Market Musings

A week ago, while visiting family in Washington state, I made a trip down to the Puyallup farmers' market to pick up a couple of flats of delicious Puyallup valley blueberries (some of the best in the world) and catch up with several friends I had not seen since moving to Indiana last April.  I was able to catch up on news and buy the ingredients for a delicious dinner (recipe under the bold heading at the bottom of this entry).  It was quite nice to say hello to people I hadn't seen in a while, but a few of them had a specific question:  what had ever happened to my blog?  It needed updating badly! 

Of course, they are right.  It does need updating rather badly, and with a half year's worth of local eating news, I have several entries worth of material!

I'll start with the title topic for this entry:  Re-Local-izing.  I think relocalizing is the best title for what I've been doing since last April, when I got engaged and moved to my fiance's hometown in Indiana.  Going from the Northwest to the Midwest has certainly been an interesting transition.  The scenery, weather, and culture are all different, to one degree or another.  I left my gorgeous Cascade Mountains behind for endless horizons and roads that go in a straight line farther than the eye can see.  I've now seen my first firefly and been introduced to the term "tile ditch."  I'm getting used to warmer, muggier summers and looking forward to an actual snowy winter. 

And I'm getting used to a whole new local food scene. 

When I first moved to Indiana, I wasn't sure what to expect as far as local, sustainable, organics went.  I knew that the Northwest is a bit of a local food mecca and so I wasn't sure if I'd find as much in the midst of vast fields of agribuisiness corn.  Slowly and surely, though, I've been adding to my repertoir of midwest local food knowledge, and I'm pleased to say I'm finding quite a bit! 

I feel fairly fortunate to have ended up near a medium-size city that has enough of an agricultural background to have a decent farmers' market.  The market at the Minnetrista cultural center in Muncie runs May through October each Saturday from 8:00 till noon and Wednesday from 4:00 until sold out.  Also, there is a small indoor version of the market at in the Minnetrista Cultural Center the last Saturday of each month between October and May.  The Minnetrista Orchard Shop also features local products, from preserves to meat and cheese. 

Favorite market finds so far this year include delicious strawberries (my husband's favorites), local honey (also available in the orchard shop- it goes into my tea and oatmeal many mornings), and Amish cheese.  Having spent most of the last two months bouncing back and forth across the country for weddings (two of my cousins' in addition to my own) and a moving truck (my piano is finally here!), I've missed several of the summer's markets, and so I can't wait to see what I find this week!

Another Muncie hot spot for local food is the Downtown Farm Stand on the corner of Mulberry and Main.  It features meat, cheese, milk, and produce from local organic farmers along with a variety of organic products that are hard to find elsewhere in town (the bulk organic raisins were a delicious and affordable addition to my grandmother's zuchini cake recipe), and is the next best thing to buying straight from the farmer. 

Perhaps the most useful find I've made is a book I found about a week afer moving to the midwest:  Home Grown Indiana by Christine Barbour and Scott Hutchenson features chapters on each region of Indiana and lists most of the farmers' markets and many fantastic local food hot spots in the state.  It's a great starting point to making delicious explorations throughout the state, and is also a very interesting read. 

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I'll conclude this entry with another Puyallup Farmers' Market dinner recipe that is a variation on a pasta dish I've made in the past (but even better this time!):

Ingredients:

1 package of Black Sheep's ricotta cheese (a tasty cheese with a mellow and slightly sweet flavor)
1 package of Pacific Pasta's Basil and Garlic fresh pasta
sausage (I used venison sausage my dad brought back from a hunt, but The Pig Lady's pork sausage - any flavor of it - would work well)
pesto, either homemade by processing basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan, and olive oil together in a food processor, or from a pre-made package (these can sometimes be found at the market, as can the freshest basil!) 

In a skillet heat sausage until cooked through.  While the sausage is cooking, bring a few quarts of water to a boil in a pasta pot or Dutch oven.   Cook the pasta per the package's directions (be careful not to overcook it as fresh pasta takes a lot less time to cook and will get mushy if overcooked- a bit on the al dente side is just right).  While the pasta is cooking, mash the ricotta and pesto together with a fork until fairly well blended.  The ricotta should be crumbled into fairly small pieces. 

Place the pesto-ricotta mixture in the bottom of a pasta serving bowl.  Drain pasta and add to the bowl.  Coat the pasta lightly with olive oil to prevent sticking, and stir, bringing the pesto-cheese mixture up from the bottom of the bowl.  Stir until pasta is evenly coated with the pesto mixture.  Add sausage to pasta. Serve alongside fresh toasted garlic bread and steamed seasonal vegetables. 

It's definately winter in the Northwest, complete with snow and fog and cold and floods, and so it's been easy not to think about local eating and farmers' markets as much as I normally would.  However, this being the Northwest, I've been vaguely aware that there is probably still a decent amount of local produce out there, should I choose to look.  Now that the busy holidays are past and my street no longer resembles a bobsled track (what great sledding it provided!), I've decided that it's time to find out what is available to Northwest locavores in the dead of winter.  Since I started this project last spring, this will be as much a learning experience for me as any readers of this blog. 

So, over the next few weekends I am going to visit various local markets and farms and report back about what I find.  First up will be the University District market in Seattle this weekend (it runs year round on Saturdays from 9:00 till 2:00 on the corner of University Way and NE 50th).  Next weekend I'll visit the West Seattle market (year round Sundays 10:00 till 2:00).  For the last weekend of January I'll see what there is to find at Pike Place during the winter and perhaps visit the Pacific Pasta people in Issaquah.  Stay tuned for winter suprises! 

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Musings on Religion and the Environment 

Having grown up in the Christian church, I've met people with a wide variety of views on many issues, including the environment.  One debate that seems to be a hot topic right now is what position the church and individual Christians should take on protecting the environment.  Obviously, I fall firmly on the environmentalist side.  However, I know many Christians, some of them very dear friends, who would disagree that it is important to worry much about the environment.  Some of them do not believe that global warming is primarily caused by man.  Since I think that mankind is the primary cause of global warming, it can be hard to even have a good discussion on the issue with many people because we are so far apart that finding common ground at first seems an impossibility. 

My church recently had a Sunday school class/discussion on this issue, and I found it to be very interesting.  Though many points of view were represented in the class and there was a good deal of disagreement, the final consensus seemed to be this: regardless of the cause of current environmental problems, it is our job as stewards of God's creation to try and protect and preserve it.  As such, it makes sense to take steps in our daily lives to protect the world that was graciously given us.  These steps could be as simple as recycling instead of tossing glass, plastic, and paper or as complex as finding a way to carpool most days of the week or switching to a locavore diet.  I would hope that the discussion got each person thinking about what one or two more things they could do to be better stewards of God's creation. 
If anyone wants to read a much more in-depth discussion of this issure, they can read the entries for Nov. 2 and Nov. 17, 2008 of my friend's blog at http://www.shblog.org/

And I welcome further discussion, so if any of you would like to add a comment, please feel free to do so. 

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year.  I love the crisp air and the vibrantly colored leaves.  After summer weather, I am ready for the Northwest's rain and cool.  The air feels better this time of year- I like to be able to feel just a touch of cool moisture in the air because it makes it feel so much cleaner.  Finally, I love the fog and the orange pumpkins. 

Fall is also one of my favorite times to shop for seasonal foods.  There's something about the change in the weather that makes me want to have a hearty, vegetable laden bowl of soup at every other meal.  Winter squash, corn, and peppers also seem fitting for the season.  Apples are at their crisp freshest this time of year, and tomatoes are abundant.  Late season fruits and veggies are finally available. 

