Independence Days Are Here, Again!

Last year, Sharon Astyk proposed a nice motivator for gardeners and homesteaders, she called it Independence Days:

These are the general daily/weekly guidelines:

1. Plant Something.
2. Harvest Something.
3. Preserve something.
4. Reduce Waste.
5. Preparation and Storage.
6. Build Community Food Systems.
7. Eat The Food!

Recapping my week:

1. Planted Peppers, Onions, Dill, Basil, Rosemary, Thyme, Leeks, Sunflowers, Swiss Chard, Cilantro, Parsley, and three big containers of Kennebunk Potatoes (six plants per container– same as last year). The Blueberries are doing fine, and seemingly happy in their place by the corn. It’ll be time to how and mulch the corn as soon as the rain stops, as some sort of grass has sprouted up with all this rain.
2. I’m winding-down the last of the Asparagus harvesting, and getting into the Strawberry, Radish, Spinach, Lettuce, Broccoli, Swiss Chard (last year’s survivors), and Green Onion harvests.
3. I’ve been drying Shiitake and Oyster Mushrooms nearly every day. Dried a lot of Rosemary and Mint over this weekend… and some catnip. Watching my cats cuddle up to the dehydrator, which I put on the living room floor, was WAY worth the effort. They went NUTS!
4. I broke out my trusty, ol’ copy of Extending The Table, and prepared a series of meals based on my harvests, and which built on leftovers from the previous day. GREAT Cookbook, BTW.
5. I scored up 220 2″x12″x12″ patio blocks on Craig’s List for a dollar a piece (they were 75-cents each, but, I asked him to make it a dollar each and deliver them. The cheapest I could get them at Home Depot or Lowe’s was $1.50 each, plus tax.). I resorted to Chemical Warfare against the Bermuda Grass that has constantly invaded my raised beds (a VERY selective product from Hi-Yield, recco’d by the TNAgExtension). The grass died, and I reseeded with White Dutch Clover, today, while we’re getting all this rain. The blocks arrive on Friday, and I’ll lay down some weed-block, and put down the blocks around all the main beds. Die Bermuda Grass– DIE!!!
6. Last week I helped two neighbors put in their gardens. This year, four of us neighbors have planned to trade, sell and barter our surpluses between each other, let the neighbor Kid, Andy, and out-of-work neighbor, Tommy, sell some surplus, and we each have planted extra of a staple specifically to give to the local Food Bank around the corner.
7. This morning, I invited Tommy and his wife to come and pick some extra strawberries from by front yard bed. As I was typing this, they brought over a GIANT slice of homemade strawberry shortcake. NOMNOMNOM… I’ve been eating a lot of salads, steamed Asparagus, and Swiss Chard cooked Southern Style. Strawberries for breakfast. Mint Tea– LOTS of mint tea. Stockpiling those mushrooms, eating some with recipes.

Man, I’ve got a LOT to do this coming week, as, because I had to deal once and for all with the damned Bermuda Grass, and the heavy rains all this week, I am about two weeks behind where I really would have liked to have been for this planting season. I’m in the process of building new frames to double the depth of the Workhorse (4′x16′) Beds from 6″ to 12″, and this weekend, I made a dozen trips to the local nursery to procure the soil, vermiculite, peat moss, and other organic goodies I put in my beds. I have a pile of composted cow manure scheduled to arrive on Saturday. I’ve got four different sets of mushroom spore with which, I am going to inoculate the fresh garden beds as I improve them. Knowing that the mushrooms that are sprouting are good and edible will be a treat, and that mycelium are busy keeping my soil good an added bonus. Come next Saturday/Sunday, I KNOW that I am going to be hurting from throwing 220 Patio Blocks, 50 bags of soil ingredients and wheelbarrows full of cow poop. Thank the gods for Jacuzzi Tubs and Epsom Salts!

So, let’s all keep track of our “Independence Days” activities, eh? What are YOU doing in your gardens? What are you doing for food production?

I really like the new posting interface. It’s really smooth, and intuitive, and stuff is easy to find.

Tags: Cutting Food Costs, Food Security, Gardening