Monday, October 31, 2011

The Challenge Begins...

Tomorrow!  Even if you can't participate every day, it's okay.  Do what you can. 

Over the weekend I shopped at my every day grocer and picked up some local food.  Let's just say citrus time is just beginning in La Florida.  Mmm... my favorite.

A few places to look for the local goods:
  • your every day grocer
  • health food store
  • Wal-Mart  (WM is now the nation's largest purchaser of local produce.  Did you know this?  News to me!)
  • farmers' markets
  • CSA's
  • farms and U-Picks
  • grow your own food!
Send me pictures of the local food you're finding and I'll post them to the blog -- miltonsara@gmail.com, or leave me a comment.  Good luck and have fun!  I can't wait to see what you find!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Week 5 in my backyard











Looking at the garden pictures from one week ago I see a considerable increase in the amount of green.  My garden is growing!  The satsuma tree has birthed one lonely satsuma.  We weren't expecting much from our citrus tree until next Fall, but this little one was a pleasant surprise.  The red leaf lettuce is changing with the leaves on the trees; the hammock is up and plenty of lounging has been going on in the cool breeze.  My three year old lays very still in it, hanging his toddler legs over the side.  I've always been impressed with his ability to abruptly halt play, making time to kick back and relax; a rare thing for someone so young, and a good reminder to me that sometimes the answer is simply to: 

s  l  o  w    d  o  w  n

And, since 80% of our household is male, and we have a couple of foam swords lying around, sword fights are inevitable

There you have it - week five for my little garden.  Year five for my oldest little person.  There's a whole lot of growing going on over here!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Local Farm

A perfect way for you to get fresh, seasonal produce is to become a member of a CSA - Community Supported Agriculture.  When you become a CSA member to a particular farm, you are buying a share of the season's harvest.  A CSA is all about offering what the season brings.  As a member, your money goes to operating the farm -- seeds, equipment maintenance, labor, and so on .  And in return, you get a bagful of freshly picked produce.  So...

You are eating with the seasons.
Your food couldn't be fresher.
You can build a relationship with the person growing your food. 
You can know exactly how your food is grown (organic, without pesticides and fertilizers, etc.)
You support small, local business and they support you. 

Doesn't that sound wonderful?

KYV Farm is a local (for you Northeastern Floridians) organic family farm/CSA.  I found it in my search for locating the local for next month's challenge.  I'm thrilled to have found this local jewel!  I'm going to take a tour of the farm sometime soon.  Anyone want to join?

Only ONE week until the local food eating challenge begins!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

fall garden week 4



some lettuce from the Mesclun Mix is 5" tall!



baby bibb.
more from the mesclun.  


trail of kale.



   
My little helper in the garden.  Sweet boy.
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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Locavore Challenge!



Here it is: Eat locally for 30 days.  

This may sound daunting, but don't let it be!  Allow me to explain...  You do not need to prepare an entire meal with as many local ingredients as you can dig up -- although you may. 

What it does mean -- eat ONE local thing a day. 

A locavore is someone who makes an effort to eat food that is grown, raised, or produced within a 100-mile radius of home.  Let's broaden the "local" boundaries to mean anything in your state.  You could pull a few mint leaves from your potted mint and toss it into your salad; or, spread a teaspoon of local honey on your toast; another idea, you could roast a halved squash that you purchased from your neighborhood farmer's market.  This can be as simple or as complex as you'd like it to be.  It is up to you.

By doing this we may not be making a huge change in our diet yet but, it will push us to search out what our surrounding area has to offer - because it is there!  And, our local food growers need us and we need them! This will give us knowledge.  And, knowledge empowers us!

We will begin November 1st.  This way you have time to hop on the internet and locate the localAny sort of organic grocer will have items; your neighborhood farmer's market; even your common, every day grocery store is likely to have some things.

You may email me pictures that you'd like to share on this blog of the local foods you added to your daily diet.  I would love to see what you're eating (and others would enjoy too, if others are out there... hope you are!). Or, you may simply leave a comment about what you ate that day.  If you can't do this every day, that's ok.  Keep on trying throughout November.  Eat locally as often as you can.  This isn't about us making a great change to our diets, but rather it gives us the knowledge we need to start making changes.  Perhaps you will try some new fun recipes along the way!  This will be just as challenging for you as it will be for me.  Until now my local food purchases are few. And, if you are already living this way -- WONDERFUL!  Please share your knowledge with us!

Ooh -- this is going to be fun!  Begin searching now.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Sara's S's

STRAIGHT FROM THE GROUND
Ok. So you may rinse your food off first.  But otherwise -- leave your food WHOLE - in its natural state - as much as you can.  The less our food is altered, the better it is for our bodies.

SIMPLE
Eat simply.  This goes hand-in-hand with eating our food straight from the ground.  Prepare your meals with few ingredients.  Not only will it save you money on your grocery bills, but it was what your body was made to consume.  

SURROUNDING AREA
In other words, eat locally.  By eating food grown in your surrounding area you have more control over it.  Consider the pesticides used or the path taken to grow and transport a banana from Central America up to your grocery store. It is impossible to know all the variables.  This is only the tip of 'the importance of eating locally' iceberg.

SEASON
We can all agree that it's a beautiful thing to eat a red, ripe strawberry year-round.  But, I believe that our bodies were made to eat what the Season brings.  For example, the time for berries is Summer; Wintertime yields meat, as vegetables and fruit do not typically grow during this, the coldest season of the year.

I am not a pro at my four S's, but I fully believe that our bodies were meant to eat according to them.  I think I'd like to try harder.  Maybe a 30-day challenge. Hmmm... Any ideas?  And, any takers?

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

seeds sprouting

It's begun!

charming little bibb

heart-shaped kale

red leaf from a mesclun mix

and, spinach.

week three

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