Knitting in shades of Spring

Stress knitting, or rather knitting to un-stress has been my thing these days. Especially knitting little bitty things that give me quick results and cuteness. And with the seemingly endless waiting that is such a big part of our life right now in the world of domestic adoption. (waiting for "the call" waiting for a match, waiting for the Goober to find us...) I've done quite a bit lately!

First in pictures is this little baby cap the Fixation Newborn Hat from Ravelry. I love this pattern for the simplicity and cuteness factor. And since I was knitting and sitting and listening alot, at a performance my sister-in-law was in, this was the perfect thing.

And then I discovered the Milo!


I know I'll be making many of these little vests. The pattern is so easy once you see how it goes together and it is a total stash buster, using such a small amount of yarn. I love it! The cable variations that the pattern suggests will make for some nice little changes and with different yarns and sizing from 3 months to 4 years, I'll be knitting these for years! This one reminds me of celeriac so that's what I call it.

So, as for the news on the adoption front, there's no baby to report. We have now been officially waiting for over 17 months and trying to keep our spirits up. Our agency is going through some major personnel changes, which is very disconcerting. And it seems that many folks are waiting a very long time, not just at our agency. We did just attend a big Adoption Conference and immersed ourselves in classes and conversations about birth families, open adoption and openness in adoption. We did meet up briefly with the new director of our agency, which was a nice surprise and spent a few minutes catching up with our social worker as well. We'll be meeting with the new director next week to discuss where things stand and talk about opportunities for networking and anything else we can do to ease the waiting.

Luckily, we're heading quickly into planting, harvesting and preserving season. We have plans for garden and season expansions, as well as gaining some new food preserving skills. And maybe starting to plan the chicken coop! So, we'll keep ourselves busy and out of trouble as much as possible...but always ready to drop everything at a moment's notice to go and meet our Goober.

Spring socks and seedlings

I finally finished Michael's Valentine's Day socks. They are a basic top-down sock recipe made up in a lovely sock yarn called "Smooshy" in color Blue Lagoon by Dream In Color. Not totally dye-fast. My fingers and bamboo needles had telltale signs of blue, but lovely stuff none-the-less. And now that Michael is a convert to home-made sock goodness, I need to keep this thing going!


I'm prepping another round of seedling pots for the next week of seed starting in the basement.


I'm happy to say the halved TP rolls with newspaper strip bottoms have worked out pretty well. This is the second year I've used them filled with purchased seeding mix from Gardener's and I've had pretty good luck. A little bit of a mold thing happens on the sides of the pots, but my chamomile tea spray and setting the trays out when it is sunny, seems to keep it in check. Hard to say wether that has something to do with the cardboard, the plastic trays or the basement itself. But, it doesn't seem to be holding us back. This week the tomato and basil seedlings are starting to take off!

So, onto the IDC update...

Plant something – Planted turnips and parsnips outside. Cleared out and amended a few more beds for planting. Started more sprouts in the kitchen.

Harvest something – Asparagus

Preserve something – Started a new Sourdough starter and started a new yogurt culture.

Waste Not – The usual.

Want Not – Pulled out a bunch of clothes for mending. Finished making another pair of socks and a few bits for the Goober.

Build Community Food Systems – Wrote the first article of the season for the organic garden at work. Helping on the Earth Day Committee at work.

Eat the Food – Made a fresh batch of yogurt, enjoyed the first warm slices of a fresh loaf of sourdough bread, enjoyed steamed asparagus a few times this week, great with local eggs!

Signs of Spring!

Raspberry canes leafing out.

Garlic coming up in rows.

Asparagus heads poking up last week...

...and this morning.
Rhubarb last week...

...and this morning.
And as for the IDC update, things are beginning to gear up!

Plant something – started tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, flowers and herbs inside under grow lights. Spread clover on a few beds for green cover. Cleared out and amended a few beds for planting.

Harvest something – Chives

Preserve something – Nothing this week.

Waste Not – Using more TP rolls and newspaper for my seedling pots. Saved rinsed out paper coffee cups from work for repotting some seedlings. Started another compost pile. Brought my Nana's sewing machine in for a tune-up.

Want Not – Found another pyrex small casserole dish with cover and a large pyrex measuring cup at Salvation Army.

Build Community Food Systems – Volunteered to help with the garden at church. Scheduled a meeting with a friend to help her plan her garden.

