Gee, whatever happened to all those OTHER posts I planned to make? You know, the ones that are about something other than the IDC challenge? I have a book to review, the Growing Challenge to report on (photo update soon), and sometimes just some interesting thoughts that almost seem blogworthy… But each week, all of a sudden it’s time for the IDC report, and I discover I’ve made no other posts since the last update. Oh well…
This past week:
Planted: Brussels sprouts, cabbage, pumpkin, sprouted black beans. Transplanted: Tomatoes, turnips, squash/melon (not sure which – start from a friend), honeydew melon, rhubarb.
Harvested: Peas
Preserved: Nothing
Stored: Nothing
Managed: Nothing
Prepped: Went firewooding twice this week with R. We each got a good load. Nice lodgepole!
Reduced Waste: Brought another load of thistles to Kate’s for her goats to eat.
Advocated for local food economy: Sold a few garden starts at the Saturday farmer’s market. Introduced myself to the other partner in the nearby organic farm and asked her about a CSA — she knew what it was AND seemed interested! She said doing a CSA takes a lot of organizational skills and time, and she just happens to love that stuff! And although she has been splitting her time between here and Portland, she says she’ll be around here from April through November next year. So I’m very hopeful that we might have a CSA in the valley next year! Wa-hoo! Also in the local food economy category, someone brought some excess chard into the library, and I took with me what was left when I closed for the day, but since I already had plenty of farmer’s market chard at home, I gave the new bag to the auto mechanic (when I picked up the Geo Metro from getting its new timing belt and water pump). He was not familiar with chard, so hopefully he and his family got a good introduction!
Cooked something new: Nothing this week.
Learned a new skill: Nothing I can think of this week.
July 23, 2008 at 9:39 am
I was doing poorly at remembering to update weekly for this challenge. Finally, I decided to just create one place to keep adding stuff to: one big list. This works much better for me, plus it provides a reference of everything I’ve done at a glance. Or rather, everything I haven’t done!
July 23, 2008 at 9:54 pm
That’s a good strategy, Chile. I don’t so much have a problem remembering to make an IDC post as I do remembering (or mustering the energy) to ever post about anything ELSE… :)
My approach is to keep an electronic “journal” that’s sort of like a diary — I describe the day’s primary activities, plus anything else I want to record — plans or brainstorm lists, what errands to do the next time I go to town, thoughts, feelings, personal stuff. I’ve started to note in particular anything I’ve done that should go into the IDC tally, such as “ate peas from the garden today”. Then when I’m composing an IDC update post, I open the journal and review the last 7 days (or 14 if I’ve been neglectful) and see what I did that’s worth mentioning. If I remember to update the journal at least every couple of days, then it’s no hassle to sum it up into a post. It’s when I’ve forgotten everything that’s happened in the last week, that making a post gets challenging…
July 27, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Hi Sue,
Wow, you are an ambitious person! I don’t think you are lazy and I totally get the computer addiction, as I have it also. But I’m impressed by your endeavors and think you should just lighten up some more on yourself and take credit for what you have done. It’s good to tally your accomplishments and read them to yourself sometimes, really!
Where are you, anyway? Susanville or north or ? Looks pretty and also desolate and dry.
July 27, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Hi Julie, thanks for the encouraging words! I’m in Surprise Valley, which is more than 100 miles further north and east from Susanville. It’s quite literally *in* the CA/OR/NV corner. It’s a very special place!
And you know, there are many reasons why I like the Independence Days Challenge. I obviously think it’s good for us to push ourselves in those directions of learning new skills and moving toward more self-reliance and a smaller energy footprint. But I also like the challenge because, as you point out, when you list what you’ve done in the past week, it looks like a lot and it feels good to recognize those accomplishments! I will try not to beat myself up too much about what’s not getting done, but I do want to keep focus on trying to move those things forward as well. I can easily let a project slide and then it becomes just clutter (both mental and physical) for years until it’s taken up again and accomplished, or consciously abandoned. I just don’t feel like I have time to let too many things drag on, if I want to be as prepared as I can be when things change. But you’re right, I’m pleased at the progress I’m making! And unlike anyone else reading this, I know where I started from, an urban/suburban shmoe (shmoette?) who didn’t know ANYTHING about being self-reliant! If I look back that far, even I am impressed with how far I’ve come!