We've been having lots of rain lately. I've been collecting it for a couple sensitive plants that I have. I wish we had a rain collection system, we'd have a ton saved up right now.

Well, I'm planning to either grow or purchase in-season fruits and vegetables and can or freeze them this summer. We have plenty of meat in our freezer, but I'd feel much better having other stuff handy. I'm going to hit the Berry Farm with McKenna in June to get a bunch of strawberries and raspberries. I'll probably do jam and also freeze some for later use. We have some peaches from last year that I froze in a light syrup that still taste really yummy. Only 2 bags left, so I think I planned it pretty well. We have a cherry tree in our front yard that's more ornamental but the cherries it puts out are very nice. Good enough for a pie and to can some. I'm tempted to buy some cornish X chicks to raise but I doubt I'd get away with it in our subdivision. A friend of mine raised about 30 and then had them butchered at the requisite time and had a whole freezer packed with them. You may think I'm weird but I want to learn how to butcher a chicken on my own. In a way, I wish I'd been raised on my grandparents farm in Interlaken, NY. I would have gotten a good education on milking cows and raising chickens.

Anyway, my dream is still to end up on a nice large piece of property where we can at least have some chickens, maybe rabbits too - and have a well and be much more self-sufficient than we are now. It would be a good education for my kids. One possibility that I'm looking into is a CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. You purchase a share of a farm, and then receive a portion of what is grown on that farm every week throughout the growing season. Some of these farms require volunteer work and some don't but will discount you 50% if you come and help out! That's probably where I'd end up getting that education for my kids. Only thing is the shares are about $500. per growing season. Some take payment arrangements, so I'll have to look into it and see if it's feasible. Maybe next year. This year, we're working on baby and NY vacation.

Enough for now - I'm planning on freezing a whole bunch of strawberries that Noel brought home from the store. There's no way we'll eat them all up before they go bad!