Rats!
Rats!
Literally. Below is the bi-weekly independence days update. You will see that we harvested some broccoli the past two weeks. Unfortunately, we only harvested about 3 heads out of 9 growing. Something else got the rest. One day it was there ready to harvest and the next day it was gone. It was a neat job too, only the heads were taken, not the stems. I suspected something intelligent, our money was on raccoons. However tonight while tending to one of the compost bins Jeff found the likely culprit – rats. He found two rats (quite alive) and a nest. Can I just state for the record…Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Trying to grow a significant amount of our own food and live sustainably is turning out to be quite a learning experience. It isn’t all warm vine ripened tomatoes and free-range toddlers. It really is OK though. If we can’t solve the problem with methods such as inspecting the compost bins weekly, installing protective netting/wire over the beds, etc. we’ll just turn our big cat, D’artagnan, out back. I may be a pacifist, but he is not. In addition to trying to stop the broccoli thieves, we have been quite busy the past two weeks…
Plant Something or Take Care of Something You’ve Planted:
- Planted even more bareroot strawberry crowns (36). I bought 100 crowns plus got 100 free due to a shipping error and I am slowly working my way through them (they “live” in the refrigerator before I plant them). I swear I must have planted 200 by now though. Either I’m wrong or they are breeding in the fridge.
- Peas (shelling)
- Spinach
- Grapes, one Thompson seedless and one Crimson seedless.
2. Harvest something:
- Broccoli
- Peas. I harvested enough for a pasta dish but they never even made it more than 2 feet from the plant once Thomas discovered them. He gobbled them up like candy and delighted in opening the pods and counting the little green pearls within. I have to agree that they were, by far, the tastiest peas I have ever eaten.
- A few strawberries
3. Preserve something:
- Vegetable Stock (14 cups, frozen). It probably sounds like I make an insane amount of vegetable stock but we use 1 – 6 cups a week so I have to keep up with the demand.
- Lemon juice (6 cups, frozen). I got a big “free” bag of lemons in trade for some iris rhizomes and terra cotta pots I posted on craigslist.
4. Prep something:
- Ordered a solar rechargeable battery and electronics charger.
- Ordered seed potatoes, herb seedlings, leek seedlings, and more wigwam grips.
5. Cook something new:
- Strawberry cupcakes. Verdict: pretty good, albeit, a bit dense and not enough strawberry flavor.
- A potato and broccoli aloo. Very good. Nice and spicy and we even got Thomas to try it.
6. Manage your reserves:
- Added refried beans to my massive canned bean stockpile.
7. Work on local food systems:
- Need to work on this one.
I did not put together a menu for the next couple of weeks. The pregnancy nausea is somewhat better, but it is still really difficult to predict what I might want to eat in advance. So I picked up a whole bunch of staples at the grocery store for our favorite meals and I’ll just wing it for now.
February 9th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Oh, look! You’re still doing Sharon’s challenge. Great! I haven’t posted one of these in ages, but we owe a lot, here, to the year we started paying more attention by doing Independence Days. She really knows how to motivate.
If you’re growing food, I’d say you are working on local food systems. Especially if you feed someone besides your own family. or give away or trade any seeds or plants.
Good pics. And you’re growing your family. I’m a little jealous there; ours have all grown up and moved away …
risa b