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No Winter Garden

February 18th, 2010

Last year at this time I was harvesting my first batch of spinach from the garden. Notice the sun and lack of snow, we currently have around 3 feet of snow on the raised beds.

I planted some spinach last fall hoping for the same results, but the weather turned cold very early. That coupled with a really early frost delayed the growth of the spinach enough that I don’t have any to harvest at the moment (not to mention all the snow). I should still have an early spring harvest, perhaps in late March or early April if the weather warms.

Sadly I will have no mid-February harvest of spinach this year. I’ll have to buy my greens at the market.

Do you do any winter gardening?

Reading a Piece of History

February 17th, 2010

I really like old books, especially the ones I get from the library. I like the fact that they’ve been well read by hundreds or thousands of people.

I just finished reading through the Little House on the Prairie series. My sister and I had a set of our own growing up, and we read them over and over till the bindings gave way. We fixed them with tape and now her children are reading through them. I thought about buying a new set, since I’ll probably read them many more times, but I decided to get them from the library.

I love that sometimes previous readers have added notes and underlined things they like. This is especially fun in books like this that are considered kid’s books.

The edition of Farmer Boy I ended up with had to have been one of the first editions. The pages were so worn from reading they were soft like velvet.

I wondered how many little boys and girls have leafed through this book being captivated by the stories of Almanzo Wilder’s youth.

Do you like to read old books or do you like to break in new ones?

Quote of the Day: Hal Borland

February 16th, 2010



I really enjoy living in an area that has four distinct seasons. I grew up in South America where we had a dry season and a rainy season, and there wasn’t much difference between them except the amount of rain. Here in NE Ohio we have winter, spring, summer, and fall. It’s hard to pick a favorite, I really enjoy them all. Each one has it’s beauty and it’s difficulties, but it’s nice to experience them all.

What seasons do you have in your neck of the woods? Do you have a favorite?

Local Roots Market in Wooster, OH

February 15th, 2010

On Saturday I was able to head back to Local Roots Market in Wooster, OH. They closed for a few weeks over the holidays to do some improvements to their location. The cafe is finally open, serving coffee and some delicious food. They have a small kitchenette area where producers can cook samples of their products.

The most interesting change they made was to make the market more like a grocery store. The items have bar codes and you pay for all your items at a checkout lane, which is very convenient. At first I wasn’t sure if I would like this set-up, but it is very nice. They have all the meat and dairy in a few coolers. They’re on-line ordering system is up and running as well. This is a high-tech farmer’s market.

Many of the growers were attending a grower’s convention so there weren’t any fresh greens at the market, but they’ll be back next weekend. I was still able to fill 2 baskets with potatoes, onions, shallots, fresh mushrooms, whole grain flour, popcorn, dried beans, raw milk cheeses and a few baked goods. One of the things I was really happy to find was flour from organic grains grown locally. I bought a bag and I can’t wait to make something with it. But the best item I found was some organic free-trade coffee roasted by a local guy!

Year-round markets like this will encourage more people to eat locally. I think one of the main hurdles to local eating is the availability of food during the winter months, especially here in Ohio. If you don’t can or preserve food, it can be difficult to eat locally all year long. Year-round farmer’s markets will really help the local food movement.

I’m happy this market is doing so well because it will save me some time in the summer. I won’t have to can or freeze as much if I know there’s a local source for fresh vegetables during the long winter months. I will gladly support local growers and purchase fresh greens from them throughout the winter. I’m also happy to see that they offer non-food items. You can buy local wool yarn, roving, soap, lip balm, and even powdered dish washing detergent a local person makes!

Do you have any year-round farmer’s market in your area?

A big thanks to Mr Chiots for going with me and taking all these photos. And YES I wrote this post while watching the Olympics last night but ran out of time to put in photos, that’s why it’s posting later this morning :)

Happy Valetine’s Day

February 14th, 2010

Hope you have a happy Valentine’s Day filled with whatever brings you happiness.

This Zapotec Pleated tomato grew in my garden this past summer, what a lovely tomato it is!

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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