Independence Days Week #30

30 weeks. Seven and half months. 210 days.

In the last 210 days I have planted and tended to a garden. I ate and preserved the harvest and shared some with friends. I connected with other gardeners who freely shared their bounty with me.

I learned that many of the plants that people call weeds are wonderful sources of free and nutritious food. Many of these plants and more are medicine. I now make my own medicine. Significant sections of my home have the look of an herbwyfe's apothecary. This gladdens my heart.

I make friends with anaerobic beasties, invite them into my home and ask them to stay awhile. They get real intimate with milk, cabbage and cukes and the resulting transformation is nothing short of alchemy.

I collect all manner of glass jars. Mason, pint, quart, corked, brown, blue, tall and short. I have a thing for cool stone crocks, simple hand tools and aprons.

I have a well stocked pantry, medicine chest, water supplies. My cupboards are filled with local goodies, homemade jams, pickled beets, dried beans. Squashes lurk amongst fruit butters and piles of books.

I have neatly stacked linens and cloth. Napkins, lacy handkerchiefs, scarves for gift wrapping. Wool blankets, cozy throws. Rags, pee wipes.

My craft section has grown. I have baskets of thrifted yarn, crochet cotton, my great grandmother's crochet hooks, embroidery hoops, ribbons, buttons, baubles and beads.

I look around and see that so much of the stuff of my life has been handed down, salvaged from the trash or purchased from yard sales, thrift shops, community stores and church bazaars. My place is small but if you came to visit me I could take you on a tour that would last for hours as I recounted the story that comes with many of the pieces that make up my home. Nearly everything has a history and tale to tell, much longer than your average trip from the foreign factory to cargo ship to big box store to trunk of car and the ride home.

All together it makes for a rather mismatched and quirky sort of place. My tastes run eclectic and my sense of aesthetics and lifestyle habits certainly aren't for everyone. But that's ok, because I'm doing much of this for me out of sheer pleasure and soul biggering joy and that suits me just fine. And when I come home, I enter into a cozy world, a haven well used and much loved and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Here is my last Independence Days update for this season.

Plant something:
- sprouts

Harvest something:
- dandelions

Preserve something:
- dandelion root tincture
- sauerkraut
- made and froze grape juice
- drying rosemary and thyme

Waste not:
- fair trade coffee in travel mug
- Indian takeout in reusable containers from the small family owned biryani restaurant in my neighbourhood

Want not:
- borrowed movies from the library
- gifts and things from church bazaar

Preparation and storage:
- final clean up of the kitchen and allotment gardens
- added popping corn, olive oil and 8l water to supplies
- storing local cabbage and squash
- added sterile gauze pads to medicine chest
- purchased hot water bottle
Exercise: yoga three times, biked to library and back, walked to farmer's market and half way back

Build community food systems:
- local food from farmer's market
- attended fundraiser for the Otesha Project (educating youth on the value of supporting local growers and buying local food being one of the many awesome things they do)

Eat the food:
- used some pumpkin puree in a soup
- currant jam is lovely on oats with walnuts and raisins

Take the medicine:
- elderberry syrup
- yarrow tincture
- nettle and dandelion vinegars
- sage honey
- plantain tincture
- daisy tincture
- cultivated American ginseng root

Independence Days Week #29

A thorough cleaning and organising fit on Friday. A full day at my herb course on Saturday and a birthday party for a friend later that night. Cake, dancing, singing. A sleep-in morning on Sunday followed by a bike ride to the farmer's market. Returning home laden with squash, cabbage, kale, chard, grapes and herbs. Heading right back out again on the bike, to the allotments. A light drizzle. Grey sky. So mild I don't need gloves. Digging in the dirt for dandelion leaves and roots. Nothing but the sound of the Alta Vista crows caw cawing overhead.
My garden gloves thick with wet, loamy dirt. Rhythmically banging clods and roots on the ground. Stuffing leaves in my sac. Rain falls harder. Time to go. Back home again at dusk. Boil and strain the grapes for juice. Scrub the roots. Wash the leaves. Make dinner for the ADGMD and I. Homemade mac 'n cheese with pumpkin and sage. Comfort food. So good. Curl up on the couch. Dozing to the sound of the ADGMD doing dishes. Work left to be done. It can wait. I am content. I am at peace. Savour this moment while it lasts. I am at peace.

Plant something:
- nope

Harvest something:
- dandelion leaves and roots

Preserve something:
- comfrey root liniment and oil
- dandelion root tincture
- dandelion leaf vinegar
- parsley leaf vinegar
- made grape juice

Waste not:
- mended a pair of stockings
- wrapped a birthday gift (second hand book) in a cloth scarf

Want not:
- salvaged window screen, to use for drying herbs
- herbal tea from a fellow herbal student who was cleaning out her cupboards and giving the teas away

Preparation and Storage:
- added more local squash to my squash basket (My plan is to store one squash per week for the winter months.)
- crocheting xmas gifts
Exercise: yoga 3 times, 2hr bike ride around the city, bike to farmer's market and garden

Build community food systems:
- local food from the farmer's market

Eat the food:
- currant jam
- J 'chokes and mung bean sprouts
- pumpkin and sage mac & cheese

Take the medicine:
- nettle, dandelion vinegars
- parsley infusion
- yarrow tincture
- plantain syrup
- rosemary tea

