February is a great month to get some deep cleaning done throughout the house. This past weekend I took 2 days to thoroughly clean and organize the small bedroom/second pantry. I used to use this room mainly for crafts and making soap but now use it more for storage.
I still have a lot of ingredients and oils left over from my soap-making days and so many containers too. I need to find someone to give them to as I no longer need them. For one reason or another, I never seem to get around to purging any of it.
I removed one of the 8' tables with the microwave on it and that was a start. Then I took all the jars of dried botanicals that I would use in the soaps and they are now going into the compost. I had two large bins of so many herbs and flower petals. It was sad and yet satisfying to let them all go.
I only have one small 4' table now with my large dehydrator on it. That will give me enough table room to work with when I start doing the herbs again this summer. I can't believe how much larger the room feels, not to mention, how much lighter the energy in the room is. Yet, I still have so many boxes to go through and the hardest part was discarding about 40 bottles of essential oils and fragrances I used to scent the soaps.
I spent one day tidying up all the jars I canned this last season. They were a little dusty and I wanted to make sure I put any from 2023 to the front to be used first. I have not used some of the relishes or pickles so I won't make any this year. I still have a lot of pickled jalapenos too so that one is not needed.
Actually, now that my family has moved to another state, it's only the two of us using the produce. I may not be doing much processing this year. I'm glad I took the time to see what I have on hand as that will help me decide what and how many seeds to sow. I can tell that I will be cutting back on the amount of tomato and pepper plants I will be growing.
Thanks to the inspiration from Pam over @goldenoakfarms I finally got the mojo to get some spring cleaning done. How about you? Do you have someone here on Hive that inspires you to get moving?
Until next time, this is Sunscape
Sun. Scape. Ing Your Day
Amazing achievement in such a short time. The room looks very nice and bright!
Pam and you have put me to shame! I ought to do some tidying and cleaning of my kitchen soon.
Pam is the one that got me started as I was really procrastinating. Deep cleaning all the rooms takes a lot of energy but is very needed once a year. One room at a time and it gets done.
That’s a very good example! I have to gather my energy and determination to clean one room at a time!
I wish I had a pantry that is as organized and as abundant as this! Processing food at home can really save us money and best of all, we can make use of what nature provides us. In addition, you already have something in store when rainy days (and Mondays) comes :-) I can see how productive and resourceful you are. I have learned something from what you have shared. When you look at an organized space, somehow it gives you peace of mind and lessens the mental burden.
It really is great having a pantry full of the season's harvest. Growing your own food is so healthy and satisfying. It can be a lot of work, but it does save a lot of money. I hope you have the opportunity to grow some of your own food.
I agree, growing your own food is quite a challenge because of different environmental factors. Somehow it gives you a different feeling of satisfaction when you see your plants grow, and you're able to harvest from your own garden. I believe there is that feeling of connection as you're eating the food it provides. ☺️
Wow @sunscape, I am super impressed, your pantry looks like a showroom! You could set up shop with all of that, well done😉
Lizelle, thank you. That pantry is just the overflow as I have the main one down off the kitchen. lol
How long has it been since you made soaps? That's one thing, if it were me (remember -> 4th generation packrat) that I wouldn't get rid of. I might get rid of the herbs, etc as you did, but might save the oils and all equipment and basic ingredients. You never know...
I do an inventory in June of the pantry, root cellar and freezers. It's a bit late, I suppose, but I use it to tell me what to preserve later in the season.
I stopped making and selling soaps 3 1/2 years or so ago. The one thing that hurt the most was dumping all those oil bottles. That was a huge amount of money that went to waste. They are only safe and good for so long, so they were well past useable. I have the powders, and new butters and oils to make some anytime I want but I still have some bars left over but gave tons away to friends.
After cleaning the one pantry, I could tell that I can grow less this year. That will save a lot of work in the kitchen. It is snowing again today, yikes!
Oh no! If you are getting snow, it’s heading this way!
We have another few inches and it is still coming down.
Sigh…
I think spring may be a bit late this year and my plants are all ready to go into the greenhouse. I stopped sowing due to the intense weather.
I'm still sticking to my March 1 starting...