1. planted: replanted some more peas that didn't come up.
2. harvested: nothing yet, but i found four stalks of wild garlic that i want to nab. three are in our back yard and one is in the front yard of someone down the hill from us. my potatoes are sprouting now! the purple peruvian ones. yay!
3. preserved: not so much.
4. stored: i stored 3 more liters of water, and about 7 cups of white rice that the roommate left behind when he moved out.
5. prepped: built the bean trellis frame, just need to add strings. made stick-trellises for the peas. dug up half a bed that will hopefully be finished and planted with popcorn and sunflowers and melons this weekend.
6. managed: went through the freezer and composted some old old veggies. cleaned out the fridge of all the things the roommate had left in there to rot.
7. cook something new: made the red, gold, green and black chili from fatfreevegan.com - it was excellent!
8. work on local food systems: shopped at the farmer's market per usual and welcomed back some of the farmers who were returning for the summer season.
9. reduce waste: i ordered pet food online and specified that i didn't want any packing peanuts or other plastic packing materials, so they stuffed the box with shredded junk mail :D that made me very happy. have also been eating the food that the roommate left behind him. snagged a 3L soda bottle from our neighbor's recycling to store water in.
10. learned a skill: hand-cultivating a garden bed was new to me. it's some work!
eight out of ten this week :) not bad.
Friday, May 23, 2008
the no-power-hour
inspired by crunchy chicken's eco-throw-down challenge, we're doing a no power week starting monday. here's what we've got so far for an outline:
1. the fridge stays on.
2. the rest of the breakers in the box get turned off so we don't accidentally flick the light on out of habit.
3. we're picking up some extra local-beeswax candles at the market tomorrow.
that's all i got. working will involve electricity still. as will commuting by subway. also, i'm unsure about whether our stove/oven uses electricity... though i doubt it. another iffy thing is the boiler that heats the hot water for us as well as the people who live above us... i'm not going to cut them out of hot water... or me.
personally, i'm looking forward to no tv for a week.
1. the fridge stays on.
2. the rest of the breakers in the box get turned off so we don't accidentally flick the light on out of habit.
3. we're picking up some extra local-beeswax candles at the market tomorrow.
that's all i got. working will involve electricity still. as will commuting by subway. also, i'm unsure about whether our stove/oven uses electricity... though i doubt it. another iffy thing is the boiler that heats the hot water for us as well as the people who live above us... i'm not going to cut them out of hot water... or me.
personally, i'm looking forward to no tv for a week.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
managing stores: making room in the freezer (though not minimizing waste...)
last night i went through the freezer and threw out several *very* freezerburned bags of vegetables from long long ago. peas-n-corn, edamame, and half a banana met their demise upon the compost pile. now i can start freezing rhubarb and stuff!
Monday, May 19, 2008
weekend progress
saturday i went to the market myself and did ALL THE SHOPPING by myself. this isn't a big deal if one normally takes a car to the store to do the grocery shopping, but we take transit to the union square farmer's market to do grocery shopping. i had the giant whole foods bag my boss gave me slung over my shoulder with the whole foods goodies in it (paper towels, toilet paper, baking soda, toothpaste, broccoli, plus a couple other things), my backpack with a dozen and a half eggs in it plus my water bottle, and two green grocery bags full of food. it was heavy! but i did it! *proud*
in the afternoon, i broke the ground in a section of the yard along the border between us and our one neighbor. i plan to plant corn and sunflowers (and maybe watermelons) in that space, plus the "garden in a roll" butterfly garden that our now-ex-roommate ruben gave us. the bed is about 2 or so feet wide and the yard is about 20 or 30 feet long. i broke about half of that length with the hand cultivator to about 4 inches deep, pulling all the rocks out (now i've got half a bucket of rocks if you need some...) it was a lot of work, and it felt good :) i also nailed together the frame for the bean trellis. i was tired after that and figured i'd put the strings up later.
sunday i made stick trellises for the peas that are up, and i re-planted more peas that still hadn't showed (others i'd planted at the same time had come up already). then we did laundry, hung it outside, went to the regular grocery store for bulgar, canned tomatoes and canned corn (heavy things i didn't want to carry home by myself on saturday, haha), came home, and it started to rain. argh. so i pulled all the laundry in and hung it up inside.
then ruben came over and packed up the rest of his stuff and we took him and his stuff over to his phat pad in the west village (it's so beautiful! classic new york, you know?) and he took us out to dinner at lime thai (limethai.com), and it was very nice :)
oh, and saturday i took our recyclables out to the can, and the upstairs neighbors had put a 3 liter empty gingerale bottle in the can, so i snagged it and pulled the label off and cleaned it out and filled it with water, so i stored 3L of water this weekend. oh, and ruben left us the food that he had at the house, so we now have roughly 7 cups of white jasmine rice that we put into metal containers this morning for storage. oh, and on sunday when we were on our way to laundry, we passed a dumpster someone had hired for their remodeling/cleanup, and in it were (are, really, cos we didn't go back to get them yet) various window-type screens, irises that were dug up, a sawhorse, and a bunch of other stuff, plus a ton of dirt and actual trash. i'm very interested in the screens for dehydration purposes, and also the sawhorse for holding up the screens. plus the irises cos they're really pretty flowers and i hate to see them just dug up and thrown away :(
so yeah. um. busy productive weekend :)
in the afternoon, i broke the ground in a section of the yard along the border between us and our one neighbor. i plan to plant corn and sunflowers (and maybe watermelons) in that space, plus the "garden in a roll" butterfly garden that our now-ex-roommate ruben gave us. the bed is about 2 or so feet wide and the yard is about 20 or 30 feet long. i broke about half of that length with the hand cultivator to about 4 inches deep, pulling all the rocks out (now i've got half a bucket of rocks if you need some...) it was a lot of work, and it felt good :) i also nailed together the frame for the bean trellis. i was tired after that and figured i'd put the strings up later.
sunday i made stick trellises for the peas that are up, and i re-planted more peas that still hadn't showed (others i'd planted at the same time had come up already). then we did laundry, hung it outside, went to the regular grocery store for bulgar, canned tomatoes and canned corn (heavy things i didn't want to carry home by myself on saturday, haha), came home, and it started to rain. argh. so i pulled all the laundry in and hung it up inside.
then ruben came over and packed up the rest of his stuff and we took him and his stuff over to his phat pad in the west village (it's so beautiful! classic new york, you know?) and he took us out to dinner at lime thai (limethai.com), and it was very nice :)
oh, and saturday i took our recyclables out to the can, and the upstairs neighbors had put a 3 liter empty gingerale bottle in the can, so i snagged it and pulled the label off and cleaned it out and filled it with water, so i stored 3L of water this weekend. oh, and ruben left us the food that he had at the house, so we now have roughly 7 cups of white jasmine rice that we put into metal containers this morning for storage. oh, and on sunday when we were on our way to laundry, we passed a dumpster someone had hired for their remodeling/cleanup, and in it were (are, really, cos we didn't go back to get them yet) various window-type screens, irises that were dug up, a sawhorse, and a bunch of other stuff, plus a ton of dirt and actual trash. i'm very interested in the screens for dehydration purposes, and also the sawhorse for holding up the screens. plus the irises cos they're really pretty flowers and i hate to see them just dug up and thrown away :(
so yeah. um. busy productive weekend :)
Friday, May 16, 2008
independence days update
i feel like i didn’t do a lot this week, but then i think about how every little bit counts and it’s not ABOUT doing a lot…
1. planted: i planted out two tomatoes into the swc we built. only one of the seeds we’d planted had sprouted, so i had erin pick me up an heirloom seedling at the market. she brought me a black brandywine :D awesome. we're out of potting soil now, and out of money til the end of june (or when my stimulus payment arrives,whichever is first), so planting will be slower for the next several weeks, i expect.
2. harvested: not so much. the lettuces and arugula are doing well, the spinaches are up but tiny, one of my pea babies died, but several more are coming up. two of the basil plants bit it :(
3. preserved: also not so much.
4. stored: i scored those 2 glass gallon-sized empty wine jugs that someone was throwing away, so they’re now filled with water :D
5. prepped: laid out a frame for the beans trellis, just need to screw/nail it together and attach the strings. anyone know if garbanzo beans climb?