Eat the Food – Down to the last of the beets, sweet potatoes and butternuts from winter storage. Planning some meals around those... butternut parmesan soup, butternut pecan muffins, sweet Potato fries, sweet potato pancakes, maple roasted beets and beet slaw...not all at once!

The planting begins!

Yippee!!!

Thanks to the generosity of a very kind friend, we now have a lovely set of grow lights in our basement. This is a serious step up from my DIY seed starting center of previous years! I'll still be using that. But, now I can start twice as many seedlings indoor.

So, after sorting seed packets by variety and then planting/starting dates, ordering additional items and plotting it all out on the calendar, Michael and I managed to get the first seeds going over the weekend. (Pretty momentous since we had the stomach bug around these parts—ugh!) We started 3 kinds of basil, some herbs and some beneficial flowers. Next week will be tomatoes and peppers and the beat will go on and on from there. I love when we get to this time of year, when something (planting, preparing, harvesting) is on the calendar every week until late into next Fall. We'll be trying to push the envelop even more this year, with more food grown at home, and extended seasons on both ends. Pretty exciting stuff!

So, for this week's Independence Days Challenge update

Plant something – Planted basil, chamomile, verbena, vining petunias, violas and yarrow. Cut back the herb garden and fertilized the asparagus and strawberry beds.

Harvest something – Nibbled a few chard sprigs and some new kale leaves.

Preserve something – Soaked and dried another batch of crispy pecans.

Waste Not – Made seedling starting pots out of egg cartons and half-t.p. rolls with newspaper strip bottoms.

Want Not – Picked up three more small Corning ware dishes with lids at the thrift store. Perfect to replace plastic-ware for leftovers in the fridge.

Build Community Food Systems – Attended the first meeting of the organic garden team at work.

Eat the Food – Used the last rutebaga in our Irish Stew. Made fudge babies with dried dates, pecans and cocoa (a good food storage treat!)

Gearing up for Spring

Well, three gorgeous days in a row, with temperatures in the 50's have me itching to get going in the garden. But, I've been in New England long enough to know not to uncover the beds or set anything out, no matter what the temp. There will be more winter before it's all over.

The image above was taken last year in late April. Imagine this same scene right now with no green anywhere and you'll have the present view from the upstairs window. But, Michael and I went searching on Sunday and did discover garlic and onion shoots beginning to poke up under their blanket of mulched leaves, harbingers of the growing season to come! And a good 2 weeks earlier than last year!

So, I'll have to keep myself busy with creating the seed-starting schedule for the grow lights dreaming of those growing days to come.

And here is our update for the IDC for this week...

Plant something – Sprouting some mustard and radish sprouts.

Harvest something – Nothing yet.

Preserve something – Made a big batch of sour dough pizza dough and froze in pizza-sized packages.

Waste Not – Began collecting TP rolls for cutting in half and using as seedling cups for under the grow lights. Still enjoying last summer's pickles!

Want Not – Found an old mouli (hand food mill) at the local thrift store.

Build Community Food Systems – Helping a friend plan her first raised bed.

Eat the Food – Roasted butternut squash, maple-teriyaki glazed beets, apple calvados, yum!

Getting back into the swing of things with the Independence Day Challenge

By late last season I'd seriously fallen short of my weekly updates on ways I'm meeting the Independence Challenge. In a nutshell, it is a way to record and motivate ourselves to do sometimes small or seemingly insignificant things, over time, to make a big difference in our own lives, our local communities and our planet. If you're still curious, swing on over to Sharon's website to get the full details. I'll be posting my updates here every week, most likely on Tuesday, but hey...let's be flexible.

So, here's the first update of the growing season:

Plant something – Nothing yet.

Harvest something – Nothing yet.

Preserve something – Made a batch of yogurt from some dated milk.

Waste Not – Used some leftover Fall apples from the freezer for a tea-cake for the Lenten luncheon at church. Sent the tea-cakes off to church on some cookie trays reused from a Christmas holiday party. Took a batch of dryer lint, TP rolls and newspaper from packages out to the compost.

Want Not – Assembled the new grow lights (gifted from a co-worker) for seed-starting. Placed our order for summer chicken and fall pork from our local meat CSA. Made up another batch of "shampoo" and "conditioner."

Build Community Food Systems – Started planning a workshop for our local church on local food, food storage and security.t

Eat the Food – Roasted some of the last beets for a maple teryaki broil tonight. Made two oatmeal-tea cakes from a slightly altered family favorite recipe -- using up food storage oatmeal and fruit and nuts. Baked up another roasting pan full of the butternut squash from food storage--delicious packed with lunch or whipped up into butternut pancakes or muffins.

