Locavorian

My new kick, ok, it's not new, but I have been trying harder to do this lately, is buying foods that have been produced close to where I live. Right now I prefer things from Oregon and Southern Washington, but will still buy foods from California and Mexico. I cannot give up my avocados! It's been much more fun to grocery shop, it's like a scavenger hunt. But it means I get to eat much more seasonal, MUCH fresher foods and I enjoy them more. Meats and dairy have to be local and pasture raised and hormone free, and believe me..animal products TASTE eleventyhundred times better this way, not to mention how much better it is for you.

Today was the first Saturday Farmers Market of the season. And since I have been playing hooky from work for the last two days, for very good reason, I decided today I needed to get out of the house and go get me some tomato plants and fresh veggies. I came away with much more.

I got raw milk sharp cheddar from Rouge Creamery, whole cream top milk in a quart bottle from Noris Dairy and fresh peewee eggs from Square Peg Farm. I forgot the name of the stands where I got my veggies (kale, rabe, a shallot and some taters) and my loverly baby tomato plants. More on them later!

Peewee eggs are eggs smaller than a standard small egg. We are used to getting Large AA eggs from the store, but really the peewees are just about the right size for me. I was recently introduced to duck eggs and they are fantastic. But I made the mistake of making two eggs for breakfast like I usually do, and Duck eggs are huuuuge. One duck eggs is too much egg for me. But they were still good. =)

But needless to say my lunch was fantastic. The cheddar is so divinely cheddery and those egg yolks are the deep orangey yellow of a happy healthy chicken. And the milk is a treat. I do not drink a lot of milk, that pint will last me about 2 weeks. I can then take the bottle in for reuse by the dairy, since they sell the milk at my co-op.
I haven;t been eating well the last few days and so, I nearly cleaned my plate. A few potatoes escaped the fork. Also on that plate is some yummy locally made bread(the whole wheat is local and organic) local yellow beats and Russian banana potatoes, and a sneaky green pepper from my home state.

Yum.
I get much more enjoyment out of my food knowing where it came from and how it was grown or raised and meeting the people who make the food possible.


My tomatoes!

I picked 6 starts, Cherokee purple, legend, stupice, black brandywine, Amish paste and copia. All heirloom varieties and all have different qualities. I am looking forward to some fantastic tomatoes this year. And having learned from last year about compost and tomatoes, I moved the compost bin for my new tomato bed so these puppies are going to have lots of sun and lots of good nutrients and I am going to have LOTS OF 'MATERS!
I also got some oregano to plant. I just need basil, but it's too early for basil.
Yay tomato sauce! I am going to can so much sauce this summer!

Forgotton craft projects!

Hah I did this stuff last month, or even in February, really...

This dress:

Became this dress(sorry the pic isn;t great, it's very hard to take a pic of yourself in a dress, ugh.)


It was way too big to being with and then I lost a lot of weight. SO I refashioned it. However, I want to take it apart and resew it better. I think the seems are a little sloppy, and I think I really understand why interfacing is a very useful thing to use now! But it's cute. Refashioning old clothing that no longer fits/work for me into new clothing is a kind of reuse project I need to get better at. Well, I just need to get better at sewing!

I also made this belt out of a bike inner tube that I got a hole in. I think interfacing would have been useful here too. It's reversible and the red and white fabric was a skirt i found at goodwill for the fabric, so aside from the buckle it's entirely recycled.


I have a few other small crafty things I have been doing but they are a secret project. I may post about them later when they are no longer seeecret.

Random Spring Ruminations

Recently, I said this in am e-mail and I think it was actually a pretty good summation;
"I think spring is the time to ponder making changes, for now or for later, it's such a transitional time anyways, it seems logical that this is when feet itch and minds wander down garden paths. Once summer comes out and beckons you away from your woolgathering with her hot flushed sky and balmy breath on your skin you just don't have time to think anymore, it's time to DO. So I think I will allow spring to tangle the skeins on my mind up a little, giving me something to pick at and tease out. It won't be long when all I can think about are day hikes and bike rides and fruit picking and bbqs.."

Except that I have been DOing things, but it's all cleaning, sweeping out, purging, letting go, sometimes in very unexpected ways. It's been freeing, lightening, troubling, confusing, reflective and sometimes exciting.

Some of the things I have done lately have included selling all but 240 of my books. Library thing will tell you I have 474. There are probably some that never made it into Library Thing and so, I don't know how accurate that count is, but it is pretty close. I still own a lot of books, but it is half as much as I had, less than half! I think that is a pretty impressive feat. If I can let books go... then I can let anything go...


And So I cleaned out my CD collection too, I think I sold over 100 Cd's that haven't seen the light of day in many a year.
I have a small pile of Dvds to go too, but I didn't feel like digging out the cases, I had already dug out the CD cases. Another rainy day perhaps.
This was all also mildly profitable, and that's good. I need to squirrel monies away for May. I am working only 3 days a week at the moment and come May and early June, it's going to hurt quite a bit.

All that not working means I also have a lot of free time, in odd increments, since my tutoring job is evenings but none the less, much free time is to be had.

So far, (since the last big cleaning bout) I have tidied up the yard, moved the compost bin, and prepped a new bed for tomatoes. The yard is looking more lovely than it was. It wont look actually lovely till things start growing in and blooming! But they are starting, and that's always magical.


Rearranged my kitchen. It is spacious and lovely.




With all those books gone, I am down one shelf, so I changed my room around a bit to accommodate the extra space and it's very spacious! Er, comparatively. The bed is still 1/4 of the room. Erg. But the room feels more open and light and that's very nice.

I have realised, since excavating the empty plastic tubs from my basement for washing, that I have eight, EIGHT! empty large plastic storage tubs. They ALL used to be full of stuff. And now they are free to a good home.


Another thing I realised is, although the last year or two has seen many a thing removed from my life, very little if much has been garbage or trashed, it has almost all, that I can think of, been sold, re homed, freeboxed/freecycled, recycled or donated. Amazingly marvelous!!! =D

There is another carload of little household items and misc stuff for Goodwill and several furniture items to freecycle, but that takes a bit of planning since I need to put it out on the curb to be picked up. And then posted on Craigslist or Portland Freecycle to be claimed. I can't wait to have that stuff gone though.

I am nearing the end of my clean out. There is little left to sort and get rid of. I have considerably less stuff than when I moved into this place. It's amazing, to have come this far. Things that are left are mostly sentimental in nature , but useless to me, and so that sort of parting, will take thoughtful consideration before I would remove it from my life. But I think there is much I can. Like artwork from jr high and bad paintings, some knick nacks, various things that have been packed away in the hope chest that, upon further reflection, mean little to me now. Ridding the chest of them, leaves room for the other things that actually belong there. Like photos.


I am lighter, in many ways, that when I came into this year and I have been exemplary on not adding to what I have subtracted. I have given careful consideration to every-thing that I have added to my life this year, be it an item of clothing, a book, a food, companionship or a new habit, and being selective makes the choices you make, much more satisfying I think. It is more important to me these days, that things I bring into my life are built to last, I am tired of throwing things out!