New Store Proposal, Return of of the Sugar Bucks

Last challenge we did an experiment with microcurrency we called 'Sugar Bucks' (which I will abbreviate as $B.) It didn't quite work out. The two biggest complaints were 'i don't know what my stuff is worth,' and, 'I don't know how many I should print.' This challenge I am proposing a new concept to revive the system. Challengers each have a 'store' where they post goods they have gathered for sale. Exempted items are not permitted in a participant's store. Only goods that are foraged, farmed, hunted, etc. are permitted. Prices of goods in a given store are set to what a current market price would be in a regular grocery store. For every $B3 in food value a given participant has in their store, they are given $B1 to spend in other people's stores. Goods can also be traded directly for equal value goods if both parties agree to such a barter, but $B generated by those goods must be removed from the participant's wallet. (so if you trade $B30 of tomatoes for John's $B30 broccoli, you each tear up the $B10 you were granted for having those commodities in your store.) Anyone who can come up with a good mechanic for posting real food available for fake money, please do share. At its simplest I suppose we could make a shared spreadsheet.

Additional 3rd Challenge Rules

Participants from the previous challenges most likely have small bits of stores or seeds saved up from previous challenges - these 'leftovers' are all exempted in this challenge. Preserved foods saved by families prior to the beginning of the collecting period (1/1/13) are also exempted. The Jackson family admit to having an unequal amount of canned preserves. They have agreed to share their stores, at a rate of 1 donated jar for every 2 they keep. The distribution of these donations has yet to be established. Participants will also be given an exemption of 5lbs of foodstuffs, to cover any spices or other small items one may have left over in their cupboards before the crisis hits. Finally, the party rule - participants are permitted to attend social events, but for every meal consumed at such an event they must host twice as many people at their own event, and provide from their stores. For 'potluck events' including non challengers,- participants must provide vittles for twice their numbers (so if 2 family members attend they must provide food for 4 people.)

Starting From Scratch Challenge III

The theme of our first challenge was primitive life, understanding where it is that our food comes from. The theme of our second challenge was the life of a settler, surviving with minimal purchased stores over a winter. We will now embark on our third challenge, and endeavor to experience the trials of the Great Depression. The writing is on the wall - participating households know that a crisis is coming. Each will be given 13 months (1/1/13 thru 1/31/14) to gather, hunt, fish, and farm for whatever resources they can. Unlike past challenges, 'urban' collecting will be permitted. Also unlike other challenges, every expense will be included - hunting and fishing licenses, seeds, fertilizer, etc. The only cost exemption (as agreed by the founding participants) will be for canning jar lids. Participating households will track their actual food expenses over this 3-month period. The household with the lowest cost per person per day will be declared the victor. Victory rewards have yet to be established. The challenge will take place over 3 months - February, March, and April 2014. Each participating household will track their actual food expenses for the challenge period.

Therese - 20 Questions Answered

It took me a while to get around to answering.  I apologize for the delay.  I just want to say that I intend to keep posting to this blog as I start my spring and summer plantings this season.  If there are any willing participants for a challenge next year - I'm in.  This was a very rewarding experience.  I learned a lot and had a great time sharing food, recipes, experiences and my thoughts.  Thanks for playin'.

1.  What was the best part of the challenge?

The best part of the challenge was that I felt so much healthier with the mostly organic diet.  I had lots of energy and I lost several pounds during the process.

2.  What was the most difficult part of the challenge?

I agree with Mark on the worst part.  There was not enough time to accomplish all of the tasks that were necessary.  There was always a sink full of dishes and coming up with creative new ways to use the same main ingredients also took lots of time.

3.  What was the most valuable lesson you learned?

The most valuable lesson I learned was the valuable gardening lessons.  Due to the extremely wet spring and rainy early summer, I didn’t start planting until mid-June.  My garden plot is 20’ x 40’ so I planted a little at a time.  My last planting was around August 15.  That was wayyyy to late to plant and expect a bountiful harvest.

4   What was the best recipe you made during the challenge?

I really enjoyed the butternut squash soup which was very simple to make.  I also liked the green beans with tomatoes and garlic that I often ate with polenta.  Sharon’s eggplant dish was also very tasty!  I don’t have the recipe for that.  I also loved the turkey and summer squash pizza and the blackberry jelly and blackberry applesauce was a very tasty treat!!!

5.  Was there anything that you did, grew, cooked or tasted that you

would never repeat?

Well, the Christmas soup was not my favorite.  I used a lot of ingredients I would have normally added to the compost pile. It was okay fresh but not so good after being frozen.

