Reorganizing Food Pantry, The Stump That Keeps On Giving, Cute Goat Blog

Reorganizing Food Pantry- As part of my Independence Days Challenge I'm getting busy! My food pantry closet is a bedroom closet we added sturdy shelves to last year, after trying a plastic shelving unit (bad idea!). It became a food storage area, and also a catch-all for extra small appliances like bread machine, mixer, crock pot, etc. We have a small kitchen and not a lot of storage there. The garage is very hot/cold, so not a good idea either. I'm starting the reorganization process to try and move towards just food. I'm a visual person, and always looking for new ideas, if you have any to share? Last night I moved most of the small appliances out and put all my used canning jars in a clear tote. They were falling out of their box before.

Ditto the food canning processor/strainer- got rid of the box, stored the strainers. More room!

My main goal is to separate the foods more, by category, and keep them easy to see. I also have some Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers, to re-package things like the sugar, and dry beans I will buy. I know some people invest in the cute chalk board tags at office supply stores, but I got sticker shock when I looked the rices up. I'd rather spend that money on something else, and I'm sure Martha Stewart (one of my least favorite ex-felons) will survive. My eyesight would be pretty bad if I don't know what rolled oats look like! My various flours are labelled with a marker on top of scotch tape, I can remove easily if needed. I'm glad I invested in some 1/2 gallon canning jars thru Ace hardware last summer. A special order item, but great for food storage! I have a lot of large misc. glass jars from family, thrift stores, but I decided to just buy bigger ones.  Six for $12.00 I think... I also realized today that I can move the bathroom dry goods to the cabinet in main bathroom under the counter, duh...

The Stump That Keeps On Giving- Poor Dave. What could have been an easy job, cutting a stump down to the ground, became a nightmare. We had the tree removed about 5 years ago, a catalpa, with nasty seed pods. We kept the stump for a birdbath base. We decided to add another veggie bed in the triangular area. So we rented a chainsaw and Dave got to work. Let's just say the home improvement store guy forgot to tell him to tighten the chain every few cuts :(  The first cut was good, partially rotted wood. After that, not so much.

We decided to quit with impending rain, and the high rental fee. Oh well. The good news- I'm having 2 tree guys give us a bid for removing the last foot, as long as we're getting a bid for the maple tree thinning. Getting that tree thinned will get much better results in our existing veggie bed, with much-needed sunshine!

Independence Days Challenge- I put some dollar store crates in my freezer so I can see what's there, and start from scratch in an organized mode. Before:

                                                                              

                                                                                 After-

I sorted things by fruits, veggies, meat, seafood etc. Lots of room to still fill it up, as you can see. The great thing- now that I have a freezer I can stock up, part of Independence Days, when I see a good deal...

Cute Goat Blog- I discovered this thru my Mother Earth News magazine, and I love the photos! Lifeatmennageriefarm.blogspot.com/