Last Thursday, I ventured out into a slight drizzle to pick up a few things from Tacoma's Broadway market.  Though I figured the drizzle might be a deterent, I was surprised at how few people were at the market when there were so many good things to shop for.  Is it possible that people are not aware that the market will continue through this month?  If so it is unfortunate, for much of the best produce is only available at the market in the fall. 

On my list this week were baby squash, apples, and berries (possibly the last of the season).  I added okra, poblano peppers, and pork rib loins to my basket.  Also, I bought some of the recycled yarn (made from old sweaters) and I plan to learn to knit legwarmers with it.  For lunch, I took home a hot bowl of Senegal stew from the Infinite Soups booth.  Infinite Soups has been my go-to stop each of the last few weeks for a delicious lunch perfectly suited to the chilly fall air. 

A new market find is the tea vendor.  In fact, I could almost do my market diet without any of my previous exceptions now that I've found coffee, tea, and spices being sold at the Tacoma and Puyallup markets. 

Tomorrow, I plan on picking up some personal-sized winter squash, which I will cut in half, bake, and fill with a Jamaican-inspired chicken stew.  The okra will go into the stew along with the zuchini, poblano, and some purple beans.  Between the squash and the stew, it sounds like a perfect fall meal to me. 

When I first started this local eating project and went on my Farmers' Market Diet, I was curious about the health benefits of going local and how I would feel by going from a mostly healthy but largely prepackaged diet.  There were a few things I noticed right away- mainly that I had a bit more energy, was slightly less likely to get indigestion, lost a few pounds, and, most surprisingly, had better breath.  The changes didn't seem dramatic to me, though, perhaps because I had eased my way into the local eating a bit. 

Over the summer, I continued my local eating even past the end of my market diet, and found that I have begun to crave veggies, fruits, and whole grains when I am hungry instead of the sugar, candy, and salty and fatty foods I used to crave fairly often. 
However, the last few weeks of summer quarter classes found me feeling a bit stressed out and busy, and as such I turned to convenience foods, especially for finals week.  Over the course of one week right before finals, I ended up eating takeout pizza three times, a box of Entemann's donuts (yes, the whole thing over the course of three days), and part of a box of M&M cookies.  I was so full of junk, I didn't eat much that was fresh or local, though I did try to have veggies or fruit with most meals and I did choose to have veggies on my pizza.  I also gained five pounds, very quickly. 

While my food choices over finals week were perhaps due to a series of very poor nutritional choices, it did give me a rather interesting comparison with my usual fresh and local diet, and the fresh and local meals came out on top, hands down.  To put it plainly, I felt disgusting eating as much junk food as I did.  This is a fact that, frankly, surprised me a little bit.  Through high school and the beginning of college, I had a tendency to eat whatever was most convenient, including occaisional stretches of junk food.  I hadn't noticed in the past that I was feeling particularly bad, but I didn't have a clear comparison to a healthier diet.  Having now given myself a good look at how a somewhat junky diet- a diet that may well be typically American- makes me feel, I have to say that I will stick to the local and fresh approach from now on, no matter how stressful my schedule feels.  Food should make me feel better, not worse. 

My junk food week definately made me feel worse.  I was sluggish, and had stomach aches and indigestion and several headaches.  Although I was choosing junk food for its convenience factor, it certainly didn't help me get more accomplished, because I didn't have the energy to be very productive with my time.  Looking back, I can see that I felt quite a bit like I did before I incorporated more fresh, whole foods into my diet.  I simply wasn't aware that I was feeling poorly in the past, because I didn't know how much better I could feel. 

Since finals week ended, I've gone back to a fresh and local approach, and the improvement has been nearly as dramatic as the ickiness of the junk food week was.  I have my energy back, and I feel mentally sharp.  I've lost the weight finals week put on, and I've stopped getting random headaches and stomach aches.  Overall, I'm feeling pretty good, and have been enjoying the fresh, clean flavors I missed during that mid-August junk food binge. 

So, I will continue to choose to feel good.  Fresh and local will be my staples, now more than ever. 

Last week was the 6th Avenue Farmers' Market's first and I'm pleased to say that it was a triumphant opening week for what is shaping up to be a fantastic market.  A crowd came out to peruse the diverse stalls of goods, from local pesto to cheese to meat to veggies and fruits of every variety.  I left the market with more than I could carry in one trip to my truck, a bag of frozen chicken pieces for stock making necesitating my return trip.  Other purchases included sorrel, squash blossoms, tomatoes, spinach, and cherries and berries galore!  

Since it is finally berry season, I decided to stock up and freeze a good amount for the winter.  I usually end up buying bags of frozen fruit to cook and make smoothies with when berries are out of season, but bags of frozen organic fruit are quite expensive and it's not always possible to find any that are local, though I usually can find some frozen fruit from Washington or Oregon.  This year, I'm going to try to get by on frozen market and local fruit as much as possible, and so I bought flats of blueberries, blackberries, marionberries, loganberries, raspberries, and strawberries and several pounds of cherries with the intent of freezing enough for the winter.  I spent quite a bit of time washing all of that, and froze approximately three-fourths of the total.  However, I have quickly discovered that I am likely to eat a large amount of what I freeze before winter even comes, since frozen berries are such a great summertime snack, so I think I will need to repeat my berry buying and washing several times this summer.  I will need to set aside a certain amount for later, or they will all be gone!  After freezing, I have learning to can and preserve on my list of to-dos.  Also, I just bought a dehydrator, and so I will be drying some fruit, and maybe some tomatoes and venison jerky.  

This week's Market Recipe was inspired by the sorrel I bought from Terry's Berries~ 

Sorrel Pesto 
1/2 pound or so pine nuts 
most of a bunch of sorrel 
olive oil 
sea salt and lemon juice (optional) 

Place sorrel and pine nuts in a food processor (I used a VitaMix) and drizzle with olive oil to taste (probably about 2 tablespoons).  Process until the mixture achieves a pesto-like texture.  Add a dash of sea salt and splash of lemon juice if desired.  I did not measure when making this pesto, but merely added one thing or another till everything looked right.  Experiment to find what works best for you.  Extra pesto can be frozen in an ice cube tray and saved for later.  This pesto is delicious served over wild salmon, but also makes a good pasta add-in.  

Co-op update~ 
I was able to attend the tail end of the Tacoma food co-op's public outreach event at People's Park last Saturday, and it looks like plans are in motion to get the co-op up and running!  As soon as the co-op reaches its membership goal, plans will be in motion to get this thing started!  Check out www.tacomafoodcoop.com for more info.  If you're interested in having a say in what your grocery stocks and live in the Tacoma area, you should look into a membership. 

Today is the first day of the 6th Avenue Farmers' Market in Tacoma, on Pine St. between N. 6th and N 7th!  I'm excited that a new market is starting in the area at a time, place, and day that make markets more accessable to some.  With a Tuesday market, eating market food all week is becoming easier and easier to do.  

You can check out the market's website at www.6thAveFarmersMarket.com .  

I hope to see you there!  

Also, on the subject of the 6th Ave. district, I made it a point to have my birthday lunch at the Primo Grill this year, since I had heard that they put a strong emphasis on local ingredients, and I was in no way disappointed.  

The food was fabulous and very local.  Among three people, we split a green salad featuring Terry's Berries' greens, and we tried pizzas topped with Puyallup-made sausage and local, organic produce and free range chicken.  I believe the veggies and sausage in the bread salad were also local.  Even the bread and butter they served while we were contemplating the menu were local- the bread from Seattle's Central Bakery, and the delicious creamy butter from Medosweet Farms in Kent.  I finished the feast with dessert, enjoying Terry's Berries' fresh strawberries in the day's featured dessert.  