Independence Days Week #28

I went to two Church bazaars this weekend. I arrived early at the first one. Already a small line had formed up the stairs leading into the basement, so I took my place and waited with the others, on the landing. An elderly lady arrived with a walker. Someone held the door so she could come in, another person carried her walker to the bottom of the stairs. There was general agreement that she be allowed in early so she didn`t have to stand and wait. A gentleman offered his arm and with his support and the railing she navigated the stairs safely and entered the church basement. A few minutes later a volunteer opened the door and welcomed us with a warm smile. We slowly shuffled into the large room to check out the attic treasures, preserves, baked goods, silent auction and handcrafts. There was lots of friendly chatter and laughter. Children beelined excitedly to the toy area and secret, kids only shopping area. I spent just under $30, came away with 12 different gifts and a few items for me. On my way out, unlocking my bike with my baskets full, I stopped to chat with a man with Down`s Syndrome who proudly showed me the VHS movies he got.

Remember the Wal-mart worker who got trampled to death last year? That was such a sad and tragic story of a completely unnecessary death of another human being, caused by people desperate to go shopping.

I think a lot about the kind of world I want to live in, the kind of world that I have a part in creating. When I reflect on the death of that Wal-mart worker and my church bazaar experience, it is so clear to me that I want to do what I can to bring into being a world where a gentleman offers his arm to an elderly lady and helps her down the stairs, a world where someone opens the door with a welcoming smile and where the acquisition of a few second-hand movies is worth stopping and talking proudly about, with a stranger.

At the risk of getting up on my soapbox here I would ask that, this season, as you look for gifts for your loved ones, perhaps you can stop for a moment and ask yourself what kind of world are you bringing into being by getting and giving those gifts?

(The above text is cross-posted here.)

Plant something:
- started a new batch of mung bean sprouts
- the ADGMD planted a few garlic cloves our garden neighbour gave us

Harvest something:
- dandelion leaves and flowers!
- comfrey root (for sore muscle liniment)

Preserve something:
- froze the last of the plum butter, since there wasn't enough to make it worthwhile to set up the canner

Waste not:
- avoided a lot of packaging waste and resource use by buying gifts and other items at church bazaars

Want not:
- got many second hand and hand crafted gifts at the bazaars, plus a number of household items for myself! (15 gifts for others, 10 'gifts' for me, for just under $40.)
- scored an awesome, arc floor lamp put out to the curb, just down the street from my place (I meant to take and post a picture of it but forgot to, so please take a moment to visualise lighting awesomeness!)
- borrowed caulking gun from a friend in a nearby neighbourhood

Preparation and storage:
- caulked around 3 of my drafty basement windows
- exercise: yoga 4 times, took the long way to and from work a couple of times, biked to farmer's market and garden

Build community food systems:
- local food from farmer's market

Eat the food:
- plum butter on oats
- dandelion flowers in pancakes, with plum butter
- roasted Jerusalem artichokes
- stir fried chard
- dandelion leaves and flowers in soup

Take the medicine:
- sage and rosemary tea
- violet flower syrup
- wild carrot tincture
- plantain tincture
- elderberry syrup

Independence Days Week #27

For the last few weeks I kept thinking that this week will be my last Independence Days update until the spring, because as the fall progresses, frosty nights become the rule rather than the exception and the sun sets earlier each day, surely there must be little productivity left in the land and not much to do or tell.

Yet I am continually surprised at what I manage to accomplish (through no particular talents or gifts of my own, besides determination and perhaps not knowing any better) and now after having 3 seasons of gardening under my belt, I'm glad to let go of the illusion that growing, harvesting and eating only happens between Victoria and Labour day.

I didn't plant anything this week, but I was able to:

Harvest something:
- a wee bit of chard that have survived the frosts
- my last, not quite fully formed cabbage, but it'll do
- a handful of Jerusalem artichokes

Preserve something:
- plum butter

Waste not:
- returned egg cartons and milk bottles to organic market
- dish and laundry soap refills
- making another batch of egg shells in vinegar for a calcium supplement
- made bread

Want not:
- movies from the library (Old Joy and Short Cuts) and the Transition Handbook
- second hand hallowe'en costume
- salvaged a plastic sword and scythe left behind at the hallowe'en party- nice editions to my tickle trunk!
- took a lamp a neighbour was giving away

Preparation and storage:
- added some masks to medical supplies
- added canned veg. chili and sunflower seed butter to food storage pantry
- decanted and stored oils, tinctures and dried sage
- exercise: yoga 4 times, biked to market and garden

Build community food systems:
- local food from farmer's market
- gave away some plum butter to neighbours

Eat the food:
- pear butter
- used pesto and peas from the freezer in pasta

Take the medicine:
- plantain tincture
- wild carrot tincture
- violet flower syrup
- nettle and egg shell oxymel
- rosemary tea

Independence Days Week #26

I've had half a bottle of VQA wine tonight, just 'cause. I've been drinking a fair bit of wine lately. Oh it's much less than I used to before I went all certified yogini, now just a glass or two (or half a bottle) here and there, but certainly more than I'm used to these days. This whole herbal obsession has got me thinking it's medicinal so I'll mull it over and add a splash of elderberry syrup and call it flu prevention. Still, it's an expensive habit and has a high water footprint.

