Independence Days Challenge: (my late) Week 1

So, I spotted this doozy of a challenge over at Dancing in a Field of Tansy and, as intimidated as I am to make all of this happen on my meager and still developing suburban lot, I figured it would be a nice way to keep track of things and force myself to step it up! You can see the "rules" and inspiration at Casaubon's Book. Without further ado then, here are my Week 1 accomplishments (or lack thereof):

1. Planted: I've been extremely slow on the planting phase of things because I'm still ripping up the lawn to make room for our veggie garden. However, today I planted Corno di Toro peppers, sweet basil, marigolds, and Rouge Vif D'Etampes pumpkins. So, 4 out of minimum of 7 things to plant each week. LOL I'm rockin' this challenge, baby!

2. Harvest something: I am so far from having harvested something everyday this week, it really isn't even funny. Planting was laughable, but harvesting is just downright sad. This week, all I harvested was some of my completely insane, take-over-the-world lemon balm (Melissa officinalis). Lots of it. Does it count if I harvest just lemon balm everyday because that is a completely doable task! No kidding, folks. Oh, and I guess technically we harvested some chives (Allium schoenoprasum) as well, since Annie keeps eating them to the ground nearly everyday. The kid is an addict, I tell ya. Is there a support group for that?

Oh wait. I lied. We also harvested some Rosalita lettuce for salad one night this week. It was beautiful but bitter, since bolting time is nigh. This should have been planted so very much earlier than it was. Next year, I'll know.


3. Preserve something: The aforementioned lemon balm was lazily dried for tea.

4. Prep something: Spent all week ripping up the sod to prep a bed for the peppers, basil, and marigolds. I also listed some stuff on eBay on Monday and will do so again tomorrow as I continue to declutter the attic. Finally bought a clothesline to hang up in the backyard. Tomorrow's laundry day, so I'll spend my morning trying to figure out a way to rig that bad girl up!

5. Cook something: Didn't cook anything from the garden and didn't try any new recipes. While not technically cooked, we did eat the Rosalita lettuce we harvested... Yeah, I fail miserably in this category too.

6. Manage your reserves: Um, 'nother failure? Had to send some storebought onions and corn on the cob to the compost pile. Bad homesteader!

7. Work on local food systems: Let the neighbor borrow my green plastic chicken fencing to protect her sunflower seeds and received a couple cuttings from one of her rose bushes in the hopes of rooting and establishing them out front for hips next year (yum!).

8. Reduce waste: Other than the normal composting, didn't do much. Freecycled a few old games and a baby car shade. Listed stuff on eBay. Again, nothing more than the norm this week.

9. Learn a new skill: Other than blogging, there's nothing new in this category.

Aaaaaand that's a wrap!