Oh, Freedom

As you know my kids started school yesterday. So my new found freedom warranted some free time for me to go shopping! Not for a new purse or shoes but for fresh food. All summer I refused to take my kids to the farmer's market or farm stands because of the gripping -when are we leaving, how long will we be here, I'm hungry. I took them a couple of times in the beginning of summer and that was enough for all of us. (Don't get me wrong, they are great kids, but I think they know if they gripe I won't take them. They like to work mom over, ha ha.) I can't think when they gripe. When I shop for food I need to think of how long the potatoes will last, how many apples to buy or do I really want eggplant.

I was so happy to be able to go to Smith Family Farm about 10 minutes away. I hadn't been there yet this season and I was pleasantly surprised at how much they had, and I bought most of it. (The next couple of days will be eating, baking, cooking and freezing for me.) My goal today was to start storing local produce for over the winter eating. I bought corn to freeze, and potatoes, onions and garlic to hide in a dark dry place. After I bought those I found some awesome heirloom tomatoes that almost look too beautiful to eat. (Below) Some huge blackberries that melt in your mouth. (Above)(I thought berry season was over.) And apples!!! Apples in summer! And here, it is so hot. (You will have to forgive me, I don't remember the names of the apples or tomatoes and I know that can be important. I'll go back next week and find out.) I also bought some lemons, nectarines and pears. I scored today and I am happy.

Be green.

Update on My Green Life

Today in my neck of the woods it should only reach 90 degrees. At that temperature I don't need to turn on the A/C. I am glad for that. My husband makes fun of me because I like the heat and have acclimated to it over the years so in the Spring and Fall when we get 75-80 degrees outside I put my sweater on. (He's from Michigan and I am from Southern California, HUGE difference in weather.) He makes fun of me that I can't handle the "cold" weather. But I still wear my sweaters. So today I will wear my tank top and shorts and maybe get my butt up for a bike ride.

I may not be there yet...but I'm closer than I was yesterday.

As for the rest of my life, I am truckin' along, not achieving the green state I wanted to be in at this time but still working on it. As things run out I replace them with more earth friendly counterparts. Like my dish soap, dish sponge, or fabric sheets (many people use vinegar, I like baking soda in the rinse). I use Trader Joe's dish soap (pictured above), my dish sponges are natural vegetable fiber and no more fabric sheets. As for other household cleaning I use vinegar and baking soda as I run out of Comet, Windex and Fantastic. Sometimes I wonder if these products have had a negative effect on my health through the years. What's done is done and now I can make better choices for my family.

My dryer is lonely. I haven't used it for weeks. In my last post about hang drying I mentioned I don't hang socks, underwear or heavy jeans. Well, that stopped. Everything gets hung now. The socks are not crunchy but underwear are (that didn't sound good, "crunchy underwear", I'm washing them). The clothes almost dry as fast as a dryer would do it when it is 100 degrees outside.

My baby cantaloupe.

In other news, I had to tell my children no apples yesterday at Trader Joes, even organic. Those little gems were coming all the way from New Zealand and Chile! Talk about a huge carbon footprint on something I can substitute with our own fresh cantaloupe (from the backyard, woo hoo!) or make a smoothie from the fresh fruit I picked earlier in the season. I have, for the most part, cut out bananas too, they all come from way down south like Costa Rica. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against those countries, as a matter of fact I envy Costa Rica, they can eat bananas carbon free!

This last week I went to get my haircut with my hairdresser I have used for years. She has always made comments that I need to deep condition my hair. This time she made comments about how soft my hair was. She asked me what was I doing. I told her I wash it every 2-4 days depending on my activity level and rinsed with a solution of apple cider vinegar and water. And combined that with better eating habits. She was impressed. We always discuss more natural ways of managing your hair. She is a hairdresser at a nice salon so she has to sell the products there but she has learned over the years I don't buy them.

And last, but not least. Call it a small victory, but my husband agreed to no more buying individual water bottles. He drives more than I do and would easily grab one on his way out but he agreed to use a Sigg bottle or anything we have in the cupboard with a top.

Be Green.

Nectarines Don't Belong In Your Backpack

I rode my bike with the kids today to u-pick nectarines. The trees were overflowing with fruit so much I wanted to grab all of them and take them home. But we only took 5 pounds worth because they were going in my backpack, I was riding my bike home and we were stopping for u-pick cherries next.

These very sweet, perfectly soft nectarines DON'T BELONG IN A BACKPACK. Withing 2 minutes they were leaking through my Acme Bag into my backpack. Now I know why they are called NECTARines. Luckly I bought a really good backpack so my shirt and back never got sticky and wet. Next time we will bring a hard plastic container.

