Pam Farley

Seems hard to imagine, doesn’t it? How could someone not want a gift card?!? Well, there are a number of reasons. Maybe it’s for a store that you would never shop at. Maybe you won it at work or in a raffle and you have no idea what to do with ...

From the BrownThumb family to you. Merry Christmas!  Lyrics from The Peace Carol. 

Dear Diary: Papa has been at work all weekend. The kids and I have done every activity I can think of and I'm nearing my wits' end. One more game of "Operation" and I'll give myself a lobotomy!  I need something cool and fun to do that doesn't in...

Making your own cleaners is a great way to save money and avoid lots of nasty chemicals. Ask your Mom or your Grandma and I bet you'll learn that they cleaned house just fine without things like: Cocamidopropylamine Oxide, Propoxypropanol, Alky...

I've tried to grow potatoes twice now, and I am not any good at it yet. Yep, that was my entire harvest. By the time I got my garlic planted this fall, I figured it was too late for seed potatoes. Not so! My friends at Peaceful Valley Farm & Ga...

Around here, a lot of DIY kitchen projects start like this (read in "whiny internal monologue voice"): Awww crap, we're out of ______ (insert item here). I don't want to load the kids in the car and go to the store for just one thing. There's gotta ...

It's no secret that I love the folks at Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. For the last 36 years, they've been providing "a hand up, not a handout" to those in need--without ANY government assistance. For the last several years, Jackjack...

Christmas shopping can start a vicious cycle. It’s easy to go crazy at the mall, and if you don’t have money set aside the gifts go on your credit card. In January, the credit card bills show up and it takes months to pay them off. By the time t...

The questions haven't started quite yet, but I'm sure they will. When my children ask, "Mama, why do we live this way?" this is what I will tell them. What does "this way" mean?  It means we grow fruits and veggies in the front yard and the b...

As we've discussed before, things are a bit different now than they were when I was little. Case in point: the oh-so-lovely carseat I had when I was a wee one. That's me sitting in the box and a picture of the seat. You sat on the bottom square par...