Little Desert Rangers plans 2026

 Little Rangers need to get their kits out at least once a month. They need to explore outside, learn valuable skills like tracking, stamina, waking at dawn, building fires, watching the stars....they need SKILLS and they are only going to get said skills by going out and roughing it in the wilderness.

Alas, one skill for a ranger mom trapped in the valley of the Sun, is to reserve campsites far in advance. 6-5 months in advance....

If we were really cool, we'd figure out how to make camp in the site-less wilderness...preferably under bracken where the Crebain of Dunland cannot sight us....but we aren't at that awesome yet. So we'll stick with reserved sites, until our skills are much much better. Dispersed Camping is far far more epic. This year, research dispersed camping and how it works, also scout out places for dispersed camping near our favorite sites.

UPDATE:  IT seems that contrary to my impression, Payson is actually COOLER than Sedona in the summer....So next year we are going to check Payson first for June, July, Aug. Sedona is more for April, May, Sept

UPDATE UPDATE: Driving up towards Heber from Payson gives you 2000+ ft of elevation, and its a little cooler, at the cost of 20 more min driving. BUT mid-June to mid-Aug, even Sinkhole campground doesn't fill up. No rush. And had to cancel the July 10th 2026 camping trip because Aspen Campground predicted to be 96 degrees.

UPDATE: [I need to reserve the Spring reservations by Nov/Dec, and Summer reservations by Feb/March]

UPDATEST UPDATE: I needed to cancel both my July 10th weekend and my July 24th weekend camping trips in Aspen AZ, and Sinkhole Campground (near SEE canyon trailhead) respectively, because the weather (Accuweather's nearest point is "christopher campground cabins". The highs of the weekend were 96 degrees and 98 degrees. In between them there was a lovely 81 degree weekend, but there's no way to predict. SO DO NOT RESERVE STUFF IN ADVANCE FOR JULY. Play it by ear. I think it best NOT to reserve campsites between June 10th and Aug 15th

October and March really focus on my own little piece of earth, gardening, etc.

Remember...

Little Rangers need to go a'ranging...

But in the desert that means being a Dawn Ranger. Waking to stars and chasing the twilights.

Phoenix in the summer is unbearable. Unless you chase the twilights. Live in the dawn and the dusks. Hide from the sun from 8am to 6pm. This handy reference helps, showing dawn times in the year.

HO WE WE ARE GOING TO DO IT:

1. Adventures from 5am to 8am....it starts to look beautiful 40 min before sunrise so  from 4:40 when sunrise is technically 5:20. 
2. Kids must learn to speak in whispers and travel quietly like real rangers when around Birdwatchers and Fishermen.
3. Load up to go home by 8am  
4. Siesta/Quiet Book Time at 11-2pm
5. Got the America the Beautiful Pass. So we need to use it at least 12 times to make it retroactively worth it.
6. If staying outside after 8am---Hats, sunscreen, water-bottles 

Dawn Adventures---Weekday

• Get the kids up at 4am. Get your pass here
• Granite Reef Recreation area, wild horses at dawn. Go on a weekday, once a week. 
• ?Pebble Beach
• ?Hidden Valley/Fat Man's pass/South Mouuntain? [no water, just desert. Only right at dawn]
• ?Sears-Kay Ruin (Hohokam)
• Check out more on Alltrails....

Day Trips with Daddy. [ very Early Saturday mornings]

• Daddy's Work. The little gardens around ASU. 6/7/8am there are no students up yet on Saturdays, We have the world to ourselves. It is beautiful.
• Water Wheel Falls Park. Aim to be there from 6-10. [starts filling up at 9] So need to get up at 4am and start driving. Then come home at 9:30/10 when its getting really hot and crowded, and the UV index soars. Come home, eat, and have a siesta
• ?Canyon Lake @ 5am [ 1 hr away. Acacia Recreation Site]
• ?Lake Saguaro @ 5am [42 min away]
• ?Granite Reef @ 5am [fishers?  23 min, L202 at dawn]

Evenings in the Twilights

6-8pm you can go outside, if you are wet.... The sun is down, but it has exhausted itself in pumping its heat into the earth. Here we are constrained by Daddy having a day job. So either we frolic off without him, or we drag an exhausted man out into the heat for adventures after a long day at work.... 

