Tomato Dreams, Dirt Road Nostalgia, and Fixing All the Things Before Winter Hits

Today we sauntered—yes, sauntered—our frugal little selves right up to East Wind Farm in Strafford, because my tomatoes are taking their sweet time, and I’ve got a squash casserole dream that just can’t wait until harvest season decides to show up in my yard. Let me tell you, their tomatoes? Gorgeous. Grown in a greenhouse, plump and perfect, like they’ve been doing yoga and drinking cucumber water.

Of course, getting there meant a lovely ride down a back dirt road—and you know what that does? Unlocks core childhood memories of bouncing along in the backseat, windows down, dust trailing behind us like a badge of small-town honor. I swear, just the sound of gravel crunching under tires makes me want to go home and can something.

Back in the garden, my squash plants are thriving like they just got a raise and a long weekend. And—because squash are shady little overachievers—there was one ginormous zucchini hiding out like it was trying to avoid chores. Nice try, pal. You’re getting grated up and turned into zucchini bread. Made quick work of that using the attachment I bought for my Kitchen Aid. My husband bought this for me about ten years ago during a particularly affluent year (they come once in a blue moon). I’ve had just two mixers during our marriage, the first he gave me on our first wedding anniversary. It was an Oster Kitchen Center that I had for many years and I used that ALL the time. You can still get them used on Ebay! They have not made them for some time but that thing was a beast.

I grated those up and stuck them in my 1 cup silicone freezer trays, once they are frozen I’ll pop them out really quickly and pop them into a ziplock bag. Sweet!

And since we were in the garden we did our little check and what should appear but tomato worms! LORD! We hunted those down and I fed them to the chickens (a very satisfying thing to do for any gardener). I bought a UV flashlight which will arrive tomorrow and we’ll go hunting at night. That will be worth every penny I pay for that thing. The grandchildren and I will be out after dark tomorrow evening hunting! The things a gardener has to do to keep their harvest!

Meanwhile on the homefront? Oh honey, we’re in fix-it mode and getting ourselves together for our August projects.

• The stairs to the second floor are finally repaired (praise be), and now it’s my turn to slap some paint on them so they look more “intentional farmhouse” and less “escaped an HGTV demolition segment.”
• One of our cabinet doors staged a dramatic exit, hinge busted and all. I’ll be replacing the hardware and giving it a fresh coat of paint. Might even add a new clasp if I’m feeling fancy.
• We also had new front stairs put in (because apparently gravity does win), and our handyman replaced the bottom of the door frame—so yes, that too needs painting. Because winter is coming and New England weather does not play.
• Oh, and let’s not forget the entry door seal, which is currently giving up on life. We’ll take the whole door off, fix the seal on the bottom, replace the seal around the door and paint that frame like we mean business. and then pop it back on there once that is all dry. I’m telling you it never ends but so thankful that we can take care of these repairs ourselves and save so much on doing that. We took this door down about ten years ago to find the inside of the bottom had rotted out. Not having money for a new door we dug out the bad, stuck some new wood in there, added bondo for the gaps, sanded, glued, put it all back together and hung it back up. If that is not frugal I just don’t know what is.

Basically, we’re on a mission to winterize before Mother Nature shows up like a cold slap in the face with a heating bill. The list is long, but this is the frugal way—do it now, save later, and maybe bake some bread in the middle of it all.

Keep an eye on the blog for that squash casserole recipe—it’s coming in hot (literally). And if I bake the zucchini bread today, you’ll be the first to know. Probably because I’ll be bragging about it with crumbs on my shirt. Not sure that will be happening, how did it get to be 1:00 PM already?

Stay warm, stay handy, and for heaven’s sake, check your door seals.

xo,

The Real Frugalist

(Stretching the dollar like I stretch my yoga pants)