Organic? It's for Us, is it for You?

When I first was introduced to "organic" food I was immediately intrigued. Was this hippy fodder? Was it twigs and berries or just another way to squeeze a few extra bucks out of your grocery budget? As I splashed around in the shallow end of the organic scene before I had kids, I began to glean knowledge and realized it was a little of all of it! Certified organic food is regulated to certain standards of chemical free growing and earth friendly growing. It all around is more healthy and sustainable... it just takes a bit more elbow grease. Depending on what is grown and methods used, organic growing can be really expensive or really cheap.

Now, I will not try to claim we are fanatics about organic food. We like to eat that way as budget and availability allows. But I still eat McDonald's on occasion. Shoot me. When we are able to grow and raise more of our own food it will be with organic practices, so it most likely be a pretty high percentage of our daily diet. Right now we focus on specific things. Organic dairy, organic eggs, nitrate free, antibiotic free, hormone free and GMO free if we can. I try to get our root vegetables organic as well as most of out produce except bananas (they really are a low risk food). Cold cereals and more "processed" foods are a splurge and not something I frequent. Frozen veggies usually are organic too. Baking flours and grains, yes. Um, so most of our food I guess! Probably 75%-85% of our home prepared food is organic or at least all natural. We do not go so far as to use organic body care products unless they are a gift or are homemade. I do, however, prefer homemade cleaning products that I can control chemical exposure with. You'd be surprised what you clean with vinegar and baking soda.

Thinking about giving it a try? Start with the dirty dozen and see if your budget can take it!

Bonus! Seedling update pictures:

Unexpected but Nice!

Wow, a nomination! Sadly, I had no idea what it was I am nominated for. It is a blog award of some kind! But said nomination has required me to answer some questions provided by my nominator and provide 11 random facts about me. So, here we go!

1. In 5 words or less, why do you blog?
Because I love to write.

2. Are you a spend-thrift or a cheapskape?
Um, somewhere in the middle? I like to save money but at the end of the day I know it will not be coming with me when I die so no use getting to attached!

3. I follow your blog, do you follow mine?
Yes. Yes, I do.

4. Most productive time of day to blog?
When my children aren't wailing for food or booty changes (aka, nap time/ bedtime).

5. Do you want to have a big money-making blog one day?
Not really my intention but if it "happened" I would not be disappointed. ;-)

6. What is your favorite comfort food?
Currently, it is a weird one. Rice, spanish olives, cheddar cheese, green chiles and chicken mixed up in cassarole form. Had it for the first time at my best friend's in-law's house in Arizona and I ate it all the time pregnant. SO GOOD.

7. Do you have a piggy bank (and where do you hide it)?
I don't, my kids do. I have a "grown up piggy bank" in an undisclosed location. It is anything but full though! Lol.

8. Do you have a garden?
Interesting question. I do not have a "garden" currently but as soon as snow melts and ground thaws we will! I have lots of little plants waiting!

9. Are you one of those preppers??????
(Nervously looks around) Heh heh, no...

10. Just how cheap are you?
I'd say I am a tepid cheap warming to a balmy wood fired hot tub cheap.

11. What color are your eyes?
Greenish. I don't really know! Ask my husband ;-D

Random Things:

1. I am the younger of two children.

2. I was married at 20.

3. I can knit and sew.

4. I started cooking when I was 3 and was making full dinners by 12.

5. I am cynical about any organized social structure (i.e. medical system, government, school systems, etc.).

6. I have owned horses since I was 14.

7. I dream about things like milking cows and canning a years worth of food.

8. I was an extremely awkward child, I think I finally got it working for me now though!

9. I loved my birth and I daydream/ real dream about the next one. Freak, I know. It was awesome.

10. I can sing. No really, I can.

11. My housework can be a bit bi-polar. Or maybe that's me... I do wonder sometimes!


Well, that was fun! Hope you all have learned some handy/ interesting tidbits about me. Nothing to exciting I am afraid! Thank you D. Marie from Lessons on the Cheap!

What Does "Modern" Homesteading Mean to Me? And... Seedlings.

I have been thinking about this while we have been contemplating what to do about living arrangements. What are our priorities? What are our beliefs? What makes us "homesteaders" and when will we think we are there? Nothing makes you take a good long look at what you are and what you stand for than a hardship and uncontrollable circumstances. Where we should live and what is available for options has become just that. We are at the mercy of time, hard work and creativity. I won't post now about what our plans are at the moment but I will document along the way this summer and perhaps see if you can guess what it is ;-)

Any who, I have been thinking... and when I started this blog and titled it "Modern Homesteading" the thought I have in my mind was old fashioned ways with a new date and maybe a solar panel or two. But, recently, perhaps by growing maturity, I have re thought this. I think it depends on the family! Each will have their own values and skills and comfort levels from hardcore make-your-own-underwear-from-your-home-spun-yarn-from-your-home-grown-sheep to growing-a-single-tomato-plant-on-a-tiny-city-fire-escape-landing. We are not currently where we would like to be. We are living un-independently in my parents house with limited freedom to have animals and the like. This is going to change this year. Everything is going to change this year. We have come to the breaking point of waiting or doing. We choose do. We are choosing to take control (Lord guiding) and start living how we feel called. It is a leap of faith for more than just comfort but also safety and sanity (for me... I have been know to be *ahem* unstable). And please pray for our extended family to understand what will come, I am dreading their reaction, mostly just 'cause I am sick of hearing "you can't".

Next, we have seedlings! And how I chose to pot them on this year. I used 4 ounce yogurt cups. I was feeding Mini Me the other week and it just clicked that the plastic cup in my hand was the perfect size to pot on a seedling. Usually they just go in the recycle but now I was going to be the recyclist. And you know what? It worked a treat.


Notice the mold? Not intentional.





Fork lift. Heehee





So cute.

That Dirty Little Word...

Credit. It can be your best friend or it can be that superficial evil that keeps you from living a "normal" life. Gone are the days my grandfather talks about when he walked into a bank with his father and walked out with a loan. To get a loan for a house these days you practically have to give them your first born and half your liver. Ok, maybe not your first born, but you get my point here. We are faced with changing tactics in order to get us in a house of our own in the near future. First let me tell you about why we can't get a loan. It will make you run and check your credit report...

When my husband was a young thing, just out of high school and trying to make it on his own, he racked up some medical bills far out of his budget (no insurance) and a couple of utility bills from a roommate situation gone bad. Fast forward about 3 years and all of these bills are now in collections. Collections. There is another dirty word for you. This is not an uncommon scenario, many young adults left to fend for themselves end up with at least one collection. What this does to your credit in addition to a lack of positive history is detrimental. And you won't get a house loan. Period. Not even an FHA or RD. Sorry, Charlie, it just ain't your day.

So what do we do about this overwhelming hurdle? Well, you have to spend some money and do some waiting. First you have to get rid of all those collections. Yup, all of them. If they are older than 7 years they should get removed soon, so it's up to you whether you want to touch those or not. You want to take care of the most recent ones first, they are doing the most damage. Older ones are kind of a catch 22. When you pay off an old collection it brings it back to a "current" state which makes it look new and scary despite it being paid or settled. It will lower your score, there is no way around it. The only option for it to raise and not lower your score is if the collection agency kindly deletes it from existence from all 3 credit bureaus. So simple for them to do, yet so hard for you to get them to. Most agencies will slap you with "we don't do that" when you ask. There are many ways to tackle trying to convince them. You can go all old school and send a formal "pay for delete" letter which is slow and could be fairly aggravating. You can call and say if you want money you need to delete, which will more than likely get you a nasty retort and "have a nice day" *click*. (I got that one just 2 days ago!) And then you can settle and pay up with as much pride as you can muster, and do that one thing most hate even thinking about... beg. Send them a "goodwill" letter. Basically your aim is to make them feel sorry for you, tell them why you had a collection and why it is ruining your life. This blog explains it a bit better. What have we done? All of it. Has it worked? Time will tell.