6. managed: not so much here.
7. cook something new: made a killer cream of asparagus soup on saturday. also cauliflower cheese pie, which wasn’t as great.
8. work on local food systems: not so much.
9. reduce waste: used a potting soil bag as the mulch cover on my swc that holds the tomatoes… and the repurposed wine jugs that would’ve gone to the recycling plant without me.
10. learned a skill: yeah, again, not so much.
five out of ten this week.
1. planted: i planted out two tomatoes into the swc we built. only one of the seeds we’d planted had sprouted, so i had erin pick me up an heirloom seedling at the market. she brought me a black brandywine :D awesome. we're out of potting soil now, and out of money til the end of june (or when my stimulus payment arrives,whichever is first), so planting will be slower for the next several weeks, i expect.
2. harvested: not so much. the lettuces and arugula are doing well, the spinaches are up but tiny, one of my pea babies died, but several more are coming up. two of the basil plants bit it :(
3. preserved: also not so much.
4. stored: i scored those 2 glass gallon-sized empty wine jugs that someone was throwing away, so they’re now filled with water :D
5. prepped: laid out a frame for the beans trellis, just need to screw/nail it together and attach the strings. anyone know if garbanzo beans climb?
6. managed: not so much here.
7. cook something new: made a killer cream of asparagus soup on saturday. also cauliflower cheese pie, which wasn’t as great.
8. work on local food systems: not so much.
9. reduce waste: used a potting soil bag as the mulch cover on my swc that holds the tomatoes… and the repurposed wine jugs that would’ve gone to the recycling plant without me.
10. learned a skill: yeah, again, not so much.
five out of ten this week.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
score!
on my walk home from the train station today, i stopped when i noticed that inside someone's clear recycling bag was a carlo rossi 1 gallon empty wine jug. it was inside their fence, and inside a bag, so i hesitated... and decided i didn't want to look like i was trash picking.
i couldn't stop thinking about it the rest of the walk home, and almost turned around to go back and get it (i'm thinking water storage here). then, i walked past another house, and they had not one but TWO of the same carlo rossi glass gallon empty wine jugs, only these were NOT behind a fence and NOT in a bag! score! i nabbed them, and they're in the bathtub awaiting a washing-out before they get a baking soda and sunshine treatment. wine isn't the worst thing that water could taste like, but i'd rather if it didn't taste like anything but water ;)
now i'm considering putting a wanted post on freecycle for more of these bottles.
i couldn't stop thinking about it the rest of the walk home, and almost turned around to go back and get it (i'm thinking water storage here). then, i walked past another house, and they had not one but TWO of the same carlo rossi glass gallon empty wine jugs, only these were NOT behind a fence and NOT in a bag! score! i nabbed them, and they're in the bathtub awaiting a washing-out before they get a baking soda and sunshine treatment. wine isn't the worst thing that water could taste like, but i'd rather if it didn't taste like anything but water ;)
now i'm considering putting a wanted post on freecycle for more of these bottles.
Monday, May 12, 2008
weekly dinner menu starting 5/10/08
Sa - cream of asparagus soup (from The New Moosewood Cookbook, p.3)
Su - cauliflower cheese pie (from The New Moosewood Cookbook, p.159)
M - chick pea burgers (from a NY Times recipe we clipped ages ago) on top of salad
Tu - couscous salad w/spicey yogurt dressing (from the South Beach book p.262 - we'll be using bulgur rather than couscous)
W - pizza on yeast-free dough (from How It All Vegan p.115) topped with feta, spinach, tomato and kalamata olives
Th - leek and mushroom quiche ( http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blv214.htm )
F - xtine's bulgur pilaf (from xtine's recipe) and zucchini ribbons w/dill (from South Beach book p.237)
can i just say that the cream of asparagus soup was diVINE. mmmmm... so good. the cauliflower cheese pie was good, too. i think the crust (made of grated potato and onion) could have used for the potato to be rinsed off after it was grated. it had that gluey taste that my dad's potato pancakes used to get that makes me sort of go "ulgh" a little.
i had two wisdom teeth taken out on friday afternoon, and while i'm in very little pain from it, i'm still not up to snuff for noshing on crunchy things. hopefully by wednesday i'll be able to do pizza crust! so glad to have the teeth gone. omg.
