A Taste of Freedom

It's been almost two weeks since I finished the first phase at Allegheny Mountain Institute.

If you have been reading my blog and think AMI is a good fit for you, please apply for next year's cohort or tell people about it. It definitely changed my life for the better. 
Our excitement that we are finished with Phase I
(actually most of us were pretty sad to leave...

So what am I doing with my 60 days of freedom?

Feeling very privileged, spending time with the people I love, and exploring some of the things I've learned at AMI.

***Warning: This blog is a rant about AMI inspired activities I am doing. If you do not care about composting, healthy sodas, or the weirdness of grocery shopping, wait until next's week's blog which will be more about my feelings.***

My vacation started off with Joshua and his family. We explored Natural Bridge again with his mom, nephews and brother on a beautiful fall day. Then, we planted 40 cloves of garlic and picked apples galore! I'v already made apple strudel, apple butter, and dried apples for me and my family. 

Spending time with Joshua and his family
I thought I'd be sick of gardening, preserving food, and cooking once I got home, but I am actually way more into it now that I have time and a kitchen pretty much all to myself. Here are some of the things I've been working on!

Kombucha: I brewed my very first batch of Kombucha. It is so funny drink. My mom described it as a mixture of pickle juice and tea but I promise it tastes better than that! In my dad's words, "it's so good I should sell the stuff." Then I had to inform him that on my trip to Wegmen's I saw an entire row filled with different types of Kombucha. Mine was a lot cheaper to make though :)
My amazing apple strudel (mostly because
Joshua's family has amazing apples)

Ginger Bug: Cut up ginger, add sugar and water, and the bacteria from the ginger start eating the sugar and creating carbonation out of it. I'm going to make the best ginger ale out of this stuff. You just wait.

Carrot Top Pesto: I decided that the food processor that has been sitting in my parent's house is going to be taken out of its dormancy. I made pesto from the tops of carrots with some cheese, nuts, and oil and we are using it as a dip for our carrots. Today I'm going to make sprouted chickpea hummus!

Composting: My little pile in the back of our house is no longer a compost pile...its now full grown soil filled with bacteria (though I did find a potato and a garlic clove growing out of it)! It's amazing how I didn't do anything with that compost for 6 months and now its perfect to use on a garden. If you ever get bothered by having smelly garbage in your house, I highly recommend a little compost pile. It takes the same amount of time as taking out the trash and you are helping the environment instead of hurting it. Please comment or message me if you have questions about this.

Grocery Shopping: As I mentioned earlier, I've had to go to a real live grocery store...and it was mesmerizing. After 6 months of growing all the food I eat and purchasing bulk grains and beans, I was really overwhelmed by all the choices and packaging in supermarkets. What was more shocking was the price of the organic produce. Most vegetables at the grocery store were at least twice as big, came from over twice the distance, yet were half the price of what we sold our produce for at AMI. And even though grocery store organic produce costs so much less than what a small farm can afford to sell it for, it is still too expensive for the average American to buy. I want to change this, but from what angle, I don't have a clue.

Transitioning? At the end of the fellowship, we had a mini lesson on the challenges we might face when leaving AMI. I have to say, though, other than grocery shopping, the transition has been quite easy. Don't get me wrong, I miss the food I grew myself, the people I lived with, and the mountain. On the other hand though, it feels wonderful to be within the comforts of the bigger world again. I realize I can take the lessons I have learned in conserving water, eating raw foods, and DIY beauty products wherever I go now. So rather than feeling down about the state of our country and political system, I am ready to bring my hippie attitude into making it better,




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