Shopping and Gas for the Week -- Late May 2022

I'm sorry I'm having a hard time keeping up[ with answering comments this week. I'm incredibly tired. I had a mild cold a week ago and I'm still trying to get back on track with energy. The cold was very mild, The fatigue was the hard part. It wasn't Covid. I did a home test as my husband had to go in to the office the next day. So, I'm sorry if I'm slow to respond to comments.

Shopping this week

I didn't shop in person this week. However, I did place an order online for some baking supplies before prices increase. I'm thinking ahead to the fall and winter holidays. I added some more all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips to my pantry. Got to have that chocolate. A few weeks ago, I noticed Walmart had increased their price on packages of chocolate chips by 20 cents. I was online at the WM website and saw that a 6-pack of chocolate chips was selling for the old price per package. So I ordered a 6-pack of chocolate chips. I have found some odd deals like this on Walmart.com. The new (higher) price will be only on individual units. But multi-packs will still be at the previous price per unit for a little while longer, I just have to buy more at one time to get that lower price.

On the chocolate chips and cocoa powder, I anticipate more price increases. The US doesn't have the climate to grow cocoa beans. (The world's largest exporter of cocoa is the West African nation Cote d'Ivoire.) I expect with fuel prices surging, the cost to import cocoa products will increase. Throw in drought, fungal disease in the crops, and a pesky moth, and cocoa output may fall below demand. Anyway, priorities, priorities -- additional supply of cocoa powder and chocolate chips added to my pantry. The trick now -- I've just to keep us from using these up before next fall.

I didn't have any need to shop for other groceries this week. I mentioned last week that I bought less milk than usual and will be trying to get through the two weeks on this lesser amount. I've been digging through the freezer to find milk frozen in prior months. I came across several pints of milk that was turning slightly sour, so I froze it. I marked these containers "milk for baking." I've been extending our fresh drinking milk by using the baking milk when I make biscuits, pancakes, or muffins. If we run out of drinking milk altogether, I can mix up a pint or two of powdered milk to tide us over until I shop next Monday. The slightly sour taste is undetectable once baked into something. I thaw a container as needed, then come up with ways to finish it off within a day or two. 

Gas prices this week

I drove to the pharmacy to pick up my daughter's rx, but otherwise didn't drive this week. My daughters and husband drove a little bit. We've been coasting on the gas we bought driving home from Arizona. I expect we'll need a tank of gas this next week. With 4 people sharing one car, we rotate between who pays for the gas. It will be one of my daughters' turn this next time for gas. The lowest octane unleaded in my town is priced between $5.10 and $5.70 per gallon. If I'm willing to drive a little out of my way, I could get gas for $4.95 per gallon. I would only save about $1.82 on 13 gallons (our tank holds about 14.5 gallons) by driving to the next town north. That savings would be eaten up in less than 10 miles of town driving. I mapquest-ed the drive to one of the low price gas stations in the town north, and found the station was about 5 miles from our house. If I'm driving in that direction to run errands, then it would be a savings to get gas in that town. Otherwise, it makes more sense to buy gas at the least expensive station that is on my errand route. 

That's my shopping and gas for the week. Not a whole lot in either category. How about your area? Are you thinking of stocking up for fall and winter holiday baking yet? Or does that sort of shopping feel too soon for you? Are there any foods with imported origins that you've seen price increases on or that you anticipate price increases in the coming months? What's the price on gas in your area?

Making My Coir-Lined Basket Hold Moisture So My Plants Don't Die Again This Year

You know this one -- the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Whelp, that's what I've been doing each summer with this one hanging basket. It's one of those coir lined baskets that I've been using for planting nasturtiums. The coir has a lovely natural look. However, it just doesn't hold water very well. 

For the last couple of years, I'd plant the basket with nasturtiums, herbs, and salad greens, as I also did in my other baskets which are made of plastic. The plants in the coir basket drain too quickly and the soil would dry out so fast. My plants would dry out by early summer. But I kept planting in this basket, thinking "this year my plants won't die." But they always did. I had told myself I'd remedy this soon. Yet, still this year I planted the nasturtiums in the soil without changing anything -- insanity.

Of course, the plants were drying out before June even arrived. Although, not the ideal time to fix this situation, as I'd already planted the basket for the season, this week I decided to bite the bullet and fix things while I could.

I carefully removed the plants, then dug the soil out of the coir liner.

I took a piece of heavy plastic (a mailing bag that I repurposed) and cut it to roughly the size of the interior of the basket, making a couple of small slashes in the bottom for drainage. I lined the coir with the plastic.

I then trimmed the top edge so the plastic wouldn't be visible. I mixed 1/2 teaspoon of water absorbing crystals into the dirt then scooped the dirt back into the basket inside the plastic lining. After replanting the basket, I topped off the soil so that any bit of the plastic liner wouldn't be seen once the basket is hanging.

Hopefully this will fix the situation. But even if it doesn't, I tried something instead of continuing to do the same thing while expecting different results.