You are still answering questions, right?

Being from the same area, I was interested in what food you can buy locally, grown locally, and what food do you have to buy from the store?

I am interested in buying more food from my local farmers/vendors.

I couldn't find the post where you talked about this, although I remember once upon a time when you touched this topic. Can we pay a visit to this topic again please? ~Abbagirl74

I am always up for answering any questions. The subject of local food does come up very often, Why are Homesteaders obsessed with food, during the last Blogathon I did the ABCs of Local food stuff, And I have talked about one of my visits to the local farm market.

Kansas has wonderful soil and a good growing season, we can buy many of our food stuff locally. The Sedgwick County Extension Office hosts the Farmer's Market, even during the winter. I noticed that they do not list there winter hours, so I need to go find the post card I got from my meat people. The website tells you all the types of items that is sold there. Wichita also has a CSA that you can join. There are also several U-pick-it's in the area. A few of us have discussed opening our own CSA here.

Anything that I do not grown here myself, I buy locally. Of course there are exceptions. Coffee, sugar, chocolate, vanilla, and citrus, are the items off the top of my head that you can not get locally grown.

By clicking on the tags, it should bring up other posts I have done on the subject.

The weekend in review

It was a very long weekend. Unfortunately my husband worked Saturday, so the physical labor he likes for me to endure didn't begin until that evening.

Early Saturday morning, I loaded up my boys and we headed off to the Farmers Market. Over the years, I have sampled beef from all the vendors. Beef vendors tend to stay the same there. {as in the same family farms selling their wares} There is one farm that I have fallen in love with. Greener Pastures, their steaks are melt in your mouth yummy. They are a little more pricey then some of their competitors, on Saturday one of the men was try to sell fillet to a female customer, she said "not for the price." My reply was, I think they are worth it, no matter their prices. And the man thanked me. Does that get me a discount?

New bakers are added all the time, I still can't tell you my favorite, as I think I am my own favorite. Conceded much? I still like to buy baked goods at the market. This week a bought a loaf of wheat and a loaf of spelt from Solomon bread. Their is no animal fats, or by products in the bread. It wasn't bad at all. The cookies did have milk and eggs in them, my children loved them.

I stopped at the booth of the Little Red Hen Bakery for some stone ground wheat flour. Alas they were out {that will teach me to get there late} He did give us a slice of bread to try. Very good.

I bought a large package of cinnamon rolls from Marie's baked Goods {it was 8 am and we were hungry} It was a little more store bought tasting then home style, but passable when you are hungry.

I bought mechanics soap from Natures Blend Soaps. My husband was happy with the results of it. They have a few other soaps I am willing to try out as well.

I bought some Blackberry syrup from another vendor, unfortunately they did not have any cards out.

I also bought a shopping bag from Nancy's Nice Knits. She was in a little side area with only a couple of vendors. Not many people were headed through that way. It's a lovely hand knitted bag in military greens and browns. There was also another vendor in that area that had organic game bird meat. I plan on hitting him up the next time through.

And yes, I do recommend the above vendors to you.

That evening we went out to my husband's grandmother's rundown farm. It became neglected after her husband died. We are slowly reclaiming some of the items that are left there. This weekend it was the windmill stand. The head had come down years ago in a storm. But we had met a man and his son at the farm auction that has a couple of them that they are willing to sell us at a reasonable price.

Yesterday, my oldest son and myself went to one of my step-father's properties and loaded up my truck with limbs and twigs. These items will be used to make a fence with. I have to go back today for another truck load.

So much work, so many projects need to be completed, and I already feel it in my shoulders.

Some Good News

Having a hard time getting on blogger this morning.

As the tittle states, I have some good news. I went out yesterday to inspect the orchard. With all the rain and warm weather, I had a glimmer of a hope that some of my berry bushes survived that late hard frost. One of seven blackberries made it, one of three raspberries and one of three blueberries. All my grapes are going strong. One of two nectarines are ok, all my apples, my pear trees are fine. My peach tree isn't going to produce this year because the blizzard killed off all the flowers, but it looks like it survived.

Have I mentioned I loathe gardening? No? Well there comes a point where I feel that I am finished planting, then look over and things waiting to be put into the ground have multiplied. How did I end up with 42 tomato plants? Some days I would like that instant gratification that comes with driving to the grocery to get whatever I want right then and there. I always feel this way at this time of year, give me until harvest and I will be giddy with the excitement of fresh veggies. Nothing taste better.

