Local veggies
I started my week by spending a weirdly long time perusing the veg and fruit section of my local Co-op … wow OK I know I’m a fairly novice gardener and therefore my knowledge of seasonal veg is fairly limited but hey I had a mild panic about how I will live without fresh tomatoes! I then tracked the country of origin of veg from COFCO – my local veg box delivery who aim to supply from local farmers as much as possible and breathed a sigh of relief – the asparagus season is upon us – I will survive but I needed to source local onions as COFCO’s were transported from Holland. I mailed them to let them know why I needed to change my order and they sent a “Good luck e mail”. I felt that with their luck I was inspired to continue searching out more local food.
So, I took a trip to Cambridge’s farmers’ market and bought an abundance of spinach, pak choi, spring greens, onions and oodles of delicious purple sprouting broccoli from Simon’s fabulous stall. I made stir fries and once my veg box arrived I was able to make barley (sourced from the UK!) risotto with asparagus, onions, and local mushrooms deeeelicious! I must admit that fruit has been really tricky … and then I noticed that rhubarb had grown in the garden – it couldn’t have been more local!
My local bread arrives delivered on a bike by the fabulous Alison – Bread on a Bike – she sources local flour, bakes in her home and delivers on her bike. It’s made from sourdough and is utterly delicious.
'Bread on a Bike' Sourdough
The highlight of my week was the shared meal at Bev’s … we ate totally delicious food and enjoyed each other’s company. I created a local potato salad with asparagus, spring onions and broccoli. I couldn’t resist Elaina’s amazing vegan chocolate courgette muffins with coconut cream probably not all local ingredients as we were all doing different challenges but I’m sure you’d agree it would have been rude of me to refuse!
This was my second challenge – I’m still vegan, I’m far more aware of the origin of food and I will definitely attempt to eat local where I can.
Miriam
May 21, 2013