6.  What was the most valuable purchase?  What was least valuable purchase?

Probably the most valuable purchase was the turkey.  The turkey weighed nearly 9 pounds and cost $5.02.  It went a long way both in trade and for my own use.  It was really my only source of protein other than the eggs ($1.00 per dozen) which were also part of my purchases. The 10 pounds of potatoes were also very valuable.  I'll watch for another 99 cents for 10 pounds of potatoes if I do this challenge again next year.

7.  What was the best trade item? What was the worst trade item?

I would not have survived past the second week without trade items.  The most valuable was probably the wheat.  The most tasty was the bread and butter pickles from the Jacksons and the eggplant dish that Sharon made.

I don’t think I had a worst trade item.  I used everything I received in trade with the exception of some canned summer squash and I have an abundance of bran remaining.

8.  What disappeared from your stores the fastest? What never left the shelf?

I probably started out with over 20 containers of applesauce in various flavors – strawberry, plain, sweetened and blackberry.  I traded a lot of the applesauce away.  What never left the shelf? – I guess I have to say I have way too much grape juice left over but I used a lot of that as well.

9.  Did you lose any food to spoilage? If so, what?

The only thing I lost to spoilage was a jar of tomatoes that went bad.

10. What is the most questionable thing you ate? Suspect food, dropped food, etc.

Questionable?  Hmmm – I had to think hard about that.  Everything was very tasty.  I did mix some crazy juices together that had a little bit of a funny taste.  I think it was beet and pickle juice.

11. Are there any ingredients you never used before the challenge, but now that it is over you plan to add to your repetoire? 

I loved the turkey and turnip green soup.  I would never have eaten turnip greens before the challenge.  The soup was very tasty.

12. What surprised you during the challenge?

What surprised me was the fact that I was still harvesting root crops during the month of January.  I was hoping to have harvest into November but I never dreamed I would be able to get fresh garden vegetables well into the winter.

13. What was the most important "AHHHH HAH" moment?

I think there were many AHHH HA moments.  Most of them came when I went to the garden and felt a deep sense of overwhelming gratitude that is difficult for me to convey in words.  I would just pause at those moments and offer a little “thank you.”  Those moments often brought tears to my eyes and a peaceful feeling of being totally taken care of and protected.

14. What was the biggest disappointment?

The biggest disappointment was the August 15 plantings.  All of them came up very well and had lots of flowers but not much production at all.  I’m not certain if it was the shorter days or not enough pollinators.  Although, the peas are self pollinating so I think it had more to do with shorter days.

15. What do you think your most important cooking implements/tools were?

Hmmmm.  This is a tough question as well.  I guess it was my soup pot because I made lots of soup.  Other valuable tools were the sheets that thwarted the first few frosts.  Mark's corona mill was also awesome.

16.What did you enjoy eating that everyone else would say is 'gross'?

I can’t think of one thing that everyone else would say is gross.  I know that Mark would say the beets were gross and Kathy would say the turkey was gross.  Sharon might say that the squash soup was gross and Katelynn might say that most of the food was gross but everyone is a broad term.

17. What are your feelings about your diet of ‘normal’ food now that the challenge is over?

I keep thinking that I need to go back to the challenge diet because my system was feeling and working so much better.  I made the mistake of drinking two cups of regular coffee on the first post challenge day and I only slept two hours that night. 

18. If you did the challenge again, what would you make certain to plant more of?

I would plant corn (which I didn’t plant last summer).  I would plant more green beans because I loved the green bean dishes.  I would plant more carrots and lots more squash.  I also plan on planting some grapes and blackberry bushes.

19. If you had $10 more, how much longer do you think you could have survived the challenge? What would you have spent that $10 on?

Another $10 could probably have taken me through the month of February.  For $10 more I would have purchased another $5 turkey, two dozen eggs (when they were $1 per dozen), a can or two of tuna fish (.69 each) and another pound of butter.

20. If you were to do the challenge all over, what rules would you change?

I would either have a bigger allowance – say $25 per person or allow a certain amount per week (maybe $5 per week.  So you could use about $20 for each month you participated in the challenge).  I think $20 per month would make it REALLY easy to last well into spring!!!!!  I would also allow one free day a week and if you were invited to someone’s house, you could bring a dish that was challenge friendly to share but you would also be allowed to eat what the host or hostess was providing “free of charge.”

Mark: Twenty Questions, Post-Challenge

1. What was the best part of the challenge?

A sense of accomplishment, for having undergone a rare experience. Tasting lost flavors.

2. What was the most difficult part of the challenge?

The amount of time it took to cook and clean every meal.

3. What was the most valuable lesson you learned?

Life in the past must have been real tedium! You see people complain about the tedium of food making and cleaning on reality shows. It is all true!

4 What was the best recipe you made during the challenge?

As a staple, my crackers came out well. As an individual meal, turkey soup.