Why am I telling you this? Possibly because I am tipsy and my self-censoring is low or maybe I feel the need to air my dirty laundry, confess my little peccadilloes and own up to my faux pas, if only to show how totally not even remotely close to perfect I am and yet I carry on, try my damnedest to do better and still have the nerve to identify myself as a passionate and devoted environmentalist/homesteader/simple living/frugalish type person.

Dear God, let these things and the occasional glass of wine be not mutually exclusive.

Last week the ADGMD and I went out to dinner to make our lives easier so we could get to an important talk on how to address peak oil and climate change. We didn't think ahead, and as usual ordered more food than we could eat and ended up with a whack load of styrofoam and plastic to take home. I made him hide the evidence in his bag before we showed up to the talk.

We went to the movies on Friday night (a live scored viewing of F.W. Murnau's Faust which was most awesome) and the ADGMD remembered to bring a container for his popcorn, so that's something.

And so now with a slightly guilty, mostly pleasurable buzz at 10pm on a Monday night I share with you...

Plant something:
- red clover sprouts
- horseradish (The damn squirrels dug up my evening primrose and mint that I planted last week. They tried again this week with the horseradish. One small root crown lay on top of the dirt. Thank goodness for pungency, even if it did make me think I might never be able to open my eyes again last week while grating the horseradish.)

Harvest something:
- rosemary
- sprouts

Preserve something:
- pear butter
- drying rosemary and sage
- sage honey

Waste not:
- made bread

Want not:
- medium size pyrex bowl, plate that fits my stone crock and an abridged copy of The Golden Bough from St. Vincent de Paul
- two dresses, one top, face cloths, bowl with a spout and utensils from Value Village

Preparation and storage:
- decanted infused oils, vinegars and tinctures started in the summer
Exercise:
- yoga three times, biking, walked to movies and back

Build community food systems:
- farmer's markets
- donated local delicata squash to food bank

Eat the food:
- ate some pickled beets and the last of my fermented pickles straight out of the jar, at the counter, for dinner one night. Good! (Note to self: Plant way more cucumbers next year. Make waaaaay more fermented pickles with said cukes.)
- beet greens and chard with pasta
- apple mint honey over oats, raisins and yogurt

Take the medicine:
- creeping charlie vinegar
- nettle vinegar
- wild carrot tincture
- sage tea
- elderberry syrup

Independence Days Week #25

Plant something:
- Evening Primrose, mint, Solomon's Seal
- sprouted red clover

Harvest something:
- 2lb 4oz cabbage
- 7oz beet greens
- 5oz chard
- horseradish

Preserve something:
- started new batch of sauerkraut
- made and froze pumpkin puree
- froze fresh, local cranberries
- drying rosemary and sage
- made horseradish honey, vinegar, brandy tincture
- rosemary vinegar

Waste not:
- bought natural soap with no packaging
- made bread
- roasted pumpkin seeds
- reused bags for food storage
- cooked lentils in sun oven

Want not:
- arranged to trade tinctures with a fellow herb student (I'm getting daisy in exchange for lemon balm and motherwort!)

Preparation and storage:
- added canned fruit and bulk raisins to pantry
Physical exercise: yoga three times, walked to library, got lots of biking in

Build community food systems:
- farmer's market

Eat the food:
- beet greens and chard in soup
- pickles and sprouts on a cheese sandwhich

Take the medicine:
- garlic honey
- eggshell vinegar and nettle honey oxymel as mineral supplement
- catnip tea and tincture for gut pain
- plantain tea for chest congestion
- violet leaf salve externally
- comfrey oil externally

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.

Independence Days Week #23

The weather was cold and rainy all week long. The forecast for the weekend called for more of the same and that's certainly how Saturday dawned, but by the time I got to the farmer's market around mid-morning, it was quite mild and the sun was making a strong effort to push through the clouds. As soon as I got home and dropped off my purchases I headed right back out again to the garden.

Biking along my usual route, noticing the fall colours, the sky, the sun and shadow, I felt touched by grace and filled with joy. It was a real gift of a day. I hadn't realised that my long absence from the garden because of the weather had left me somewhat aimless and wanting. Until that moment I hadn't realised how much meaning and purpose I derive from my small and humble efforts to work with the earth. I was struck by a deep sense of privilege to be able to do so and wished for everyone a similar experience. We should all have the honour to be more connected and responsible for the source of our food. And for all the people in the world who are burdened and toiling under back breaking effort to produce food, may my meager actions go some small way toward creating a more balanced and just world.

Plant something:
- mung bean sprouts
- garlic (My plan was to plant garlic later this month, but it worked out that I had the opportunity to plant some on the weekend. I hope to plant more in a few weeks.)

