Made in New England

I recently returned from a work-related trip to the New Hampshire.  While I was there, I was able to make a pilgrimage, of sorts, to Independent Fabrication (IF), the bike makers who made my husband's mid-life crisis bike.  IF is located in Newmarket, NH, which was only about five miles from Durham, where I had my meetings.  I popped into the retail store unannounced, and received well more than the nickle tour!  The gentleman who greeted me showed me the bikes crafted for the North American Handmade Bike Show,  including this sweet cruiser with real gold for the detailing.  I picked up a couple t-shirts for me and hubby, and spent a while chatting about bikes and cross and other things that I don't know all that much about but hope to learn more.

The very cool part, on top of the generosity of the bike shop employee who took so much time out of his day to chat and show me cool stuff, was the fact that the shop and factory are in the old Newmarket mill building.  I love it when old buildings are renovated and re-purposed!  The mill building, granite of course, is located on Main Street along the river, and is now home to high-end shops and apartments.  Newmarket was a pretty little town, with lots of good places to eat and explore.  While I've never been particularly inclined to live in New England, I admit I love the small towns and the architectural charm.  And of course it's nice to drive around in a place where the ocean is in the East and the mountains are in the West.  Fourteen years in the PNW and the dang Rocky Mountains screw me up repeatedly, as in my brain I always think that if you are heading in their direction, you must be going West.  I have ended up going the wrong way on the I-90 multiple times here, but never in the East!

Looking back in the direction of the IF factory, from the rear.

Main Street, Newmarket, NH

    

Flower Farm!

We love going to the U-pick flower farm in Pullman, Sunshine Farms!  It is one of our absolute favorite places to go in the summer!  From June to September, rows of beautiful flowers, and a good way to spend a lazy hour!  It is also amazing how many flowers one can get in a "child's sand bucket" portion!  Oh, would that my beds looked this lovely all the time!

 

So Far to Spring

Don't let these misguided little bulbs fool you--spring is NOT here yet!  I try not to get too excited in February--spring is still far from the Palouse.  It's hard not to though--the seed catalogs have started arriving in the mail, and I bought a fun little ap for my iPad to plan my garden.  


I finished reading "The Quarter Acre Farm" by Spring Warren.  I was a little disappointed.  So far, I haven't read a narrative of urban homesteading/backyard sustainable agriculture that I really liked.  I read them looking for tips and insights, and end up with a slightly humorous self-congratulatory narrative.  Of course it doesn't help that most of them are writing about gardening in a climate which is much warmer than my own.  It's hard to be self-sufficient here.  It's even hard to eat local food at some times in the year.  


A year ago, I wanted to see if we could get our household local food consumption to 25% of our diet.  I haven't tried to weigh food or measure amounts at all.  I focused more on different food groups:  how much dairy is local, how much meat, etc.  I decided that if you expand "local" to mean "the Pacific Northwest" then almost all of our dairy is locally produced.  (Disclaimer:  I have a soft spot, no pun intended, for imported cheese!)  The  exception (other than the fancy cheese) to buying locally produced dairy items is that in the winter, the girls, I mean hens, around here stop laying.  Most of my egg suppliers have day jobs, so they don't always get the heat lamps turned on in time to prevent a full-on laying strike, so my November-January eggs are usually store bought.


Fruits and vegetables are extremely easy to obtain locally at some points during the year, and extremely difficult at other times.  The growing season here is short.  It is HARD to get local greens before April.  By preserving food that I grow or that is purchased at the Farmer's Market, we can carry over into fall and winter, but spring is definitely the lean time.  I would also have to get a pressure cooker and do a lot more preserving before we could ramp up in this area much more.


Meats aren't too difficult to obtain locally, if by "local" for fish you mean "brought into the Seattle market," which usually means "caught near Alaska".  The hardest foods to obtain locally are (somewhat ironically) grains and supplies such as oil and spices.  The Palouse is a major wheat producing region, but most of the wheat is processed commercially to be sent oversees.  An effort is underway to get more locally produced grain at the Co-op, but I don't think I'll have either a wheat field or an olive grove in my yard any time soon, which will always work against the percent of locally produced food.


So that's my summary.  I am continuing this quest, but I'm working in small increments rather than a take-no-prisoners assault.   I do love looking around and talking with others to get ideas and to think of new ways to become more self-sufficient!
 

A Mindful Thanksgiving

Early in the morning on Thanksgiving Day, hardly a mouse is stirring in downtown Moscow.  Quietly, 24 students of yoga and one yoga instructor arrive at the Moscow Yoga Center, a locally-owned and well established downtown business.  Mat to mat, we all settled in for our practice.


