Time.

I started writing a blog for several reasons:

1. I wanted something to occupy my time and make me feel purposeful when I no longer had an office to sit at from 9-5.

2. I wanted to share what I'm doing with friends and family.

3. I wanted to show that doing things the old-fashioned way isn't that hard, because you were going to find out with me as I learned.

Number three was a bit of a gamble, because I really didn't know how hard it was going to be and I didn't really know everything I was going to do. I knew I would grow a garden and bake some bread and add on some more skills, but I didn't know what they would be. In the past six months I have gotten 10 times better at making bread, I've been able to grow almost all my own produce (right now I pretty much only buy onions, garlic and potatoes at the store), I've learned to knit, I've learned to make yogurt, I've learned to can and preserve and make pickles, I've learned to live without a car.

In all of this I have learned that it really just takes a little commitment, a little planning and a lot of patience. Honestly, most of the things I do take a lot of time, but aren't really time-intensive. It just requires some planning to know how long something will take, but most of the time I am just sitting around and waiting.

The first batch of pickles I made takes two weeks (still waiting). The actual amount I time I spent actively making pickles was about 20 or 30 minutes. The rest of the time is just sitting around and waiting for the pickles to sit in brine, or ferment in the fridge. I made a second batch of pickles this week that I actually canned to keep in the pantry. They took a little more time, had to sit overnight and canning does take up a chunk. But even so, with the canning process included, the active time I spent making those pickles was about an hour.

The yogurt I made took a day and overnight to make and had to cook for eight hours. But really, the active time I spent making it was about 30 or 40 minutes. I just had to plan a little and do it on a day I knew I would be home in the afternoon/evening so I could keep an eye on its temperature. But, mostly I was doing other things and just popping in the kitchen periodically making sure the temp was keeping steady.

Bread baking can be a time-intensive process, but it's also mostly just waiting. On average, a loaf of bread takes three or four hours from start to finish, but that's with all the rising and baking included in there. It's the same thing with the yogurt – you just have to plan it for an afternoon you know you aren't going out. Having said that, I still have my fall back recipes for bread that are quick. There is the no-knead whole wheat that from start to finish takes an hour and a half and only has me actively involved for about 15 minutes. Even with a full-time job just by waking up a few minutes early I could get some homemade bread cooling on the counter by the time I walk out the door. I have a nice fall back Italian loaf too that only has one kneading and one rising phase. If I decide to make pasta at the last minute, or need a loaf for dinner I can get it out and on the table in about two hours. But, again, I'm only actively making that bread for maybe 30 minutes. The sourdough I made, which took six days in total, had me actively working on it for about an hour and a half. The rest of the time it was just sitting in the corner doing its thing.

Knitting, on the other hand, just takes a really long time.

(pictured: Tim enjoying the plushness of my newest knitted dishtowel)

Anyway, I guess my point I want to emphasize is that even though I am spending what seems to be like a lot of time doing all these homemade things, it's really not that hard. Sure, it still takes time, but I think the result is worth it. I'm very grateful I have had these last six months to be able to experiment and try new things any day of the week though. I just find so much joy in making things. It's like magic when milk turns into yogurt, or flour turns into bread. If I could somehow make a living selling pickles and sourdough bread, I would.