Independence Days – week 4

Sharon Astyk’s original post, the inspiration for this series.

A mixed bag this week. I’ve got clients mad at me because of missed deadlines and three new work projects that I need to get started on, so non-work time was at a premium. (I suppose that “making money” counts toward independence, though?)

1. Plant something. Four tomato plants, one fernleaf dill (already looking pretty sad — I’ve killed a dozen dillweeds in the last couple of years), and some bush beans and zucchini. I’ve ordered Blue Lake pole bean seeds and those should be here this week. I’ve also set up the plan for fall planting, since spring planting was pretty much a total no-go this year.

I don’t seem to be able to get nearly enough done in my days. How do ordinary people with families and full-time jobs do it?

2. Harvest something. A double handful of strawberries this week. Last year we put in a tiny strawberry patch early in the spring. Our region then proceeded to have a 100-year drought and severe water-use restrictions. We were allowed to hand-water one morning a week between 6 and 9 am, and I have no idea how any of those little guys survived.

Rainfall is closer to normal this year and the plants are beginning to spread and fruit, but the harvest is still pretty anemic.

3. Preserve/store something. Not much this week. The locally-owned Piggly Wiggly had a major sale on Oscar Mayer hot dogs — 99¢ a one-pound package, regular price $2.99. I bought ten pounds, which was all the room I had in the freezer. Unfortunately, this is hardly long-term stocking-up, because my dear husband can eat an entire pound of them in two days unless gently reminded.

Noticed another interesting phenomenon at the same store. Long-grain white rice, the ordinary Mahatma or Uncle Ben’s kind, was $2.29 for a 2-pound bag. However, on the other side of the same aisle in the section with the ethnic foods, long-grain white rice by La Preferida was $1.19 for a 2-pound bag. I needed rice. I saved 55¢ a pound just by looking right instead of left.

4. Self-reliance. Nothing new this week, unless you count learning to knit (below).

5. Cook something new. I’ll be cooking collard greens today. Yes, it’s true. I was born and raised in the South and had never in my life eaten collard greens until a week or so ago when Whole Foods had them on the hot bar at lunch. I liked ‘em. I liked ‘em a lot. I don’t know if I can reproduce them, but I’m game to try. Report next week.

6. Manage reserves. Does rearranging the pantry shelves count? Oh wait, I also cleaned out and rearranged the freezer, which was overflowing.

7. Reduce waste. Actively composting again. Actively being questioned by the spouse again, who has this pristine suburban horror of anything that creates unpleasant smells and/or attracts insects. And I have one of those nifty covered bins (with a broken lid, courtesy of said occasionally ham-handed spouse)! It’s not like it’s sitting out in the yard in a heap.

There’s part of a leftover straw bale purchased for the potato bin last year, so I’ve been making a pointed effort to cover new kitchen waste with a layer of straw. It won’t decompose as fast as leaves or grass clippings, but it keeps the green compost out of sight and may go some way toward disarming the opposition. We can hope.

8. Work on local connections. Bought locally-grown vegetables from the farmer’s market on Friday. Found out about another suburban Saturday market close to my house, which I’ll visit next week. They tend to be upscale-ish and expensive, but it’s 7 miles away as opposed to 9 miles for the one I’ve been going to and 11 miles to the “real” farmer’s market. (However, the real one is open seven days a week and if I go after taking the spouse to work it adds only three miles round trip.)

What I should have done was go to the Food Summit and solstice celebration yesterday at Jones Valley Urban Farm. I thought about it, and it looked interesting, and there were a lot of people there working on local food security issues whom it would be useful to know. I’m not sure why I didn’t, except that you don’t “join” this organization, you sign a “letter of commitment.” That bothered me. I wanted information, not to commit to something else I may not have time for.

9. Learn something new. Knitting! I took my beginning class on Thursday evening. It was really basic — the instructor cast on for us, taught us the simple knit stitch, and then sat by to watch as we fumbled and to correct the inevitable mistakes. The first project is a scarf in garter stitch and we bring it back when it’s long enough to learn how to bind off.

I’ve been practicing every morning, fifteen minutes or so first thing when I wake up and before I get up to let the dogs out. I’m still really fumbly and my stitches are so uneven it drives me batty, but I am persevering. Once I get comfortable with “knit,” I’ll find some videos online and learn “purl” and then casting on and binding off.

I also am considering getting some larger needles and knitting up some weatherproof flowerpot mats using leftover plastic grocery bags. I think I know enough now to do those. They don’t have to be pretty.