Now what can you do to boost your score after you get rid of the negative? You borrow more money. Sounds counter intuitive right? Well, no. Basically a lender wants proof you got your s*it together. If you can handle a small loan or credit card they see you can handle a monthly payment. They want to see 3-6 current/open credit lines at all times:

One, they want to be a major credit card. If you don't qualify for a credit card, get a secure credit card like this one that reports to all 3 credit bureaus.
Two, they want to see a loan. Be it an auto loan or personal, they want to see at least a year if not two of perfect payment.
The third and others can be another loan or another credit card but you need 3 at the least. I, personally, have 3. A car loan, personal loan with MM and a major credit card with a decent limit. I have just about perfect payment on all. And I have good credit. So, what is the problem you ask? I am a stay at home mom. I have NO income. So I can't be a primary on a loan. Even if I was a primary, a joint loan looks at you both as a single unit, if one is bad, both are bad.

So, in summary, we can not do anything until we as a unit have better credit. At this point it is looking like the type of loan we will be eligible for will only pertain to an existing house, i.e. an FHA 203(k) or Rural Development. We will be diligently rectifying the collections, saving money and building credit over the next 6 months in hopes that it will be enough to move (after expected renovations) before late fall.

P.S. A little more about credit cards...

Keep all credit card balances below the 25% mark (30% is the ok but pushing it) but, regularly use at least 20% for maximum credit building.

Pay that bill on time and in full when you can (i.e. not just the minimum).

If you have a high balance, focus on paying it down first, it will boost that number the fastest.

If you can, get a card with cash back rewards and use the rewards to pay off debt or just save it. Don't, for the love of Pete, spend those rewards on stuff unless you could really spare the extra cash already.

A little tip I have discovered about payment and interest is if you pay your balance before your due date and pay it also twice a month you will save big bucks and make more headway on paying down a large balance.

Why We Are Choosing Off-Grid Living

Uh, why wouldn't we? Think about this for a minute. Your house on it's own independent electrical system un-effected by weather(ish), the economy, black outs, etc. In Maine with some of the highest utility costs in the country that is a huge perk. So what stops people? Why isn't this more popular outside of the "hippy" community? Well, I really think it comes down to cost and knowledge. It is a chunk up front, for sure. But, I have to say, the general public spends more each year on a bathroom remodel, vacations, eating out, entertainment and lots more than it would cost to put in a solar system (no not the one with planets, stay focused!). So, then we come to knowledge. Where do you start? Will it look ugly? Will it be hard to maintain? What if the sun doesn't shine for a week? Will I have to start wearing Birkeys and stop shaving my legs? To the last one, NO. To the rest, you start with having an energy audit done on your existing house to see what size system you need. If you are building like we are, you design the house and adjust from there with energy saving things like appliances that are Energy Star, gas or wood heating (including the dryer), DC lighting and sometimes just doing without (we won't have a microwave, but that's a whole other post!). After you figure out your energy demand either contact a solar installation company or if you are handy and DIYish them start research and find a solar supplier. We found the best deals on wholesalesolar.com. We recommend going with USA made products *wink wink*. As for how it looks... well that really is superficial isn't it? But, I get it because that was a first thought for me too. Ideally we will be mounting ours above the tree line on a small tower but we really don't know yet until we position the house and see where we have the best sun exposure. Maintaining systems has become pretty easy, systems come with safety devices to avoid over charging, alert you if something is wrong and to also automatically turn on a generator if the battery bank gets too low. All from your house. It just makes sense to me! Green, independent, and practical.

We like all the above reasons for having an off-grid house but the main reason is that we don't trust that public utilities will always be there for us. Yes, I realize that sounds so paranoid and "lets build a bunker" but it's the reality we are living in right now in this country. It is far from stable. Ever seen Dante's Peak? We are the town, the government is the volcano and she's just clearing her throat. I smell sulfur.

Have questions about solar? Ask away. I will ask my hubby.