Hang onto your hats, here comes Spring!!!

Shades of late summer greens and yellows...

...and a bit of belated catching up!

A dragonfly resting on a bean leaf

A lazy bee on the native sunflowers

The surprising polka dots of Tansy flowers waving over the drying Yarrow

Many many jars of refrigerator pickles...with my honey herb recipe...yum!

The first of the Fall crop of Mizuna.

Well, between the incredibly busy work-life right now, gearing up for singing at the Harvest Fair, a big birthday bash for Michael and just the everyday busy-ness of home...with (truth be told) a little bit of the waiting-for-baby-blues; I've been sadly remiss in keeping up with the blog. My apologies! Above are a few pictures of what's going on in the garden...and the kitchen.

And as far as at least 3 weeks of the Independence Days Challenge:

Plant Something:
buckwheat, clover, transplanted Calendula and Mint

Harvest Something:
Eggplants, cucumbers, dill, calendula, beans, radishes, radish pods, carrots, tomatoes, onions

Preserve Something:
Calendula oil, apple cordial (Calvados), yogurt, sourdough pizza dough, refrigerator bread & butter pickles, pumpkin and apricot breads for the deep freeze

Waste Not:
Using up all the whey from the yogurt for various lacto-fermented breads and pancakes, used up oddments of veggies in a huge mexican casserole, used all compostable paper goods at our party and topped up the compost piles with them, Sent off 75 used books to Powell's for credit towards our Christmas shopping.

Want Not:
Reading "Gardening When It Counts" by Steve Solomon, Topped up the pantry with this month's "big shop", Organized more jar storage and hung the garlic braids for winter storage, found some Patagonia organic canvas pants on a good sale for Michael's birthday

Build Community:
Preparing to sing at New Entry Sustainable Farming Project , working as a volunteer "farmer" at work on the organic raised bed project, donating food to an emergency center in Quincy, MA.

Eat the Food:
Sourdough pizza dough for our weekly za, yogurt, radish green fritatta, garlic green beans, mexican casserole with all the bits of beans, cabbage, etc.

Meanwhile, Michael and I are working our way through the list of late Summer into Fall projects around the house, and trying to focus a little attention each week on preparing for the baby. Things like, putting up shelves in the kitchen to hold pots and pans and make room for a little energy star dishwasher, improve drainage around house foundation, replace a few rotted shingles, look into getting the woodstove brought up to code so that we can use it, create more storage in the Goobers room for clothes and diapers, move bookshelves, build a cold frame for cold weather veggies, etc.

I'll be back again soon!

Rain and rain and more rain

Ah yes, the rain! Feels like we’re all growing a thin layer of mold. I thought about taking pictures of the mushrooms and strange molds and particularly the Caca de Luna, Fuligo Septica or (not to be gross, but) "Dog Vomit Mold" which is loving all the wet mulch and raised beds at our house. But, I really didn't have the stomach for it. Nice!

A few quick snaps I took between raindrops...

The marguerite daisys have begun to bloom. These are called "Kelway"



And these antique black violas seem to have self-seeded below the hanging basket from last year. Love these!




And we did manage a few things between the showers. So here's our IDC update for the week.

Plant Something:
Planted carrots, turnips, beets and onions round two. Planted some perrenials. Transplanted borage.

Harvest Something:
More strawberries…although the rain is turning most of them into moldy mess, the first of the raspberries, lettuce and peas.

Preserve Something:
Froze strawberries and raspberries (saving up the raspberries to make cordial)

Waste Not:
Used cheese whey for bread and pancake dough. Started two hot compost bins. Made berry picking buckets out of milk jugs for two handed picking.

Want Not:
Found some french soda bottles with rubber ring tops for cordial making. Scored a new baby wrap and baby sling as well as a very nice diaper bag at the local thrift store.

Build Community Food Systems:
Bought eggs and greens from the local farm. Loaned “In Defense of Food” to a friend.

Eat the Food:
Strawberry rhubarb pie, oh yeah! Made sourdough bread and sourdough pancakes. Lots of fresh peas, and salads.

Happy Summer!

Enjoying the sweetness

We are well into the midst of our first official strawberry season. Last year we had to pinch off all of the blossoms to ensure good root development. This year we are reaping the harvest. 1 to 2 pints of delicious berries a day!!! for the past 11 days. whoohoo!

