Wednesday, November 21

Eating Local During Dark, Cold, Short Days

My mom is such a sweetheart.

She's heard me talk about local foods so much that she found locally grown pecans for the pecan pie I requested for Thanksgiving! I didn't even know pecans grew within a state of her, so I'm very impressed.


Also, not sure if I'll manage to keep up with this challenge, but it's an interesting one:


Along the lines of that challenge, I did make myself mashed celeriac last night with locally grown garlic and semi-locally-grown herbs (they were bought on-farm while my family vacationed there and then given to me next time I saw my family).

Unfortunately, I left the portion I didn't eat last night at home and was planning to head out of town straight after work, which means my lovely locally grown leftovers are going to waste, and I'm going to have to get something non-locally-grown for the bulk of my lunch/dinner tonight (since I won't be cooking until I get home, and local eating at this time of year usually involves cooking).


Oh, and a local eating tip:
Don't leave your potato masher to dry overnight with celeriac on it. Dried-up celeriac does not wash off as easily the next morning as dried-up potato does!

1 comment:

Drakyn said...

Hey, I saw your comments on Bfp about a renters' garden and I wanted to comment but I didn't want to turn the discussion away from racism.

Katie, did you try growing peas, beans, melon, or squash? My grandma has told me about (though not the details of) growing peas and beans in small pots and just having the vines growing up twine she tied. Since you can have them grow 'up' instead of 'out', they might work better for renters. Some types of squash and melon might work too (just make sure you pick them before they get too big), though you may need thicker/more twine (maybe even rope) for some kinds.
My mom grows tomatoes in pots, you have to water them a lot (at least once a day, more if it is hotter). But if you can figure out what works best for your favorite variety, they can be really high-yielding; with less than a dozen plants (in the ground though, not pots) my maternal grandpa gets his to yield enough to supply multiple relatives and neighbors in the summer with all the tomatoes they need. If my grandma was in better health she would probably can the tomatoes too.
Lettuce, strawberries, and most herbs can also be grown in small pots too.
(My paternal grandparents were both raised on farms and my dad grew up working on his relatives' farms most summers. Even now, most of my paternal relatives grow enough to supplement their meals with home-grown. My maternal grandparents have become really interested in gardens as they grew older and even now in their 80's keep a small garden in their backyard)
And even failures help, when you write your book you can include what not to do. ^.^

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