Challenge updates. IDC, Real Food and One small Change

We have been enjoying a long stretch of sunny weather. Clothes are hung outside, sap is boiling down, and the snow is nearly off the garden. It seems early in the season to see the whole garden free of snow. The yard still has small patches of snow and if they clear by the end of the week we will get rakes out and start cleaning up from winter. Beet greens that are hidden under row cover and plastic will be revealed today and hopefully by the end of the week we will be able to have some fresh greens.

My one small change for the month has been mend clothes and darn socks. This past week, I gave an old skirt some new life. I had this denim skirt that I found at the Goodwill. I wore it last spring, but there was something about it that just wasn't working for me. I decided that it was just a little too long. So, I cut about 2 1/2 inches off it and added a little calico hem to it. This week I will mend those holey pants...I swear!

This week in Real Food challenge in my effort to get rid of the refined sugar, I made a carob fudge from Sally Fallon's, Nourishing Traditions. It was made with raw honey,butter and carob powder. A friend had given a large bag of carob powder last year and it was nice to find a use for this. The fudge was yummy and definitely a treat. I put a little stash in Mark's bag of food for the week and snuck some in the freezer to bring out later because we don't need to have all that sweet in our everyday.

It is nice to have the focus of the Independence Days Challenge again. Many of the things that are part of the challenge are things we are already doing, but thinking of the challenge spurs me to think and act to explore more deeply about what we are doing.

Plant: broccoli, lettuce, sunflowers, nasturtiums. Evan helped me to plant the seeds this past week. At three, he seems much more engaged in this activity and reminds me when the seeds need to be watered. He is excited to see the small sprouts that poke through the soil.

Harvest: Maple sap, ten gallons a day for a week.

Preserve: 1 gallon,1 quart and 2 pints maple syrup

Waste not: repurposed the skirt.

Want not: I baked bagels on Friday so that we could bring our lunch with us when we went to Portland. Saving us some money. Hubby and I are close to reaching our financial goal for moving out to Farmington. We will know by mid April if he will be rehired for next school year.

Local Foods: Not much this week. The car I use had some mechanical issues so I did not drive anywhere last week. We just managed with what we had on hand.

Eat the food: Carob fudge.