Spring is definitely on the way – time to update the status of the Independence Days project!
Planted: More tomato seedlings, and a variety of herbs. All indoors as yet, it’s not time to put anything outside, but it feels good to get things going ahead of time. The tomatoes are doing well, and some of the herbs actually sprouted – others are a challenge, but as they come up in the flats they are being transplanted to larger containers. Big thanks to my mom for collecting gallon sized tin cans from the camp kitchen – they are excellent for starting plants that will stay inside for a good while before going outdoors! Also planted some flowers in a big barrel outside, and an old enamel canning pot that rusted through on the bottom (hey, it makes a good drainage hole!).
Harvested: Eggs! Finally we have lots of eggs. Nothing else is big enough to harvest yet. :)
Preserved: Some celery in the fridge was getting tired, so it got chopped up and dehydrated. We emptied out two jars of pickles, so bought a couple of cucumbers and sliced those to soak in the existing leftover brine – the resulting ‘pickles’ are actually quite yummy after a week or two in the fridge!
Waste Not: The re-used pickle brine could go in this category, as would the celery rescue. Then there is the usual feeding of leftovers to other critters, composting, and actually using the finished compost as starting material for flower pots.
Want Not (Preparations): Hatched out chicks in the new Hovabator – we have 9 chicks in a cage at the moment, and 26 more eggs in the incubator ready to hatch in the next week or so. It’s neat to watch them go from eggs to actual chickens in such a short time. Found a local flour mill and purchased two 20 kg bags of flour for half the price of the grocery store (even when it’s on sale), and stored that in the one large flour bin we have, plus some smaller food grade buckets saved from The Reluctant Farmer’s protein supplements (he has to work out for his EMT training, hence the supplements). Also scored two large water containers (the kind with the metal frame around the big square plastic container) for a great price – those will be used for rainwater storage.
Community Food Systems: Paid for a listing at a local ‘100 km diet’ page. The Reluctant Farmer discovered that one of the members of the fire department raises and butchers meat birds, so we now have a mentor lined up to show us the proper way to butcher (we’re really not very good at it yet!). Continue to sell eggs and meat to local customers, and have convinced a few coworkers to join in the WECAN food co-operative purchases!
Eat the Food: Made pasta for the first time, as a way to try preserving a surplus of eggs – it wasn’t bad for a first go! Got broccoli in the WECAN bag, and made up the suggested broccoli/mushroom recipe, which was quite good. Made ice cream from more surplus eggs (store bought milk though, we’re not milking Sasha just now). Made bread regularly, as usual – with cheap flour and a bread machine, there’s just no reason not to!
What’d you do at your house this past while?
Where did you buy your flour? I've got a lot of whole wheat berries at the moment, but I do actually like to have some white flour in the house as well. I'm always happier to support local. Was it the Ellison mill?
ReplyDeleteYup, I called the mill and arranged to come pick up 2 big bags. It's actually the same warehouse as a big commercial baking supplier, but you just go in and pay cash, then pull around back and a guy brings the pallet of flour bags up to the door and hands you your bags. It's just on the west end, in the industrial area north of the car dealerships. At that price, you can't beat it!
ReplyDeleteThat mill is walking distance from my house, but perhaps not with flour on my back! I think I'll give them a call. I tried to find them once but wasn't expecting a baking supplier. That may explain my lack of luck. I'll have to call them. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDelete