Independence days: Week 8

Plant something: Potting up more herbs to transport down to Tom at the townhouse- lemongrass, rosemary, curry plant to name a few.
Potted up some geranium cuttings I took in town and some bunya seeds too.
Planting the years garlic.

Harvest something: eggs,herbs, rocket, beans, strawberries,tomatoes and zucchini .
The turkeys below will be 'harvested' next week.

Preserve something: just freezing leftovers this week.

Waste not: The usual scraps to the chooks, worms and compost.

Want not: Reading a lot and gathering up inspiration and ideas to tweak for us. I have quite a few pallets to make in to something 'new' for the farm.
I really do want for nothing, I have everything I need.

Eat the food: Meals at home have been varied this week. Chilli, curry, stir fry and a couple of soups. Baking morning tea treats and also some meringues as a special last day of school term treat for Grace and her friends.

Building Community: I have been a homebody this week and haven't done much community building at all. I am taking part in EarthHour tonight and I have decided to host an Australia's Biggest Morning Tea at home this year to be held in May.

Skill Up: Honing my soap making skills or lack there of.

Also skilling up on weeding. My absence from the farm has meant that although the plants are fine and dandy, they are just crowded by weeds but every day I am making a little progress.

Independence days is hosted by Sharon if you would like to read about other's efforts or even share your own.

Tracy

Independence Days

Plant something: Planted up pots of herbs and row of lavenders at the townhouse for Tom. The pots were left behind by the previous occupants and I took the plants from here on the farm.

Sowing seeds for winter goodness, turnips at the top of the list.

Harvest something: Since we have been home, we have been harvesting like crazy. There are a lot of tomatoes to get through and the sheep and poultry have been enjoying the glut.
Also harvesting beans, rocket, chillies, herbs. flowers, parsnips
Preserve something: tomatoes into tomato sauce.

Waste not: Composting, feeding the worm farms and treating the livestock to some garden abundance. They love it.

Eat the food: The good part of our trip away was that because it is our place, we can still cook our meals just like at home. We took produce from the farm and cooked it there supplemented with locally bought ingredients.

The homemade/homegrown highlight of the week was the parsnip soup we had last night with the poppy and carraway seed crackers. Icheat a little and use a pasta machine to roll the cracker dough thinly. Not to the thinnest setting or the seeds rip holes in the dough (trust me I know this).

Building community: Well I should be in Nundle today building community with the sewing girls but circumstances were against that. Not to waste the opportunity of a glorious autumn day though I have been gardening to my hearts delight.
Tonight we will be switching off the lights for Earth Hour and having a candle lit dinner with our own homemade candles.

Skill Up: I have been working diligently on my granny squares and learning new variations to make more intricate patterns.

My workplace, I love it.

The Independence Days Challenge is organised by Sharon. It is a great place to garner ideas and inspiration.
Tracy

Independence Days Update #3-5

With travel being high on my agenda these last few weeks I have kept up-to-date with the Independence Days updates but here is my attempt for this week. The idea comes from Sharon and there are always some great blogs to discover from fellow Independence Days followers.

I am out of batteries on my camera too so unfortunately there are no pictures to go along with todays post. I have been surprised this week to find out how attached I am to my camera and picture taking.

Plant something: cauliflower, Brussell's sprouts, cabbage, purple sprouting broccoli and regular green broccoli. All planted in the mini greenhouse.

Harvest something: zucchini, tomatoes and beans mostly.

Preserve something: Freezing grated zucchini from the ones that got away from us and in an effort to do something with the tomatoes when time was short, I slow roasted a couple of kilo's with salt, pepper and white wine for a rich sauce and froze it to use with gnocci later on.

Waste not: Regular composting and scrap feeding to poultry and worms.

Want not: I do really want a new car as mine is in need of some work which is just not worth the expense but we are going to make do with one car which will require some careful shuffling and very likely some early morning starts for me and the girls.

Eat the food: having been away for most of last week it was great to be at home to cook and dine. We have been eating mostly from the garden which is having a flush of autumn growth. Baking has been on the agenda too- honey pear cake and biscuits/cookies.

Building community: Giving away some surplus eggs and tomatoes. Free food definitely fosters good community relations.

Skill up: Crocheting granny squares beyond the basic square. I have added flowers and other fancy stitches to my repertoire.

Tracy

Independence Days Update #2

Independence Days is hosted by Sharon.

Plant something: Just seeds for the winter garden.

Harvest something: The usual summer bounty just in much less quantity than usual. The weather has warmed up over the last couple of days but it may be that it is too late for some things to ripen before the cooler weather arrives.

Preserve something: Freezing leftovers. With my son being away from home now for university I have to adjust my cooking quantities. I had never realised how much one teenage boy must eat until he wasn't there.

Waste not: Compost, worms,poultry have all taken care of the scraps this week.I am a bit ashamed to admit I have wasted a bit of time this week watching My Kitchen Rules on television.

Want not: collecting a few items for the above mentioned son to use in his new dwelling.

Eat the food: We had to eat a couple of meals on the road this week because Tim and I had a quick trip to Sydney. But on the home front we have been enjoying pasta, salads, bread, soup and tonight a beef and Guiness pie courtesy of a tweaked recipe from Jamie at Home. I have also been baking quite a bit.

Building Community: I have changed my entry from building community food systems to just building community, it works better for me. Although I didn't do anything that felt like I was contributing to the community, I did get to enjoy the market in Sydney where there seems to be a thriving community of people eager for fresh produce at a good price.

I did join a group of online crocheters to swap granny squares and a group which makes bags to help eradicate the ubiquitous plastic bag. So a little bit of community activity.

Skill Up: Looking at things that I might be able to do to improve our financial situation and make us that little more independent.

Tracy

Independence Days Update #1

Independence days comes from here.

Plant something: Nothing at all but I am going to set out some seeds this afternoon for winter vegies.

Harvest something: Eggs, tomatoes, basil, other herbs, rocket and strawberries. The garden is really suffering from the cool, wet season with less bounty than usual.

Preserve something: No long term preserving just some soup for the freezer. Ham bones were cheap this week so I bought one even though we usually only have split pea and ham soup once a year.

Waste not: Unfortunately some strawberries went completely to waste. Our weather has produced ideal conditions for rotting. Nothing to be done with these, I'm not sure even the chickens would want them.

Want not: I have been offered a couple of bags of wheat courtesy of my dad. The chickens will be grateful and I am grateful that I don't have to buy some of the poultry rations for a while. Mum and Dad always get fresh eggs from us so no one is missing out.

Eat the food: There has been a fair amount of baking going on (school lunch boxes make it necessary). I still have a few dozen eggs in the fridge but between cakes, biscuits and the odd egg on toast we are getting through them. I did make something new last night, Harissa, tomato and garlic chicken which was delicious if a little spicy. Today I will be making pasta for lasagne.

Building Community: No, I just can't think what to do here.

Skill Up: I'm sure I do learn something new everyday but I don't think I have developed any new skills worth mentioning.
Tracy