Eat Near Rockford

Still Eating Local Foods

2011-05-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

Well, it's be years since I've posted but I just thought I'd point out that eating local foods near Rockford has never been easier. The farmers' market season has begun and last Wednesday morning I purchased maple syrup, chives, red and green leaf lettuce, and string cheese from the locals and some fresh pita with pesto hummus and pizza from the lunch from the non-locals (that's non-local food).

Kai and I had a great time visiting with so many friends and had a lovely lunch outdoors with two other moms and with their children. We can't wait to go back to Edgebrook tomorrow and see what we'll find!

On the home food front, the asparagus is trying but not ready to eat (the purple asparagus is looking the best this year!). We've harvested rhubarb already a few times (my grandmother used to tell me you should never harvest rhubarb in a month containing an "r" so we wait for the first of May here and celebrate with a yummy dessert - this year it was rhubarb custard pie!

We're still harvesting spinach from the plants Kevin planted in late September that we kept alive under old skylights this winter. Other greens appearing on our plates are the result of weeding... dandelion and garlic mustard. I think we'll make something special with violet blooms this weekend.

The garlic, planted last year, is well over a foot tall and the onions are tucked into their relocated raised bed. Perennial herbs are returning and we've been eating those since before Easter (thyme, chives, parsley, sage, etc.).

Kevin and the kids started sugar snap pea seeds and they're going to town along with other lettuces and greens. This promises to be another yummy year!

Cook's Tour Ends Year (photos)

2009-06-18T20:58:00.000-07:00

Well, thanks to those who voted... the unanimous result sent us to A Cook's Tour tonight, our last official night of our local year.

I do have to say that the food was excellent at most stops and a few (brio, Octane, Irish Rose, Cru, Chocolat by Daniel, Kuma's, and even Capri) were very creative. Served along with the food at most locations were samples of Goose Island Beer. Although the ingredients don't come locally, at least the beer is brewed in Chicago. We had a great time and enjoyed getting out and venturing into local restaurants again.

Although we didn't eat out with great regularity before our local year, we did occasionally treat ourselves to a meal at a local downtown (or elsewhere in the area) restaurant. It was fun to be out and about again.

The kids stayed home with a babysitter but before I left them I fed them a local dinner which included homemade goat cheese, sugar snap peas, milk, and strawberries.

Speaking of Strawberries
I can't believe the year has passed and it's strawberry season again. I've been sampling strawberries from many of the vendors at area farmers' markets (I've hit three markets, a roadside stand, and Sheryl and Ray Murray's farm since we got back from vacation). Plus, we have our own strawberry patch that we planted last year. It's not prolific yet but we have a steady stream of a few handfuls a day. It's enough to make weeding worth it... we snack as we go. Between eating fresh and dehydrating (already thinking ahead to wintertime snacks!), we've gone through more than 16 quarts!

I do have to say, though, that our favorite strawberries have been from Murray's "Market" at their farm on Meridian Road, just north of Latham. They're only a few miles from our house and their strawberries have the most amazing taste! Add to it that theirs are the most reasonably priced and how can you go wrong? I'm sure they won't mind me passing along their phone number... 815-969-8104 (please tell them I gave you the number). Just call them to let them know how many quarts you want and when you want to pick them up and they'll pick them for you and have them waiting. As the growing season progresses they'll have much more... raspberries, onions, cucumbers,cabbage, tomatoes, the most amazing sweet corn, etc).

Farmers' Markets and Recent Meals
I've definitely been having fun visiting my favorite markets again since our trip. I went to several before we left but it was early in the season and not all of the regular growers were there yet. Now that we're back and the weather is warming up the markets are getting into full-swing and it's like visiting with old friends for me. I really missed seeing some of these folks during the winter months! And I was surprised how many of them remembered me.

We bought some unusual and interesting herbs and tomato plants from Moonglow Organics (Heidi) and Juda Springs Farm (Dave and Cindy) at the North End Commons Market last Saturday and we learned about yet another new (to us) vegetable from Phil Bardell (who sells at North End and at Edgebrook; his farm is called Chestnut Hill and is in Freeport). The root vegetable is called scorzonera and it's a cousin to salsify (which Phil introduced us to last year when we bought a 5-gallon bucket for our winter food stores). Here is a si te that has some nice photos of both roots and a recipe to boot. The recipe is not what I used for the scorzonera in this photo but it's a similar concept. This was Tuesday's dinner. As you can see, we're still going strong with yummy foods. The mixed greens in the salad were all harvested from our garden. The dressing was made with spring onions (purchased from Phil) and local yogurt (Bushel and Peck's) with some herbs and a little sherry. The grilled pork chops were from Kathy Spataro McGinty (Open Range Products - Pecatonica, processed by Eickman's in Seward). Kevin spiced them with some ground chipotle and garlic before we threw them on the grill. The Italian green beans were in our freezer (I didn't label that package but I think they were either either from Phil or from Pine Row Farm in Roscoe). What looks like French fries are actually the scorzonera, sauteed with a little butter and some salt and pepper. I didn't cook them long so they would retain some crunch (they were excellent raw as well). Another cool thing is that they can stay in the ground all winter. I think Phil said they had just dug them up for the market on Saturday! I really do appreciate all I'm learning from him and so many others who have taken the time to help me along the way.

First CSA Box
We got our first veggie box of the season from Angelic Organics on Wednesday (thanks to our friend Constance who picked it up for us, along with our cow and goat milk and eggs!). This officially book-ends our year. We received our first box last year on June 19th. This week's box has great stuff in it: greens and lettuce, bok choi, radishes, and more.

So... "What's for dinner tomorrow night?" you ask. Local chicken (meat more than once this week, that's unusual) and local salad and veggies to be sure... but Kevin's parents bought us a Chilean wine and Kevin has asked me to bake cookies - the real stuff, with sugar and oats - for dessert. The truth is, we're looking forward to another great season (and year) of good local eats, even if we let a few non-local foodstuffs back into our kitchen... more on that this weekend.

The 24-Hour Survey

2009-06-16T19:29:00.000-07:00

Note: Poll is now closed - thanks to those who voted!
As we near the end of our year-long project we're faced with a quandry on our final night... Kevin has tickets to the Cooks' Tour of Rockford, a fundraiser for downtown Rockford featuring food from local restaurants. We've been downtown Rockford supporters for a long time and have wanted to go to this event before (samples of food selected by chefs at 10 local eateries, but that is, perhaps, the extent of the "local").

So, here is the question... please select your answer on the poll at right.
Should we go on the last night of our local year and partake of non-local food at local restaurants?

A sneak peek at the next post - traveling editions coming soon (photo)

2009-06-10T18:59:00.000-07:00

I know I've been away from the blog for some time again but during some of that time I've been out of town. Lucky for me, I visited two places where local foods are the norm and there are so many wonderful things to come by, even in your average restaurant.

To whet your appetite, I'll include just one photo from one of these locales... as Kevin puts it, "these are some serious raised beds!"

Any ideas on where we went?

Check out the following two posts, also new today.

Sign up now for the first Openfields Local Dinner of the 2009 growing season!

2009-06-10T18:51:00.001-07:00

The first in a series of 9 local dinners hosted by 7 area restaurants is coming up on Sunday, June 21st at the Celtic Thistle in Rockton. The price is $30 per person and the menu sounds great.

For menu details and to register/reserve your space, click here for the U of I - Winnebago County Extension website.

Here is the full list of participating restaurants and local foods dinner dates:

2009 OPENFIELDS Dinner Series Calendar:

* Sunday, June 21 – Celtic Thistle (104 W Main St, Rockton IL)
* Saturday, July 18 – Pine Row Farm catered by Kiki B's/A Moveable Feast (11449 Havenswood Rd, Roscoe IL)
* Thursday, July 23 – Octane (124 N Main St, Rockford IL)
* Thursday, August 6 – Brio (515 E State St, Rockford IL)
* Thursday, August 20 – Severson Dells catered by Toni's of Winnebago (8786 Montague Rd, Rockford IL)
* Thursday, September 10 – Celtic Thistle (104 W Main St, Rockton IL)
* Thursday, September 24 – Noonan's (Aldeen Golf Clubhouse, 1902 Reid Farm Rd, Rockford IL)
* Thursday, October 8 – Cru (509 E State St, Rockford IL)
* Saturday, October 24 – Kiki B's "Harvest Dinner" (1641 N Alpine Rd, Rockford IL)

Tips for Successful Farmers' Market Shopping

2009-06-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

You may have seen that the Rockford Register Star has started to feature items of local foods interest on their Go Green blog and printed in the GO Section each Wednesday. This week the printed article was mine but, due to space limitations, the article was edited down (understandable). Here is the article in full:

Farm Market Shopping

Spring is officially here and most of our area farmers’ markets are up and running! There is a farmers’ market in our area almost every day of the week and any time of day (see list below) so you have many opportunities to add some local produce and other food items to your weekly meals.

It will be a few weeks before most of the markets are in full-swing in terms of number of vendors and breadth of selection but there are already good local eating options at each market. In the last few weeks I’ve seen asparagus, lettuces and spring mix greens (some with edible flowers!), spinach, baby radishes and other tender baby vegetables, and rhubarb, as well as jams/jellies and fruit juices made from local produce. Several vendors are also selling seedlings; young vegetable plants that you can take home and put in your own garden or container to grow your own and supplement what you have to purchase this summer.

As you have probably noticed if you’ve visited area markets, much of the food that is sold is local and was grown by the person selling it but some of it is not. So how do you know what you’re buying is locally grown and not just something grown elsewhere that a vendor bought from a wholesaler?

Here are a few tips on smart market shopping.

Talk to the person at the table. This is one of the benefits of shopping local markets; you can get to know the people who grow your food personally. Some of the vendors have family or employees staffing their tables but even they should be able to answer some basic questions.

Questions to ask. How long have you been growing food? Where is your farm? How do you grow/raise this? What do you fertilize with? How do your control weeds? Do you have help? Do you sell at any other local markets? Is this from your own farm? Did you, personally, grow this? (sometimes it’s best to just get directly to the point)

Answers to raise suspicion.

- “I have a farm…” down south, up north, etc. – this doesn’t mean the farm is around here and it doesn’t even mean the vendor owns/rents it or does any of the growing her/himself. It is a good possibility that the vendor drives somewhere to buy produce to resell.

- Evasiveness on answering questions about their farm or growing practices – use your judgement here: if the vendor is swamped with people or still setting up, they might not be able to easily answer your questions. Also, they may not want to give away their trade secrets, but if they truly don’t want to answer your questions or give shady answers, maybe it’s best to find another seller who has what you want.

- “We sell at every market in the area.” – Here you need a follow-up question about staffing – maybe they’ve hired someone to staff their booth but if not, how can a producer be preparing for and staffing a market table (a lot of work to harvest, wash, pack, load, unload, and staff for hours) and growing your food (time spent weeding, watering, tending, planting, etc.).

Give a little latitude. Some vendors grow much of what they sell but supplement the variety of foods on their market table by buying select items from local or not-so-local sources. Consider this: regional food is good too (unless you’re on the 100-mile diet, peaches from southern Illinois or cherries from Michigan are great additions to your local-food-laden table). If you want only to buy what you know is truly local, then ask that vendor what they grew and buy those items (keep asking as produce will change each week as the growing season progresses).

Know what’s in season. The Winnebago County Extension Office has created a list of what's in season when in our area so you can arm yourself with this information when head to the market. Corn or tomatoes in June? Fresh strawberries in August? Tropical fruit? Probably not from around here.

One more consideration. Food at farmers’ markets is usually very reasonably-priced. However, the producers who are selling their food are there not only because they enjoy it but because they are working hard to make a living. Sometimes, the prices we pay at large grocery stores are not representative of the actual cost of food production and those stores may be underpaying their producers in order to offer things below-cost or at lower cost to consumers. Just know that much more of your food dollar is staying in our community when you shop local markets and the producers are receiving a fair price. Some vendors will discount produce at the very end of the market so they don’t have to take it home. However, many producers have multiple outlets for their produce and won’t discount at any time.

Use your own shopping bag. Not only is it easier to sling a couple of long-handled canvas bags over your shoulder and navigate the market without plastic bag handles cutting through your hands, but it’s environmentally preferred AND it helps keep costs down… the fewer disposable bags vendors have to buy, the less they have to charge!

I’ll see you at the farmers’ market this summer – Happy shopping (and happy eating!).

List of local markets (in alphabetical order):

See the Winnebago County Extension's Local Foods Directory for details and location information for each market.

· Beloit Farmers Market – June-October – Saturdays 8am-1pm

· Belvidere Farmers Market and Crafts – June-October – Saturdays 8am-noon

· Byron Sunshine Park Farmers Market – through October 4^th – Saturdays 8-11:30am

· Colonial Village Mall Farmers Market – May-October – Fridays 9am-1pm

· Edgebrook Farmers Market – May-October – Wednesdays 9am-1pm

· Klehm Arboretum and Botanic Gardens Farmers Marks – June 16-September 22 - Mondays 4-7pm

· Midtown Market – May 15-October 16 – Fridays 3-8pm

· North End Commons Farmers Market – May-October – Saturdays 9am-noon

· Perryville Farmers Market – June 7-September – Saturdays 9am-1pm

· River District Farmers Markets – YMCA of Rockford - May 27-October 25 – Tuesdays and Saturdays 8am-Noon

· Rochelle Farmers Market – through September – Thursdays 2-6pm

· Roscoe Main Street Square Farmers Market – May-October – Thursdays and Saturdays 9am-1pm

· Winnebago Farmers Market – May-October – Fridays 4-7pm

A Few More Weeks and Honeybee Update

2009-05-11T11:05:00.000-07:00

Time easily gets away from me when it comes to this blog. My intentions are the only thing that's good in terms of my posting regularity. That said, here is our update from the last few weeks.

We're still eating well, although now we are starting to use up particular items but we still have plenty of other things. There is absolutely no doubt that we will not still have food remaining after the year is up. But, as my friend (and garden mentor) Tim pointed out, not only should we get through our year, but we should have enough food put up to last until that item is again available locally. With some things, this will not be a problem. Kevin, on the other hand, thinks that as long as we have successfully made it to the next growing season (which we have) when fresh foods are again available (which they are) then it doesn't matter if we've used all of something before it's around again because why would we want to be eating frozen or dried veggies in the spring when we could be enjoying the seasonal bounty. I think he's right (but that's not to discredit Tim's theory).

And the bounty is beginning again! I'm sure you know that many of the local farmers' markets have started up again (yay!). I wasn't able to get to my favorite market (Edgebrook) this week but I did stop at the Roscoe market on Thursday morning. McEachran Homestead was there this year (they only did Edgebrook and Woodstock last year). They had a great selection of jams, jellies, and concentrated juices. Unfortunately for us, we couldn't buy any yet because they all have sugar or lemon juices as preservatives but someone not being so strict should definitely try them out! I did buy jam and juice from them last year before our year began and everything was great. The juice is concentrated so you can add water to suite your taste. We liked to add seltzer water to make it fizzy (and you could even add cream to make a rich, French soda!).

I'm hoping that Liz Springler will be there again this year. She had a booth last year selling honey (Ed's Honeybees) and beeswax items produced by her husband, Ed (with help from his bees, of course). They had different types of honey, including a deep dark, flavorful wildflower honey. If you don't already know, honey color and flavor are directly related to "bee forage," or what types of blossoms the bees have access to and collect from. Anyway, the dark honey was unique and interesting. She also had wonderful beeswax candles and blocks of beeswax (rub some on a sticking drawer and solve the problem!). I was very happy much of the summer to not only serve my guest local food but also to burn local beeswax candles! I've now used the last of their candles and just about all the wildflower honey and hope to see them again at the Roscoe market.

By the way, our own honeybees did not fare well. I mentioned in a previous post that one hive died out over winter. The other seemed to be docile and slow but was active in the spring. Sadly, the queen must already have been dead because within a week or so the entire hive was dead. With the queen gone the bees can't reproduce. Were we more experienced, we might have looked for the queen and re-queened the hive in time but, alas, experience is not on our side. I fear it's too late to get more bees so we'll have to wait until next spring and try once again.

Lastest Fun Finds

2009-04-21T20:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the kids and I went to Bushel and Peck's Local Market in Beloit, WI (just over 10 minutes from our house) and I was excited to find a couple of new products and one I haven't seen in a while...

Turkey eggs (mostly from Bourbon Red and another red heritage breed), green cabbage (hoop house-grown over winter, I assume, as it's nice a green - a welcome change from our yellowish ones), and Feta cheese! I admit that I didn't ask about the source of the milk (which I have been considering in other cheeses we buy) because I have really been craving Feta lately and was just so happy to see some made in Monroe!

