I’m a day late with this post but isn’t that par for the course with me? November 15 through March 15 is (Not So) Urban Hennery annual Dark Days Challenge and I am signed up.
What is the challenge you ask? From the horses mouth:
Cook one meal each week focused on SOLE (sustainable, organic, local, ethical) ingredients and write about it on your blog. It’s really that simple, but at the same time, it can really be that hard.
It seems this challenge was made for me because I started it back on January 1. I strive not just to eat this way once a week but every meal of every day.
My challenge was to not give a single dollar this year to food companies. I’ve cheated a few times. Like for instance my husband begged me for orange juice so he got some – and some tortilla chips – for his birthday. Once we were shopping too late past lunchtime and too far from real food and I broke down and bought a bag of chex mix for the kids. Then that one orange juice has since led to another 4 half gallons of orange juice. And that bag of tortilla chips has since led to two others. When we went on vacation in July I bought a box of crackers, box of cookies and two boxes of cereal. And in a moment of guilt last April I bought a box of bunny crackers.
Other than that we have stayed true to the course. It’s not been easy and I do have purchases I make that are not necessarily to what I would call food companies but they break my local rule like coconut oil, coffee, chocolate, salt, baking powder, vanilla extract and twice now mayonnaise. But at some point you have to pull back and be realistic. Sure I can make the mayo all the time but we don’t eat that much of it and it does take considerable time when you are in the middle of another recipe calling for mayonnaise. I believe I even had a face book post at one point reminding myself that buying mayonnaise is not extravagant.
I’ve spent untold hours this year sourcing local farmers, researching them to be sure I was giving my food vote to the right person and setting up wholesale buys to make this all affordable.
This Thanksgiving? Got it nailed. An apple quince pie from local apples and quince, crust of rendered leaf lard from our pig that Akyla Farms raised for us and spelt grown by Lentz Spelt Farm.Pumpkin creme brulee from my homegrown pumpkins, backyard eggs and raw milk from Dungeness Valley Creamery. A turkey grown by Shawndra of Pastured Sensations just for me and mine. Brussel sprouts from the garden, picked minutes before cooking. Mashed potatoes from Michael Pilarski in Okanogan. Cranberries from Rainier Mountain Cranberries in Eatonville. Acorn squash that I grew glazed with local raw honey from Tayuha River Apiaries. And perhaps a few other things I haven’t yet had time to dream up.
Nearly eleven months into this it is becoming old hat. It’s fun and exciting to find new farmers because I feel like I know them all. I know the deals, the tricks and have my own garden still brimming with fall produce to fall back on. In fact, I rarely buy produce at this point but it’s nice to know what is out there and supplement with some additional variety.
So I’m down with the challenge. I say, bring it on.
12 responses so far ↓
1 Diane@Peaceful Acres // Nov 17, 2009 at 10:06 am
I’ve joined the challenge too! You sound like you are well under way. I didn’t know they grew cranberries in Oregon! Something new to my memory bank. It’s our goal to get closer and closer, but we are no where near as close as you! If you made all your mayo, you’d have to add oil to your list of exceptions…I think that the exceptions list might get longer and longer, except in our house. Your Thanksgiving sounds divine!
2 admin // Nov 17, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Hi Diane – I’ve bookmarked your etsy shop! Yummy scarves…the cranberries are actually grow in WA where I am but I’m sure they have some in OR as well since even more of OR is farmland.
I do make an exception for coconut oil because the health benefits are so clear it is my choice for baking – and olive oil, although I plan to plant 2 arbequena olive trees in the parking strip this spring. I sourced olives from a farmer in CA this year and am curing some as part of my learning curve. Even so, Northern CA isn’t that far from me. Boy this would be so easy if we lived in CA, wouldn’t it?
