I was going to skip the update for May, because I didn’t feel like we really made any progress towards becoming more self reliant, however when I really thought about it, we did make a few small steps, so I decided to share them with you.   Any progress, even if it’s small, is a step in the right direction, correct?

We finally got our garden planted in May.   I am hoping this year is a successful one, the last 2 years weren’t so good for us.   The first year the area wasn’t completely fenced off and animals got in and ate most of the items (we have bunnies and deer in our neighborhood).    Last year we got a really late start, combine that with all the rain we had and it didn’t make for a very successful garden.    Hopefully, you will see lots of garden veggie posts from me this year.   I am keeping my fingers crossed.

I am doing all of our watering with the rain water collected in our rain barrel.   This is the first year we really got to use the water, because I got the rain barrel last summer for my birthday.   (Don’t worry, my husband isn’t a lame gift giver, I totally asked for the rain barrel).

I have come to realize if I want to continue with this, I am going to need more containers to catch the rain.   Rain barrels are expensive, so I am looking at other DIY alternatives, so if you have any, let me know!

In May I took inventory of our food storage.    We are working towards having an entire year’s worth of food basics.    I stocked up on pasta from VitaCost.com, and I am happy to report that we have an entire years worth of pasta in our food storage.    Plus, I got it all for FREE with my VitaCost referral credits!    I assumed we would eat pasta once a week for a year and made sure I had 52 packages.

You can get FREE food from VitaCost.com too!   If you haven’t signed up yet, sign up now and start with a FREE $10 credit.   With my first purchase I used my FREE $10 credit to buy Bob’s Red Mill items and just had to pay the $4.95 shipping charge.

Here’s where you can earn even more FREE food!   VitaCost has a referral program, after you sign up, you can share the VitaCost with your family and friends using your referral code.   They will get a FREE $10 credit and you will earn a FREE $10 credit for everyone that makes a purchase.   When I have at least $50 worth of referral credits I turn them in for a discount code, because your VitaCost order will ship for FREE when you spend $50 or more.   This is a quick and easy way to get FREE food, health and beauty items, vitamins or products for your home.

I finally got myself a wheat grinder!!   Look for a post coming this month explaining more about grinding your own wheat and the benefits.   I will also share all the research I did that lead me towards my purchase of the L’EQUIP Nutrimill Grain Mill at Amazon.

Now this one may seem a little silly, but I am putting more thought into my purchases and what items will make for a more self reliant home.   Our electric popcorn popper died and I need a replacement.   We don’t do microwave popcorn, I just don’t think it tastes as good as the real thing and the real stuff is cheaper too!

I decided to go with an old-fashioned hand crank one.   I thought it would last longer than an electric one.   Plus, we will be able to use it even when the power is out because we have a gas stove (that wasn’t a big selling factor, it’s just a plus).   I bought the Great Northern Popcorn Original Spinner Stovetop 6-1/2-Quart Popcorn Popper from Amazon, and I have to say, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this popcorn popper!   I think it’s the best one we have ever owned.

So, there you have it!    Those are the very small steps we made in May towards becoming more self reliant.   I would love to hear about anything you are doing that fits in the category of self reliance.   How’s the garden growing?   Do you use rain barrels?   Let’s hear your thoughts!

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We made a little progress in April towards our goal of becoming more self reliant as a family.   I am happy about the couple of things that we have accomplished.

During the month of April we have been baking more bread at home and buying less at the store.   My kids have even been using the bread for sandwiches, so it is working out quite well.   I shared with you how I prep a month’s worth of bread mixes because it makes baking the bread quicker and easier.   I loved having everything pre-made, it made baking the homemade bread a breeze.   I will be prepping more mixes for May too.

Our garden area was way overgrown, so we had lots of work to do to in order to prep it for planting.

I found my clearance gardening tools that I picked up last year on clearance at Target and we got to work.

The entire family pitched in to get the job done.

This guy lasted for about 10 minutes and then he switched to searching for bugs.

We are almost all ready to start planting.   We hope to get the planting accomplished this weekend.

Last week, I picked up some veggie starts using a voucher I bought from Living Social.   I have never used starts before, but since we are getting a later start than usual, I thought it would be a great way to go with a few of the veggies.

How is everybody else doing?   Anybody else getting their garden started?

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