Here are my really cool finds:

New Growth (photos and local source web links)

2009-04-19T09:59:00.000-07:00

We took advantage of the beautiful weather yesterday to work in the garden. Even the rain that fell for a short time was gentle and warm so we stayed out in it and we all benefited from a day under the sky.

Food-related projects included relocating the compost bin, weeding the strawberry, rhubarb, and asparagus patches, cleaning out the root cellar, collecting garlic mustard for dinner (the actual task was weeding), and checking on our cold-hardy seedlings. We also checked on our honeybees.

One hive died over winter (it's lower on the hillside so may be cooler?) but the other is still there with a population of bees. They were very active a few weeks ago but yesterday they were rather sluggish. We opened the hive to check to make sure they had enough food and we didn't even wear gloves or veils as they were very docile and didn't bother with us at all. They do have honey so we're hoping they're just resting and gearing up for the season? Hmmm. I don't know.

Compost
I have to say that composting is one of my favorite pastimes. OK, OK, so it's not exactly a pastime but ever since we bought our first home 9 years ago I have thrilled at the idea of returning my food scraps and yard waste to my own yard (and thereby severely reducing my weekly output of trash). I know, it's the little things that excite me.

Anyway, for the first few months we lived in this house we had no kitchen and were in the midst of some major renovation (still are, it seems) and we didn't get around to building the compost bin of my dreams for quite some time. It absolutely pained me to throw away all the valuable food scraps during that time. So, we finally eschewed our plans to build a beautiful compost bin and just made a cylinder of hardware cloth to toss our compostable goodies into. That served us well and held what it needed to but this year we have decided to locate a sandbox for the kids where the compost bin was.

We decided to place the new bin at the end of what was our corn and brassica patch last year where it is still handy to the house (for delivering the kitchen scraps) but nicely hidden from much of the yard. The reason to hide it... we're still not building the compost bin of my dreams. Instead, we decided to be completely utilitarian and use what we had on hand to quickly get something going (it's really ugly). Kevin occasionally gets deliveries at work on wood pallets so we decided to screw three together to make a quicky bin. It took more time to haul the pallets over there then it did to screw them together! Here is it, not beautiful but functional. As you can see, we've set the old wire cylinder next to it for yard waste. Someday, we'll build a nice set of atractive wood bins with removable front boards... someday.

The Root Cellar
I will make a full post on our root cellaring efforts in the near future but I did spend several hours yesterday cleaning out some mice-caused mess, cleaning up from some spoiled food, and reorganizing what's left of the cellared, canned, and dehydrated foods.

"Weeding"
Kevin and the kids (well, the kids played in the vicinity, anyway) spent some time weeding dandelions from the strawberry patch and turf and other non-native grasses from around the rhubarb and asparagus (which were planted in former lawn that was tilled only once prior to planting). I did a little weeding around the house of the dreaded garlic mustard which really needs to be actively controlled. The good news from that kind of project... good eats!

I know we can eat the dandelions as well (we'll be making salads all spring) but yesterday we just made use of the garlic mustard leaves. If you've never tasted garlic mustard, I recommend trying it. It has a distinct yet mild garlic flavor, coupled with the pleasant "green" flavor of most mustard greens. Now remember, we haven't had fresh greens for some time now (just frozen spinach, lambs quarters, and chard) so the prospect of fresh greens is really fantastic!

So, for an easy dinner entree after a day spent outside, I scrambled some eggs (Angelic Organics Learning Center - Caledonia, IL) with a little butter (Madison, WI) and splash of cream skimmed from my milk share this week (Zinniker Family Farm - Elkhorn, WI). As the eggs just started to form soft curds I added a scoop of marscapone cheese (Crave Brothers - Waterloo, WI - cool, large-scale, sustainable farm) and the chopped garlic mustard (my yard). Yummy! Later this week I plan to make garlic mustard pizza and garlic mustard pasta to dry or freeze for later. Although you can eat the greens all season, the tender, young leaves of the first-year rosette have the best flavor and texture.

Thing Are Growing Again
Two weekends ago, Kevin went out to prepare one of the three raised beds for planting. He pulled out the bulk of the old tomato plants, added partially decomposed leaves, and a few wheelbarrows full of dirt (this bed was not quite filled last year). He worked it all in and planted 10 kinds of frost-tolerant seeds.

He planted: Asian Early Mizuna, Green Curled Winterbor Kale, Roquette Arugula, two types of Lettuce (Green Romaine/Winter Density & Red Romaine/Rouge D'Hiver), Shunkyo Radish, Spinach, Claytonia, and two types of Corn Salad Mache (Vit & Jade). All of these plants will germinate in cool soil, thrive in cold weather, and can be harvested in baby stages in one month or less (two months to full maturity).

Here's what they look like after two weeks (and it even snowed for two days following planting!). He's trying a bit of a controlled experiment here too. A year or so ago, my parents replaced the roof on their house, and with it, their skylights. Dad offered them to me for use as cold frame covers. We were curious how they would work so Kevin planted rows that could be half covered by these windows.
The row of sticks in the middle of the bed divides the rows (there are five rows on each side of the sticks for a total of 10, one for each type of plant). The two skylights are placed at either end of the bed, covering half of each set of five rows (not all seeds have germinated).

As you can see, the covered ends are growing faster than those uncovered. I assume this is to do with both the warmth (kept longer overnight) and the trapped moisture (the uncovered center soil dries out quicker). Anyway, we hope that in two more weeks we'll be able to harvest some baby greens!

Another (perhaps?) happy accident is that in the neighboring bed I see onions sprouting (I must have missed a few at harvest time) as well as lettuce (I let some go to seed last year but I didn't expect it to survive a northern Illinois winter!). We'll see if these result in edibles as well.

2009-04-08T20:37:00.000-07:00

As you may know, the Rockford Register Star has a "Go Green" Blog with weekly posts on local eating in Northern Illinois (did you know that?). It can be found at here. I have my usual gripes with something like this... most "green" articles, blogs, TV segments, etc. tell you all about the latest and greatest "green" product that you need to BUY. Um, am I the only one who sees a problem with buying something new just because it's green?

Anyway, off that soap box... Here is my first submission to the blog which gives some basic information on getting started at adding local foods to your weekly table. Enjoy!

Eating Locally in Northern Illinois: A Beginner’s Guide

March 26th, 2009 04:36pm Lenae Weichel

You may have read about people across the country who are choosing to buy only foods grown and produced within 100 miles of their homes. Although this is fun and interesting, not to mention a great challenge, this all-or-nothing approach can be a bit daunting. You can easily begin to incorporate local food items into your everyday life by making small substitutions and changes to your weekly routines. The key point to remember is that every change you make, no matter how small it may seem, can have an impact in our community, to your health, to your pocketbook, and especially to your taste buds!

Here are a few things to consider both now and in a few short weeks when the local farmers’ markets open once again:

Seek out local foods now (yes, there are some available now, even in early spring!). Check out the Local Foods Directory to find what you are looking for. Items available now include eggs, cheeses and other dairy products, meats, grains, and some storage vegetables (potatoes, onions, garlic, dry beans, etc.).
Visit a local grocery store. There are several in the area (including The 320 Store and Choices Natural Market) but the best one for year-round availability of local food has got to be Bushel and Peck’s Local Market in Beloit. They have a variety of fresh, frozen, and raw ingredients (as well as processed foodstuffs) from the area in addition to great regional foods (and other non-local items).
Make a farmers’ market or farm stand visit part of your weekly routine – and go before your weekly grocery store trip. This will allow you to select the freshest produce to inspire your menus. If you have children, let each child choose one item and have them help you make a meal around that item; it’s a great way to involve them.
Read The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan; it’s an interesting look at just where our food comes from and how it gets to our tables.
Plant something – it could be a full garden but consider starting smaller if gardening for food is new to you. Plant some herbs and grape tomatoes or bell peppers in pots and place them in a sunny spot outside. Water them well and enjoy their production all summer long. If you have a sunny window or two, start your seeds indoors (right in the pots) now to begin your harvest all the sooner!
Don’t limit yourself to the point of frustration – regional foods are great for all the same reasons as those from within 100 miles. There is wonderful produce grown in southern Illinois and throughout the Upper Midwest and it’s still better to buy from someone in the region than from thousands of miles away.
Wait to enjoy produce as it comes into season here – it tastes better and you’ll appreciate it all the more. Here is a general list of when produce typically ripens in our area.

Enjoy finding ways to add local foods to your own table and please comment if you have other ideas or recommendations!

And here is my added comment when I realized a mistake:

I can’t believe I failed to mention Eickman’s Meats in Seward (south of IL-20 on Pecatonica Rd.) in my list of local grocery stores! I think I was just thinking general markets as opposed to specialty stores. But still, I'm sad I forgot it. I was just out there again last week and they have a large selection of local meats (and eggs and sometimes cheese) of all types. Not everything in the shop is local but you can ask an employee to help you identify the local things.

I bought some bacon with no added nitrites, some bison steaks, and some whole hog sausage as well as a dozen eggs. Everything was great!

Up for some Local Foods Reading and Discussion?

2009-04-08T20:01:00.001-07:00

Severson Dells Environmental Education Center (seversondells.com) is hosting a book discussion about Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingslover (with her husband, Steven Hopp, and daughter, Camille Kingsolver) on Sunday, April 26th at 1:00 pm. The discussion is being led by Joe Haverly, environmental biology professor at Rock Valley College, and Kevin and I will be there as "special guests."

If you haven't read the book, I recommend it. It is a fairly quick read and an entertaining story of Kingsolver's family and their own (often humorous) attempt at local eating. Peppered throughout are "articles" written by her husband that back up her already well-researched narrative with additional information in short, easy-to-digest snippets and each chapter is ended with Camille's own version of the family experience and recipes for some of the foods discussed in the chapter.

The book is available in paperback and now includes additional information about the authors and the making of the book itself. It is also readily available as a used book (check out the Amazon listings).

Please pick up a copy (or check it out from your local library) and join us on April 26th for some interesting conversation!

Sweets for Dinner?

2009-04-07T20:28:00.000-07:00

I must admit, that although we're in the groove and moving along as planned, and although we have plenty of food in the freezer/cellar/jars, some nights my interest in our little experiment wanes. Like tonight. I was in the mood for something savory but just couldn't get creative enough (my fault, not the fault of local eating, I realize). Anything that seemed good to me was going to take too much time or too many frozen veggies (that's how I felt at dinner prep time anyway).

So, we had breakfast/dessert for dinner tonight. I made Deborah Madison's Corn Meal Crepes (from her Local Flavors cookbook) and served them smeared with locally-produced marscapone cheese and my own black raspberry/wine sauce made with fruit from the freezer.

I don't think I can legally publish Madison's crepe recipe but I will say that I liked it except it wasn't corn-mealy enough for me so I would reduce the flour and add more cornmeal. Also, I used my last half of a vanilla bean for ice cream for my father-in-law's birthday breakfast on Sunday (Belgian waffles made with fresh-milled whole wheat flour, frozen strawberries mashed with honey, and homemade vanilla bean ice cream) so I substituted about a teaspoon of vanilla extract for the vanilla bean (and of course, local honey for the sugar).

I can also give you the recipe for the fruit sauce...

Lenae's Black Raspberry Sauce Simmered with Wine and Cinnamon

4 c. black raspberries (mine happened to be frozen in August)
1/2 to 2/3 cup red wine (any wine will do, even white - I merely used what I had left)
1/4 to 1/2 cup honey
2 to 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

In a medium saucepan, simmer the raspberries in wine to thaw until they release their juices. Add honey and cinnamon and stir well. Bring to a gentle boil/simmer, stirring ocassionally, until sauce thickens to desired consistency (I let mine simmer for about 45 minutes). Serve warm or at room temperature.

Can be used on crepes, pancakes of any type, ice cream, cheesecake, or anywhere a berry sauce is desired. Refrigerate any leftovers and use at any temperature within the week.

So it wasn't savory... but as it turns out, we all loved it!

We'll be speaking at the Cherry Valley Library

2009-04-02T13:38:00.000-07:00

Tonight at 6:30 pm, Kevin and I will be showing photos and talking about the first 9 months of our experience. The event is free and open to all. You can call the Cherry Valley Library at 815-332-5161 to reserve your seat (although I'm sure walk-ins will be welcome!

Brief List of Local Resources

2009-03-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

This morning we had a very pleasant experience talking about our year-long project at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rock Valley in Rockton. At the end of the presentation we indicated that we would share a list of some useful weblinks of local foods resources. So, here it is - click the headings to reach the sites! Thanks for inviting us.

UIUC Extension of Winnebago County
Local resources, seasonal foods lists, preserving information, local foods reading list

Local Harvest
Database of CSAs, producers, and local food sellers, searchable by zip code

Food Routes
Interesting resources on food miles and the benefits of local foods

Local Foods Directory - Winnebago County
FANTASTIC comprehensive listing of local food producers and growers, includes details of area farmers' markets

As we said this morning, the most important thing to remember is that eating locally does not have to be an all-or-nothing endeavor. Start by adding one local item per meal or challenge yourself to have one all-local meal per week. Visit a farmers' market once each week during the growing season and shop for produce there before going to the grocery store. Seek out some of your favorite foods regionally (and in season!), you just might be surprised what you find!

Hitting into the Freezer (begun mid-January) - (photos)

2009-02-09T18:15:00.001-08:00

Well, it's official, I have started using foods in the big freezer with regularity now. I almost hated to do it! I often fail to use things I am saving or have deemed special in some way or am saving for a special occasion because I somehow feel they are so special that I can't or shouldn't use them; or I remove them from my daily routine in such a way that it never occurs to me to use them. With this in mind, I had not been able to bring myself to use anything in the freezer yet! Well, I'd used a few things that I could easily replace any time of year (meats for example), but I had not opened one package of green beans, tomato puree, or any other produce.THE FREEZER - LATE JANUARY

I had used one package of blueberries and another of strawberries for Neva's birthday celebration in October and a few times I used some of the frozen vegetable broth I'd made in fall but I really hadn't brought myself to use anything else. However, our supply of "fresh" vegetables that remained in the bottom of my fridge is starting to wane. I still have a few cabbages and root veggies such as beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips, etc. but most have now been used and I was starting to miss green things (green veggies are my personal favorite and usually a part of every day).
THAWING AND HEATING VEGGIE SOUP
------------------------------------------------------------------
Since writing the above about three weeks ago, we've used green beans, yellow beans, carrots, broths and soups, zuchinni (pre-grated and measured to make 2 loaves of bread per package), yellow squash, musk mellon, strawberries, raspberries, meat, butter, tomato puree, corn, par-baked bread, pre-made (by me) spinach pizza, lambs quarters (thanks Dianne!), asparagus, and Swiss chard (ours). We've also enjoyed some rice from California and Alaskan salmon - both gifts from family friends that come from beyond 100 miles but were procured while our friends were in those states (the salmon was actually caught by one of them).
A SPECIAL DINNER (IT FOLLOWS THE RULES BUT ISN'T ENTIRELY LOCAL - blogger turned several of my photos and I don't know how to right them)

Since fall, we've had no reservations about using the food in our cellar including pumpkins and other squash, potatoes (from our garden), onions, beets (also from our garden), cabbage (ours), and Brussels sprouts. We've also been enjoying all of the jams/jellies made over the course of the summer, jars of apple and tomato sauce, dry beans, apples, dried fruit, salsa, and some of the relishes, pickles, and spiced cabbage I canned.
"SHOPPING" IN THE ROOT CELLAR - BEETS, POTATOES, ONIONS, SWEET PICKLES, AND CORN RELISH

When the winter began in earnest and it became clear I would get no more easy food (our last CSA share came the last week in November) I was a little worried that we had not put away enough food to get us through to the first farmers' markets and harvest of our own in April. However, now that we've come through January and we still have a mostly full freezer, two windows full of herbs, and a well-stocked root cellar I no longer fear that we will run out. In fact, I am starting to wonder how much we'll have left!
BEFORE - VEG AND MEAT FROM THE FREEZER

AFTER - SWISS CHARD SAUTEED WITH BUTTER AND GARLIC (my garden and Bushel and Peck's Local Market, Beloit, WI), STEAMED YELLOW FRENCH BEANS (Pine Row Farm, Roscoe), ITALIAN SAUSAGE (Open Range Products, Pecatonica and Eickman's Processing, Seward) WITH HONEY MUSTARD (Ed's Honeybees, Rockford and mustard made in Janesville, WI)

Milk

2009-01-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

Finding local milk sources year-round was one of my concerns in starting this year of local eating. There are still a number of small family dairy farms in the area but they mostly produce for large milk companies or processing plants where their milk is combined with other milk that is shipped in from farther away. Still others send their milk directly to cheesemakers (which is good - yummy local cheeses to be had!)

