TMR Frugal Living Tip #73

Today's thrifty living tip is use cheap hairspray, in a can, to stun roaches. We get the big tree ones in the house, and sometimes they move too fast before I get a chance to smack them. I use a can of cheap dollar store hairspray which stuns them so I can smack them. It's cheaper than roach spray but probably not better chemical wise. Of course you can buy an all natural roach spray that is good for the environment. I also use a very heavy coffee table book that I bought at a yard sale for 50 cents to smack them. I am squeamish about seeing them so I cover the book in plastic grocery bags and tie them at the end. When I see a roach crawling on the floor, I just drop the book on it. I then let hubby deal with cleaning it up.

My Spring Garden has Sprung

I didn't get any fall planting done last year since we had some unusually cold weather early in winter. Our last few winters have been very mild so I guess it was time for colder weather. Spring usually arrives in early February, but this year it waited until late March into early April. We got a late start on getting the garden tilled and amended. I also had to buy tomato and bell pepper transplants at my local nursery. We expanded the garden by several rows and planted new seeds this year. I finished planting all the April crops on Friday evening. Here is what we have planted this year: roma tomatoes, cucumbers, green/red/orange bell peppers, black beans, bush snap beans, zucchini, cow peas (similar to black eyed peas), sugar baby watermelons, and cantaloupe. I already see lots of cucumbers popping up. I also planted marigolds in between the tomato rows which helps to ward off caterpillars. I shall see how this does. I bought three more blueberry bushes which are all flowering. I will have lots of blackberries this year from all the buds and flowering on the bush. I'm very excited about my garden and very hopeful it will be plentiful. I included pictures below.