The Primo Grill's emphasis on fresh and local ingredients is surely one of the keys to its first rate meals.  I highly recommend it.  

Finally, don't miss the Tacoma food co-op commission's public outreach event in People's Park on July 19 from 4:00 to 9:00 P.M.!

It seems the thunderstorms have passed for the time being, so it's time for an update!  

My month of market eating concluded at the end of June (more to come about that later), and so I've decided that it is a good time to post some market shopping tips I've discovered over the span of the project.  

Farmers' Market Tips~ (adapted from the 100 mile diet website and personal experience)

1. Try something new.  If it's your first time at a farmers' market, or you're not a very experienced cook, deciding to try something new each time you visit is a great way to introduce yourself to new foods and a more sustainable way of eating.  

2. Don't be afraid to ask questions.  Ask questions about anything you're curious about!  What is that stripey-yellow veggie?  How do you cook something?  Is the food organic?  Where do ingredients in prepared goods come from? If you don't ask, you'll never know.  

3. Bring  a cooler with a good amount of ice (especially if you aren't going straight home).  Odds are, if you don't bring it, you'll want it.  On a hot day, greens might want to wilt, and a cooler is a must if buying meat or eggs.  

4. Carry a basket or bag large enough to hold several items.  I'm a fan of my african-made basket that I found at a local health food store, but I've also used large canvas bags instead of the basket.  Many markets sell bags at their info booth.  If you don't have one, find one!  It's a lot easier to have something that'll hold several items than to try and carry a pile of cucumbers, bag of cherries, head of lettuce, box of eggs, and a few ripe tomatoes without one.  

5. Shop early or shop late.  If you show up early, you're likely to find a much larger variety.  However, you might stumble across a few great deals if you shop during the last half-hour of the market, though the variety available will be diminished.  I've come home with virtually free oysters and two-for-the-price-of-one loaves of bread after some last minute shopping trips.  However, whenever you shop, pay attention to (and leave time for) rule #6. 

6. Browse before buying.  If you take the time to browse the entire market before buying, you will find good deals, and might avoid redundancies (bag one of salad greens might not look quite as good a booth #7's bag of salad greens).  Also, you get a better overall picture of what is available.  This also helps when planning a meal.  

7. Look for what is in season.  Nothing tastes better than seasonal, local produce.  Nothing.  

8. Look for organics, but don't ignore conventional foods.  Many smaller scale producers simply can't afford certification, but follow organic practices nonetheless.  Others may follow most organic principles, but decide not to follow one or two rules.  For example, a farmer may decide that their animals need tetanus shots, but will not use any other antibiotics.  

 9. Bring your whole family.  People of all ages get a kick out of markets.  There is often entertainment for children, and some markets have crafting booths where kids (and kids at heart) can get creative and make something to bring home.  A farmers' market is a great place for kids to start learning where food comes from.  Also, no matter the age of the individual, picky eaters are more likely to eat food they have a hand in choosing and preparing.  

10.  Explore and chat!  A market is a great place to explore new foods.  Most of the vendors are happy to tell you about their foods or wares, and will be happy to chat about their farm.  Often, the market is set in an interesting location, offering a chance to explore the surrounding shops and parks.  If you need to find a market near you, a few choice websites include: 

http://www.pugetsoundfresh.org/ (for those of you in the Puget Sound region of Washington) 

http://www.localharvest.org/ (a national listing of farmers' markets, CSA's, and farms) 

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/ (the website of the national Slow Food movement- includes general info about local and "slow" eating) 

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Simple Puyallup Farmers' Market Pasta (likely adaptable to many local markets) 

Ingredients (at the Puyallup Market, all are available within a few steps of each other): 

1 package Pacific Pasta fettucine (or other fresh pasta) 
1 package Black Sheep Creamery feta cheese (or any feta- parmesan would be good as well) 
1 package grapeseed pesto (or any pesto) 

Directions: 
Boil water for pasta.  Cook pasta for roughly five minutes, checking often for doneness.  While pasta is cooking, crumble feta with a spoon.  When pasta is ready, drain, place in a large bowl, and stir in feta and pesto.  Serve alongside fresh, local greens.  

This recipe takes less than fifteen minutes from start to table, and will make lots of leftovers.  

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Noticing lables at the supermarket:  

Following the completion of my farmers' market diet, I went to the supermarket for a few things I've been missing: my favorite fresh salsa, chocolate, and ice cream.  I wasn't sure what I'd find in the way of salsa, what with the tomato scare, but was pleased to find my favorite salsa in the deli section, branded with a lable explaining that the tomatoes it contained came from Arizona still on the vine.  Local, no (tomato season is just getting going here).  But the lable was unusual in that it did explain where an ingredient originated.  

Later in the evening, I noticed the eggs we had gotten from the supermarket when The Pig Lady sold out at the farmers' market were also labled: Washington grown free roaming organic.  Another lable stating the origins of the product.  

I've since found several other products labled similarly, where before I had little idea where my eggs, tomatoes, or cherries came from unless I bought them at a farmers' market or directly from the farm (or unless they were from outside the U.S., in which case they must be labled).  

Perhaps this is a lesson that is being learned from the tomato scare: it's good to know where your food comes from, and it's even better if it's local.  A food system that mixed crops from several producers may be shown as the unsafe dinosaur it can sometimes be.  When the industrial system fails, it sheds light on better alternatives.  Mad cow helped bring local organic beef into the spotlight, and Salmonella tomatoes may do the same for local produce.  Though a food safety failure of such a large magnitude is tragic, perhaps we as a nation can learn from it and improve our food system. 

When I started my Market diet, I did not think that timing would be an issue.  To my surprise, it has been the biggest challenge with my market diet.  I'm not a terribly experienced cook, and I had never attempted some of the cooking I have found myself doing over the last few weeks.  Usually I would whip up one of my standby meals in a relatively small amount of time, but given the variety of foods from the market, I've been much more experimental with my cooking, thus opening the door to culinary catastrophes (and more common minor mishaps).  Nothing new ever goes as quickly as I want it to- no surprise that cooking has a bit of a learning curve, I guess.  

As such, I've come to appreciate the true value of leftovers.  

Does it sound strange to be loving leftovers?  As a kid, I really didn't like leftovers; I wanted to move on to something new and more interesting.  More recently, leftovers haven't been much of a problem, because I was a bit of a microwaveable dinner addict before starting my Market diet.  Frozen dinners come in many varieties, heat up in a few minutes, and leave little to clean up.  I went from a convenience diet to a cook-it-yourself-or-be-hungry diet.  This change did bring a boost in nutrition- I think I may have cut my sodium intake in half- but it has been a challenge for me to go from my routine of convenience foods to having to plan time in the kitchen.  

Enter the leftovers.  If I cook more than I need one day, the next I can use that handy microwave of mine, or simply stick something in the oven to heat with relatively minimal prep.  Or, I can make a sandwhich using leftover pork chop or chicken and fresh greens and whatever else I might have on hand.  Leftover chicken scraps and veggies that are aging in the bottom of the crisper drawer become stock, which can be frozen and pulled out at short notice to be combined with simple ingredients to make soup.  One of my favorite soup attempts used chickpeas, kale, green onions, pork medalions, and carrots.  Simply saute the pork, heat the stock, and simmer everything together until ready (the chickpeas do need soaking for a few hours before cooking).  Leftover pasta can be used in a myriad of ways.  Leftover meatballs are one great addition, with salsa mixed with fresh herbs used as a pasta sauce.  A recipe of stuffed french toast (french toast layered with fresh cheese and baked in the oven) can last for a few days' worth of breakfasts.  Best of all, many of these leftover recipes taste even better after the flavors have had a chance to meld for a day or two. 