When we were about to being our year, I called our local processing plant (Mueller-Pinehurst) which is right here in Rockford and, after being transferred to several people who could not answer my questions, I was finally connected with someone who could. He explained to me that the milk they process in Summer is indeed local, the demand can be met by dairies within 100 miles. However, he did tell me that not all of their dairy products are produced at their local plant. Milk in gallon jugs and (I believe) buttermilk are locally-produced. As is anything stamped with 12-274 (the local plant number). However, their milk in half-gallon jugs and their cottage cheese and (I think) sour cream are not made here or are not made with local milk.

He went on to tell me that in Winter, the demand for milk and dairy products rises. This makes sense as we think of winter as the time for comfort foods and cream soups while we'd probably rather drink iced tea on a hot summer day. Anyway, in the winter the increased demand is unable to be met by local dairies and so a portion (I did not ask him for a percentage) of the milk processed at the local plant is brought in from farther away.

When we began our challenge in June, I was content to purchase Mueller-Pinehurst milk but by September I was seeking other options, knowing that my all-local source would soon "run out." I was lucky to be able to connect with a group of people who are shareholders in cows. That's right, we buy a share of a cow and in return we receive a percentage of the milk that "our" cow produces. So, since September, we have been getting milk this way. Also, a great little grocery store called Bushel and Peck's opened up this summer in Beloit (BushelandPecks.com). They sell single-source milk from southern Wisconsin under the brand name Sassy Cow. They also have Wisconsin milk in returnable glass bottles that's great but not guaranteed to be only from within 100 miles of Rockford (not good for me but great for the rest of you!).

Lucky for me, my current sources for milk are all organic (Mueller-Pinehurst was not) and not Ultra-Pasteurized (UP) so more of the nutrients are left in the milk (both due to lower-heat pasteurization and a shorter cold storage period). Also, I am able to use this milk to make cheese which one cannot do with UP or even high-temperature-pasteurized milk. Just today I received an e-newsletter from the company where I buy my cheese-making supplies that had an article that did a good job of detailing the changes in milk over the last generation or two. I'll excerpt it here and include the link to the full article:

Full Article "More About Milk" from Cheesemaking.com

"In the 1930's when pasteurization was introduced, the milk supply in America was in a foul state with TB being one of the worst health problems transferred from dairies. Pasteurization was the immediate solution but proper herd management and inoculation was the long range solution. As dairies became larger milk "processing plants" and larger quantities of milk were cold stored for longer periods of time, shipped longer distances, and held for longer periods on store shelves the need for higher processor temperatures has evolved. All of this is good for the producers but not so good for consumers seeking quality milk.

According to several conversations with milk processors across the country during the past 2 years we have become aware of a tendency for regulating agencies to strongly suggest increasingingly higher pasteurization temperatures. This issue of higher pasteurizing temps and times seems to be an attempt to eliminate Johne's (pronounced yo-neez) disease (Mycobacterium .Paratuberculosis) from our milk supply. This disease has increased in recent years and seems to be most serious in the larger industrial herds.
The tendency has been to increase pasteurization temps to 174-180F plus and increase the hold times for this.
This is in spite of research done in Ireland and at Guelph Ontario showing that traditional vat pasteurization of 145F/30min totally eliminates the bacteria and that HTST [high temperature short time] pasteurization 163F/16secs shows small numbers in the milk. Further research is being done on holding at 163F but increasing the times. The research has also shown that exposing the milk to a higher temperature would not be a good option because a higher temperature could be detrimental to its nutritional value.

Rather than trying to force industrial dairies to clean up their act in order to improve the health of their herds, the FDA has put its support behind higher-temperature pasteurization.

Pasteurization should not be an excuse to produce dirty milk.

In other words much of what is being done for milk processing today is based on bad science"

Check out the GO Section of today's Rockford Register Star

2009-01-10T07:15:00.000-08:00

Geri Nikolai wrote a short follow-up piece to the article that appeared this spring in the Rockford Register Star. It appears in her weekly column in the GO Section. Here is the link to the teaser which gives a photo and shares the original story as well: http://blogs.e-rockford.com/gogreen/2009/01/10/remember-that-family-who-vowed-to-eat-locally/

Here is the link to the actual article: http://go.rrstar.com/w/x497783241/Living-la-vida-locavore

Giving Up The Oats

2009-01-09T21:13:00.000-08:00

Those four bushels of oats that we've been trying to get into? They go to an acquaintance who has horses in the morning. *sigh*

Happy New Year! Local Food ALASKA Edition (Photos)

2009-01-09T17:49:00.001-08:00

This photo is purely for those interested in Alaska... it was taken about 11:15 am. As you can see, the sun was just about to break the horizon. There were just over 3 hours of official sunlight on Winter Solstice and the lowest temperature we experienced was 60-below (highest was right around zero).

Well, we returned this week from Fairbanks, Alaska where we spent two-and-a-half weeks with Kevin's sister and her family (including her four-month-old twins) and my in-laws (who have been living there most of the year helping out). In addition to spending quality family time, we also have had a long break in our local eating pattern. Our exemption for travel is, of course, necessary as we would find it difficult to either truck all the food we require along with us or to find it in a new place and so we enjoyed a few weeks of eating whatever we wanted. However, we did manage to find some sources of local foods - even in the dead of winter in interior Alaska! But more on that in a minute.

The first night we were there we went to hear two speakers at an installment of an alternative energies lecture series that Kevin's sister, Gwen, has organized. One of the speakers, Bernie Karl, discussed a variety of germane topics but the one fact he shared that struck me was this (paraphrased): the state of Alaska has only a two-day supply of food available in grocery stores and restaurants at any given time. TWO DAYS. I wonder how long Illinois' supply would last, knowing that we import something like 90% of our foodstuffs.

While we were there we experienced this first-hand... one day between Christmas and New Year's, Kevin's mother went to the local (very large) grocery store to pick some things up for dinner. She returned saying that there were no fresh vegetables to be had. The produce section of this store is actually quite large and varied (when stocked). We ate frozen veggies.

We did have several opportunities to eat some truly local (and truly wonderful) foods. Even before we arrived, my father-in-law had been talking about saving for us a jar of his own blueberry jam, made with blueberries he had collected himself. We were glad he did save it; we enjoyed it immensely as we spread it on our pancakes one morning!

There are lots of yummy berries to be had in the fall in Alaska. When Kevin's mom came home for a visit at the end of September, she brought us a container of low bush cranberries she had picked just as the first snow of the season was falling. I warmed them in a pot until they just started to burst, added a little honey and cinnamon, and served them for dessert with a dollop of yogurt. In addition to his own frozen blueberry jam, Robert proudly presented us with a jar of low bush cranberry jam he had purchased at the farmers' market just down the road. We enjoyed that one evening for dinner on sliced ham left over from Christmas.

The source of my food is always present as a thought in my mind (it already was long before we started our experiment) so I continued to pay attention to my options while grocery shopping in Fairbanks. I was happy to see that I had a number of good, local options - not all from within 100 miles but at least from the state). The store (Fred Meyer, now owned by Kroger) had a full selection of milk from the North Star Dairy in Delta Junction, AK. I could also get Alaska-grown carrots and potatoes and, of course, wild Alaskan salmon.

I think Robert (Kevin's dad) was having fun preparing for our visit because he also produced from the freezer some locally wild-caught caribou and moose in the form of stew meat and loin, respectively. Erika (Kevin's mom) made a killer goulash with the caribou and Kevin sister, Gwen, made some excellent ginger-marinated, thinly sliced and pan-fried moose loin.

It seems that even area restaurants are interested in serving local foods. We didn't eat out much (only twice) but we noticed on menus, even at a Thai place, that the use of local ingredients was highlighted (even in winter when they used local potatoes, dried and frozen berries, etc.).

Finally, our foray into local food in the deep Alaskan mid-winter was successful on the grounds of Chena Hot Springs Resort, just an hour outside of Fairbanks. Kevin's sister used to work there, developing all sorts of fascinating systems to harness existing resources and generate electricity and other things helpful at a completely off-grid resort. I could go on all day about the cool technologies she helped to develop there, specifically using the geothermal resources which are hot but not hot enough for traditional geothermal technologies (170-degrees vs. 220) but I won't. I'll just include the link to the resort: www.chenahotsprings.com.

The resort is owned by Bernie and Connie Karl (yes, one of the men we heard speak the first night) and one of the cool things to see and experience there is the greenhouse that can boast having the largest interior and exterior temperature differential in the world. In the winter it can easily be 40 or more degrees below zero outside (and it was while we were there) and stays a muggy 80 degrees inside; and it's all heated with the warm water coming out of the ground! Anyway, they grow hydroponic tomatoes and salad greens year-round. We were able to sample some of both, harvested the day we ate them, while it was over 40 degrees below zero outside. You may be interested in the Chena Hot Springs website not only for the food but also to see photos of their hot pools and sculpted ice hotel.

Now we are back home and sticking to our Rockford-area diet. Tonight we had seared pork chops (raised in Pecatonica at Open Range Products and processed in Seward at Eichman's), steamed broccoli (from the freezer, grown at Angelic Organics), and sauteed fingerling potatoes (Tomorrow's Harvest CSA) with crispy garlic (Stan Johnson at the Edgebrook Center Farmers' Market). We enjoyed it with a Wollersheim wine (Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin) and had fresh apples for dessert (Bushel and Peck's Local Market - apples grown at Gahl's Apple Orchard in South Beloit).

Earlier this week we had beef and bean stew with vegetables and fresh-baked bread for dinner (I added baby Brussels sprouts to the leftovers the next day), apple cider cinnamon bread for breakfast, and I made a couple of loaves of apple-cinnamon stuffed Challah for Neva to take to preschool and Kevin to take to work. As usual, we've been enjoying cheeses, milk, and yogurt from southern Wisconsin, eggs from Pine Row Farm in Roscoe and Angelic Organics in Caledonia, and other frozen and dried veggies from our own supplies.

Admission

2008-12-12T06:47:00.000-08:00

Back in August, Kevin and I talked about our project at a meeting of the Rockford chapter of the Hollistic Moms Network (http://home.homewebs.com/hmnrockfordil/). I talked about this meeting in an August post. Anyway, one of the chapter members asked if we ever cheated or had "cheater days" like she gave herself every 10 days when she was dieting. We truthfully and proudly said, "no, never!"

Well, we can't say that anymore. Sure, we've had some legitimate, by-the-rules meals out (work, travel, board meetings, etc.), but I also have to admit to a few moments of weakness or acquiescence to my wish for something instant or easy.

It started in September when Kevin was in Chicago on business for over a week. I had spent the first weekend in Chicago with my sister and family (Kevin was already working in another part of the city). That weekend I could legitimately eat non-local foods since I was away from home for an extended period of time. I returned home to my local foods on Sunday but by mid-week of 24-7 childcare duties (and the knowledge that Kevin was feasting on whatever he wanted), I decided to pick up a pizza one night (and of course there was enough for lunch the next day!).

Since that time, I've cheated once or twice a month, usually for the sake of convenience more than craving (although there is a little of that too!). It's pretty funny though, whenever I decide to cheat it's as if I'm on a covert operation, feel a little sheepish and guilty, and hope I won't see anyone I know. I did get caught by a friend a few weeks ago when I ran into a gas station for a caffienated beverage after filling my tank. She was very kind and didn't give me a hard time for my indescretion.

Neva also understands the concept (as she has been the recipient of some of the cheating). She will occassionally ask me if we can "go cheating" when we drive or walk past an ice cream or pizza shop. She understands that none of these places have anything we can buy but, just like us, she occassionally has cravings.

So, we've been very good... but not perfectly good. We do appreciate some of these "cheats" more than we previously would have. My mom baked brownies with walnuts to give to Kevin for his birthday and boy what a treat that was! Since chocolate is one of our exceptions (Kevin is our resident chocolholic) we have had that available to us but cookies/brownies made with honey are just not nearly as satisfying as those made with refined cane sugar (at least I haven't found the magic recipe yet) and the walnuts were a special treat too. -Thanks Mom!

Thanksgiving and Beyond (photos)

2008-11-30T23:54:00.001-08:00

So many people have asked us what our plans are/were for Thanksgiving because they were curious about whether we could pull off a local holiday meal or not. Well, we must admit that we didn't eat here in Rockford, we spent the holiday with my family.

It's definitely not that we feared we could not produce a fantastic celebration meal with local food (we can and we will in January!) but it was simply my mother's turn to host and my brother was home from California and my sister and her husband came out from Chicago.

We did have some local fare. I was in charge of mashed potatoes and roasted root vegetables (carrots and sweet potatoes from our CSA boxes which I roasted with some red onion, garlic, oil, and a touch of honey!). The turkey was local too. For the last 20 years, my mother has been getting her holiday turkeys from a local establishment in Waterman, IL. Although HOKA is a local producer, they are also a commercial operation, large-scale and fairly industrial, which only raises one type of bird: Broad-breasted White. I have occasionally had to sacrifice buying organic, etc in order to source things locally.

After two days of eating largely non-local food at my parents' house, we were back in Rockford Saturday morning where we returned to our regular eating pattern. I did (happily) return with the turkey carcass, which we had frozen on Thanksgiving Day, along with the pan drippings and some skin. Saturday afternoon I cooked it down with some vegetables and herbs. After about four hours I had a large amount of really succulent broth (to taste and to smell). I used my largest stock pot, which at 22 quarts, dwarfs my otherwise large pasta pot (far right in photo).

Today I canned 14 quarts of that stock, reserving two or so plus the meat that fell from the bone for a nice turkey soup tomorrow evening. When I cooked down the stock yesterday I thought I'd freeze it (somehow... there is really no more room to be found in the freezers) but I am so glad that I canned it instead. It will be quicker and easier to use and keep in the cellar. I owe a big thanks to my friend, Joe, for indirectly suggesting that I can it and for lending me his pressure canner so I could do it (broth must be processed at a higher temperature than high acid foods).

Somehow, I had one can in each batch not seal properly (I think I may have over-filled them). On the first batch, a ring popped (I have had a few rings that were older and not completely round anymore... two of them popped off in my hand when I was sealing jars and I pitched [recycled] them. This one waited until it was in the canner to pop off). I was able to pour the contents back into my stock pot to boil again before filling the jars in the second batch.

Unfortunately, in the second batch I had one jar not seal either (although the ring stayed intact). I added that one to the stock and meat I had reserved in the fridge to use for soup tomorrow evening.

So, in the end, I have 12 quarts of stock in cans for use in soups throughout the winter! I have been making soups each week either with vegetable stocks that I made last month and froze, or with water and my ingredients. The latter has not been nearly as satisfying as my typical soups so I'm looking forward to having the turkey stock in addition to my frozen vegetable stock (and I may make up a batch of veggie stock and can that before I return the pressure canner to my friend at the end of the week).

Divine Process

2008-11-26T14:32:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I started reading a book that's been sitting on my "to read" shelf for several years; If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska by Heather Lende. It is a series of reprints from her social column for the local (Haines, AK) newspaper and a collection of new essays about her life and those around her. I'm only on page 73 but have already been laughing out loud, moved to tears (more than once), and saying, "hmm, that's fascinating," again and again. Now I must admit that part of my interest and connection with the book is due to the fact that I've actually been to some of the places she talks about. But aside from that, she is just telling good stories.

Today I was reading her essay entitled, "Domestic Goddesses," (p.59) which simultaneously shares her experiences with friends and other women in her community and her (largely) self-taught proficiencies in her somewhat subsistence lifestyle. She is very clear about the definitions for subsistence though, both the act of living from the surroundings in a sustainable way and "the quality of having timeless or abstract exsistence." She ends the essay by observing that "there is more than just a bit of the divine in food gathering and preparation. We are all domestic goddesses."

Although I think I'm far from a "domestic goddess," I have felt divine in the processes I've undertaken, the knowledge I've gained, and the knowledge that I was able to prepare and preserve so much food from right around here. And here I must throw in my own dictionary definition: "Divine (informal): extremely good, unusually lovely." I have felt that way about the results of our local food source challenge - even if I haven't always felt that way about the process itself.

When people ask us now how our local eating project is going (an especially popular question now that winter is setting in in Northern Illinois), it's fun to say that it's working, we're eating well, the kids are growing strong and healthy, and we've had a great time learning new things and sourcing things locally. This is all true. I do admit, though, to days where I just didn't feel like cooking or weeks where I got behind in my harvesting/freezing/canning/cellaring operations. But we have a fully-stocked freezer, loaded cellar and pantry shelves, and bins and bins of root vegetables, grains, winter squashes, and onions (I know I need to get the allums out of the bins!). I will post again, hopefully this weekend, about our end of summer harvests and the status of our food stores.

