independence days - week 50

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 do nothing.

thanks to gina for prodding me back into this challenge! i believe sharon (the creator of this great challenge) is starting up again too at her blog.

i am now focusing more preparedness & solstice gifts.

1. plant something
~sowed oats
~transplanted elderberries to safer place (and then ha! on me, greg STILL tilled them. luckily i was able to salvage them and put a concrete brick next to them so he won't do it again)
~asters, irises and asian lilies (ok, not food but beauty) from rebekah's house
~transplanted violets

2. harvest something:
~eggs (chicken and turkey)
~dandelions
~violets
~various leaves for making my morning tea: sage, bergamot, thyme, oregano, echinacea, motherwort, dandelion, lemon balm, peppermint, spearmint
~grass from the lawn to feed to the sheep and goats

3. preserve something:
~

4. prep something:
~froze violet infusion to make jelly on a rainy day

5. cook something:
~cream of dandelion soup

6. manage your reserves:
~taking care of baby chicks that we hatched ourselves this week

7. work on local food systems:
~invited a woman who lives in our town to visit with the gaots and sheep and chickens. she ended up taking home 6 eggs to try to incubate
~sold eggs to local people
~worked on my herbal roots to teach children about using herbs medicinally and for food

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

9. Learned a skill:
~tried my hand at dying with dandelion flowers