Eating Local, Even When You're Not

Local, that is.  Preserving and canning some of our local produce, as well as supporting a CSA and growing our own food also contribute to our goal to eat this way.  Even the cats get to take advantage of the catnip we produce in our own back yard.  Recently we canned 4 bushels of field peas, varieties like Black Eyed, Conch, Zipper Cream and Purple Hulled Crowders.  We got these peas about an hour after they were harvested, and had them all canned by the end of the day.  It's hard work, made much easier by using our friend's commercial pea sheller. 

In the last few weeks we also traveled to Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia.  We managed to eat locally everywhere we went. Not every meal, but as many as we could, when we could. 





In Arizona, we went to Queen Creek Olive Mill and toured the orchard, garden and olive oil press room.  They grew a lot of veggies and herbs under shade cloth, and featured locally raised produce in their cafe along with the olive oil.  We had some olive oil cupcakes and gelato and brought some of their signature blend and chocolate olive oil back with us.

While in NC, we went berry picking at The Ten Acre Garden.  Actually, Jay, Dwain and Fonda went berry picking. I was sick and took pictures of everyone else picking.  Between us, we picked 4 quarts of raspberries and blackberries.  Jay made a pie with ours, and Fonda and Dwain made freezer jam with theirs.

On this trip, Dwain also brought peaches and tomatoes from his garden in Plant City, and Fonda brought eggs, milk, pork and squash from her farm in Illinois.  With all the canned goods already stored in Dwain's mountain kitchen, we were able to eat 'locally' most of the time we were there.  On Wednesday mornings, there is a small Farmer's Market in Waynesville that we visited.  Unfortunately, we timed it wrong and were not able to get Bush Beans.  We were about a week or two too early for them to be at market.  We did manage to obtain quite a few baked goods that morning. One of the best items was a Squash and Calendula Blossom yeast bread.  It was light and fluffy and just slightly sweet.  We spotted an English Toffee store on our way out of the Farmer's Market, so of course we had to stop there to do a quality control check on the locally-produced candy.  When we got back to Dwain's house, we were able to spread fresh butter that Fonda had just made as well as the fresh jam on that fantastic squash bread.

Our favorite meal on the whole trip was at The Purple Onion in Saluda, NC.  My pilates teacher told me about this little place, so we made a special trip to Saluda to check it out.  I had locally caught mountain trout roasted in corn husks and served with heirloom veggie salsa.  Jay had locally raised organic chicken and roasted heirloom veggies.  We shared a blackberry cobbler that was out of this world.  As a special treat, we also got to listen to 4 locally-grown singer-songwriters that night.

Even on the way home, when we stopped at a roadside stand for peaches, corn, tomatoes and of course, hot boiled peanuts, we partook of what the local farmers had to offer. Spending time in a place like Western NC, where the vibe is definitely more rural and committed to agriculture inspires me to continue to support local farmers, and fuels my desire to move up there and be a part of that life. I think it inspires Jay, too.  He was quite taken with the tractors at the Farm Supply Store....