A look back at 2010...

January: I spent a lot of time on the couch with my arm elevated, watching movies and taking pain medication. We talked a lot about putting in a garden and toyed with the ideas of making a garden on the side, in the front, building retaining walls and other fantastical notions. I found out I was losing my job.

February: I got laid off. I started this blog. We built three raised beds in the front yard and started seeds. By the end of the month we had radish sprouts. Our worm compost bin started to take off with the second generation of worms showing their face.

March: I had my second surgery. I started to really enjoy having days of time and used a lot of it baking bread. We got our first vegetable - radishes! I sold my car and became a full-time pedestrian.

April: I learned to knit! It's become a habit since then and I haven't been without a project for more than a couple days. We started to get some more variety from the garden, namely kale. I continued on with excessive bread baking.

May: It was my birthday! The spring garden was bursting with lettuces, spinach, peas and kale. The summer garden was budding with roses, bean sprouts and tomatoes. I began contemplating what I really want out of life and quickly realized I like actually doing things (ie, growing my own food, knitting my own clothes, cooking from scratch) rather than working to pay for them (ie, buying produce at the store, buying sweaters and scarves and hats and gloves, buying pre-made or boxed food).

June: The fruit trees began to bear. The house was flooded with cherries and as necessity is the mother of invention I learned to can. I made my first jam and jelly. I finished my first knitting projects. The garden was producing like mad filling our freezer with spinach and kale (I'm actually using some of the frozen spring spinach tonight-it's still going!) and giving us daily broccoli and salad greens.

July: I kept baking like mad and made my first sourdough to a resounding success (I have another batch going right now. Two days in, four to go.). I continued canning as the plum tree ripened. I started planning for right now. I had my winter garden plans all mapped out by mid-July.

August: I learned to make my own yogurt! Hopefully the first in my dairy related adventures to come. Next year prepare yourself for cheese making. I also made my first pickle. Believe it or not I still haven't dug into the pantry stash of pickles. I made so many small batches of refrigerator pickles over the summer that we haven't had to go into reserves. Right now we still have two jars of green tomato pickles in the fridge. I finally learned to make a good pie dough and I stopped buying tortillas and started making them myself.

September: We expanded our storage capacity for canned goods as they were taking over the kitchen. We built a patio in the backyard. I started back to work and started having more time to knit. Go figure. The onions were harvested and cured (and now almost gone. There are a couple tiny ones left in storage, but I bought onions for the first time in three months yesterday. It was a sad day.).

October: The month of tomatoes. Winter seeds were all in the ground. Mike found a functioning sewing machine, which I still have yet to learn to use. We painted and updated the bathroom, which we still have yet to finish completely. The job thing is clearly starting to get in the way. I start to realize that I can't do the corporate thing and will likely never make a lot of money and realized I'm OK with that. I just need to require less. Serious thinking and plans begin about my future.

November: We built the cover for our patio. Everything in the garden died aside from kale and arugula.

December: Lots of rain and lots of work results in lots of knitting. Also a massive amount of holiday cookies.

It's great to look back on everything I have done this year. Sitting here now I snack on pickles and put preserved plums in my yogurt. When I peek in the storage pantry there are still jars lined up of fruit and pickles waiting to be eaten. It's rewarding to see that work I put in back in the beginning of summer is still paying off now in the dead of winter. I am concerned about next year. I won't have as much time to devote to any of this and I want to expand our garden space at the same time. Anyhow, here are my goals for the coming year:

• Learn to sew
• Begin organic pest control
• Better fall/winter garden prep
• Have cold frame
• Increase pickling repertoire
• Dry something
• Grow own herbs, preserve
• Get in summer canning routine
• 70% vegetable growth - through winter
• Set up grow lights for Spring? - at least Fall.
• Make one personal bread recipe
• Put in fence
• Begin testing soil, amending
• Start regular fertilization
• Better tree pruning
• Make a soft cheese