Harvest something:
- mung bean sprouts (Growing sprouts is so rewarding. You can 'plant' and 'harvest' them in mere days!)
- 5lbs of foraged acorns (The ADGMD found these acorns for me and spent about a half an hour collecting them. He's such an awesome dude! Sadly, I'm afraid I won't be able to use them. They were collected from a traffic island, surrounded by very busy roads- no doubt why there were so many as no sane squirrel would cross that death trap. The island itself is below street level and I can imagine all the years of pollutants and heavy metals washing into the green space, being taken up by the trees and into the acorns. I'm sad. I really wanted to make acorn flour.)
- 7oz of chard
- dandelions

Preserve something:
- wanted to start another batch of sauerkraut, but it'll have to wait 'till this week

Waste not:
- made flax bread from scratch
- drying corn silk
- returned milk bottles and egg cartons for reuse

Want not:
- movies and book from the library
- 2nd hand canning jars, pot holders, sweater, ointment/salve pots
- salvaged vase from the ADGMD

Preparation and Storage:
- replenished bulk rice, mung beans, popcorn
- reading The Herbal Medicine-Maker's Handbook
- did yoga 3 times last week (I'm going to start including a health and well being component to the prep and store category from now on. I think taking responsibility for one's health and wellness is an essential aspect of preparing for a post-peak oil, climate changed, financially unstable world. Also, I've been slacking off on my yoga practice lately and am slightly less active as I slow down for fall and winter and I'm hoping that this will help keep me on track.)

Build community food systems:
- the usual local food from the farmer's market

Eat the food:
- mung bean sprout and cucumber salad with oil and cilantro vinegar
- tatsoi sauteed with garlic and onions
- pickles and tomato garnish for local veg burgers
- pasta with tatsoi and chard, tomato sauce

I'm adding a sub-category here: Use the medicine
- I was feeling a little under the weather last week with a thick feeling in my throat and a heaviness in my chest so I made myself a cup of hot red wine with two tablespoons of my my elderberry in brandy tincture and a tablespoon of my mallow flower honey. I curled up under a wool blanket on the couch. Within minutes I was toasty warm from head to toe and feeling rather pleasant. The next morning all symptoms were gone, but for good measure I repeated the treatment again the next night. I took a few tablespoons of my mallow flower syrup as well. When medicine tastes and feels so good, it only makes sense!

(Follow all the other people doing the challenge over at Casaubon's Book.)

Independence Days Week #22

Plant something:
My planting for this year is done until the garlic goes in sometime late next month. However I have started sprouting seeds again, and though it's technically not exactly planting something, I think it's an important element to a more local, nutritious diet, especially for those of us in the northern hemisphere, so I'm going to include my sprouting here. This week I sprouted mung beans.

Harvest something:
- 3lbs tomatoes
- 3lb head of cabbage
- tatsoi
- chard
- pole beans
- chamomile
- cucumbers
- nettle
- mallow flowers



Preserve something:
- elderberry elixir with fresh berries from the farmer's market
- froze tomatoes
- started small batch of fermented pickles
- mallow flower syrup
- shelled and put up pole beans
- pickled beets



Waste not:
- enviro-laundry and dish soap refills
- baked bread, roasted carrots, beets, squash, cooked rice in sun oven (On Friday I managed a two dish sun oven day! The squash was done when I got home from work and there was plenty of sun left to cook some rice. The squash and carrots ended up as a delicious soup.)

Preparation and storage:
- added iodine to medicine chest
- found tinctures on sale and since tinctures last for ages I promptly picked up a few useful remedies to also add to the medicine chest
- the ADGMD picked up some candle lanterns to add to the emergency preparedness supplies

Build community food systems:
- the usual local food from the farmer's markets

Eat the food:
- tomato and basil pizza with cheese
- tatsoi, chard and nettle stir fry with rice
- cream of nettle soup
- mung bean salad
- stuffed poached egg tomatoes drizzled with basil infused oil

Independence Days Weeks #20 and #21

I missed the update last week, so this update represents two weeks worth of activities. Really, I ought to also include a 'Dependence Days' category and confess some of the high impact, wasteful things I've done.

For instance I drank bottled water in the back of stretch limo! Oh gods of depleting resources have mercy upon me. I was at a friend's wedding and the limo was a complimentary shuttle taking guests from the reception back to the hotel. The bottled water was complimentary as well, and well, I had a bit too much wine at the reception, and really needed some water. I've never been in a limo before, and I never need to be another one again, but I have to say, it was a fun indulgence!

I drank non-fair trade coffee, including some that came in a single use, plastic package that comes with the hotel room, and even though I did reduce some waste by bringing my own travel mug, utensils, napkin and reusable containers and used them whenever I could, there was still some more single use item waste.

Sadly, I didn't plan ahead and bring my own recycled wrapping paper and homemade card, so the ADGMD went out and bought tissue paper, bags and cards. (Yes, plural. He wasn't sure what was appropriate, so bought a few items to choose from. Well, I guess now I've got gift wrap supplies for a few more occasions!)

On the food waste front, I had to compost some cucumbers yesterday because I left them a day or two too long before I turned them into pickles and they went mouldy. I managed to salvage enough for a small batch of pickles, so it wasn't a total loss, but I was disappointed no less. I hate to waste food.

It all just goes to show how easy it is to be more wasteful and impactful when you're out of your usual routine, unprepared or pressed for time. I'm chalking it up as lessons learned and am resolved to do better in similar future situations.

So, onto what I did do for the challenge.