That's not the end, but it is the worst. We get to the cherry stand and no more cherries for the season. WHAT? They just came into season, like, 3 weeks ago! What is with that? Or better yet WTF?

Get out there and get your fresh food. You never know when Mother Nature will turn on you. Ha Ha.

(The picture above is not mine, I forgot my camera today. Bummer.)

More on Local Produce

Again, I am so excited to be moving forward on the green road. Yesterday I went to a local farmer that just opened their season recently called Tachella Farms. They carry some of their own veggies and fruits and local produce also. I was proud of myself for asking where her products came from. (I am a pretty quiet person and only talk when necessary, but my husband would say otherwise, ha ha.) I bought red potatoes from Stockton, oranges from Watsonville and honey from "somewhere off the 5 highway". I can accept Stockton and Watsonville, I have been to both towns, but "somewhere off the 5 freeway", I am not sure if I like that answer. I still bought the honey because the family I bought from is local and I wanted to support them but I will be on a quest to find a more personal and local bee keeper/honey maker. The woman behind the counter caught on that I was looking for local and firmly assured me, in a motherly way, that all she sells is local and wouldn't expect her customers to eat anything but local. I felt so comfortable with her that I asked her where I can get local meat. She mentioned a guy from Orland, CA (about 160 miles away from me) that sells his beef at our farmer's market so I will try him next time I hit the farmer's market.
I know that I never mention organic. I am working on that. I think I am a little scared to find out that I am going to have to work harder and maybe travel further to get it. I work in steps. Local first and if I have to buy from the grocery store then I buy organic.
Well, I gotta go pick strawberries. The first crop at Chan's will be coming to an end soon and want to pick a few pounds to last me through the summer. Hopefully, if weather permits, Chan's will have a late summer crop also. And I can go pick again!
Happy Eating Locavores!

My Farmer's Market is Open!

I went to the Brentwood Farmer's Market on Saturday. I was so excited to see it open. I have been on a quest to see if I could find a lot of my food locally. And I scored at the farmer's market.

• Fresh eggs from Shelly's Garden in Brentwood-my hometown
• Zuchini and cucumbers from Arata in Byron-next town over
• Lettuce, broccoli, carrots and potatoes from Garcia Farm in Hollister-about 111 miles away but still considered close to me
• Blueberries from Alpine Blue in Vacaville-56 miles north of me
• And sweet potato pie from Gran'ma Lillie's in downtown Brentwood

I also bought oranges which I forgot exactly where they came from. I believe they were from Allard farms in Westley, which is 45 miles southwest of me. Oh, the asparagus is of unknown origin to me also, but looking at the list of farmers on the market's website it was local also.

I am blessed to live here in the far East County of the Bay Area because we are very close to the main farming belt of California in the Central Valley. And Brentwood is known in the Bay Area as a farming community (well, after the SF Chronicle this weekend, we will be known as foreclosure central. I don't care, I enjoy raising my children here.) In July we will be up to our "ears" in corn and we will get a huge influx of Bay Area people coming for u-pick cherries, apricots, peaches and nectarines. Besides the heat, and I mean hot dry heat, I believe I live in a great place.

I am still looking for local cheese and meats. I will ask around to see if those exist within my area. But I live about 1 1/2 hours from Sonoma and Napa areas. I am going to look there for cheese. Where else would I look but in wine country for cheese. Actually Brentwood has a couple of wineries now. Come to think of it, we also have our own olive oil. Am I set or what? Now where can I find grain? I may have to just resort to the bulk section at Raley's.

Funny Farmer

I have quite a few farmers in the area but most have their stands closed until May, maybe late April. But one farmer sells starwberries early in the season and he also sells late in the season. Well, I heard he was open! The pleasure of buying local strawberries, and good ones at that, elated me. I was off to Chan's.

I arrive and the lady behind the counter has strawberries and to my surprise asparagus! I said one bunch of asparagus and one basket of strawberries. She proceeds to get the plastic bag. I said no to it that I live close so the produce will make it home. She grunts and knodds. I ask her if she grew the asparagus because I don't see it on the farm. She says, "no, but local". She knows the routine. And then she adds, "strawberry local". I soon figure out that she doesn't not speak english, just some broken farm lingo that gets the strawberries sold. I am laughing to myself now because I so badly wanted to ask if they are organic but figure I will save that for the next time.

Moral of the story: buy local, it's more fun.