Halfway through Summer- Some Reflections

       I cannot believe that it is August already- we've been working on this project for approximately six weeks. Long enough for it to no longer feel like a project, what was once "how am I going to do this?", is now "this is how we do this." Real and significant change has taken hold in this house and I am really very proud of all that we have accomplished- and feel ready to push even harder in the coming months.  
       
      My focus has shifted away from dinner to include all meals in my house. Which is not to say everything is local, but rather that all meals have locally produced foods, after all that's what is in the fridge. So I think I'll add more recipes from other meals- lunch and breakfast and snacks too. I find I am always in the kitchen, snacks for the kids, breakfast, lunch and dinner etc.


     My thinking is- if I can get it local, I will. Truly, its not that hard, the remarkable people who work and volunteer at the Eat Local Sudbury shop are so helpful and informative. Replacing dairy and meat is effortless- and I see no reason not to continue this way through winter. 


     Veggies and fruit present their own problems. As I had planned I am blanching and freezing veggies for the winter months ahead. Whatever vegetable we have for dinner- say green beans, I'll make one for us to eat and some to freeze.  On cool days I'll blanch and freeze just to build up my stock. I have no illusions that I have enough, so I need to seek out a local source of canned and frozen veggies for the winter. I had frozen some strawberries but all the blueberries I had made it into the jam. Need to get picking again. I haven't had much luck canning in the past, I never feel sure that the seal is tight, I prefer to freeze.


   Looking ahead- this year, I am planning to keep a tally of the vegetables we eat in order to plan my garden more effectively. It is my tentative goal to grow significantly more of my own food, and I am considering chickens..... You'll help, right Shannon?


   As for right now, I have consistently failed where breads are concerned. I need to figure out the most responsible way to buy bread or make my own. And pasta, I need pasta help too. Shannon A. assures me that I will enjoy making it but... well, we'll see.


   In all, I feel like this way of buying food fits my family and has brought us closer to our food and each other. The discussions we have about food have rekindled a desire to farm in both my husband and I. The kids are part of the adventure- going to the market, playing in the garden, picking berries and watering- they are champion waterers. I am so proud to see them tend a plant or jump up and down when they've discovered a tomato baby! It's fairly easy to impress a 3 and 5 year old, but I hope that they'll grow up knowing that food comes from earth, not just the grocer. 


Shannon D.