herbsThere are some items that you can’t have too many of. These are the things that have multiple uses and can be adapted to odd uses as well. Here is my list but feel free to add to it.
6 gallon buckets-Not only will they store food but they can be used to collect rain water, become a toilet with an added seat, haul pig food, transport water, compost, soil and piles of potatoes. You can drill holes in the base and grow anything from carrots to tomatoes. Turn one upside down and it is the right height for a garden stool or a step ladder.
wool blankets- not only good bed covering but blankets can be hung over windows for insulation, cut into a poncho or stiched into clothing.
canning jars-bug, leak and moisture proof storage for all manner of food and seeds, incubate yogurt, sprout seeds, ferment kraut and shake cream in one to make butter.
hay bales-make cold frames and enclosed, no till gardens, mulch, insulate the base of you house or green house, wind brake for animals including bee hives.
rubber bands and paperclips-I have made a number of different sized bungee cords from these for blanching cauliflower and anything else that might need fastening.
I can add duct tape, baking soda, bees wax and string to this list. I could also add books on gardening, homesteading and emergency preparedness. Lots of times the information is something you already know but reading about can jog your memory or motivate you to get busy on a project you have been putting off.
The opposite of this are the things you should find a new home for. Single use items like rice steamers, bread makers, and electric ice cream makers are rarely worth the space and the investment. It was my birthday yesterday and I knew I needed something to grind spices in. There is a dandy little electric grinder on the market but it’s electric and really hard to clean. Bruce got me a mortar and pestle set that is sweet, small and a breeze to wash up. I like it so much I might get a second so I will have one for spices and one for more pungent flavorings like garlic and onion. I will make a decision when I see if this one holds odors.
As an aside, I pulled my garlic yesterday. It has been so wet that I feared it would rot if I left it in the ground any longer. I pulled carrots for dinner and they were beautiful, long, straight and very sweet. I will pull beets in the next couple of days as they are good size now. I have started the seeds for my fall garden and begun the plan for a new herb bed. I am thinking I will start with 10×10 with an arbor at one end. I will have a culinary and tea bed primarily as I know so little about medicinal herbs. It is on my bucket list to learn more but I have not had time yet to give this the attention it deserves.
July 30, 2009 at 10:16 am
A couple of things I’d add to the list:
-stock pots, canners or metal dish pans (or anything along those lines) for canning and cooking big batches!
-homemade felted wool mittens and hats…I’m amazed at how warm these are and the way they turn water/snow. My kids and I played outside in these last winter and came in with rosy (almost sweaty) hands and toasty ears. I made 3 or 4 pairs for everyone.
-leather work gloves…need many pairs as I can never find mine : )
-my husband would add bullets, 3 Stooges videos and chicken feed to the list
July 30, 2009 at 11:15 am
Happy Birthday! Wishing you “buckets” of joy, peace and prosperity in the coming year.
What seeds have you started for the fall season?
July 30, 2009 at 11:24 am
Thank you! I started fall broccoli, carrots, cabbage and cauliflower. I have had terrific luck with fall carrots.
July 30, 2009 at 11:33 am
Happy Birthday.
I never had a rice cooker until I started living with someone from an asian background . . . it’s a nonnegotiable item now, at least while there is still electricity.
July 30, 2009 at 11:45 am
And happy birthday too!
July 30, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Happy Belated Birthday, Kathy.
Well I don’t know if you can’t actually have too many of these, I suppose one could go really overboard, but one of the things that I’ve been slowly stocking up on when they go on sale are threads, sewing machine needles and other basic sewing supplies.
I agree with everything you’ve listed, especially about the books, my husband and I have a small library of those kinds of books. And while we don’t subscribe to a lot of magazines, one thing I’ve done to help me learn more about the uses of various herbs is I’ve subscribed to The Herb Quarterly. That way, I’m getting information in bite sized pieces, I can try out the different recipes they include and I’m not overwhelmed trying to learn it all at once.
July 30, 2009 at 1:00 pm
These are all great suggestions. I have lost an email from you, Andrea. I can’t imagine how I cold have deleted it permanently but it is somewhere out in cyberspace and not here at home where it belongs. Could you resend please?
July 30, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Sure thing, Kathy!
My list of things you can’t have too many of:
-Stock pots, canners or even metal wash tubs for canning and cooking up big batches of goodies.
-homemade felted wool mittens and hats…it’s incredible how they turn water and snow. When the kids and I played outside this past winter, we came in with rosy, warm, almost sweaty hands and ears. Everyone in the house has a couple pairs of homemade mittens now.
-leather work gloves ‘cuz I can never find mine.
-and darling husband would add bullets, 3 Stooges videos and chickenfeed.
July 30, 2009 at 4:48 pm
I love this bunch of lists. One thing I struggled with was plastic trash bags. seful but horrible from an environmental stand point. I now have a ton of hand made cloth bags and I stocked up on rain ponchos. I did get some biodegradable bags from a friend but they are really expensive. Not as expensive as a trashed ecosystem though so they are on my gotta have it list. I am designing a new herb bed so I will check out the magazine. I feel like herbs are one of those things it takes a lifetime to learn.
July 30, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Hi Andrea,
Are the felted wool mittens and hats made from felted wool… as in felt the wool, cut out the pattern and sew together? Or are they knit first and then felted? I’m thinking these would make great Christmas gifts for friends and family living in Canada.
July 30, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Supermom,
I pick up sweaters from the Goodwill for a couple of dollars, run them through the washer and dryer on high, then cut out the pattern and sew them. They are fabulous! I made my daughter an ‘elf’ hat (pointy with a jingle bell on the end) and got more compliments on it than anything I ever bought! For the mittens, use the waistband of the sweater as the cuff of the mitten and it will look very finished.
Also, you can use the wool scraps to make hot pads for your table. Just use a double or triple layer and stitch them together with a blanket stitch.
AND, I’ve made a couple small lap throws to keep in our vehicles during the winter. The are sooo warm and take up very little space in the back seat.
AND (LOL) they make sweet Christmas stockings and tree decorations.
You can also make house shoes/stockings out the wool. I just used a tube sock for a pattern and then sewed some old scraps of leather onto the bottom for traction.
Sorry for hijacking your post, Kathy. I get so excited about felted wool projects!
July 31, 2009 at 6:37 am
LOL!!Don’t apologize to me. You’ve got me anxious to go to town to look for all wool sweaters. I have a pattern for slippers that feslted wool would work great for. I foud some knobby stuff to stich to the bottom, I really need to ask my friend Barbara (I know you’re out there Barbara) to have a community sew and teach me how to put them together.
July 31, 2009 at 10:58 am
Pulling the garlic was genious. I had that on my list yesterday while it was nice, but didn’t get to it and now it’s raining again!
My list:
Scissors
Coffee
Tissues (got to switch to cloth someday)
July 31, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Thank you, Andrea. I’ll have to start checking the local thrift shops for wool sweaters.
My grandmother used to take old sweaters, unravel them and then reknit them into mittens and hats. She could knit a pair in an evening and they were the warmest mittens you’d ever want. But I’m not anywhere near as fast a knitter as she was, so felting old sweaters to use will definitely speed up the process.