Julia Winter

Found it! I downloaded it in 2019, hope my copy isn't too too out of date. I will read back through it today as a break from worky work.

Yes, I would like to participate in this. 8am PST on Friday, right?

I read "Thorns," but it was years ago - I should probably read it again. Let me look for it . . .

If you look around at "OAMC" Once A Month Cooking, you can find lots of plans and recipes for how to make many, many meals (that freeze and thaw well) with a solid day of cooking once a month.
Here's one resource: https://www.ellenskitchen.com/bigpots/oamcindex.html

You can find a lot of pyrex glass storage dishes in second hand stores like Goodwill, because the original lids developed cracks or other problems.
I've been buying Sophico silicone replacement lids - they are not cheap, but if you already have the dish or if you got it at Goodwill, it works out.
Another brand I haven't tried is LUVCOSY.

A 3-pronged hand tool is good for raking/grabbing bermuda grass off of mulch. Just keep at it. In the rainy season you will need to toss the grass (and bits of clinging mulch) into a bin, but in the summer you can just rip it free from the soil and let it dry out. Instead of chop and drop, sort of rip and drop.

Don't try to do the whole yard, just protect your favored plants. Think of the guys that paint the Golden Gate Bridge - just keep repeating. That grass is pulling carbon from the air, so thank you grass, we just don't want you here.

I use fresh grape leaves in between the cucumbers and the weights that push them under the surface of the brine. If you don't have weights designed for your container (I have a few that fit in a wide mouth quart mason jar and then I have a 2 gallon fermenting crock with a three piece weight set) you can use a ziplock bag full of water.

You can use tap water to remove soil, but don't work too hard on cleaning. You want to use dechlorinated water for the brine.
If you are making chunky pickles (whole roots if they are small, sticks like carrot sticks would be my recommendation) you want to make a brine and then you just need to figure out how to keep the veggie chunks submerged.

Stretch goal unlocked!

I'll see what I can rustle up, if I have a code...

A new thing I do with figs, is that I scoop out the red part (I have a Desert King, the skin is green and there's tasteless white pith in between the skin and the good part) and I fill a bowl with just the best part of the figs.

Then, I make popsicles! Fig pulp makes a perfect popsicle (watermelon does as well).

Someone asked about Fig Newtons. I just don't like those. I made fig ice cream - that was good.