Local Food: Great Greens in the Garden

Mixed salad greens, arugula, and kale are coming up in the garden!

In support of my ideal of living simply, I am a big believer in growing as much as you can, even if all you have is a planter in the window or space on the counter. That's the simplest and most natural method of feeding ourselves, and it's inexpensive and fulfilling.

Mixed baby greens are one of the easiest to grow and they can be harvested continuously until they bolt, or flower. Just cut the leaves near ground level with scissors, and they will grow back again.

Because this food goes to nourish our children and ourselves, growing organically makes the most sense to us. The natural father knows that there's no need to worry about washing anything from our garden before eating it, and if we eat a little of the soil every time we eat from the garden, then we are actively building our immune system with soil based micro-organisms and minerals.

Local: It's the way it used to be...

peace

SPIN farming can earn significant income for small scale farmers

I've been hearing references to something called SPIN farming in relation to local food systems, and when I read the basic information on the site, I was astounded!

SPIN farming is a method of market gardening for all of us that have garden plots rather than a farm, and a way to add more local food production in cities that have more backyards than farmland.

Wally Satzewich grows food on 25 different garden plots, ranging from 500 square feet to 3000 square feet, a total of half an acre of land. They plant and harvest multiple times a year, selling their fresh organic produce at the farmers market in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

"We are producing 10-15 different crops and sell thousands of bunches of radishes and green onions and thousands of bags of salad greens and carrots each season. Our volumes are low compared to conventional farming, but we sell high-quality organic products at very high-end prices."

Somerton Tanks Farm is a half acre farm in Philadelphia that sold $68,000 in produce one year using the SPIN farming model. They sell at a farm stand and at the farmers market, promoting the concept of the neighborhood-based farm as a viable business.

SPIN farming is a way to surmount the difficulties in traditional farming, which is getting the land and getting capital to begin. It's low-tech, inexpensive and can be done in small plots.

Which means I better get to planting...

peace

Find A CSA Farm And Enoy Fresh Local Food!

With all of the green re-emerging from the ground at this time of year, it's time to either start digging a garden of your own or looking for a local CSA farm. Community-supported agriculture is a great way deepen the connection between your food, your community, and the air , soil and sunshine that ultimately feed you. Going to the farm every week and planting and weeding and then - wow - harvesting your food alongside your fellow "villagers" is fulfilling. There's a rootedness that happens when you come full circle, and smelling the rich soil warmed by the sun is food for your heart. In my neck of the woods, there's Happy Heart Farm and Grant Farms. There's probably one near you.

Eating locally is a hot topic these days, it's kind of hip and green and healthy. It wasn't really that long ago that there wasn't even a choice of eating whatever, whenever, from wherever all of it comes from. People took responsibility for their food supplies and grew or gathered or hunted most of what they ate. They made their meals. They cooked the soup, baked the bread, gathered the greens.

How many times each week do most people eat homemade meals?

I mean from scratch, as my mother would call it, not from a mix or a can or a jar. I know there are those who boil pasta and heat up sauce from a can and call it homemade (I used to be one), but I take it to mean starting with the basic ingredients and ending up with a meal. I don't grind my own flour or make my own pasta, but for most dinner-type meals that I make, I start with whole food, not precooked or premixed or heavily packaged food products. I buy in bulk at my co-op, and order cases of fruit or vegetables in season. I'm a rice lover, so we usually have a 25# bag of organic brown rice on hand as a staple, and it makes a good starting point for a meal, hot or cold.

Even if your food is not all from our region, just cooking it ourselves and being mindful of what we are putting in our bodies for fuel and repair and energy is a big step. It's also way cheaper to eat our own homemade food, and it makes organically grown food a lot more affordable for most of us. I often hear "I don't have time to prepare food, like you guys. I'm very busy." Yet there's always time for one more time sucking distraction or phone call or t.v. show or web surfing...

With all of the money spent on researching and surveying and measuring our buying habits and diet choices these days, I'd be curious to know if there are any statistics out there.

I ate at least 5 meals made at home this week.

I also ate several bananas that came from very far away, at high cost to someone (all of us, I guess), as well as coffee (not even food), also from very far away. I'm not sure what that means.

peace