What I really want to say right now is: I think the whole thing has been, and continues to be, divine.

I'm back to the blog and STILL bringing in food!

2008-11-24T07:41:00.000-08:00

Hello and I'm sorry for such a long absence.
It was getting a little hectic there as I was harvesting in my own garden, processing things from my CSA share boxes, buying all I could at the local farmers' markets before they closed for the season, traveling to Bushel and Peck's in Beloit, WI for local foods of all types, and also living my life. Things are finally slowing down now (although I'm still brining in food - more on that in a future post). So, excluding a few weeks of vacation in December, I should be back to my once weekly posting schedule (more as I'm catching up with the activities of the last two months!).

If you would like me to add your e-mail address to my list, I will send out short e-mail notices with links when I make new posts each week. This would allow those of you who want it to know when I've updated the blog. Just send an e-mail to me at Lenae@connectn.com and I will add you to the list.

Thanks for sticking with us!

LOCAL FOODS DINNER!!!

2008-10-09T21:15:00.001-07:00

What a great opportunity to experience some lovely local food and enjoy an evening of fine food and local wine!

Kiki B's is hosting a local dinner, sponsored by the U of I Extension,

on Saturday, October 18th at 6:00 pm.

We are so looking forward to it.

To sign up or for more details, check out the Extension website: http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/inform/event.cfm?area=0&id=43651&InterestAreaID=.

There you can get all the details and register for the event.

Hope to see you there!

Also - Check out the New Local Foods Directory! It is also available on the extension site: http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/winnebago/. Just click the Local Foods Director link on the first page and be prepared to be amazed at how much is out there, in our area!

Hiatus (Photos)

2008-10-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

Hello and I'm sorry for the long (month-long!) delay in posting. I must admit that nearly all of my free time (what is free time, exactly?) has been spent procuring, processing, and storing food for winter and early spring. I basically choose one food item each day/night and work on it until A: it's done or B: I'm exhausted and have to go to sleep.

Of course, with two young children, much of what I do must be done after bedtimes (I'm just not willing to work with a large pot of boiling water with my little one crawling around my feet). So, the late-night hours I previously devoted to blogging (and cleaning, and knitting, and reading, etc.) have been taken up by canning, dehydrating, and freezing.

I will have to continue this haitus from posting for a few more weeks as I'm trying to get all I can put away and prepared before the frosts come (which may be soon?). I will leave you with one, brief update...

Kai turned one in September and we had a family birthday celebration. We had a completely local lunch (creamy potato soup with bacon and vegetables, fresh bread [made with flour we ground], green bean salad, and local wine. My sister did bring a mostly non-local but healthy and homemade appetizer (with my blessing) because she knows my meals never start when I say they will and we'll all be too hungry without a snack! It was a yummy cheat on an otherwise local day.

We also celebrated with a local birthday cake. I made a whole-wheat apple cake in the shape of a number one and frosted it with a French buttercream frosting made with maple syrup, eggs, and butter (no refined sugar). The frosting was rich but fantastic and a nice compliment to the apple cake. You can find the recipe in The Naturally Sweet Baker by Carrie Davis. It's out of print but used copies are available on Amazon.

Here are a few photos of the cake (I don't claim to be a good cake froster or decorator... I can make the stuff but don't put it together well). Kai had obviously been playing with the unlit candle before this shot -

So, Happy Birthday little Kai and we'll get back to you with some catch-up updates in a few weeks! Thanks for sticking with us!

Our Little Trooper (photo)

2008-08-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

Neva is SO amazing!
She generally understands what we're doing and what it means for her (and she somewhat understands why we're doing it). I regularly overhear her narrating her play and she'll ask a pretend vendor, "Is it local?" or play-act making her own food. She also asks questions of me about what is and isn't local on a regular basis and when I answer that something is not, she moves on to the next thing.

Well, today we spent a few hours at the Rock River Thresheree and Steam Show in Edgerton, WI (thanks for our friends Joe and Jeff who recommended it!). While there, Neva saw many people walking around with lemonade - definitely off of our list! She has been pretending to make and serve lemonade quite a bit lately as one of the storybook characters she likes sets up a lemonade stand and she pretends to do the same.

When we walked by one of the lemonade booths she asks (very politely) if she may have some lemonade. Kevin and I give each other the same "gee, we really would like to say 'yes' but we don't want to buy citrus AND sugar so what should we do?" look. Kevin tells her that he will let her make the decision but she should know that lemonade is not local. He asked her if she would like some and she said, "no." My heart soared as I thought, "wow, she's really willing to 'take one for the team'." We both affirmed her decision as we moved along. As we walked away I noticed that her head was hung low, really low, and she was silently crying as she walked with us.

I stopped and knelt down to talk to her and asked her why she was feeling sad. She said that she really wanted to try lemonade but it wasn't local so she wouldn't have any. I just gave her a big hug and told her how proud of her I was for her to make that decision and to be willing to go along with our experiment like that. I told her that she was awesome and I loved her and that I wanted to reward her for being so wonderful and not making a fuss and sticking to it. And then I told her that I would reward her by buying her a lemonade... gasp!

She looked at me incredulously, as if she couldn't believe what I was telling her. This was no ploy on her part to get what she wanted, she was truly sad but willing to forgo the treat. I was really serious though and we went and waited in line and she got a "small" lemonade (at least it was real lemonade and not the powered stuff) and was so, so happy.

For the most part, she is unaffected by our fun and challenging project. She still gets great food, lots of variety, and a fair amount of desserts and snacks - as long as it all comes from within 100 miles. She helps me make and prepare many things and is excited about what we can produce and especially enjoys our regular visits to area farms. She is rarely phased when I tell her we can't have something or make something we used to because we don't have all of the ingredients available to us. But it just broke my heart to see her being so good but so sad today and I'm glad we gave in to give her a special treat and reward her for being such a good little trooper.

Minding my P's and Q's

2008-08-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry I’ve been away from the computer for a while but I’ve been using all available time to put up food for the winter. Those who know me know that I am a bit of a wordophile, a student of etymology. No, not the study of insects (although that’s cool too!), but the origins, histories, and meanings of words and phrases. As I’ve been working this weekend, I’ve truly been “minding my p's and q's” because the p's and q's refer to pints and quarts and I’ve been using plenty of those (as well as half-pints).

Last Monday I was invited to a friend’s house to pick black chokeberries for making jam. He is also my official gardening mentor so he showed me what to do and we talked gardens and farmers’ markets while picking berries. He had picked a bowl full and made juice then jelly and had some juice left to give me, in addition to the many ripe berries remaining on the shrub. That night I returned and made juice by cooking down the berries with some water and straining the result. I made enough juice (supplementing his) to make a double batch of jelly and still put a quart in the freezer.

Then Tuesday we were invited to another friend’s house to pick crab apples from her amazingly-productive tree. I brought home a stock pot full of little fushia and gold fruits and a few days later, I cooked those down and strained them in my jelly bag, making enough juice for a dozen jars of jelly and another quart of juice in the freezer. I didn’t make this jelly, however, until the weekend when my parents were keeping Neva to play at their house and Kevin was home to entertain Kai. In addition to the jellies, I tried my hand at more savory canned goods. I spent Sunday making a batch and a half of Kosher dill pickles and a batch of tomato and green chile salsa. Both contained mostly vegetables from my good friend, Joe, who met me at the Roscoe farmers' market with a trunk full of extras from his garden.

The pickles promise to be good (we soaked the leftover cucumbers in the remaining juice for an hour or so and ate them for dinner), once they have a month or so to really meld flavors. I used a variety of spices and put dill, a clove of garlic, a bay leaf, and mustard seed in each jar. The salsa also tasted good right out of the pot (and smelled amazing!). It was a lot of work, time-wise, to make the four-and-a-half quarts I produced but I still think I’ll be happy to have it this winter. I would have made more but ran out of tomatoes. I intend to try a different recipe and make some more in the coming weeks. Once thing I did notice is that the heirloom tomatoes peeled much more easily, making it go a little quicker - I will have to see if I can come up with a quantity more of those for the next batch.

I am learning to be more resourceful as we progress so I squeezed and strained the juice from the bowl of tomato skins, cores, and seeds that I had removed for the salsa and that resulted in a little more than a half-quart of tomato juice which I froze for later use (either to drink or, more likely, in chili or another soup). The few ounces that didn’t fit in the container went into ice cube trays to use later in smaller quantities for sauces or to flavor soups. This morning I re-made the black chokeberry jelly as it didn’t set properly (the first time this has happened to me). I think I underestimated the amount of natural pectin in the berries (which must have been slim to none). I made up a batch of pectin yesterday and did a test jar which set quickly so I am encouraged, however, the jars I reprocessed have not yet set. I may end up freezing them and calling it black chokeberry sauce.

I have also started making corn relish, although Kai woke up and wasn’t very patient with me as I was shucking corn. I’ll have to return to that project when he takes his nap. Later today I hope to make some bread and butter pickles as well.

It Has to Get Hot Before Getting Cold... my exploits in freezing vegetables.

The other thing we’ve been doing with our time these last few weeks is freezing vegetables. We’ve got to get ourselves through the winter and early spring so we figure we can’t possibly put too much away. Three weeks ago we purchased a large freezer. In that time, we have managed to fill all but about ¼ of it. I expect it to be completely full within another week.

A few weeks ago I brought home 72 ears of corn and my parents (who were here for the weekend to help with the kids so we could do yard/garden work) helped Kevin and me process it for freezing. It took the four of us three hours (we also processed and froze some carrots I had picked up at the Edgebrook Farmers’ Market) to get it all done. I was so glad to have their help, without those three it would have taken me 12 hours alone (and proven to be a very long night!). I bought the corn from the Murphys, who sell fresh produce from their farm on Meridian Rd. (first farm on left, just north of Latham Rd.).

I have also prepared, blanched, and frozen copious amounts of green (and other) beans, squash, carrots, and other veggies as well as frozen blueberries, black and red raspberries, blackberries, and more. I have additionally done some experimental freezing (what is it with me and experiments?). I chopped and vacuum-sealed some green onions (I expect they’ll be tough but will nicely flavor soups and the like) and fresh herbs. I tried basil two ways… chopped and vacuum-sealed and chopped and frozen in water in ice cube trays. We’ll see which, if either, is the best way to do that in the future. I will, of course, keep potted herbs in several windows throughout the winter (as I did successfully last year).

If you are planning to buy or pick and freeze vegetables, know that most require a quick blanching first. Not to cook them, per se, but to kill off the enzymes that would otherwise break down their flavor and quality as they are stored (even in the freezer).

I have found I have the PERFECT tool for this process… my old pasta pot. I have a large (8 qt) stainless steel stock pot with a pasta insert and lid. I’ve had it for over 10 years but I know the brand still exists in stores (Tramontina). Anyway, using this pot has let me blanch more quickly and efficiently (I’ve tried some other methods for comparison so this is based on results, not just conjecture). I can bring the water to a boil, place the veggies for blanching in the pasta part, dunk and blanch them for the requisite number of minutes, and remove and drain them without pouring off my hot water, thereby allowing me to place the lid to keep in the heat and reuse it several times so as not waste the energy required to heat up a new pot full. Note: I haven’t been letting the used water go to waste down the drain either. After several uses, I take the hot water out the door and pour it over my compost pile. It’s providing moisture (especially good since we’ve had so little rain) as well as heat and nutrients!

Anyway, the pasta pot is the greatest invention (works well for pasta too). The other tool I’ve been relying on is a FoodSaver vacuum sealer. I admit that I’ve always poo-pooed the vacuum sealers in the past. I don’t like to buy and use plastic bags, preferring reusable containers with lids, and the thought of re-sealing my cheese after each use (for example) always struck me as silly. However, I’ve talked to several people who regularly store food in the freezer for a period of time and they swear by the vacuum sealer. So, since I wanted to maintain the high quality of this food for six months or more, I broke down and bought one. The good news is that the plastic bags I cringed to buy are actually reusable. They come on a roll and you make them any length you want. You can make them doubly-long and then wash them after use and have enough bag left to use them over several times. The rolls are pricey but I expect not to have to buy any at all next year. Only time will tell if the food is well-preserved and freezer-burn-free but I’m hopeful.

Talking to Others

Kevin and I were invited to talk about our project at the meeting of the Rockford chapter of the Hollistic Mom’s Network at Just Goods, downtown, last Wednesday night. It was an interesting group of people with some great questions and ideas for us. We enjoyed sharing with them about what we are trying to do and learning about some of the great things they already do.

I think the most important take-away message we had (and continue to hold) is this:
The important thing to realize is that eating locally-produced foods and supporting your local economy is not and all-or-nothing endeavor. Every individual regional food item you purchase is something that makes a difference, no matter how small. Commit to trying to eat one local or even regional item at each meal during the growing season (or at just one meal a day!) and you will reduce your food miles, support a local farmer, and be eating better to boot!

Our "Experiemental" Garden (photos)

2008-08-09T06:43:00.000-07:00

I’ve mentioned before that vegetable gardening is new to us. Happily it is working fairly well. We didn’t plant the garden to feed us all year, we had no illusions that we would be so self-sufficient. We planted it to get our hands dirty, so to speak, and start doing something we thought we would find rewarding and interesting. All along I’ve been calling this my experimental garden because I’ve tried some unconventional methods and am focusing on the methodology and learning from experience as much as on reaping a harvest (although I hope to do that too, of course).

The raised beds continue to be the easiest area of the garden to maintain, with the fewest weeds and highest yields. We have had a steady supply of green beans and cucumbers over the past few weeks as well as beets, lettuces, and chard. I have also harvested a few tomatoes, some broccoli, and zucchini from one of our ground-level patches.

The corn looks like we may not see much of it. It was growing tall, over seven feet, and each stalk had two ears that had exposed their silks and seemed to be getting pollinated by bees and other insects, in fact, I pulled one ear just to look inside and at the end of each string of silk was a plump, ripening kernel (which were still immature, of course and the silks were still attached but it was fascinating to study). A week later I noticed that one of the lower ears had been pulled down, exposing the immature kernels from their sheath of husk. I decided it must have been the work of raccoons. Soon after, I noticed more of the same but the upper ears seemed unaffected. Then last weekend a few stalks fell to some shrub trimming that caused branches to knock them over. I stood a few back up and propped them with tomato cages, a pretty funny sight). On Monday night we had some wind with the storms that came through (not nearly the wind they got in the Chicago area) and full one-fourth of the stalks blew over. I’ve left them to see if anything will come of them but I don’t have great expectations for their survival.

I have also noticed that the blasted Japanese beetles seem to like to feast on the silks. As with the one I opened prematurely, the silks were largely severed but the kernels had been pollinated prior to that so I suspect they would be OK. Still, I’m not relying on this garden to be our sole source of food so I purchased six dozen ears of corn from the Murphys who run Murphy’s Market from their house on Meridian Rd (first house north of Latham on the west side of the street). They have some lovely produce including onions, cucumbers, squash, Italian beans, sweet corn, and (soon) tomatoes. Their stand is set up along their drive and is self-service. A sandwich board at the road lists what they have to sell that day. Their prices are very reasonable and they are a very friendly couple!

The cabbages are growing slowly and showing some signs of cabbage moths (last year I had a few cabbages and we just ate them holey). In the other ground-level bed the popcorn is still only about two feet high (it has had a lot of competition from crab grass which I haven’t fully weeded out yet, perhaps this weekend). The zucchini has started to yield but it also was quite overgrown with weeds. The sugar pumpkins are looking happy, with beautiful big blooms but I haven’t lifted aside the leaves to see if they’ve set much fruit yet. The moon and stars watermelon have set fruit, as have the cantaloupe but the cantaloupe fruit looks suspiciously like watermelon (do they start out like that?). The asparagus and strawberries are not producing, of course, but they are doing their things and developing strong root systems.

In addition to experimenting with gardening, I also experimented with storage techniques over winter. I kept one green cabbage, one bag of beets, and one bag of parsnips in the crisper drawer for over six months – just to see how they would fare.