Su - cauliflower cheese pie (from The New Moosewood Cookbook, p.159)
M - chick pea burgers (from a NY Times recipe we clipped ages ago) on top of salad
Tu - couscous salad w/spicey yogurt dressing (from the South Beach book p.262 - we'll be using bulgur rather than couscous)
W - pizza on yeast-free dough (from How It All Vegan p.115) topped with feta, spinach, tomato and kalamata olives
Th - leek and mushroom quiche ( http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blv214.htm )
F - xtine's bulgur pilaf (from xtine's recipe) and zucchini ribbons w/dill (from South Beach book p.237)
can i just say that the cream of asparagus soup was diVINE. mmmmm... so good. the cauliflower cheese pie was good, too. i think the crust (made of grated potato and onion) could have used for the potato to be rinsed off after it was grated. it had that gluey taste that my dad's potato pancakes used to get that makes me sort of go "ulgh" a little.
i had two wisdom teeth taken out on friday afternoon, and while i'm in very little pain from it, i'm still not up to snuff for noshing on crunchy things. hopefully by wednesday i'll be able to do pizza crust! so glad to have the teeth gone. omg.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
companion tomato plant
we tried to start two containers of "best boy hybrid" tomato plants (one in each 1qt yogurt container, but only one sprouted. the seeds were packed for 2006, so it probably wasn't our fault the other one didn't sprout.
however, with one tomato sprout and one giant self-watering container (that can hold 2 tomato plants), i wanted a second. so yesterday i asked erin to get me a heirloom tomato seedling at the market. she brought me a black brandywine. i am SO excited about that.
now we've planted them out into the swc, which counts as #1 on the independence days challenge.
however, with one tomato sprout and one giant self-watering container (that can hold 2 tomato plants), i wanted a second. so yesterday i asked erin to get me a heirloom tomato seedling at the market. she brought me a black brandywine. i am SO excited about that.
now we've planted them out into the swc, which counts as #1 on the independence days challenge.
Friday, May 09, 2008
weekly independence days check-in
it’s been a pretty good week for me :)
1. planted: more sugar snap peas because only two of the (20) seeds i put in before came up… and one of those sprouts has now kicked the bucket. ah well.
2. harvested: leeks at the csa farm last sunday! and stuff is sprouting in my garden! lettuce and arugula look good, more lettuce is coming up that i planted last week or the week before, onions are up, i have what looks like a spinach sprout, and some mystery sprouts (i moved the pots around and forgot what exactly was where…)
3. preserved: nothing *sigh*
4. stored: 2 quarts of water in mason jars that i had found in the closet
5. prepped: i’m cleaning out the various other glass jars we have left over from grocery store foods to be used as water storage containers.
6. managed: inventoried the shelves in the kitchen
7. cook something new: this week we made gingery marinated chickpeas, felafel from scratch, and tahini-lemon sauce (which we used on sandwiches and also as a pasta sauce), all of which came out of the “new moosewood cookbook”. molly katzen is my new best friend.
8. local food systems: we carpooled out to our csa farm on sunday for a walking tour and a talk with farmer james. it was very enlightening, not to mention gorgeous! the weather really cooperated. the csa is on track for the first week of june’s delivery. they provide 1200 shares to a bunch of different csa’s all along long island and into queens. we also got to know some of our fellow shareholders a little better.
9. reduced waste: last night i used the pasta water to blanch the broccoli. we’re considering finding a way to use the shower-warmup-water to wash the dishes, but we’re still in the pre-brainstorming phase on that one.
10. learn a skill: i worked on patching a pair of pants that had worn through. my hand-sewing skills need work.
1. planted: more sugar snap peas because only two of the (20) seeds i put in before came up… and one of those sprouts has now kicked the bucket. ah well.
