Resolutions: 2010

I hadn't given much thought to the idea of resolutions this year, but it seems that is all anybody talks about at this time after the holidays.  I reflected for a bit, and this is what I came up with:

1.  Make more of our own food.  Anybody who knows me knows that this is a MAJOR priority in my life. At this point, I have almost $100 worth of seeds sitting in my cart at Seed Savers Exchange.  I am reading books like "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver (for the 4th time) , and "The Backyard Homestead" by Carleen Madigan (for the 2nd time).  I am at this moment haunting my mailbox, waiting for rennet to come in the mail so I can make mozzerella. I feel like I made such great changes in our eating habits in 2009.  We switched over to almost all free-range and local meat.  I found a local egg source, which I plan to use exclusively once we move. I found a local dairy that sells product in some area stores.  I bought a breadmaker and haven't bought store bread since June. I grew a huge garden and canned. froze, and dried a great deal of food.

In 2010, I want to take it even further.  I am going to make trips to the dairy and purchase cream and milk to make my own cheese, yogurt, and butter.  I am expanding my garden to include several more vegetables that we eat frequently.  I plan to find more sources for local flour and pasta. I am researching options for adding fruit to my garden as well, so I can produce all my own jam ingredients.  If I can't make it myself, I want to find a local source for it. I'm hoping that I can double my production this year.

2.  Continue to Lose Weight/Improve My Health.   Last summer I acknowledged that I had gained some weight from stress and overeating  in 2008.  I cut back my eating, spent a LOT of time outside in the garden, and walked all the time.  I lost about 10 lbs from July to September.  I pledged to not gain the weight back over the winter.  I have a serious problem with getting lazy once it gets cold.  My exercising stops dead in its tracks with the first frost.  This year was no different, so I have not lost anymore weight.  However, I have managed to curb my eating back some from previous years, so I have only gained 2 lbs since September.  If I can keep the weight off until spring, I know I can lose another 10 lbs this next summer.  Of course, this would put me back into the healthy weight range for my height (and back into almost all the clothes in my closet).

My major emphasis is on eating more fresh things during the months that fresh things are growing, and trying to eat things I have made that are more healthful during these colder months.  Granted, I did have my share of Christmas cookies this year, but I don't think I did too bad.  Things I make, that have less fat and high fructose corn syrup have to be better than the processed stuff.  Also, I just seem to eat less these days, which definitely helps.

3.  Move into a new house and start a garden that is going to stay in one place for a while.  Since I've been a gardener, I've had to move my entire garden TWICE.  This is rather frustrating.  So in 2010, I resolve to design and plan a garden that can prosper and grow long term. Plus, after moving, I resolve to unpack everything right away, and not live in a world of boxes for months.

 

4.  Do more cooking and gardening with my son.  And be nicer while we do it. Sometimes, I think God giving me my son was both a blessing and his idea of a funny joke at the same time.  I say this because I am somewhat of a control freak and a perfectionist. My son is stubborn, strong-willed, and very ADHD. Let's just say we clash sometimes.  We both get frustrated. So one of my resolutions is to continue spending lots of time with my son, but to try to be more flexible and see things his way sometimes. Even if it means whispering, "It's okay, even if it's not the way I'd do it..." over and over again. He is totally and absolutely worth it.

5.  Start and MAINTAIN a garden journal.  Every year my fiance laughs at me because I say, I need to start writing this stuff down.  He says, "Didn't you say that last year?"  Well, this year is the year it's gonna happen. I've already started one today.  I'm also going to track my garden-related spending.  That ought to be interesting. I am really excited to see a whole year of records of my garden. I want to be able to look back and see when I started something the year before, how well it did, how much fruit I got from it, how long it bloomed...Right now, it's all in my memory, which, truthfully, ain't what it used to be.

So, that is it.  I personally think 5 resolutions is a bit ambitious, but they are all things I will be working on.  I hope to report back every few months on my progress.  I hope that will make me more accountable to my goals. What are you changing in 2010, what are you doing to change for the better? I'd love to hear about it.