-I think maybe the best option here is enjoy dusk together as a family, at local splashpads, or in the backyard, in some sort of water games. And save the family adventures with Daddy, on weekend camping trips. 

Weekend Camping Trips ---once a month

Feb --Really this is time to get the summer garden started. AZ Desert dawn hikes, Stay in Lost Dutchman campsite. 

• Lost Dutchman for Isaiah, to hear the coyotes
• Feb-March I really focus on my own little piece of earth, gardening, etc. 
• October/Nov is put the winter garden in. 
• February/March is put the summer garden in. 
• July--Sept you kinda pull the plug on the garden [grow yams and basil?], focus on keeping the trees alive

March--AZ Desert dawn hikes Stay home and focus on yardwork etc.

April -- AZ Rim-country/Sedona Oak Creek--- AZ desert Dawn Hikes 

• THE MINE Morenci, AZ
• Yavapai, White Spar (Prescott) is open [but terrible bathrooms] not alot of trees 
• Sedona/Oak Creek stuff is Open
• [too hot to camp in AZ desert]
• [Mingus Mountain and Mogollan Campground and Aspen AZ not open till May]
• Maybe....Payson IS ALL FF IN APRIL [Christopher Creek] and Ponderosea (AZ)... kinda cold
•  Houston Mesa [Payson near Water Wheel, Flowing Springs] are FF in April...  kinda cold

May --  Prescott, Payson, Sedona/Oak Creek stuff is Open  (Payson is open)

• Cave Spring! in Sedona/Oak Creek stuff is Open(Pine Flatts) [We had a great time at Cave Spring Sedona in May] Manzanita campground?
• Mingus Mountain! 
• Ponderosa AZ ??
• Christopher creek has a little flowing stream in it. See Canyon glorious. 75-90 day, 45-50 at night
• Houston Mesa Campground NEAR Water Wheel Falls (Payson) 
• ??Horton Creek Trail looks cool, someone said "camping througout", is this a Dispersed camping?  UPPER TONTO CREEK CAMPGROUND [if it ever opens again]

June  or the Water Wheel at 4am daytrip plan. [leave by 10am] OR SPLASHPADS 8pm-10pm

• EARLY JUNE (Before June 10th)---
• past Payson towards Heber, up on the rim, elevation 7000 ft higher on the Rim near Woods Canyon Lakes---Sinkhole Campground (7560 ft), Spillway campground(7500 ft), Aspen AZ (7000 ft) Mogollon campground (7700 ft)
• ??Horton Creek Trail looks cool, someone said "camping throughout", is this a Dispersed camping? UPPER TONTO CREEK CAMPGROUND [if it ever opens again]
• Houston Mesa Campground (5200 ft) NEAR Water Wheel Falls (Payson) NEAR Flowing Springs (too hot?)
• Maybe Sedona & Oak Creek Canyon Too Hot
• Payson--Christopher Creek [bit too hot only 5640 ft elevation]
• AFTER JUNE 10th---
• Lay low, do evenings at the splashpad. Plan out of state trips and just do the leave-for-Water-Wheel-at-4am routine. OR do as the Mexicans do. Nap mid-day, and at sundown take the kids to the park with splashpads, get wet, play at playgrounds 8-10pm.

July--Mountains or Creeks  OR JUST PLAN TO VISIT OUT OF STATE RELATIVES HERE, and do the Water Wheel at 4am daytrip plan. [leave for home by 10am] UPDATE: July is pretty miserable. With the summer solstice, peak UV, and the earth has had a chance to heat up. from June 15--July 30th I wouldn't camp] AND JUST DO SPLASHPADS 8pm-10pm

• DREAM: THE ROCKIES, GORE CREEK
• JULY
• 2026 had to cancel 2 weekend camping trips, that turned out to have highs of 96 and 98 degrees respectively. SO DON'T RESERVE ANYTHING. Lay low, do evenings at the splashpad. Plan out of state trips and just do the leave-for-Water-Wheel-at-4am routine. OR do as the Mexicans do. Nap mid-day, and at sundown take the kids to the park with splashpads, get wet, play at playgrounds 8-10pm. And if it turns out to be a balmy weekend, then gun it for Spillway campground.
• past Payson towards Heber, up on the rim, elevation 7000 ft higher on the Rim near Woods Canyon Lakes---Sinkhole Campground (7560 ft), Spillway campground (7400), Aspen AZ (7000 ft) or Mogollon campground (7700 ft)  UPDATE: Had to cancel July 10th 2026 Aspen AZ camping trip, high of 96
• Houston Mesa Campground NEAR Water Wheel Falls (Payson) NEAR Flowing Springs (too hot?)
• CHRISTOPHER CREEK IN PAYSON (no water in the campsite creek yet, too hot at 5640 ft)
• Maybe Oak Creek Canyon/Sedona [bc of Oak creek. Also Manzanita is COOLER they say, Pine Flats, Bootlegger, Cave Spring], 
• Maybe Mogollon Campground is 2mi from a lake....  Too Hot

Aug--Mountains or Creeks, PAYSON,OR THE ROCKIES GORE CREEK

DREAM: THE ROCKIES, GORE CREEK 

After Aug 15th

CHRISTOPHER CREEK IN PAYSON !!!!!!

Payson-ish Houston Mesa Campground NEAR Water Wheel Falls (Payson) NEAR Flowing Springs

•  Oak Creek Canyon/Sedona... Too Hot 

 

Sept--Mountains or Creeks, PAYSON, OR 2nd half of Oak Creek Canyon/Sedona [Finally Cool Enough!...]

• CHRISTOPHER CREEK IN PAYSON  EARLY SEPTEMBER is PERFECTION
• !!! Houston Mesa Campground NEAR Water Wheel Falls (Payson) NEAR Flowing Springs [fIrst half september 87/57, SECOND HALF OF SEPTEMBER 82/52 sweet spot.

Oct -- Really this is the time to stay home and get the winter garden started. IF you go camping...Prescott, Mingus [may-oct] OR Oak Creek Canyon/Sedona...

• Last chance for Mingus !!!!
• Cave Springs, Sedona
• ??Houston Mesa near water wheel 72/42 range

Nov--Dawntrips Hike the AZ Desert 

• AZ desert dawn hikes,  
• Hidden Valley, 
• Fat Man's pass
• Sears-Kay Ruin (Hohokam)
• Check out Alltrails
• ??Montezuma's well [3 hr drive]
• Pioneer Museum? 
• Lost Dutchman campsite

Dec & Jan--Dawntrips Hike the AZ Desert [Hidden Valley, Pioneer Museum? Fat Man's pass, Sears-Kay Ruin (Hohokam)] Have back-yard fires and toast marshmallows.

So camping season is really May--October 

And how to homestead...when we are in a little quarter-acre lot in a desert, and may move in the near-ish future?

Homestead, but not as the homestead being the goal---as we may need to sell, and later owners destroy it. Plant fruit trees, for the future if owners keep it. And always garden with the kids. Involve my little rangers as much as possible...because its about the memories being forged WITH them, and the skills being forged IN them, and not about the physical garden or home so much. We are traveling, but we can make these way-stations along the way as beautiful as we can. As green as we can. As productive as we can. 

But it should always be about the little Rangers, and not the way-station.

So let's get out there, and go Rangering....

Changing our Family Culture

 I want to change our family culture closer to our original vision, of making Rivendell.

