Most years in August someone starts a “local food challenge.” My challenge is more like Barbara Kingsolver’s in her book Animal, Vegetable Miracle or Joan Dye Gussow in This Organic Life. How much of our diet year round can be local? Ken and I store many crops available for sale this time of year. Onions, squash, garlic, potatoes, beets, carrots, black or daikon radishes, giant kohlrabi. Until last week we had winter tomatoes, cabbage, rutabagas.
plus parsley and sprouts and shoots.
Then as we have surplus through the growing season we can and freeze. These items with minimum energy and no travel miles can add variety to our winter diet. For example I freeze two or three quart bags of chopped blanched asparagus for cream of asparagus soup. We have had frozen broccoli and green beans and corn for a reminder of those summer flavors.
I freeze fruit and can fruit juices and make jam. And the other nice part of this is I make it with no or very little sweetener. I not only know how the food is grown, I also know how it was preserved.
Tonight we had chowder with local milk, and the following from our farm: pork, onions, corn, potatoes, thyme, and from far away: clams, salt and pepper.
So as we approach the next season consider freezing some greens for quiche or souffle in February. Take that local food challenge – in winter!