So, now instead of cooking every meal from scratch beginning to end, as I thought I would do when I originally went on my diet, I can plan for the days when I will not have much time to cook but still want something tasty from the market.  

I have learned to love my leftovers. 

Tomorrow's new food:  french pressed coffee from 2 Cup Coffee Company (Tacoma's Broadway Market) 

Also, check out today's News Tribune Soundlife section for Ed Murrieta's day of Market Diet eating! 

I've wanted my own vegetable garden for quite a while, but I've not really had the place to put it- until now.  This spring we cut down quite a few trees that we thought could possible fall on the house during a wind storm.  It was sad to cut down the trees, but we were a bit worried after a very healthy 90-foot douglass fir blew down last year, nearly taking part of our neighbor's house with it (it landed roughly four feet from their master bedroom).  With this evidence of plant-caused destruction, we dedided that we should continue to enjoy only the trees that aren't likely to crush buildings.  Though I miss the green of the trees we did remove, the small logging operation did leave me with a space that I almost instantly labled my veggie garden.  

Since the day I staked a claim on the space, I've been planning my garden.  In my mind I picture a lush space that will not only provide more than my family and I can eat, but will also be extremely pretty.  I picture raised beds filled with rows of beans and corn, tomatoes and onions surronded by a border of flowers- nasturtium and allysium, perhaps.  My garden will be fantastic!  

I hope it will be, anyways.  I spent my Sunday at the Point Defiance Flower and Garden show gathering information to start this dream garden. 

First, though, I need to get some soil.  Living on a hill in the south Puget Sound region means that my so-called soil is pure glacial till.  For those of you who aren't familiar with this geologic term, glacial till basically means the land is 70% rocks of various sizes and 30% sand.  Not good for growing a veggie garden.  I've been aware since I first conjured up mental images of my garden that I will need to create raised beds and purchase soil to bring in.  I want to use soil that has not been treated with chemicals so I can garden organically. 

This has been road block #1~ I can't find any soil to buy in the area that is organic.  Several companies offer topsoil of varying quality that is not organic.  Nobody within an hour's drive seems to offer anything organic, and I can't afford to ship my soil from farther away.  Nobody I spoke with at the Flower and Garden Show knew of any source that sold organic topsoil.  One gentleman I spoke with at the Master Gardeners' booth told me that I won't find any.  He claimed nobody sells "topsoil" anymore, but rather mixtures of materials sorced from all over the place and almost always treated with chemicals.  I may need to purchase the best soil I can find and then ammend it for a few years until I am able to call it organic.  I find this to be disconcerting- even if I can call it organic because it has not seen any synthetic chemicals in three years, will all chemical residues be gone?  Thus, I am going to continue my search for soil for at least another week before settling for anything less than organic.  

Road block #2~ I seem to have a "black thumb."  I'm not very good at keeping any plant alive- I recently killed a few cacti by accident- and it may be a real stretch to think that I can make any plant thrive.  I started a few chickpeas last week (originally destined for soup, they sprouted before I was to cook them), but I managed to kill them within 24 hours of sorting out the sprouted peas.  I'm not talented with plants.  I'm downright dangerous to their well-being!  

Despite this, I've started a container garden, which thus far includes some lettuce, Swiss chard, cilantro, and herbs.  Perhaps a hopeful sign is that I've kept my rosemary plant alive for a year and the lemon mint has recovered after freezing to the soil last winter (I learned lemon mint is not that hardy when I left it out in the snow).  I can't wait until I can eat a meal of what I've grown!  

Here's to hoping that the learning curve does not prove to be too steep, and that I can overcome this "black thumb" tendency of mine and keep my lettuce alive long enough for it to become salad! 

I finally roasted my first chicken today!  Never mind that it was supposed to be dinner yesterday.  

I learned Chicken Roasting Rule #1 over these last two days- everything will take longer than you think it will, or even than your trusty cookbook says.  It would seem that Chicken Roasting Rule #1 is the exact same as Thanksgiving Turkey Roasting Rule #1 (which I have learned from observation over the years).  I should have guessed this beforehand.  

Being naive in the ways of rosting whole birds, though, I took the chicken out of the freezer yesterday (Monday) morning and put it on a plate in the meat drawer in the refrigerator.  Then, feeling dinner was well in hand, I headed up to Pike Place Creamery for the dairy I needed to buy.  I got my milk (2% this time, to compare flavor), butter, and cream, and some cheese from Beecher's (necessary because I was short after no-shows at the market last weekend), and then headed off to Whole Foods for a few select things (soap, Badger Mountain Reisling, and buttermilk and vanilla for my banana bread recipe- see rule #5 in my user info for the banana bread exception to the diet).  

While I was on my way to Whole Foods, I called home for an update on the degree of poultry ice still covering my chicken to discover that the thing was still virtually a rock.  This was a problem, since it was 6:50 P.M., and I had planned to toss the thing in the oven as soon as I got home for a late dinner.  I asked the guy at the meat counter how long I should thaw a whole chicken, and was informed that it was an overnight process in the refrigerator.  Oh.... 

Dinner last night became Whole Foods pizza, since I did not have a backup plan for my chicken.  I did use my "off" night to clean a few bulky non-market items out of my refrigerator, making a lot more room.  I also had market fruit for dessert.  

On the topic of Whole Foods, I made an interesting discover while I was there.  On the newstand next to Cooking Light was a magazine called edibleSeattle, which bills itself as "Celebrating the seasonal bounty of Puget Sound" and is all about local food!  All locavores in the Puget Sound region should rush to go buy this (or check out their website at www.edibleseattle.net )!  

Finally, chicken dinner~ After last night's non-roasted dinner, I was determined to roast that bird for tonight's dinner.  It was into the oven as soon as I got home at 7:30, and my cookbook promised that it would take not more than an hour.  An hour into cooking, and I checked the bird, and discovered that it was not close to done.  Back into the oven it went.  Thirty minutes later, and its juices were still running red.  Back into the oven.  Two hours into cooking, and it was not quite done.  Back into the oven.  Finally, at 10:00 P.M., a full half hour after I had cooked the pasta and steamed the asian greens (bok choy, pea shoots, spinach, and green onions with olive oil and sea salt), I pronounced the chicken cooked and pulled it out to carve it (my first time carving a bird, incidentally).  

This leads me back to chicken roasting rule #1: Allow a full day for the thing to thaw, and two hours EXTRA cooking time, or you will be having dinner at 10:00 P.M.   At least it was an exceptionally tasty dinner.  

Today's dinner and breakfast were both thanks to Cheryl Ouellette, The Pig Lady, who raised the chicken, and produced the andouilli sausage and gathered the eggs that I had for breakfast.  

Maybe tomorrow I can conquer the challenge of making my leftover chicken pieces into soup stock, which I really hope takes less time than thawing a solidly frozen chicken. 

After a lazy morning (I ignored the alarm clock until 11:00), today's task was to head down to Olympia for a few key items: cheese, milk, cream, fruit, rolls or bagels, pasta sauce of some sort, and cereal mix in some form or another.  Also on my agenda was lunch made at the market, but I was too slow in leaving for Olympia to have time to both shop and make it to the food line before 3:00 (I watched the Mariners beat themselves in the eigth inning before turning off the tv and leaving for the market).  