The cabbage paled as we neared spring but did not rot or otherwise look bad. The outer leaves dried a bit but, when peeled away, bared crisp, moist inner ones. Eventually, the cut end of the cabbage sprouted leaves which were also pale yellow and several inches long. I decided at that point to pull the cabbage out of the fridge and set it out at room temperature to see what would happen. Within two days the sprouts tripled in length and turned green. I kept the cabbage on the counter for the better part of a week as the sprouts grew exponentially and soon started to flower. I admit that I wondered if I could plant these shoots but I observed that they were long and narrow and didn’t seem at all like they could produce the typical closed cabbage head. Kevin was reading Four-Season Harvest at the time and happened upon a page that talked about forcing cabbage roots for their small but tasty leaves over winter… this is apparently what I had done. I then harvested the stalks and leaves and chopped them in to some other greens I was sautéing. They were great – we plan to pull all of our cabbage out this fall with roots intact and store them in the root cellar for forcing over winter – I’ll let you know how that works out.

I was happy to see that the beets and parsnips all made it through their long storage and were fully edible come spring (I waited until we had a steady supply of other fresh foods to best replicate what I thought I would need to do this year). I am pulling the rest of our beets from the garden now as they are quite large, but plan to plant another set (hopefully this weekend) for a late season harvest. Of course I don't have room in my refrigerator to store the quantities of root vegetables we will need but we have identified a crawlspace area below our garage addition to use as a root cellar. I have also been freezing copious amounts of local produce... more on that in another post.

Desperately Seeking Rolled Oats (photos and video)

2008-07-24T07:19:00.000-07:00

Oats have been an important part of our diets for years. We all just love a bowl of thick, uncooked oats with milk or yogurt and nuts or fruit for breakfast, especially Neva. We use oats in our pancakes, our muffins, our breads, and many of our desserts - and that’s just the rolled form, I also grind oats for flour (and of course we cook them in winter for a hot breakfast as well). We knew all along that we would want to find local oats.

Back in March, we were returning by bus from O’Hare when we met another couple and struck up a conversation about our respective trips. Small talk with strangers inevitably leads to the “so where do you live?” and “what do you do?” questions. We learned that they own a farm outside of Paw Paw and grow, among other things, oats and wheat. Although we were still a few months away from beginning our year of eating locally, we were already trying to source the things we knew we would need. So we were excited to learn about the oats.

Then at the end of June, we were going to central Illinois for a wedding and would be driving right past Paw Paw. Of course, Paw Paw is within 100 miles of our home but we wanted to be efficient. So I talked with the farmer, Johnnie, about picking up some oats. I learned that a bushel of oats weighs 32 pounds, and that he charges 50 cents extra to gather them from the top of the grain bin. All-told, we paid $3.50 a bushel for four bushels and also bought some bails of straw to use a garden mulch. Johnnie was friendly and helpful and his kindness was extended further when he insisted on giving us a bouquet of wheat for our table and a bucket of lime to amend the soil in our garden (which I haven’t tested the ph of yet so I don’t know if it needs to be amended for next year!).

Neva enjoyed looking at the freshly-washed combine and walking up to the edge of the wheat and oat fields. I loved standing at the edge of that field of almost-ripe grains and listening to the wind whip it around and watching the waves work their way back and forth across the expanse.

If you watch the video below of the windy wheat field, turn the volume down... the wind makes a terrible racket against the microphone of our little camera.

We brought back our oats and then set about figuring out how to process them. We decided that even if it didn’t work, we were out less than $15 and we could give the oats to someone we know who boards horses. But, if we were successful… we would happily have oats all year!

We had a small hand-operated mill that we could use to grind oats into flour and Kevin’s parents have another one with two metal rollers that would allow us to roll the oats. The first thing we tried was to run the oats through the mill as they were. This created rolled oats with flattened hulls pressed firmly into the groats… not so appetizing. So we needed a method to remove hull from groat. Kevin began researching methods and found that it’s not as easy as removing wheat chaff. Apparently, the process is best done with a spinning stone wheel and the oats dropped from a height or with two stone wheels rotating at a distance from each other. To further complicate matters, oats contain more fat than other grains and so are not shelf stable unless they’ve been heated in a kiln (or steamed in the process of hull removal). If left untreated by heat, the oat groats will turn rancid within four days once the hulls are removed. Here is a link to Wikipedia that describes how it works: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oat

Then a few weeks ago I met someone at Angelic Organics who was picking up her vegetable share and she told me that she once had oats in hulls and had had some success with soaking the grains overnight and then having her kids agitate them underwater. She said the hulls just floated up to the top of the water. I tried that too, even soaking and agitating in turns for 48 hours and far fewer than 50% of the hulls came off, making this method less-than-successful for me.

Now Kevin is looking into mills in the area to try to learn if any process oats. Some, like Graue Mill in Oakbrook, IL, used to process oats back when you couldn’t buy Bob’s Red Mill or Quaker off the shelf but don’t seem to do so anymore. Incidentally, Graue Mill does still grind corn and they make the freshest, finest (in coarse or fine grind) corn meal I’ve ever tasted. I haven’t talked with them yet to determine if the corn they use is local but I intend to do so. I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and fondly remember a class field trip to the mill when I was in the fifth grade… my mom has been buying their corn meal ever since.

Back to the oats… we’re still seeking a good way to process them as we look forlornly upon the four large bags in the corner of our kitchen. We haven’t given up yet but I guess we can always do what our friend did when she came to visit last weekend, she just snacked on the grains, hulls and all, and spit out the hull like a sunflower kernel hull. It’s just not the same.

Wine Update

2008-07-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

I learned from one of the farmers at Tomorrow's Harvest CSA that there is a winery in Woodstock that produces wine from estate-grown grapes! It is called Saluté! Farm (which also has a CSA for those of you in that area). I haven't tasted the wine yet but I placed their link in the web links column. The wine they sell is from their first production year. I will have to save it for a special ocassion, however, as it is a little pricey for an everyday wine (for me, anyway). But I will be sure to try it.

Also, "vi" commented about the previous wine post with some names of regional producers of spirits. Two are outside of our 100-mile radius so won't work for this year and the third is closer but I have yet to contact them to learn about the sources of their raw grains and such... I suspect therein will lie the problem. Here are the names/URLs for each though, so you can check them out!

Death's Door Spirits (Washington Island, WI)
They source their grain and ingredients right on the island from small-scale farmers. Their website does state that they buy things they can't get on the island "as locally as possible." They produce gin and vodka.
http://www.deathsdoorspirits.com/

Templeton Rye (Templeton, IA)
Originally created and distributed during Prohibition (or so their marketing claims), they make whisky from high-quality rye.
http://www.templetonrye.com/

North Shore Distillery (Lake Bluff, IL)
Small batch spirits including gins, vodkas, and specialty "artisan collections" including absinthe and aquivit. I doubt the ingredients are local (with flavors like mango and vanilla) but it looks like some interesting stuff!
http://www.northshoredistillery.com/

There is just such cool stuff in our region!

Giddy Satisfaction (photos and video)

2008-07-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

I finally had a chance to return to my work in the garden Tuesday morning. I actually hired a babysitter in order to have a few uninterrupted hours – we don’t hire babysitters to go out, only to get work done! Hmmm. Anyway, the raised beds are looking quite good, very few weeds, happy and healthy plants. However, the ground-level beds are a mess, growing a fine crop of crab grass along with our vegetables. Still, I spent most of my time on the raised beds which have not had our attention for weeks.

The cucumbers must truly like the amount of rain and humidity we’ve had over the past weeks because they have all grown together and are slowly infringing upon the space of the other plants in that section of the garden. I think I need to nickname the cucumber Audrey II. Not that it’s craving blood but it’s definitely growing fast and taking over; it’s even trying to fill the walkway between two raised beds!

I had to be a bit brutal with it, first tying up what I could to the tripods I had placed for this purpose when I seeded, and then trimming off a large section that had no good place to go (good compost, right?!). I swear that when I looked at the cucumber vines last week I saw only a few very immature fruits. Well, yesterday I harvested ELEVEN good-sized cukes! I didn’t even realize they were there until I started to sort out the vines that were escaping the side of the bed and realized they were hanging below that mess. My analogy comparing myself to the kid watching seeds sprout for the first time continues as I squealed with laughter when I realized my new bounty.

We have given a few cucumbers away, to the family of the babysitter and some friends of ours, but we’ve already eaten six or seven ourselves. Neva polished off one by herself while we were making dinner! Does anyone know a good way to preserve cucumbers (besides pickling)?

When I loosed the twisty cucumber runners from the top of the bush bean supports I also found that I had more than a quart of green beans awaiting picking. Yummy! We eat green beans raw as a snack around here so I sampled as I was working and then Neva dove in when I brought the basket into the house. The cucumbers and green beans were SO GOOD! Each sweet and flavorful in their own way and so crisp and juicy – I don’t know that I’ve ever had them so fresh from the plant.

I moved a few bell pepper plants that were being encroached upon by the beans (since they were being encroached upon by the cucumbers) and did a little weeding in the beds (less than a dozen weeds in each). I harvested a few more beets (I’ve been taking a few each week) and then moved on to the tomato bed.

Ahh, the tomato bed… a scary situation. When I planted the seedlings I planted them quite close together. I had read about a method for producing tomatoes where they are grown more like a vine than a bushy plant. So I had intended to construct a frame and string the tomatoes up, trained as vines. My first design for a frame and string system was not going to work, I had planned to string twine between two tripods but I set it up and realized there would not be enough strength to carry the weight of the plants and fruit. Kevin had another idea which utilized some old posts, still set in concrete, that were lying around in the barn (gotta love repurposed stuff!). He planted the concrete bases on either side of the bed and then devised a sturdy wooden frame to mount on top and go the length of the bed. Unfortunately, he has been so busy (and had some technical difficulties with tools) that he just finished this frame on Monday night, many weeks after we had planned to rig something up.

So, when I went out Tuesday morning to string up my tomatoes, the inevitable had happened… they had grown! They look like a solid four-foot by twelve-foot shrub that stands about three-and-a-half feet high. I started to prune and place my strings but felt like I was fighting hopelessly. The main stems are thick and water-filled and, as such, not very flexible and I’m having trouble making out which branches belong to which plant. I think I need to thin the plants and then work to train them as well as I can at this late date. To further frustrate matters, as I was working with them, unripe fruit fell off. I guess I’m back to where I started in my garden in the woods so many years ago… to my green tomato recipes.

I also discovered that the tomato hornworms have already found my tomato bed. I had rather hoped we wouldn’t be seeing them this year, figuring it would take them a while to find the new planting. Not so! They sure are cool looking caterpillars though; I almost hate to kill something so beautiful… almost. Two of them were covered with oblong, white, egg-looking things which I took to be hornworm eggs. I stepped on them even more ferociously. After a brief internet search, I’ve since found that they are actually another insect parasite! They are the eggs of a parasitic wasp which will eventually kill the hornworm. I also learned that I should not have killed those with the eggs… oops. My knowledge grows by leaps and bounds!

I did see evidence of many helpful insects in the garden. The bumblebees were noisily pollinating the cucumbers and tomatoes (didn’t see my honeybees though) and each cabbage was happily inhabited by a helpful spider, presumably gobbling up any white cabbage moths that try to feast on my food.

So, the learning continues, the plants keep growing, and I spent some time feeling the giddy satisfaction of knowing that I am producing something terrifically yummy out of practically nothing.

Garden Progress (photos)

2008-07-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

It seems I can't help but be two weeks behind reality with the photos. Here are a few taken June 29th. I keep sharing the raised bed photos for comparisson and progress. As you can see, we harvested all the rest of the radishes that day, although I admit that I waited about a week too long, they were better the week before. We enjoyed both the radish and the greens in various dishes for several weeks! I will have to go out and take a few more recent photos again soon!

W(h)ine Shopping

2008-07-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine was relaying to me her dismay with her own experiences when trying to source local food while making dinner last week. She had gone to a local meat seller and asked the salesperson where the pork came from. I think the first answer was something like, “a pig,” so she switched tack and asked which of the meats available that day came from local animals. Not only could the woman not tell her (which could be understandable, I suppose) but she got rather snippy with my friend, acting exsapserated that she would even ask such a question.

I must admit that I, too, have experienced such poor customer service/human interaction. Of course, most of the producers and local storekeepers I deal with are fantastic, friendly, helpful, and thoughtful. However, some just don’t fit any of those descriptions!

The week prior to Independence Day I knew I would need to find some local wine to serve to our guests. We had consumed the two bottles from Wollersheim in June so I thought I might set about finding some more. I learned from their website (see web links) that it could be purchased at Woodman’s in Wisconsin. The site only listed Wisconsin locations though so I thought I might try Woodman’s here in Rockford. I called the morning of July 3rd to see if I might have any luck and talked to a very friendly gentleman who sounded knowledgeable enough to have been a manager (unfortunately, I did not ask his name). He knew the Wollersheim name and immediately explained that only the Wisconsin stores carried that label.

He asked if there was anything else I was looking for and I thought I would pose my question to him… "Are there any wine producers within 100 miles who grow and use their own local grapes?" He was able to immediately list off some Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin wineries, as well as a few in Iowa, but he was unsure about who grew their own grapes and who did not. I took the list he gave me to the Web to do a little research and here is what I found (in relation of our local eating project):

Fox Valley Winery - Tasting rooms in Oswego and Sandwich, IL. Much of their grapes are grown by R.A. Faltz Vineyard, just south of Sandwich. However, they purchase many of their grapes, although quite a few come from southern Illinois and those that do are clearly marked "Illinois Wine."
Illinois Cellars – too far, southern Illinois
Oliver Winery – too far, Bloomington, Indiana
MassBach Ridge Winery – quite close! It’s outside of Elizabeth, IL (near Stockton). Their website states that they make wines “primarily” from grapes grown in Jo Davies County. Unfortunately, we haven’t tried any of their wines yet because I failed to ask the Woodman’s manager for a spelling and didn’t find it when I searched incorrectly. I see that their Reserve just took a silver medal in the Illinois State Wine Tasting competition and will look forward to trying it in the future.
Prairie State Winery – they seem to purchase all or most of their grapes so I did not try them. This is definitely also the case with Galena Cellars, they do so much volume that they must purchase grapes (they call their Galena-area vineyard “experimental.”

I had looked at one grocery store (Logli’s) a few weeks prior to this and found no wine local enough to count for our project (although they did have some Illinois and Indiana wines).

Going to Woodman’s

I used to shop Woodman’s when I lived in Wisconsin and go occasionally here in Rockford, although more often when I worked in that part of town. I was a little surprised to see how busy they were when I arrived late in the morning on July 3rd. I made my way to the liquor department and started looking in the areas where I expected there to be Illinois wine. I found some, but not what I was looking for (Fox Valley Winery). As I came to the end of an aisle I could hear something heavy rolling toward me from the cross-aisle at the back so I stopped and waited for it to pass. When it didn’t, I made my way into the other aisle and saw a woman stocking from a heavily laden cart. Going past her proved impossible (I had Kai in the stroller and Neva in tow) as she had parked smack-dab in the middle of the narrow aisle. I said, “Excuse me” and she pulled the cart out of my way while saying, “You have to watch it around here.” Her comment was not so much kind advice as accusing, as if I had been in her way. I decided not to ask her for assistance. I made my way up the next aisle, looking at all of the California wines that were now forbidden fruit. At the far end of the aisle was a younger man pulling a dolly with boxes of wine bottles. I asked him where I might find the Illinois wines and he answered that he was unsure but did I try this section (walking me to a rack). Yes, I had tried that section, merely Illinois and Indiana fruit wines from farther away.

He asked me to wait a moment; that he would ask someone else. Much to my chaigrin, he returned with the grumpy woman from the back of the store, now without her cart. I explained what I was looking for and she told me it would be near the front on either side of the registers. I had looked there and would look again with her but to no avail. She asked for the vintners I was trying to find and I showed her the list. She looked at it and said they probably don’t carry any of those. I patiently explained to her that I had spoken with someone who sounded like an older gentleman that morning who... “Did you read him this list?” she snapped back, before I could finish my sentence. “He gave me this list,” I explained. “Well, they would be with the fruit wines here,” she said. I told her that these were more traditional grape varieties and could there be a section of actual Illinois wines made from grapes? “No,” she said, clearly getting frustrated, “any Illinois wine would be with the fruit wines, not the grape wines.”

At this point, I said what I shouldn’t have: I joked that “technically, aren’t grape wines made of fruit as well?” She shot me a look and stalked off, muttering, “I’ve looked everywhere I think they could be. If they aren’t here then we don’t have them!” The younger guy who had brought her to me, apologized and told me that he didn’t even work there (he was from a distributer) but he was sorry he couldn’t help me more. I thanked him and said I would take another look around.

