Independence Days- take 2: week 9

What a busy week it has been. I've been weeding like a fiend for the past two days (well, only in the evening today) The garden is starting to look a little better. I've discovered the drawback of the wonderful, loamy soil that I've got. It dries out quickly. It seems like only last week that I was lamenting that we were having so much rain. Tonight I was hauling water to drooping pepper plants. Of course, the hose is back at the town house since we are using it to pressure wash the garage. sigh

But on to the business at hand. It's Monday again, time for my weekly check in with the Independence Days Challenge. I'm still finding this challenge quite helpful for me in organizing all those things that I'm doing. Even though I know we're accomplishing a lot, sometimes it seems like I'm just spinning my wheels and not getting anywhere. At least this helps me see what I've gotten accomplished toward our goals.

1. Plant something- nope.

2. Harvest something- Behold!!!

Chard, and two firsts: broccoli and a hot wax pepper.

Ok, I know it's not normal to harvest the first broccoli and the first pepper on the same evening. But I'm really excited about the broccoli. I've never grown it before and with all the craziness of moving it got planted out really late and looked pitiful for the longest time. I was actually surprised to find a head of eating size and a bunch of little ones coming along when I was weeding. The pepper- I just couldn't resist.

I also harvested some raspberries and saved some chive seeds.

3. Preserve something- again, only my sanity. Working 6 days straight last week and then only having one day off has been draining. But I only have to work 3 days this week and then I have a 4 day weekend. I may even try to take Wednesday as a vacation day if it stays slow like it's been. I'm really glad that I have so much vacation banked that I can use. I've used a lot of it this spring.

4. Reduce waste- just the usuals: recycled, composted and used cloth bags at the store. We've been repurposing as much building material as we can out at the house with good success. I've slowed down on collecting boxes. We've still got quite a stash and I'm not sure how many more we will need.

5. Prep and storage- not much stored. House prep continues. We've been focusing on waterproofing the basement since much of my food storage space will be down there, not to mention J15's room, my sewing room and the 'play room' so getting it reasonably watertight is a priority before we can start to finish it.

I'm also counting the cats as 'prep and storage' material. They will be figuring prominently in our mouse control plan. I'm actually glad now that we got them before we moved. They and the dog have been getting acquainted slowly but we've been having to keep them isolated from him when we're not available to 'supervise'. This means that J15 has their litter box in her room, which is NOT where she wants it on a permanent basis. So, hopefully they can work things out before we move so we can have the litter box in the downstairs bathroom as we had planned and have the dog leave them in peace as they move about.

6. Build community food systems- hmm, not so much, I've been rather self centered lately and not focusing so much on my community. I'm hoping to make up time later.

7. Eat the food- Still working on eating down the freezer in prep for moving. I had raspberries on my cereal this morning. YUM! We're going to have to incorporate broccoli into the menu tomorrow! And I'm seeing an omelet for breakfast with sauteed hot pepper and onion. I don't normally go in for that big of a breakfast during the week but it sounds sooo good.

I'll try to post more regularly this week but I make no promises. The fabulous weather is supposed to hold through the weekend. Highs in the low 80s, low humidity and clear skies. Sounds like great weather to finish a bathroom.