Harvest something:
- 1.5lbs cucumbers, 5lbs tomatoes, 1.5lbs pole beans, chard, purslane, chamomile, thyme, oregano

Preserve something:
- canned plums
- drying herbs
- blanched and froze dandelion, tomatoes
- shelled dry beans

Waste not:
- gave consignment store gift to a 4yr old boy, (grocery store attachment for his wooden train set) wrapped in a silk scarf that had stars and planets on it (will reuse the scarf)
- carpooled to out of town wedding with friends
- brought own food for car trip to avoid having to buy processed, packaged, fast food
- tired to reduce single use item waste as much as possible by bringing own cutlery, containers, travel mug etc. on trip
- rehung towels for reuse in the hotel room

Want not:
- wore second hand dress (gorgeous, $8 dress that got compliments!) and shoes to wedding
- garden neighbour gave me a big bunch of Lebanese dandelion
- another garden neighbour gave me two and half pounds of potatoes
- my herbal teacher gave me a pizza tray
- I picked up a fancy glass jar at a consignment store that I'll use for an herbal vinegar gift
- I bought new underwear! I've been making do with the underwear I've had since, oh geez, before my nothing new year started. Most things held up considerably well, but enough unmentionables were getting ratty enough that it was time to break down and make the new purchase. I found a reasonably priced, good quality, made in Canada brand that carries a line of gitch made from bamboo. I bought two pairs of nickers and a bra. Woo hoo!

Preparation and storage:
- bought beets for pickling and I'll be doing that this week

Build community food systems:
- the usual local food from the farmer's markets

Eat the food:
- cucumber salad
- salsa
- roasted potatoes
- roasted tomatoes
- chard

Independence Days Week #19

I have four full jars of plums and honey sitting on my counter above which, two big bunches of fennel leaves and mint are drying. The herbs were a gift from a garden neighbour. She's unbelievably generous with her produce. I've also received arm loads of chard and dandelion from her.

I used a bit of fennel to flavour deviled eggs (local, free range and organic of course!) Some of the fresh mint went into the stuffed grape leaves I made using this recipe. The tomatoes, grape leaves and oregano came from my garden. The rice cooked in the sun oven.

I served these dishes to friends I had invited to a harvest garden party at my plot. I also served a fresh tomato and basil salad. The guests picked the tomatoes and basil themselves. We snacked on fermented pickles while eying the cucumber plants they came from. We drank iced tea that had infused in the sun. For desert we savoured an apple cheese cake from the farmer's market and hunks of crusty bread with butter and home canned jam. Light jazz and classical music played quietly from the wind up radio. Some people met for the first time. By the end of the party they were friends exchanging contact information.

After the last guests left, the ADGMD and I lay under the cherry tree soaking up the late afternoon sun before washing up the dishes, gathering the cloth napkins and composting some cardboard and food scraps. There was very little waste. We packed up everything else on our bikes. For the ride home I tuned in to the oldies radio station and strapped the radio securely to the front basket. We held hands and sang along as we biked down the tree lined streets, green and golden in the falling light.

These rich days of early autumn are fulsome. I am surrounded by abundance. Each moment is filled with countless gifts. I am provided for. A basket and wooden rolling pin for a quarter at a garage sale. Free curbside finds including a hallow e'en mask to hang up in the pole beans to try and deter birds and thieves, a hose attachment that now lets me water my kohl rabi patch with ease, a picture frame and a cooler bag that fits perfectly into my front basket. With a couple of freezer packs, the cooler bag kept my food fresh for the party. From now on, I'll use it this way for my harvests. Friends gift me with their saved jars and bottles. One friend passed on empty jars for salves, lotions and balms. What a treasure!

The best gift of all: worm poo. A friend who lives in an apartment has a vermicomposter, but with no garden and not sure what to do with the compost, she asked me for advice. "I'll take it!", I said. She scooped up the poop into plastic tubs and brought it to the garden. Forget fancy bling and bric-a-brac, compost is this girl's best friend, and I couldn't be more touched by my friend's thoughtfulness and effort.

There have been losses too. Life's not perfect after all. Sadly, many gardeners, friends and neighbours included, have been victims of theft and vandalism. Whole crops of garlic, beans and tomatoes disappeared. Sun shades slashed. I saw a row of sunflowers lopped off at their stalks or ripped right out of the ground. Two rows of storage sheds burnt to cinder and ashes. My shed was damaged by the fire but left standing. We lost a blanket and my sun hat. My baskets and the handles of our tools are charred, tempered by the flames, and I like to think they are stronger now for it.

These things add bitter to the sweet. It's discouraging but not defeating. If anything it only serves to firm my resolve to live this way and make these choices. Now I talk to every gardener I pass. I share information, spread the advice given to us by the community police officer. I introduce myself and make the effort to meet others, to create community and raise awareness. I take nothing for granted and I am grateful for everything. I am especially grateful for the people in my life, those not so well known and those as familiar as family. Thank you for you and thank you for letting me share this with you.

