How has your first day of May been?
Do you make and give out May Baskets?
I didn’t this year but have since a child.
I was pleasantly surprised someone left a little May Basket with candy and a packet of
flower seeds on my steps today. The cup has the verse from (1Corinthians 16:14) ‘Let all that you do be done with Love’. This made my day!
I’m more committed than ever before to think outside of the box in May.
Do you have any goals or plans for May?
I normally don’t set a lot of goals that I can’t obtain. But I find myself pushing
a bit more these days to think outside of the box and do more to be prepared
for coming days. That means making goals and plans to push the limit.
I encourage you to think more outside of the box than ever before.
I’m learning to be a lot more creative than I ever imagined so why not
continue on this month.
A big thing for me is getting my garden planted like never before.
I love meat but with escalation of prices for food, I’ll be thankful
to have lots of veggies to can, freeze, dehydrate, etc.
I’ve been learning all I can about permaculture and forest gardening.
This year my garden won’t be as visible for the casual or snooping eye.
That means getting the privacy fence finished and being resourceful if
the kids aren’t able to finish the job.
I’m grateful for the mega amount of seeds I saved last year.
I am also grateful for the loofah seeds I was able to get from my
neighbors last year. They are a major learning experience and not
an easy feat to remove the outer skin and remove the loofahs to try
so I’ll definitely be busy lol
My second biggie is getting the pool dug for extra water in coming months
as well as add plants around it to enjoy.
These are just a few of my plans. I am on a limited income and do struggle
with arthritis and back issues so I will be pacing myself and uses tools I have
on hand without buying anything new.
I encourage you to do what you can to think outside of the box for May.
And don’t forget to share what you’ll be up to no matter how big or small.
Maybe it won’t be gardening. Perhaps grow herbs in pots or your window sill
and dry them, crush them and put them in jars for cooking and later use.
Or perhaps you’ll be looking for sales and stocking up on canned goods to have in your stash.
Share what your plans/goals are for May to think and do outside of the box!
You may be able to do more or less than someone else but we all learn from each other.
Preparedness is about being on the same team not out doing one another.
Here’s to thinking outside of the box for May!
Cindy
#May #ThinkingOutsidetheBox #gardening #forestgardening #permaculture
Carla H.
I’ve been thinking about the years when we were very poor, due to unemployment. We had to think outside the box to do ordinary things. It was rough but I learned new ways to do things. Those lessons and way of thinking will serve us well if the situation in America goes south.
Example: I want a porch to sit on. I really want one, but we can’t afford it right now. What’s an alternative that gets a similar result? What resource do we have that we can use for free or very low cost? The carport. It’s a double bay, so my husband cleaned out the non-car side. Our son had a dining table he didn’t want any longer, so we’re using it, along with 4 wooden dining chairs we bought at the thrift shop for $5 each. Plastic chairs at Dollar General were $29. Ouch! So now we have a place, sheltered from rain or sun, to sit and listen to the birds (which I dearly love to do), to eat or to play dominoes, which we keep in a rolling cart with drawers.
If the grid goes down, or even the electric company follows through with the threatened power cuts, we have a place ready to sit and get a little cooler. It’s not elegant or ideal. It’s not as accessible as walking out onto a porch because I have to go down 4 steps, which isn’t easy to do with a cane. It isn’t a beautiful outdoor room with matching patio furniture, etc. But it works and that’s good enough for me.
Make-do solutions are almost never exact replicas of the ideal version. But they’re preferable to doing without, and I’m nearly always okay with that.
Cindy
Good evening, Carla.
You certainly have learned a lot of things through being poor and unemployment and are definitely thinking outside of the box to do things.
Living with little can teach us to think outside the box and do things others may take for granted to go out and purchase.
I grew up with very little. I have memories of the meals of fried bologna and potato chip sandwiches but makes me appreciate we had food to eat to this day.
Nothing wrong with Make Do solutions and love what you and your husband have done to make a place out in the garage to listen to those birds, eat, play dominos or whatever you’d like being outdoors no matter the elements if you want to.
You two have created your own version of a porch and I think it’s great.
When I first moved here a few years ago my daughter had someone build a dog ramp on the back door for my dogs getting older with mobility issues. He made it big enough I can put a chair or two out there if I want, and set plants all along it. So I’ve got my own version of a porch too.
And yes if the grid should go down being outdoors will be a much cooler place to sit and be more comfortable.
I happen to have a large tree way out back that is always cooler to sit under when hot and sunny on the dog ramp. I feed the birds out there too and fill a water fountain for them so it’s always an enjoyable place to be for me and the dogs on those hot/humid days of summer. I definitely get my exercise to go out there though lol
Thanks for sharing and I so appreciate your creativity and thinking outside the box.
Have a great night.