Monday, June 1, 2009

Challenge Rules

I finally have the information for the Challenge's that I see on other blogs. I got this information from one of the Yahoo groups I belong to.

1. Garden work: Planting, thinning, weeding, watering, harvesting,
hauling manure , working on the compost pile, planning next year's
garden, going through catalogs - it's all garden work.

2. Preserve something. Sometimes this will be a big project, but it
doesn't have to be. When you are in major food preservation mode, get
some friends and make a day - or a week, or a month - of it. But, it
doesn't take long to slice a couple of tomatoes and set them in the
dehydrator - or even a bag of frozen veggies from the store. Make
extra when you make soup and pressure can the left-overs. Buy ham on
sale at Easter time and pop it in the freezer - you get the idea. This
is one area where many small contributions can really add up - and
faster than you think.

3. Food storage. What have you added to food storage? Cereal for
$1/box? 100, 200 or 1000 pounds of wheat? Did inventory? Bought a cow
or a half a cow? What did you do this week for food storage?

4. Other preparedness tasks: Add to your overall preparedness - hit a
yard sale and pick up an extra blanket. Purchase some extra legumes
and oatmeal. Sort out and inventory your pantry or your freezer. Make
a list of tools you need. Find a way to give what you don't need to
someone who does. Fix your bike. Fill that old soda bottle with water
and a couple of drops of bleach. Plan for next year's edible
landscaping. Work on 72-hour kits. Have a fire drill. Replace
batteries in your smoke detectors. Check the squash on your pantry
shelves and feed the squishy ones to the chickens. Camp out in the
backyard and see what you need to repair/replace/acquire. You get the
idea!

5. Try a new recipe: Yup, once a week, try something new. Bonus points
if you use food storage!!

6. Financial preparedness: Balance your checkbook. Pay off a little
more debt - maybe just $5 more on the credit card you are trying to
pay off first, or an extra payment to the mortgage company or anything
in between. Buy on sale and in bulk to stretch your dollar. Sew a
quick skirt for a couple of bucks instead of heading off to the
department store. Do a fun, creative and inexpensive birthday party
for your little darlin' instead of renting a clown and ball pit. There
are lots of ways to stretch a dollar, a skill that is needed more and
more.

7. Work on local food systems. This could be as simple as buying
something you don't grow or make from a local grower, or finding a new
local source. It could be as complex as starting a co-op or a farmer's
market. You might give seeds or plants or divisions to a neighbor, or
solicit donations for your food pantry. Maybe you'll be like a friend
of mine and start a community garden or help a homeschool co-op
incubate some chicks or buy a side of beef from someone up the road.
Try eating as "locally" as you can and see how that works for you!

8: Learn something. Learn a little more about gardening, canning,
sewing, birthin' babies, homesteading, car mechanics, cutting hair -
you name it. It can be a little thing, or practicing on a skill that's
still new to you. For a longer challenge, how about this one: Learn
one new skill each year. That can be a great new year's resolution and
look how much you'd know by the time you are 40, 50, 60 . . . it's
never too late to start!

9: Serve someone. There are a jillion ways to serve - bake cookies,
weed a garden, teach a class, do home repairs for someone else, reach
out to the neighbor you've never had a chance to get to know. Include
your family on this one and let them start learning the rewards of
serving others.

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