When the pandemic was announced, people started to hoard and stock up on toilet paper. We humans are attached to our modern luxuries (toilet paper is a fairly recent invention... humans have survived for thousands of year without it). Surely, I understand wanting the convenience and comfort of toilet paper, but it seems that there is a critical area that many people are ignoring...



As you know, in my What to Do if You Run Out of Toilet Paper video, there are many alternative options to toilet paper. While toilet paper is not essential to living... eating is. Eating is mandatory and while we may have our pantries stocked with canned goods, we will also want to supplement with fresh organic produce too. How can we do this when the grocery stores are gouged and we are encouraged to stay in our homes? Growing a garden is a solution.

You don't need a large plot of land. In fact, you don't need land at all. Even if all you have is a tiny balcony or doorstep or a window box, you can grow your own food. You can even grow food indoors. As you know, Ben and I are clueless gardeners, yet each year our garden produces abundant produce. If we can do it, you can too. Today, I give you a tour of our early spring garden and the plans we have for it.

I hope you enjoy today's video.

Here are some gardening and other resources for you:
Burpee (buy seeds, plants, and garden supplies here)
Raised garden beds
Growing sacks (for potatoes, onions, etc.) 20 gallon 5-pack
Potato grow bags 3-pack
The Grow Your Own Food Handbook

My sweater is from Mott & Bow code JLS10 for 10% off
My blouse is from NeeSee's Dresses
My necklace Ana Luisa Jewelry Use code Jennifer10 for $10 off
Gingham tablecloth blue
Gingham tablecloth in red



News
📍I was interviewed by Karen of Our House YouTube channel about homeschooling and The Daily Connoisseur Life.


📍Join us for The Chic Assignment for March.

📍Become a member of The Daily Connoisseur through the MEMBERSHIPS feature. I do one livestream as well 3 episodes of my new Vodcast (a video podcast) per month. (Link must be accessed on a computer.)

📍Thank you for your wonderful support of my new book, CONNOISSEUR KIDS.

📍I am working on an exciting new eCourse for you and it is almost ready. In the meantime, check out my affordable eCourses: The Ten-Item Wardrobe, Chic Financial Principles for Debt-Free Living, and How to be Efficient at Home.

On Instagram
The Madame Chic books in Japan... Tag me on Instagram with #jenniferlscott to have your book photos shared here...

View this post on Instagram

I learned a lot from these books. #lessonsfrommadamechic フランス人は10着しか服を持たない ・ 何が本当の贅沢かを教えてくれる本です♡ ・ ・ ４年前、この本に出会って初めて真剣に自分と服と向き合うきっかけになりました。 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ワードローブに沢山服がある人こそ、"着る服がない"といつも嘆いている。 それは丁度その時の自分を言い表したかのような言葉で、今思い返してみるとこの数年で本当に身軽になりました。 また女性としての身だしなみや振る舞い、言葉遣いも改めて気をつけるようになりました。 ゴシップが、テレビから流れてくる一番無駄な情報だとこの本にも載せられている通りで、何気なく見聞きしているものも取捨選択するようになり、今ではテレビすら観なくなりました。 どんどん有意義な時間が増えて、人生が楽しくなる。 この本に出会えてなかったらもしかしたら私は今もとんでもない時間と労力とお金を無駄なものに費やしていたのかもしれない。 #book #booklover #favoritebooks #favoritebook #jenniferlscott #madamechic #minimal #minimalist #minimalism #マダムシック #フランス人は10着しか服を持たない #フランス人は10着しか服を持たない2 #本 #おすすめ本 #ミニマルライフ #ミニマリスト #シンプリスト #シンプルライフ #シンプルな暮らし #フレンチスタイル #パリ好き #フランス好き #断捨離

A post shared by Raika (@rairairaikaa) on Mar 26, 2020 at 12:42am PDT

Comment of the Week
Blakey writes, "Jennifer, I just thought of you because I was hanging my laundry when there was a knock at the door and lo and behold it was one of the leading candidates for mayor of Miami Beach, where I live. We had a wonderful chat, and I was in one of my favorite dresses, with makeup on, as per your advice of always looking presentable. Who would have thought that at 5 pm on a weekday that would have happened to me? Thanks yet again for your invaluable advice! : )"


Blakey, I loved your testimony. Yes, we never know when looking presentable will come in handy, which is why we should look presentable always. I'm glad you had a good experience!

Thank you for watching. I would love to know how your family is preparing right now. Do you grow your own food? Have you had success with gardening? Or failures? Let us know and your comment could be chosen as comment of the week on the blog. See you soon!



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FTC: Today's video is not sponsored. I use affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links.

In today's family blog, Ben builds two arch trellises for our totally out-of-control vegetable garden. If you watched our previous vegetable garden video, you know that we made many mistakes this year, including not properly propping up our tomatoes and climbing vegetables.



Ben has a solution and builds his own DIY trellis. He and I truly are clueless gardeners, but we sure do have fun with our hobby.



