Week 5 - Quarantine Life

We're at the end of week five, and it's starting to feel like the new normal.  I've read that if you do anything consistently for at least three weeks it will start to feel normal, that's usually in reference to diets and exercise but I think it applies here. 

I got into a rut of ordering things online because of repeated warnings to stay home except to shop for groceries so once we achieved our two week food run, we would stay inside with the exception of working in the yard or walks with the dog.  This week I finally broke quarantine by going to two garden stores with a face mask and hand sanitizer to buy garden supplies.  I just got so tired of searching online for stuff, then waiting for it to arrive.  I'm still waiting for most of my Etsy seeds to arrive and both garden stores were full of seeds!   The only run on seeds is through online suppliers.  I feel a little sheepish because I paid 3X for strawberry seeds which are hard enough to grow and I could have spent the same amount on 3 nice plants.  Some of the items ordered are unique and not in local stores so I feel okay about the specialty peppers, tomatillos, and purple sweet potatoes. 

It's a tough time in that we're being shouted at every day by someone on Facebook or the media to stay home, flatten the curve, yet we've been at this for five long weeks with no end in sight.  We have important things to work towards such as our summer garden that is not easy to do whilst waiting for online orders to trickle in.  Why is our garden important?  We use a canned or freezer item every week throughout fall, winter, and spring.  By summer we've run out of most items, this week we ran out of salsa! 

Our two week shopping trips are going well and it's a trend I might continue after this is over.  Pre Covid-19 I found that I was going to the store twice a week for extra milk and forgotten items.  Now I create a two week menu with a thorough grocery list that includes necessary ingredients plus staple food items.  I think it's great discipline to be satisfied with what is in the pantry/freezer/fridge.  We are so fortunate to have the ability to store food abundantly.