As spring arrives, I’ve been thinking over the past year since I started my personal Sustainable Kitchen Project. I actually accomplished quite a bit considering the hectic pace of a busy mom. It dawned on me maybe many of us can support each other by my inviting all of you to participate in the Sustainable Kitchen Project.
Here was my original to-do list with my comments as to status in italics:
- Grow herbs, vegetables and fruit (done! maybe not well, but I did do it)
- Make juices, teas and sodas (made orange juice once… wasn’t impressed with results, but I do still need to make another go at it)
- Make yogurt (well, I have bought plain yogurt as starter several times and let it go bad… does that count for anything? I am very excited to try out a cool crock pot yogurt recipe I just learned about, though).
- Make pasta (no, but I did buy some amazing locally made pasta like a killer ravioli at the Asheville Downtown Farmers Market).
- Bake breads (I have tried this one over and over and over again… my bread is still pretty awful, but seems to be slowly improving).
- Start a compost (well, I have a discreet wooded area of my yard where I have randomly added compost ingredients… I am not sure if it will turn into compost or not. I’ll let you know when I start gardening this year! I did see a cool compost bin at Sam’s Club for $50 that I might buy)
- Buy more local produce and products (This I definitely feel like I did very well. We bought at some of the local farmers markets on several occasions, and I have gone out of my way to buy things that are locally grown and made).
- Learn to preserve items when they are local and fresh with freezing, canning, etc. (I actually made my first go at canning this year and was surprised at just how simple it was. This coming year I hope to have more homegrown produce to can and get much more time to try this).
- Make jams and other condiments (I made apple butter that rocked, with locally grown apples we picked together as a family, and then canned in my first attempt at canning. This was probably the best example, the time I was proudest, of my Sustainable Kitchen Project attempts. That’s because it had the full circle from being local to making the apple butter from scratch to canning it myself. Next time, maybe it will be with apples I grow, too!)
- Make butter (on my to-do list… but I did buy some marbles finally to follow a cool project to let my kids make the butter themselves)
- Make beer and wine (I have made beer years ago, but haven’t tried the wine. I did buy a couple grape plants that have wine grapes, so this could happen this year from grapes I grow myself!)
- Make cheese (can that be done at home? that would be coool!) (still on my to-do list, but this one actually sounds kind of easy so I may do it very soon)
So as you can see, I did actually try several new things and I at least learned more about many of the things on my list. I was kind of impressed with myself, just because it sure didn’t feel to me like I accomplished much on this front.
So here is how to participate. I have created a fancy badge so you can show off your commitment to a more sustainable kitchen:
Copy this code and insert into your sidebar:
<a href=”http://kelbycarr.com/join-the-sustainable-kitchen-project”> <img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-227″ title=”sustainablekitchenprojectbadge”
src=”http://kelbycarr.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/sustainablekitchenprojectbadge.jpg”
alt=”" hspace=”5″ width=”180″ height=”136″ align=”left” /> </a>
Then do the following:
- In your Sustainable Kitchen Project post, make your own to-do list of all the things you’ve been meaning to do in your kitchen to be more sustainable but haven’t.
- Add posts as you try things on your to-do list, especially with pictures to help others learn.
- Upload pictures to the Sustainable Kitchen Project Flickr Pool.
- Add the following code at the end of any Sustainable Kitchen Project post: <a href=”http://kelbycarr.com/join-the-sustainable-kitchen-project”>Join the Sustainable Kitchen Project</a>
- Leave a comment here (preferably right after you post about your project, since CommentLuv will automatically pull the link) to point us to your personal project. Be sure to include a link to your main post.
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Kelby Carr
Kelby Carr is the founder and publisher of Type-A Parent. She also is the organizer of the Type-A Parent Conference. She is the author of the soon-to-be-published Pinterest For Dummies, Portable Edition. You can follow her on Twitter at @typeamom and circle her on Google+.
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13 Responses to Join the Sustainable Kitchen Project
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Great idea Kelby! one thing that I planted that was really easy was lettuce. We usually have salads twice per day (lunch and dinner), so we go through much more than we get in our CSA basket. I just got a variety of different seeds and planted them in planters and put them in a sunny spot. A few weeks later, I had lettuce!
what a great idea! As Annie said, lettuce is very easy! I had a ton of success with eggplants in my flower beds last year if anyone likes those. I haven’t figured out what i’m planting this year.
Jessicas last blog post..Lazy Saturday
I’m going to do this as part of my Urban Homesteading blog. I’ll let you know how it comes out.
It’s funny that you mention this today, Kelby. We are planting our seeds in the house this afternoon. I’m so ready for the growing season to begin! Also signed up for our CSA this week. It may take me some time to get going on my own contribution to the Sustainable Kitchen Project, but I’m definitely in.
Also featured this post in Things to Write Home About today!
Heck – I’m in! I do a lot of what you mentioned…some of it is hard for me to find time for (making pasta)…but I’m an avid composter – even with my friends, the worms.
I do grow my own kitchen garden and attempt to buy local as much as I can.
Cool project!
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I have a compost pile, but it does take some tending to. Have you thought of worms and vermicomposting? It is so easy. I had a worm bin in the house, no muss, no fuss and best of all no smell. You MUST never put any animal products in the bin or it WILL smell. The worms are wonderful little house guests. It you decide to do this poject, I suggest the book “Worms Eat My Garbage”. The castings (nice term for worm poop) are great on your house plants or on the garden. Good Luck!!
robins last blog post..Need Extra Cash? Consider Freelancing
We used to grow much of our own food when we lived in a rural area up north. A few years ago we moved to a more urban area in the south (we’re about 30 min. from the NC border)
I haven’t attempted gardening since, but this post has motivated me to start some vegetable beds!
My kids are so excited and thank you!
(mommymichelle6)
Michelle@babiesonlines last blog post..16-Month-Old Baby Eats as Much As a Adult Woman
I am keen to join in with the Sustainable Kitchen Project, but must admit many of those recommendations are not applicable to a couple living in a small London flat with no garden or much of a kitchen to speak of
Making your own alcohol reminds me alot of my old student days, but i have already tried to make my own Cheese, Indian Paneer, and that worked well!!
Tom Gurneys last blog post..Famous Hispanic Artists – Famous Artists from Latin America
Actually, Tom, you can do some decent gardening in a small space. I have several vegetables in containers right now: tomatoes, lettuce and greens, a hanging pot with cucumbers, peppers in a Topsy Turvy, and I even have small French carrots in a window box. Herbs do very well in containers. I have a painfully small kitchen, too (and had a flat in Nice, so I know how small the European inner-city kitchens can be). I get creative about storing almost everything off of counters to make space for cooking and baking. I know small kitchens make it tough.
But really, my idea here is for everyone to come up with their own list for their own version of a Sustainable Kitchen Project. For one person, it could just be recycling and growing your own herbs. Glad to have you join us!
It is definitely a lifestyle change… all areas of your life need to reflect a healthy life style and it doesn’t hurt to have a healthy sustainable kitchen too!
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