Well, I'm a day late with my update- but better late than never. It has been a crazy week, both at work and at home. Work has been really busy and I worked today as well. J17 was sick with a stomach bug yesterday. V hurt himself badly enough on Thursday that he actually went to the doctor yesterday -THAT is something unusual! He was working in the basement putting in some insulation and ended up getting a huge splinter in one of his fingers, starting at the cuticle and extending all the way to the knuckle. OUCH! He wasn't able to get it all out here at home so went in to have it removed. Fortunately, it is looking and feeling better today but he's been cranky for a few days.
Our spring-like weather has been continuing, things are blooming and growing. And I'm wondering if it really, truly is Spring... but part of me still doesn't trust it.
But, it's time for my (late) Friday IDC update.
1. Plant something. Let's see... radishes in the garden and broccoli inside. I really want to get into the garden and plant peas and onions and I also really need to get my tomatoes and peppers started. While not really planting, I did get the old canes cut out of the raspberries.
2. Harvest something. Nettles for pasta, grass and clover clippings for the chickens. A little chickweed for salads. And a Non-Harvest: We've got 7 whole asparagus spears up but I'm going to let them go again this year since most of those crowns were just planted last year and two just recently.
3. Preserve something. I can't think of anything else harvest related.
4. Waste not. The usual recycling, composting and scraps to the chickens. Also we finally managed to get rid of our old stove that has been hanging out in the garage for a few years. There was a grease fire on one of the stoves at our church and it was ruined. So we offered our old stove- which is actually a really nice stove- I just didn't want a glass-top electric stove. So, they got a new stove for nothing, we have room back in the garage and we've got a tax write off for next year.
5. Want not- V and I stopped yesterday afternoon at a store we'd never been to before "The Outlet". It's an outlet store for one of the local food service companies and you can get some great deals there. Of course, you have to be careful with your purchases because a lot of it is processed, restaurant food but with careful choosing we got some great deals. We got a gallon of EVOO for about $16 and I may have V talked into buying big storage containers so we can buy the 25 lb bag of pinto beans to make our own refrieds (I'm easing him into this prepping thing). We stocked up on a few staples and tried a few things to see how they are (just saying, the 99 cent packages of tortilla chips are fabulous!) They also, amazingly enough, carry local produce and meat (much of it pastured and/or organic!!). We were able to get a huge box of Amana Brats (a local brand) that we will repackage for summer grilling. 75 brats for less than $40. We were scoping out things like cheese that we may get for J17's graduation party as well. For purchasing large quantities of staples, this may be our new favorite place. I'll be sure to avoid the #10 can of processed cheese sauce. Ack!
6. Eat the food- nettle pasta, sourdough crackers and bread, tortellini (from the freezer) with pesto
7. Build Community food systems- um.. not much. Just more eggs to work.
8. Skill up- made nettle pasta for the first time ever and it was fabulous!
OUCH! I can't stop thinking about that splinter!!
ReplyDeleteOh, I know! It happened Thursday while I was at work and when he was telling me about it I could almost feel it. It just makes me cringe to think about it.
DeleteHmmm... cutting old canes out of the raspberries? I planted some raspberries 2 years ago and they are doing fabulously... but I really don't have a clue what I'm supposed to do for them. Are you supposed to cut the branches back each year?
ReplyDeleteNO! Don't cut them all back. Well, It actually depends on what kind of raspberries you have. The everbearing kinds will bear on new wood. We used to have some golden ones at our old house that we would mow off every fall and they would come up again in the spring. But many varieties of raspberry bear fruit on the second year canes. So the cycle is: year 1- the cane grows, year 2- that cane bears fruit and new canes grow, year 3- the first cane is dead the second canes bear fruit and even newer canes grow. I've got some of both types of raspberries now but every spring when they are just starting to leaf out I go cut out the old, dead canes. Otherwise, it turns into a jungle that is really hard to navigate when you're picking.
DeleteGlad you stopped in.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I forgot to list the eggs in the Harvest category. 41 last week. The ladies are definitely liking this warm weather!
ReplyDeletegotta watch those splinters,but I'm green w/envy you got great deals ,my husband would eat the whole bag of pintos( he grew up on them literally,her's from the south ,of coarse) here in MN ,I never heard f them until I married my hubby . and deals o meat? where ? I never find any.I can just taste fresh peas from the garden,yum
ReplyDeleteI still need storage space for that many beans but it's definitely on my short list. And I, too, was shocked at deals on meat. especially since they have local, grassfed/pastured stuff available.
DeleteThat splinter sounds nasty! Glad he's feeling better!
ReplyDeleteNettle pasta sounds very interesting! I look forward to hearing more about it :-) Hope you have a great week!
http://skymindedandevergrowing.blogspot.com/2012/03/independence-days_23.html
I did a post on the nettle pasta last week. It is really tasty and very, very green. Much brighter in color than that green stuff you get at the store.
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ReplyDeleteJudy Sorry I had to delete the first message because of typos....I hope V. is healing up and not too cranky. My husband has to be reminded as to why I need 100 lbs of rice.....but he is usually on board . It took two years and the financial collapse to get him there. I hope V. gets there too.
DeleteHe's healing up well. V is semi- on board. He understands the stocking up stuff, he just gets really turned off by people who talk about TEOTWAWKI.
DeleteI am tired just reading your post, whew! You accomplished so much. Love the title of this post by the way.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura. I feel I've got so little time at home I try to make the most of it.
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