Family culture matters, routines and prayers matter. To put a rhythm to our lives, that can give something to fill up the kids hearts, to show them what is important. Habit shapes souls, because it is a continual time-offering of our lives, and our souls exist in time.

 Josh has already drastically changed our family culture the last year, by taking on the McCheyne Bible reading plan every evening as a family. And sticking to it, even when we come home 9:30 pm exhausted from a social event. He is stubborn, in the best way possible.

Josh has also changed our family culture the last few years, with the whole concept of "Family Fun Time" and the creation of the "Family Fun Time Wheel". He urges the kids to finish their after-dinner chores in time, that we take an hour to do something fun as a family. There's a wheel he had me make, with 6 different options to choose from, so that even when we are brain-dead at the end of the day, the options are clearly laid out for us.

[Image of the family fun time wheel]

We also got a little closer to our dream, last year, with our 4 weekend camping trips and 2 water wheel hikes. With the Family Fun Time the kids look forward too every evening, and the nightly Bible time with prayertime, as the girls dance to "He is Lord" at the end, there is a rhythm to our lives.

Five things I want my kids to have interwoven throughout their lives.

Prayer [The God who is here]

Joy [Singing, always singing]

Adventure [camping trips, attitude toward life, challenges unlocked etc]

Love [Kind, gentle to one another, forgiving one another]

The Holy [to see Him, to really see Him. The pillar of fire and cloud, come down to us]

Making Rivendell...I've lost my focus on my purpose

 Today I watched a few active toddlers while the adults did sunday school. I put on Steve Green's "Hide 'em in your heart" audiotape from my childhood [thanks, youtube!], as kids colored and played with Noah's ark animals and a smattering of cars.

There was this sense of joy and peace as they played.

I realized I have forgotten what I set out to do. I wanted to make Rivendell. 

It has to be Rivendell for the kids. More than white walls, wood, and cool lanterns--the trappings.

I was here for the heart.

The singing. The peace. The joy.

That's what I want. And I can cultivate it.

If I taught little kids classes

• Hebrew
• Bible Memory [Psalm 27 in full, Psalm 23 in full, Psalm 46 in full]
• Stories of the Heroes [St Patrick, Gladys Aylward, etc]
• Watercolor/Markers/Art lessons//Craft Time
• Outdoor play [tag, sharks and minnows, etc]
• ?Line Dancing [little boys doing the Virginia reel]
• Choreographed fighting [pool-noodle lightsaber]
• ???Worship Dance, with scarves

I daydreamed about if I had the reins of a preschool class. But I do. I did. Most of the class is out of preschool now. I've got 2 or 3 left, depending on how you count. 

Why not here? Why not the singing as we color. Why not that feeling of peace and joy as we learn about the world, and how to color leaves and rainbows? There is so much wonder and joy to be had. But most of all, that home being a place of spontaneous singing, security---a golden sort of peace. The heart.

Heroism, self-sacrificial charges, etc, is all well and good. But its not the heart. I need to give the kids that heart.

Also, I found my new style icon

[insert the fisherprice Noahs wife picture here] last week of August 

Its all there. The long grey braid. The industrious, helpful, generous basket. That simple and yet beautiful headband, a crown of womanhood. The bright eyes, the cheerful smile. 

That's who I want to be. 

All Dinner Meals for Meal-Planning

 Dinners List so I can have it all in one place. These shall become links when I actually write the recipes down.

Basic Principle is have a   Protein + Vegetable + Carb, so that I can keep my prediabetes in check, by controlling how much I eat of each. 

Hacks for making the Carbs less crashy---

1. Twice cooked carbs 
1. Instantpot precooked potatoes [8 min, 1 cup water] that get fried in butter/beef fat. 
2. Pre-cooked rice heated up again, or fried in a risotto or stir fry
2. Cauliflower risottos that are very very good. [shredded in the food processor, cooked in olive oil/butter, then add in butter/cream cheese/spices. It's actually even better than rice risotto IMHO]
3. Eating my curries & sauces over Green Beans instead of rice with EXTRA tomato chutney [fresh salsa]

Remember, salads can become cabbage salads, or be swapped out with hot cooked (from frozen) vegetables if you make it further from the grocery shopping date.

