One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1623 of 2143 - I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

8 Foods That Will Help You Sleep Better

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By Mavis Butterfield on April 18, 2013 · 6 Comments

I hope you all took my advice and took a nap this week. If you tried, but couldn’t seem to fall asleep, here’s a list of foods that actually help you get a better night’s rest {or mid-afternoon’s rest, whatever floats your boat}:

Cherries – They are high in melatonin, a natural sleep aid.
Fish – Fish, especially cod, tuna, shrimp and halibut, have tryptophan. {The fish listed have even higher amounts than turkey.}
Lemon Balm – Lemon Balm is part of the mint family. It’s super easy to grow, and you can float a bit in hot water for a make-shift tea, or use it in cooking.
Chamomile – Chamomile is another herb that has been used for insomnia for thousands of years. {Guess I’ll have to add another cup of tea to my daily regimen, darn!}
Bananas – They have high levels of potassium and magnesium, which help with muscle relaxation.
Spinach – It really is a super food. Like bananas, spinach is high in potassium and magnesium. It also packs a punch in the calcium department, which helps your body manufacture melatonin naturally.
Dairy – Again, high in calcium. Guess Grandma was right, a glass of warm milk before bed really does help you sleep.
Almonds – Almonds are high in magnesium and calcium. Bring on the almond butter!

Sweet dreams,

Mavis

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DIY Hummingbird Nectar Recipe

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By Mavis Butterfield on April 18, 2013 · 14 Comments

I am always so happy when I see a hummingbird in my yard. Do you feel that way? Like your garden is so hospitable that it attracts the most delicate little birds–like you’ve somehow arrived in the gardening world? Okay, so maybe it has something to do with providing them with food, but whatever. You can EASILY and CHEAPLY make your own hummingbird nectar.

You’ll need {brace yourself, this is an extensive list}:

1 Cup Sugar
4 Cups Boiling Water
A container to store it in the fridge

That it–just mix the sugar to the boiling water, stirring until it dissolves completely. Then, put it in the fridge to cool. When you are ready, pour it in the hummingbird feeder as needed. Easy right?

***Did you know hummingbirds’ heart rates are about 1200 beats per minute? They typically weigh less than a nickel, and they can’t use their feet to walk or hop–only to scoot sideways if they are perched. Crazy.

Want to attract more birds to your garden? Check out my how-to post.

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Mavis Garden Blog – Planting Wisteria and Sprucing up the Window Box

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By Mavis Butterfield on April 18, 2013 · 22 Comments

{My garden gate – Fall 20012}

As soon as the Handsome Husband built a fence and garden gate with an arbor, I planted wisteria asap. In fact I’ve planted wisteria at every house we’ve ever owned {except the first one}.

For those of you who don’t know, wisteria is just about the easiest vine you can grow. The purple and white flowers are intoxicating and usually bloom twice a year. Once in the spring and again in the fall.

When I was at Watson’s Nursery recently I walked by a new shipment of wisteria plants and decided to purchase two of them. I couldn’t resist. We moved into this place about 5 years ago, and I wish I would have thought to have planted then at the front of the house then.

My hope is the wisteria vines will climb up the stone walls and cling to them. We’ll see. If it works, I think it will look amazing.

While I was planting wisteria the other day I also went ahead and replanted my front window box. These sweet potato vines will look awesome this summer hanging down from the window.

Bright pink geraniums. A total must have for any window box.

And my beloved purple pansies. The HH doesn’t care for them, but I do.

It’s hard to believe summer is just 2 months away, especially on chilly days like today. But I’ll tell you what. I can’t wait for all the flowers and vegetables to start growing like crazy. I don’t know if it will happen or not, but I’m hoping for an Indian summer. Bring on the heat! I’m ready.

Peace out Girl Scouts, make today beautiful.

♥Mavis

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Raising Backyard Chickens – Awkward Martha and Squirrely Go Broody

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By Mavis Butterfield on April 18, 2013 · 30 Comments

It’s been a wee bit difficult getting eggs lately.

Awkward Martha our Plymouth Rock chicken and Squirrely our tiny bantam we picked up for free at last years Mother Earth News Fair have gone broody and won’t give up the eggs without a small fight.

When chickens go broody they tend to sit on their “eggs” for about 30 days and wait for them to hatch. Now that we have a good sized flock of laying hens I anticipate this is going to be a long spring, summer and fall in terms of wrestling chickens off the eggs to collect them.

I feel bad because they don’t know their {and the other hens} eggs are not going to hatch. The odds are zero to none for live chicks now because we had to say goodbye to Pablo the rooster a few months ago.

Poor chickens. I feel bad for them.

Do you have chickens? Do you do anything special for them when they go broody?

Do yours puff up like a giant turkey and cackle at you when you try and steal their eggs too?

~Mavis

If you would like to learn more about raising chickens and all the fun and excitement it brings… Check out The Joy of Keeping Chickens. By Jennifer Megyesi.

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.