Hello, I'm still here!

I've had sort of mini-hiatus from blogging over the past 2 weeks- sorry for my absence! I've recently started an intense exercise program (of my own development) and that's taken up a lot of the time that used to be "sit on the couch and blog" time- funny how that works.

I've had lots of thoughts swirling about in my head for the past several weeks: eating "healthy" and what that really means, physical activity and its importance in our pretty sedentary American society, and how to make "healthy", "local", "organic", and "seasonal" all jive together in your life and your diet.

I also recently watch the documentary Bag It and that (in the best way possible) has added a whole additional layer of critical thought about how I can function better in a society built on plastic. Also, when will our society get to a place where we realize all of this (shipping food across the country and the world just for "customer choice", using single use disposable plastic for SO many things, making food product containers laced with chemicals like BPAs and phalates) might be more "convenient" but is certainly contributing to health problems, pollution, global warming, etc.

Heavy thoughts for a Saturday morning huh? On that note, I'm off to teach a canning class. I'll be back to a regular blogging schedule here, too, so keep an eye out for more posts!

Thanks for reading,

-Arika

2012 Local Eating Goals

Now that (I hate to say it) we've passed the middle point of summer, I am thinking about and preparing for Fall. This year, more than ever, I am trying to live in the moment and truly enjoy each day and revel in the season- the sweltering hot days, the strangely-cool days, and everything in between. 

However, part of appreciating these summer days is putting up some of my favorite fruits and vegetables for later on the in the year, and planting in preparation for fall. Every year I have a sort of mental list of Homestead-y things I'd like to accomplish- things to grow, things to can, things to freeze, things to dry and store through winter. I'm proud to say that this year, I have actually done some significant fall planting, and I've also done a pretty fair job at "putting up" or canning/preserving/storing & locally sourcing a good deal of the things that were on said mental list! 

I will say that I've give myself some exceptions- this list applies most to food that is eaten in my home. While eating out and about, I do try to have a strong focus on local food, supporting local businesses, and avoiding questionable meat (essentially, it's questionable unless I know where it's sourced from). BUT it's hard to find places to eat that meet all of my strict qualifications! So while I am an intentional eater at restaurants, I am my best locavore self at home, where I can better control what comes into my home, where it comes from, and what I spend our $$$ on.

As I have moved towards eating more and more locally, there is a natural shift towards eating things in the season they grow in. For example, when I say that I eat only local potatoes all year long, it is because I plant potatoes in the spring, I harvest them in the summer, and store them to eat throughout summer, fall, and into winter. Then I stop eating potatoes until I can find them locally again in the spring, or grow them myself once again!

With all that stuff in mind, here's an attempt at a typed version of my 2012 Local Eating Goals.

Happy Home 2012 Local Eating Goals
* crossed off= already preserved or ready to store

Veggies to store/source locally for the entire year-
(successfully achieved this part of the list last year!)
Onions
Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Acorn Squash
Carrots
Garlic (50 heads)

Other food products to source locally for the entire year-
Wheat
Bread
Bagels
Butter 
Milk 
Eggs
Meat products

Herbs to dry & store/grow indoors for the entire year-
Cilantro/Coriander
Basil
Thyme
Rosemary
Oregano
Sage

Locally grown veggies & fruits to Can-
6 pints Pickles
5 pints Tomato Sauce 
10 pints and 12 half-pints Corn
10 pints Green beans
25 half-pints Peaches
15 half-pints Pears
6 pints Apricots
3 pints Cranberry Sauce
15 half-pints Applesauce
3 pints Blueberry jam

Locally grown veggies & fruits to Freeze-
5 quarts Blueberries 
1 quart Cherries 
1 quart Raspberries
2 quarts Strawberries 
3 quarts Corn

Locally grown fruits to Dehydrate-
2 bags dried cranberries

If you'd like to set some local eating goals for yourself, I have a few tips:

• Set some perimeters for yourself- be realistic about what you think you can do
• Have strategies in mind- Where will you shop/how will you grow things to meet your goals?
• Think it out- If you want to can 60 pints of tomatoes, when will that actually happen and do you truly have the time & resources to do that?
• Pat yourself on the back, even if you don't accomplish everything you set out to! You're still making progress, and you'll have a better idea of how you can improve in future years.