Harvest something:
- violets, nettle, grape leaves, cucumbers, tomatoes, chard, chamomile, basil, chard, oregano, parsley

Preserve something:
- plums in brandy, currant jelly
- egg shells in ACV, nettles in ACV
- nettles, pineapple sage and apple mint infusing in honey
- another batch of fermented pickles
- froze another jar of tomato sauce
- drying herbs

Waste not:
- used sun oven for rice, eggplant, black beans
- made sun tea
- lots of biking

Want not:
- received chard, fennel, canning jars, containers for balms, salves etc.
- worm poop!!
- salvaged picture frame, hose, cooler bag, anti bird and garden thieves hallow e'en mask to hang up in the pole beans
- garage sale harvest basket and rolling pin

Preparation and Storage:
- ADGMD added dehydrated food to emergency pantry

Build community food systems:
- attended garden meeting to address theft and vandalism at the allotments
- local food from farmer's market
- attended Transition Ottawa meeting
- hosted harvest garden party

Eat the food:
- stuffed grape leaves
- pickles
- bread with jam
- tomato, basil salad
- cucumber salad
- sun tea
- pasta with tomato sauce
- chard stir fry

Independence Days Week #18

Harvest something:
- 9oz of chard
- 13oz pole beans
- 1lb cukes
- 7.5lbs tomatoes
- purslane, dandelion, horseradish leaves, grape leaves, mint, nettle, goldenrod flowers, mallow flowers, chamomile, oregano, thyme, basil

Preserve something:
- made and froze tomato sauce
- drying herbs
- infusing mallow flowers into honey
- tincturing American ginseng (My favourite seed suppliers also cultivate their own American ginseng. Happy day!)
- infusing goldenrod, some into oil, some into rubbing alcohol- For External Use Only! (My first liniment! I just really like the word liniment. Liniment. Say it with me now: liniment. Mmmmm...)
- started second step of basilcello
- started another batch of sauerkraut (Hopefully with cooler temperatures and the right amount of salt, I won't lose this batch.)
- crab apple and plum jam (Yep, I finally did it. I got the water bath canner out and put up some food. Phew. More on this later...)

Waste not:
- made Everything But the Kitchen Sink soup with all the veggie bits that needed to be used up
- made rice in the sun oven
- returned paper egg cartons to my local egg guy
- bused, walked and biked to run all my errands this weekend, and oh boy were there ever a lot of errands!
- attempting to make apple cider vinegar from canning leftovers with the help of Chile and Kate

Want not:
- salvaged very sturdy bucket and garden tools from the curb
- thrifted stainless steel travel mug (to replace the one I left in my dad's car while I was visiting on holidays), measuring spoons, baster, canning jars

Preparation and Storage:
- purchased canning lids, pickling salt, sugar, beeswax (to make salve from my infused oils), thermometer, timer
- cleaned out ancient condiments from fridge, composted contents, washed all the jars for reuse (Wow, did it ever feel good to get that job checked off my 'to do' list!)

Build community food systems:
- local food from farmer's markets
- gave away tomatoes from garden to neighbours
- received jar of crab apple preserves

Eat the food:
- enjoyed soup for a few meals
- stir fried chard, purslane and dandelion
- tomato, basil and bocconcini salad
- cucumber salad
- green beans with rice
- jam on toast

Independence Days Week #17

Plant something:
I finally got the beet seeds and chard seedlings in.

Harvest something:
- 14 lbs of tomatoes!
- 3 lbs cucs (Does anyone know what to do with cucumbers that have gotten too large and seedy? Can you still eat them?)
- 1 lb of bush beans
- 1 lb 11 oz cabbage head
- 5 oz chard
- lemon balm, dill, parsley, basil, grape leaves, calendula
- nettle seeds, feverfew, purslane, plantain, mallow flowers, violet leaves, goldenrod flowering tops

Preserve something:
- drying herbs
- making herb vinegar
- goldenrod and mallow flower honeys
- calendula flowers in oil
- froze basil and olive oil for pesto
- making sour pickles using this recipe

Waste not:
- using the flowering tops of herbs to infuse in vinegar
I lost the batch of sauerkraut I started last week. It was a very sad moment. I hate to lose food. I don't know what happened. Maybe it was too warm and humid. Maybe I didn't use enough salt. Green mold started growing on the rock I use to weight the cabbage down. I taste tested a bit of the cabbage from near the bottom of the crock and it was definitely off. I mourned the loss deeply and gave it all a respectful and solemn burial in the compost heap so that it wouldn't go entirely to waste. I'll start another batch of kraut this week and do my best to make sure I get the conditions right.

Want not:
My mom gifted me a beautiful, antique wooden mortar and pestle.
A naturopath friend did some decluttering and gave me some empty tincture bottles she doesn't need any more. I also scored some yarn she was getting rid of.
A neighbour dropped off a big bag of crab apples for me.

Preparation and Storage:
- added organic mac and cheese and energy bars that were on sale, to emergency food supplies
- turning and layering backyard compost

Build community food systems:
- local food from the farmer's market
- sharing surplus cucumbers and tomatoes with friends

Eat the food:
- made my own pasta sauce with tomatoes and basil from the garden
- stir fried chard, purslane and lamb's quarters with local garlic and dandelion vinegar
- very much enjoying grilled cheese sammiches with tomatoes and cucumbers...mmmm...

Independence Days Update: Week #16

Plant something:
Sigh...no...I meant to put some beet seeds in over the weekend and a few chard seedlings I have struggling in containers, but I haven't gotten to it yet. This week though for sure. I'm hoping to get at least some fall beet greens and maybe some little beets to pickle!

Harvest something:
It was a great week for harvesting!
- 4lbs, 5oz of bush beans
- 1lb of pole beans
- 3lbs of cucumbers
- 3lbs, 8oz of tomatoes
- calendula flowers
- chamomile
- nasturtium seed pods

Preserve something:
- making sauerkraut
- herb vinegars
- blanched and froze bush beans (Actually, my mom who is in town visiting for a few days, did this for me. Thanks mom!)

