New Additions to your yard for fall.

It may seem like an after thought since many plants are dying off and trees losing their leaves and dropping their fruit, yet right now is a perfect time to go to your local nurseries and see about clearance and deeply discounted shrubs, perennials, and fruit trees. Think of what you'd have to look forward to come next year and you'll be able to smile even more since you spent considerably less. :)

Thrifty find

Many of my posts are about gardening and canning. Most of the jars that i can with are ones that i have picked up at the thrift store or yard sales. I like jars that are unique looking and have a retro vintage feel. I was able to find some great jars this weekend for .10 to .25 a piece! I like that thrifty deal..since i know i will be using them in the future.

Enjoy the garden all year long

 Whether it is freezing or canning, it is so nice to be able to enjoy the vegetables from the garden all year long. We love freezing the peas and then unthawing and putting them on salad or eating as is. Sophie absolutely loves eating peas and huckleberries as snacks! (i did not raise huckleberries in my garden..but included them in the photo :) )

My son Trent loves raising a rainbow variety of carrot in our garden. The carrots color vary from white, deep dark red, yellow and orange. They look beautiful mixed in with the beans when we can them!

Yummmmmy Jam

My family absolutely loves raspberry jam...especially when it is homemade. I made four batches using the Sure Jell cooked jam recipe. I did decrease the sugar by 1 cup since we like our jam a little less sweet tasting. Also we like our jam on the thicker side with little clumps of berries so i do not crush the berries much prior to cooking. In my experience when they cook they break apart some anyways. Two of the batches of jam are actually huckleberry raspberry. MMMMM it is tasty! Huckleberries are delish in so many things, but they take awhile to pick. When you take a bite of this jam on toast..it makes it all worth while.

I also made Huckleberry Raspberry syrup! I absolutely love this syrup on my pancakes and waffles!

Green thumb

One way to be frugal is to plant a garden. Are they a lot of work? Yes! I actually enjoy working in the garden. This year has been a bit of a struggle.. with weeding and such because i have a very active 1 year old that was ALL over the place. My family loves being able to see the start of a seed be nurtured into something that we can put in a salad or on our plates. It is also nice to be able to give it to neighbors and friends! My absolute favorite garden item..is fresh garden peas! I nearly cry every year when i pull the plants up.