This Little Piggy Went To Market

I visited my local farmers market today and netted all this homegrown goodness! Not pictured are the green beans and potatoes we had for dinner. Yum!

And remember those peaches I never knew grew in Michigan? Here you go. :)

Eat Local Project Update

My how time flies! It doesn't seem as though a month has passed since I started this project. It's been very interesting. I certainly didn't get out of it all I'd hoped but I believe my goals were set a bit high for such a short test run. I plan on continuing and taking more notes on what I've learned and how I've adjusted.

What surprised me the most was the produce I hadn't expected to see grown in Michigan. Peaches? In Michigan? Sure is!!! I never knew this. What I did know about was the abundance of cherries, grapes and berries grown here. As a matter of fact, in the city where I live there is a big Strawberry festival every year. I've come across squash, peppers, green beans, potatoes, green leaf vegetables, lettuce, carrots, corn, egg plant, broccoli, cauliflower, green onions, cucumbers, melons and a host of herbs. This is all from just ONE produce market. And there are so many other markets to choose from.

One thing I did notice is that I enjoy coming up with or trying new recipes. I'd fallen into a slump when it came to preparing daily meals. Having this fresh produce was kind of a motivator to make meals that were different but that everyone would still enjoy. If I remember I'll take pics and post them here. Next stop...canning...LOL!

Since fall is approaching I am readying my family for a trip to an apple orchard. I have such fond memories of going apple picking, climbing the trees and pulling a juicy red delicious right from the branch, polishing it off & taking a bite (hey I was a kid and dirt didn't matter lol), drinking cider and eating warm fresh donuts, then falling asleep on the ride home happy and full.

For anyone interested:

Block's Stand & Greenhouse, LLC

29160 Eureka Rd, Romulus, MI 48174

Detroit Eastern Market

2934 Russell, Detroit, MI 48207

Ann Arbor Farmers Market

315 Detroit Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104

People's Food Co-op

216 N. Fourth Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48104

http://www.peoplesfood.coop

10 Reasons To Eat Locally Grown Food (pdf file)

And so I continue...:)

Local Produce

I took a little trip to a local produce market trying to get a heads-up on my experiment. This is what I found. I also located a couple u-pick farms close by. I hope to go to one of them sometime next week.

Support Local Farming Project Part 2

Here's my plan. I want to try this starting August 1 through 31.

1. Weekly shopping at local farmer's and produce markets
2. Purchase only what is grown locally
3. Track my purchases and compare to what is found (that I'd normally buy) in supermarkets
4. Track savings
5. Post weekly updates and maybe a photo of dishes I prepared (that is if it's photo-worthy lol)

Pretty simple really. Of course I'm sure I'll be limited in what I can get but that's all part of this experiment. Also I live in Michigan so I also would like to know what I can preserve for the winter months.

What I have on hand that I'm growing myself:

• basil
• rosemary
• dill
• peppermint
• spearmint
• chocolate mint
• ginger mint
• strawberries
• lemon verbena
• lemon balm
• pineapple sage

That's it really. I started late with my planting this year so I'm really low in choices. But that's OK. There are several farms around and some are U-pick.

If you'd like to join and have me to post your update I'd be happy to. Should be interesting!:)

Support Local Farming Project

There's an experiment I have been wanting to do: only shop locally for produce. I'd like to document the varitey of items I can get locally and how it affects my finances. I read about someone doing this months ago (sorry I don't recall the blog) and had planned on giving it a try myself. Well the time has finally come and I will begin this experiment on August 1 for one month. If anyone wants to join in on this I'd be more than happy to post your results as well.

More details to come...