Two aisles later: jackpot – a whole section of Illinois grape wine (I believe it was aisle 4). I studied my options and made a few selections. I only purchased wines that indicated Illinois-grown grapes, even though I knew that this would likely mean that some of them had been grown beyond my 100-mile radius. I figured that Illinois is pretty close for wine. I selected 7 different varieties (I wanted to offer my guests a wide selection on the Fourth of July) and made my way to the register. I never saw the grumpy sales woman again but was pleased to see that the checker in my aisle who had just assisted a man with his $700, two-cart order, was happy, polite, and pleasing. She reminded that not everyone has to be grumpy. My hope for myself (and all of you): May your week have no whine.

Post Script: Sadly, I can’t say that any of the Fox Valley Winery wines we’ve tried have been anything fantastic. They were all drinkable but not to the point where we’d necessarily buy them again. We did think that Faltz Vintner’s Reserve varieties (red) were pretty good and these we would purchase again.

Post Post-Script: If you are going to Beloit (or to Prairie du Sac, home of Wollersheim Winery), here are the Wollersheim wines that are made from estate-grown grapes:

Prairie Red
Domaine du Sac
Domaine Reserve
Eagle White
Prairie Blush
Ice Wine
Ruby Nouveau (the first taste of harvest, intended to be drunk the fall it is produced, look for it in time for Thanksgiving)

Strawberry Fields are Fleeting (photos)

2008-07-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

The last week in June was strawberry week around our house. We had been eating strawberries purchased at local farmers’ markets for the previous two weeks, a few quarts a week (and the few handfuls we’ve had from out own new plants), but I decided that I wanted to go into mass strawberry-saving mode. As has been mentioned in a comment to a previous post, eating locally could be a whole lot harder in the winter. So, to give us variety this winter, I’m working to put up some yummy things for those dark, cold days.

Some great friends of ours graciously volunteered their morning to come with me (and the kids) to Susie’s Garden Patch in Garden Prairie (just east of Belvidere) to pick strawberries. It was much-needed help as their youngest entertained Neva after she (Neva) tired of picking berries and the two older kids, along with my friend/their mother were able to pick about 22 quarts with me! In one hour I was able to pick about 6 quarts. Our friends only took four quarts home for themselves so I was left with a whopping 18 quarts to process. (yay!)

Freezing

I started by washing and sorting, drying and hulling. I then began freezing whole berries spread out on cookie sheets (the same way I did with our own fresh raspberries last year). After they were frozen I loaded them into freezer bags and placed them in our chest freezer (which is now full… I really need to decide on a larger one so I can get that ordered).

I had done a lot of reading on the proper ways to preserve strawberries and I realize that the technique I chose is not supposed to be the best… I just think it is the best for me. Freezing them in water or sugar syrup did not sound like it would work well for me and canning was definitely out (except as jam, keep reading). So, we’ll see how long they last and what quality we find when we thaw them this winter. I suspect that we will be so happy for strawberries that we won’t mind if they aren’t perfect.

I did use two additional techniques to preserve the strawberry harvest. I dehydrated enough to fill a half-gallon jar, and them some (after they were dried, of course), and I made jam.

Drying

Dehydrating was not difficult but it was more time-consuming than freezing the berries. I still had to wash, dry, and hull but I also needed to cut them (in half for the small ones and slices for the larger ones). Then I laid them out on the grates of our two food dehydrators and let them dry over night and then a bit in the morning. I had read that you should only use a dehydrator with a temperature control because otherwise they can get too hot for strawberries but, alas, neither of ours has that feature so I took my chances and it worked out fine. There were two racks that got a bit over-dried which is apparent in their taste but I’ll take what I can get.

I did have to flip the jucier berries on some racks to encourage thorough drying and I reordered the racks in the stack a few times during the drying process. It took 10-12 hours to complete a batch. After letting the dried berries cool, I placed them in glass mason jars and set them in the dark pantry. I am now just a little nervous that there might be a berry that retained too much moisture that will mold and spoil all that effort (and my planned winter snacks!) but I check the jars every so often and they seem to be OK. I touched each berry and didn’t pull them from the dehydrator until they were firm and dry to the touch, but not crispy (except the few I accidentally over-dried).

Making Jam

I had made strawberry freezer jam on several occasions; it was the jam I grew up with my mom making. However, I had never experienced cooked and canned jam/jelly-making until last fall. Our good friends came over to help us gather the wild grapes that grow on some of our fences. Mind you, we needed a little help with the picking as the grapes were fairly abundant and Kai was born just two days later so my belly was pretty unwieldy! Later that day we went to their house with buckets of grapes and my father-in-law’s wine press.

There we met another couple and their son; friends from work who hailed from Italy. They had not made jelly before either so it was to be a fun learning experience for us all (followed by a yummy spaghetti supper made by one of the Italians!). The first order of business was for me to sew up a few jelly bags from cloth our friends had bought for that purpose. We then placed the grapes (stems, seeds, and all) into a bag and squashed the dickens out of it with the wine press. The juice ran a deeply regal purple and stained anything it touched, especially our hands. After pressing we made jelly the traditional way and tossed the skins, seeds, and stems (is it called “must” when you’re not making wine?) into the compost.

That jelly was delicious… so flavorful. I am usually not a fan of grape jelly but I have to say I really enjoy this one. Each couple ended up with about a dozen jars so we still have a few left. I’m allowing them this year (even though the sugar wasn’t local) because they’re pretty close to local, the grapes having been planted by birds in our yard!

Anyway, so now I was ready to make some jam on my own. I had been searching the Internet for proven recipes for jam made with honey instead of sugar. I don’t know what I would do without the Internet… I think it’s just a terrific tool! So, I found some recipes from Mother Earth News that used only honey to make jam. (see web links at right).

Neva wanted to help so one day during Kai’s afternoon nap we set about making our jam. She was my expert fruit masher (as was the neighbor boy who came by to play while we were working only to have Neva tell him she didn’t want to play until she finished making jam). It took seven cups of honey per about two quarts of strawberries so that makes it more expensive than traditional jam but it’s still cheaper than can be had in the store.

I did buy powered pectin, as strawberries are a low-pectin fruit. For anyone crying foul at my non-local pectin, I did look into making my own but that would require either citrus (definitely not local!) or apples (which won’t be ready to harvest for several more months).

The recipe says to boil the jam longer than the sugar recipes, which I did, but I wonder if it would have set without the additional minute because the jam I sampled (what little didn’t go into jars) was a little stiffer and more gelled than I might have liked. Also, the flavor of the honey does come through somewhat. I used a fairly mild honey but you can still taste it in the finished product – it’s not bad, it’s just different from the expected.

In the end I purchased an additional eight quarts of strawberries from a sweet family at the Edgebrook Farmers’ Market to supplement what remained from our picked berries after I had frozen and dried more than a dozen quarts. I made two batches of strawberry and one batch of strawberry-rhubarb jam (from our own rhubarb). We currently don’t eat much jam, just a little on pancakes or in desserts, but I suspect that come winter, when we are eating fresh bread most mornings for breakfast, we will appreciate a little sweet taste of summertime.

I hope to make more jams in coming weeks including raspberries (our bramble is just starting to produce!) and, perhaps, mulberries as we have several trees fruiting and each mulberry I pick and eat is one less sapling I will have to weed out of my garden!

Garden Progress (photos)

2008-07-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

Hello again,
I have three more posts of our adventures in the works but Kevin's mom pointed out yesterday that we hadn't posted any updates on our garden progress so here of some photos, taken one week apart.

These represent the state of our garden on June 14 and June 22 (there's no mistaking which is which). I also photographed our first radish. (I know, I'm like the kid who watches a seed sprout in a Dixie cup on the windowsill for the very first time!). In one of my posts this weekend I'll post the photos I took this week - I can't believe how fast everything grows with all this rain!

Happy Independence Day! We are having friends over for an all-local dinner! Future posts will include today's wine shopping expedition.

So What Are We Eating?

2008-07-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

Warning: in the interest of getting this post live (and getting my daughter to the library today) I have not proofread this post! There may be typos...

It has not even been two weeks and I’ve already fallen behind in the blog… The only excuse we have is that we were out of town for a wedding this weekend (at University of Illinois, our alma mater, in Champaign) and every free moment (when I’m not wrangling kids) I have either been weeding vegetables, planting our hillside prairie, or preserving fruit for the coming winter. OK, excuse time is over… here are some updates.

We’ve been eating well these last few weeks but, as I admitted in the post I wrote last Thursday, we haven’t been able to go entirely local. I just won’t waste the food we already have (the non-perishables didn’t go to waste but won’t be used by us… see previous post).

Anyway, we’ve been enjoying salads, radishes (both raw, as greens, and sliced/chopped and sautéed in butter!), and a wide variety of other greens at just about every meal. I’ve been making a loaf of bread about every other morning for breakfasts. Yesterday Neva and I made a big batch of pancakes (made with our Kansas flour, eggs from Pine Row Farm in Roscoe, goat’s milk from Angelic Organics Learning Center, honey from Raines Honey Farm in Davis, and the last of our canola oil). We ate some for lunch (with maple syrup from southern Wisconsin) and I froze the rest for Kevin to heat and eat for breakfasts in the coming week.

Our first weekend we made Swedish pancakes for breakfast one morning using the same list of local ingredients. Kai has been eating mostly local baby food (there are still a few cubes of non-local stuff in the freezer; organic corn and peas, diced steamed carrots, etc) but I’ve been blending local broccoli, zucchini, asparagus, and spinach for him to eat as well as the leftover chunks of a roast chicken from Open Range Products in Pecatonica. As I mentioned in the previous post, Kevin made an awesome loin of goat (and I made a quart of stock for the freezer from the bones and drippings in the foil). We’ve had some fantastic egg scrambles with all manner of onions and greens and local cheeses.

I intend to create a new section in the right column of the blog with recipes we’ve used or developed but I want to get caught up on our activities first. I have added some new web links at right which link to the websites or reference sites for the local producers I have mentioned – please check them out!

Meeting Producers

I went last week to get some eggs from Pine Row Farm and I happened to be there when the four producers who make up the Tomorrow’s Harvest cooperative were packing the vegetable boxes for pick-up the next day. I was able to meet them and chat a bit about our project and what they have to offer. The area farms that are represented in Tomorrow’s Harvest are: Mighty Sprout Farm in Rockford, Freedom Organix in Harvard, Brookwood Farm in Cherry Valley, Pine Row Farm in Roscoe, and the Zarante Brothers who are called the “farmers at-large.”

We were able to get our box a day early since they had all just been packed and I’m happy to report that it was beautiful. Bags of mixed greens, baby Swiss chard, bunches of luscious radishes, and young turnips, all very clean and fresh. I can’t wait to see what we get next week! They still have shares available so if you are considering a CSA, this is a great opportunity to try it out. Their website (with photos of each of the farms) can be found in the Web Links section to the right.

Last week I also made a trip to Belvidere to pick up some Prairie Pure Cheese at the Boone County Farm Bureau office on Locust Ave. The cheese was good, although one package was out of date and I didn’t realize it so I need to take it back (if it weren’t for the mold I would otherwise eat it). The milk comes from two farms right in Belvidere and is sent the day it’s collected up to a cheesemaker (Edelweiss Town-Hall Dairy) in Monticello, Wisonsin. There it is made into four types of cheese: Butterkäse, Mild and Sharp Cheddar, and Swiss. They had all but the Sharp Cheddar at the Farm Bureau office and it was not cheap but reasonably priced. The cheese is sold at a variety of local places (including a few Whole Foods stores in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago) but some seem to have trouble keeping it in stock so you might want to call ahead for availability. The list of retailers is available on the Prairie Pure website (see web links).

With all this great green stuff, what do we miss?

We’ve been eating really well and enjoying the project so far but there are a few things we miss.

I miss my morning bagel and cream cheese (although I fully intend to make both of these things once I get a little free time (which will be when?)).
Kevin misses his rolled oats but we have an exciting update on this, check a future post.
We both really miss our glass of wine with dinner every night. We have had two bottles of wine from the Wollersheim Winery in Wisconsin (from a visit we made there a few years back) but for the most part it’s water with dinner!). We also have some bottles of wine from vineyards in California and Spain which we picked up during our travels (and, as such, qualify for the Travel Clause II exemption) but we don’t want to plow through those special bottles all at once. I think Woodman’s Grocery Store liquor department might carry some Wollersheim so I’ll have to stop there sometime when I am otherwise making a trip to the other side of town. Not all of their wines are made from grapes grown in Wisconsin, though so our selection is further limited. I need to locate some other options as well.
We miss nuts. We used to eat plain nuts (of any type) in our cereal, in our baked goods, and just by the handful... oh well, not this year.
I do miss some of the convenience of ready-made snack food like crackers and cereal, and we still haven’t found local butter (I may end up making it myself from cream but in the meantime we’re sparingly using up the last of what was in the fridge), and I’m spending a lot of time working to put food away for winter and working in the garden. Luckily, those two time-sinks are quite enjoyable.

Local Eating Begins... at home (written Thursday - photos)

2008-06-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

OK, so local eating obviously begins in the area but we're finding that it actually begins... in the fridge. We have been working our way through the perishable items in the refrigerator and freezer but our meals have still mostly been 90% local. We will probably add on a week or two at the end of our project next year to make it a solid year. Think about what you have in your pantry, fridge, and freezer and then take the next week to work your way through the oldest stuff - trust me, it will feel great!

In addition to the non-local items, we have been enjoying lots of local meals and ingredients: salads, deep green sauces and dressings, grilled sirloin and goat loin (Kevin did an awesome job preparing this!), and desserts of local berries and homemade goat's milk ice cream. We really have plenty to eat and lots of variety so far.

The results from our poll are in and the perishable food is gone from our pantry. Fifty-seven percent of you voted to donate the non-local food (although strangely the poll program registered 42% for keeping it... where is the extra 1% to make 100?) We gave some of the food to a friend (she wouldn't let me give it to her, she actually gave me grocery money for it!) and the remaining items will be donated.

I think this was good, as it would have persisted for quite some time if we'd tried to eat through it. This was actually a rather cleansing experience. I like having a well-stocked pantry, having staple ingredients at the ready for whatever I might like to make, but emptying those shelves and starting over felt pretty good. I think this was mostly due to the fact that I was feeling like we just weren't really getting started if we went through it all. There are still a few non-local and non-exception items on the bottom.

So, the pantry is emptier, as are the fridge and freezer, and we are continuing to look for local foods. I say the pantry is emptier and it is... and it isn't. I've been stocking up on local items for my on-hand supplies. I have no concerns about finding sufficient foodstuffs during the growing season. My greatest concern is making it through the winter and early spring months without a ready source of fresh food. So, I've been on the lookout for things I can put up myself or purchase in the approriate state.

A month ago I was elated to find Marjorie at the Edgebrook Farmers' Market with peanut butter jars full of dried beans... a great source of winter nutrients! And grown just west of here in Stephenson County! Hurray!

That first day I bought all she had. She and her booth partner were also kind enough to talk to us about dried legumes and to let Neva try her hand and shelling some. The following week I returned and when I was still a few feet away from her table Marjorie says, "It's my bean-buyer!" That's me, the bean buyer... I've bought all the beans she's had left every week. But I'm happy to be the "bean-buyer" and keep my pantry stocked for winter. I've also added a jar of beets from a friend (from last year but I've been saving them), and a jar of dill pickles from another new friend. There are a few non-local items lingering in the bottom of the pantry in this photo but we're getting there!

Day One (photos)

2008-06-19T20:43:00.001-07:00

We greeted the day with a breakfast of fresh bread (done overnight in the bread maker) slathered with honey. Then the kids and I headed out to Angelic Organics to pick up our goat milk share and a dozen eggs and to get our first vegetable box.

Here's what was in the box! Lots of tasty things. I did grab one extra choi and a few garlic scapes from the box of extras/trades. We were excited to see the zucchini, too, not realy expecting to see any fruiting crops for a few more weeks (longer than that in our own garden!).

Well, I'd say our local eating today gets mixed reviews. We called it our official start day, which it was, but I couldn't stand to waste the perishable items and leftovers that persisted in our fridge so we did incorporate a few non-local items.

Breakfast was local (except for my coffee, which is allowed as an exception and the milk from Oberweis Dairy, which was the remaining half-gallon in the fridge). Kai had my own applesauce, canned last year from local apples (with canning lessons from my friend!) although I did mix in organic baby cereal. OK, not perfect but not a bad start.

Lunch... well lunch... Yesterday Neva and I had made homemade chapatis to go with our chicken and asparagus masala for dinner. At least the asparagus was local. There were two chapatis left and we each had one. There was also a yellow bell pepper, obviously not local, that was almost past it's prime. Kai even had some of that one in his fresh food feeder (a mesh bag that allows him to suck the dickens out of any whole food we put in there). I did eat my leftover spinach salad with green onions, garlic scapes, radish greens, and choi (all local) but I also fed Kai some green beans and brown rice which I had made up a month ago (I freeze the baby food I make in ice cube trays). Kevin, well, I need to work on him to get into the habit of packing a lunch... he had nothing.