2. harvested: leeks at the csa farm last sunday! and stuff is sprouting in my garden! lettuce and arugula look good, more lettuce is coming up that i planted last week or the week before, onions are up, i have what looks like a spinach sprout, and some mystery sprouts (i moved the pots around and forgot what exactly was where…)
3. preserved: nothing *sigh*
4. stored: 2 quarts of water in mason jars that i had found in the closet
5. prepped: i’m cleaning out the various other glass jars we have left over from grocery store foods to be used as water storage containers.
6. managed: inventoried the shelves in the kitchen
7. cook something new: this week we made gingery marinated chickpeas, felafel from scratch, and tahini-lemon sauce (which we used on sandwiches and also as a pasta sauce), all of which came out of the “new moosewood cookbook”. molly katzen is my new best friend.
8. local food systems: we carpooled out to our csa farm on sunday for a walking tour and a talk with farmer james. it was very enlightening, not to mention gorgeous! the weather really cooperated. the csa is on track for the first week of june’s delivery. they provide 1200 shares to a bunch of different csa’s all along long island and into queens. we also got to know some of our fellow shareholders a little better.
9. reduced waste: last night i used the pasta water to blanch the broccoli. we’re considering finding a way to use the shower-warmup-water to wash the dishes, but we’re still in the pre-brainstorming phase on that one.
10. learn a skill: i worked on patching a pair of pants that had worn through. my hand-sewing skills need work.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
#4 - stored
i found two quart sized mason jars in the closet, washed them off, and filled them with water for storage. i am also cleaning out various empty glass food jars we've collected (spaghetti sauce, lactofermented sauerkraut, honey, jam, peanut butter) via a water-and-baking-soda-in-the-sun method, and then i'll fill them with water for storage as well. baby steps.
Monday, May 05, 2008
week's menu - 5/3/08
Saturday - pizza on homemade ww focaccia bread. tomatoes, garlic, spinach, feta, onion, mushrooms.
Sunday - veggie kebabs under the broiler. cherry tomatoes, leeks, bell pepper, tofu, mushrooms.
Monday - felafel w/chopped salad: tomato, cucumber, onion, dill, lemon juice.
Tuesday - pasta salad. pasta, kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes, feta, bell pepper, fresh tomato, cucumber, olive oil, vinegar.
Wednesday - mexican black beans and rice. black beans, onion, tomato, rice.
Thursday - pasta with tahini-lemon sauce and spinach, broccoli.
Friday - popcorn. and asparagus in a cream sauce.
then on saturday we go food shopping again.
Sunday - veggie kebabs under the broiler. cherry tomatoes, leeks, bell pepper, tofu, mushrooms.
Monday - felafel w/chopped salad: tomato, cucumber, onion, dill, lemon juice.
Tuesday - pasta salad. pasta, kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes, feta, bell pepper, fresh tomato, cucumber, olive oil, vinegar.
Wednesday - mexican black beans and rice. black beans, onion, tomato, rice.
Thursday - pasta with tahini-lemon sauce and spinach, broccoli.
Friday - popcorn. and asparagus in a cream sauce.
then on saturday we go food shopping again.
#6 - manage stores: on the shelves 5/2/08
we measured the dry goods and took stock of some of the canned goods on our shelves on friday night:
14 cups of rice
1 cup of kasha (ew)
2 1/3 cup bulgur wheat
1/4 cup brown flax seed
1+ cup quinoa
1 cup black eyed peas
1 cup red lentils
1/2- cup pinto beans
3 cups rotini
7 1/3 cups popcorn
2 cans refried beans (15oz each)
1 can green chilis (4oz)
1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
1 can tuna (6 oz) {note-we no longer eat fish...}
1 packet tuna (5oz)
~1/4 cup crisco {don't ask}
~15 oz NY honey
~10 oz french honey {was a gift}
~3 oz capers in salt
4 cups nutritional yeast
then we got tired of measuring. on saturday morning i took a look at what ELSE is on our shelves (without really measuring).
