The leaves are falling, The leaves are falling!!!

       My apologies to whomever wrote Chicken Little, but, that is what I thought off as our leaves come tumbling down. It hardly seems possible to me that the month of October is almost finished.  Why is it that times increases as you age?  Of course, it doesn't, but, it sure seems to.  By now, everything should have been cleaned up in your garden, as we in the midwest have had several killing frosts.  If you were unlucky enough to get the Tomato blight that came in this area, you should have pulled up your tomato plants and burned them.  This helps to prevent the wintering over of the blight, so that it does not infect next years crop.  Don't mulch them for the same reason.

      Craft shows are in high swing right now and they are a wonderful place to find recycled items.  Recycling is the number one frugal thing to do.  I don't mean putting out card board and cans next to the curb to be picked up by the garbage man.  Although, these are important things to do, that is, unless your garbage pick up service dumps them in the landfill instead of recyling them.  What I mean is recycling product containers in your home for multi-purposes. There is no need to buy expensive storage containers, when most dairy products come is reusable plastic containers.  A three pound margarine container is perfect to store left overs in. All sour cream and cottage cheese containers work, also.  My most used item is a small margarine container.  I just hate to throw out anything, because I know it can be used for something. If I can't get at least 10 uses out of a plastic container, than I am not happy.
     

Cheap tip #1

 Composting and Animal fertilizers

  My best gardening tip for anyone who has gardened or who will be gardening in the future is this:  composting of all of your vegetable scraps and coffee grounds. The worms will love you for this.  They aren't too happy about banana peels, though, partly because they are not native to the upper midwest where I am located and partly because the bananas give off a bitter gas as they rot.  Our best garden area is situated where we used to have one of our German Shepherd's located.  Don't be afraid of using animal droppings for your garden.  It is best to let them "simmer" for at least a year, tho.  We have also found that small animal dropping, ie pet mice and guinea pigs, also help to enrich the earth.  This allows for little use of commercial fertilizers.

Fall savings ideas

   If you haven't gone to the orchard, yet, get there soon.  Buying apples directly from them presents incredible savings. Hopefully, you have some kind of storage area. Even if it is an unheated garage, you can store them in wooden crates up off of the cement floor. Keeping them off of the floor prevents the cold from creeping up into them and causing frost damage. Cover them with either newspapers or old blankets. This allows them to remain fresh and crisp and keeps you from wasting gas as you "run" to the store to supply that crunch need. 

   Apples are incredibly healthy for us and there are so many different varieties available, that every taste can be satisfied. The farm markets also have squash and pumpkins available, too. Buying in quantities when items are in season is an incredible saving tip!