Doing Things Myself

Another unschooler and overall great lady, Robin, is prompting us to blog about things we do ourselves inthe name of sustainability and having fun:

I would like to see if I could get a small blog carnival going on the subject of "Do It Yourself". So if you have some skill that you know how to do - making jam, growing potatoes, baking bread, making yogurt, knitting a scarf, building a shed, or whatever you can think of, please share it on your blog and send me an email letting me know what post it is. I'll try to round up a good carnival on the topic of "DIY" on my urban farm blog. Deadline is November 15.


So what do I know how to do?
1) Make jam using seaweed thickener (agar flakes) - last year I made tons of blackberry jam and gave it out at Christmastime. This year I didn't actually make any. I'm not sure why.

2) Make mozzarella cheese using Ricki Carroll's fabulous instructions and materials. It only takes about 1/2 unless you are interrupted or only have a very small glass bowl to heat the cheese in. We like it with basil mixed in and layered with tomatoes and some olive oil. Yum.

3) Bake bread using my home ground whole wheat flour and the whey left over from cheese making - fabulous once I stopped baking the loaves too long. I use my Whispermill to grind flours of all varieties and love it.

4) Knitting and crocheting although simple stuff. I love the feel of bamboo yarn so prefer that for scarves. I actually sell some stuff at my etsy shop. I am working up to knitting in the round with multiple needles and using patterns. Stitches that require a lot of counting or concentration are out ... my youngest is five and I still get easily distracted.

5) I make yogurt too, but don't have the patience or climate to do it without the use of a yogurt maker. I tried. It was ugly and took a long time. My mother-in-law witnessed that daya nd happily purchased me a yogurt maker last Christmas.

6) I sew for myself and occasionally for others. I think I might make a long cozy skirt out of some organic sherpa this weekend. I need find a better place for my sewing machine though. Right now it is trapped.

7) I make my own tomato/pasta sauce. I made enough for the entire year (I think) this summer using seconds tomatoes from my good friend's farm. I canned it and everything. The quart jars are all lined up inside my new pantry cabinet that I blogged about earlier this year. I used the recipe from the book Animal,Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (which I loved). I used the squisher/strainer thing that my mother gave me from when she was my age and trying to live the same sustainable way albeit in Florida.

That's all I can think of right now. I do lots of things, but nothing that seems so out of the ordinary (to me - I know biased). I am now pondering what new skill I can add to my life ...