I quickly checked several items off my list, getting 6 organic apples (2 each of fuji, pink lady, and cameo varieties), 1 Walla Walla onion, and 1/6 pound of wild morel mushrooms at The Fresh Approach booth.  I've never cooked with wild mushrooms before, though I've been intrigued by the idea after reading an article in last October's Cooking Light magazine about northwest mushroom foragers.  I look forward to working with them. 1/6 of a pound should be enough to make a meal- they're so light that that amounts to a couple of handfuls' worth.  

I was disappointed not to see Twin Oaks Creamery at the market today- I hear they are usually there on Sundays- and will need to make a trip to Pike Place Creamery tomorrow for milk, cream, and butter.  I'm running low on each.  Also, San Francisco Street Bakery was sold out of everything but pastry, meaning that I will be without bagels or buns of any kind until at least Thursday.  I will use loaf bread instead, and I hope it will last long enough.  

My disappointment was banished, though, by the find of the day at Blue Heron Bakery- granola!  Some form of cereal was one of the main items on my list, and there it was!  I will look forward to a larger variety of breakfasts.  In addition to the granola, I left the bakery's stall with Ginger Raspberry muffins, which will comprise tomorrow's breakfast.  

Next, I stopped by Salsa So Fresh! looking for a tomato-based salsa that could double as a pasta sauce.  I think the Salsa Olivo should do the trick.  Across the aisle at Johnson Berry Farm, I bought some strawberry syrup that will go on French toast.  Then I was back across the market to JAWA Gourmet Nut Roastery, where I purchased a small packet each of lime-coconut glazed almonds and cinnamon-glazed cashews, which will be great snack food this week, with a hint of sugar but lots of unsaturated fat to balance out that portion of my nutritional profile.  

Finally, I went in search of a bit more produce, stopping first at the Sullivan's Homestead stand, where I was treated to yummy marinated Walla Walla onion and asparagus (which they had sold out of), then loaded up with free pears that were too bashed up to be sold commercially, but still perfectly edible.  Thanks go to the gentleman who sent me off with six D'Anjous and one Bosc pear, which fill my need to have a more balanced variety of fresh fruit.  With my basket heavy with orchard fruit, I made two more stops- first, Stoney Plains Organic Farms, where I bought a bunch of parsley, and then Pigman's Farm for fresh dill, oregano, and the last bit of asparagus to be found at this week's market.  

As I was leaving the market, disappointed at missing lunch at on-site restaurant stalls, I came across a gentleman who was trying to give away the last two bags of oysters he hadn't sold.  I offered to buy a bag, and was presented with a bundle of seafood and asked for a measley two dollars.  As I only had a twenty, and he did not have change, I left the market with an IOU and new plans for lunch- steamed oysters.  

I've never cooked oysters before.  I don't think I had even touched a living one, and these were living.  When I went to clean off a goopy looking part of the shell, I was surprised by it indignantly retracting from my touch- it was the muscle the oyster uses to manouver about.  Though the fisherman suggested I steam the oysters in beer, I opted for white wine (I will be adding wine to my list of market exceptions, which I will update later in this post).  Into the pot went Badger Mountain Reisling (a delicious, delicate organic wine made in Washington), oysters, 1 green onion, and some sage, dill, oregano, and parsley.  While the oysters were steaming, I cooked some of the egg noodles I bought yesterday and added some more herbs and onions, sea salt, and olive oil (cooking oil is also going on my list of exceptions- I use it too much to go without).  Oysters steamed open, and were added to the pasta, producing a very, very tasty lunch.  

Dinner tonight was also very yummy~ The Pig Lady's pork chops rubbed with a spice and market honey mixture and pan seared, steamed purple broccoli from Terry's Berries simply dressed with a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt, salad greens (also from Terry's Berries) dressed with a tiny bit of olive oil and Sailor Girl's Puyallup-made Sweet-N-Sour Sauce, and Yakima-grown russet potatoes from Puyallup's Sunday market baked with Golden Glen butter mashed in.  With this feast, we finished the bottle of Badger Mountain Reisling.  Dessert was simply a sliced D'Anjou pear, one of the slightly beat up ones I got for free at the market.  It's mildly scratched exterior did not affect its sweet juiciness, and it was a perfect ending to a full day of delicious home-prepared market eating (my late breakfast had consisted of toasted Toscano bread with butter and honey).  

Market Diet Exceptions~ I've settled on a list of foods that I do not think I can find at a local market and cannot easily do without to except from my market diet.  These are: olive oil, lemon juice, wine and beer, tea, and spices.  I don't think I will need to add to this list.  

Tune in tomorrow as I attempt to roast my first chicken! 

I just got back from browsing the Puyallup Saturday Market on a beautiful sunny afternoon.  Not too hot, not too cold, it was a perfect day for going to the farmers' market.  Really, it's a perfect day for just about any outdoor activity: swimming, walking, playing baseball, drinking lemonade in a hammock.  

I've been looking forward to today's market to fill a couple of holes left after the Broadway market.  It's nice having so many markets around here, because what one does not have, another is likely to.  Tacoma had coffee and goat meat, Olympia has organic apples and pears from cold storage, and Puyallup has pasta.  I had a lot of protein from Thursday's market, but I was in great need of a larger variety of carbs.  

Pacific Pasta to the rescue!  I came back with three and a half pounds of pasta (two pounds of egg noodles, one pound of roasted red pepper pasta, and one half pound of spinach sheets), and now have fresh, ready-to-heat pasta waiting in my refrigerator.  Hopefully, this will be enough to last me through the rest of the week.  

I also brought back a loaf of "Toscano Baton" bread from A Taste Of Eden bakery and some Oatmeal Raisin and Peanutbutter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies from Stone Ground Bakery.  Cookies are not the most healthful of snacks, but I have been wanting something to replace my energy bar habit when I am on the run.  A habit it is- I went through as many as ten energy bars a week.  I'm discovering that I ate things like that on the run more than I realized; taking away a chance to continue a habit is a sure way to find out how often you did something.  Now that I have to take time to cook, I'm finding that it's hard for me to slow down and calm down enough to make more than one meal every other day.  Not having to bake (I have not found flour sold at the market yet) does cut down on cooking time, though baking is my favorite culinary activity.  These cookies will come in handy on the days I have four hours of evening classes and need something portable to get me through.  

Other market finds~ I have stir fry ingredients in the form of pea vines (which are edible!) from Lee's Fresh Produce, Pak Choi from Good Karma Farms, Delta Red and European white onions from Alvarez Farms (which sadly sold out of peanuts before I got there), and a half pound of spinach from Terry's Berries.  Sidhu Farms supplied two types of jam- Raspberry Rhubarb and Blueberry- which will increase the variety of fruit I have until berry season starts in a few weeks.  I bought a Kiwi Salsa made with tomatillos and Sunshine Sweet-N-Sour Sauce from Sailor Girl Gourmet Foods, both of which will add flavor and flair to my cooking.  

Finally, I came home with a whole chicken from Cheryl Ouellette (aka The Pig Lady) which will be both a roasted dinner and the foundation of that soup stock I'm so wanting to make.  I've never made my own stock before, but I am certain this chicken will be the perfect material to start with.  

Meg from Black Sheep Creamery was kind enough to send me home with the rest of her fresh cheese sample bin free of charge- she had sold out before I got there, which was dissappointing because I used the rest of the fresh cheese I had with this mornings breakfast of toast with market cheese and honey.  Thank you, Meg.  I will greatly enjoy the cheese.  I do believe it will go into lasagna with the spinach pasta. 