To keep my karma good when I do buy coconut oil I get it by the gallon so there is reduced shipping and packaging, and I only buy fair trade oil. My favorite is the Green Pastures brand but Nutiva is good also. It’s much cheaper when you buy it that way. We only go through about 2 quarts of olive oil per year since we predominantly use it in the summer. In the winter I reuse my pork fat and tallow from the animals we have slaughtered. If only local butter were cheaper! But it’s not so we reserve it for spreading on bread.
It’s a fine dance between stomach, heart and pocketbook!
3 Diana@Spain in Iowa // Nov 18, 2009 at 6:03 pm
I am so thoroughly impressed! So awesome that you have been able to stick to your guns for almost a year, wow! I’m just saddened as gardening season is over for us in the midwest. I have canned and preserved quite a bit of my own harvest and from my local farmers! I’m just starting to use more beef tallow and pork lard. However, I’m a mediterranean, olive oil girl, so it’s kind of difficult for me
Just love your blog!
4 admin // Nov 19, 2009 at 12:30 am
Hi Diana,
I’m thinking about planting arbequena olives trees in the planting strip next year but I’m not sure if I’ll get anything off them here in Seattle. Can you start some things indoors? I have lettuce in my living room, even though I have a bunch outside too. It’s more an experiment then anything else. Good luck with your stores this winter!
5 DennisP // Nov 21, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Hi, I’m new to your site and admire your desire to go local. We’re slowly wending our way in that direction. Get our beef from a local farmer along with some chicken and occasional eggs. Bison meat from another farmer. Grow a lot vegetables (a lot of a few vegetables) in our garden (more potatoes than we know what to do with, lots of carrots and onions, not enough beets or beans, lot of green tomatoes–’till we finally brought them in the house to ripen). But we still buy an awful lot at the grocery store. It’s a difficult game to play, but worthwhile. Really enjoy most of your postings. Keep up the good work!
6 admin // Nov 21, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Dennis – that is great that you can get local bison meat! I might be able to as well but haven’t stumbled across any yet. That’s a great thing to put on my list. I’m actually starting to research a garage tillapia operation now. It would be so nice to add fish other than salmon to our plates!
What part of the country are you in? There are getting to be more and more farmer’s markets year round now but we are spoiled in Seattle to be sure.
7 DennisP // Nov 21, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Central Wisconsin. Quite a few farmers’ markets in the state and we are number 2 in organic farming, I believe, after California. We have a couple of farmers’ markets in Stevens Point and one down in Plover (several miles down the road) as well as in other communities near by. We have several organic farms in the surrounding area and a local farmshed organization that is trying to get more people interested in eating locally and to restore the infrastructure required to get food from local farmers to local consumers year round.
8 admin // Nov 21, 2009 at 7:51 pm
I love this rising tide of local food!!! It must be hard in the winter in Wisconsin though. I can grow some things in Seattle year round with just plastic covering. I wish more people could!
9 kitsapFG // Nov 21, 2009 at 9:42 pm
You Rock! Totally impressed and inspired by your efforts. We certainly do our share of eating local – both because we try to purchase locally as much as is practical and because we grow all our vegetables and quite a bit of our fruit. I am not anywhere as vigilent on the purchases as you have been though. Your example keeps me inspired to work harder at it.
10 admin // Nov 22, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Hi KFG! You guys rock as well. I don’t know how you stay so committed to your garden while working full time. You constantly amaze and inspire me.
11 Marcy // Dec 10, 2009 at 4:33 pm
One Green World just sent info about growing Olives in Oregon.
http://www.onegreenworld.com//index.php?cPath=1_42
They do grow, but not abundantly. Obviously we’ll be anxious to hear how yours produce!
12 admin // Dec 11, 2009 at 3:09 am
Hi Marcy,
I’m anxious too! At least they are only around $20ish each so if they don’t work out it won’t be the end of the world. I really miss olives though! Not the nasty black CA ones but those lovely briny kalmatas and salty manzanillos in martinis. Not that I’ve had time to drink martinis this year but I’m hoping things slow down after Christmas! I tried to comment on your blog and I couldn’t get it to let me.
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