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11 Goals for 2011: progress update

At the start of the year, I set myself 11 (+ another 5 subgoals) goals for the year. We’ve third of the way through the year now so I thought it was time for an update.

1. Increase the food output from our garden and make a meal only using stuff I’ve grown/foraged/caught/killed which can be cooked off-grid

I’m writing this during a tea break from working in the garden. We haven’t eaten anything we’ve grown this year yet but I’ve been busy busy busy out there. Our salad has been a bit slow off the mark this year but we should have our first lettuces this month, as well as maybe our first potatoes near the end of the month. We planted a lot of fruit trees and bushes at the start of the year too – six apple, two pear, a cherry tree, four blackcurrant bushes, two redcurrant bushes, two raspberry bushes, twelve strawberry runners, three honeyberry bushes, a cranberry bush and a loganberry bush. We also planted about six jostaberry canes but only one of them seems to have taken — all the other bushes & trees are growing well though.

The chickens are doing well – I spent a lot of time defrosting their water at the start of the year but not had to do too much of that lately ;) Two out of the three second batch of girls started laying in January and Buff, the fancy pure bred one, started eventually in March so (present broodiness aside) they’re all productive now. In March, when Buff started laying, they cranked out a massive 200 eggs between them. April has been a little slow – at only 180 eggs in total – because Ginger is broody. Only 180 eggs….! We’ve had on average of 5.43 eggs a day since the start of the year, rising to 6.45 eggs a day in March. We have give a lot away ;)

Foraging has been a little slower than I would have thought – we’ve eaten plenty of wild garlic but little else. I am getting better at identifying early Spring stuff – just not picking it and eating it ;)

2. Learn how to successfully take and propagate cuttings from every applicable type of perennial plant/shrub in the house/garden

Nothing has really been ready for this year – but I will start experimenting with some of the bigger herb bushes soon.

3. Create my own font – possibly of my handwriting

Not done anything on this yet.

4. Make a piece of furniture for the house (woodworking)

I have not done this yet but I have made a lot of things for the garden from wood – which is movement in the right direction. As I said at the end of last year, my goals were/are supposed to be putting me on a journey – this goal was supposed to get me making things, anything from wood, with the hope that my skills will improve gradually to the point where I’m confident to build something for the house out of nice, purpose bought (or nicer-than-normal salvaged) wood. I’m certainly making progress along that path so yay!

5. Make an entire outfit (to include conquering sewing patterns)

Spent January frantically crocheting a blanket but have done very little sewing/yarn crafty stuff for the last couple of months. Need to get back to it!

6. Go fishing in the North Sea

Not organised this yet. Am crap.

7. Learn how to screenprint

Yays! I’ve done this one! It was a lot of fun and we’ve been back for our Factory4 induction & a second screenprinting session since. Hopefully we’ll go back again in a few weeks.

8. Buy no more than 12 items of clothing across the year

This a Really Good Life challenge – and it’s going really well. I haven’t bought a single item of clothing or any accessories from either my exceptions list or from my quota in 2012. It’s actually been a lot easier than I thought – I do have “am bored of my clothes!” sulks but they pass surprisingly quickly.

I’ve also encouraged some other people to do the same challenge – which is great :)

9. Finish a developed piece of fiction writing

Not *really* done anything for this, aside from a short scene I developed with the kids from class as part of a performance at a youth theatre festival in February.

10. Specific food makery and/or eatery:

a) Bake at least once a week
I haven’t been as regular at baking as I’d like but if I include stuff like pizza dough as well as breads & biscuits, it probably is nearly once a week on average. We struggle with bread in the winter as we keep the house cooler than yeast-exciting temperature so hopefully we’ll bake more regularly over the spring/summer/autumn period.

b) Grow a sourdough starter and make bread from it
We’ve kinda done this – we got sourdough starters when we went on a bread making course with the Handmade Bakery in March — we’ve kept them alive and baked from them since. We didn’t actually grow them from scratch (they were started in Russia in the 1970s and River Cottage in 2005) but we’re cultivating them and using them. So yeah!