Last Saturday I visited my local Farm Market. For being so early in the season, we had twice as many vendors then we did at the same time last year. Green houses hadn't offered seedlings in the years past. A new bakery was present, so I bought some bread for them. A local beekeeping couple was there, she was a tricky one. All I wanted was a large bottle of her honey, yet I walked away with the industrial size bottle. What am I to do with a gallon of honey? Also a couple from Haven, Kansas were selling their organic beef. Greener Pastures. I bought 5 lbs of hamburger, 4 KC Strips {nice and thick} and 8 minute steaks. All in all I spent under $100US on everything. Surprisingly enough, the steaks were cheaper than at the grocery. If you are new to the Farm Market scene, it's best to look around and price before going forth and purchasing, and sampling a little of each vendor is a good idea, no two steaks will taste the same {unless they are grain fed and mass produced} Once you figure out who you like, buy a little extra to freeze can or preserve to help you through the winter. That is if your markets are like ours, seasonal and open air.

Blatantly sharing links

If you have ever stopped over and checked out Lynn S' blog and site The New Home Maker, you know that she publishes a wealth of information about various subjects that effect you, your family, home and community. Just in case you haven't yet visited Lynn S, she has a post up about her apple tree, and it's unfortunate demise. In it she talks about two projects that she is involved in doing. City Riparian is a great urban project that I thought some of you might be interested in looking into. From their site "City Repair was formed in Portland, Oregon in 1996 by citizen activists who wanted a more community-oriented and ecologically sustainable society. Born out of a successful grassroots neighborhood initiative that converted a residential street intersection into a neighborhood public square, City Repair began its work with the idea that localization (of culture, of economy, of decision-making) is a necessary foundation of sustainability. By reclaiming urban spaces to create community-oriented places, we plant the seeds for greater neighborhood communication, empower our communities and nurture our local culture." If your interested, you can look here to find out if they have a group in your area.

Green Mountain permaculture is a great resource to help your create the perfect balance in your food forest. They will teach you how to plant items that will be beneficial to each other. Natural pest control, natural weed control.

Here are some of my own links to help you along the way.

Do you know where to get the best organically grown food in your area, or where the farmer’s markets are? If not check out Local Harvest. Simply put your zip code in, and they will tell you what and where the farms/farmers market are. The USDA also has a national directory to help you find the farmers markets in your state.

Food News has a pocket guide to fruits and vegetables. Keep this list handy when you go shopping to help you avoid the worst pesticide offenders.

Need a co-op? Coop Directory Service: Find A Natural Food Coop Near You is another online resource to help you along your way.

On to the apples;

No apple update today. My father arrived yesterday, and I had little time to do much. Today is another story.

If you have any links that can help simplify the frugal or natural way of life, please share.

Pressure canning: No Frills Winter Cucumber Soup

What to do with all those cucumbers, and you don't need any more pickles? But how can you ever have enough pickles!?! I had to do something so I went the way of cucumber soup. It was difficult to find a winter recipe, most are chilled or mint, things for the summer. Yet I did manage to stumble upon one recipe that was suited for winter.

Peel 2 medium sized cucumbers and sliced. {Those are the things that look like banana slices in the picture} 1 Medium onion, halved and then sliced. {I have plenty of onion}

4 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley {mine was frozen} or you can use 2 tablespoons of the dried stuff. This recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, but I am canning, so I use canning salt. 1/2 teaspoon fresh dill {mine was frozen} or 1/4 of the dried stuff. 2 tablespoons corn oil, 2
tablespoons cornstarch, 2 cups milk and pepper to taste. Saute the first six ingredients until the vegetables are translucent. {I think my cucumber slices might have been too thick, as they started to brown before becoming see through} In a small bowl, whisk together the water and cornstarch, then stir over a medium heat until thickened. {here is where your soup will not look too appetizing. Ignore it} Slowly add the milk and stir until creamy. The soup is bland so feel free to salt and pepper until it suits your taste. Ladle into canning jars, and process at 10lbs for 20 minutes {for pints, it make 3 pints} or serve hot.














Here's what it looks like before processing.





























I had gone to the Farmers Market last weekend and bought a pound of ground short horn beef from the Meng Family Farm. {They do not have a website, but the link will take you to the vendor page for the farm market} I have never had their beef before. I paired it up with some of my garden veggies {cherry tomatoes and peppers} and made some tacos.
















I also made some carrot muffins, but I will tell you about that later.

It was in the 70'sf {21c}yesterday, and rainy. Felt much better than the 105f {40c} we had the day before. I picked some ready veggies and weeded a bit. Other than that, we hung out a enjoyed the weather. {I might regret that later}