Day 1

Day 1, as boring as it sounds, was absolutely wonderful! Sundays are always hard to beat though. It started with Ryan and I reaching way back in our kitchen cupboards and finding what will be an essential piece of this project's puzzle. For a wedding gift over 6 years ago we received the sweetest gift to a couple starting out on a self-sufficiency trek. I was given a beautiful Kitchenaid mixer from the wonderful ladies of my hometown as a wedding shower gift. In the few years we've been together, The Dutchess (named after a saintly great white mule we once owned), and I have created approximately 100 batches of cookies, 100 loaves of zucchini bread, and 50 loaves of bread. Today we found her crown jewels, after I asked "what do you think these pieces go to?" Our aunt and uncle gave us not only the food processing accessories, but one kitchen tool we have been wanting...a meat grinder. Naively, I had unpacked it, washed it, and stuck it away never to see it again for 6 years. After being boxed up and moved a couple of times, it easily slipped into the abyss of forgotten small appliances. It was like Christmas morning once over. Even Ryan got into putting the little parts and pieces together. A whiz in the kitchen, his eyes started jumping at the world that instantly opened up to us...without having to spend any money! Now all I need is the grain mill and we'll be set. From a beginners heart, Kitchenaid, God bless you, seriously.

The rest of the day I spent watching the Vikings put the hurt on Eli and the Giants, while I trudged through a mammoth of my own. My office/catch-all. It's more of a nook in our basement between the laundry room and my husband's workshop. It doesn't even have an overhead light. The previous owners were big on lamps. Various outlets in our home don't work unless a light switch is turned on, my office included. Today we bought a big floor lamp to help light the way through our bookwork, files, and my handful of hobbies. If I am to do this project justice, I need to stay organized. After 31 years, the one thing I know about myself is that nothing turns my haystack of a life upside down more than unorganization. If things aren't going right for me mentally, odds are my office is a mess. I'm not talking about the "piles everywhere" type of chaos. God knows I am the queen of stacking. Every evening we share our dinner table with mail, bills, paperwork, Kali's latest artwork, and a crayon or two. When company comes over, I stack it all into a nearby closet. I'm talking about knowing where everything is, and that it all has a proper home. I do bookwork every other day in order to sleep well. Even our weekly chores have a spreadsheet. After moving in this fall, I still had boxes of piles I hadn't gone through. Admittedly, 25% of it ended up in the circular file. Now that my nook is somewhat in place, I can prepare for this food project properly. I plan to track food spending item by item, to know if we are truly saving money. If so, how much? Is the time invested worth the savings? I remember my mother telling me after my grandma's canning disaster my grandpa told her "That's it Agnes, no more. We're buying canned peas from now on." After this project, I may find the same to be true. I hope not.

I also placed our first seed order over the weekend. After my hog-wild backyard garden experience, Ryan made me promise I wouldn't go overboard. I will keep things within reason. I only ordered veggies I know we'll eat, and two experiments...a melon, and a squash that may take too long if we get an early freeze. I do have a plan for extending our season, which we'll get to later in the journal. I plan to start certain varieties indoors in March, but I may try a couple peppers, tomatoes, and herbs soon. Our home has a sun portch off of our dining/kitchen area that I have been anxious to baptise as a greenhouse. We need to add heat and a fan, but otherwise it is perfect. Thanks to Territoral Seed and Nourse Farms we've got over 15 vegetables, 50 strawberries, and 10 raspberries on their way to start our new hobby farm. If our place in the Flathead doesn't sell by spring, I also plan to transplant 70 more berry plants, some rhubarb, and asparagus from our old place to the new.


Probably the best part of the day was brainstorming with Ryan about a plan. He had a fantastic point. In addition to the simple things, we need to focus on the most expensive items, and those that are worth our time. We bought a juicer last year. After a few months of buying fresh fruit and processing it, we decided it was just as cheap to buy the frozen concentrate. It may not be as tastey, but have you ever tried juicing your own cranberries??? There's not much there. This is where keeping an itemized list will be helpful. Store prices versus the cost of making it at home. I was excited to find a recipe for nearly everything we may want to try in my set of cookbooks. Homemade mayonaise, yogurt, and salad dressings galore. We do have expensive taste when it comes to these things...you just can't beat Litehouse Thousand Island! I am excited to try them. For now, however, I've got a game of hide-and-seek to get to before bed! Cheers!