c) Make a hard cheese
Not done anything cheesy so far this year. Well, not cheese-making cheesy. Those in earshot of many of my jokes would contest the “done anything cheesy” assertion.

d) Try ten vegetables (or veggie wild foods) that I’ve not tried before
As I said above, I’ve not done much foraging this year but I did try wild sorrel earlier in the year and I’m growing three things I’ve not tasted before (rapini/broccoli raab, marigolds-for-salad-leaves and achocha!) so that’ll hopefully up my total. Oh, and I had pea shoots (which aren’t too exciting but were new to me) as part of my starter when we went to Salvo’s a few weeks ago.

e) Build a cold smoking cabinet, try cold smoking more stuff & try hot smoking too
I’m really keen to build another smoking cabinet and have been on the look out for furniture to adapt or wood to build a cabinet from scratch. Not spotted anything suitable yet but I’m hoping to get hold of some old kitchen cupboard doors soon, which should work. Can’t wait to make more smoked cheese!

11. Participate more in the real world – engage more with our local community and meet some internet people in real life
I so nearly met an internet person but then got sick. *shakes fist at culinary establishment that caused food poisoning* Boo.

Have mostly hidden inside/in our private garden for the last few months so not really done anything locally.

Not particularly local community related but at least away from my computer – I’ve been still doing dramatic things at Bingley Little Theatre – I made my debut as a stage-manager on the kids’ production of “The Would-Be Gentleman” in April. (I shadowed as a ASM & SM on a production earlier in the year too – didn’t really do much but learnt a lot.) We also went to the aforementioned youth theatre festival in York – two days of dramatic funness.

Summary:

One goal (and one sub-goal) done, six (and two) in progress, and four (and two) still to do. On track!

11 Goals for 2011

1/1/2011 / louisa / 1 Comment

Compared to last year, these seem a lot less varied – almost entirely simple living stuff. I think it’s partly because for many, it’ll mean they’re easier to accomplish so I can actually feel some achievement (unlike last year’s disappointing 2 out of 10 hit rate) and partly because this is where my interests are at the moment. No point making goals that I know in my heart of heart I have no interest in achieving!

1. Increase the food output from our garden and make a meal only using stuff I’ve grown/foraged/caught/killed which can be cooked off-grid
The driving goal of last year will be the main one for 2011 too – I want to dramatically increase the amount of food we produce in our garden this year. This means using our limited growing space in smarter ways (intercropping & continual use) and creating more growing space (more containers, baskets & wall planters etc).

I’m not sure how to measure this yet – a lot of people measure by weight but I think that underplays the value of light things – like salad, herb & chillis etc – and I don’t want to just grow heavy things in order to meet an arbitrary goal.

The second bit extends last year’s goal a little. The “cooked off-grid” bit will hopefully encourage me to make a rocket stove and/or solar oven — both things that have been on my vague to-do list for a while.

2. Learn how to successfully take and propagate cuttings from every applicable type of perennial plant/shrub in the house/garden
I save seeds where I can but that’s not always appropriate/possible – I’d like to learn more about taking and propagating cuttings to decrease my reliance on garden centres etc for certain types of plants. (Eventually, I’d hope this would include tree grafting but this won’t be in 2011.)

3. Create my own font – possibly of my handwriting
This is a bit of a nerdy one but something I’ve thought about doing for a while. I use a lot of handwriting fonts for personal projects and it would be nice to use my handwriting (such as it is) for a change.

4. Make a piece of furniture for the house (woodworking)
I’ve very much enjoyed making bits for the garden and want to continue doing that. But as I get better, I’d like to make something for the house to force me to learn and refine actual skills.

5. Make an entire outfit (to include conquering sewing patterns)
One brought over from 2010 – something I’d still very much like to do. I think I might need to attend a class or find a mentor to teach me about making stuff from patterns before I can really get going.

