IDC Update - Week #3

1. Plant something: hubby got a lot of work done on the herb bed, plus he weeded in the veggie gardens and transplanted some corn from one bed to another (we're trying to consolidate the few corn plants that actually came up); planted sunflowers & pumpkins
2. Harvest something: radishes (maybe a dozen), onions (2 that bolted), strawberries (36-1/2 lbs.)
3. Preserve something: put up 8 pints of strawberry preserves and prepared berries for 2 more batches of jam, a batch of strawberry syrup, and a bag for the freezer that will probably end up in a mixed-berry jam ... we ran out of time & steam to finish everything!
4. Reduce waste: normal recycling stuff; salvaged as much of the forgotten basil in my fridge, grown in mom's garden, as I could; saved commercial jars for dry storage; rescued a HUGE cardboard box from the trash at work, hopefully to use as a solar oven or dehydrator
5. Preparation/storage: added liquid bandage stuff to the first aid kit; found some rockin' plans for a solar dehydrator; printed a fall garden plan from http://www.littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/; discussed what needs to be done in the garden ASAP, and what things we can plant now for the fall; priced materials for a chicken coop
6. Community food system: discussed ways to keep the deer out of the communal garden plot; gave a copy of the fall garden plan to my mom; DH helped mom, dad, my brother, and the neighbors install power poles at the communal garden to provide power to the shallow well that mom & dad had dug for irrigation as needed - unfortunately, they found out the next day that the power company was going to charge over $2K to run the line, so we're looking at other options now (I'm pushing for solar!); offered to share some of my dried garbanzos from storage with a friend, since we have a LOT more than we would normally eat in years; gave strawberry tops and culls to the neighbors for their chickens (they share their eggs with us)
7. Eat the food: beans, pasta from storage; 2 dzn. apple spice muffins from homemade muffin mix I keep in the pantry, applesauce from the freezer, and cinnamon chips from the pantry; 2 dzn. banana muffins from frozen bananas, muffin mix, and chocolate chips from storage; shepherd's pie - ground beef & mixed veggies from the freezer, flour and potatoes from the pantry, and butter and cheese bought in bulk; 4 loaves of bread, all ingredients from storage