Frugal In Florida

I know, I know, our gardening season is pretty much over until like, October? Between the heat and the SUN baking everything around it, it's just useless to try and keep anything alive outside of grass. Even that is difficult this year (we are fast approaching severe drought conditions). BUT I just couldn't help myself. I have no restraint. I took the tomato seeds from a beautiful, delicious tomato and painstakingly placed them in a few pieces of paper towel. Lined them up. Folded the towel in half 2 times. Dampened with water and stuck in a large ziploc bag. Added a few drops of water daily and then left them alone for about a week. I've got sprouts. Woohoo. I did the same thing with some excellent sweet mini peppers. Only I didn't painstakingly spread the seeds out, but they are sprouting in one large ball. So this morning, I dug out my lettuce seeds. And the sunflowers, and the sugar snap peas. And the Roma tomatoes and did the same thing. I also sav...

I was making the Enchiladas last night and had to make a quick stop at the grocery store on the way home (yes, I AM aware that I'm on a Pantry Challenge, and I only spent $8.48 on a GIFT card ... was challenging to say the least) ... So, one of the things I needed was green onions. 2 bunches for $1.19. ???? Wow, those got expensive. Didn't they use to be like 3 for $1 or something like that?? So I grabbed the 2 healthiest looking bunches (not so great really) and brought them home. Which prompted me to get a flashlight and walk out to the garden to confirm something: Yes, there they are. In the ground, waving their little green thingys at me in the dark. Here's a tip to avoid that cost again!  Cut off the white bulby part with a little bit of the fading in to green area. Stick the root part into dirt, cover a little (not totally) and wait. Just a little while (a few days) and you will see the green shoots coming up. As that's the only part that I use (I think tha...

I am amazed that people are surprised when I tell them this: Take your green onions that you probably spent 40 cents per small bunch and cut off at the top of the white area (leaving the green to be used at that time). Take the root bulb/white part and stick it in some dirt (enough to cover up the bulb part). Water a little & watch that baby grow new green shoots. Just keep snipping the green stuff to be used and these will grow forever and ever. After about a year (yeah, that long), they may become too oniony. When that happens, time to start over! I have several outside in the tomato planter. It's so cool to just go out & snip what you need. They will never be wilted, wimpy or yellowed again!! Yeehaw!