For a snack, Neva had some of the dried fruit we had purchased a week earlier (I think dried fruit may be her one exception but we haven't discussed it yet).

Dinner was entirely local with one exception. We enjoyed copious amounts of steamed local, organic broccoli and lovely salads of red lettuce and chopped garlic scapes topped with my homemade Rosemary Ricotta (made from goat's milk) and... tomatoes. Aye, there's the rub.

I had purchased six tomatoes last week, thinking surely we'd eat them before Thursday... well, we didn't and I didn't feel like snacking on tomato salad last night so I used some of them today. We also used oil and vinegar on the salads which fall into our exceptions category.

We did celebrate our first day by opening a bottle of Domaine du Sac from the Wollersheim Winery in Wisconsin. They produce a number of types of wine but they only have a few for which they actually grow the grapes at their vineyard in Prairie du Sacm Wisconsin, this happens to be one made from locally-grown grapes (and a nice table wine, I might add!). We bought this bottle when we toured the winery three year ago while celebrating our wedding anniversary in November.

Here was our first dinner:

Tomorrow I'm thinking about a breakfast of eggs scrambled with chard and allums (onions and garlic scapes) and for dinner we'll try the loin of goat I purchased from Open Range Products in Pecatonica (and processed at Eichmans in Seward) with whole wheat rolls and salad and fresh strawberries from a farm near the Wisconsin boarder (from Edgebrook Farmers' Market) for dessert.

Between the veggies I got at the farmers' market, those I got from my friends, and those I picked up from the farm, not to mention more of the food still sitting in our fridge, we will be comfortable this weekend. Next Tuesday we'll get our first box from Pine Row Farm and the Tomorrow's Harvest cooperative of four local organic growers. I was nervous about having enough produce so we joined another local CSA. I'm looking forward to seeing what they produce (and picking up some of their eggs too!) on Tuesday morning.

Just to let you know, my intention is really to post just once or twice per week so check back next week for more updates. Have a great weekend!

Early/Mid- June – Ramping Up

2008-06-18T22:29:00.001-07:00

I have been haunting the area farmers’ markets for over a month now, trying to acquaint myself with the farmers and their wares. I’ve been buying what I can there and have happily seen the addition of new items each week. Of course, you have to be careful and ask the right questions because I can tell that a number of the farmers have merely purchased for resale the items on their tables (sorry, without a greenhouse you aren’t harvesting tomatoes and cucumbers in late May).

I was excited to have put up the ten pounds of asparagus last week but I was even more pleased with my chicken experience the week before.

Until a year ago, I had never roasted a chicken. I love to cook and have a fair amount of experience but I had just never done that before (turkey and goose, yes, just not chicken). So, when I went to Open Range Products to collect the three chickens I had ordered directly from the farm, I wondered how it would work out for me. Kathy told me that free-range fowl should be cooked slow and long so I kept that in mind as I planned a meal for my family and my parents.

I roasted the chicken and served it with fresh asparagus, and choi salad. When we sat down to eat, Kevin asked if any of the meal was local. I was happy to announce that all but the wine and the onion and garlic I had roasted the chicken with was local. After the meal I needed to do something so the rest of the chicken wouldn’t go to waste.

I pulled the meat off the bone and stored that in the fridge for a future meal. I deglazed the roasting pan with red wine (non-local and a non-traditional choice for chicken, I know!) and saved the result for a gravy later in the week. I then cooked down the carcass and onion/garlic that it had roasted with in water to make broth. I chilled the broth in the fridge for a day and then I even skimmed the fat and froze it in small cubes (1/2 ice cubes) for later use for sautéing and such then I poured the broth into freezer containers and froze it. I was very pleased to think that I had use that bird as fully as I could think of. I even used some of the meat I pulled off for baby food for Kai (blended up, of course!).

So we’ve been ramping up slowly, having nearly local meals followed by not very local meals. We’ve now eaten out with friends for the last time for a year (Thai food) and have ordered our last pizza. In a few more days we will try our hardest to not bring any more non-local food into our house for year.

June 14 - Why don't I feel better?

2008-06-18T22:02:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back I went to the Edgebrook Farmers’ Market for the first time this year. Even though it was mid-May and we weren’t starting our experiment until the middle of June, I wanted to start to get a feel for the lay of the land and start to explore our options. I was also planning to ramp up and start getting as much local food as possible, even before we began and I figured that by June, certain things would already be past their season so if I wanted to put things up in the freezer for winter, I’d have to start earlier.

There were only three vendors with foodstuffs and several more with flowers. It was early in the season so about all there was to be had was green onions, rhubarb, and asparagus. I stopped at the first table and bought several bunches of green onions for $1 each and two bunches of radishes for $1.25 each. He had asparagus for $2.25 a bunch (seemingly a pound each). I went to the next table with food and he had some lovely spinach for $1 a bag and an assortment of the same types of things as the first booth. He had bunches of asparagus for $2 a bunch. Well, I was thinking about trying to put some up to have in winter when I am sure we will be craving green so I asked him if he would cut a deal on a quantity of asparagus.

Well, he told me that by Wednesday he didn’t usually have much left as he harvested on Mondays and Thursdays but that on Fridays he is at the Colonial Village Market and would be willing to sell me quantities for $1.75 per pound; I should just look for Bill and his burgundy suburban. Great! I assumed he would prefer this because I could buy him out at the end of the week.

So, two days later I made my way to the Colonial Village Farmers’ Market. Now I had never been to this market because it’s a good drive from my house and there are two others in closer proximity but I was willing to do it if it meant I could get 20 or 40 pounds of asparagus. That morning a storm blew through early and but then I couldn’t go right for the start of the market because we were having some trees delivered that morning (beautiful redbud, bur oak, river birch, and swamp white oak from AckAck). I drove through a little rain on the way out but it stopped when I got within a few miles of the market. I arrived at 11:45 am, over an hour before scheduled closing time. When I rounded the corner and came in view of the market I found only two vendors, both selling plant material. No sign of the burgundy suburban to be found. I had wasted a 30 minute trip (each way) across town – there would be no asparagus to process this weekend. I assumed the vendors had decided it wasn’t worth their time as I imagine fewer customers come out on a rainy day.

The following week I decided to skip Edgebrook on Wednesday because I would instead go to Colonial Village to buy Bill out at weeks’ end and I had also ordered three chickens from Kathy at Open Range Products in Pecatonica (she has a booth at Edgebrook) and they were to be ready for pick-up on Friday at her farm so I would be driving out there. Friday dawned and Kai and I headed across town again. When we got there the market was full of vendors as it was, happily, a sunny day. I stopped first to buy some beautiful squash plants to add to my home garden and then went to see Bill. I inquired about his asparagus, reminding him of our conversation the week before, and he said, “You didn’t come last week.” I explained that I had and he said he had packed up early when the winds picked up and a tree fell down across the street. OK, so can I buy a large quantity of asparagus? Well, he said, he couldn’t sell me any for $1.75 because everything was going to a restaurant. Oh, well can I buy just a few then? Sure. I bought three bunches for $2 each. I asked if he would have larger quantities next week again and he said that the asparagus was almost done, that the weather would do it in and it would be going to seed.

I was disappointed because I had really planned to freeze and dry some, would he have any yet on Wednesday. Maybe a little, how much did I want? Up to 20 lbs. I don’t think I’ll have enough. So I asked him if I could call him closer to Wednesday to see if he would have any more to sell. He gave me his card and told me to call after dark since he spent his days in the garden.

On Monday I worked in my own garden until I couldn’t see well enough in the dark and went in and called him. He asked how much I wanted and I said 20 to 40 pounds. He told me that the asparagus was at it’s last so he would only have 5 pounds. OK, I said, I’ll take it on Wednesday. Should I come right at 9:00 am? He said I should try to be there by 10:00am.

Assuming that he was only going to hold the remaining asparagus unitl 10:00 am and then sell it to someone else, I was sure to get the kids together and out the door on Wednesday. Neva, Kai, and I got to Edgebrook and headed straight for Bill’s stall. When I got there he had a TON of asparagus! I was confused, thinking he had told me that he only had been able to harvest five pounds. So I went up and when it was my turn, his wife waited on me and I told her I was there for asparagus. She asked how much I wanted and I said I thought I might take it all (there were probably 20 pounds on the table and another 20 in a pile in the back of their vehicle). He overheard me and said, “Oh, you’re the lady who wanted a deal?” “Yes, I said, I’m the one who called.” “Well I have 175 pounds,” he said, rather snippily. “Oh,” I said, taken aback, “I only want 20 or 40 pounds then.” “You can only have five,” he replied.

I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to buy a quantity of asparagus, I assumed he wanted to sell his asparagus, and he would only let me buy five pounds? When I stammered that I had hoped to buy more he gave an exasperated reply, “I still have to go to market, I can’t sell it to you for that.” “Well, can I buy five pounds for $1.75 and another five pounds for $2?” “You want to do that?” “Sure.” So, I bought 10 pounds, which he bagged up into two bags from the loose stalks he had in the front of his vehicle. I also bought two quarts of strawberries ($4 each) and another bag of spinach ($1) for a grand total of $29. In the end, I paid $2 per pound for all of the asparagus but I didn’t argue because I was still feeling flustered.

It was only later, when reflecting on our exchange that I fully understood the problem. He could sell all of his asparagus for $2 per pound so why would he want to sell it to me for less, even if I was buying larger quantities? I had assumed he would like to get rid of what he had at the end of the week, even if selling if for 25 cents less. There was the root of our miscommunication.

When I processed the asparagus at home, I found that one bag contained asparagus that was past its prime, probably harvested the previous week. I had to cut all the heads off because they were mushy. At least, the larger of the two bags contained fresh vegetables. I steamed and froze that and dehydrated the rest in pieces for use in soups and sauces. I felt sad about the whole deal.

On Saturday (today), I visited the North Main Commons Market for the first time. Bill was there, of course, and as I made my way toward his stall I decided I should talk to him so he understood my end of the miscommunication. I had previously considered writing him a note to apologize and explain myself once I had figured out his side of things (but before I realized I had received old vegetables!). No customers were at his stall at that moment so I went up and explained what had happened and why I had misunderstood. I apologized, he confirmed for me that he didn’t want to sell any cheaper and showed me that he only had a few pounds left and that this was the end of the asparagus harvest. But basically, I felt he brushed me off and wanted me to move on. So I did. I may not patronize his stall again this summer.

But now I’m home again and I still don’t feel better. I had thought he would appreciate hearing that I wasn’t trying to take advantage of him but he really didn’t care.

What did I learn?

I was reminded to check the quality of what a vendor bags for me. I often have done this in Europe, where even grocery store shopkeepers select the items and package it for you. I’m usually the person who tells them, specifically, which ones I want and which I don’t. I never opened the second bag that Bill handed me, just laid it into my shopping bag.
I was reminded that my goal should not be to get a deal… if I wanted to do that I would go back to shopping at the supermarket where food is sadly under-priced and does not take into account the actual cost (to the farmer, our health, the environment, and the society it comes from) of any given item. I didn’t really need to save 25 cents per pound, I was just assuming that the whole world operated with a quantity discount. That was my mistake.

May - Guilt Factor

2008-06-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

We were the subjects of an article in the local newspaper at the beginning of May and even though we don’t officially begin until the middle of June, I feel just a little guilty every time I go to the grocery store. I feel like I’m doing something I shouldn’t be.

I feel the same way when we’ve ordered pizza or picked up lunch or dinner during one of our busy days working in the garden. I figure we won’t be able to do that soon so I’m taking advantage of the fact that I can but I still feel a little ashamed… after all, this project is supposed to be about local eating and here we are eating “out” more than usual. I also feel a little bit like I want to gorge on things I will miss. It’s the proverbial feast before the famine, except I really don’t expect there to be a famine so it’s just a bonus feast.

Late May/Early June – Filling and planting beds (photos)

2008-06-18T20:53:00.000-07:00

This blog is turning more into gardening notes but I’m trying to give the background of what we’ve done to prepare so far and then will start up with our day-to-day experiences (likely in weekly installments) once we’re in to our local year.

In late May, our wonderfully helpful neighbor came over with his Bobcat and helped transfer the seven or eight yards of topsoil from a pile in the front of the house to the raised beds in the back. He saved us time and back strain and we really appreciate it!

In the next few days I worked some organic chicken manure fertilizer into the beds and began planting the seedlings we had started at the beginning of the month as well as seeds from the other packets I had purchased.

By the Memorial Day I had planted carrots, radishes, bell peppers, bush beans, cucumbers, five kinds of potatoes, beets, red onions, white bunching onions, ruby swiss chard, black seeded simpson and bibb lettuce, and three types of tomatoes. By the end of May I had planted sweet corn, rhubarb, asparagus (purple and green), and horseradish roots (none of which will bear food this year). By the second weekend in June I had completely filled my available space by adding 24 cantaloupe and 19 watermelon seedlings (started a month earlier), garlic, popcorn, summer and winter squash, pie pumpkins, and broccoli, cabbage (three kinds), and 4 additional tomato plants from a friend (he started them all from seed.)

I couldn’t believe the change in things in just those first two weeks. I had never seen many of the seeds I planted. Sure, I’ve eaten beets and radishes but I had no idea what their seeds looked like. Nor had I even held a lettuce seed and beheld leaves on a sprouting potato – it was all new to me. But the growth was what I found amazing. Look at these photos of the radishes just a week after sowing and again, less than three weeks later, ready to harvest! Absolutely amazing.

I can tell that I will have some weeding challenges this year. I hope I nipped most of the velvet leaf early but I can see I will be pulling silver maple seedlings for some time to come. Just two trees were so prolific! I will also be fighting grass, as you can see, in the new planting areas we tilled. We didn’t have the time to wait a few weeks and till again, nor did we want to use herbicide so there will be grass coming up to compete with our veggies. Maybe next year I can work on a better solution.

Mid-May, 2008 – In search of flour

2008-06-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

The kids and I were gone for a week in mid-May, joining my parents on the trip to Kansas to see my grandmothers and extended family. One grandmother had turned 80 in April and the other was turning 90 while we were there so we were headed to celebrate. I left my seedlings in Kevin’s care and set out to visit family and procure flour.

You see, the type of wheat that has sufficient gluten to rise for breads and baked goods is typically not grown in Illinois. I knew this, of course, having grown up with both sets of grandparents farming wheat in Kansas, but I keep hoping I would find someone who was having success with it here in Illinois.

Until I find that person, I need another plan as I feel that flour will be an important staple for us this year. Our project has not even started and I find myself invoking the Travel Clause. Anything we procure that comes from within 100 miles of a location we visit on our travels (somewhere we are going anyway) is fair game for us to return with and use. So I went to Kansas with a secondary motive… to find "local" flour.

My original expectation was to purchase a 50-pound bag of wheat from one of the grain elevators in either of my grandmothers’ towns. We have two small hand-operated mills that we received as wedding gifts and I just figured they would finally get put to constant use. However, my dad did an internet search for organic flour grown and produced in Kansas and found several producers and options, the easiest of which I must admit to taking.

Hudson Cream Flour is produced in Stafford County, Kansas from wheat grown by Stafford County farmers. Stafford County just happens to be about 75 miles due south of Luray, the town where my maternal grandmother lives. Perfect! What made it so easy, though, is that Hudson Cream Flour (whole wheat, unbleached, or bleached) is sold in Dillon’s stores throughout Kansas. On a routine trip to the grocery store I picked up 60 pounds (30 whole wheat, 30 unbleached white).

I returned home relieved to know that we would at least have bread but Kevin teases me for having cheated. I’m still searching for a producer in northern Illinois/southern Wisconsin (or even parts of easter Iowa!) who is growing the type of wheat I need but if I don’t find them, I have a back-up plan. I know I’ll return to Kansas within the year but, not wishing to incur Kevin’s teasing, I intend to ask my uncle to set aside a 50-lb bag when he harvests his field this June. Kevin says it’s less cheating if we grind our own (or have it ground at a local grist mill… more to come on that plan!). Does anyone know a farmer in my area who grows the right type of wheat?

What to do? (photos)

2008-06-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

So we officially begin tomorrow but I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to pantry items... what shall we do? Please take the poll (at right) and weigh in on our decision...

