First Delivery

Our first week of more localized eating brought some changes to our diets and also the way I plan meals. Usually, I begin with the main dish and choose from some of my typical side dishes.  But I had to begin with the ingredients available to me - especially in terms of the CSA veggies. So the process was largely reversed. 

We ate some delicious grilled farmers market lamb chops last week. This week we looked forward to Fajita Burgers on homemade buns; arugula salad with local feta; roast chicken with turnip greens and brown rice; pasta with fairytale eggplant. We have also enjoyed some delicious local cheeses. 

There were some surprising things this week. First, I had no idea that apples were grown in Georgia! As someone who has spent some time in Washington state, I am very familiar with the nuanced differences in apple types. But apparently there are enough orchards to even support an apple festival in one Georgia city. 

Second, I thought that, being in Georgia, I'd have no problem finding locally grown pecans. Georgia leads the nation in pecan production. Yet I could not. My husband pointed out that they might not be in season yet - so I checked on line and it looks like he is correct and pecan harvest time is generally October through November (sometimes into December). Although I laughed at the ridiculousness of buying pecans grown somewhere else, I still purchased them as they are not part of the food groups included in my October challenge. 

The pecan incident merely served to remind me that one byproduct of local eating is that it is highly seasonal. I wonder how being more tied in to nature's cycles will feel? 

Comments

[Keir]

We had a similar experience the first time we bought peaches here. They were all from California! "We moved from LA to buy California peaches???"

Now what exactly is fairytale eggplant?

[Leigh]

I also notice a lot of California oranges rather than Florida ones. I had to learn more about fairytale eggplant (like how to cook it!) when it arrived. see them here:
http://www.burpee.com/product/vegetables/eggplant/eggplant+fairy+tale+-+packet+(30+seeds).do