Independence Days Update

We participate in Sharon Astyk’s Independence Days Challenge.  This is our weekly update. 

Plant Something—We didn’t plant anything this week.

Harvest Something—Green beans, jalapenos, zucchini, blueberries, dill, tomatoes, okra, green onions, white onions, and bell peppers. 

Preserve Something—

• Freezer—Silver Queen corn, chopped green onions, chopped parsley, shredded zucchini, zucchini muffins, okra and tomatoes, shelling beans from the CSA, black beans from the pantry
• Canned—dill pickles and jalapeno slices, 4 quarts of tomatoes, 7 quarts green beans
• Dehydrated--zucchini
• Saved Seeds—zucchini, dill, and Jacob’s cattle beans

Waste Not—Since I wasn’t in the mood to put up more tomatoes, I made some salsa for the refrigerator.  We’ll be munching on it for the next few days.  Instead of buying bread, I made homemade pita, biscuits, and slicing bread. I made 5 t-shirt bags using stained t-shirts. I’ll try to post the very easy instructions for these on the blog soon.  I made 3 bean bags using scrap fabric and some dried garbanzo beans we had bought but did not like the taste of. Obviously, the beans we used for the bean bags were dried.  These are great for toddlers who find the texture interesting and the bags fun to toss.  I found some quilt squares that were already cut, and I pieced them together with which to make potholders at a later date.  We continue to compost, recycle, and use the rain barrel.  We’ve been on a 2 week challenge with Preparedness Pro, and therefore we have been using foods that needed to be rotated out of storage.

Want Not/Preparation—My sweet hubby completed the land preparation for the play area for our daughter.  He plans to start planing the wood next weekend, and the wood chips from that will be used around the blueberries.  I cleaned out our daughter’s closet in preparation for her returning to school.  One of the shelves on which we had been storing most of the jams and jellies seemed to be a little loose.  When we realized this, we removed the jars, reorganized the pantry, and moved them to a new and safer home.  Whew—that was a close one!  All of the food from the CSA basket this weekend will go into food storage.

Building Community Food Systems—I put out a plea to the church for our food pantry.  I used most of the reserves of money we had from donations early in the year to restock the pantry.  I spoke with a few more church members about possible fundraisers for the pantry.  We donated items from our garden to the church vegetable cart.  I’ve been canning some for the fall bazaar we are having at the church later in the year.  We purchase a CSA basket each week.  I’m pleased to report that my sister has caught the farmers market bug, and she has been attending each weekend for about a month now. 

Eat the Food—My favorite this week has been whole wheat couscous with cherry tomatoes, basil, chopped cucumber, and a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  I haven’t made this recipe in almost a year, and it was a nice addition to our meal.  I tried a new recipe for canning jalapenos.