Waste not:
- practicing basic retained heat cooking, i.e. keeping pots covered with lids, turning burners off early and letting food cook the rest of the way, with the retained heat of the cast iron frying pan, boiling water, steam etc... I haven't gotten this awesomely hardcore yet, but I plan to!
- using the solar oven as much as possible now that we finally have some sun!
- made iced sun tea
- reused freezer bags for the beans
- keeping lights off as much as possible in the heat
- mindfully trying to reduce electricity consumption as much as possible

Preparation and storage:
- storing dried herbs in jars
- keeping an eye on herbal oils, tinctures and vinegars
- skimming off sauerkraut bloom
- added bulk cornmeal to food stores

Build Community Food Systems:
- brought my mom to the farmer's market
- attended a locavore potluck picnic and movie in the park. I contributed sumac 'lemonade' and a black bean dip with the beans cooked in the sun oven and mixed with local cilantro, salsa, onions and garlic. We watched Mad City Chickens.

Eat the food:
- the aforementioned sumacade and bean dip
- cucumber salad
- fresh herbs in most things
- pasta with tomatoes and peas

Independence Days Week #15

Plant something: nope

Harvest something:
- 1 lb peas
- 9 oz bush beans
- 3 cucumbers
- black currants
- 2nd growth nettle
- lamb's quarters
- sumac
- parsley, dill, chives, basil, oregano, chamomile
- calendula flowers (gifted from plot neighbour!)
- corn silk

Preserve something:
- sumac tincture
- dried elderberries in brandy tincture
- infusing purple basil in vinegar
- garlic honey
- infusing feverfew and calendula in oil
- drying corn silk, carrot greens, dill, chamomile
- hang drying string beans
- froze currants until ready to further process

Waste Not:
- drying carrot greens for soup stock
- used sun oven to cook beets
- ate beet greens
- saving corn silk
- composted pea vines
- letting lamb's quarters, evening primrose and purslane grow in now empty pea bed

Want Not:
- used pea trellis materials to stake up tomatoes
- making own calcium supplement with crushed egg shells and apple cider vinegar
- made this
- salvaged edger and garden spade from curb

Preparation and Storage:
- saving pea seeds
- decanted mallow flower oil
- stored dried nettle seed, mugwort, feverfew and dill in jars

Building Community Food Systems:
- local food from farmer's market
- attended formation meeting of Transition Ottawa

Eat the Food:
- used peas and beans in a stir fry
- sauteed nettle and lamb's quarters with beet greens, garlic scapes and dandelion vinegar
- drinking sumac 'lemonade'

Independence Days Week #12

Plant something:
- chard

Harvest something:
- wild carrot
- lettuce
- 10 oz peas
- rhubarb

Preserve something:
- froze rhubarb
- decanted and refridgerated herbal oils
- stored dried catnip in labeled jar

Reduce waste:
- composting
- made oat cakes (instead of buying store bought)
- salvaged packaging paper from supply delivery to my work
- carpooled to herbal course outside the city

Preparation and storage:
- had another herbal apprenticeship day, learned about herbal actions, more materia medica, learned about elder, how to identify St. John's wort
- reading The Herbal Home Remedy
- reading Put a Lid on It! Small-Batch Preserving for Every Season
- became a member of Transition Ottawa!

Build community food systems:
- went to farmer's markets (Saw a fellow Peak Oil discussion group member at a local, organic veggie booth. I stopped to chat with him and was introduced to the friend he was with. The friend is involved in a transition movement near London, ON. I shared about the new Transition Ottawa movement. We talked for quite a while. I bought some delicious chard from the vendor at the veggie booth. As I was walking away the vendor asked the two who had stayed behind, "What's the transition movement?")

Independence Days Week #11

(When it's not raining, straw bales and a moving blanket make a great garden lounger!)

We've been getting a lot of rain lately so gardening and harvesting action has slowed down somewhat. Here is what I've been able to do the last week.

Plant something:
- kohl rabi and kale (The soil was really wet, sticky clay so I'm not sure how well the seeds will germinate. The ADGMD said he had wanted to put down a layer of compost first. Oops! Guess we'll see what happens.)
- basil starts gifted to me from a friend

Harvest something:
- 8 ounces of peas please!
- red currants
- lettuce (had to compost a couple of stunted heads that were rotting from too much rain :( )
- lots of fresh herbs from the kitchen garden
- chamomile
- a wee bit of new nettle growth
- It's been too wet to harvest herbs for medicinal use so I've been harvesting a little bit of tansy (contains toxic constituents and should not be used internally) and mugwort instead. Both tansy and mugwort have insect repellent properties, so I'm experimenting with different preparations for this use.

Preserve something:
- drying what herbs I can
- labeling and storing dried herbs in jars
- froze currants to keep until ready for furthering processing

Reduce waste:
- participating in The Law of Return! (i.e. composting :) )
- bought second hand birthday gifts
- bought second hand cast iron, enameled dutch oven
- used old and/or thrifted silk scarves and ribbons to wrap birthday presents
- reusing vinegar and cider jugs for water storage

Preparation and Storage:
- added 8L of water to emergency stores
- reading The Earthwise Herbal and The Practice of Traditional Western Herbalism (Full disclosure: These books were purchased new and bought online. What can I say? I try and get local and secondhand whenever I can, but sometimes there are some books that just can't be found that way.)
- reading Naturopathic Gardening. (This was a gift from a friend who had purchased the book some time ago for herself, but with a job that requires a lot of travel, she doesn't have the time and space for gardening yet, so she passed on this delightful text to me. What a lovely and generous surprise for me!)
- bought second hand, fancy glass jars for future gifts (herbal vinegars, liqueurs, oils...)

