I've pretty much abandoned this site until now. There's really only so much a person can do while juggling work, prenatal visits, home reconstruction, and life planning. Dark Days Challenge...well, that became something else entirely.
In the end, I've come back much to where I started...wanting to feel well stocked for a world of unknowns. Recently we've had a ton of power outages...okay, not a ton, but something like 4 in the past 2 days. Every time the electricity goes off I have this out of portion fear of it not coming on again, well at least for a while. Fortunately we've never gone more than a few hours without power again.
But it reminds me of college. We went without electricity for a week after a pretty severe storm. I'm not really sure how we handled it. I should be reassured because if a college student can handle a week long outage, surely a more mature and better prepared adult me would be fine too. It also reminds me of Iraq, where people had 2-4 hours of electricity a day due to intermittent power interruptions.
So every time the power goes out, I wonder how long I could prepare meals out of the pantry. Right now, I think is the most vulnerable time. I've been eating out of the pantry all winter, but haven't had anything to harvest so far. And yes, we do have a garden this year, even if it is a little smaller than usual. Realistically, I'm going to have to buy a bunch of stuff at the farmer's markets this year because our yard is more of a token garden this year.
Things we have in the garden?
tomatoes (not even half the number of plants I had last year)
garlic
onions
cabbage (8 heads)
potatoes
carrots
cucumbers (if they make it)
summer squash (1 plant, and the leaves look pretty bad right now)
brussel sprouts
celery
peas
green beans
grapes
blueberries (maybe 20 berries on one bush?)
raspberries
beach plumbs (unless the birds get them first again this year)
strawberries (seems to be already tapped out)
rhubarb (but we're not picking it this year in the hopes it begins to flourish)
What am I missing?
Well, first of all, more of everything I'm actually growing. But also:
zucchini
kale
lettuce greens
spinach
herbs
radishes
shell beans
sunflowers
leeks
corn
broccoli (planted some but it immediately bolted)
cauliflower
I'd also hoped to add a few fruit trees by now, but that's going to have to wait a little while.
So as much as I can, given that I'll have twins within the next two months, I'm going to start restocking. I'm not a "prepper" really. I certainly hope the world won't end in the next few months...but I am a "prepper" in the sense that I can totally see needing supplies for a period of time while humanity overcomes whatever chaos nature dishes us. While I know I'm willing to bend my values once in a while to suit a need for an easy fix, I'm pretty determined to let those times be few and far between. So here I go again...try, try again, right?
Friday, June 22, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
An Interesting Conundrum
Sshh!!! If you know me in person or on Facebook, please don't blab. But my news is so closely related to my efforts to eat local, healthy, food, that I thought it's going to make it into my blog someday soon anyway.
I'm pregnant! With twins!! It's still pretty early in the first trimester (week 7.5) and I haven't had much luck with pregnancies before.
Which makes eating right even more of a priority. Too bad I don't feel at all up to cooking, eating, or much of anything else really. It's intersting though, how much I've had to challenge myself about food.
I'm trying so hard not to eat gluten, although I remain unconvinced that it's as bad for me as my herbalist/acupuncturist (I think she's biased). I have a bum thyroid which was undiagnosed for a number of years and discovered only during fertility treatment. Hashimoto's is usually found in older people and I've likely had it for at least a few years. I am on medicine, but trying out some homeopathic options as well. The idea behind gluten free is that it reduces the strain on the thyroid, prevents inflamation in the body, and promotes a healthier gut. I've been pretty good, even going so far as to make gluten free Christmas cookies and avoid the glut of carbs over the holidays. But I have cheated a few times.
Which is my conundrum. When nothing sounds good, at all, except maybe a candy bar or KFC chicken, my values are feeling under assault right now. One little chicken leg doesn't matter, does it. It's only a little batter. It's not like it's every day... If ever there was a time to eat healthy, now is it, and yet I find myself wanting unhealthy things. I've started to think, if I had a baby in front of me, would I give this to this child.
