Eat Local Challenge - Update II

So here I am, picking what's left of the lettuce in my folk's garden after the dog got under the chicken wire and ravaged the new crop.

I am grateful I chose August as the test of my local eating capabilities since we've had great harvests of potatoes, little yellow plum tomatoes, oodles of long green beans, pattypan squash that under the cloak of the gardens vast coverage grow quietly and quickly into yellow footballs, green peppers, cucumbers and plenty of herbs like oregano, mint, marjoram, basil, dill, thyme and tarragon. There's delicious corn at every farmer's market and peaches, pears, plums, blueberries and musk melons are at their peak in Ontario. We roasted a local chicken on the barbecue last night and had sides of corn on the cob, a roasted potato and zucchini dish, a garden salad of herbs, fresh lettuce and our own cucumbers. I'm finding it quite easy eating meat, dairy, vegetables and fruits from local suppliers and producers but my salads have always had that simple yet necessary additional ingredient of canned chickpeas or tuna or roasted nuts. Of course my dressings i.e. vinegar and oil don't fall into the local category but my mustards and homemade mayos do. Eggs are also easy to source from local farmers. Our breads we buy at the local bakery, made on site, but with wheat from where? With yeast from where? With flax seeds from where? I find myself usually caught between wanting to buy exclusively local ingredients with wanting to support my local merchants.

Luckily in many of the green grocers around Toronto they post little handmade signs that state where the produce originated from and the following pears, peaches and tomatoes are Ontario grown.

Comments

[Duane]

Nice pics. Looks like some healthy stuff.

[Mats Flemstrom]

Long overdue photo of you; cool hat!
Mats

[Esther]

You have missed out the most sought after local vegetable produce in Ontario this month and they are cauliflower, beets and organic pork.

[daphne]

Hmmm, is pork a 'vegetable produce' as Esther implied? I've had some dandy pork sausages from down the corner but haven't written about it. I detest beets and even though my parents grow them (see my celebratory photo that was attached to the introductory Eat Local Post below!) and even though I'm eating for the most part locally I certainly don't feel obligated to ingest the nasty buggers. And as for cauliflower, it hasn't been good at my local stores where I shop; it's lost its crispness and has begun turning brown so I'd rather turn left to the pole beans and eat something that's both fresh and local.