Chicken Breast

• Basil Lime Chicken Breast [Oven or Grill] + 
• "Factor Meal" Sour Cream Salsa Chicken Breasts + Cauliflower Risotto + Green Beans
• Fajita Chicken + Onions & Bell Peppers
• Tikka Masala Chicken + Green Beans + Fresh Salsa
• Orange Chicken [Gen Tso's Chicken]

      

  Chicken bone-in

          Bone in chicken [cheap in the 10 pound frozen bags]

• Chicken Enchilada casserole + Fresh Salsa + Salad + Sour Cream
• Crockpot Shredded Chicken Tacos with Black Beans and Cheese + Salad + Fresh Salsa
• BIR curry Chicken + Lentils + Fresh Salsa + Green Beans + Indian Cauliflower Risotto
• Bone Broth Chicken Soup
• Oven Roasted [or Grill] "Turkish" chicken + Stovetop Brocolli + Rice// Cauliflower Risotto
• ?Barbecue Chicken [frozen leg quarters, 5-7 hrs in barbecue sauce, slowcooker]
• ?Barbacoa Chicken OR Taco Chicken [frozen leg quarters, 5-7 hrs in barbecue sauce, slowcooker]

Beef 

• Marinated Stovetop Steaks [or Grilled Steaks] + Loaded Potatoes + Green Beans + Bell Peppers
• Hobbit Stew
• Meuk-Guk
• Russian Beef Soup
• Instant-Pot Pulled Beef [Barbacoa or Barbecue] [because of our sweet little Ana] + Bell Peppers + Dinner Rolls
• Philly Cheese steaks
• Mary Ann's Beef & Lentils
• Steak Fajitas w/ bell peppers and onions

Ground Beef 

• InstantPot Fauxsagnia
• Tacos + Fresh Salsa
• Smashburgers
• ?Sherri's White Bean Chili + Salad
• Grilled Burgers from Samsclub [when we have a gas grill...]

Lentils/Beans [so easy to mealprep]

• Favorite Indian Lentil Recipe + Raita + Fresh Salsa + [Pomegranates, and Dark Chocolate, and Tea]
• Whole Spices Indian Curry
• Nut Curry
• BIR green curry [get the right name]
• BIR Beef + Lentils, Vindaloo Curry
• Prep a big batch of refried beans and freeze for Taco Tuesdays
• Falafel & Hummus + Cilantro Raita + Fresh Tomatoes & Salad + Flatbread

Fish

• Canned Sardines/Mackerel with "Factor Meal" sauce [Sour Cream Fresh Salsa Sauce] and capers...so good
• Canned Sardines with Salsa Verde [tomatillos n onions] and Sour cream (do not overcook tomatillos)
• Tilapia Fillets + Butter-Fried precooked potatoes + Green Beans/Brocolli
• Tuna Fish sandwiches or chip-dip [made with Ninja blender-egg-may replacement], and chips

Cheese/Eggs 

• Instantpot Mac n Cheese + Peas +
• Fettecini Alfredo + [Meat Roast/Ham] + Cauliflower Mushroom Rissotto + Green Beans
• Grilled Cheese Sandwiches + Tomato Soup +
• Cheesy Taters [Ye Olde Standby] FANCY if its in the toaster oven
• Bibimbap + Korean Spinach + Kongnamul +

    Pork 

Only really if our sweet little Ana changes her mind....

• Barbecue Pulled Pork + Rolls + Green Beans [Make some barbecue chicken for Ana]
• Korean Style [Bulkogi style marinade] Pork + Rice + Kongnamul & Korean Spinach [make some 
• Sundry delicious looking Pork-Chop Recipes, yet untried

Once A month grocery plan

 For this to work, you need to have a very clean and organized freezer. No dead-space of freezer-burned bags of unrecognizable leftovers you are afraid to try to autopsy. No Turkeys from last years Thanksgiving sale, taking up space.