The following are the supplies we used for anyone who is interested in building their own arch trellis.

First of all, let's start off with the most important supplies:



His Lordship mug



to go with my Her Ladyship mug

And now that we've gotten the coffee out of the way... Here are the other supplies we used to build the trellis:


Wire Mesh Fence


18 inch stakes These are the stakes Ben used to secure the fencing into the ground.



Wire cutters


Sledge hammer


We plan to document our garden the whole year, so we will definitely update you on the success of the arch trellis. We get heavy winds in the area we live, so I'm curious to see how the trellises hold up. I hope you enjoy the shenanigans in today's video.

Please note: the music used in the video is Dvorak no 12 in F Major Op 96 and Kingdom of Baghk.

News


I posted Natural Home with Jennifer yesterday (instead of Friday) so anyone who is interested can take advantage of Grove Collaborative's fall scented cleaning products. Some people have told me that the mum scent has already sold out, but my favorite, apple cider, is still available. To see my honest review from yesterday (and yes, my daughter had some funny describing words for the pumpkin scent) click here.

Thank you to everyone who continues to take and comment on my eCourses, Create Your Own Ten-Item Wardrobe, and Chic Financial Principles for Debt-Free Living. I really enjoy connecting with you over these courses.


On Instagram
Lessons from Madame Chic in Russia...

A post shared by Катя Лукашевич (@katerinaluka) on Aug 13, 2018 at 5:50am PDT

Comment of the Week
On last week's parenting chat, Hana G writes,
"You know it's funny, I still remember my mum saying to me once when I finished making my bed, that out of all of our family, I was the one who made it look the most neat and stylish. To this day, I still remember this comment and really enjoy making my bed every morning :-D (I am 30 now) Affirmations are really powerful!"

Hi Hana, I agree! We really do remember the things we were encouraged in as children. Affirmations for our children are very powerful, indeed.

I hope you enjoyed today's video. Please let me know if you'd like to see more family vlogs from the Connoisseur family.

I would love to know... do you have a kitchen garden? What tips do you have for us clueless gardeners? Thanks for joining us.

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FTC: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

After being inspired by the kitchen garden at Anne Hathaway's cottage in England, as well as the grand gardens at Hampton Court Palace, my family decided to plant our own humble vegetable garden chez nous. It's been a fun year with a major learning curve and boy, did we learn a lot!



We learned that we can grow gigantic zucchinis, great tomatoes, pumpkins (on accident) and... WEEDS.



In today's video, I take you on a mini-tour.



This video was shot back in July (on my birthday!) and since then, we've had some updates to the garden.






I discovered that what I thought was a melon, is actually a spaghetti squash! (Note to self: label the vegetables next time).



The butternut squash is coming in nicely. We grow squash well here! I'm looking forward to making soups, pies, and casseroles with the squash once fall is here.



We have some watermelon coming in too!



We also had our garden weeded out. It looks a lot better now.

Thank you for joining me for today's video. I hope it brings you joy.

News
I have completed my first round of copyedits for my new book, CONNOISSEUR KIDS, which is coming out next year from Chronicle Books. I'm so excited! I love this book and know you will too.

For more of The Daily Connoisseur, take my eCourses, Creating Your Own Ten-Item Wardrobe and Chic Financial Principles for Debt-Free Living.

On Instagram
Lessons from Madame Chic providing inspiration...

We do so much to help children thrive instead of just existing. Why is it so common for adults to just exist instead of thrive? There is no way this doesn’t affect our health. #primarycare

A post shared by Kristen Amann Caulfield, MD (@kristencaulfield) on May 18, 2018 at 10:18am PDT

Comment of the Week
On Monday's blog, Refuse to be Dumbed-Down DETOX, Woman of the House writes, I have strong opinions about children and pop music. We do not do them any musical favors by submerging them in that style and genre. It ruins their voices when they try to imitate what they hear and it takes time away from learning the music they should be learning, such as traditional children's songs and folk songs. It also develops their taste for pop styles and it's hard to cultivate in them a taste for good music. This quotation from J.S. Bach sums it up well: "​The best method of instructing youth, therefore, is to accustom them to what is good. The right understanding of it follows in time, and can then still further confirm their attachment to none but genuine works of art."

I love the quote from J.S. Bach. Thank you for sharing it with us! I couldn't agree more.

Thank you for joining me for today's video. I would love to know... do you grow fruits and vegetables? Do you have your gardens under control? What's your secret? What are the things you grow best in your area? Let me know and your comment could be chosen as comment of the week on The Daily Connoisseur.

I'll see you tomorrow for a fun French perfume post!
*New* Shop my favorite things

Visit my Author Website

Facebook facebook.com/JenniferLScottAuthor

Twitter @JL_Scott

Instagram @dailyconnoisseur

Take my eCourse on the Ten-Item Wardrobe

Take my eCourse Chic Financial Principles for Debt-Free Living

Sign up for my Seasonal Author Newsletter


FTC: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.