6. Go fishing in the North Sea
Another brought over from 2010 because I’m disorganised and didn’t get it booked in in time.

7. Learn how to screenprint
I increasingly find myself wanting to do art projects that would be much better and easier if I knew how to screenprint.

8. Buy no more than 12 items of clothing across the year
This is one of my big goals that I’ve talked about more on The Really Good Life. It’s more about reducing consumption than saving money – I might end up spending a similar amount because I buy better quality items.

9. Finish a developed piece of fiction writing
A bit of a vague one but I want to keep my options open – it might be a short story, it might be a one-act play, it might be a graphic novel, it might be a full length play or it might be a novel – I’ve got ideas for all five in my mind right now. I start a lot of things but I haven’t seen anything right the way through to the end of a while – and I’d like to get back into the habit of that.

10. Specific food makery and/or eatery (because if I did them all separately it would take up half the list):

a) Bake at least once a week
I really enjoy the process and the output but I don’t always make the time for it I should. I’m probably not far off this anyway but I’m going to add it to my recurring to-do list prompter to make sure I make time for it regularly in the future.

b) Grow a sourdough starter and make bread from it
I’ve tried growing starters a few times but not managed to get them lively enough to bake a loaf from them (or they’ve got too lively – with bad rather than good yeasts). I want to crack this!

c) Make a hard cheese
I went on a cheesemaking course last September and I loved it – but have yet to put into practise the things I learned. This year, I want to change that. I want to make proper soft cheese and a hard cheese too.

d) Try ten vegetables (or veggie wild foods) that I’ve not tried before
I know people that have goals to eat as many different kinds of animal as possible – but while I do enjoy many meats, I fancy having a veggie/wild food goal instead. I’m going to keep a track of the types of veg/veggie wild foods I eat so I can see how (un)varied my diet is – and force myself to try new stuff.

e) Build a cold smoking cabinet, try cold smoking more stuff & try hot smoking too
We loved the cheese I cold smoked last summer and I want to extend my smoking range. Since my last smoker cabinet got damp & fell apart (it was made from a cardboard box), I’ve been wanting to make a new one. I also want to try smoking meats and/or fish, as well as more cheese, chillis, eggs and other things.

11. Participate more in the real world – engage more with our local community and meet some internet people in real life
The goal is from last year but with a different suffix (last year was about organising an event). The first part isn’t a SMART goal because it’s not very specific or measurable – I might try to pin it down further as the year goes on. The second part is easier to measure and something I’ve been meaning to do for a while.

I’ll be adding some more not-quite-goals on The Really Good Life soon too.

10 goals for 2010 – end of year round-up

30/12/2010 / louisa / 1 Comment

So at the start of 2010, I set myself 10 goals:

1. To make a meal using only ingredients I’ve grown, raised, caught or killed myself.
2. To travel to a place on my “top ten places to go before I die” list.
3. Finish writing my second novel.
4. Learn how to make sausages – wet English style ones and cured ones too.
5. Spend at least a day fishing out on the North Sea.
6. Finally finish learning how to drive.
7. Make a full outfit’s worth of clothing for myself – including spinning any wool used.
8. Learn how to program and make a mini-game/application using Ruby.
9. Climb a mountain or at least a jolly big hill.
10. Participate more in the real world – plan/run a real life green event or scheme.

I achieved just two of them. TWO!

I am, understandably, a bit disappointed with that but as I mentioned throughout the year, the goals were supposed to put me on a journey rather than being the destination.

The two goals I did achieve (“To make a meal using only ingredients I’ve grown, raised, caught or killed myself” and “Learn how to make sausages”) were part of my overall desire to adopt a more simple, DIY life and I think that’s going wonderfully in the right direction. The making an outfit goal was part of that – and while I didn’t meet that goal, I did learn to spin wool, I experimented with dyeing yarn too and I also made some attempts at sewing clothes. The fishing goal was a failure due to procrastination and disorganisation – it’s on the list for next year and by-huff-or-by-puff, it’s going to happen.

