Independence Days- the first post

Sharon at Casaubon's Book has reopened the Independence Days Challenge for newcomers.  After lurking for a while I finally decided to start my blog a few months ago but felt uncomfortable jumping in on the middle of a challenge.  I always liked the Independence days posts from other bloggers I follow so I am a bit excited to begin my own journey.

1. Plant Something- I can actually say YES!  I am trying an experiment in the basement.  I brought in one of our window boxes from the backyard and put it under the grow lights I use for seed starting. I planted some mixed lettuce seed that I had left over from this spring. It is fairly cool in the basement (I use heat cables for seed starting) but I'm thinking that lettuce may do OK.  We'll see.  

2. Harvest Something- NOPE.  I've got one lone jalapeno on our indoor plant but it's starting to turn red and the children have dubbed it "The Christmas Jalapeno" so we're going to try to figure out something to do with it for the holidays.

3. Preserve something- No, but I need to.  I have a few apples languishing away in a basket that I need to do something with before they go completely bad.  They are getting pretty wrinkly so I'm thinking maybe some sauce.

4. Store something- I processed one of our after Thanksgiving bargain turkeys into stock, etc and stashed it in the freezer.  I stocked up on navy beans that were available at a good price.

5. Manage reserves- Need to do something with those apples!  Made roast winter veggies for dinner using the potatoes and sweet potatoes that were starting to get squishy.  Am planning all meals out of the freezer this week as we just ordered a side of beef.  Now we have to make room for it.

6. Cook something new- Nothing new this week. But did make a killer pot of chili- every time I make it is slightly different.  

7. Prep something- stocked up on candles at a store at the mall that is going out of business.  I would never shop there usually but they were having great deals.

8. Reduce Waste- Hemmed a thrift store find dress for J14 for the winter formal.  Composted and recycled as usual. Used cloth bags at the grocery and farmer's bag.

9. Learn a new skill- Was practicing knitting while I waited for I11 at band practice.  Haven't made much time recently to work on this.  I also watched my sister while she was knitting at Thanksgiving.

10. Work on community food security- Supported local, sustainable farmer by ordering half a steer.  Shopped the winter farmer's market.  Have food for donation to local food pantry but forgot to take it when I was going past the drop off point.

11. Regenerate what is lost.  Made connection with local Amish farmer and had conversation about sustainable farming.  Started looking through seed catalogues and talking garden planning with Roger.  Made sure to involve the boys in cooking last week- I want to be sure they can cook and feed themselves well.

Not a bad start.  Not sure which category this goes in but I plan to use our beef purchase as a conversation opener about food security at work.