Free Goods & Being Resourceful

A friend of ours came over the other day to hang out and we gave her a tour of Ron's beautiful garden. Ron was showing her the compost pile, the raised beds he had just made out of free redwood, the arbor he made out of stunning free willow branches, and the awesome free play set one of his co-workers gave us. Noticing a trend here? She then said, "Wow, you guys are really resourceful!" It got me to thinking since that thought had never crossed my mind honestly! Then I began to realize that we actually are way resourceful. Ron is the king of free; he's thrifty, and if it can be found for free he will find it! He's taught me a lot about being frugal and pinching pennies in the almost fourteen years we've been married.

Here are some examples of his frugalness, (that's not a word, but I like it!) The other day he saw some willow branches on the side of the road. He picked them up and brought them home, with a plan to make some sort of structure for the garden. Within a few days he had a design for an arbor which he made in a few hours. He is also making a cute gate which will be below the arbor, and a fence will eventually go on either side. He made a mini raised bed out of the scraps and it turned out so cute! Last week he found some free old growth redwood on Craig's list - perfect for raised beds! He plans to grow a veggie garden in the spring - can't wait! A few months back co-worker was very generous and gave us his kids' old play set! The kids love it and play on it every day. Another co-worker gave us her bunny, Charcoal, who makes great poop for the compost pile. My free find was an adorable 9 patch wool quilt, found on the side of the road in Arcata with a free sign above it. It just needs a new backing, a bit of mending and some tlc and it will make the perfect winter warm quilt!

One of Ron's co-workers, Russel, has a home made apple press. He invited Ron to come over and press apples last weekend. They pressed a total of almost 60 gallons which was a record!! In exchange for the work we get fresh organic apple juice, yummy!!! We hope to eventually have our own apple trees so we can do this ourselves, and have juice, apple sauce and fresh apples for apple pie. Another plan of ours is to buy chickens in the spring so we can have fresh eggs. We want to trade eggs for other goods as well. I used to make my own Keefer but my batch got old and I couldn't find any more live culture to grow it from. I plan to get more though and get that going again! With the economy being tight there are so many ways you can save money, plus have organic healthy food to eat. Please feel free to share any ideas with me as well!

The eclectic arbor Ron made from free willow branches.

Mini raised bed made from free willow branches.

Raised bed made from free recycled old growth redwood. The posts sticking up are for chicken wire to keep the critters out.

Another raised bed made from free recycled redwood.

Charcoal the free bunny.

Free Costco play set.

Free wool quilt.

Russel's home made apple press.

Ron and Russel hard at work pressing apples.

Apples ready for the pressing!

Fire and Light

For the past 2 years Ron has worked at the annual Fire and Light Seconds Sale. Fire and Light glass is made locally from mostly 100% recycled glass. When Ron works the sale he gets paid in product, (firsts!) I am so appreciative of him putting the time in to get me gorgeous dishes I couldn't acquire other wise - thanks honey! Here are some pics of the dinner set for 4 and beautiful plum bowl we got this year, (can't wait to invite people over for dinner!):

The plum bowl looks so beautiful on my black side board...the picture doesn't even do it justice!

We also got the large Zen bowl the pumpkin is sitting in (see post below), at the sale.

Ma Ma's Helper Apron and "Daisy"

Here are some of my latest makins'! When I was around 12 my grandma taught me how to make apron patterns. I never forgot how to do it, so I constructed this 2-4T apron and it was quick and easy. I like how the color combo turned out, and the contrasting button pulls it all together.

I fell in love with this daisy print fabric for these little girl pants! I found vintage buttons that look like they were made to go with the daisy print fabric. These are number 7 & 8, so I only need 2 more items and I can take them down to Shipwreck, wohoo!

Ma Ma's Helper Apron. Size 2-4T. Made from recycled paisley print fabric, contrasting batik fabric for pocket and waistband/strings, and vintage button.

"Daisy" Size 1T. Made from daisy print fabric, pink polka dot print fabric, and pink vintage flower buttons.

Reusable Veggie Bags

I've been working for a friend of mine sewing reusable veggie bags. They're made out of cheese cloth material. They're a great way to bag up your veggies, (and fruits), while being kind to the planet. They also help produce stay fresh, and you can get them damp for veggies like lettuce. You can buy them at Wildberries now under the label Beautiful Earth. They cost $3.99 for a small and $4.99 for a large, or $15 for 2 small and 2 large - what a great deal! I love being able to support Eco friendly ideas, and what a better way then to help sew these cool bags? If anyone local has ideas of other places these could be sold let me know!