Independence Days Challenge: Week 4 and 1/2

Well, I've been lax in posting my latest garden and food preparations for the Independence Days Challenge. I've never been a good garden journalist. Gardening is one thing I prefer to just do, and unlike most other things in my life I don't prefer to read about it more than actually doing it. (I could not say the same for knitting or cooking, both of which skills come with loads and loads of enticing books on the subject and many times I prefer to read them rather than get to actually doing the task.)

But here goes on the last week to two weeks of gardening, storing, preserving, etc.

1. Planted: I was waiting for the new moon today to plant most of my above-ground plants. I am trying to follow the cosmic plan of planting above ground plants when the moon is waxing (starting today) and below-ground plants when the moon is waning. I am following the old standard, The Farmer's Almanac, for my time schedule, as well as of course just observing the moon patterns. With that in mind, today I planted 8 pepper plants, 8 tomato plants, 8 marigold plants and 2 cilantro plants. Is anyone else thinking "salsa"? (See these in the photo above.) Tonight or tomorrow I'll plant my bean seeds, and some watermelon and jack-o-lantern plants I bought at the nursery, and maybe some cucumbers, etc. Of course, if you're keeping track you'll know I haven't stuck to the moon planting schedule religiously, but I'm trying to remember. I do know the moon effects so many things like women's cycles and fertility, the tides, and so much more that why wouldn't it effect our crops? And even if not, it's great to have more awareness of the cycles of the cosmos.

2. Harvested: 5 lbs. of rhubarb from my grandma's bachelor neighbor; cilantro, parsley and other herbs as needed in cooking.

3. Preserved: 12-1/2 pints of strawberry rhubarb jam

4. Stored: 1/2 case of canned baked beans; more sugar (jam season is coming up!); 10 lbs. of oat groats, which are the actual whole oat that I'm told makes a yummy, sweet cooked cereal and they can also be used to grind into oat flour which we use a lot in baked goods these days.

5. Prepped: I got my Harsch crock! Ooh, I should take a picture...here I will. Here you go:

This thing is heavy and impressive--obviously German! It is a 10 litre size which I figure will make enough pickles and sauerkraut, in two separate batches of course, to last us all winter. And that's eating a lot! I hope I don't oversalt the big batches like I did the last jar of kraut. I got my crock at the co-op where I work. This website here has the best price on them that I've found.
Another item on "prepped" is that we got the second rain barrel up and running. George connected them with a small piece of hose and some hose attachment thing-ys that screw into the barrel. If you want to know more, you'll have to ask him all the technical details. Should I have him do a guest post about it?

6. Managed: Just taking care of the gardens already planted. Adding mulch, etc. Watching the peas grow...

And the potatoes...In the potato pot below I added some dirt as the shoots had gotten to about 6 inches tall. I'll keep adding soil until it reaches the top, then let the shoots grow as they will and expect a flowerpot full of little potatoes as the season advances.7. Cooked new: Um, strawberry rhubarb jam was new to me, and I made up my own recipe.

8. Learned a new skill: Knitting socks on two circular needles (and just wait for the pictures to come soon--I'm almost done with the first one and it has all been so simple. It's so fun, too.)

Well, that's it for this update. Happy June!