Friday, June 11, 2010
OJ
Just sat down to blog and managed to spill orange juice (bought prior to this project at a grocery store) all over the keyboard. So if Mike complains about sticky keys later, you'll know why.... Now, on to blogging.
On Wednesday, we stopped at the Mukilteo Farmer's Market. The market is located right near the water next to a lighthouse. Great location except for one drawback- the train. I usually like trains, but the sound coming from this one left my ears feeling very unhappy. There were only a few vendors (perhaps due to the train... or the rain). We had hoped to leave with some olive oil (made from olives from New Zealand), but we didn't have any cash. Good news- we can find this olive oil at both the Mukilteo Market (on Wednesdays) and the Snohomish Market (on Thursdays). We didn't buy anything this time, but we now have contacts for grassfed beef and a vegetable stand that sells year-round.
We plan to buy this week's groceries either at the Edmonds Farmer's Market (open on Saturdays) or Pike Place Market. We'll have to track what's sold where and when and work out a specific plan to meet our weekly needs. I know Pike Place sells just about everything we need, so at least we'll have that to fall back on.
Thanks to my earlier mishap, we're nearly out of orange juice. Maybe we'll buy some oranges at the market and squeeze them ourselves this time..... -Trisa
On Wednesday, we stopped at the Mukilteo Farmer's Market. The market is located right near the water next to a lighthouse. Great location except for one drawback- the train. I usually like trains, but the sound coming from this one left my ears feeling very unhappy. There were only a few vendors (perhaps due to the train... or the rain). We had hoped to leave with some olive oil (made from olives from New Zealand), but we didn't have any cash. Good news- we can find this olive oil at both the Mukilteo Market (on Wednesdays) and the Snohomish Market (on Thursdays). We didn't buy anything this time, but we now have contacts for grassfed beef and a vegetable stand that sells year-round.
We plan to buy this week's groceries either at the Edmonds Farmer's Market (open on Saturdays) or Pike Place Market. We'll have to track what's sold where and when and work out a specific plan to meet our weekly needs. I know Pike Place sells just about everything we need, so at least we'll have that to fall back on.
Thanks to my earlier mishap, we're nearly out of orange juice. Maybe we'll buy some oranges at the market and squeeze them ourselves this time..... -Trisa
Monday, June 7, 2010
From Mike - Day 1 and some answers
Thanks for following the blog and for asking questions. I love the facebook questions. Since we're just starting out there's still lots for us to figure out.
Today, I got reactions to telling people of our experiment ranging from "Wow" to "Are you crazy?"
Yep, we're crazy. And we love adventure and HATE grocery shopping.
I thought I'd answer all your facebook questions here, instead of facebook to keep the blog a little disconnected.
Chocolate, we'll get from some local chocolatiers. Meat, we will be getting from a farm. I'm hoping one that'll let me come out there and pick the cow, maybe feed her some hay, pat her on the head and say, "Hi cow. Pretty soon I'm going to eat you." Cows are cute. And yummy. For now, a local butcher will satisfy all the rules. Spices we're going to have to research and look hard to find them at a farmers market or somewhere. If we can't, then we'll be stuck buying them at a supermarket. For now, we have plenty to get us by for a few months. Wine we'll get from distributors since I won't drink only local. I'll still run the wine biz which means I'll have to get some wine from overseas. Sauces, I'll mostly be making from scratch.
This afternoon, we spent 3 hours in the yard even though our farm consultant had to reschedule. I harvested some Bok Choi and Trisa grabbed some radishes. I made stir fry with sesame oil, canola oil and chili powder and added the bok choi, radishes and chicken to it. I boiled some egg noodles in chicken broth and chili powder. It was tasty. We're going to run out of our frozen store bought chicken in a couple of weeks. Then we'll be going to a butcher or a farm, or some of our backyard ladies we'll be having for dinner.
Tomorrow will be our rescheduled farm consultation and our 3rd planting. We're planting more lettuce, spinach, cilantro, carrots and radishes. And we'll be planting for the first time Oregano, corn, cherry tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, sweet peppers, pumpkins, winter squash (that we're replacing), potatoes (2nd planting), pole beans and CORN. I can't wait for the corn.
