Project Week: Pantry Check, Wood Splitting, Garlic Harvest

Project Week: Pantry Check, Wood Splitting, Garlic Harvest

Chocolate Box Cottage Diary Vol. 1
Week 27: July 9, 2021

It has been a quiet week. Sam took the week off and we have been working on projects. We are planning a week-long staycation later this summer with planned activities and rest; you could call this Project Week. The main tasks we had in mind were: a mid-summer pantry check, wood splitting, and the garlic harvest.

Sam is continuing to make progress on the “new” woodshed made from materials salvaged from the old one. It reminds me of a Rubik’s cube the way all the bits and pieces need to fit together in the building process. We want to avoid buying any new wood because it would not match. And it’s expensive. And it’s a fun challenge for Sam. He split next winter’s wood supply, by hand, and it is neatly stacked on pallets for air circulation so that it will cure properly and burn well in the Blaze King wood stove.

Sam completed a slew of small fix-it projects:

• straightening gates that used to hang a bit “off” 
• cleaning out the henhouse and repairing the henhouse door
• weed eating, and more.

Meanwhile, I have continued working from home part-time. I found time to re-read several books (old favorites), complete some small decluttering tasks, and do some English paper-piecing (EPP; hand quilting). If you are interested in learning how, see the book Quilting on the Go by Jessica Alexandrakis.

I took a visual inventory of the pantry closet where I keep my home-canned foods and am making decisions about what to preserve this year and what to use up soon. 

• Plenty of jams and fruit butters; we are used to saving them, we need to give ourselves permission to go ahead and eat them! 
• Zero pickles left
• A smattering of tomato products. I like to have a 2- year supply of canned tomatoes and tomato products like pizza sauce, crushed tomatoes flavored with herbs, and salsa on hand. 
• I don’t can broth and beans anymore, instead I freeze these.

We both have enjoyed slower-paced mornings and unhurried meals. 

Watering is a daily task. No baking this week. We are eating our way through the last batch (6 loaves) of whole wheat sandwich bread I froze before the heat wave.

We dug the garlic crop earlier than usual. Due to the intense heat of the past couple of weeks the leaves died back sooner. 

We also took a monthly walkabout our property, noting the upcoming fruit crops (apples, grapes, peaches, plums, pears, figs, blackberries), what is in bloom, wild herbs to be harvested and processed for medicine, and what needs attention around our homestead. 

I love my TUL mechanical pencils. Sam bought me a pack of 2 for Christmas. One lives in my day planner and the other floats around where needed. You can find them here: https://www.walmart.com/ip/TUL-Mechanical-Pencils-0-7-mm-Pink-Purple-Pack-Of-2/703604114?athcpid=703604114&athpgid=athenaItemPage&athcgid=null&athznid=PWVUB&athieid=v0&athstid=CS020&athguid=9fe17cf4-007-17ab1db5f3c6cd&athancid=null&athena=true

If you would like to share, I would love to hear about your week in the comments!