Building a DIY Wicking Raised Bed Vegetable Garden
This spring we decided to do a little spring garage cleaning in order to fund some hobbies/projects we’d been wanting long term. I sold our big, old wine fridge that we never used on Craigslist for $400 and put that money towards building a wicking, raised bed vegetable garden in our front yard. And it […]
Read MorePreparing Your Pets for the Holidays
The holidays are finally upon us, and with Thanksgiving less than a week away, I was unsurprised to find a mile long to-do list greeting me. We’re travelling by car to visit’s the hubby’s family, and for some crazy reason, we agreed to bring the dog with us. Yet between taking the dog on a […]
Read MoreBackyard Beekeeping 101: When Bees Misbehave
Since today was the start of our first non-travel weekend in a few weeks, the hubby woke up bright and early to start poking around the bee box. Today’s goal: replace the oversized brood box we’d gotten when we bought our bees with one of the regular-sized boxes Carl’s been making himself. However, as soon […]
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‘Tis the Season for Christmas Crafting…
I know what you’re thinking. “It was 90-friggin-degrees today in Austin, Whitney”, you say. “It’s not even Halloween yet, for goodness sake! There is absolutely no way it’s time for Christmas crafting.” I get it. But, I’m sorry to tell you this, you’re wrong. It’s totally time for Christmas crafting. Here’s why: 1. Depending on […]
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Adventures in Soapmaking or “What to Do With All This Wax”
As you may remember from a few weeks ago, hubby and I completed our first honey harvest a few weeks ago. Since then, I’ve had all the leftover wax from the six frames we harvested sitting in a large tupperware container on my counter. Finally, last night, after having cleared the Tivo of anything interesting, I […]
Read MoreBackyard Beekeeping 101: Our First Honey Harvest
This weekend, for the first time ever, we harvested honey from our backyard beehive. I found it incredibly exciting – and I was shocked at just how much honey our little hive had produced – we ended up with just under THREE GALLONS (!!!) of honey (which I canned in half-pint glass jars, for gifts). So how […]
Read MoreBackyard Beekeeping 101: Making Your Own Brood Boxes
As I mentioned in a previous post, Carl and I are enjoying our first season as backyard beekeepers. This weekend, an inspection of the hive showed us that our bees have been quite busy! In just a few short months, our bees had nearly completely filled their existing brood boxes. So, Carl got to work […]
Read MoreA Newbie’s Attempt at Extreme Couponing
For the past few weeks, instead of immediately trashing the weekly circulars that get shoved in our mailbox, I’ve actually taken the time to cut out relevant coupons, and print a few others out from Coupons.com. Slowly but surely, with the help of blogs like Living Rich with Coupons, I’ve managed to get a decent little […]
Read MoreBackyard Beekeeping: An Introduction
Back in May, I became the proud co-parent of a few hundred or so bees. (By now, we probably have a few thousand.) Bees. Yes, beeeeeesss. And since then, we’ve had a lot of people ask exactly how to get started in this whole thing, so I thought I’d share what I know. Keep in […]
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