Month One ... #completed

The first month of the 100 Metre Diet 2.0 is behind me and it turned out that the very first day was the hardest.  Breaking through the ‘caffeine withdrawal wall’ was unpleasant but luckily it only lasted for 24 hours.  Since then it’s been clear sailing.

This month my 100 metre menu items included:

Sunchokes, spouts and goat tenderloin

• Eggs
• Water
• Goat milk
• Ham
• Headcheese
• Bacon
• Chicken
• Goat meat
• Fresh sprouts
• Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes)
• Stored potatoes
• Stored butternut squash
• Stored pickled peppers
• Stored ramp pesto
• Goat cheese
• Fresh maple syrup

It wasn't a terrible selection of food for the first month of the diet but the lack of variety inspired my garden planning.  Many seedlings are happily sprouting in my windowsill as well as a number of spices (oregano, thyme, sage and basil).  I'm looking forward to those.

But I'm not sure what I was thinking going without grain products ... no crackers, no bread and no pasta. There's no sense in complaining because flour is a long way off.   It will take all summer before my oats and spring wheat are ready for harvest.  The oats were sown yesterday, the wheat will go in before the start of May.  Then we wait and dream of egg noodles ... #really

Piggies being piggies

The only other update is that our two piglets arrived 8 days ago! We put them straight to work tilling the garden and they completely turned it over in just 7 days. These guys are terrific diggers ... it's incredible.

We should rent them out ... they're that good.

Well it wouldn't be a diet if I didn't lose weight, and I did lose weight.  15 pounds.  I can't complain ... I certainly feel much healthier.

I'm assuming that April will be the hardest month on the diet and it really wasn't that bad.  It makes me smile and look forward to May and the early spring delights ... morels, saddlebacks, ramps and more .... :)

#staytunned

The 100 Metre Diet 2.0

It’s amazing how time flies …

2015 will mark the 5th anniversary of the start of my original 100 Metre Diet. Back then I was young(er), naïve, unprepared and considerably under-skilled in the art of self-sufficiency. However, I survived the yearlong challenge and advanced my homesteading skills considerably. Yay me! I’ve come a long way since then and I think it’s time to revisit the 100 Metre Diet … this time as a seasoned homesteader.

So I’ve decided to undertake the 100 Metre Diet 2.0, starting today, the first day of spring 2015.

The rules for the original challenge were that I only ate food that I grew, raised, made or foraged on our 4.5 acre property. The only supplies that I allowed myself to buy were flour, sugar, local honey, spices, vinegar, oil, yeast, baking powder, vanilla, yogurt starter and the odd vitamin.

This time my rules will be much more restrictive … they have to be or this wouldn’t be much of a challenge, would it? For the 100 Metre Diet 2.0 I will only eat foods that I grow, forage, raise and butcher on our 4.5 acre property and the only products that I am allowing myself to purchase are salt, cheese culture and rennet. In addition, anything that I have previously preserved, such as relish, pickles, cheese and jams, will be fair game for consumption.

Without flour I can see that I won’t be doing any baking or noodle making at the start of my diet. That will encourage me to plant crops that I’ve never grown before, like grains and sugar beets.

Over the next few days I plan to take a complete inventory of the food that I have on hand as well as consult with a trusted dietician to analyze what essential nutrients my diet might be missing. After that I’ll plan my 2015 garden … stay tuned.

Cheers,
PeskyChicken (aka Greg Stevenson)