We've slowly been working our way through things and I haven't been to the grocery store in a week but there is still a lot left, more than we'll eat tonight! Some of the items are things picked up on trips or local things I've already been putting away; 10 pounds of asparagus, chicken broth made from a chicken from Open Range Products, etc. Other items are the typical sauces and jams found in many refrigerators. Some are the "splurge" items we bought last week when I allowed our daughter to select any fruit or vegetable she wanted in the whole store. Much of the produce in the fridge is from today and Saturday's farmers' markets and some friends who stocked me up from their garden last night (those items will obviously stay!).

April 16 - Honeybees! (photos)

2008-06-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

As part of our project, we’ll be using no refined sugar (from beet or cane) this year. We will all miss some of the treats we make with it but are looking forward to all of the wonderful new things we’ll develop and recipes we’ll find that use honey – local honey.

Kevin’s sister, Gwen, lives in Alaska and on one trip to visit her he met her friends who kept bees every summer (they can’t over-winter very well in the extreme cold). He was fascinated and decided to try his hand at hobby beekeeping. Ten years ago, he hived his first package of bees and I happened to be visiting and so got to watch (I was living in Wisconsin at that time). For many years, he had great honey flows, eventually adding a second hive and building his skills and his equipment. We even gave jars of honeyed almonds as favors at our wedding in 2000! A few years later, both hives died out over winter (different years) so we haven’t had our own source of honey for a while but are still finishing the final few jars.

This year we decided to re-establish our honeybee colonies, with me taking the lead as beekeeper. I ordered new hive bodies and supers (the part that holds the honey for us, as opposed to that which we leave for the bees) since we didn’t know what had caused the colonies to die out. On April 15th, Kai and I drove down to Dadant and Sons in Hamilton, IL (see web links) to pick up the new hives and two new colonies of bees. The following day we hived the bees.

The bees spent the night in the cages they came in on the counter in our kitchen before being “hived” and moving in to their new homes. It was a family affair and Neva was excited to help move the “sisters” into their hives (we had explained to her that the worker bees were girls).

It is important to realize that we have lost many of our native pollinators and, so, honeybees are important across the country. They aren’t aggressive, in fact, they are bred to be docile, and they won’t sting you unless truly provoked. I also tried to order some native Mason or Blue Orchard bees to place near our apple trees (planted by Kevin’s dad) but I was too late for the year. I plan to order some for next spring so as to contribute to reestablishing the native bee population as well. I will also attend a workshop entitled On Saving the Honeybee at Angelic Organics Learning Center in mid-May.

We don't know if we (or should I say the bees) will be able to produce all the honey we need for the year but we will purchase locally what we can't produce.

Throughout the post are some photos of the hiving process. *Update: I am happy to report that as of mid-June, the colonies are both going strong, having more than doubled in size, and that I have added the first supers last week.

May 3 - Starting From Seed

2008-06-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

So I bought organic seed packets when we returned from Spain (over a month ago) with the best of intentions. Now it’s the beginning of May and we’re just getting around to planting the seeds. My original plan was to direct-sow everything but an experienced gardener friend recommended that we start key plants ahead.

I read the backs of the seed packets and determined that the best use of our available indoor space would be to start my tomatoes, bell peppers, and melons. Today Neva and I mixed some organic potting mix with sphagnum moss (better than harvested peat moss) and started the seeds in small pots I’d saved from perennials purchased in previous years.

We invited the neighbor boy, who is five, over to help. His favorite part was scooping the soil mix into the pots with a trowel. I was surprised to find that he didn’t want to touch the dirt because my Neva just dove right in. She grabbed great handfuls of soil and stuffed it in the pots. She was also the official dibbler, gleefully sticking her finger in the dirt to make holes for us to put seed into.

We planted Brandywine (eating), San Marzano (paste), and Sweetie (cherry) tomatoes, Hearts of Gold cantaloupe, and Moon and Stars watermelon. The rest of the seeds will have to be direct-sown in mid-May (after danger of frost and after we’ve prepared our beds).

We watered in the seeds and placed them on a table in our bedroom in front of a large, south-facing window. Now we wait.

April - Creating Raised Garden Beds (photos)

2008-06-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

Last year, our first in this house, I wasn’t going to plant any vegetables. We were beginning a major renovation and remodel that included about half of the rooms in the house but had impact on all of it. I was also pregnant and expecting our second child at the end of summer. I didn’t expect to be able to bend over to weed or care for the plants so I focused on in inside of the house instead.

But, as luck would have it, a good friend of ours had extra tomato plants that he had started from seed. I took eight (four Beefsteak, four July 4th). A week or so later, another friend had leftover brassicas (cabbage and broccoli) and a few sweet and hot pepper plants. I took those too. I planted all of them back in the garden that Kevin’s dad had used for 20 years (we purchased the house from my in-laws). The vegetables did fine; not great, but definitely not terrible. Only half of the garden seemed to be getting enough sun due to a silver maple that had grown up to the south east.

So we needed to relocate the garden (it seems I’m always searching for the sun). Kevin gave me a Solar Pathfinder (see web links) for Christmas so I could instantly see which areas of the yard will get sufficient sun during the growing season. I took it around and located all of the options. Luckily, the ideal location happened to be behind our new garage in an area that was torn up from the construction.

My goal was to create raised beds. I had done a lot of reading and decided that the benefits of earlier planting and a longer growing season, no need to till, and easier height for planting and weeding sounded great for me. I momentarily considered using stone but decided that untreated cedar would be quicker, easier, and cheaper.

The site I had identified had quite a bit of westward slope as our house is built up higher than the surrounding ground. I designed four beds, each four feet wide by 12 feet long, which would sit into the hill (long end facing south) and be about a foot high at the uphill end and about two-and-a-half feetdeep at the bottom. I made my way to Home Depot for supplies and found a derth of decent lumber in the dimensions and quantities I was looking for. I quickly recalculated and redesigned, based on the available wood, and purchased enough material for one bed as I had originally designed and two more of my new version.

Later that day we were out for a walk with my in-laws and some friends and my father-in-law asked why I was using cedar instead of stone (as we were walking past a stone retaining wall). Needless to say, by the end of our walk I was on my way back to return the wood and the following day I made my way to Rock Valley Brick and Supply Company (see web links) to see what my stone options were.

I was able to have retaining blocks and cap stones delivered by the end of that week and then Kevin and I started the tedious and time-consuming process of creating beds.

Thankfully, my in-laws were in town at this time and were able to watch one or both of the kids on the days we worked on this project over several weekends (my father-in-law helped to level and stack stones one day too).

Admittedly, Kevin did most of the work in creating the beds (although I hauled my share of blocks!). We had to square the beds to the garage as well as to each other and to prepare and level the site (taking the slope into consideration and calculating its effect on the courses. It took several weeks and, in the end, we made only three beds (we went taller than we had originally planned so we used more stone).

We used NavaStone retaining blocks in Desert Heritage/Grey Blend (see web links). They look great and the wide blocks make a nice place to sit or lean when planting or weeding and were even deep and sturdy enough to stand on when I hoed in chicken fertilizer before planting.

What we learned…

It is a lot of work to level, embed, and lay rectilinear retaining stones. We knew this going in to it but everything seems to take longer than we think it will. We’re happy with the result but may not rush to lay stone again any time soon.
The Home Depot in Rockford has more untreated cedar than the one in Machesney Park (MP). This is what the sales guy told me, anyway, when I lamented that I wasn’t finding what I needed at the MP store.
Remember to leave enough space between your beds to drive whatever you need to between them. We will mulch around our beds and, so, didn’t have to worry about getting a lawn mower in there but we did get out both the wheelbarrow and the garden cart to make sure there was ample room to wheel those around the beds.
It seemed from the research I did that four feet was the magic number for the best width of raised beds and that length was up to the user. We chose 12 feet for length because that was about all the space we had with a sufficient amount of sunlight (garage to the east, white pine tree to the west). What I've found is that four feet is a hair wide for me (this is our interior dimension). I can reach the center to weed but not as easily as I could if the beds were just three-and-a-half feet wide. And I have fairly long arms, someone shorter would definitely want to consider narrower beds.
Also, we just don’t have the real estate I feel I want with three beds of this size. We’ve had to create some ground-level beds as well (where I will make shorter wooden raised beds for next year!). We borrowed a tiller from an old neighbor (thanks John!) and created additional areas that are larger than the current raised beds.
We used 1/2-inch hardware cloth in the bottoms of each bed (perhaps, 1/4-inch would have been better?) We were trying to keep rodents from crawling up and eating the roots of our yummy veggies.
Plan to amend any soil you have delivered. We had a pile of dirt in our front yard left from the excavation for the garage. However, I didn’t know how much of that would be needed to backfill and it was a little rocky. Thinking I would be fighting a constant battle against stones, I decided to have topsoil delivered. When I watered in my new plants I was immediately sorry. The soil delivered was very clay-like (it cracks the morning after a day of rain) and gummy. I’ve been pulling lots of velvet leaf (indicating that the soil is from a corn field that was sprayed with herbicide). My plan now is to keep adding organic matter, humus (compost), and my own screened soil (which is sandy and drains well) each year until I find a consistency I like. In the meantime, I will deal with what I have.

Local Living - our plan

2008-06-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

We are embarking on a one year “experiment” to challenge ourselves to see if we can eat only locally-produced food for an entire year. Yes, we know it’s been done (and written about) before. We’re not trying to do something new to the world, only new to us. We weren’t intending to blog about it either, only document it for ourselves, but we’ve had so many inquiries into our project that here we are in the blogosphere.

It all started when Kevin came home about five years ago after having heard a spot on NPR about a guy who was eating locally-produced food for a year. He had learned so much about his community and found so many new sources for things and found that he actually ate a better and more diverse diet in that year than in any other. Kevin was excited and thought it was such a cool idea. Food, you see, is important to us. Or should I say, good food is important to us. I always joke that there is a good reason why we aren’t skinny.

Well, that sounded like a fun and interesting thing to try, only we were both working well over 40 hours a week in jobs that we enjoyed, we lived in the woods where I could manage about two ripe tomatoes per plant before the season turned cold again (consequently I have several great green tomato recipes), and we just didn’t feel like we had the time we thought it would take to organize that lifestyle change.

For the next few years we had new excuses. First, I was pregnant and we were preparing for baby. The following year we were renovating the kitchen and a year later we were packing and moving houses. Last February we moved to an old farmhouse above the Rock River and, for the first time, we had sun in our yard! But, I was pregnant again and by the time I would be ready to harvest anything, I figured I wouldn’t be able to bend over comfortably. Yes, I know, generations of women did far more than that while pregnant for millennia… but I didn’t feel up to it. Additionally, we were renovating the “new” house and much of our free time was taken up with that (we didn’t have a kitchen until July).

So here we are, 2008, and we’re still renovating and, yes, now we have an eight-month-old who is crawling and into everything as well as a precocious three-and-a-half year old. But we decided that if we planned well and did our best, this was as good a year as any to make our attempt.

The Plan
To eat only food produced within 100 miles of our home for one year. Our year is to begin on the day we receive our first box of veggies from our local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm, Angelic Organics in Caledonia, IL and to end on the day we receive our first box in 2009 (or exactly one year from our start date if the first box comes earlier next year).

We will put away food for the winter. I am hoping to find some good sources for potatoes, onions, garlic, winter squash, and the like so we will have those staples in our new root cellar (the crawlspace in an addition we’re having put on the house). We are also purchasing a large freezer and last year I learned how to can. We don’t care for the texture and flavor of most canned foods so I intend to rely more on the frozen foods than canned. Although I do hope to can lots of tomatoes, tomato sauce, apple sauce, jams, and pickles.

Kevin used to keep honey bees but we haven’t had any for a few years now so we’ve started again with two new colonies and I am to be the main beekeeper. We plan to rely on our bees and other local honey producers for our sweeteners for the year, eschewing cane or beet sugars (still looking for a reliable jam recipe that uses honey!).

We are building and planting what I’m considering my experimental vegetable garden. I have little vegetable gardening experience (except for green tomatoes) so it’s all pretty new to me. My parents had a nice garden when I was little but they moved when I was eight and didn’t plant vegetables at the new house so my only memories are really of the harvesting of things… strawberries and cantaloupe, mostly – I was just a kid, after all.

I also hope to buy locally and freeze, can, or dry what I can to ensure we’ll have enough to get us through the winter. This will be another learning process... how much will my family of four need? What are the best ways to prepare and store things? It is all a work in progress (like so much in my life right now!).

In the end, this is a challenge, meant to be fun and to teach us things. We won’t let the family starve if we run out of supplies in March. We’ll just admit defeat, go to the store, and plan better next year.

We don’t intend to make this change permanently, although we do expect some things to change us forever. When the year is done, we expect that we will have found such great sources for things and such unusual variety that we will no longer need to buy some things anywhere but from within our own community. I hope to establish relationships with the people who produce what we eat and to strengthen our community by committing to it monetarily, not just socially. I do think there will be certain things that come from afar that I will admit back into our lives but some things will probably never be the same.

The Exceptions
One of the first questions we get when someone learns about our project is, “Will you have xyz?” or “Is there anything you are allowing yourselves that isn’t truly local?”

We have identified a few key items to be exceptions to our 100-mile radius rule and here they are:

Cooking oil – we haven’t decided between olive and canola. Canola oil would, at least, come from North America but we use olive oil quite a bit and prefer the taste (except in baked goods where I prefer to use canola). Sure, we can use butter, but we appreciate the health benefits of oil. We’ll decide which one to keep before we begin. Then again, we may just use melted butter.
Chocolate – anyone who knows us will likely know that Kevin is a chocoholic. He told me very early on in the discussion stage that he didn’t believe he could survive a year without chocolate. So, we’ll allow it. Not just any chocolate, however, there will be no Snickers or Kit Kats or the like. We will stick to fine dark chocolates (which we, by far, prefer and are healthier to boot). The jury is still out on whether or not we’ll allow anything in the chocolate (mint, nuts, caramel?) – we’re thinking not.
Coffee and Tea – I really enjoy my morning coffee and we both like tea. We like having an available caffeine source (I know, if we were really hard core we’d break ourselves of the habit!) and just enjoy a hot, steaming cup of herbal tea in the winter (and I adore my summer sun tea).
Spices, Vinegar, Salt, Pepper – If variety is the spice of life than spice is the variety we need in our lives. We love the tastes of fresh foods for themselves but we also enjoy the variety of flavors and types of cuisines we can replicate with spices so we will allow these.
Leavening - I plan to bake bread and other things and will use yeast, baking powder, and baking soda. I also plan to use "local yeast" to make sourdough but won't rely on it.
The Kids – We have two young children but only one of them can talk so we’ll work with her to determine her one thing (as long as it’s reasonable) and add it here later. The baby, well, he’s at our whim. If I determine there is something he is truly lacking then I may allow that… I am considering fortified cereal.
The Social Life Clause – We’re not big on eating out but we do enjoy the convenience and some of the great food you can get at local Rockford eateries. We will miss these things. However, we don’t want to turn down opportunities to spend time with friends just because we’ve been invited over for dinner or to a wedding reception and we can’t eat the food. So, we may go to a friend’s and eat what we’re served or celebrate life events of those dear to us with dinner and a champagne toast but we can’t have standing dinner dates or vie for invitations to every wedding in town. And except for those life-event celebrations, we won’t be eating out.
The Travel Clause – We do enjoy traveling and tend to do so several times a year. If we’re taking a day trip, we’ll be packing our own food. If we’re staying somewhere overnight or longer, we will eat where we are… whether it’s the house of friends or family or a restaurant at our destination or along the route. Will we try to make that local? Sure, but it won’t be a hard-and-fast rule.
The Second Travel Clause – Anything we pick up that comes from within 100 miles of any of our travel destinations is also fair game for us to return with and put on our table at home. However, we can not travel to a place just because we want something from there (although I’m sure everyone wishes they could take a jaunt to Italy when the craving for Italian food strikes!).

Why are we doing this?

Another question we get (a lot) when someone we don't know learns about our little experiment. Well, there are several reasons really.

Flavor - we expect to find some fantastic local flavors and look forward experiencing food at the peak of freshness.
Environmental Health - we've done quite a bit of reading lately about our food sources, farming methods, and "food miles." The average meal travels thousands of miles to reach an American's table. We want to substantially reduce the average for ourselves this year.
Personal Health - fresh foods, I mean really fresh, have more nutrients. Produce in the grocery store that has traveled great distances and then sat there for a few days has lost much of its nutrition. Frozen food maintains more in suspension but it's not the same as fresh. Don't even get me started about highly pocessed foods. This is minor in our reasoning but maybe it shouldn't be.
Community Support - we want to spend our money and invest our energy in our own community.
Personal Edification - to learn something along the way.
Fun