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I got a call from my baby sister the other day asking what my plans were for Thanksgiving this year. If any of you know us, you know we don’t usually have plans for next week, much less for some holiday almost eleven months away. But we do now. Seems my brother hatched a crazy idea about Thanksgiving and it involves all of us, and my sister volunteered to present it to the rest of the family since she was least likely to be called crazy for it.
The plan is to meet at my mom’s and make Thanksgiving dinner entirely from foods we grew, raised, or hunted ourselves. Like the old days. Because we can. Or at least we hope we can. Which is why we’re starting this early. A quick inventory of the family’s skills and available resources have found a few areas lacking. We’ve got some work to do if we want to eat what we want instead of just what we end up with.
The Logistics
Feeding up to twelve adults and ten children one meal plus desserts made from foods we grew, raised, or hunted this year.
Who’s Helping
My mom. Colorado. Normally grows a garden, herbs, and a pumpkin patch every year. Has chickens in a large enclosure and is hosting the feast. All around amazing lady, so whatever we can’t figure out, she’ll probably have a solution for.
Big brother. Louisiana. I hear he has a deer tag this year.
Me. Utah. I can grow a decent garden, but I always lose my squash to the squash bugs so I’m a no go for providing squash or pumpkin. Dry corn and beans and some herbs are easy. Regular at making bread and cooking from scratch and I have bee hives.
Little brother. Colorado. This was all his idea and he volunteered to go fishing Thanksgiving morning which the sister in Louisiana promptly nixed, claiming her fish tastes much better. Not sure what other skills he has, but when things get frustrating we all know who to blame for hatching the idea in the first place.
Sister 1. Colorado. Grows a decent garden with some out of the ordinary veggies.
Sister 2. Louisiana. Has the longest growing season and access to citrus on her in-laws’ property so we may just get our lemon meringue pie after all.
The Challenge
As we’re looking at the traditional menu, we’ve come across a few problems we’ll need to address.
1. Nobody has access to dairy. Not one cow or milk goat among the whole crew.
2. Most of us will have had a killing frost at least four weeks prior to the meal, leaving a lot of fresh foods out of the mix unless they are canned, dried, or frozen.
3. How restrictive do we want to get? Do we need to grow wheat if we want rolls and pie crust? What about basics like baking soda, salt, and sugar, or spices we can’t grow like cinnamon and nutmeg? My husband wants to try growing wheat, but we may have to bend the rules a tiny bit for salt.
4. Nobody grows cranberries!
5. Or sweet potatoes.
6. If nobody grows something maybe we can trade for it as long as we know the grower. Still hammering out details.
An Invitation
What are your Thanksgiving plans? Want to join in the “I Grew Thanksgiving” challenge? You don’t need to show up to my mom’s house (unless you grow cranberries, in which case we may adopt you for the day). Decide what your rules will be, but don’t make it too easy on yourself! Challenge yourself to do something more than you’ve done before to have a self sufficient Thanksgiving meal with your own family.
I’ll be chronicling preparations for this Thanksgiving meal throughout the year. Feel free to share what your plans are and any challenges you encounter along the way!
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