stove top soup

one of the few good things about this time of the year is that the wood stove is fired up 24/7 so i can cook on it. today, i made a pot of 'stove top soup.' this soup has no specific recipe and basically empties the fridge for me.

today i started with a cup of brown rice and enough water to cook it. once the rice was cooked, i chopped up celery, carrots, tomatoes, chard, lamb's quarters and radishes that were harvested from the garden yesterday. i dumped in a cup of leftover browned burger (if we had any goat in the freezer, it would have been ground goat), 1 cup of leftover corn (originally from a friend's garden) and 2 cups of kidney beans. i added enough water to cover the top and then put it on top of the wood stove.

had i been thinking, i could have went out and harvested some parsley, chives and thyme to add to the pot. i may do that for tomorrow's batch although it was darn near perfect!

6 hours later, i dished it up and served it with a few slices of homemade bread that was baked this morning. a cheap and filling meal. the kids and i (eating solo tonight as greg has a late meeting) ate 3 servings.

now it sits on the back burner of the gas stove. in the am, i'll put it back on the stove and heat it until lunchtime. it will last us several days. anyone else have a pot of soup simmering on their stove?

independence days - week 25

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.

better late than never...

1. plant something

2. harvest something:
^eggs
^tomatoes
^okra
^calendula flowers

3. preserve something:
^making a chest salve

4. prep something:
^

5. cook something:
^

6. manage your reserves:
^sutures, suture kit, dental kit joined my first aid kit
^purchased sawyer extractor

7. work on local food systems:
^

8. reduce waste:
^use canvas bags at grocery store
^re-use egg cartons for our nest run eggs


9. Learned a skill:

independence days - week 24

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.


1. plant something
^cut some sweet potato vines to start rootings for next spring's planting

2. harvest something:
^eggs
^tomatoes
^okra
^calendula flowers

3. preserve something:
^canned 14 1/2 pints butter
^canned 2 qt + 1 pt stewed tomatoes
^canned three qt + 1 pt spicy pickled okra
^dried more apples
^toyed around with making a chest salve

4. prep something:
^ordered dental kit
^scheduled eye appt.
^located source for bulk kerosene
^purchased 4 1.5 ml bottles everclear (for tincture making, not partying)


5. cook something:
^

6. manage your reserves:
^2 jars garlic
^4 bags coconut
^4 cans tuna
^2 bags dried cherries
^added scalpel & blades to first aid kit

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


9. Learned a skill:

one more week...

...then i can take my computer to be repaired & start posting more regularly.

highlights in my world right now...
-my pet sheep sassy died (she was wormy from day one & nothing killed them.
-people who sold her to me were willing to give me a ram (she was a ewe) to replace her but at my travel expense, of course
-no offers to refund money
-no way of getting another ewe since they sold the rest of their ewe due to the worm problems in their area, they only kept the rams for eating
-weasel wiped out all but 7 of our auracana chicks in one night (about 17 or so) update: they got 5 more last night....
-playing with poke berries is fun...

heavy metal farmer

independence days - week 23

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.

i've noticed my i d days have evolved to include general 'wtshtf' type preparations as well as just food storage. anyone else have a similar experience?

1. plant something:
^planted goldenseal
^planted garlic

2. harvest something:
^eggs, milk
^tomatoes
^okra
^10 long neck squash to store
^calendula flowers

3. preserve something:
^4 qts. chicken broth

4. prep something:
^ordered 15 lbs. sea salt

5. cook something:
^

6. manage your reserves:
^bought big berkey water filter with black filters
^bought otoscope
^bought sheep shears
^bought colored paper to print out special book pages (see below)
^print colored pages for when there is no doctor book
^bought binders at salvation army to put above printouts in

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
^bartered herbal products for fitted diapers

9. Learned a skill:

independence days - week 22

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.

october already???! where has the time gone?!

1. plant something:
^need to start planting garlic

2. harvest something:
^eggs, milk
^okra
^20 gallons tomatoes from my parents' neighbor's garden
^2 1/2 gallons english walnuts at my parents' house
^2 gallons hazelnuts at my parents' house

3. preserve something:
^19 pints tomato juice
^8 qts, 4 pints tomato sauce

4. prep something:
^rubber boots for sage
^stored 7 lb almonds, 7lb cashews, 1 lb pistachios, 1 lb wasabi peas, 16lbs. coffee, 1 pkg. yerba mate, 2 bags bison jerky, 2 lbs pasta, 8 pkgs pop tarts, 10 bags/lbs chocolate chips, 10 lbs bacon, 12 lbs butter (i'll make some into ghee & store some in the freezer), 4 gallons olive oil (soap making purposes), 4-3 liter extra virgin olive oil (cooking)

5. cook something:
^

6. manage your reserves:
^organize storage area in basement
^started printing out where there is no doctor & where there is no dentist (need to get a ream of colored paper to print the colored sections) note to self: pick up 2 binders the next time i'm at thrift shop for 50 cents each

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

9. Learned a skill: