Wednesday was a busy day for me. I got up before the sun, dropped Andrew off at work, and caught up on some reading while working out at the gym. Sweaty gym clothes and all, I went to the farmers' market in the center of town. The weather was simply gorgeous -- we've been suffering through super cloudy skies and a constant drizzle for the past few weeks, so everything looked bright, fresh, and new in the sunlight. I did my usual walk through, checking out what everyone has...and then I bought some babies. Baby seedlings, that is! The main family who I work with as a teacher has been kind enough to offer to share their garden space with Andrew and I this summer, which is going to be awesome in coordination with our
CSA share! Looks like it'll be another local-eating summer, which I'm so excited about.
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| Scallions that smell delicious already! |
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| Enough kale to last through the month of July, when our CSA will be starting their new crop, and some baby escarole |
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| The escarole is cozying up with the baby spinach! |
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| One of my favorite things to make with escarole is Vegan Italian Wedding Soup...definitely a recipe I'll share with you this summer! |
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| More kale! |
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| Some awesome storage onions for the winter |
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Since I bought so many seedlings, the farmer gave me a great deal. This meant that I had a little more money to spend, so I bought some full grown scallions and some basil, which to me was like a fragrant bouquet of freshness.
I also had the pleasure of finding
Kennebec Cheesery, where they had the best tasting goat cheese paneer I've ever had, plus some goat milk yogurt.
About a month or so before Andrew and I first met, I read
Plenty, which inspired me to attempt to commit to a 100% local diet. I didn't know that I'd be lucky enough to meet Andrew and that we'd spend a lot of time cooking, eating, and thinking about food together. Early on, we decided to eat locally, together, from June through October, in a way of making up for the gas that we'd use on a vacation to Spain (where he proposed to me!). June was hard -- we ate lots of salads -- but we had so much to choose from -- Maine is wonderful for having local produce, milk, eggs, cheeses, beans, and grains. I learned a lot about Maine and its farmers, and felt a since of pride in the state that I now call home. It's been a while since we've been able to feel like we were in a good place to commit to eating a mostly local diet, but I think this summer, between our
CSA and garden, that we'll be able to have a summer full of local food. Even with our gluten-free diets, I think we'll be able to make this happen, even if it means holding off on the quinoa and almonds for a while. We're still in the process of figuring how how local we want to be, or if we're going to make exceptions for certain things, like almond milk, which I seem to drink in large quantities.
Are you planting a garden this summer? Have you made a commitment to eat more local foods this season?
