2010, By the Numbers

I've noticed a trend among homesteady bloggers - posting the number of pounds of produce grown, number of things canned, frozen, or stored for the winter, etc. We have a sheet with this tally and I was going to post it, but it's kind of pathetic next to some of the other numbers out there.

Afterall, Jeremy was desperately trying to finish the house this summer; I started a job and was doing the Farmer's Market every other weekend; and it was our first year with a garden at this house. I was very impressed with Jeremy's efforts at starting everything from seed though.

Jeremy is already talking about taking over an entire garden bed for mushrooms. I'm not discouraging him. With a CSA share and neighbors handing over veggies, we haven't wanted for veggies in the summer yet! We just need to decide what things we really can't do without.

So, the first Number for this post: Jeremy grew an astounding 189 pounds of Shiitake mushrooms last year! (At least, I think it's astounding!) He also got a few pounds of Oysters and almost 30 pounds of Wine Caps. He's not going to do Wine Caps again this year since they're so particular. He's pouring over his mushroom catalogs even now, planning for the new year. Such a mushroom farmer. =)

The other numbers are from me. Instead of posting vegetable totals, I thought it would be an interesting exercise (for me anyway) to post sewing totals. So, here's what I was busy sewing in 2010:

29 - the number of pants, coats, skirts, dresses, or whatever else I hemmed

25 - the number pants, shirts, dresses, skirts, etc I patched up or otherwise repaired

8 - the number of zippers I replaced or repaired in various pieces of clothing (I really thought it was more!)

6 - the number of garments I sewed new buttons or clasps onto

4 - the number of skirts I replaced the elastic in

2 - rug fixes

2 - curtains made or hemmed (one of those was a set of 6 panels made in velour!)

1 - boot repair (something to do with the laces, I can't recall now though!)

1 - coat alteration (turning a pullover into a zip-up)

1 - replacing the lining in a coat

1 - sewing reflective stripes on a biker's winter coat

1 - wedding veil

1 - wedding dress

1 - wedding bridesmaid dress

1 - t-shirt memory quilt

and one pair of stockings!

And that's not including gifts for the family (mittens, hot pads, 2 table runners, a quilt, socks, cup cozies, a skirt) and all of the crafts I've been making throughout the year for the Farmer's Market and various art sales (pillows, quilts, bags, purses, tea cozies) plus sewing table covers for my market booth; and of course the quilt I worked on for Jeremy and I. Phew!

I feel like I've been quite busy sewing this year, though for some reason this list doesn't seem as impressive as I thought it would be. That's probably partly because my records haven't been all that detailed. I'll have to remedy that for 2011 so I can give a better accounting next year.

This is as good a time as any to let folks know that I've repopulated my Etsy store. Depending on how it goes, I might let it all expire come April or May so I can take what's left to the Market. So don't delay! =)