OLS- Week 8

This week we had chicken quesadillas as our local meal. I made the tortillas from scratch using the Bob's Red Mill recipe but not their flour since it isn't anywhere near local. This was the first time I'd ever made
tortillas.

Whole wheat flour - Daisy Flour - 60 miles

Chicken - Rumbleway Farm - 25 miles

Cheese - Peppercorn from Mooo Over Cheeses - 25 miles

Thai hot pepper - my garden - 0 miles

Salt and baking powder - not local

These turned out pretty good. The tortillas weren't quite like store bought and will take Logan a little getting used to but they were quick and easy to make.

Hummingbird friend

I staked out the feeder the other night hoping to get a closeup picture of my hummingbird friend. I was successful! He was within 4 feet of me. We actually have 3 hummingbirds that come to the feeder, 2 males and 1 female. The males are usually chasing each other away from the feeder while the female shakes her head and sighs.

OLS - Week 7

The theme this week was maple syrup. We had 2 meals that I would consider local this week, one dinner and one breakfast.

Dinner: Maple-Rosemary glazed pork chops, corn on the cob and Royal Purple beans
The breakdown:

Pork chops - Touch the Earth Farm - 140 miles, this is outside my usual range for local but I was visiting Danielle and we bartered for pork chops. Since I was there anyway I sort of figure they are local

Maple syrup - Patterson Farms - 280 miles, way outside my normal range for local but as close as I think I'm going to find maple syrup

Rosemary - my garden - 0 miles

Red peppers - my garden - 0 miles

Corn on the cob - Lockbriar Farm - 46 miles

Royal Purple beans - my garden, I only have 1 plant producing right now so I get maybe 1 bean day, I saved them all week and had 6 beans total, so DH and I each got 3. Luckily they taste really good you so want those 3 beans


Breakfast - Sour dough french toast
The breakdown:

Flour - Daisy Flour - 60 miles
Sourdough starter - originally the Oregon Trail in the 1800s but lately my fridge - 0 miles
Eggs - Whimsical Farm - 4 miles
Maple Syrup - Patterson Farms - 280 miles


Maybe we could do an average miles for the meal to make up for those things that aren't so local? Hmm...I think I like that idea, if I can keep my average miles around 100 I'll consider it local, then maybe I won't be so disappointed by the rice that sneaks in or the things that end up being not quite as local as you thought they were when you bought them (like the maple syrup).

Stealth cucumber

I was reading on someone's blog (sorry I forgot whose, I read a lot of blogs) about stealth cucumbers. These sneaky guys grow up when you aren't looking and blend in with the plant. I found one of these today. I had no idea it was even there and saw it for the first time today. By the time I even noticed it, it was huge! This thing is as long as a pen and 8.5 inches around! Who knew they could get so big without even being noticed. I assume it is tough or bitter or something now that it is this big? Can I still use it to make pickles or is it better given to the compost pile?

OLS- Week 6

This week I made my first ever frittata. The official verdict was, "it isn't great, but I kind of like it" It didn't fluff up at all while cooking.

The cast of characters for this frittata, all from my garden: blue potatoes, onions, rosemary, marjoram and basil.


Here it is served up, see how thin it is? How do you get these things fluffier?

Onion-Potato Frittata:

Eggs - Whimsical Farm - 4 miles

Onion - my garden

Potatoes - my garden

Rosemary - my garden

Majoram - my garden

Basil - my garden

Cheddar cheese - Lancaster, PA - 50 miles

More actions to take on GMOs

I found a few other webpages that have letters you can print up to send to your representative and senators regarding GMOs. They also have links to send emails, but letters have a greater impact. I'm going to print up and mail a bunch of letters today. Contacting my representatives on issues that are important to me if one of my newer commitments.

This page has letter encouraging mandatory labeling of foods containing GMOs. http://www.thecampaign.org/main_label.php

This page has letters against pharmcrops, meaning crops that have pharmaceuticals in them.
http://www.pharmcrops.com/action.php

I figure it won't take me but a few minutes to print the letters up and throw them in the mail.

Harvest

Yesterday was a day of harvesting root vegetables. I wanted some potatoes for dinner and hadn't tried to harvest any of my potatoes yet, so yesterday was the big day. Logan and I went out and started digging around in the container the potato plants are in. At first we weren't finding anything and I was starting to get worried but we kept digging and finally found one! We dug up a little less than 1/4 of the container and got a pretty good haul I think. Searching for potatoes is so much fun! Everytime we found one Logan and I would cheer.


I also harvested some onions and a carrot yesterday. Here is yesterday's whole haul.

I finally made pickles with my cucumbers. I decided to make bread and butter pickles since they are my favorite. I got 3 jars worth and they are really good! And my sweet potato plant just keeps getting bigger and bigger. It is now blooming, I get 2 or 3 flowers on it everyday. The flowers are really pretty.

Isn't this pepper plant just the cutest thing?