Independence Days Challenge - Week 15

Plant something: I have started onions, broccoli, kale (1st time growing), cauliflower, peppers, lupines (from saved seeds), red & green cabbage. As soon as I complete this post I am off to plant more.

Harvest something: Cilantro & dill will be harvested by the end of the week. Sap is flowing from the maple trees.

Store Something: barley, spices, really nothing to speak of. Today I plan to make up some pizza dough and freeze several batches.


Manage Reserves: Consolidated everything into one freezer. A couple times a week I go "freezer shopping". Sure beats going to the grocery store but we are still very dependent on that.

Cook something new: Nothing nutritious but fun to make. Last night Luke & I made Stickjaw For Talkative Parents from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He brought the recipe home from school yesterday.


Here is the recipe if anyone wants to do with your kids or grandchildren.


Supplies: piping bag with nozzle

baking sheet lined with baking parchment

2 egg whites

a pinch of salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 pkg. toffee or carmel candy

food coloring (optional)


1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees

2. Whisk the egg whites and salt together

3. Gradually whisk in the sugar until the meringue mixture is very stiff and shiny.

4. Spoon the meringue mixture into the piping bag (with nozzle in place)

5. Pipe a little meringue onto the lined sheet. Rest a candy on top and cover completely with more meringue. (method is to pipe like you were putting soft serve ice cream onto a cone... that circular motion)

6. Bake for 1 hour or until dry and crisp. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

*We added green food coloring to spice things up for St. Patty's day.

This week I also made a new blueberry muffin recipe that was very tasty. It called for lemon yogurt and I only had plain so I added a dash of lemon extract.


I am interested in hearing from others on how they cook with barley. This grain is something I have not used much except in soups.

Reduce Wastes: I dropped my old square Nokia cell phone in the dish water a few days ago and I was sure it was ruined. I placed it in a bag of rice (MM's idea, he's such a smarty pants) and 2 days later my phone was fully functioning. We also recycled a cell phone given to me by my buddy Mary. MM now has a phone that works all the time and it holds a charge longer that 5 minutes. I could not tell you the last time I renewed my cell phone plan. It drives Mary nuts that I do not renew and get new phones. For me it is not all about the money although I try to be a conscious spender. It is more about using things up until there nonfunctional.

Learn a new skill: Not sure if this is a skill but we learned how to tap Maple trees. This weekend we will boil it all down and learn to make sap. Here is one of the websites I used as a reference it anyone is interested. I am keeping a tally of the sap we gather on the side bar under my harvest keeper. We will see how much syrup we get in the end. Hopefully enough for a pancake breakfast. The ratio is something like 40 gallons of sap = 1 gallon of syrup. We are obviously not doing this for the quantity but for the experience.

I also have bought the supplies (camouflage fabric) to make these blinds for Luke's room. I found the link posted at Like Merchant Ships. If you are interested in frugal living & creative ideas this is a blog you must visit.

Work on community food security: I am planting, planting...running out of space. Very excited for this years garden. I just signed up to be a part of a forum based out of Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association called Eat Maine Foods.

Regenerate what is lost: There is very little food waste in the house between rabbits, chickens, pigs, and dogs. I do not even have scraps for my compost pile anymore :(

Not sure which category this may fall under but recently a made a window cleaner that I finally like.

1 cup water

1 cup rubbing alcohol

dash orange essetial oil, dash orange coloring

Independence Days- week 12

Plant Something: The naughty kittens destroyed the lettuce & basil I planted a few weeks ago. The only thing I have started is 4 sweet potatoes. We were successful growing them last year so I figured we'd try it again this year.

Harvest Something: The dill and cilantro are almost ready. We harvest sprouts weekly. I bought a bio-set sprouter from Johnny's last year after seeing it on Angie's blog, Children in the Corn.

Store Something: 50lbs of bread flour, 5 lbs dry kidney beans, 5 lbs Maine shrimp, 2 lbs elk meat.

Manage Reserves: Reserves are getting depleted. I will be consolidating 2 freezers into 1.

Poultry: I cooked up the last turkey but I was able to cut up and store several bags for upcoming meals. We have several chickens left but no worry more chicks will be arriving soon.

Beef: We are almost out deer meat. This is the first time ever that our supply is this low so early into the year. I admit I took for granted having deer meat so readily available in past years. Maybe next season I will put in a bit more time in the woods....I say that every year.

Pork: We are almost out. We have two sows that we plan to breed in the next month or so.

Canned goods: Mustard pickles and pickled beets are all we have left. This year I plan to put up more goods. I am shopping for a pressure canner. What do you all use? Any and all suggestions welcome.

Root vegetables: Remaining are 2 spaghetti squash, 3 lbs carrots, 3-4lbs potatoes, plenty of onions and garlic.

Frozen vegetables/fruit: Blueberries, tomatoes (which I will not freeze again next year), edamame beans, corn on the cob.

Cook something new: The last two experiments I attempted ended up in the pig trough. I made a crock pot lemon cake that came out soupy. I then attempted to make a sourdough starter and my first loaf was like a brick and I chucked my "mother sponge" because I neglected to feed her.

Prep Something: Slowly working at getting a pantry stocked up...I have cleaned and organized the area FINALLY (today). Now I just need to decide what I want to stock it with. Ideas welcome here too for those of you have well stocked pantries.

Reduce Wastes: I have been picking recyclables out of the trash that MM throws away...ARGGGG! Saving glass jars and reusing them in the pantry to-be. Using my reusable shopping bags whenever I remember them.

Learn a new skill: No new skills aquired.

Work on communiy food security: After much research on co-ops I have opted not to start one up. Much of the food that is provided is what we grow or raise. It is not worth the added resposibility I would have. This place alone is more than enough work for me.

I have also been buying much more from local business owners.

Regeneate what is lost: We put our wood ashes into the garden.

Independence Days Challenge- Week 7

For the last year I have been reading Touch the Earth Farm and I enjoy all her posts but I was always entrigued by her Independence Days Challenge lists. Today as I was blog browsing I saw that My Freezer is Full is also doing this challenge and the lightbulb went on and I have decided to do it! I may not update weekly but I'll try.

Here goes..........

Plant Something: As I posted before basil (which the cats have already destroyed), dill, cilantro, lettuce, cukes.

Harvest Something: eggs? and mung bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts

Store Something: nothing unless making up my weekly jar of pickled eggs & making my monthly batch of laundry detergent counts.

Manage Reserves: Used up potatoes, squash, onions, and garlic from root cellar and from the freezer we took out and consumed chicken, deer hamburg and steak, pork chops & bacon, tomatoes, zuchhini, green beans, and corn on the cob, and bread flour.

Cook something new: I made an Angel Food cake that was "the bomb" per MM. If you have lots of eggs handy this is a great recipe to use them for and it is low in calories. I just used a recipe from Betty Crocker's cook book.

Prep Something: I am prepping an area for a pantry and MM has been prepping lots of pine boards.

Reduce Wastes: I have FINALLY started to officially recycle and my plan is to get some reusable shopping bags and keep a stash of them in the car I drive most.

Learn a new skill: I have been learning to cook and eat healthier. I also continue to do the weekly photo challenge striving to be better behind the lens.

Work on communiy food security: I recenly attended a work shop on co-ops and I hope to get one started.

Regeneate what is lost: this is a tricky one and can be answered in many ways. My piggies are making lots of poo for a future garden plot...does that count? They are regenerating the earth to grow a bountiful crop.