Friday preparedness

Henceforth to be known as Independence Days Update.

Rather than inventing (and forgetting) my own categories this week, I'm going to rely on the rubric for the Independence Days challenge as I do my weekly review. Unfortunately, the first few categories will be somewhat lacking since it's high winter here, but I still think it's a useful way of thinking about what I'm doing.

1. Planted something: not so much here - there's snow, and the ground is frozen; but, I have started some sprouts for salads and, although it's expensive and does require power, I'm looking into one of those little aero garden things for my counter, so I can grow inside through the winter; I'm also looking into low-light things that can be grown inside, but not finding much.

2. Harvested something: harvested the dried leaves from my dead basil plant (not enough sun in here for it to survive the winter, which is a shame); gathered squash and apple seeds from some grocery-store produce - I don't know if these will germinate (it's questionable, at best), but they were there and I thought it might be worth a shot.

3. Preserved something: dried celery, spinach, and kale in the dehydrator.

4. Stored something: extra oats and brown sugar; bottle of iron pills; 250 multi-vitamins; bottle of hydrogen peroxide; bottled 12 litres of water in recycled bottles; bought a second-hand washboard and manual grinder.

5. Prepped something: Reorganized the kitchen to accomodate extra food; worked on knit fingerless gloves; decluttered to make more room for the necessities; replaced remaining regular lights with CFLs; prepped egg cartons for sprouting plants in the spring.

6. Cooked something new: barbequed potatoes and carrots (from the More with Less Cookbook - yum!); looking into more recipes to try - I mostly have favourites that I turn to again and again.

7. Worked on community food systems: not so much here either, other than talking to a friend about food issues; still hoping to join the local food co-op after break, though.

8. Managed my reserves - started a record of what's on hand, since I keep losing track as more food stores come in; currently sorting through food brought over by my temporary houseguest, to see what's still good to keep and what's not.

9. Learned a new skill - haven't actually started yet (mostly because there were cats on my counters for much of the last week), but I've been reading "Putting Food By" in preparation for preserving; learning how to effectively use a washboard for laundry; experimenting with grinding grain to add to bread; got a new rank in aikido - still not so good for self-defense, but better.