Independence Days Challenge - Week of May 6 thru 12

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Plant Something:  On Friday I direct seeded beets, turnips, leeks, snap peas, basil, cilantro, parsley, and thyme. The herbs were planted in pots and the rest were planted in raised beds. I've declared the plastic tote box "greenhouses" a roaring success for our broccoli and cauliflower seedlings. The jury is still out on whether or not they work well for tomatoes and peppers.  Readers can view an online version of our garden plan and journal at Smart Gardener.


Harvest Something: Again, no harvests.  We do have rosemary, marjoram, oregano, sage, and rhubarb ready, though.


Preserve Something: The Hubster and I made 16 pounds of fresh pork breakfast sausage. We enjoyed some for dinner on Thursday and then I cooked up 30 or so patties and froze them. I also froze 6 quart bags full of uncooked sausage for later use.

Waste Not:  We're continuing to focus on using all leftovers. I've made a great deal of progress on cooking amounts we'll eat at meals in order to reduce leftovers, too.


Want Not:  We added some homemade fresh pork breakfast sausage to our freezer stash.

Eat the Food:  This was a less than stellar week. We ate at restaurants three times.

Build community food systems:  I dug up more raspberry plants and a rhubarb plant and gave them to a friend from church. We have another friend who has expressed interest in a rhubarb plant as well.

Skill up:  I'm continuing to read about cheesemaking and watched videos of various cheesemaking processes. I took a more active role in the sausage making than I have in the past. I still don't really enjoy working with raw meat, though. The odor is overwhelming in a less-than-pleasant way for me.

This post is part of Sharon Astyk's Independence Days Challenge.