With 8 kids +2 parents, I think it would take a up my 25 cubic foot refrigerater/freezer, plus some in my standing freezer. I am curious to try this out more ways.

I used to do something similar to this, when grocery shopping was a fraught ordeal with 5 little kids. We did a 2 week grocery plan, with my husband running out to get just milk on the off-weeks.

I wrote this out for my sister who lives in the country 45 minutes away from her main grocery store, and 15 min from a more expensive grocery store, which is best just to get milk.

Once A month/Every Two Weeks grocery plan

Plan for 5 good dinners a week. [2 left over nights]. So that comes out to about 20-25 meals. Here is my master list of dinners we like.

Prep 5 dinners per category, so 25 gallon Ziploc bags, in the freezer ready for instantpot cooking. [Or crockpot]

Dinners with side of FROZEN VEG, and raw crunchy veg.

• Chicken [Prep 5 dinners from this from X pounds]
• Beef [Prep 5 dinners from this from X pounds]
• Ground Beef
• Lentils/Beans
• Fish/Cheese/Eggs 

Sample Grocery List [staples]

These aren't including stuff you normally stock up on, like vanilla extract, lentils, tomato paste etc.

• DAIRY [keeps well, coldest part of the fridge at the top]
• Butter [we use LOTS for all the growing brains]--[also freezes well]
• Cottage Cheese
• Sour Cream/Heavy Cream 
• Milk for Yogurt-making
• Yogurt, if you don't have any, yogurt for starter. You can freeze yogurt starter in batches. [the bacteria freezes fine] "Icelandic Provisions" introduced when the boiled milk hits 120 is the best. Dannon is good too. The key is to do the boil function on the milk, and introduce the starter when its at 120-115, and whisk it well.
• Milk---it takes up a lot of space, and expires. We drink about 1 gal/day. More on this later.
• Fresh Vegetables
• Leafy Vegs [need to eat within 3 days of purchase]
• Tomatoes [need to eat within 1 week of purchase]
• Bell Peppers [need to eat within 1 week of purchase]
• Cauliflower [need to eat within 1 week of purchase]
• Cucumbers [need to eat within 1 week of purchase]
• Celery [need to eat within 1 week of purchase]
• Carrots [will last the month]
• Red Cabbage, Beets [will last the month], 
• Onions, garlic, ginger [will last the month, also can freeze]
• Potatoes [if it is a hot summer, you will want to eat these in the first 2 weeks from purchase. Or cook in the instant pot, and then store in a tupperware in the coldest top back of the fridge]
• Frozen Vegetables
• Frozen Green Beans
• Frozen Brocolli
• Frozen Peas
• [Frozen Cauliflower]
• CHEESE [freezes well, esp the shredded stuff you want to freeze so it doesnt mold]
• Cheddar
• Mozzarella
• MEAT
• Chicken [bone in legs or thighs are usually cheapest, in 10 lb bags]
• Beef
• Ground Beef
• Canned Sardines
• Canned Tuna
• Frozen Tilapia
• Eggs [Can hardboil, or blanch, to lengthen storage, but I have found my eggs will last a month just fine. But you've got chickens!]
• Flour, Yeast, Sugar Salt [make your bread]

You can freeze butter, cheese, etc. Frozen Veggies are happy to live in the freezer for a few  months. And you must freeze the meat as soon as you get home, anyways. Get it out of the plastic and styrofoam trays, rinse it, salt it, and seal it in ziplocs and put in the freezer, to be thawed when needed.

So you really only need to go to the grocery store once a month for most meats if you are very organized with your freezer.  

The two biggest choke-points are fresh veggies and milk. More on this later.