Here's the haul from just one evening. Two pints before we tossed them in the big strainer for a quick shower.



Then some got capped and cut up and ready on a tray for a quick freeze before bagging in the freezer.



And the rest of the bounty, slightly macerated with a potato masher, topping some home-made sweet biscuits and crowned with home-made whipped cream slightly sweetened with maple syrup. Simply heavenly!



And fast on their heels, the quickly ripening raspberries.


I'm reading up on cordial making (the alcoholic "American" kind as well as the non-alcoholic British/Australian versions. I'm also preparing myself to dip my toe into the jam-making arena. Nervous and filled with trepidation...but almost ready to take the plunge.

And our update for the IDC, we've had a busy week, with much rain. Here's what we've managed this week...

Plant Something:
Planted broccoli, kale, cabbage, marigolds, transplanted hosta away from the workshop to help the drainage and ant situation around the workshop. Brought out eggplant, pepper and basil seedlings to harden off in makeshift cold frame.

Harvest Something:
1 to 2 pints of strawberries a day, peas, lettuce and herbs.

Preserve Something:
Froze strawberries

Waste Not:
Read up on using more of our discarded paper for composting instead of recycling. Planning the location for a new hot compost pile.

Preparation and Storage:
Did the big shop for the month. Added to the long term food storage, more legumes, applesauce, seasonings. Moved some vases and china around in the basement to double our basement pantry storage.

Build Community Food Systems:
Located a great listing of all the farmer's markets in our state to post on our company's green page. This will go along with an article encouraging people to buy locally and eat fresh! Communicated with a local farmer about providing the entertainment at their fall harvest festival. Whoohoo!

Eat the Food:
Had MORE fresh strawberry shortcake with whole wheat sweet biscuits and organic cream. Still delicious! Had fresh salad mix from the local farm under our grilled salmon. Made a fritatta with fresh farm eggs, braising greens and shredded raw milk cheese. Heavenly. Made my first successful batch of yogurt. Drained some for Quark cheese.

A few tentative stitches

Now that my finger is officially on the mend (no more bandages). I couldn't resist the urge to get out a knitting project and see what I can do. Hmmm, this is going to be a challenge. With weakness and hyper-sensitivity in my middle finger as well as a desire to put less stress on that joint. I'm realizing that I'm going to have to teach myself a new way to knit. I did 8 rows on this baby sweater this morning and it was painstakingly slow and a bit tweaky. Ah, well...a new challenge!

this little sweater is a pattern that I've xeroxed too many times and no longer know the origin. It's a simple thing that you knit flat with some nice garter edges and sew up the sides. If you are recognizing the green main color, it is the leftover Berkshire by Valley Yarns from my hoodie, thrown in with a few bits of Malabrigo in other greens (vaa and lettuce) since I didn't have enough of any one of these yarns. It's looking great so far in an alternating stripe. Now if I can only get my knitting mojo back I'll be in business.

And since I'm all about all things green today. Here are some new pictures from the garden. We picked some of these sweet yellow peas to have aside our fritatta last night. Very yummy!




The bush beans that Michael planting are loving this weather!



I can't resist the eye-popping color of these petunias. They make me smile everytime I see them.



And here's our IDC Update for the week, lest you think that we were quietly sitting and knitting the week away.

Plant Something:
Planted tomatoes, peppers and eggplants from seedlings started indoors, direct seeded butternut squash

Harvest Something:
5 pints of strawberries…all eaten as fast as we could pick them, as well as all the lettuce that was big enough to cut.

Preserve Something:
Made veggie broth from ends, scraps and peelings and froze in ice-cube trays for quick usability.

Waste Not:
Cleaned out the fridge, made a huge pot of lamb broth with the lamb bones we had in the freezer. See veggie broth above.

Preparation and Storage:
Found some large “cookie cans” in the closet, perfect for mouse-proof storage in the basement pantry.

Build Community Food Systems:
Received some extra squash and cucumber seedlings from a neighbor, left them so home-made rhubarb coffee cake by way of thanks.


Eat the Food:
Had fresh strawberry shortcake with whole wheat sweet biscuits and organic cream MANY times this week. So delicious! Fresh picked lettuce on the home made gyro sandwiches. Attempted to make yogurt. Made ricotta instead. Used whey to lacto-ferment some wheat flour for apricot pecan quick bread. Baked 4 mini loaves and 6 muffins, some for immediate use and some for the chest freezer.

Happy early summer!