I'm taking orders at work for fresh 100% organic veggie delivery. 1 lb of salad mix is $9 and 5 oz is $6. We harvest on Wednesday nights and I bring it in on Thursdays. We're not stingy so most people end up with about 1.25 pounds and 8 oz for the $9 and $6 tubs.
Pics of the garden will be posted in less than 48 hours for those of you who are curious to see what we're doing on the "farm."
Word up,
Mike
Today, I got reactions to telling people of our experiment ranging from "Wow" to "Are you crazy?"
Yep, we're crazy. And we love adventure and HATE grocery shopping.
I thought I'd answer all your facebook questions here, instead of facebook to keep the blog a little disconnected.
Chocolate, we'll get from some local chocolatiers. Meat, we will be getting from a farm. I'm hoping one that'll let me come out there and pick the cow, maybe feed her some hay, pat her on the head and say, "Hi cow. Pretty soon I'm going to eat you." Cows are cute. And yummy. For now, a local butcher will satisfy all the rules. Spices we're going to have to research and look hard to find them at a farmers market or somewhere. If we can't, then we'll be stuck buying them at a supermarket. For now, we have plenty to get us by for a few months. Wine we'll get from distributors since I won't drink only local. I'll still run the wine biz which means I'll have to get some wine from overseas. Sauces, I'll mostly be making from scratch.
This afternoon, we spent 3 hours in the yard even though our farm consultant had to reschedule. I harvested some Bok Choi and Trisa grabbed some radishes. I made stir fry with sesame oil, canola oil and chili powder and added the bok choi, radishes and chicken to it. I boiled some egg noodles in chicken broth and chili powder. It was tasty. We're going to run out of our frozen store bought chicken in a couple of weeks. Then we'll be going to a butcher or a farm, or some of our backyard ladies we'll be having for dinner.
Tomorrow will be our rescheduled farm consultation and our 3rd planting. We're planting more lettuce, spinach, cilantro, carrots and radishes. And we'll be planting for the first time Oregano, corn, cherry tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, sweet peppers, pumpkins, winter squash (that we're replacing), potatoes (2nd planting), pole beans and CORN. I can't wait for the corn.
I'm taking orders at work for fresh 100% organic veggie delivery. 1 lb of salad mix is $9 and 5 oz is $6. We harvest on Wednesday nights and I bring it in on Thursdays. We're not stingy so most people end up with about 1.25 pounds and 8 oz for the $9 and $6 tubs.
Pics of the garden will be posted in less than 48 hours for those of you who are curious to see what we're doing on the "farm."
Word up,
Mike
Sunday, June 6, 2010
The Beginning and the Rules
After little deliberation and even less thinking, my wife and I decided to begin a journey and a blog. For one year we will live by a few simple rules regarding our food. This idea came to both of us at the same time: in our hot tub, drinking Gin Bucks and waiting for our store-bought frozen lasagna to get done.
Our biggest rule, rule number 1: The following seven (7) rules will apply for 1 year.
Rule 2: ZERO food may be purchased from a grocery store. No food that passes our lips from this point on (after our lasagna and what we bought at the grocery store today, or have in the cupboard already) will be from a grocery store.
FYI: We did not prepare for this journey. We have some things that will last a year in our pantry already that we will eat or cook with from time to time, but we in no way stocked up for this. Chicken stock will come from a chicken carcass that is what'll remain form our farm-bought chicken.
Rule 3: Only items that are non-food, like beverages and household cleaners and shampoos and various and sundry other items may come from a grocery store. This only applies to beverages that are not produced locally or by a farm (i.e. milk is NOT to come from a grocery store, but Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice cocktail may).
Rule 4: Effort must be made to source all grocery (food or otherwise) items locally and/or from a farm. In other words, we will search for locally made milk, olive oil, cranberry juice, soap, tooth paste, etc. Since we can't spend all day every day on the internet or in a library some items may be brought to our attention by others, or after some time of us buying them from a grocery store. The intent here is to work diligently toward finding equivalents to what we have bought in the past from a grocery store at a farm or a local producer knowing full well it'll take time to find and to get. So if we end up buying SOMETHING at a grocery store that we later find is available at a farm or farmers market or from a local producer, we'll let you know that we did and that we'll purchase it there going forward.