Lunch was bought from the hot food vendors at the market and consisted of a hot dog bought from the last stand open, as I had dallyed my way over to the hot foods.  It was a very tasty hot dog, though, and the lemonade I bought with it was perfect for a sunny day.  

Dinner tonight will be at the Memorial Day Rendezvous (a historical mountain-man style event held annually at Paul Bunyan Rifle Range).  This should be my last meal away from the official diet for a bit.  Starting the diet right before Memorial Day weekend has proven to be tricky timing as I am out and about to various holiday weekend events, pulling me away from my home kitchen.  Thus, tonight will be a frontier-style stew dinner, painstakingly prepared by dedicated cooks for the rendezvous-goers each year in a gigantic kettle over an open campfire. 

Yesterday's diet~ breakfast consisted of a free-range omelette with onion leftover from a stir-fry I made last week and the rest of my Olympia market dill, all of which was accompanied by Stone Ground Bakery's whole wheat bread, which I toasted and topped with The Bee Lady's Fireweed Honey.  Lunch was delicious- another cheese sandwhich, but much more gourmet.  I toasted some more of the whole wheat bread in Golden Glen butter (bought at Pike Place Creamery), then spread fresh sheep cheese on thickly and topped it all with butter-sauteed onions, organic fuji apple and mixed greens from Terry's Berries.  I grilled the whole thing panini style, carmelizing the onions and apples and melting the cheese into a just-barely gooey filling.  Yum!  Dinner last night was at my Bible study group's barbecue, dictating another night away from market food.  

A note on the rules~ I'm adding Rule #5, because I need to use up a few things in the refrigerator before they go bad.  Rule 5 exceptions will include a half cup of cream, one parsnip, some brussels sprouts, and two overly ripe bananas I will make into banana bread (using supermarket flour, buttermilk, and vanilla but farmers' market walnuts).  A tip to anyone starting a diet like this- clean your refrigerator before you start, or it will become a crowded black hole full of hairy surprises.  

Flour~ I am hoping against hope to find some freshly milled flour at a local market, or at least some pancake mix.  With all of the baked goods out there, there has to be local flour to sell.  Maybe I should ask Stone Ground Bakery about it- they do mill their own flour daily.  It's organic, if not quite local (grown in Montana).  If they would sell it, I would buy it.  

Tomorrow~ Puyallup Sunday Market and Olympia Farmers' Market.  I need to get some more apples and pears from Olympia, having finished my last fresh fruit (other than rhubarb) at breakfast this morning.  I'm also hoping to find some sort of cereal mix or granola to add variety to breakfast. 

Happy eating, everyone, and enjoy the beautiful weather! 

 As promised, I'm finally getting around to posting about my trip to the Black Sheep Creamery last Tuesday.  I would have been more efficient in getting this post up, but I needed to spend several hours fighting with the internet to get my pictures uploaded.  

Anyways, last Tuesday I got up a bit earlier than normal to make the drive down I-5 to the Chehalis exit, then through Adna to meet with Brad and Meg at the Black Sheep Creamery.  Despite some traffic congestion leaving Puyallup, I got to the Creamery in time to observe the tail end of the milking process.  By "tail end" I am referring to both my timing and my view of the process.  The sheep are milked from an elevated platform, heads in buckets of grain and tails toward the milker (and observer).  

The only milking I had ever observed before this was at the Wilcox dairy barn at the Puyallup Fair (a very important part of the fair that will be greatly missed).  I had seen the enormous milking equipment employed by Wilcox dairy, but I had never thought that it could come in a miniature, portable version for sheep.  Black Sheep has just such a device, with two mechanical milkers that deposit the milk into a five-gallon container which is filled twice a day, morning and evening.  Some of the final milking does need to be done by hand, which Brad did very efficiently.  

After milking, we walked the sheep out to the back pasture, which is once again turning into a verdant green paradise for sheep after being coated with a deep blanket of river mud during last December's flood.  Though the pastures are once again looking like pasture-land, the mud is still around to make life very slippery for the unwary back-path walker.  I had to be careful not to end up, well, end up.  The ewes didn't seem to notice, and followed us as soon as we started out for the pasture, just like sheep are supposed to.  Once one decides to go, everyone else does, too.  

Next came the time for me to earn my keep, which I did by doing a few hours of barn cleaning.  I won't get too descriptive about the job, since we all know what stall mucking entails, but I will say that although the work is dirty, there is something very satisfying about leaving behind a much cleaner portion of a barn.  The barn itself is a very nifty old barn, built in the late 1800's.  The boards appeared to have been hand-hewn, with knot holes in a few.  

Finally, having earned my keep, it was time to clean up and learn a bit about cheese making from Meg.  Tuesday is the day to take down the fresh cheese that has been drained of whey and stop the culturing process with salt and refrigeration.  We whipped through several five pound batches, literally, using a kitchen-aid to mix the salt with the soft cheese, just until blended.  If anyone at the Portland Market had slightly tough cheese, they can blame me, because I had a little bit of a tendency to overmix the cheese a tad, not knowing through experience when enough mixing was enough.  After finishing with the fresh cheese, Meg answered a few of my questions about aged cheese, and let me try a sample of some sheep cheddar, which I thought was delicious.  I can't wait till they start selling the aged cheese at the Puyallup market, though I suppose I will have to. 

I ended my trip with one more visit to the ewes and baby lambs for a photo session.  Pictures are posted below.  

The Cheese Room, with fresh cheese hanging in cheese cloth, and newly formed aged cheeses below.  


Meeting the Lambs, who are hoping that I will bring grain (which I did not do, to their disappointment).  

 

 
 

Baby black-and-white lamb.  

 

A St. Croix ewe, who is a hair-growing type instead of a wool-growing type.  

  

Finally, my favorite picture from the Black Sheep Creamery's web site (http://www.blacksheepcreamery.com/BSC/ ) 

  

Many thanks to Meg and Brad at the creamery for letting me come down for a day. 

Today was day 1 of the Farmers' Market Diet!  It was definately an interesting start to the project.  Lunch marked the official start to the diet, which will continue for a month with two weeks of an omnivore's diet, one week of a vegetarian diet, and one week of a vegan diet.  The experiment will officially end after breakfast on Thursday, June 19, at which point I will decide how to continue with this local eating experiment.  One thing is certain: the local eating habit is here to stay.  I attempted to do a week of eating from only supermarkets to get a point of comparison, but I was not able to avoid local market foods.  I feel much healthier eating a diet based on fresh, local whole foods.  The higher amount of processed and junk foods that Americans typically eat now give me stomach and head aches.  

Official Diet Rules:  
1. All foods I eat must be procured at a local farmers' market, though I may decide to make exceptions for unprocessed whole grains, olive oil, tea, yogurt, and mayonaise if I find that I cannot procure one of these items at the market and my diet really needs one or another.  I will start without making any exceptions to the rule, but may allow one or more of these items if I find I am often wanting or needing to use it.  

2. My important social escape clause:  in the case of a social event, such as the church barbecue I will be attending tomorrow, I will not worry about the diet because I do not wish to be antisocial for the sake of a diet.  I will try to bring one or more dishes or snacks made of market ingredients to each local gathering.  

3. On market days, I may buy a meal from a restaurant vendor serving food at the market.  

4. The milk clause: if I am not able to find milk, cream, butter, or yogurt at a local market, I may buy milk and dairy products from Pike Place Creamery, though Pike Place Market does not quite fit my definition of a true farmers' market.  I see it as more of a market that happens to include some farmers' stalls.  Pike Place does not count for rule #3.  