What do you try to eat locally year round? 

Are there things that you think are more important to source locally than others?

Tuesday Takehome + a Recipe

I haven't picked up my CSA share this week yet, but I DID shop at the Farmers' Market, of course.

I came home with:
2 quarts cherries
1 quarts blueberries
1 pint sungold cherry tomatoes
8 oz mozzarella cheese

Nom nom nom nom! I need to get out there and do some serious fruit picking for my canning plans. In the mean time, this amazing stuff will definitely do.










I've also been harvesting a good deal out of the garden lately. Here's a photo of yesterday's harvest- 3 leeks, and handful of Provider green beans, 7 Yukon Gold potatoes, 2 giant kale leaves, some sprigs of thyme, rosemary, and oregano, and a pinch of the first dried cilantro seeds of the summer (called corriander)!!

I'm patting myself on the back- I've been doing a good job of picking what I need for dinner each night, rather than harvesting a whole bunch just because I'm excited to see it all laid out. It's helped me get more time out of each crop I've grow.
I'm starting to have post-harvest holes in the garden- I'll need to fill those in with fall veggies! I've already planted some acorn squash as well as several cucumber plants and a watermelon, but it'll be time to seed carrots and spinach and fall greens before we know it.






I'm too inspired by fresh fruits and veggies to share a recipe today. My recipe for today is simply this-

• Go find some locally grown veggies and fruits
• Cut them up and prepare as minimally as possible
• Eat :)

Here's a photo of my plans for dinner on the right.

What have you been harvesting out of your garden lately or enjoying most from your local Farmers' Market?

Appreciating "place" at Sleeping Bear Dunes

I'm back from our annual trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, and I have some highlights to share!

Each year that we go, our trips to the Dunes have been a place to explore, get outside, and really immerse wrap ourselves in the concept of "place"- the sights, sounds, food, culture, and experiences of a certain locale.

As I have gotten deeper into gardening, seasonal eating, and conscientious consuming, this has also been a trip where I can really live my values.

This year I was accompanied by my parents, Mike, an aunt, and two young cousins. Being able to share our families' favorite place with others is a true pleasure.

Each year we have a few staples that we always try to hit, including the dune climb, time on the beach, dinner at Joe's Friendly Tavern in Empire, and a stop at Great Lakes Tea and Spice Co, based right in Glen Arbor!

Of course, we visited the Empire Dune Climb, and everyone made it up to the top! We didn't go all the way to the lake, but concuring that climb is usually a feature of our trip! We saw a few new sites too, including the Historical Farm Tour of Port Oneida and the Port Bestie Light House.

The west side of Michigan is known for its agricultural productiveness, and the entire state was hit hard this year, by a late-spring cold front that did a great deal of damage to much of our fruit crop. Michigan is  of blueberries, sweet cherries, apples, etc. a lot of which were nearly decimated this season. The effects of this were evident everywhere, from the lack of roadside cherry stands to the sign posted at Glen Arbor's Cherry Republic, where we made a stop.

We also made sure to purchase locally grown fruit when we found it- this year it felt even more important that it usually does. We stopped and bought local cherries, picked up raspberries and blueberries at the local grocery for snacks during our day trips, and even foraged some mulberries on the Farm Tour and raspeberries from our campgrounds.

Last year the site Mike and I camped at had several wild raspberry bushes around it and it was such a treat to find them! This year, I led my young cousins, 7 and 10, to show them were the raspberries could be found.

