Independence Days Update

We participate in Sharon Astyk’s Independence Days Challenge.   This is our weekly update.

Plant Something—Nothing planted last week.  I plan on putting fall seeds in the ground this week, as the weather is scheduled to be more fall like.

Harvest Something—We harvested  butternut squash, cherry tomatoes, jalapeños, tomatoes, green beans, onions, 1 melon, red and green okra.

Preserve Something—I froze green beans and potatoes, yellow squash and zucchini, and basil.  I dried some more purple hull peas for winter storage.  I saved seeds from the melons.  I canned Easy Jalapeño Rings.  I have a car load full of free canning pears to pick up tomorrow afternoon and hopefully more coming from Memphis later in the week.  Those pears should keep me busy for a while, and I’m very much looking forward to having them!

Prep and Storage—Hubby worked on placing fence posts this weekend.  We added some more dog food to storage (free with coupons!).  We added organic ground beef to the freezer storage.  We thinned a few bags of toys from our daughter’s room for donations.

Reduce Waste—We continue to do our other energy saving measures and recycle, compost, and use a rain barrel.   We continue to purchase a weekly CSA basket.  I was pleased to give some of the zucchini to my cousin this week—at least there are a few less that I have to worry about cooking and preserving!  Another cousin passed some hand-me-down clothes to us for our daughter.  We are bringing some donations to the church for a rummage sale they have planned in November. 

Building Community Food Systems—I made up some boxes at the church food pantry for easy distribution this week.  I participated in a tamale making event at the church on Saturday.  Not only did most of the people there learn a new skill, but we also had a great day spent with people of all ages. 

Eating the Food—I haven’t been really all that inspired by cooking this week.  The only “new” cooking I did was to add okra to my vegetable pasta.  I hadn’t added it previously because I thought it would get too gummy, but it worked quite nicely.  I cook pasta in one pot.  In a separate skillet I sauté vegetables in a little olive oil.  In this week’s pasta I had egg plant, zucchini, leeks, garlic, green onions, okra, green beans, and bell peppers.  Mix the drained pasta into the vegetables.  You can add olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese to taste.