New Here.... Need Advice

[Denim Deb]

I agree, don't feel guilty because he's doing the housework. And, it sounds like you 2 made a very wise decision. I don't blame him (or you) one bit for him being the one to stay at home.

 

[4morefromless]

Re: gardening. Squash, beans, cucumbers, melons come up quickly from seeds and are ususally most economic to plant that way. You can freeze or refrigerate left over seeds and they will be good for a few years.
Tomatoes, peppers and onions as well as some herbs need to be started several weeks before garden planting time if you are using seeds. Those you are better off to buy plants.

If you don't have rich soil for a garden spot you can buy a few bags of composted humus/manure and mix with existing soil to enrich it. Then I would figure out how to compost kitchen scraps and leaves without spending money on a composter and you can enrich your garden with those next year.

You are going to make it, girl! It is obvious neither are of your are lazy and both are willing to learn. It won't be long before you looking back thinking how good your fresh veggies are and realizing spending less money can actually make life a lot better in some regards.

 

[Wannabefree]

Yes I agree you have PLENTY of time for a garden!!! I gardened in Memphis myself one season DH's company was paying for a house there and we all spent the summer stomping around Memphis You are actually just 2 hours west of me, so you should be able to do fine with tomatoes. It's prime time for planting here in TN!

On the beans...do what I have been doing and they are DELICIOUS! Soak them overnight(dry beans) and put them in the crock pot the next morning with some ham trimmings and added salt and let the things cook all day on low. I could eat a whole plateful of them like that! They taste almost just like the ham but a little less salty

 

[moneysavingmomma]

Thanks to all of you for your wonderful advice. My dh and I are going to go get the things for our garden tomorrow. I found free used fence post and chicken wire on craigslist (go me) so that should be enough to keep the dog out of the garden. Then we are going to try and find some plants already started and see what happens. Wish me luck! We are going to start very small and try our hand at this thing. I am also looking into farmers markets around here. Next week is our biggest step of all where we will be starting our envelope system and cooking from scratch (pray I don't give anyone food poisioning). We will see how it goes. I have never been that great at cooking from scratch so I am taking a big step here. As far as shopping goes I am very proud of myself this week. I have only been to Dollar General one time this week (which is usually everyday since it is right next door to my work) and only bought toilet paper and dog food.

 

[AnnaRaven]

Check your local library for a book called Saving Dinner. It's got recipes and shopping lists for a week's worth of meals. Might be helpful.

Don't use up all your convenience foods before you try making your own. Save a few for those times where you really REALLY aren't able to cook anything.

You and your DH might also want to check out a site called Cooking for Engineers which provides step by step instructions and how-to explanations for everything from how to boil an egg to chicken pot pie. With pictures.

Good luck on everything!

 

[Living the Simple Life]

Living the simple life, while all those carbs can save you money in the short run, they ended up giving me high blood pressure and pre diabetes.

Beans are lower in carbohydrates and higher in nutrition. Properly prepared they are healthy and they are very cheap.

Leafy greens are also very nutrient dense and easy to grow.

We eat a ton of beans because they are incredibly healthy and very inexpensive. I didn't mention beans because the original poster stated that she didn't like any type of bean except greenbeans.

 

[moneysavingmomma]

We got our small little garden planted this weekend. I have 3 tomato plants, 3 cucumber plants, 3 squash plants, 2 watermelon plants, 1 honey dew plant, 3 pole bean plants, and 3 eggplant plants. So excited to have my little garden now.

 

[Wannabefree]

We got our small little garden planted this weekend. I have 3 tomato plants, 3 cucumber plants, 3 squash plants, 2 watermelon plants, 1 honey dew plant, 3 pole bean plants, and 3 eggplant plants. So excited to have my little garden now.

That's so cool!!! Our tomatoes are growing great! I'm about to put more out this week...sometime..lol!