It finally happened. Snow! Not a lot, but snow flurries combined with temps in the 20s means we had to pick all of the last more tender bits in the garden.
Most of it went into the dehdrator for our winter herb and spice jars. We also collected some heads and veggies for seed saving, so that we can plant again next year.
This week marks a big date. Six months. We have gone six months without buying any produce from a grocery store...except for random lemons, limes, and the few times per summer guacamole from our local food coop. What does that mean? We have gotten all of our fruit and vegetables directly from a farm, farmstand, or our garden since May. We had our garden and our CSA, and visited farms as close to home as we could to visit on farm stands or u-picks. We have also had a good year for local meat, eggs, and dairy...more on that later!
So for the winter we transition to more root veggies and foods we preserved all summer. For fresh greens we love to sprout on our counter. And we return to more fresh breads and weekly baking. Last night we made a loaf of sunflower millet bread which made the house smell amazing. Very comforting on those cold days. I have some 'mad scientist' plans to experiment and try to grow several types of vegetables and herbs in our house this winter. I want more than a few window herbs, and we will see how it goes. I'll be seed-starting this week, so will share our plans as we go!
I love this season - from hot to cool, from light to dark, from rich garden and farms to a fully stocked freezer. We have relationships with many local farmers that will continue through the winter, but most of the action takes place INside, and all of this work we did all summer makes this time of rest seem even more satisfying!
4 comments:
Denise, so glad to have discovered this blog from your comment on my blog. I have been a long time lurker on Mom in Madison, but I didn't realize you had a blog all about food. I am especially impressed and envious of your success during the past six months...not buying any produce from the grocery store. This past year I was inspired by reading "Omnivore's Dilemna" and "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" but haven't had as much success as you have. Thanks for the motivation to keep moving towards that goal of eating only locally and seasonally.
Congratulations! This is inspiring.
six months without produce from a grocery store! that IS inspiring!!
can't wait to hear how your growing inside goes. will you be using heat lamps or just windows?
Jess - We will use both windows and lamps. I want to use the sun as much as possible, but will supplement with lights (shoplights, basically) on dark/cloudy days or the shortest of winter days!
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