Independence Days Challenge

Independence Days Challenge-
We finally hit 100 degrees in the last week! All the  turf, flowers and veggie beds are very well-mulched, but now it's water, water, water. Here's an update of what we've been up to...

1. Plant Something- 

I have killed all the Bee Balms I've ever planted, for some unknown reason. I just bought two, half priced, and planted them. Hopefully at least one will survive! I put one in the front yard flower bed, and one in a pot on the back deck, pot on the right-

2. Harvest Something- 

Tons of eggs, 3-4 per day! I've been giving some to our kiddos.  Picked our first green beans, Black Berries, small tomatoes, 1st batch of Chokecherries, harvested about 2 cups, lots more coming soon!  Still getting good growth on the kale, and the collard greens in the raised bed-

The thorn-less blackberries are huge this year!

Herb box doing well, pretty soon I'll make some pesto to freeze-

3. Preserve/Store Something-

Freezing the Chokecherries to make jelly later when it's cooler-

I had a "duh" moment a while back- I read somewhere to just freeze berries and make jellies in the winter, when it's cooler. So that's the plan. Apples and peaches coming along well, not too many pears for some reason. Corn is almost as high as an elephant's eye! It is looking great!

4. Manage Reserves- Get a Good Deal/Barter/Stock Up/Prep-

Bought several clearance boxes of 1 gallon Ziploc plastic bags for freezing some of the fruits and veggies. Bought some extra boxes of teabags to stash for later. 

5. Eat the Food- Try New Foods/Recipe-
Mama Pea from Ahomegrownjournal.blogspot.com shared her recipe for shortcake, which I made, delish and easy! 

Shortcake Recipe:
2 cups all-purpose flour - I used WW Pastry flour
2 TBL sugar
1 TBL baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
 ½ cup butter
1 beaten egg
2/3 cup milk
1 TBL sugar, sprinkled on top- my idea
  
6 cups fresh strawberries, sliced, ¼ cup sugar. 1 cup whipping cream w/ 2 tablespoons sugar

Stir together strawberries and ¼ cup sugar, set aside.  For shortcake, thoroughly stir together flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and salt.  Cut in  the ½ cup butter til mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine beaten egg, milk and add all at once to dry ingredients and stir just to moisten. Spread dough (it will be very thick) in a well-greased 8" round baking pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes.  Then cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan and split into 2 layers.  Lift top off carefully. Whip cream with 2 tablespoons sugar and spoon whipped cream and berries between layers and over top. With 2 of us, I left whole and served in a triangle wedge, then split drizzled with cream. The cake is plain and should keep the rest of the week.

New shrimp recipe I tried was this Sweet Chili Garlic Shrimp .  I made for dinner tonight, it's a winner! I love the garlic and I used a little Cayenne since I didn't have the second hot sauce on hand.  I served with brown Jasmine rice and raw snow peapods. I could doing this with chicken or fish as well.

6. Build Community Food Systems-
No farmer's markets yet, too early for potatoes and other veggies we like. Dave got about 5 lbs. of free cherries from a co-worker. We shared with our kiddos.

7. Recycle/Re-Use-
Donated old clothes and highchair to charity. Bought like-new used slacks on eBay. Got a DVD for a movie from the library to watch. I LOVE libraries! At Goodwill I found a tall pretty Lighthouse for my beach table (sorry no pics) today, $4.00.

8. Skill Up- 
Interesting reading about how some outsiders want to try and join the Amish. Very complicated situation it seems, but fascinating reading Can An Outsider Ever Truly Become Amish?

9. Regenerate What is Lost/Salvage Something-
I was happy to see that my previously bug infested Mugo Pine has really recovered nicely. New green needles galore!