5. Was there anything that you did, grew, cooked or tasted that you would never repeat?

Ugh. Beets.

6. What was the most valuable purchase? What was least valuable purchase?

I bought sugar, salt, vinegar, milk, cream cheese, and 1/4 jar of baking soda (using the 'Jackson stores' rule.) I don't think any of those was a bad purchase. I actually had $.95 of unspent money at the end of the challenge. I did buy too much salt, but that was a $.29 purchase.

7. What was the best trade item? What was the worst trade item?

Best trade item is a toss-up between the turkey and eggs. Without those two items the challenge wouldn't have gone very long at all!

8. What disappeared from your stores the fastest? What never left the shelf?

I tried very hard to eat my stores evenly. If I had to say one item I would probably have to pick the chow-chow relish I got in trade from the Jacksons. It was great on crackers and the two little jars I had weren't nearly enough.

9. Did you lose any food to spoilage? If so, what?

Lots! For those of you who didn't read this blog daily, I made a very stupid error last summer. We were going to visit friends in Mississippi, and I had a frantic day of work before we left. I unplugged the freezer in the basement to plug in a bandsaw, and, well, I forgot to plug it back in. 6 summer days later I noticed my mistake! I think I had 5 or 6 lbs of fish and small game, along with various vegetable stores. That mistake definitely cost me days in the challenge.

10. What is the most questionable thing you ate? Suspect food, dropped food, etc.

Well...I had a jar of spaghetti sauce. There was a good bit of hair growing on the top. I considered for a while, scraped the top off, and gave it a smell. It smelled okay, so I ate it! And I lived! I figure most of the things that grow on vegetable matter are yeasts and the like, nothing truly awful like rotting meat.

11. Are there any ingredients you never used before the challenge, but now that it is over you plan to add to your repetoire?

I never really used rosemary before, and it was a staple spice for me. Coriander seed too. I ate a lot more eggs and a lot more pickles than I normally would. I haven't really been eating a lot of pickles since the challenge ended, but my egg count is still up.

12. What surprised you during the challenge?

I was surprised at how much better the food was in the second challenge! The few dollars we got to spend at the store made a big difference. Having all that wheat, maple sugar, an abundance of eggs, all those things really helped make it a positive experience.

13. What was the most important "AHHHH HAH" moment?

It came too late! After I had already processed 25 lbs of wheat I figured out how to separate it using a rolling pin. That would have saved me so much time!

14. What was the biggest disappointment?

My fish soup. I was really looking forward to making it for a long time, and it turned out terribly. Worst of all I didn't finish it in one sitting and had to eat it the next day.

15. What do you think your most important cooking implements/tools were?

The Paste Queen noodle maker and Corona grain mill. A wire wisk came in a distant third.

16.What did you enjoy eating that everyone else would say is 'gross'?

The pate I made from turkey gizzards. It was FANTASTIC!

17. What are your feelings about your diet of ‘normal’ food now that the challenge is over?

It is convenient. It is heavy. It is oily, and I eat sooo much meat.

18. If you did the challenge again, what would you make certain to plant more of?

Last year was a terrible planting year for me. I don't think there is anything I couldn't have used more of. Except beets. I am done with those.

19. If you had $10 more, how much longer do you think you could have survived the challenge? What would you have spent that $10 on?

I think I could have made it at least another week for $10. I would have purchased a flat of 30 eggs, a gallon of milk, 10lbs of flour, and 3lbs of peas/beans. I think I could get all that for $10.

20. If you were to do the challenge all over, what rules would you change?

I won! I wouldn't change any rules!

If we are talking about doing another competition, well, you'll just have to stay tuned to see what new rules we come up with!

Post-Challenge Fare

A few people have asked me, 'What did you eat the day after the challenge?' SANDWICHES.

Breakfast; shrimp po boy sandwich. I was at an auction and a company called 'Zydeco Bistro' had a truck there. It was probably the finest foodstuffs I have ever seen offered at an auction. Usually the food is terrible. Theirs was quite good. I also had two cups of coffee.

Lunch; quarter pound steakburger. Same company. I was there a long time that day.

Dinner; teriyaki chicken sandwich from Penn Station. They were on the way to our evening excursion. Also pretty good, I was hungry afterwards though, and had some snacks when I went home.

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The Last Supper

Turkey, baked potato, pea pods, applesauce, crackers, freezer pickles, and breaded polenta.

It was all pretty good. Thus the challenge concludes.

I will be posting some final thoughts in a few days, and I plan to post a few challenge inspired projects here. Thank you all for your support and interest in our little project here. I am sure we all learned something, and as soon as I figure out what it is I'll let you know!

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