Independence Days #27

Is this still the same week? I mean, last weekend, we had blissfully warm weather, and now we're waking to heavy frosts again. And was it really just a week ago when Local Roots opened for real?

Whew! It's been busy around here. And it's not going to stop for a couple more weeks, so I'm having to squeeze in time for kitchen adventures and practicing Independence Days wherever I can.

1. Plant something: Potted rosemary seedling to keep indoors.

2. Harvest something: Calendula blossoms from the Renaissance Man's garden.

3. Preserve something: Dried calendula blossoms.

4. Reduce waste (Waste not): Saved flour from kneading; into my reuse-the-jar-or-bottle phase; trying to get back to saving vegetable scraps (chard and kale stems, parsnip bits) for stock.

5. Preparation and storage (Want not): Cleaned out and returned the dehydrator to the Renaissance Man; stocked up on local butter for baking.

6. Build local food systems: Got through first market day at Local Roots! Also, participated in discussion after "Food, Inc."; visited the OEFFA Male at his farm to find out more about organic farming; took Local Roots brochures to an event on campus; filled out volunteer hour sheets for the folks who have worked with us on marketing thus far; plugged dates into next year's calendar and started listing other program ideas; finished reading a binder of Growing For Market issues from the Cheerful Lady (good tips on growing!); baked pumpernickel bread for the Madcap Farmer's "Sociology of Agriculture" class (using some of the rye he gave me).

7. Eat the food: Leftover veg curry; buckwheat pancakes; kale with pasta; beets and greens; Bangkok noodles (fast becoming a cold-weather staple); cheese grits; kale-parsnip galette.

I'm pretty well exhausted from all that's been going on, but I'm not going to get much of a break any time soon as I need to gear up for holiday baking.

Still, I think I'll have a couple of things I can use as little breathers in my schedule -- like harvesting some lingering produce from the garden and making some comfort food for the colder weather -- that will help me stay in touch with this challenge.

Maybe it's all in how I look it, right?