Eat Close To Home

I’ve accomplished a whole bunch of stuff this year. I’m not finding a formal list of New Year’s resolutions or anything, but if you want to see what I’m most proud of since last summer, take a look:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/espring/sets/72157622033499452/

Highlights after the cut…

• Starting Preserving Traditions, creating community, and teaching food-related skills – the culmination of five or more years of pondering and several false starts that went nowhere and made me miserable
• Increasing the garden from 200sf to 1300sf, even though I only actively planted about 1000 sf
• Learning to make pickles…and getting my sweetie hooked on the process
• Learning to garden in the greenhouse (a start)
• Growing many new crops: rutabagas, turnips, corn, cucumbers, and new varieties of kale and broccoli
• Harvesting over 105 lb of produce so far this year…and the tomatoes, potatoes, and squash are just starting to come in
• Doing my best job ever of succession planting, including green beans and peas I grew from seed I saved
• Feeding my family really well, both at home and when eating out (this one never feels like “enough” but I do a pretty good job)
• Ensnaring my beloved with the Power of Snap Peas so that he’s started foraging in the garden of his own volition
• Creating a carbon budget and tracking it for a year…and finding ways to improve
• Getting our monthly electrical usage under 300kwh/month
• Learning to cook in the fireplace (a start)
• Installing the new well and hand pump
• Learning to cook with the sun (a start)
• Not to mention my job…

I don’t want this to come off as bragging or anything, but every once in a while I need to write a list and say “I’m proud of this.” And I am. I feel like I’ve really started to figure out and live my values. There’s lots of room for change and improvement, but I am, on the whole, pleased with what I’ve been able to accomplish by taking things one step at a time.