Some baking and the latest Independence Days Challenge Update

I came home from the farm on Saturday loaded down with fresh eggs and greens and a nice big bunch of rhubarb. We only got a small yield from our plants this year since they are still young. So, I thought I'd take advantage of the local bounty to get a little more of this delicious tangy vegetable. (Treated as a fruit in this household).

Armed with a great recipe from Farmer's Almanac for rhubarb cake, I undertook some afternoon baking. I healthied it up with a few substitutions, organic whole wheat flour, sucanat and honey instead of sugar and made a double batch to get four mini loaves (one pictured above) as well as a dozen muffins. Really tasty!

Since the oven was on, I took advantage of the heat and energy and threw in a couple of loaves of honey banana bread, to use up our seven smooshiest bananas. Now the freezer is backed with goodies and we're set for a little while.




So far, we've only gotten a few ripe strawberries, but any day now there'll be a nice big harvest so I'm getting my shortcake mojo on for sometime in the next week. Can't wait!!!



Meanwhile here's our update for the IDC for this week:

Plant Something:
Planted eggplant, squash, and cucumber seedlings and direct seeded some sunflowers and nasturtiums

Harvest Something:
Picked the first few strawberries and a little lettuce and oregano.

Preserve Something:
Put up some oregano for drying, froze some rhubarb from the local farm.


Reduce Waste:
Attended a lecture regarding the local watershed, water conservation and restoration of the local river. Attended a river blessing for the Concord River.


Preparation and Storage:
Purchased some bulk dehydrated black beans and whole wheat biscuit mix both organic from maryjanesfarm.com for food storage.


Build Community Food Systems:
Shared four bean salad and home baked banana bread at a luncheon before the River blessing. Bought fresh eggs, greens and rhubarb from the local farm.

Eat the Food:
Baked rhubarb coffee cake and muffins, some to eat now, some to share and some to freeze for a rainy day, baked banana bread with whole wheat flower, local honey and lots of old bananas to share at a luncheon and freeze for later. Made from storage, more four bean salad and some delicious spaghetti sauce with dried mushrooms and fresh herbs from the garden.

Hope you're having a good week!

A chilly week, a few blooms and an update

It's been chilly few days here, cool and rainy. I'm finding it hard to come up with the perfect work wardrobe for cool spring days. But, the plants seem to be loving it. I'm happy to see that the Wee Willie heirloom pinks I seeded last year are coming back. And we added a few more perennials to the bed, some indigo and mauve columbine, some coreopsis and more sea pinks. It should add some nice color and attract lots of beneficial insects to the garden.

Kind of a quiet week here with finger recuperation still going on. We did get a chance to visit with a few family members last night over a nice dinner in town. A rare occasion and one that we were glad to be part of!

And once again, thanks to my dear husband, we still managed to get a few things done by way of the Independence Days Challenge (IDC). So, here's our update for the week...

Plant Something:
Planted pole beans, squash, luffas and perennials

Harvest Something:
herbs and a little lettuce

Preserve Something:
not this week

Reduce Waste:
Created a list of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle tips for the office green page. Harvested a load of used printer paper to cut down and use instead of post-its in the office

Preparation and Storage:
Stored a water-proof supply of candles and matches in the basement storage area

Build Community Food Systems:
Working on a "raised bed" team at work to create and maintain an organic garden at work

Eat the Food:
Made a big bowl of 4-bean salad, a great way to use food storage!

Hope you're having a good week!

A few pictures and an update

The last of this year's rhubarb harvest. Just a tease of years to come.


I'm saving it to partner with the first succulent crop of strawberries coming soon!




The first of the crisp mint lettuce is up and beckoning to be included in a spring salad.


The sea pinks by the drive are our first real color besides the luscious bits of green popping up all over.


And the dratted finger. Feeling a bit better than a week ago when I got home from the surgery. Looking forward to a week from now when the bandage comes off. For now, I'm a little limited in the hand-use department, and looking a bit like I'm carrying around a chicken drumstick...but on the mend!



And thanks to my wonderful husband, we still managed to accomplish quite a lot. So, here's our Independence Days Challenge update for the week...

Plant Something:
Planted carrots, onion sets, beets and beans. Transplanted more tomatoes and butternut squash, as well a pepper, eggplant and luffa seedlings to bigger pots.

Harvest Something:
rhubarb

Preserve Something:
not this week.

Reduce Waste:
Repaired a reusable shopping bag.

Preparation and Storage:
Did our big once-a-month shop, Added some additional oatmeal, beans, broth, honey, tomatoes, applesauce and seasonings to the long-term food storage.

