Our Dark Days Challenge starts this week. To remind everyone, sign up here to share your SOLE (Seasonal, Organic, Local, Ethical) meal once a week through March. Here on Not Dabbling, and over on (not so) Urban Hennery, we’ll do biweekly highlights from the participating blogs, focusing on each region: Sage for the West, Jen for the Southeast, Miranda for the Northwest, Emily J. and Ryan for the Northeast, me and Susy for the Midwest, Emily S. for the South. Make sure to check our individual blogs as well for our own Dark Days efforts. If you’re signed up for the Challenge, you’ll be getting an email with an address to let us know what you’re up to!
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I (Xan) focused more on frozen than canned goods this year. My biggest deficit is greens; I’m hoping my local year-round CSA will have local frozen peas!
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Here at Chiot’s Run the larder is more filled with things I don’t have to actively preserve: carrots, potatoes, beets, celery, etc. Each year I focus more on growing things for a longer harvest season so I don’t have to spend as much time canning/preserving during the season. I grow greens for harvest in the cold winter months, usually spinach, mache and kale. I’m lucky that there are also a lot of local farmers now focusing on cold weather crops. We have a great farmer’s market that should make my Dark Days Challenge Meals a little easier!
We do focus on filling our freezer with local meat. I just purchased a half a hog from a local farmer that I’ll pick up next week. Mr Chiots is also a hunter, so each year we end up with a few deer in the freezer thus venison is our primary source of red meat.
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Up here in the Northwest, without a personal garden and within a temporary apartment, I will be heavily utilizing the local Winter Indoor market to supply us with fresh produce this year. I luckily have friends with chickens to supply us with eggs, and i’ll most likely do a lot of bartering for fresh veggies with my handcrafted soap. I love being able to barter for local goodies instead of paying with cash – it is so rewarding to trade quality commodities without having to visit the bank! One thing you will always find in my cupboards, though is homemade and canned chicken or turkey stock. My pressure canner may take up an entire closet, but it’s worth it to me to have it around to supply us with nourishing stock all through the year. I also added something fun to my preserved foods this year: dried local apples. Yum!
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I’m in! Have my post ready to go when I get the email. thanks!
I plan to participate!! I haven’t yet received an email either….but that is ok! I am still deciding what to make 😉
[…] up. Head on over to (not so) Urban Hennery to read the rules and sign up. Check in with us over at Not Dabbling in Normal to see how everyone is doing. I will be posting on NDIN every other Sunday in a recap for the […]