The answer has been surprising. You'd think the answer would automatically be no, but I wonder how long I'd hold out if I was exausted and faced with a hungry kid. The other day while babysitting I threw on a DVD. For all that I say I want to be a super-healthy person (and TV free), with a super-healthy family, I'm not immune to temptation.
I suppose it's a wake-up call to get a bit more organized. If I *really* am commited to local, seasonal food, then I need to win the battle now. Last night I really (and I mean really) wanted a hamburger. I could almost smell the french fries too. What did I manage instead?
I sent my husband after beef (to his everlasting surprize, I'm pretty intolerant to beef usually) and I opened a can of home-preserved marinara sauce. Between meatballs (made with local egg, gluten free flour, spices, and sauted in olive oil) semi-local beef (all I can tell is that it's distributed out of Milton, MA...Milton, really?) and a package of Quinoa spagetti (not even remotely local) I managed to stay within my diet. I know I'm not getting enough green stuff though. I did end up downing an entire can of my mother's dilly beans and have been nibbling on edamame, but overall, I need to add more local veggies in my diet.
So will I manage to make it out to the farmer's market this weekend and get some salad greens and kale? Lets hope my self-control will last that long. And that idea that I would eat out of my pantry throughout the winter? That's pretty much not going to work now, so I've got to figure out a new plan pretty darn quick.
I'm pregnant! With twins!! It's still pretty early in the first trimester (week 7.5) and I haven't had much luck with pregnancies before.
Which makes eating right even more of a priority. Too bad I don't feel at all up to cooking, eating, or much of anything else really. It's intersting though, how much I've had to challenge myself about food.
I'm trying so hard not to eat gluten, although I remain unconvinced that it's as bad for me as my herbalist/acupuncturist (I think she's biased). I have a bum thyroid which was undiagnosed for a number of years and discovered only during fertility treatment. Hashimoto's is usually found in older people and I've likely had it for at least a few years. I am on medicine, but trying out some homeopathic options as well. The idea behind gluten free is that it reduces the strain on the thyroid, prevents inflamation in the body, and promotes a healthier gut. I've been pretty good, even going so far as to make gluten free Christmas cookies and avoid the glut of carbs over the holidays. But I have cheated a few times.
Which is my conundrum. When nothing sounds good, at all, except maybe a candy bar or KFC chicken, my values are feeling under assault right now. One little chicken leg doesn't matter, does it. It's only a little batter. It's not like it's every day... If ever there was a time to eat healthy, now is it, and yet I find myself wanting unhealthy things. I've started to think, if I had a baby in front of me, would I give this to this child.
The answer has been surprising. You'd think the answer would automatically be no, but I wonder how long I'd hold out if I was exausted and faced with a hungry kid. The other day while babysitting I threw on a DVD. For all that I say I want to be a super-healthy person (and TV free), with a super-healthy family, I'm not immune to temptation.
I suppose it's a wake-up call to get a bit more organized. If I *really* am commited to local, seasonal food, then I need to win the battle now. Last night I really (and I mean really) wanted a hamburger. I could almost smell the french fries too. What did I manage instead?
I sent my husband after beef (to his everlasting surprize, I'm pretty intolerant to beef usually) and I opened a can of home-preserved marinara sauce. Between meatballs (made with local egg, gluten free flour, spices, and sauted in olive oil) semi-local beef (all I can tell is that it's distributed out of Milton, MA...Milton, really?) and a package of Quinoa spagetti (not even remotely local) I managed to stay within my diet. I know I'm not getting enough green stuff though. I did end up downing an entire can of my mother's dilly beans and have been nibbling on edamame, but overall, I need to add more local veggies in my diet.
So will I manage to make it out to the farmer's market this weekend and get some salad greens and kale? Lets hope my self-control will last that long. And that idea that I would eat out of my pantry throughout the winter? That's pretty much not going to work now, so I've got to figure out a new plan pretty darn quick.
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