The kids evidently thought it was a pretty cool find- every morning and every evening they would go on a walk "to the raspberries" and back, and would bring back enough berries for everyone to have a few. I was proud of them- junior wild edbile foragers! :)
I made sure to emphasize that not all berries are edible and that you should only eat them if you're an adult you trust that can help identify berries and says they are safe to eat!


\

On the farm tour, we'd get out at each stop and look around- check out the old barns, look at the farm machienery. At the Port Oneida School stop I found a red mulberry tree towards the back of the school. My aunt went and got a used plastic container so we could collect some of the mulberries.

Later than day, when picking up our pizza in town, we wandered around the pizza place and found a black mulberry tree! My cousin Noah spotted it and pointed it out to us, and we took turns picking the berries. Some other pizza-awaiting kids wondered what we were doing, so we shared our find with them.

We ended up leading our own tour with the assistance of a Port Oneida booklet, and I narrated our journey as we visited many beautifully weather and sadly abandoned pieces of agricultural history. Here are a few photos:


The Dechow Farm

 

Carsten Burfiend Farm

 

The Charles Olsen Farm

 

A tractor at the Miller Barn



Friday Favorites

These are some of my favorite blogs to follow lately

Chiot's Run 
Susy gardens in N.E. Ohio, and her blog is simple and beautiful. She takes breathtaking photos of everyday life in the garden, and I look forward to each post!


homesprout 
This is a new blog for me- I just stumbled upon it recently. Allison, blog owner, writes about her efforts towards a "homemade" life. I'm excited to catch up and see more posts from homesprout.


100 Days of Real Food 
Lisa's blog at 100 Days of Real Food started off as a family challenge- to go 100 days without each processed foods, and focus on real and whole foods. I've enjoyed reading through the experiences, which I can really relate to, and I'm glad she's kept blogging 

Civil Eats
This is a great website, devoted to a whole assortment of blogs on topics close to my heart: local eats, young farmers unite, rooftop gardens. In addition to their themes, they also share a lot of relevant information about food systems, both locally and nation-wide, as well as relevant legislation and advocacy around eating, agriculture, & food.

What are your favorite blogs to follow? I'm always on the look-out for new blogs!

Book Review- Eating for Beginners by Melanie Rehak

I stumbled upon Eating for Beginners by Melaine Rehak at my local library, and decided to give it a read. It met my selection qualifications (which are an eye-catching book spine, and an enticing cover), and it got bonus point for the topic of eating/food!

Eating for Beginners is a non-fiction account of a period in the authors life, and her foray into conscientious eating, which coincided with her beginning a year of interviewing/shadowing/working at applewood restaurant in Brooklyn, NY. applewood is owned by a couple, a family really, and they allow Melanie to essentially intern in the kitchen with no previous experience, in order for her to immerse herself in the world of restaurants, sourcing local produce, and appreciation of food. 

During her experience year, Melanie visits several farms, a cheese maker, a Famers' meat co-operative. a produce delivery company, and a fisherman, all of whom supply food to applewood restaurant. The reader also gets to hear about Melanie's successes and trials in the kitchen, and favorite recipes are included as well.

I enjoyed the candidness of the book, as well as the opportunity to "visit" the different locales that Melanie went to- as someone who thinks carefully about each food decision I make, I really learned a lot from Melanie's trips, and I identified with her learning process and struggle to make informed eating choices.

In the end, Melanie seems to strike a healthy balance of making conscientious food decisions while knowing that everyone has to decide what's right for them. If you like to cook, if you're getting into the world of local, organic, and sustainable food, or if you're simply a thoughtful eater, I'd recommend this book to you!

Happy Reading!

Sticking it out until Spring

It's March, friends. The time where I start pretending its Spring, even though it is still 39 degrees outside. Once I see little crocus shoots poking up out of the ground, It Is Spring- thermometer be damned!