The last two (“Climb a mountain or at least a jolly big hill” and “Participate more in the real world”) were in an effort to get me out from behind my computer and/or off the sofa. With Lily’s arrival in March, we started walking in “our” woods every day and most weekends (one or both days) see us heading further afield for strolls. That’s a good thing. I didn’t realise what a small-talk-instigator dogs are either – I think we know considerably more people (and their dogs) than if we’d gone out wandering in the woods on our own. Another good thing. Also, while it’s not green-related, I get out and meet people regularly through my work & play at Bingley Little Theatre – this year I’ve helped with two productions and summer showcase, as well as helping teach two classes a week. A frickin’ ace thing.

I have less-than-almost-ever interest in learning to drive. I’m not scared or anything, there just doesn’t seem a lot of point to it. Occasionally I think it would be useful if I could drive somewhere instead of having to enlist John but I don’t have enough sustained motivation to start learning again – and finding the time/money is another issue. I’ve also rethought my position on my travel goal – as I wrote in my November goal update, the way we’d have to do it feels too much like consumerism, to much to have and not to be. So I’m not bothered that I haven’t achieved that either.

The novel thing and the Ruby thing are probably my biggest disappointments – nothing other than procrastination/excitement about other things stopping me there really. A revised version of the novel one will be on my goal list for 2011. The Ruby one probably won’t be – but that’s not to say I don’t want to learn — I think I will love programming when I get into it – I just need to find a new book/teaching method first.

So that’s it for 2010. The goal achievements were worth the disappointments. The rest of my life was similar – had some awesome wins, had some dark spots, some new starts and left some things behind.

Team Peach expanded (Lily-dog and the chicken tribe) but sadly contracted too (we lost Carbon). I’ve eaten a helluva lot of good food, read many many good books (highlights: lots of stuff from the first half of the 20th Century including ‘Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day’ by Winifred Watson, ‘Good Evening Mrs Craven and other stories’ by Mollie Panter Downes and ‘The Death of Grass’ by John Christopher), learned a lot of new stuff and laughed loads.

As That Tommy Hall would say, 2010, you’ve been a year.

Goal #1 “make a meal using only ingredients I’ve grown myself” – DONE!

25/7/2010 / louisa / 4 Comments

This was my dinner this evening – courgette frittata with side salad – and it was made entirely using things from our garden (with the exception of the wild garlic pods – some were from our garden, others from further into the woods).

Ingredients:
– courgette (although I only used one in the end – could have used a bit more for flavour though)
– new potatoes
– pickled wild garlic pods (not in picture)
– eggs (from yesterday, needed beating better hence the egg white bits)
– basil (grown from seed this year) & oregano (had for a few years)
– salad leaves (lollo rosso)
– chives
– and, ok ok, a little oil for frying the courgettes – a small cheat ;)

It could have used a bit of salt & pepper for flavour but other than that, was pretty damn good!

And that’s another goal ticked off my list.

10 goals for 2010 – June progress update

1/7/2010 / louisa / 1 Comment

Half way through the year – so where was I with these things…?

1. To make a meal using only ingredients I’ve grown, raised, caught or killed myself.
I’m getting closer with this. Ok, I don’t grow my own wheat but I’ve made slow-rise bread about every other day for the month, and handchurned butter too. We’ve had homegrown salad & herbs nearly every day for lunch and for most dinners too.

We’ve got about half a dozen courgettes & lots of their flowers begging to be picked, more salad (two different types of mixed leaves) will be ready for picking early next week and some broad beans might be ready this weekend too. Aside from slug damage to a lot of the beans & peas, everything else is growing well – it’s all kinda exploded over the last few days. Going to spend a lot of time potting stuff on/out tomorrow and over the weekend.