white sugar
brown sugar
confectioner's sugar
bread crumbs
TVP
baking cocoa powder
peppercorns
yeast
coffee beans (regular and decaf)
sucralose (splenda)
fish sauce
spirulina
3 packets Goya Sazon
1 box Fantastic Brand vegegarian chili
wasabi and sesame crackers
nacho flavor sunflower seeds (ew)
5 boxes jello (2 of which are sugar free)
sugarfree pancake syrup
1/4 bottle balsamic vinegar
>1 bottle cider vinegar
cooking sherry
sesame oil
burgundy cooking wine
rice wine vinegar
Tapatio hot sauce
1 bottle unopened yellow mustard
<1/2 gallon white vinegar
14 cups of rice
1 cup of kasha (ew)
2 1/3 cup bulgur wheat
1/4 cup brown flax seed
1+ cup quinoa
1 cup black eyed peas
1 cup red lentils
1/2- cup pinto beans
3 cups rotini
7 1/3 cups popcorn
2 cans refried beans (15oz each)
1 can green chilis (4oz)
1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
1 can tuna (6 oz) {note-we no longer eat fish...}
1 packet tuna (5oz)
~1/4 cup crisco {don't ask}
~15 oz NY honey
~10 oz french honey {was a gift}
~3 oz capers in salt
4 cups nutritional yeast
then we got tired of measuring. on saturday morning i took a look at what ELSE is on our shelves (without really measuring).
white sugar
brown sugar
confectioner's sugar
bread crumbs
TVP
baking cocoa powder
peppercorns
yeast
coffee beans (regular and decaf)
sucralose (splenda)
fish sauce
spirulina
3 packets Goya Sazon
1 box Fantastic Brand vegegarian chili
wasabi and sesame crackers
nacho flavor sunflower seeds (ew)
5 boxes jello (2 of which are sugar free)
sugarfree pancake syrup
1/4 bottle balsamic vinegar
>1 bottle cider vinegar
cooking sherry
sesame oil
burgundy cooking wine
rice wine vinegar
Tapatio hot sauce
1 bottle unopened yellow mustard
<1/2 gallon white vinegar
Friday, May 02, 2008
weekly update... just starting out
hmm… well, my “doing” is more likely to happen on the weekends than the weekdays, so i’m a bit short for this update BUT here we go:
planted: nothing since last weekend when we planted spinach, lettuces, basil, watermelon, peas, and onions.
harvested: nothing yet, but some of our lettuce and arugula have sprouted! and not only that, i can tell a difference between the two kinds of sprouts now (they’re in the same container). not quite to a point where i can tell which is which though…
preserved: nothing yet.
stored: also nothing since we do our shopping on the weekend.
prepped: considered water storage ideas, and will ask at juice/smoothie places for containers of some sort this weekend. also planning to gather buckets from the grocery store this weekend.
managed: will go through my stores tonight to see how much food we have in the house, precisely
cook something new: made two batches of tabbouli in the last week, and a killer pasta salad. also had sauteed asparagus with lemon butter and garlic over fresh pasta. yum. (i have a feeling this might become my favorite category.)
work on local food systems: not sure where to start on this one.
compost something: cleaned the kale and other things out of our veg drawer in the fridge. the compost pile got to eat them. i guess that may be “managing” too, eh?
learned a skill: i learned more about water-bath canning, in an intellectual way.
planted: nothing since last weekend when we planted spinach, lettuces, basil, watermelon, peas, and onions.
harvested: nothing yet, but some of our lettuce and arugula have sprouted! and not only that, i can tell a difference between the two kinds of sprouts now (they’re in the same container). not quite to a point where i can tell which is which though…
preserved: nothing yet.
stored: also nothing since we do our shopping on the weekend.
prepped: considered water storage ideas, and will ask at juice/smoothie places for containers of some sort this weekend. also planning to gather buckets from the grocery store this weekend.
managed: will go through my stores tonight to see how much food we have in the house, precisely
cook something new: made two batches of tabbouli in the last week, and a killer pasta salad. also had sauteed asparagus with lemon butter and garlic over fresh pasta. yum. (i have a feeling this might become my favorite category.)
work on local food systems: not sure where to start on this one.
compost something: cleaned the kale and other things out of our veg drawer in the fridge. the compost pile got to eat them. i guess that may be “managing” too, eh?
learned a skill: i learned more about water-bath canning, in an intellectual way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