In my life as a gardener and a local eater, March is that fun time between growing and harvesting: I've got seedlings started, but they're not large enough to do anything with yet. I am down to my last 3 heads of backyard garlic, I am slowly but surely using up the potatoes and carrots in the root cellars outside. I have a few lonley sweet potatoes and squash still holding on in the mudroom, and have enough onions to last me right up until it's time to harvest my own!

One of the positive part of eating so much more seasonally this year is that I will really appreciate each new veggie as it comes into season.

I will be relying heavily on the Ann Arbor Farmers' Market, our local Ypsi Food Co-op, and Mix Marketplace will get me through, grocery-wise until my little seedlings are out there in the garden, growing and producing.  I can proudly say, that after eating only seasonally-available veggies when at home, that I am tired of storage carrots, onions, and potatoes. I could really use some fresh lettuce, a green onion, some chives, a strawberry, a tomato.... mmm. I'll have to dream for another couple of months.

What fruit or veggie are you most looking forward to eating when it comes into season?

Sweet, local Honey goodness

this pic does not do honey justice

While there are many things that we look to get a bargain on when we shop, one of the I have learned not to compromise on is honey. It might sound silly- honey is pretty delicious to start with- why be picky? I asked myself the same thing, until I had truly local, raw honey, straight from the hives of two of my favorite Farmers, Dick and Diana Dyer. Diana is a Registered Dietician (and blogs here), and she and Dick got into farming as a full time gig several years ago. Their original specialty is garlic, another "common-place" thing I have learned to become picky about; once you realize there is more out there than just elephant garlic out there, it's hard to go back to the plain old grocery store variety!

Getting back on topic, I tried some of the Dyer's Washtenaw Wildflower honey earlier in the summer and I was hooked! The taste of home "grown" honey is far more deep, rich, and complex than the standard store bought kind. It's just amazing. As soon as I found out there was a second honey harvest this fall- a flavor entitled Fall Farm Goldenrod, I made sure I picked up 2 quarts of the stuff before it disappeared! It's a bit darker and not as light on the tongue as the summer honey, but just as delish!

If you can find local, raw honey, and support a family of incredibly nice farmers in the mean time, I suggest that you run out and purchase yourself some ASAP!

Settling into the Winter Routine again

My love! Great day for the park yesterday!

Winter is rolling its way here in Michigan, although you wouldn't have known it by the temperature yesterday- incredible weather! I've been getting back into what has been my Winter Routine for the past several years;
Turning to use the food I've canned, frozen, or have stored;
Heading over to the Ann Arbor Farmers' Market on Saturday mornings in search of root vegetables, winter-hardy greens, local herbs, honey, and other winter goods;
Making and eating a lot of chillis, soups, and stews.
It feels good to have been at this whole "homesteading" thing long enough to even have a routine to return to. Each year, I get a little closer to being more self-sufficient, although on the whole I'm still very far away from that goal.

Storage root veggies and squas

This year it seems I'll be all set through most of the winter squash, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots and onions, meaning I'll be able to eat those things locally throughout the entire winter, based on what I've grown and/or bought locally and stored. I also have some canned corn and green beans that will probably get me through at least until January or February. I've got 5 pints and 7 half pints of jam, which will last me until next year's jam-making begins.

I'm going to try to focus on utilizing the root vegetables I have and getting what I can locally as far as winter greens goes, and will again this winter try to avoid purchasing produce that is way past its' season: Peppers, fresh corn, etc. The same goes for fruits- I'm going to stock up on apples that will last for a while in my chilly "mudroom" space.

I usually cave and purchase frozen fruit in the winter because I start to crave it; we're lucky around here to have a great Winter CSA called Locavorious- they purchase locally-grown fruits and vegetables while they're in season and then they flash-freeze them, so folks can have this great produce available all-year round! While I didn't purchase a share from Locavorious, they are usually at the Ypsilanti & Ann Arbor Farmers' Markets and I love that I can still buy local in the winter!

What's your technique for eating local in the Winter?

Dark Days Challenge- will you join me?

