Ready, Set, Go!

  So happy to be back! 


     This winter was a reasonable success for us. We've continued our weekly trip to Eat Local Sudbury throughout the winter. I buy all my meat and a bag of Farquar's 1% milk at ELS every week. I fill in any gaps with Farquar's from my local grocer during the week in order to support both. I can say, with confidence, that the dairy and meat in this house are consistently local. The habits formed last summer were cemented into our lives and I look forward to stretching further this summer.  
    
   I have two goals for this summer; to freeze significantly more fruits and vegetables to carry this family through the long winter months and to find a solution to my local bread problem.


     The gardens are planted, I am pleased to report that most of the tomato plants were grown from seed BY ME (a remarkable personal achievement). The others were intended as back up plants, they were purchased at the ELS plant sale and Sudbury's Garden Festival from a local gardener.  Feeling ambitious, my husband revived an abandoned patch to plant some strawberry plants, corn and potatoes. We have planted a lot this year,  two vegetable gardens, two perennial beds, and containers on every level surface.

Strawberry Patch

Corn and Potatoes at the far end.

MINE!! I SAW IT FIRST!

Circle Garden, name it, I planted some...

Flower Garden, Welcome Bees!

Lettuce 

More lettuce and some peppers

    We've also gone halvsies with a friend for Dalew's  CSA program. I had my own share a few years back, but found it to be too much with my own garden's produce. It is my hope that between the two I'll have enough frozen vegetables to last well into the winter.


    I have also managed to secure a place on Dalew's egg share and will not, therefore, be whining about lack of local eggs this summer. 


    Fortunately, Dalew has also begun carrying flour from Poschaven Farms. I bought a 4kg bag and once school's out, it is my dream to begin making my own "as local as possible" bread products. Here's my plan; once a month I'll spend a glorious day making bread, buns, pizza dough, bagels to last all month, then freeze and use. It's a fanciful dream, but I believe I can do it.   Of course, if I find a bakery that uses local ingredients, I will probably just buy it.


     Here's to a great summer!! Shannon D.