Independence Challenge - Week 3

We have a super-prolific lemon thyme plant, so it seems like all I do is harvest and dry thyme lately. Fortunately, I really like it in stock. The other herbs are not mature enough to pick.

Planted: transplanted greens into fish boxes and empty spots in the ground
Harvested: leaf lettuce and lemon thyme
Preserved: dried lemon thyme
Managed: more work preparing Mom's yard, preparing to move
Systems: found a new CSA with an open house this weekend
Reduced Waste: the usual recycling and composting
Learned: how to preserve my herbs better
Library: Beginning Algebra

It's been rainy and cool lately. I have been doing daily weeding, but not a lot else in the garden. Really busy with work and other responsibilities at the moment. Need to find a source of free soil for the fish boxes - I hate buying bags. Maybe the leaf composting facility in Mom's township - I think she can get compost for free.

Fishbox of greens ready to give to Mom

Potting more plants to relocate to Mom's yard, and making containerized veggies to take there. We are slowly clearing space for planting at Mom's - turns out there was a layer of brick under the stuff in the spot she thought would be good. We are removing the brick by yard-cart-loads to a pallet in the back of the yard. Slow progress, but steady. She is feeling better after a really tough time adjusting to new medication.

We are starting to get ready to move by the end of the summer. Sorting and boxing, making piles to sell or freecycle. Reducing the clutter of school paperwork and outgrown books. By the time we move, I will have a better inventory of what we already have.

I posted to Sharon Astyk's food storage email list last week, to get advice about preserving herbs we grow. Great source of expertise and experience. As I work my way into the attic, I am going to install a drying rack up there, to use until we leave. I have been using labeled ziplocks to store dried herbs - I need to buy some canning jars and lids for this. I found it too hard to get the food smells out of used commercial food jars (pickles, salsa, relish, etc.).

Loads of herbs ready to move to pots and borders