Build Community Food Systems:
Talked to a co-worker and sent her some links about food storage for small spaces.

Eat the Food:
Sourdough apricot/pecan bread, liver and onions from the spring lamb we bought, more delicious local farm-fresh eggs.

Some sadness and Week 2 of the Independence Days Challenge

We had some sad news last week of a friend's sudden and very premature death. So Saturday morning was spent at a beautiful and sorrowful memorial service for Paul. We had a chance for sweet recollections, a few laughs and some comfort with our music friends. Paul was a loving and generous guy and he will surely be missed.

I find it interesting and very sobering how each death conjures memories from all the other experiences I've had of losing friends or loved ones. This news of Paul's passing was no exception and we found ourselves feeling a little bruised and tender for much of the weekend. Some solace, peace and energy were waiting for us in the garden and I spent a good part of Sunday and this morning there.


Things are beginning to take off in our garden. The raspberries overwintered well. And we've got lots of new growth and clusters of buds all over. We saw the first blooms in the strawberry patch so we're beginning to anticipate all the lovely bounty to come from there. The garlic has been shooting up and looks a bit like a gangly bunch of teen-age boys out there. I'm looking forward to the scapes that we'll be harvesting to make some nice early summer pesto. The peas are reaching for the trellises and the lettuce is showing true leaves so it won't be long before we have some nice fresh greens for the table.

So, here's our list for week two of the Independence Days Challenge:

Plant Something:
Weeded and cleared in the garden. Turned over a few beds. Planted chard, marigolds and more lettuce outside and seeded a large array of seeds in the basement...tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, eggplant, kale, broccoli, basil, flowers, etc.

Harvest Something:
Harvested our last asparagus - year two, pick a few. Also harvested our first rhubarb, more chives, some overwintered sage, thyme and oregano.

Preserve Something:
Picked some herbs for drying. Must set up some drying lines on the front porch or in the pantry.

Reduce Waste:
Used egg cartons and toilet paper tubes cut in half for seeding cells in trays. Much better than spending money on peat pots.

Preparation and Storage:
Uploaded Open Office to my home computer to put our food storage, shopping and inventory lists on a database for easy sorting, creation of shopping lists and storage.

Build Community Food Systems:
Talked with the green team at work about building some raised beds at the office.

Eat the Food:
Baked a honey rhubarb coffee cake with the first of the rhubarb, used some of the freshly picked herbs in a big pot of beef stock I made from beef bones frozen after a meal last week. Used the last of the asparagus with home-made sourdough and cheese for a delicious pizza.

What could you do this week?

In on the Independence Days Challenge

I recently came across the blog Casaubon's Book and have been inspired, engaged, challenged (and even sometimes a little scared) by what I've read there and where it has lead me in a quest for a better handle on where we are in the world and what we can do to help ourselves and our communities. Sharon's approach has inspired me to think a little bit more about how to deal with the scary stuff instead of just trying to ignore it or shrug my shoulders.

She organizes an Independence Days Challenge that seemed like just what I wanted to keep me moving forward with our efforts to reduce waste, grow more of our food, reuse what we have instead of buying new, prepare ourselves better for the coming years and the economic distress that we're all in, etc.

So, I've joined her challenge and will be posting my little "report" of what we've accomplished every week in seven general categories. If you're at all curious or interested in getting involved, check out her site. That's also where you'll find the longer clarification of each of the categories that I'll be reporting on.

So, here's our first list:

Plant Something:
planted parsnips, turnips and radishes outside. Prepped some indoor seedling trays. Built, filled and planted a raised bed of cranberry bushes

Harvest Something:
Cut chives from the herb garden for egg dishes and salads
Harvesting asparagus as it shoots up

Preserve Something:
A little intimidated by this. One of our challenges for this year.

Reduce Waste:
On our last roll of paper towels with no plans to buy more. We're replacing with baskets of clean rags and cleaning cloths in strategic places.

Preparation and Storage:
Expanded our basement pantry and updated food storage inventory. Located an old storm door and some plans online for making our own food dehydrator

Build Community Food Systems:
Talked with a few friends about how to take the next step with organizing their pantries and expanding them. Helped a friend plan her first vegetable garden.

Eat the Food:
Ate all the asparagus that we've harvested so far. Loving the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies from Cynthia Lair's "Feeding the Whole Family" great food storage cookies. And a very tasty treat!

What could you do this week?