One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1648 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.

Growing Vegetables in a Greenhouse – End of March

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By Mavis Butterfield on March 26, 2013 · 9 Comments

Lucy the puggle dog and I thought we’d give you a little tour around the greenhouse today and show you what’s growing.

Creepy Gnome Guy’s job this year is to protect the greenhouse. Last year he was stationed in the broccoli patch and the year before he protected the peas from the squirrels.

The chive border is coming in nicely and the tulips are about a week away from blooming.

So far we have spinach in the top gutter and romaine lettuce in the lower gutter. I think I’ll plant some toy choy in the two middle gutters later this week.

What do you think? Maybe a month to go before we are serving Cesar salads?

Lemon the lemon tree is hanging in there and we are starting to harden off a bunch of vegetable and flower flats. I think in another few weeks I’ll try and move all the heirloom tomato plants out to the greenhouse. We’ll see.

Strawberries in gutters.

And last but not least, round 2 of the cabbage starts.

Yep, I’d say things are looking pretty good for this time of year. Warming temps, no snow or other wacky weather to speak of and plenty of sticks to chew on. What more could a girl and her dog ask for?

Life is good.

~Mavis

If you are thinking about growing food in a greenhouse but don’t know how to get started, you should check out Elliot Coleman’s book Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long. I think it’s pretty awesome.

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How to Grow Bok Choy {Start to Finish}

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By Mavis Butterfield on March 26, 2013 · Leave a Comment

I planted a flat of Toy Bok Choy seeds last week. Have you ever tried bok choy before?

We love to chop it up and add it to stir fry. My daughter likes the smaller variety of bok choy better better than the giant leave you typically find in the grocery stores so that’s why we grow the toy bok choy. It can be harder to find, and when you do it’s typically in a specialty market and they want to charge an arm and a leg for it.

Here is how to be cool and grow your own.

Brief description: Bok Choy is also called Chinese Cabbage. It is a sweet, mild flavor. Young leaves can be eaten in salads, or stems are great for stir-fries, etc.

Where to Plant Bok Choy: Plant in raised beds, garden beds or containers.

Planting Seeds: Sow outside 4-6 weeks before average last frost. Plant seeds 1/4″-1/2″ deep and thin to one every 6″ when seedlings are 4″ tall.

Growing Tips: Bok Choy is a cool weather crop. It does best in loose soil. Keep Bok Choy beds well-weeded.

How to Harvest: Harvest young leaves as needed. To harvest entire plant, cut the entire head even with the soil.

Preparation Tip: Don’t wash Bok Choy until you are ready to eat it. By not washing it, you can extend its fridge-life up to 6 days.

Are you ready to start your garden but you’re not sure when you should plant your seeds or set out your transplants? Head on over HERE and you’ll be taken to a handy dandy chart that is broken down into what vegetables should be planted {or transplanted} each month in your area.

Anyone can do this. Dirt + Seeds+ Water = Food!

~Mavis

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Reclaimed Food Show and Tell

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By Mavis Butterfield on March 26, 2013 · 28 Comments

It was another magnificent week in the reclaimed food department. My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as I was unloading all the fruits and veggies from the boxes.

I’m not sure what’s harder to believe, all this food was going to be thrown away, or that we as consumers have become so picky that grocery stores automatically toss fruits and vegetables when they have even the slightest blemish on them.

This week instead of me telling you what I think was wrong with the vegetables, I would like you to tell me what you see. Would you have bought this produce at it’s regular sale price, at a discount, or would you have passed on it all together?

It’s hard to imagine that all of this food was going to be tossed. It all looks perfectly fine to me {well, except that one brown spot on the cauliflower}.

Food waste in America, it’s just plain crazy if you ask me.

~Mavis

Would you like to see what else we have brought home over the past year?

Head on over HERE to read all the past stories and to see all the pictures.

If you have just stumbled upon this series and are wondering how I got all this food for free, you’ll want to read this story first.

Got scraps? Check out the ebook From Garbage to Gourmet: Prevent Food Waste and Create Delicious Food out of Things You Normally Throw Away.

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.

Mavis Asks Readers to Send in Gnomes

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By Mavis Butterfield on March 25, 2013 · 124 Comments

Last winter I was trying to think of a fun way to give back some of the money this little ol’ website of mine has made over the past year.

Thanks to all of you who have ever purchased anything from one of my links on the bottom of a blog post, printed a coupon or found something you liked enough to purchase via Mornings with Mavis, the blog has actually made some money. This goofy little blog of mine has turned my love of gardening and sharing how I save money, in to an official full time job.

Plus, the blog has also gotten me out of quite a bit of laundry and undesirable chores like cleaning the back deck, so again, thank you for your support. You are awesome.

After lots of consideration {and many hours behind the scenes working out the details and getting approval} I have decided to ask for your help with a crazy idea I came up with a few months ago.

I would like you to send me a gnome.

What?

Yes, I would like YOU to send me a gnome.

If you send me a gnome {to be temporarily housed in my backyard} I will donate $10 for every gnome donated {big or small, ceramic or plastic, new or old} to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at the end of this summer.*

{photo credit}

In case you didn’t know already, St. Jude has an awesome collection of 59 raised garden beds.

Having a garden on site shortens the time between harvesting and serving, which keeps the food’s nutritional value high and provides healthier fare for faculty, staff and patients who eat in the Kay Kafe. Serving foods from the St. Jude Garden also reduces the need to purchase large amounts of produce, which saves the hospital money. – St. Jude website

The Best Case Scenario:

1,000 gnomes from around the world will descend on my backyard {and make the HH crazy}.
My helpers and I {including Mrs. Hillbilly, The Girl, Crazy Larry, possibly my online boyfriend Ryan + a whole slew of other people you know} will take an epic road trip towards the end of the summer and hand deliver a check for $10,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and will place 100 gnomes in the St. Jude Garden in an effort to celebrate kids, gardens and healthy food.
The remaining 900 gnomes will be placed in Public, Community and Children’s gardens along the way from Seattle to Memphis, with the possibility of leaving a boatload of gnomes in one unsuspecting strangers front yard. {Holy Crap!}

Worst Case Scenario:

You will call the authorities and have me committed.

I know this sounds like a totally crazy idea, but I really think I can pull it off with YOUR help.

So what do you say? Will you send in a gnome?

Click HERE to see what gnomes have been sent in so far.

Please send gnomes by August 1st, 2013 to:

Mavis Butterfield
P.O. Box 2083
Gig Harbor, Washington 98335

Under no circumstance will any gnome be returned. By donating a gnome to the Send in the Gnomes project you are giving Mavis and her helpers full authority to place your gnome, or anything else you send in, anywhere in the world.

St. Jude’s, here we come!

~Mavis

* A maximum of $10,000 will be donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital

The money will come from this years blog earnings {so keep that in mind the next time you see a link to a cool product on One Hundred Dollars A Month}. Again, thanks for your help. Giving back is cool!

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.