Day 1 Musings~ 
Today I started my diet with lunch at the Broadway Thursday market in downtown Tacoma.  Lunch was a pulled pork sandwhich from the Secret of Europe stall.  As usual for this group, the sandwhich was delicious.  I was disappointed that they had sold out of everything else, including their cabbage rolls, by the time I got there.  Lunch was on the run, as I had a class to get to, and so I took the sandwhich with me in a to go box.  It was still delicious twenty minutes after ordering it, and still warm!  

I took some time before shopping to browse the market to find out what vendors I might expect to see this year.  A listing, by category (each category is under a cut- click to see list and then go back to previous view to see catagory listing again):  

I did find some things that were very exciting finds: coffee (thank goodness for everyone around me that I will not need to go uncaffeinated for a month!), peanuts, and dried chickpeas (so nutritious).  Also, I can't wait to try the ground goat meat I got from Toboten farms.  I've had lamb and antelope before, but never goat.  There were also lots of nurseries offering many varieties of veggie starts.  Next week I will definately buy some plants started by various nurseries to supplement my black-thumbed attempts at starting my own seeds for a veggie garden.  

I left the market with ground goat meat, frozen Alaskan King Salmon caught in Bristol Bay, some Andouilli sausage from The Pig Lady, a pound or so of greens from Terry's Berries, a loaf of 100% whole wheat bread from Stone Ground Bakery, and Fireweed Honey from The Bee Lady.  All in all, including lunch, I spent $36.55.  I have proteins for much of the next week, and I will flesh out my first week's menu over the next few days.  

Eating~ Lunch was not a challenge with several delicious options presented by the vendors at the market.  I had an apple I got a couple of weeks ago at the Olympia market for an afternoon snack.  Dinner was a challenge, because I had a half hour at home between class, errands, and evening orchestra practice.  I had planned to thaw and pan-grill pork chops I bought from Cheryl Ouellette at the Puyallup market two weeks ago and serve them with mashed potatoes and steamed purple broccoli (also left over from the Puyallup market), but I didn't have enough time to do any real cooking.  Dinner became a grilled cheese sandwhich using today's bread and sheep cheddar I brought back when I volunteered at the Black Sheep Creamery on Tuesday.  Though the Creamery sells at the Puyallup market, they don't sell this cheddar there, and so I was really stretching the rules.  Though the vendor is from the market, the  cheese was not.  One day in, and my schedule dictates an exception- I will surely not make this a habit!  It was a delicious, local sandwhich, though, and it went very well with another Olympia market apple.  Cheddar and apples pair really well.  After my hurried dinner, I did accept some of the offered popcorn treats at orchestra practice, remembering that rule 3 allows me to eat non-market foods in social situations.  It would have been snobbery to turn up my nose at home-made goodies.  

All in all, it was a mixed first day.  There were a few highlights and several difficulties.  One of the main challenges I may encounter with this diet will be my busy schedule.  On most days I have some time to cook, but I am not the most experienced of cooks, though I enjoy it.  This means that cooking takes me twice as long as it would take people who really know what they are doing.  I will need to take care to make enough time to prepare this healthy food.  

Also, soup.  I miss soup already.  I will need to take some time this next week to make some soup stock and freeze the extra so that I can make soup quickly and easily on demand.  Stocking up, indeed.  The pasta, veggies, and meats that I will need to complete the soup can all be found at the market.  

Tomorrow is a trip to the Olympia market.  Good night, and happy eating! 

Tonight I opened my glass bottle of the local milk I procured at the Pike Place Creamery, and with the help of my family proceded to have a taste test- the local Golden Glen Creamery non-fat milk vs. Horizon Organics' skim from the supermarket.  I could definately tell the difference, with my vote going to the Golden Glen milk for it's creamier and more interesting flavor.  My family, each of whom drinks more milk than I do, preferred the Horizon that they are used to, though it was a close decision.  

The Golden Glen milk went very well with my chocolate chip cookie.  I then decided to heat some of it to make hot chocolate and made an interesting discovery- unhomogenized milk seems to heat much more quickly in the microwave than does homogenized.  I accidentally boiled it over in half the time that it usually takes to warm the homogenized milk.  Interesting.  

I must say that it made much better hot chocolate than homogenized milk does- it lended a smoother texture and creamier flavor to the chocolate.  

Speaking of dairy- tomorrow I'm off to the Black Sheep Creamery in the Chehalis area to learn about making sheep's cheese.  It should be a fascinating day, filled with learning, some stall mucking, and baby lambs!  

Thursday will start my farmers' market diet!  

In planning for the start of my Farmers' Market diet, I've been a bit worried about being able to find a few things at local markets, namely a variety of carbs (pasta and grains), oils (olive oil) and some dairy (milk, yogurt, butter, cream).  I was pleased to find fresh pasta sold at the Puyallup market, which, along with the abundantly available fresh bread, solves my carb worries.  Dairy has still been a concern, though.  I have recently been relying on yogurt to meet my calcium daily value, and I'll have to make adjustments to my diet if I can't find any.  I think milk has been available at the Olympia market in the past, but last December's flood has prevented some vendors from being able to sell their full range of products this year.  I don't want to make an exception for milk and cream during the diet, and so I had some sleuthing to do to find a solution.  

Today I went to the Seattle Cheese Festival, and in addition to trying some great cheeses, including many locally made varieties, I went to check out the Pike Place Creamery.  I'm pleased to say that the Creamery sells milk, cream, and butter from several local dairies.  I seem to have found a solution for my milk dilemma.  Though I would have preferred to find my dairy from more local markets, and the Pike Place Market fits my farmers' market definition a tad bit loosely,  I think that this dairy fits my rules (must be available at a local market and produced locally) well enough that I'll be albe to use it for the first two weeks of my diet (omnivorous and vegetarian- the vegan week naturally excludes dairy).  The creamery does sell two local organic yogurt brands, as well, but those brands can also be found at big box supermarkets in this area, and so I've yet to decide whether they fit my rules or not.  

The butter from the creamery should solve my olive oil dilemma as well, since I can replace my use of olive oil with butter for most  intents and purposes for a couple of weeks.  I will miss the health benefits of the healthy olive oil, and it's flavor.  Local cooking oils may prove to be a tricky proposition in the long run.  I'd like to make as much of my diet as possible local, but I don't know of any locally produced oils.  Definately something to look into.  Perhaps my recent discovery of a type of hardy olive tree that will grow in Washington will lead to a solution.  

Cheese Festival~ 
I had a great time wandering the booths of the cheese festival and tasting all sorts of local and international cheeses.  I went to the festival with my father, and we came home with some more fresh sheep cheese from Black Sheep Creamery (better than cream cheese on bagels) and some raw milk Swiss gouda, which we thought was very good-a, indeed.  Other highlights included Beecher's Cheddar (very creamy), the Rogue River creamery's cheddars (the stout and lavender were especially interesting), a sweet tasting Dublin cheddar from KerryGold (definately not local), and Mt. Townsend's delicious Tomme (which they say can be found at Whole Foods and Thriftways).  

Though I've been concerned about finding local dairy, local cheese is definately not a problem.  I don't think I'd necessarily want to eat enough cheese to completely meet my calcium daily value, because it's higher in fat, but these local cheeses could make me change my mind!  I think most people have no idea what they are missing by buying mass produced cheese at the supermarket.  Though some of that cheese is fairly good (I'm a fan of Tillamook, which is also local), most of it isn't even in the same league as many of the local cheeses I tasted today. 