This year, I've decided to join with other garden/foodie bloggers in participating in the Dark Days Challenge! As part of this challenge, I'll be making at least one meal each week that featuring sustainable, organic, local, and ethical ingredients, and blogging about it to share with others! I think this will be a great way for me to strategically use some of the veggies I've been storing; potatoes, carrots, squashes, onions, and find new recipes and meals to feature them in! Please tune in here to check out the dishes I make- if you're interested in learning more, see below!

Dates                                                               
The challenge runs from Sunday, November 27th, 2011 to Saturday, March 31st, 2012.

What’s the Challenge? 
I will cook one meal each week featuring SOLE (sustainable, organic, local, ethical) ingredients, write about it on this blog and email a recap to the larger group on the Not Dabbling in Normal blog.

What does local mean?
Traditionally, local food challenges call for a 100 mile radius. Winter time is more difficult in many climates, especially if you’re new to eating locally, so my default winter definition is 150 miles. If you'd like to participate, you can choose to make your radius smaller or slightly larger as you need. Typical exceptions to the local requirement are oils, coffee, chocolate and spices. If you’re making fewer or more exceptions, please note that on your first post.

How do I sign up?
Head on over to (not so) Urban Hennery to find out more info and to sign yourself up if you'd like to participate as well!

Economical Local Eating

If you've read my blog for any length of time you know I like to buy local- surprise! I was recently surprised by my bank statement, which basically said that we like to go out to eat a lot more than I thought. If you haven't yet noticed, it's a lot most cost-effective to make meals at home than it is to go out to eat. Hence the doubling-back to the eternal question of a budget-conscious locavore: "How do I eat in a local-as-possible, healthful, sustainable way without going broke?" This is not only a help for you (hopefully) but a reminder for me as well :) We're all in tough economical situations right now- thinking more thoughtfully about what we eat and where we spend our money can only be helpful!

Luckily, there are a variety of local food resources very close to me, and most likely to you as well. I'd like to share some of my ideas and techniques, in hopes that others out there may be able to use them as well. And hey!- if you have ideas, please comment and share them with me!

This is part of a larger, three-day, three-part series on my blog, so check back in tomorrow & Friday!

Economical Local Eating- Part 1: Knowing Your Food Sources

If you've started to eat locally already, you've probably gotten to the point where you're starting to know where to spend the big bucks, where to scrimp and save, and what grocery locations you need to frequent to get the best deals. In a world where actual food production and nutrition information is practically hidden from the consumer, it takes some effort to seek out locally-grown foods that are healthy and don't cost you and arm and a leg!

Part of becoming an informed, aware consumer in this crazy land of ours is doing your homework. Since I've done a lot of proverbial homework in regards to shopping local, let me help you!

There are several larger points that help to make up my Shopping Manifesto-
Guiding Rules to Shopping Locally while on a Budget:

• Shop often
• Have Meals in Mind
• Have Ingredients on-hand

"Shop Often" means-
When you begin purchasing fresh veggies, you'll notice that they don't always have a shelf-life of 14 days like those good old ones from your Big Box Store do. There's a reason for that- they're FRESH! If it's time visiting a Farmers' Market, it's easy get carried away by the bountiful, beautiful produce, and spend $40 on fruits and veggies, only to take them home where many of them will rot before you get to eat them (if you don't have a plan, that is)! If you're shopping for 3 people, don't buy enough for 3 people for the next 15 days! The nice thing about local shopping options is just that- they're local! Many times they are close, convenient, and fresh: you don't have to buy all the months' veggies in one trip and you probably shouldn't.

"Have Meals in Mind" means-
One of the best way I find to save money on a long-term basis when I shop is to know what I plan to cook! I don't, by any means, have each day planned out, but I do keep in mind some of the core dishes I'd like to make that week- maybe it's a soup or a veggie stir-fry. Maybe it's some kind of vegetable bake. Whatever it is, I aim to get ingredients for meals, not just random products that look good. This also prevents me from buying a lot of processed crap- if you have dinners in mind, you don't need to buy frozen food or pre-made meals. Then you can have more control of what goes into your food and therefore into your body!

