Independence Days #6

I've gotten a bit behind with my Independence Days updates. Hopefully I'm back on track with the weekly updates.

1. Plant something - Radish, carrots, beets, toy choy, cukes and broccoli seeds for a Fall/Winter harvest. We still aren't getting Summer temps here at the Beach, so who knows what will happen with these seeds, but I'm giving them a chance. The cukes are supposed to be ripe in 55 days for pickling and people back East are just planting them now because many areas have been flooded out, so I'm hopeful that our Maritime climate will be kind and let me get a decent harvest.

2. Harvest something - Blackberry leaves, chard, spinach for the rabbits, beet greens and peas for the people, angora rabbit fur from Rachel the Red Bunny.

3. Preserve something - Strawberries in vodka and strawberry jam.

4. Reduce waste - can't think of anything this week.

5. Preparation and Storage - Re-filled the 5-gallon water storage containers, did some sorting of stores.

6. Build Community Food Systems - nothing this week.

7. Eat the Food - Made sauteed greens for the first time. Yum! Raw, the leaves taste rather bitter (and the chard is ready to be pulled up as the leaves are now quite large and the stems are fibery and tough) but add a little butter and gentle heat and they are fab! We'll be doing more green sauteing as the season progresses and things grow up a bit in the garden. Greens of all kinds really like this climate, so if I can't get a ripe tomato, we'll eat greens!