Independence Days

If you surf long enough, you will find a community of people with the same interests as yourself, no matter how unusual you might think those interests are, right :o) I'm discovering that there is an entire local foods movement with local eating challenges all over the web. A few days ago, I discovered a website http://sharonastyk.com , a website that is hosting an Independence Days Challenge - that is a challenge to move towards food independence for your family, community building and emergency preparedness. Since they started this back in April, I'm getting in on it late, but I think I will try to participate as much as I can and will update my blog weekly.

Indoor Salad Greens Experiment

A few days ago, I asked for advice on container gardening to grow salad greens indoors. Our summers here are just too hot and lettuce bolts in May if grown outside, but I've never tried growing it indoors. Maybe its the homeschooler in me, but I couldn't just sit around and wait for a reply, I had to do something. So, I decided to experiment. All I have is one "window box" so for now that all I planted, but as soon as I find one at a garage sale or clearanced, I plan on having two - one south facing and one north facing, to see which grows better.



On Monday, I put 8 lettuce seeds from Mesclun mix and 8 spinach seeds into the filled box. This morning, I awoke to 4 sprouts :o) This box will now sit in the south facing window to observe what happens. I sure hope we're eating baby greens in a few weeks :o)

Here is our baby "Sprout". Sorry for the blurry picture, but this is lettuce,
so we're talking a really tiny plant. :o)

First Cucumber!

Tackle it Tuesday - Cleaning out the Refrigerator

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting Tackle It Tuesday and helping Moms everywhere to get their housework under control one tackle at a time. Check out what others are tackling!


If i had to choose one most hated housework chore, it would , for me, be cleaning out the refrigerator. I'd actually prefer scrubbing toilets to decluttering and wiping down shelves in the fridge. So obviously, it gets put off until I cannot fit another thing in there. See . . .

Since I know that I might get started only to get frustrated and give up, I'm posting this so that I have some accountability. I am also giving myself permission to do it a little time. The plan is to remove something that needs throwing each time I reach in to the fridge for something else until all old stuff is removed. Then I'll wipe down the shelves and organize. So it will probably take more than today to finish my tackle. I'll post pics later in the week of my finished project. Wish me luck :o)

P.S. For those regular readers of my blog (if there are any, lol) we don't drink colas, but most of our family does, so we keep one in the fridge for when we have guests. :o)

Growing Salad Greens Indoors? Advice Needed

I am interested in growing salad greens indoors. After growing them this spring, I miss having fresh greens and would like to try growing them indoors. We live in the deep south so our greens bolted about 6 weeks ago. If I could figure out the indoor thing, we could have greens in the summer and winter from indoors and spring and fall from outdoors. I'd like to plant mesclun and spinach to use as baby greens.

I have a south facing window with a nice big ledge, so I was thinking of using a window box style planter and setting it in that window. My only concern is that it might get too warm there for them to grow properly. I also have a north facing window with a nice ledge. Which one would be best? Anyone with experience, I'd love your advice. Thanks in advance :o)

Menu Plan Monday - July 7, 2008

If you are a gardener, I am looking for advice on growing greens indoors. :o)

This week, our Menu theme will be "simple" as I am so exhausted from our travels this weekend. Why is it called vacation when its so much work? Oh well, here's the menu plan (remember, bold type signifies locally grown food):

Breakfast:

Eggs and biscuits (with homemade jam)
Baked Oatmeal (in freezer)
Oat and nut Pancakes (in the freezer)
Yogurt with fruit
(these will be repeated as needed)

Lunch (all accompanied by a fruit and vegetable):

Peanut Butter and honey (or jam) sandwiches
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Broccoli Cheese Soup
any available leftovers from supper

Snacks:
Homemade bread with honey butter
Homemade biscuits with butter and jam or honey
peaches
plums
watermelon
pecans or walnuts (my kiddos love to munch on a handful of pecans or walnuts)
chips and homemade salsa
Hummus and pita
Carrots and cucumbers with dip

Supper:
Chicken teriyaki stir fry (veggies) over rice (this is my "I'm too tired to cook and want to get take out" meal - so easy and only one pot to clean!)
Chicken and salsa quesadillas with sour cream, refried beans and rice and fruit for desert
BBQ chicken Pizza (with onions) for the grown ups and plain cheese for the kiddos
Burgers on a dressed(onions, tomatoes, etc) bun with roasted new potatoes and pan roasted squash (yum! This will be for later on in the week when I'm not quite so tired)
Grilled Veggie Panini with black beans and brown rice and fresh fruit

I am hoping that by the end of the week, I will feel "caught up" and can try to get my hands on some locally grown figs to make fig preserves. We love figs here and they are so readily grown in our area that they are usually very easy to come by. Most of our preserves will be used to make fig cobbler which is very similar to fig newtons, except that fig cobbler is more of a "bar" cookie and it tastes sooooooo much better.

Check out Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas :o)

Canning Local Fruit and Berries

Here's what I did this afternoon. The blueberries were picked just this morning when the boys and I went to a U-Pick blueberry farm. The peaches were grown by a local farmer :o) All in all a really fun day :o)