"Have Ingredients on Hand" means-
This comes right from my mother, the main grocery-purchaser of our household growing up. Teenage me would always look into the pantry and then cry, "Mom, we don't have any food!"Usually her reply was, "Yes, but we have ingredients!" I always thought that was an annoying response, and didn't really understand what difference it made. Now that I'm older, and living with a teenager who has the potential to be crying the same thing, I know what my mom means: Always keep "staple items" in stock in your home. These could be different for each family: Beans and Rice, Soup Stock, Chicken, greens for salad.. depends on what your go-to meals are. But when you reach into that pantry to try to make your budget stretch, you want to have those key things on hand! My staples are probably soup stock, vegetables, bread, and lunch meat. I can always make some kind of weird concoction if I have soup stock and some veggies to throw in. Bread is important for quick breakfasts on the go, as well as a key ingredient in sandwiches, which are a frequently-consumed item by two of the three people in our home. Lunch meat is pretty self-explanatory, I hope?

Where to Shop:

Farmers' Markets- Shopping at one of the many local markets here is always my top choice- I get to speak with the farmers that grow my food, and I just don't think there's any substitute for that, except growing your own food! Most of the produce I don't grow myself is purchased from local farmers. You can find quite a variety of produce at your local Farmers' Market, from sweet potatoes to eggplant- one of our urban gardeners at the market even had paw-paw fruit for sale! Also a good way to get items for the home- I get my bar soap from the market, as well as homemade laundry detergent and cloth-made snack packs and sandwich wraps! Find your local Farmers' Market.

CSAs- CSA stands for "Community Support Agriculture", and is kind of akin to investing in a farmer. You pay for a share or a half share ahead of time (usually in the winter or early spring), which allows the farmers some capital to do the things they need to do on the farm. The share is a certain amount of weeks long (could be 16, could be 22), and you commit to pick up your share from your farm, or from a local pick-up point. Only downside to this in my opinion, which is also a positive, is that you don't pick what is in your "share" each week- you can get an idea of what might be there but you can't pick and choose. Gotta learn to love new veggies! There are vegetables CSAs, meat CSAs, and more, so find one for yourself today!


Food Co-ops- Great way to shop locally and still get the essentials you need. Our local Ypsilanti Food Co-op is my Go-To location for bulk goods like flour, sugar, beans, rice, oats. I am always thrilled to find that many of those bulk items are made in my state of Michigan, which is just awesome! Buying in bulk can save you money, and is a nice way to save the environment as well- by bringing the empty containers I plan to fill with flour, sugar, etc. I am not using up any extra paper, plastic, etc. I also get most of my "home goods" at our Co-op: eco-friendly dish detergent, soap, recycled paper towels & toilet paper, shampoo and body wash, and they have body/eco-friendly tampons too (although I am a moon cup user myself)! Some Co-ops require membership and some do not- our particular one does not require you be a member to shop there, although if you do join as a member ($25/year) you get 2% off your purchases and get to have a vote at a variety of meetings and decision-making sessions. Find a Co-op near you!

Farm Stands- Similar concept to Farmers' Market and CSAs- some farms operate their own Farm Stand as a way of selling the produce they grow. There are usually set hours these farms stands are open, and you drive on by and purchase what you need- like a CSA with the convenience of a Farmers' Market experience! Nice way to see the farm you're supporting, and to really connect with one family/farmer.

Action Step: 

Now that we've covered some basics, check out these great resources to do your own research:

Local Harvest 

Real Time Farms

Find a Co-op, Farm Stand, Farmers' Market or CSA near you and try it out! 


Tomorrow we'll be exploring Prioritizing your Purchases, and Friday will be focused on Recipes and Food Prep to Stretch your Budget