But you know what though? Sod that veg stuff – at long long last, we got chickens! We only got them on Tuesday night but we’ve had four small-but-perfect eggs (and two not quite there but almost eggs) from them, so if I was being pedantic, I could right now have a herby courgette frittata with side salad to complete my goal – but I’d rather keep striving for it ;)

2. To travel to a place on my “top ten places to go before I die” list.
Nope, still nothing on this one. I think my first step would be to re-write my list because I think I’ve plum forgotten about half of them.

3. Finish writing my second novel.
I’ve been thinking more about another idea but really. really. should. refocus.

~~4. Learn how to make sausages – wet English style ones and cured ones too.~~
Completed in April. We’ve not made any of our own at home yet though. Maybe this goal should change to that…

4. Make some sausages at home – wet English style ones and cured ones too.
As I’m thinking of making/getting a smokehouse for my birthday, I’d be able to make some interesting dried ones!

5. Spend at least a day fishing out on the North Sea.
Another idea of something I thought of doing for my birthday. Also been looking at changing the sea focus and doing a “learn to fish” thing in the Lakes or North Yorkshire instead…

6. Finally finish learning how to drive.
Still done nothing on this and, well, tbh, I’ll losing the will to do so. I know I should just do it because sometimes it would be useful to go exciting places like Morrisons without John but I think I’d drive so rarely that it wouldn’t be worth it. I will expect a kicking from certain people for saying that ;)

7. Make a full outfit’s worth of clothing for myself – including spinning any wool used.
Oh, I had lots of fun spinning during my two days off work at the start of the month! I started on a little DIY CD-and-pencil type spindle but bought a better one mid month, as well as some more roving – and I got a bruised palm pad from spinning so much one night. Extreme yarn crafts! I still haven’t spun enough yarn to make much though.

To update on what I spoke about in my last progress report, dyeing was lots of fun. I dyed two lots of wool yarn – from cream to duck egg blue and heathery lilac – and with more of the original cream, imagine it’ll make a nice chunky blanket. I had purple dye left over from the purple-ish yarn so dunked some of my slightly-greyed white knickers in and they went a lovely plum, then I told John about it and he demanded I tie-dye some of his impractically white underpants & made a vest stripey – I had to comply ;) I definitely want to try natural dyeing some time soon.

8. Learn how to program and make a mini-game/application using Ruby.
The weather has been too nice to be sat inside on my computer. And the people who claim I’ve spent many, many hours playing Theme Hospital this month are LYING.

9. Climb a mountain or at least a jolly big hill.
Lots of walking with Lily but nothing more than the Chevin in Otley – and that looks a lot bigger than it really is.

10. Participate more in the real world – plan/run a real life green event or scheme.
I’ve taken the first baby steps with two of them – but haven’t heard anything yet from my contacts. Will poke.

Sausages!

27/4/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

One of my ten goals for 2010 was to learn how to make sausages. I’ll admit it was a bit of an easy one — the “make to-do” list item on your to-do list just so you can cross something off straight away — as I was already planning on attending a sausage making course in March. When March came along though, I was incredibly disappointed when we had to cancel our places a couple of days before the course – and delighted when Rachel, the course organiser, said they were running the course again a month later, and would we like to attend that instead?

The course took place on Saturday at Old Sleningford Farm – a lovely informal community/small holding near Ripon in North Yorkshire. The drive up showed off Yorkshire at its best – the sun shining on all the hills, dales and cute cottage-filled villages – and when we got there, the group were having a cup of tea in the sunshine next to the herb garden. There were five of us on the course, plus Rachel & Martin, who ran the session together.

Once the tea was supped, we headed into the purpose-built kitchen and Rachel & Martin told us about their experiences developing the recipes, how they’d come up with their fatty/lean meat ratio and why they used homemade bread instead of rusk. Then we read through the recipes of the sausages we’d be making – all standard wet pork sausages but we were given two recipes for dried/smoked sausages and throughout the day, they discussed how each stage would be different if we were making them (we also got to try the dried sausages at lunchtime – super yum!). They had also thoughtfully copied out large versions of the recipes and hung them on the walls so we didn’t keep having to refer to our take-home A4 papers.
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