independence days - week 17

since i'm struggling to get the garden in again this year due to my rambunctious toddler, i thought taking the id challenge would be a good moral booster for me. i try to practice this idea anyway during the growing seasons so it's a great reminder of how much i really do even when it feels like i don't.

my parents' neighbors have a garden that produces enough veggies for the three households. since my garden isn't doing too hot, i've been accepting the overflow and reaping the rewards of filling my larder for the winter.

1. plant something:
^

2. harvest something:
^eggs, milk
^cucumbers, tomatoes
^green beans (from my parents' neighbor's garden)

3. preserve something:
^10 qts. sweet pickles
^5 qts. black beans
^10 qts, 17 pints green beans
^4 qts, 17 pints applesauce
^1 qt, 4 pints peach salsa
^4 qts, 1 pints relish (i would have preferred these in 1/2 pints but i forgot to specify that to my helpers)

4. prep something:
^organized shelves in basement to accommodate incoming canned goods
^greg started putting in the fencing for the goats and sheep
^cleaned out and organized/defrosted deep freeze to prepare for butchering goats/broilers
^greg tilled garden areas to get ready for autumn planting

5. cook something:
^roasted one of our broilers. it was delicious!
^making lots of new things using old favorites (zucchini, apples, beans)

6. manage your reserves:
^weeded like crazy!
^made a master canned goods list to keep track of everything preserved
^wrote up master garden plan for fall garden sowing

7. work on local food systems:
^sold eggs and jellies at local farmer's market
^bartered with produce vendor: milk for veggies

8. reduce waste:
^use canvas bags at grocery store and farmer's market
^re-use egg cartons for our nest run eggs
^return containers to farmers at the market
^collecting packaging from grocery stores to store apples

9. Learned a skill:
^reading up on goat butchering and hide tanning