Wood Pallets: A Farm Girls Best Friend

Rewind 10 months and you arrive at the time that I meet my new best friend......the wooden pallet.......

We have two goats coming and along with putting up a fence, we need a goat shed.  Fences are not cheap, goats are not cheap, nothing is cheap so we are out of money, almost out of time, and nearing panic state!

I take a look at pinterest to try and find any ideas for an inexpensive way to build our goat shed and I notice one that is made of wooden pallets.  You know, those wood slat thingies that businesses take shipments on?   There I have it!!  My solution!!

We head to various businesses and I discover that finding someone to give you wooden pallets is not quite as easy as the online articles I found led me to believe.  After a little driving around and phone calling we were able to obtain around 15.

Within one day my daughters and I were able to create this!!!

On the inside you can really see the pallets.  We bought the metal for the roof and added some other scrap pieces of wood, but this thing went up in one day and works perfectly!!

After that I was smitten!  So...what else can I make around here with pallets?

The previous owners left this table outside when they moved.  Though it is a cute table, it did not really go with our ideas of what we want the house to look like so we were going to get rid of it.

But NO!!  Pallets save the day!!!

Farmer Willie removed the top of the table frame....

Then we pulled off some of the wood on one of our trusty pallets, attached them to the table top and BAM!!!!

Beautiful table!!


Then we needed a bridge across the stream that runs through our property.  My daughter decided to build one for us using....you guessed it....PALLETS!!!

It works perfect and how much did it cost us????  Zilch!!  :)

Another view so you can see how she used a pallet base as the base of the bridge.

Now moving on to animal uses....yes, there are more!!

Farmer Willie built a double stanchion for our dairy goats out of pallets!!  Pretty awesome isn't it??

And finally, when you thought that there could be no more...a dog house!!!  See the pallet base there? Our farm dog, Tank, loves pallets too!!

We are in the middle of working on a sign to hang at the front of the property identifying us as Bumpkin Farm...wanna know what we are using for the actual sign portion?  Pallets!!!

Now, these wooden pallets will never laugh at my jokes or listen to my whining like my friends will, but try making a bridge using a 5 foot brown-head for the base!! 

If you have enjoyed reading this blog, you might enjoy some of the other ones participating in Homestead Barn Hop #145!!




Look for other DIY projects at DIY Accomplished!



Quick Start Morning on Bumpkin Farm!!

Wanna know the best way to start the day on the farm?


First you need some of this...

 

 

 

Then you mix up some of these pretty things!!

 

 



 

 

Sautee' some peppers, onions and potatoes to get this...

 

Then of course you need a few corn tortillas!!

 

And no day should be started without a cup of coffee!!

And there you have the recipe for a perfect start to the day!!

Cold Weather on the Farm

Brrrrrr.....it's cold outside! 

Well, at least for us Texans!!  :)

When I milked the goats yesterday the cleaning cloths froze before I was done milking!  Poor April was so cold.  She seems to be more sensitive to the cold than her sister Nancy.

When it is below freezing outside we have to be extra careful to make sure the goats have access to water....not ice!  So about every two hours we carry out a pot of boiling water to keep ice from forming on the top of the water bucket. 


Luckily Farmer Willie is working from home today, so he gets to help with that job!!  :)

Their water already has a film of ice on top so we break that up with a shovel and then add the hot water.

April was super excited to have some warm water to warm her up!!

And that's how it's done!!  :)

Saving Money on Bumpkin Farm

One thing that I have noticed since moving to the farm is that we waste a lot!  We waste food, we waste time, we waste money, and we waste things. 

I am a throw it away kinda gal.  I do not feel a need to hang on to things so I usually throw it away.  Several years ago a friend pointed out that throwing so much away was not being a good steward with my money. 

At first I balked at her statement thinking that I was simplifying things by not keeping much, but then I began to see she was correct.  I was throwing away things that other could use, thus I began to donate.

Living out here has taught me another lesson in being a good steward with our money...I don't need that much to begin with!  And boy howdy do we waste a ton!

So what have we done to help? 

1.  Recycle:  Believe it or not, the trash service we use also offers recycling pickup.  So we have bins where we save our recyclables and have them picked up.  This not only cuts down on our contribution to the dump site, but it also saves money on trash bags!

2.  Ditch paper towels!:  We were spending almost $30 per month on paper towels.  Not only did we use them in the house, but we used several rolls a week when we milked the goats.  Now we have spend about $6 a month. 
 
     Instead of paper towels, I invested in a large quantity of dish towels and dish cloths.  Instead of drying our hands on paper, we use the cloth towels.  When I milk the goats we use dish cloths marked especially for that purpose. 

 

     We have also ditched paper napkins and instead have started using cloth napkins.  We never spent a ton on napkins, but every little bit helps!!

     The only con I have found is that I have to make sure each evening to put on a load of towels and cloths, but this has not been a huge deal.  Our washer does not use much water so there really is no con with extra water usage.

3.  Laundry Detergent:  Very simple solution here, we started making our own!  There are a gazillion recipes online for various detergents.  We have made liquid and powder.  I prefer the powder, but both worked well.  The cost for our detergent for 6 people is around $30 per year.

4.  Dish Detergent:  We make that too!  First we switched from using a store-bought rinse aid to using vinegar.  Let me tell you, that works wayyyy better on our dishes!!  Now we make our detergent too.  Easy-Peasy!!  We use 1 TB of Borax and 1 TB of baking soda.  This with the vinegar as the rinse aid work great!

