Thursday Is Independence Day!

Another idea I robbed from Di's Blog, the original challenge comes from Casaubon's Book. The deal is that every day, week or whatever fits the schedule, you do something to contribute to your future. I might well do something every day - but Thursday will be my weekly round up.
Here goes:
1. Plant Something: this week I have planted poppies & onions - the first of next year's crops.

2. Harvest Something: Yup! this was easy too but I guess it will get harder as the current crops dwindle - no idea how I'll do it in the winter ... some lateral thinking might be required! Anyway:
2lb Pak Choi: supermarket saving of £5.60 ... can you believe that??
Salad leaves for the barbeque - around 1/2lb saving £1.50
& herbs for cooking.
Total: £7.10

3. Preserve something: nothing this week ... but I got to thinking I ought to dry some of those herbs ready for when the plants die off - on the list for next week!

4. Prep Something: I organised the freezer & made a start on the cupboards. Decluttering is ongoing. Donated some clothes to a charity collection, unwanted craft supplies to DS4's school & have another charity collection bag to fill for next week (we have a lot of charity collections here). I have also harvested seeds from a supermarket-bought chilli & tomato ready for spring. Started a collection of egg shells (a post coming on that!) & cleaned/stored some plastic food trays (from pre-packed meat & mushrooms) for use as seed trays.

5. Cook Something: I'm not overly experimental but made a fabulous meatballs & spaghetti (DH, DS1 & DS2 are meat-eaters) - mine was a vegetable sauce - used our fresh herbs (use them a lot actually). Auryn (DS4) helped me make dumplings (vegetable suet) & I made a very tasty veggie stew. Used the last of the courgettes on veggie kebabs for a barbeque this weekend. I guess this will get easier when there are more veggies to use??

6. Manage Reserves: This one I am finding hard - I had already gone thru the food stores a while back & got rid of everything that won't be used - as there is no harvest to check on I don't really see how to do this one. I guess that we are using up leftovers (often tomorrow's lunch) & I'm now menu planning might count?

7. Work on local food systems: (buy local, promote green, give away seeds or plants, start local initiatives): Hmmm, need to put some thought into this one. I did give some pak choi to a neighbour - not seeds tho' - just food. & I swap some of my veggies with my mum (she has rhubarb). My neighbours are starting to show an interest in what I am growing ... so maybe there's some hope there for the future?? I don't really buy local - right now we really have to consider the cost more than anything - maybe something to work toward?

8. Reduce Waste: This is a big issue for me. We recycle probably 90% of our waste thru the council fortnightly collections - our recycle bin is almost always full & the trash never more than half full ... so it's a start. Next stop is to have less to recycle in the first place! With the ongoing decluttering there is an awful lot to recycle right now, so this will gradually improve as the clutter decreases I guess. I shop online & have decided to change from Asda - although you can give the bags back to the driver to be recycled they are seriously wasteful in the amount they use (1 tin soup = 1 bag!!). Tesco give the option not to have bags - supplies come in crates & are unloaded on the doorstep. So that's my next challenge ... to eliminate the carrier bags brought in to my home. I don't use them but the rest of the family need training!!

9. Learn a new skill: No skills as such but I've spent some time this week learning about keeping a small holding, mostly concentrating on the veggie side of that. I've also been reading up on organic pest prevention & crop rotation. Knowledge is power!!