50 blend of topsoil and leafgrow. The berries did okay last year, but they just about exploded this year. We only have about 24 plants, but that 4 lbs was AFTER I tossed the ones that were rotten or had slug damage. I need to go pick them again!
Marcia says
Those eggs are so pretty.
I think it’s normal to loosen up from time to time, as your lives change. You eat out more now because you actually have TIME to. I’m still in the midst of full-time-job-raising-2-kids phase, and my husband and I rarely get dates. BUT, now kid #1 is 13, so we can actually go out on occasion…without a babysitter. It’s still very rare.
For us, our grocery bill has gotten higher too. First the kids are bigger. Second, I don’t eat a lot of processed food. Third, I’ve developed an intolerance to wheat. Finally, I’ve found some local produce delivery services (from the farmer’s market) which costs a bit more (for the delivery) but is all local. I’ve decided it’s worth it to me to pay for that.