Rule 5: The grocery list and costs for food items must be posted at least monthly. We will make every effort to post weekly, or when we go to a farm or market, but we want to give ourselves an out just in case we don't feel like it.
Rule 6: Both of us will hunt, fish, slaughter, grow, harvest and produce as much food as we can with literally zero preparation (except our already built home garden) than we have done already. In other words, I will take a basic hunter's course when I can and get a hunting license. The both of us will go fishing from time to time. We will (and already do) grow vegetables and fruits in our garden. We will (and already do) gather eggs from the chickens we keep in our backyard.
Rule 7: We both must blog about our adventures at least once each week other than to post our grocery bill and neither may read the other's blog (or tell what they are going to write about) until after both are posted that week. This is to encourage us to both write weekly and to not sway the other to write or not to write about a particular event. Some blogs of our may be about the same event, but from different perspectives.
Rule 8: It is not imperative to turn down food purchased by others from a grocery store, but we may not ASK for it. In other words, we may from time to time go to a party and eat a chip or fifty. We might go to a pot luck or to dinner at a friend's house and we will not turn down their hospitality. What we must not do for one year is ask our friends to buy us stuff at a grocery store to get around our rules.
We hope you enjoy reading about our journey as much as we are about to enjoy living it.
Mike and Trisa
Our biggest rule, rule number 1: The following seven (7) rules will apply for 1 year.
Rule 2: ZERO food may be purchased from a grocery store. No food that passes our lips from this point on (after our lasagna and what we bought at the grocery store today, or have in the cupboard already) will be from a grocery store.
FYI: We did not prepare for this journey. We have some things that will last a year in our pantry already that we will eat or cook with from time to time, but we in no way stocked up for this. Chicken stock will come from a chicken carcass that is what'll remain form our farm-bought chicken.
Rule 3: Only items that are non-food, like beverages and household cleaners and shampoos and various and sundry other items may come from a grocery store. This only applies to beverages that are not produced locally or by a farm (i.e. milk is NOT to come from a grocery store, but Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice cocktail may).
Rule 4: Effort must be made to source all grocery (food or otherwise) items locally and/or from a farm. In other words, we will search for locally made milk, olive oil, cranberry juice, soap, tooth paste, etc. Since we can't spend all day every day on the internet or in a library some items may be brought to our attention by others, or after some time of us buying them from a grocery store. The intent here is to work diligently toward finding equivalents to what we have bought in the past from a grocery store at a farm or a local producer knowing full well it'll take time to find and to get. So if we end up buying SOMETHING at a grocery store that we later find is available at a farm or farmers market or from a local producer, we'll let you know that we did and that we'll purchase it there going forward.
Rule 5: The grocery list and costs for food items must be posted at least monthly. We will make every effort to post weekly, or when we go to a farm or market, but we want to give ourselves an out just in case we don't feel like it.
Rule 6: Both of us will hunt, fish, slaughter, grow, harvest and produce as much food as we can with literally zero preparation (except our already built home garden) than we have done already. In other words, I will take a basic hunter's course when I can and get a hunting license. The both of us will go fishing from time to time. We will (and already do) grow vegetables and fruits in our garden. We will (and already do) gather eggs from the chickens we keep in our backyard.
Rule 7: We both must blog about our adventures at least once each week other than to post our grocery bill and neither may read the other's blog (or tell what they are going to write about) until after both are posted that week. This is to encourage us to both write weekly and to not sway the other to write or not to write about a particular event. Some blogs of our may be about the same event, but from different perspectives.
Rule 8: It is not imperative to turn down food purchased by others from a grocery store, but we may not ASK for it. In other words, we may from time to time go to a party and eat a chip or fifty. We might go to a pot luck or to dinner at a friend's house and we will not turn down their hospitality. What we must not do for one year is ask our friends to buy us stuff at a grocery store to get around our rules.
We hope you enjoy reading about our journey as much as we are about to enjoy living it.
Mike and Trisa
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