Its been a while since I've blogged about our green adventures. I've had to go back to the nasty commercial cleansers due to my youngest allergies to pretty much all the green cleaners. We've still been shopping for organic foods and recycling like crazy. I've donated a ton of extra clothing and toys that have been collecting around here via FreeCycle. I totally stopped buying paper towels. I use cloths for cleanup and the kids enjoy using what they call "lapkins" instead of paper napkins at the table. Its a nice break on my shopping list, and less trash! Of course, a little more laundry for me.. but that's okay.
We've also continued composting all winter. It is actually very funny to watch my husband run out across the snow to dump the scraps into the composter. I never stick my face in there, but my husband who examines it each week, says that no matter how much we put in there, its only ever about 1/3 full. Just keeps breaking down and turning into dirt for our garden. The other thing that's been great is every week, we're down to about 3/4 of a barrel of trash ever. That includes Christmas week when we were all home all week, we still didn't have even a full barrel of trash for the garbage man!
I will say though that I'm really missing fresh fruits and veggies - the pickings at the supermarket this time of year just aren't the best, and lets be honest, they're expensive! You figure all this produce is flown in from somewhere that its actually in season right now, and then it spends a LONG time in transit. I recently bought my husband strawberries and by the time he went to eat them, they were already pretty gross.
We've just signed up for our local farm's CSA. That stands for Community Shared Agriculture. Its a great way to support your local farm and to reap significant benefits from the farm in weekly harvest shares throughout the summer and fall months. Buying your food locally helps to financially support your local farm, reduces fossil fuel usage since you're picking it up locally rather than having it shipped from another state, country or continent on its way to your table. This all results in healthy and super FRESH food!
Last summer, my eldest spent two weeks at camp at Tangerini's Farm and we got to know owners. As a very picky eater, we decided that our son could benefit from learning where food actually comes from, and why its important not to waste it. After a few muddy mornings at work on the farm, he realized how much work it takes to bring food to your table, and that simply, his job was to eat it!
Little guy enjoyed his camp days so much that we actually had his birthday party on the farm the kids all picked fresh corn, fed the goats and played in the hay maze. My kindergartener is very excited to head off to camp again this summer, this time with one of his best buddies! We're thrilled to be financially contributing the the success of the farm, eating healthier this summer, and I can't wait for my Flower Share to kick in - farm fresh flowers for my table each week!
This summer, I'll be sharing with you what comes in from our share. I'm sure that there will be some items that will make me scratch my head as to what I'll actually do with them, so I'm off to buy a few cook books that have been recommended on the topic of eating in season. I can almost taste the farm fresh tomatoes and corn - I've really missed my grilled corn salad that was a staple in our diet last summer!!
You can read more about CSA's here on the US Department of Agriculture and search for a CSA near you! I'd love to hear if you've participated in a CSA before, and would LOVE even more for you to join us on this next step in our green-adventure.
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Very cool! Thanks for the update. We have too many bears around here to have a compost outside. We talked about making an indoor compost but even indoor compost have been attracting bears and that is the last thing I need--to come face to face with a bear in my kitchen! But we are moving this spring to a community where that is not a big problem. We too are recyclers and have reduced our trash to 3/4 can for the 4 of us but were not as successful over the holidays as we added 4 more (so 8 all together). Thanks for all your great ideas!
Awesome info! I have been looking for a farm to buy a produce basket from too. We get about 20 weeks in Chicago. My friend in Calif. gets it year round! I have also been reading a lot about grass fed and finished beef. Very interesting. Thanks for the link to the composter site too, I am going to try to talk DH into getting one!
HMmmm...thanks for the info Joanne. I'm looking into a CSA near me-too bad it is 10 miles away, but still going to talk to hubby about it. They even have a 4 week trail so I can try them out!
"between 12-40 pounds" of produce a week... you're going to need someone to help you prepare all that food... someone brilliant, who loves to cook, hmmm, i wonder who could lend a hand... Oh! ME!! I'll pay you in kitchen-labor for some of those delicious farm goods!
We'll have to share recipes--I also signed up for a CSA in Wrentham (www.whitebarnfarm.org), and can't wait for my first box!
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