Honey & Molasses are growing! And, *ahem* bad doggies ~ get off the couch! - Plant Something
- Harvest Something
- Preserve Something
- Prep Something
- Cook Something
- Manage Your Reserves
- Work on Local Food Systems
How often to do it? Some do it weekly, others do some parts daily and other monthly.
I know myself well enough to know that I won't be able to stick to a schedule - life around here happens and some days it's full tilt. I just like the idea of adding structure so that I can see results of my efforts.
Here's an idea of what I've been doing so far this week:
1. Planted: started hundreds of seeds as our frost date is April 15th. I plan on gardening in several locations this year plus having extra plants to sell.
2. Harvest: I've had tubs of lettuce and spinach growing all winter long in my living room and I do harvest from them weekly.
3. Preserve: I found organic veggies marked on clearance that I chopped up and either popped in the freezer or dehydrated.
4. Prep: Jerry has been bringing home various pots for our market plants so I've been busy prepping them (removing labels and cleaning them.)
5. Cook: See my last few posts - I've definitely been in cook mode. I'm so excited to have found a great recipe for homemade noodles ~ now I know how to make lasagne, ravioli, angel hair etc.
6. Manage: Cleaning the freezer and pantry this week to take inventory.
7. Food Systems: I registered myself at Urban Chickens and already had a fellow Wichitan contact me for info on establishing a flock. She and I both are trying to figure out all the ins and outs of the new restrictions our city council has recently imposed on animals including the fees to register your flock and where to place your coop.
Of course, this isn't all I'm doing. I still am decluttering like mad and we put our debt reduction plan into high gear. I'm doing research into alternative utilities like tankless water heaters and outdoor wood furnaces because I do not want another gas bill like the one I just got!!
What are you doing to be more Independent? I'd love to know.
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7 comments:
I was (still am) participating in this. I guess I need to get back on it. I also need to get some seeds started.
I really want to start a garden this year. Dh has a great idea to use some concrete steps they salvaged off a job at WSU to make the raised beds rather than buying wood for them. That means I have to wait for him to get them in place with the skid loader since the suckers weigh as much as I do or more. I don't know if it's going to happen.
I'd love to hear more about growing the lettuce indoors.
I tried growing food indoors like I did the eyar before but for some reason it didn't work this time. Good for you continued to do so!!!
I am also a gardener. I have been striving to develop a more edible landscape. Have also been focusing more on recycling. This year I am creating a "tire garden" using recycled tires for my veggies. (You can line the tires if you are concerned about leaching, tho the jury is still out on that. That's for another discussion, however.) I tend to freeze a lot of my veggies and herbs at the end of the season, tho I plan on doing more canning this year. I also donate to local soup kitchens; i.e., the Salvation Army and the women's shelter. I am hoping to add a rain barrel this year. I do have mostly xeriscape designs in my various gardens, which does help a great deal. Nevertheless, our water bill is higher in the summer. The trees and the grass like it, tho. Am also going to be helping with a community garden this year. I like a lot of the ideas that you have presented.
By the way, I write a gardening column for the Examiner -- http://www.examiner.com/x-2461-Nashville-Gardening-Examiner -- which I hope you will check out. And I look forward to reading more about your progress.
Welcome to the IDC! I love it, if only for helping me see my progress. It's nice to be able to track what I've done.
Oh, and your seeds are in the mail!
Judy
I've been wanting to officially take this challenge for awhile, although we are already fairly self-sufficient as far as San Diegans go. One thing that gives us peace of mind here in the city is to have 100 lbs of rice and beans on hand at all times. You never know when something might go wrong and the supermarkets turn up empty, plus they're super cheap pantry staples. Store them in 5 gal paint buckets lined in black trash bags, and rotate them into our meals.
We also have a wood burning stove, though I dinked around too long and never replaced the seals so we could use it. And now winter is about over, oh well! At least we had a mild winter, the gas bill wasn't too bad this year.
So many homesteading bloggers turning up in Southeast/Southcentral Kansas! I've been dreaming of a farm in Western Kansas, Hays or even further out. Know any homesteaders out that way?
That pic of the dogs cracks me up, it could very well be found on my blog too. Darn couch stealers anyways! It sounds like you're very motivated to become more independent, and I think that's great. I've thought about a tankless water heater too but I'm not convinced. We have one at work that doesn't work very well, however that could just be the installer's fault. Have you seen those water heater jackets? I think I'm going to get one of those until we can get a good tankless heater. Also, do you know about Dave Ramsey? He has a lot of great resources for getting out of debt - he's my hero! :)
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