Build Community Food Systems:
- didn't make it to any of the farmer's markets :(
- gifted homemade chive vinegar to a friend
- received pepper plants from a friend

Eat the Fud:
- still more pasta primavera with fresh garden veg like peas, lamb's quarters, beet greens... (This is my new favourite meal 'cause it's light, quick and simple and sooo tasty!)
- doesn't count as eating exactly, but I'm starting to use my herbal tinctures, oils and infusions

Independence Days Week #10

Garden Then

And Garden Now

Plant something:
- chard and tatsoi

Harvest something:
- peas
- two heads of lettuce
- one beet that we put in the garden salad
- yarrow, mallow, daisy, nettle, mugwort, spearmint
- chives, dill, basil, cilantro, oregano

Preserve something:
- drying herbs

Reduce waste:
- had a minor thawing freezer emergency last week and had to use up spinach, nettle and cranberries
- saved the popsicle sticks from the thawed popsicles that I was keeping in the freezer for the neighbours
- composting!

Preparation and storage:
- bought rubbing alcohol, witch hazel, ASA
- added bulk brown rice to short term food supplies (brown rice doesn't keep as long as white rice, which has less nutritional value in it to go bad.)
- getting the ADGMD to read Gardening When It Counts
- set up cucumber trellis from salvaged materials



Build Community Food Systems:
- went to farmer's market
- gave allotment information to some interested people I met at a neighbourhood event

Eat the food:
- made nettle and spinach soup
- used peas in a pasta primavera
- made salad in the garden
- drinking tea

Independence Days Week #8

Here is my Independence Days Update for the week.

Plant something:
- monarda, sweet woodruff

Harvest something:
- nettle seed
- violet leaves
- yarrow
- mallow
- catnip
- motherwort
- plantain
- lamb's quarters
- basil, chives, cilantro, parsley, dill
- 10 oz spinach
- 3 oz peas
- two heads of lettuce

Preserve something:
- started yarrow, violet leaf, catnip, motherwort and plantain tinctures
- drying nettle seed, mallow, violets and motherwort
- making basilcello
- froze spinach

Reduce waste:
- made beans in sun oven while at work
- saved popsicle sticks used as tasters for honey at the farmer's market, was about to throw them out and realised I could keep them for labeling plants
- set up soaker hose watering system in the garden (saves water)
- used dried nettle leaf for hair rinse
- the usual biking to most places, especially to work, the garden and market

Preparation and storage:
- left two or three radish and spinach plants to go to seed so I can try and save some seed, mulched the rest of the now empty bed with comfrey, to prepare for a fall crop

Build community food systems:
- went to farmer's markets on Thursday and Sunday

Eat the food:
- establishing tasty habit of bringing a simple oil and vinegar dressing to garden to make and eat a freshly picked salad under the cherry tree
- using fresh culinary herbs in everything
- used young peas as snow peas in a stir fry

Independence Days Week #7

Plant something:
- a few more bush beans
- parsley and basil gifted to us (People are sooo generous with their surplus plants. I want to be that kind of people! Hopefully next year I will have surplus, so I too can share with others.)

Harvest something:
- wild crafted comfrey, plantain, violet leaves, creeping charlie
- spinach and radishes from the garden (My radishes are infested with some kind of worm. Yuck!)
- chive flowers
- lemon balm and a few mallow leaves
- two beautiful peonies from the garden, to grace my kitchen table (note: I was later told that peonies shouldn't be brought inside because they usually have ants on the flowers. I haven't noticed extra creepy crawlies in my place yet.)
- daisies (also for decoration)

Preserve something:
- infusing comfrey, plantain and violet leaves in oil
- drying creeping charlie
- put chive flowers up in apple cider vinegar
- the ADGMD froze some spinach

Reduce waste:
- made own yogurt from organic milk on sale
- made fertilizer tea from leftover comfrey
- arranged a ride share and traveled by bus to and from a family event this past weekend
- picked up some trash found in a wetland area in the city, while waiting for rideshare
- was given craft supplies from my Oma, who didn't want to throw them out, including an unfinished knit project from my great-grandmother

Preparation and storage:
- put dried violet, raspberry, nettle and creeping charlie into jars for storage
- added black beans to food storage
- took some monarda and sweet woodruff from mom's garden (will be planted in my garden for medicinal use)

Build community food systems:
- had friends visit the garden plot
- shared allotment garden information with fellow ride sharer who seemed really keen to rent a plot next season

Eat the food:
- still enjoying spinach and radish yumminess (with the worm eaten bits cut off of course!)
- fresh lemon balm and mallow tea (Note to self: always bring a thermos full of hot water to the garden to make tea!)
- made violet leaf and creeping charlie tea at my mom's place (My mom and Oma tried it and actually liked the taste. They were both impressed and interested when I told them what violets and creeping charlie are good for.)