Independence Days update

I haven't been very good about keeping you all up-to-date on my participation on the Independence Days Challenge over on Sharon's blog. I generally haven't had time to make updates and/or I can't keep straight from one week to the next what I've been working on. Call it early senile dementia.

Either way, here's what I've been up to in the last week. For those of you unfamiliar with the challenge, these are things I have done to be more independent of the standard American food chain:

Harvested:

Kale, lettuce, spinach, chard

Red onion

Lavender, sage, rosemary, mint

Strawberries, cherries

Rose petals

Planted:

Peppermint

Grapes

Walla Walla sweet onion

Beets

Spinach, lettuce

Carrots, radishes

Anaheim pepper, Cayenne pepper

Meyer lemon tree (woohoo!)

Transplanted:

Marjoram, oregano

Preserved:

Vegetable stock

Dried rose petals

Drying lavender

Made 8 jars rose jam

Made 32 jars strawberry jam (more on that later)

Stored:

Bought extra beans, pasta and water for storage. Will continue to buy extras every week to create emergency supplies in addition to canning

I spent most of the afternoon yesterday canning strawberries. I made three different types of strawberry jam. I'll post the recipes up on my cooking blog once I get around to it, but for now, just know that I made:

Strawberry, Sangiovese and Spice Jam (cinnamon, clove, star anise, nutmeg)

Strawberry, Mint and Black Pepper Jam

Strawberry, Balsamic Vinegar, Vanilla Bean and Amaretto Jam

I know these sound weird, but they are fantastic and are loosely based on some French jam recipes. Yum!

Announcement: Tomorrow I'll be doing a book giveaway of the book Plenty: One Man, One Woman and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally by Alisa Smith and JB Mackinnon.

Also, look for the first book club post for Food Not Lawns coming up next Tuesday!