5.  Freezing Pizza Dough!:  We eat pizza every Friday night and we used to order it out.  Come Friday evening, I am just ready to chill and spend time with the fam....not really in the mood to spank some dough!  But, if I make the dough earlier in the week and double or triple the recipe, let it rise the first time and spank it and freeze it, it is soooo easy!!  I just pull it out in the morning, it thaws during the day and wah-lah, we have yummy pizza that evening!

6.  Chicken:  I used to be a chicken breast only kinda gal.  Not really keen on sticking my hands inside a carcass to season it.  Best tip ever....throw it in the crockpot with some spices on top, cook it all day and that evening you have a perfectly cooked, tender chicken!  I always throw it in frozen even!

Then that night after you have pulled all of the meat off, add some spices, onion, and garlic, cook it all and you have wonderful chicken broth the next day!



Now I have gone and made myself hungry!!!

I have learned that though I might not have a job outside of the home that brings in money, I can make money for our family by saving money.  Added benefit....it's kinda fun too!!  :)





    

Cutting Grocery Bill In Half!

For years I have been looking at ways to cut our monthly grocery budget down.

As a family of 6, we buy a lot of groceries!  I have tried cutting coupons but for us it was not a big hit.  I think this is mostly because we tend to buy a lot of generic brand items and they normally cost around what the brand name items do with the coupons.  So for us, it did not work.

We have also tried just shopping at the less expensive grocery stores such as Walmart and Aldi.  Though this helped, I still feel like we could bring the budget down further.

So here is what we have.....

Family of 6 and we budget $150 per week for groceries and paper products.  Pet food comes out of our farm supply budget so it is not included in that amount.  But I want to cut that in half and only spend $75 per week!!

When shopping we want only whole grain products and our meat will be grass-fed/free range, etc.  The meat costs a lot compared to buying regular meat, but we are pretty strong supporters of farmers treating animals humanely as well as being careful about what chemicals we ingest.  Because of this, you will probably notice that most of our meals will be bean based.  This is not a change for us as we all love beans!

We also get milk, eggs and honey from our farm so there is no need to purchase those items.

I know it sounds a bit crazy and slightly impossible, but I think I can do it while maintaining a healthy, natural diet for my family.

And here is what I am thinking...

Live off of our pantry!

The concept is simple, shop for what is on sale...REALLY on sale, keep your pantry stocked with the basic staples and produce, and finally, make a menu based on what is on hand. 

Aldi seems to run great sales on produce every week.  I can also find inexpensive produce at the local produce stand when it is in season.  So most of my shopping is done at Aldi, Walmart and the produce stand.

We drive through a small town closeby three days a week and I pass all three places, so no extra gas involved!  Also, once a week I drive by a Sprouts and Kroger, so I will keep an eye on them as well.

When I bought groceries this week I had no trouble staying under the limit and I stocked up on several items.  Aldi had a great sale in our area on blueberries and blackberries so we have enjoyed some yummy muffins and pancakes for breakfast! 

Here is our menu for this week that I made AFTER I shopped with my $75:

 

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Brk	Migas Blackbeans	Pancakes Eggs	Blueberry Muffins	Eggs Peppers Rice	Blueberry pancakes Fruit	Hash browns Eggs  Biscuits	Donuts (out)
Ln	Pork Roast Carrots Potatoes	Quesadillas Fresh peppers Brownie	Mac/Cheese Green Beans	Muffins Oranges	Rice Eggs Brocolli Tamari Sauce	Quesadillas Peppers Rice	Leftover pizza
Dn	Pizza Pockets	Leftovers	Oven Fried Chik Mixed veggies Mashed Potatoes	Black Bean Soup Tortilla Chips	Bell Pepper Pasta Zucchini/tomatoes	Pizza	Beans and Rice Grilled Cabbage

I have linked up some of the recipes I have been using, but there are some changes I make.  If it calls for canned beans, I use dry.  Each week I cook up a couple of batches of beans, black and pinto, in the crockpot.  This is less expensive and I have them on hand, ready to go!  I also cook a couple of large pots of brown rice as we eat a lot of that as well.

I  make my own chicken and vegetable broth.  I usually cook a whole chicken each week for the meat and then I cook the bones with some extra veggies thrown in to make up a yummy chicken broth.

For veggie broth I save all of the veggie trimming and throw them into a pot for making vegetable broth.  Super easy and much better than what you buy at the store!

I can't find my pizza pocket recipe right now, but I just make extra dough on Friday night when we eat pizza and we use it for pizza pockets on Sunday.

Best way to make hash browns that I have found is that I cook the potatoes first in the microwave, then cut them into cubes and cook in a large skillet with peppers and onions.  They are yummy and so easy!

Mac and cheese is just whatever type of whole wheat noodle is on sale mixed with some cheese to taste, garlic, and milk.  Super easy!

We homeschool so our lunches are cooked each day, but these lunches work just fine being packed in a lunch bag.  I usually pack one for my husband.  The only one that might not work is the mac and cheese.  Not sure how warm you could keep it.

Next week I will make sure to show you what I pick up from the store as well. 

I think the key is going to be making sure I balance the produce with keeping the basics stocked.

I am working on a permanent list of what we keep on hand to share with you.  I hope to have that up in the next couple of days!

Looking forward to seeing how much money I can save!!!