Thanks to a friend who works at a nursery in the Chehalis area, I've found that even my citrus can be locally grown!  This is very exciting, because I was convinced that citrus was one of the things that I would perpetually have to buy shipped from distant locations (along with bananas, coffee, mangos, chocolate, papaya, etc..).  It seems that I can get at least some of my citrus from a location as near as my backyard for at least some of the year.  Mind you, I'm probably still going to need to get any December citrus from a supermarket, but at least this is a way to cut my carbon footprint a bit.  

Also, the same nursery (Burnt Ridge Nursery) sells Washington Orange trees, which supposedly produce fairly prolifically, and hardy olive trees.  More things I didn't know would grow in Washington.  

Note:  This weekend's hiatus from farmers markets is due to a skating competition and the Seattle Cheese Festival.  I'm also currently calculating prices and nutrition values of a typical American diet, an organic supermarket-based diet, and vegetarian and vegan versions of the organic supermarket diet.  I'll compare these with my farmers' market diet.  

Farmer's Market Diet to begin on Thursday with a visit to the Broadway (Tacoma) Market at breakfast time!   

I made my hurried trip to the Puyallup market this afternoon after a busy morning, but still had enough time to make some observations.  

First, it's so nice to buy my food at a place where I can chat with the people who produce it.  I had never realized just how detached I am from my food and the community that produces it until I started pursuing this local eating project.  I guess it just struck me as normal to go to a single place, find practically everything I was looking for, and have no idea where it came from.  It never occurred to me that it could be a really good thing to know the people and practices behind my food until fairly recently.  I think first time mad cow disease was discovered in cattle raised in the US was the first time I really thought about how important it could be to know how my food was grown or raised.  

Besides, it's really nice to know there is a community wrapped around local food.  I like knowing the people who work hard to bring the best possible products to the market.  I enjoy hearing updates on piglets born on the farm, and the arrival of new little lambs at the dairy/creamery.  I appreciate being able to ask exactly what goes into raising or preparing the food, and where it comes from.  Knowing this local food community makes the whole process of buying and eating my food more human.  I'm starting to wonder just how much we miss having a real community around us in these modern times where it is normal not to know most of our neighbors.  It has been very nice to rediscover one form of community.  

Also, I think the week-long diet is going to be easier to pull off than I first thought.  I've discovered a pasta company at the Puyallup market (yea, Pacific Pasta!), meaning that I will not have to except flour and grains from my market diet.  Milk and butter are still items I'm worried about.  I don't know of anyone who is bringing those to market this year.  Last winter's flooding really impacted several dairies in the Chehalis area, and so items previously available at the Olympia market might not be there this year.  Seafood and meat seem to be abundantly available at each market, so I'll be able to get my protein.  I even found a farm that has grown and dried beans, so I could possibly go vegetarian if I wanted to.  A possible solution to my dairy problem could be the hazelnuts I found in Olympia last week.  I could make hazelnut milk.  

I might expand my diet to three weeks or more, the first including all foods in an omnivore's diet, the second vegetarian with eggs and dairy but no meat, and the third vegan.  I'd like to show that a range of eating styles can be accomplished locally.  Also, I'll keep track of my budget, hopefully finding that this diet is not only healthful, but budget-friendly.  It could be that this farmer's market diet will provide better nutrition for a price that is lower than what I would spend on a normal, supermarket week.  I'm going to track my supermarket expenses the week before I start my diet to compare my budget.  

A final observation- I don't pay as much attention to the town I live in as perhaps I should.  Driving to the Olympia market last week, I was noticing how many interesting shops and businesses there were downtown, and how I should really take some time to explore them.  Today I realized that Puyallup also has several interesting looking businesses that I never notice as I drive by them daily.  The first place I should check out is Kristy's dress shop, located about a block south of the park (Pioneer Park) where the market is held.  Since I share a name with the store's apparent owner, I'm curious, and the display in the window seems to promise an interesting shopping experience. 

 

Hello, all readers!  Welcome to my local food blog.  In this journal I'll be chronicling my exploration of the local food movement, including an attempt to eat only foods I can purchase at one of my local farmers' markets.  In fact, I was inspired to start this journal by one of the vendors at my downtown farmers' market today.  When she heard what I was doing, she told me I should blog it instead of merely journaling it, and so here I am.  

You may be wondering what would inspire me to eschew the supermarket and head off to the outdoor environs that house the farmers' markets in my area.  Why would I ever want to forgoe the convenience of a large, heated, comfortable store where I can find most anything at most any time of the year?  What do I think is so much better about the food sold by a relative handful of locals?  

Well, firstly, though I occasionally appreciate that cherries (my favorite food) show up at the supermarket in the middle of December (the Chilean version of July), the fact that much of the stuff I buy at the supermarket has traveled thousands of miles to my plate worries me.  The average distance that food travels from sprout to supper is an environmentally unfriendly 1,500 miles (see http://100milediet.org/spread-the-word/ for more).  For me, that means that my lettuce has traveled a distance roughly the length of interstate 5 as it stretches from Mexico to Canada.  It's like my salad has decided to commute from Tucson, Arizona to the Northwest daily, which is possibly not to far from the truth.  And to think that I once complained about commuting through Seattle's rush hour!  

It does seem pretty silly to me, though, that much of the salad sold in stores here in the Northwest comes from California when many farmers working in the marine climate found west of Washington's Cascade Mountains can grow greens year round.  What a waste of gas!  What a sad way to contribute unnecessary greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere!  If I choose to, I can grow greens year round (assuming, of course, that I don't come down with another recurring bout of black-thumb syndrome).  The climate here is sufficiently mild that I could possibly grow greens year round outdoors without the need for a greenhouse.  Add portable containers or that greenhouse to the mix, and I'm set for salad at all times.  

The 1,500 mile commute doesn't apply only to salad, though.  Milk and meat are mass produced.  Odds are good that your beef comes from out of state.  If it's ground, it could come from several states at once (via several cows).  Mr. Potato Head has become a traveling spud.  Carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, tofu, cereal, bread (even that stuff the supermarket bakes- from frozen delivery), cheese, butter, soup, seafood- all have probably traveled a thousand miles to get to my plate.  Even organic foods are prone to this migratory malady.  

Nations the world round are all starting to follow this pattern.  Spain buys lemons from other nations, even though it could sell more of its own.  Norwegian fish is sent to China to be filleted before being sent back to Norway.   http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/business/worldbusiness/26food.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=food+miles+China+Norway&st=nyt&oref=slogin  
In this day and age of big food companies, factory-style feedlots, and corporate competition, shipping food all over the world has become a standard practice.  Lost in this maze is the small family farm.  Lost is any sense of community or connectedness to our food.  

For most, if not all, of my life, I've been entirely unaware of this fact.  I got hungry, I ate something.  Where did it come from?  Usually, I had no clue.  I couldn't tell you where it was from, how it was processed, or who was in charge of its production.  I couldn't tell you how many cows were ground together to make my hamburger or if the chicken strip I was eating came from the breast of a chicken that had never seen a sunrise or raindrop from its tiny cage.  I couldn't tell you whether my carrot hailed from the Gulf coast or the golf course.  Recently, this lack of knowledge or connectedness to my food has been changing.  I think that perhaps this newfound sense of community and connectedness to my food should be the topic of my next entry.  

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Anyways, to get to the crux of this entry, all of this information has caused me to think.  It has caused me to want to learn.  And, finally, it has caused me to want to do something about how my eating habits affect both my health and the world's health.  All of this has come together to start this- my local eating project.  I hope that you, my readers, will accompany me on this trek through new territory.  I'll try to update this blog as I discover new things, try my hand at gardening, travel to local farms, eat local foods, and, of course, go on my farmers' market diet.  Check back often!  

~LocalFoodGirl