Hoowee, boy! Where have we been? I’ve had a lot of guilt over not writing for nearly four months, so here are my excuses: Our oldest started Pre-K, so now the boys go to two different schools, which has required a little extra coordination. Also, it costs just as much with tuition, after school care, and all that fundraising to have him in pre-K as it did in daycare–no cost savings this year. Then I had emergency surgery in September to yank out my gall bladder, appendix, and an ovary with…
Category: Money
10 Great Christmas Gift Ideas for Gardeners
Who else is watching children dream about Christmas morning, circling their gift wishes in the big catalogs of toys? I get that same feeling every year when Baker Creek sends me my very own copy of their massive seed catalog. I’m wishing and dreaming, circling, and starring every beautiful, colorful, tasty possibility that catches my eye. Do you need some help coming up with useful gift ideas for friends and family who garden? I’ve got you covered. Call it being lazy or being efficient, but I like to make things…
2017 Super Ambitious Goals and Net Worth Update
So, we’re just past the middle of 2017 and it’s time to report on our progress. In keeping with our Super-Ambitious 2017 Goals Post, which was a few months late, this mid-year check-in isn’t perfectly on time either. However, it has given us a few extra weeks to settle into our summer garden, as you saw last month. 2017 Super-Ambitious Goals Update: Earlier this year, I showed you my goals for achieving a “Level 10” year on Burton Farm. In each of ten areas in the bullet journal I keep,…
How to Re-Purpose Your Junk into a Custom Trellis
ERMAGERD! These vines are out of control! Don’t worry! I am ready to hook you up with some spectacular ideas on getting those vines up off the ground. Now, of course, you can always go out and buy traditional tomato cages for a modest charge, or you can pay premium prices for the trellis hand-forged in steel by some blacksmith in a remote country. Or, maybe we could get creative and make our own from stuff we already own (or can pick from someone’s trash on the curb). If you’re…
Net Worth Post & Debt Update through 5/31/2017 – Should we buy a pool?
Well, here we are, five months into the year. I’m sure we’re just settling in to life without double mortgages, but still, my control-freak nature tells me we’re floundering and had better get it back together or we’ll lose momentum toward our goals. Chaos is totally a control-freak’s dark place. But maybe we are just seeds, being soaked overnight in a deep pool before planting. Christine Caine says sometimes when you’re in a dark place you think you’ve been buried, but you’ve actually been planted. I don’t know about you,…
How to Make Plant Labels for FREE (or Really Cheap)!
How to Label the Seeds You Plant for FREE (or Really Cheap)!! Have you ever looked around and couldn’t remember what you planted where? I have. Have you ever had to wait weeks to determine if those were pepper or tomato seedlings in that flat? Yeah, I’ve done that, too. I’ve also been standing in my garden, looking at a tiny plant, and wondering if it was something I planted or if it was just a weed. If I’d had all the plants labeled with any consistency, I’d have known…
We reduced our debt by $108,211.80 in one year! – Net Worth & Debt Update March-April 2017
So, it’s been one year. A year since we tallied up just how deep in debt we were and decided to eliminate it on a ten year deadline and document it on owningburtonfarm.com. This is a special post. Not only will I be talking about March and April’s numbers, I will also be talking about how we eliminated $108,210.80 in debt in our first year. I’m putting the numbers in a spreadsheet in our resource library so you can see exactly how we did it. You can see where we started…
Where to Get Free or Cheap Seeds for Your Garden
Welcome back to Misfit Gardening and Owning Burton Farm’s Series on Frugal Gardening! We’re going to discuss where to get your seeds for super cheap (or even free!) in this post. FOR FREE. Ok, so you’ve got all your seed starting containers piling up and now you need seeds to go in them. But don’t just go out and order a bunch of seeds. I’m going to let you in on some great secrets for finding seeds for your garden for little to no money at all. FREE SEEDS Do you already…
How to Start Your Seeds on the Cheap
I love seeing row after row of uniform black plastic seed starting planters in garden centers and greenhouses. They’ve been dutifully watered and sunned, shaded and fertilized by the garden pros in the nursery. They even have the guts to set them out before the last frost of the year, so we can get our gardens started early! After spending so many cold days looking out the windows, dreaming over the seed catalogs, I’m itching to get started with my own seeds, but not quite ready to be outside. To…
Super Ambitious 2017 Goals and an Exciting Announcement
I’ve never been told I lacked ambition. I HAVE been told I’m just like my mother (hence the timing of this post). My list of goals for Burton Farm is long and ambitious. But you know what they say, wake up with determination, go to bed with satisfaction. In this post, I’ll tell you what we’ll be working on in 2017 on Burton Farm. I’m also going to spill an exciting secret I’ve been keeping for a little while! I’ll give you a hint, though: All the biggest music stars are doing…