Breakfasts

• First Week Breakfasts  [first week, for crunchy raw veggies]
• Fresh Veggies with a home-made hummus dip, or cheese dip.
• Tomato-mozz-basil slices.
• Devilled eggs and celery sticks.
• Cottage cheese or Yogurt with frozen berries/nuts for parfait, OR make Buercher Muesli
•  Custard or Ninja Egg Pudding
• Hummus or Cheese dip ['pub cheese' you can also make this yourself] and crunchy Vegs [cucumber, baby carrots, bell pepper, Celery]
• Scrambled eggs on toast
• Cast-Iron fried dinner Leftovers aka “Hash” [can use ninja blender to blend up leftover meat, potatoes, vegetables] + fried eggs on the side.

Lunches [side of fresh raw crunchy veg]

• Kyudumbap + Cabbage Salad
• Cheesey bread [fried in butter if feeling fancy] + Cabbage Salad
• Cheesey potatoes [precooked potatoes in fridge] + Cabbage Salad
• Fried Rice [dinner leftovers in a frying pan] + Cabbage Salad
• Hardboiled eggs + veg assortment
• Any of the ‘breakfast’ items here + Cabbage Salad

STAPLES TO KEEP IN THE FRIDGE

1.      Instantpot cooked potatoes, in fridge, to be fried [cut in half, fry in butter or lard, sprinkle with garlic salt]
2.      CABBAGE SALAD
3.      Hardboiled eggs [can do the Korean Pickled eggs, if your kids like them]
4.      Sauerkraut/Kimchi/KimchiKraut
6.      Freezer stocked with Green Beans, Peas, Brocolli [winco]
7.      FREEZER BAG to collect bones, FOR stock
8.      FREEZER BAG to collect leftovers---for hash, and for fried rice

Remember...THE FREEZER IS YOUR BEST FRIEND

Other Staples to have on hand

Xylitol mints for teeth

The Main Challenges

Milk. It takes up space and does not freeze well. Even when I did the 'every 2 week grocery plan', Josh had to run out on the off-weeks and buy 6 gallons of milk. [our weekly milk usage, and usually all we could fit in the fridge.] This is where its good to have a plan to get milk on the off-weeks if possible. If this isn't an option, I think its possible to buy 12 gallons for 2 weeks, and consume all your milk as yogurt in the 2nd week. Or just eat lots of cheese in the intervening milk-less weeks.

Fresh Vegetables. The leafy ones [lettuce, fresh spinach] must be eaten within 3 days of buying. Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Celery, and Bellpeppers last maybe a week, depending. Cabbage and Carrots will last you the longest, up to a month [or more]. But thats a lot of cabbage and carrots to eat. You can get really creative with different cabbage salads. Hot Vegetables [cooked brocolli, buttered green beans, peas, frozen spinach---all from frozen vegs---can be eaten whenever. So you could end up with a system where the first week is the fresh crunchy vegetable week, and the remaining 3 weeks are lots of cabbage salad, carrots sticks, and Hot Vegetables (cooked frozen vegetables, in garlic and olive oil).]

OR....drumroll....the garden. It's amazing what you can get even out of a tiny garden.

You will get the best reward from your work with Herbs, Leafy Greens, and Tomatoes

Grow. 

Winter Garden

Leafy Greens [Spinach, Kale, Lettuce] by the truckload

Chives, Herbs, etc.

Cucumbers

[Hothouse] Tomatoes

[if you have space and time, all the other interesting stuff, beets to pickle, celery, carrots, brocolli, cabbage, etc. These tend to be cheaper than over veg at the grocery store, and easy to store like cabbage, or easy to freeze like brocolli, so I am less motivated to figure them out]

Summer Garden

Tomatoes

Bell Peppers

Gennip [sesame leaves...so delicious for everything]

Greens---new zealand spinach, Swiss Chard, some varieties of kale, Malabar spinach

Basil by the truckload---make into pestos for the winter

Yardlong beans [can take the  heat]

Armenian Cucumber/Snake Melon [cucumber that wont' go bitter]

Zuchini by the truckload