Laurel Montana Archives

One of the big adjustments I had to make moving to Montana was the lack of good produce much less a good price after I was so spoiled in Arizona between Bountiful Baskets & the Sprouts Farmer’s Market. Much to my suprise I found out 2 weeks ago that Bountiful Baskets has come all the way to Laurel! What a wonderful blessing!

I went a bit overboard since I was so excited this week but here’s what I ordered.

2 organic baskets
case of organic Roma tomatoes (which I shared with a friend)
herb pack (which I also shared with a friend)
Mexican pack
Tortilla Pack
case of blackberries

I got all of this for about $100!

Each organic basket included:

a head of broccoli
a pineapple
2 giant mangoes
fennel
4 golden beets
6 oranges
3 green peppers
bunch of green onions
3 romaine hearts
small honey dew melon
pound of baby carrots
2 lb bag of Fuji apples
4 Roma tomatoes

Mexican Pack

bunch of cilantro
9 tomatillos
10 limes
4 jalapenos
6 green chilis
4 avocados
2 onions
head of garlic

Herb Pack (1 baggie of each)

basil
chives
rosemary
tarragon
sage
mint
marjoram
parsley
head of garlic

I see homemade salsa in our future as well as pickled golden beets and maybe some blackberry jam if I hurry!

I can’t believe I haven’t posted since October! Our life has been a bit of a whirlwind since then, however!

We are the proud owners of a new to us house in Laurel, Montana. It is a big but unique house on 1.33 acres with no restrictions and water! It was originally built in 1948, added onto in 1980 and since then extended some more although we are not sure when that happened. We have 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and lots of living space. The total square feet of the house over 2600. We even have a garage that can fit both of our vehicles plus a shop for Paul! We also have lots of trees including a mature apple tree and a couple of plum trees. We are so excited to finally be able to do many of things we’ve dreamed about doing for several years now. We plan on getting chickens next month!

There have been many ups and downs as we’ve moved and tried to work on touching up this house. Prioritizing what we have to fix and what we can live with. Having well water with very hard water has been a challenge but we did get a new water softener today that I am hoping will make a big difference. Lots of folks helped us scrub down the house and do a lot of painting before we moved in and there have been lots of projects being done since then.

We are having an open house on Sunday and I hope to have lots of pictures to post showing you our new digs.

God has blessed us so abundantly. We didn’t get everything we wanted but this is a great place for us to learn and grow and still be close to my grandparents (They live about 10 minutes from here.) and the friends we’ve made here in Laurel.

If you ever are up this way — we’ve got plenty of room for you to stay with us and we’d love to have you!

I intend to write much more frequently and to document our turning this place into a homestead.

Bountiful Baskets come to Laurel, Montana!

Update — wow, it’s been awhile!