Independence Days Week #24

Plant something:
- started new batch of sprouts

Harvest:
- sprouts
- elderberries (A fellow Transition Ottawa member knew of my interest in herbal medicine and of my elderberry preparations. He let me know that the cohousing community he lives in had an elder tree in the backyard that no one was harvesting. He offered the berries to me and I was only too happy and grateful to take him up on the offer!)
- Another wonderful gift, my mom harvested some Solomon's seal for me
- basil, parsley and sage
- carrots, beets, chard and more sage from my mom's garden

Preserve something:
- delicious elderberry syrup!
- tinctured basil, sage and Solomon's seal
- put parsley into vinegar

Waste not:
- I store my emergency water supplies by reusing the plastic jugs my white vinegar comes in (and other 2 and 4L jugs I find). Because I don't want to store water long term in plastic I change the water every 4-6 months. I did that last week, but of course I didn't waste the old water by pouring it down the drain. It went into the washing machine for a load of laundry.
- traveled by bus to mom's place for Thanksgiving weekend
- used carrot top and beet greens

Want not:
- the ADGMD was kind enough to pick up two second hand yoga blocks for me, from a seller on UsedOttawa
- my Oma handed down to me her kraut pounder that my Opa made for her many years ago (In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, I will be gushing about this heirloom in an upcoming post.)

Preparation and Storage:
- refilled my emerg. water supplies and added 6L to it
- Physical exercise: I only did yoga once last week. Yikes! Normally I do yoga at least 3 times a week, often 5. However I did a fair amount of biking and walking. Still, I definitely need to spend more time on the mat.

Build Community Food Systems:
- this week the local food came from the Barrie Farmer's market where my mom, the ADGMD and I picked up some yummy local treats for Thanksgiving

Eat the food:
- sprout and sauerkraut salad
- shredded carrot and beet salad
- sautéed chard, carrot top and beet greens
- honey and butter glazed carrots

Use the Medicine:
- I was definitely fighting something off last week, because by Wednesday I was feeling very rundown, achy and had no energy. I got home from work that day, made a beeline for the couch and dozed off almost immediately. I pretty much stayed there for the rest of the evening. I used my elderflower tincture, elderberry syrup, mallow flower syrup, made a hot drink with my garlic infused honey and cayenne pepper, got lots of fluids into me and called it an early night. Thankfully whatever was going on never developed into a full blown illness and I was able to enjoy the weekend feeling healthy and well.