These posts are a bit overdue, but I figured I'd get this one in while Brendan takes an evening nap.
We expanded garden space again this year, both in our backyard plot and our larger space at the cottage in Canada. Granted, Nick has most of the know-how and does most of the work, but I'm a very willing taste-tester. One of our goals for the summer was to continue to try to eat more local and organic food. We've noticed we feel better physically eating food with less preservatives, and there's less of an environmental impact than getting fruit and veggies from an unknown farm a continent away.
One of the major ways we've done that is to make regular use of our farmers' market. Beginning in the spring, and continuing until fall, there's plenty of fresh produce at affordable prices.
This is also the second year that we've purchased beef in bulk from the market. We order in late winter/early spring, then put in an order for cuts a couple of months later, just before the steer goes to processing. We pay for 250 lbs at one time, but the price per pound is cheaper for better cuts than we could get at the regular grocery store. Plus, the animals are grass-fed, and don't get growth hormones, or any other antibiotics corn-fed cattle need to tolerate an unnatural diet. And to top it all off, we know the farmers who are raising these animals, so we know where our money is going, and that their animals are treated humanely. We also buy chicken and eggs from other farmers at the market.
We really made use of our garden, too. Nick began in spring with lettuce (two kinds), carrots, beans, beets and potatoes. Summer gave way to squash, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and more beans. He got in a fall lettuce planting as well. We use primarily heirloom seeds - varieties that are open pollenated, many of which have been grown for many, many years. There's more chance for disease or weird looking crops (like this single carrot we got), but the taste is so much better. We were able to get so much from our soil by giving it regular doses of compost. We got a closed bin at Costco a couple of years ago, and save leftover non-meat food scraps (apple peels and cores, eggshells, coffee grounds). Those go into the bin, the material gets aerated every once in a while, and the worms do their work, creating wonderfully nutritious fertilizer for our garden.
And we'll continue eating our produce well into the fall and winter. The tomatoes we canned last year took us into spring, and our pumpkins and squash will be Brendan food this winter! One of our favorite meals this fall was a potato boxty with carrot, pepper and pesto. The flour, olive oil and pine nuts for the pesto came from the store, but everything else was from our backyard - talk about eating local!
So... if you're interested:
The Maitland Family Farm (Charlie and Sarah are our souce for beef.)
Otto's Chicken - from Middleville, MI, they come to several farmers' markets, including ours on Saturdays.
Heirloom Seeds - our source for seeds
