Compost

The more processed foods you eat the more garbage you create but eating whole foods you make garbage too. All those uneaten apple cores, banan peels, juicer pulp, stems, scraps etc. end up in your trash and fill up our landfills. It's a shame that our landfills are being filled with items that could be put right back into the land and make our planet a greener place. What is this amazing thing that saves our enviornment? COMPOST!! All you have to do is collect those scraps and other compostable items (paper napkins/towels, q-tips, hair, paper plates) and put them in your compost bin and make great soil for your garden. Many people don't do this because they think it is hard. IT IS EASY! If I can start a compost in my apartment so can you! How did I do it? I bought some cheap plastic boxes from Costco and had my wonderful hubby punch some holes in the whole thing. Got some top soil and filled my box about 3 inches. Then I just put all my compostable items in the box and top with newspaper. Easy, easy, lemon squeezy!

You can make a difference in your community by starting a compost in your home. You can even make some money by selling your wonderful soil on Craigslist or simply give it back to the earth and put it in your garden, backyard, or under a tree. You can help save the environment by making this simple change in your home today.

Check out this website to get started on your compost today!

Internet resources rock!

This site is a resource gold mine!!!! It tells you what vegetables are in season and recipes based on season as well. Please check it out for a whole lot of information... http://cuesa.org/node/1357

You will be so happy with all the information about what fruits and vegetables are fresh and when to get them. YAY. Two birds with one stone!

Looking for state specific information? Check out this website. This one is for Washington State but has links to all other states as well. I will be putting this into a better looking document similar to the first site for my state. http://localfoods.about.com/od/searchbyregion/a/washingtonseasons.htm

On hold...

UGH! So I didn't get a chance to sign up for the CSA for this week to get the whole Spring season. I have so much going on with school and bills and kids that it just didn't work out. Now all the our funds are sent to bills so that part is on hold and it is back to researching for a little while. In the meantime I wanted to share some lessons that I've learned...

Cans of beans are not equal to dried beans!! 2 cans of bean is equal to 1 cup of dry beans.
 - Now I have a lot of black beans to put to use!!

Canned tomatoes are just as good as fresh tomatoes, actually they are probably better when tomatoes are not in season. I spent a lot of money on fresh tomatoes (not in season) that then were squished into a chili. It turned out good but after realizing this tomato fact, I should have just opted for the canned.

Now how am I going to eat fresh if I'm doing canned? WELL I need to think more about recipes that have vegetables that are in season. What is in season? Good questions. I need to figure that out. Also, I can can my own vegetables when they are in season so I can control what goes in to them. So I need to learn how to can/preserve fresh vegetables. This week's lesson got me on my way. Here's what you can expect to come:

- What is in season now?
- How to can/preserve fresh vegetables?
- Determining exactly what my plan is for fresh products
- Finding recipes that I can alter based on what is in season

Now are you wondering what I made to learn these valuable lessons? I made Squash and Black bean chili. It was yummy. I'll post the recipe soon. Including my alterations.

Start your own Food Renaissance

Are you wanting to eat healthier? There is no better place to start than at the farm. You can't get fresher, healthier food than that directly from the source. If you think that the food you get at the store is just fine check out this website that entails some nasty stuff that you may actually be eating. Bet you didn't know you ate maggots when you have canned mushrooms. What about toxic lead in your salad dressing? Find out what you're really eating.

Ready to change what you're eating? Check out the Real Time Farms website to find out where your food is coming from. It's a great place to see local organic farms right in your neighborhood. The site is constantly growing so if you don't see your neighborhood today then check back. Better yet. Why not get involved and update the website with farms that you know? Let's find out where our food is coming from and exactly what we are eating. You are what you eat. Let's eat the best we can and support local, sustainable resources in our communities.

Baby steps...

Finally got a chance to talk to the husband today about the different options I have found so far. He likes Abundantly Green's CSA program. We are going to sign-up for the Spring season to test out how we like it. There will be 8-weeks of pick-ups about every few weeks. It starts next week and goes until May. I am excited to see what kinds of vegetables we will get. I'll post recipes I use with the new vegetables so that you can have some ideas about what you would do with yours.

