As I alluded to in previous posts, we indeed have come to an end of our no-grocery challenge. As of May 31st, 2015, we effectively stopped our challenge for a variety of reasons. First and foremost being that we just purchased a new house, and getting ready for the big move has put a lot more stress and strain on our lives, and the no-grocery challenge just was getting harder and harder to maintain.
We could have continued, sure, but we were both getting a little cranky about it toward the end. The garden had just started producing asparagus, and salad greens, but that was it as far as produce was concerned. It would have been a long way yet into the calendar to hit the reset button on our produce. We weren't going to reach the self-sufficient point for produce production even if we did continue the challenge. Also, arranging for barters was getting to be tiresome both to us, and to those willing to make trades with us. We didn't want to be known as "the people that only call others when they want milk or vegetables."
It was just a matter of time before we gave it up.
I don't consider us to be quitters, really. We had a good run. All in all... we were successful for five full months, and 150 days in our pursuit. We learned a great deal about our food preservation, use, and preservation. We wasted less, and made more out of things that we otherwise would not have. Our dinners were both interesting, and boring at times, but we still ate. In fact, we still ate better than what many do.
We are more blessed than we deserve.
At the end of December, when we embarked upon our challenge, our pantry, fridge, and freezer were chock-full. I was embarrassed to photograph what we had amassed, and I still am, to a fault. We had two full deer, half of a farm-raised hog, 1/8 of a farm raised steer, assorted rabbits, pheasant, grouse, trout and salmon that we had caught or harvested ourselves, a whole upright freezer shelf of self-grown fruits and vegetables from our garden, and miscellaneous other goods stockpiled in our freezer. Add to this a canning shelf filled with pint and quart jars full of similar goods, we had enough to feed a small army.
If you recall, the first things that we ran out of, were specific types of produce not indigenous to our area: bananas, pomegranates, Doritos. What? Those aren't produce? Nevermind. When we ran out, we either just made due, or bartered with others for the goods. All told, we had dozens of successful bartering pursuits. Most barterers desired some of my canned goods--jams, jellies, apple pie filling, baked beans, etc. Others wanted fish or game: trout, venison, bluegill, rabbit. The system worked for a good long while.
At the beginning of our journey, I kept a list of goods that we ran out of, as we ran out, and it was interesting to see that list grow, and to know that we were still going. It was surprising. Before the challenge, that merely would have been a shopping list. We were out, so I would just go to the store to replenish the stock. On the challenge, we couldn't do that, but lo and behold... we survived. We just had to adapt our tastes and menus, and/or just make some things from scratch--especially baked goods.
Over the course of the challenge, this is the list of things that we ran out of: bananas, cucumbers, zucchini, limes, sliced cheese, block cheese, tomatoes, fresh mushrooms, sliced bread, pre-made buns (hamburger/hot dog buns), pheasant, croutons, beef hamburger, pomegranates, cabbage, pre-canned soups, corn meal, oatmeal, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, salmon, pork chops, pork loin, beef steak, all frozen vegetables aside from corn, grapes, fresh apples, peanut butter, olive oil, biscuit mix (Bisquick), eggs (at the end of the challenge), milk (at the end of the challenge, after bartering many times for it along the way), almond milk, boxed noodles, canned chicken, canned tuna, coffee creamer, hot chocolate, popcorn, winter squash, bell peppers, lettuces and salad mix, spinach, cold breakfast cereals, Doritos (sniff, sniff), whole wheat flour, boxed stuffing mix, pepperoni, pastys, breakfast sausage (bulk and link), smoked sausage, meatballs, cold cuts, whole turkey, chicken breasts, beef roast, pork ribs, fresh onions, fresh garlic, refrigerator dill pickles, freezer jams/jellies, cake mixes, boxed puddings, and frozen berries.
That's a heck of a lot of food. Mentally, remove those things from your own pantry, fridge, and freezer. Now make dinner. Could you? At first, it was difficult to maneuver cooking around the absence of some of these items. I began baking bread from scratch, I made yogurt from scratch, I had a sourdough starter going, I substituted things in recipes, and our recipes got a little more boring as time went on. If worse got to worse, I knew that we always had venison, canned tomatoes of various sorts--pasta sauces, stewed tomatoes, etc.-- green beans, corn, dry beans, spaghetti noodles, and rice. Those things never seemed to run out, regardless of how much we used them.
In our ground rules, we included a $20.00 per month "kitty" from which we could dip to purchase necessities. If you recall, I only spent $5.00 when houseguests were in town for my father-in-law's funeral. Other than that, we had $95.00 remaining in our balance at the end of May. If we restart the challenge again in the future, I think I would utilize this fund balance to keep us in certain amounts of milk and produce. Those were the primary things that we bartered for, and had to arrange to get somehow. Looking back, we probably could have gone much further in the challenge had we used some of this "milk money."
In April, we came to a purchase agreement on a new home. The sellers wanted to wait to close until the end of the school year since their children would be switching school districts, so we pushed back the closing dates, paperwork, and the like. It's exciting to say that this new home is on wooded acreage, has a good sized yard, garage, and pole barn. We should be closing on this home very soon. For whatever reasons, we are at the waiting stage of the game, where our realtor and lender both say all that can be done has been done, our paperwork file is virtually flawless, and we just need to wait for things to be processed. It is growing increasingly difficult to be patient, but we have no other choice but to wait, and be as patient as possible. It will all be over soon.
At the new house, we have big plans for various types of fruit trees--many varieties of apples, pears, cherries, peaches, and berries. In addition, we will put in a big garden. Due to calendar timing, we aren't able to put in a garden at the new house yet, and I didn't plant one at the old house either--not knowing when we would move. Graciously, I have some plants in at my mom's garden which is relative close to our new house, and I also put together many containers of garden plants that can be easily transferred to the new house--tomatoes, bell peppers, herbs, salad greens, etc. We also plan at some point to have chickens. We will probably have a few egg layers, and meat birds to start. Jay would also like a few ducks. We'll see how far we get with the chicken project after the house moving and renovation is complete. The acreage will also allow for hunting pursuits-- deer, rabbit, and turkey, mainly. Nearby, I will also try other upland bird hunting and small game hunting, as time allows.
It's an exciting, but busy time for us. We aren't sad to have quit the no-grocery challenge, but it was time. Other adventures appeared on the horizon, and we will use the knowledge we gained along the way to fuel another shot at the no-grocery challenge in the future.
I can't say enough thanks to those of you that stuck with us along the way during the challenge. Your words of encouragement and comments along the way were motivation for us to keep it up, and continue...even when things were difficult. Thank you.
Hall For Naught, as a blog, will continue. I will continue to post periodically about our house progress, our wilderness pursuits, and topics of stewardship. We've been discussing another no-grocery challenge in the future, and if we do undertake a second challenge, I will document it here as well. It sure was a fun ride the first time around. We learned so much, and we hope you were able to take a bit away from our experiences, too.
Thank you, friends.
-SH