As for the milk....Well the only price I have found so far is about $8/gallon. Way too steep for the hubby so I will keep looking. We go through about a gallon and a half every week. I have 4 more contacts to call, all of which I have only names, numbers, and addresses - No idea what business any of them are in. Maybe one is a dairy farm!

I am excited about the vegetables and can't wait to see what my first bag brings. On the to do list is to finish contacting everyone on my list and see what options are available. I'm surprise at how quickly this is coming together but the hard part will be getting adjusted to seasonal eating and not being able to have whatever vegetables I want when I want them. The fruits will be the hardest as you can't really get fresh fruit off the orchard year round....I don't think. Well I have a paper to write and an exam this weekend so I better get to it. Will keep you posted with the progress of my renaissance!

Local farms found!

My path to finding milk directly from a farmer lead me to find some other fabulous sources!!! I started with a google source for local dairy farms in Silverdale and pulled up Kim's Garden. Excited about getting this first product checked off my list I called them up. No one answered so I left a message. While waiting for a return phone call I found their website and realized that they were NOT a dairy farm. I emailed them to elaborate on what I was looking for and I also let them know that I was the person who called.

Hi,

My name is Katie and I am trying to get my family eating local, fresh food that I know where it is coming from. In doing a search for dairy farms your business came up. That was me who left you a voicemail today. After looking at your website it looks like you are a nursery who provides plant starts?

I am trying to get produce and products directly from the farmers. I am blogging about my journey @ http://food-renaissance.blogspot.com/. I would appreciate any help that you can give me. I am new to the area and would love any tips or contacts that you can provide. I hope you're doing well. I look forward to hearing from you!

Regards,

Katie

I received a reply shortly after saying that they are a nursery plant producer. Luckily for me however, included in this email were a list of their friends who provide fresh produce during the season and CSAs!!!! All of these amazing contacts are now at my fingertips just waiting for me to utilize them. I had some time today between class and picking up the girls to check some of them out.

For those of you who don't know what CSA is (and I didn't until this afternoon) it is Community-Supported Agriculture. From the Pheasant Fields Farm website:

"In a typical CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) program, customers become shareholders of a farm by purchasing a share at the beginning of the season, usually in late winter or early spring. Shareholders then receive a weekly farmer-selected share of produce including whatever is fresh and abundant that week."

Pheasant Fields is a local farm in Silverdale. They offer a unique twist on this program by allowing you to buy Bonus Books that are basically discount coupons that can be redeemed where there products are sold. Instead of simply getting what the farmer wants to send you, you can pick which produce is right for you and your family. All of this is at a discounted price!

The other farm that I found is  Abundatly Green located in Poulsbo, Washington which is only about 15 minutes north of Silverdale depending on where exactly it is. They have everything you could want from a farm: Milk, eggs, veggies, fruit, chicken, lamb, and beef. All in one stop. Check out their brochure below. I haven't decided exactly which one I am going to go with yet. I also have other sources to call and research but the spring season starts on February 21st! I better get on it! Just goes to show you that asking questions can get you more than what you could ever hope for. I will be calling and researching more sources tomorrow between writing a reading and writing a paper. Wish me luck!

For more information on the farms please check out their websites. For those of you in the area, seriously consider signing up with me!

Here we go!!

Today is day one of my journey to changing the food my family and I eat. I am a mother of two girls with a husband who loves to eat! We are new to Silverdale, Washington recently moving here for my husband's job. Being a mother I want the best for my children - the best education, the best health, the best start. For me, today, that means giving them the best food. I am going to renaissance our food and where it comes from. There is a lot of challenge on parents to make sure kids are getting all the nutrients they need to be healthy. I am stepping up to this challenge and hoping what I write will help you to do the same. Let's make our family healthier.

The first step to this process for me is to know EXACTLY where the food we eat is coming from and what is in it! Product of U.S.A. or India or China will no longer cut it. I want to know what happens to the food I eat and who is handling it. I feel that the first step to revitalizing our health is by eating the freshest ingredients possible. My first food source is Milk. Today I am going to find a place to get local milk from a local farmer who feeds his/her dairy cows natural ingredients without any hormones. I will be blogging about how to renaissance the food that we eat! So here it goes!!!