Every holiday should begin this way, especially holidays that, while joyful, are also a time of stress and consumption.  I've practiced yoga for eight years, and ever so slowly, I have noticed that my mind really does settle down while I'm on the mat.  Yoga forces me to think about my body (which I almost never give a second thought otherwise) and by doing so, the daily chatter of life fades into the background.


This holiday season, I am making a concerted effort to focus on the little joys of life--putting my garden to bed, making a birthday cake for my son, knitting by a warm fire.  We have had the excitement and business of a great cyclocross season, now it's time to light a few candles in the darkness of winter and settle in with a good book!

Summer Salads

I have a lettuce problem.  Which is to say, I once again planted too much lettuce all at the same time and thus am overflowing in lettuce bounty.  This year, the lettuce is Mesclun mix and "Flashy-back Trout" romaine from Territorial Seed Co.  I will donate some lettuce to one of my favorite non-profits, Backyard Harvest, which I will write more about in an upcoming blog post.  But for now, we are going to be eating a lot of salads.  Tonight will be a Greek-type salad with Kalamata olives, locally made feta (from Brush Creek Creamery), and dried cranberries.  In addition, I'll top it off with "secret salmon" from the Fish Folks.  Secret salmon are little chunks of salmon cut off from the ends of filets.  It's a deal and it tastes great!

Tomatoes are looking good!

My lettuce runneth over.  Beans are still climbing though.

Potatoes look good.  Basil, not so much.

Lettuce harvest!

The Yarn Underground

I am a knitter.  Sometimes I knit more, sometimes I knit less.  But my number one hobby is knitting.  It is the one thing (besides reading, I suppose) that I can do almost anywhere.  I've carried my knitting needles into the backcountry.   I've knit while sitting next to a river and while cooling my feet in an alpine lake.  I've knit in tents, hotel rooms, airplanes, cars, backyards, living rooms, coffee shops, and occasionally through an otherwise painful and/or boring meeting.  I've knit to get through times of great grief and times of great joy.  I knit.


So it is with great anticipation I welcomed the opening of Moscow's newest yarn shop, The Yarn Underground.  A tiny shop located in the alley off of 3rd Street between Main and Washington (across from the Wine Company), they have been open since November 2010.  Their bread-and-butter line of yarn is Cascade, and they have a good selection of colors in Cascade 220 and 128.  They are offering a broad range of classes (upcoming classes include intarsia on March 19, raglan sweater construction on March 20, and needle felting on March 27. Or, you could just come by for open knitting on Sunday afternoons (1-4 pm) and Wednesday evenings (4:30-7:00 pm).  Other unique features of this store are its Needle Exchange program where knitters can bring in their gently-used needles for store credit or buy a set of discounted needles that someone else has brought in.  The Yarn Underground also features the de-stash bin with random skeins of consignment yarn at deeply discounted prices.


One area where the Yarn Underground is really excelling, however, is its supply of locally-made (Northwest) yarn.  Everyone month it seems they have a new line.  This lovely yarn is made by a good friend of mine, Kate Painter, and her hard working sheep. The yarn is called Kate's Natural Rambouillet Yarn.

Some of the notions sold at the Yarn Underground are also handmade.  I received a notsepinne in my Christmas stocking, and check out these handmade darning eggs:

 

The Done Roving Yarn (Frolicking Feet sock yarn, 480 yards Superwash wool) is not local but is so beautiful I had to take a picture.

 

The Yarn Underground also stocks Kidding Ewe by Done Roving Yarn.  Kidding Yew is a worsted weight mohair/wool blend in 300 yard skeins.  

The Himalaya Yarn is so beautiful, made of wool and recycled silk.  I think I have to come up with something to make from it!

I did buy this recycled Sari yarn, to use along with mohair in a scarf for a friend.

The Yarn Underground also has a wonderful selection of fiber, much of it local as well.  It could almost turn someone into a spinner (actually I think it has, in a couple cases)!

Eggs

I will be the first to admit that I have a bit of an obsession with eggs.  Which is funny, because I really don't like to eat them the way most people like to eat them.  I primarily enjoy them as an ingredient in other foods, such as brownies.

That being said, happy chickens make better tasting eggs, and I like my eggs to come from happy chickens.  This means I try to buy only from chicken owners I know personally. 

 Apparently these are good reasons to buy local eggs, as is wanting to support you local economy.  What is not a good reason, interestingly, is to conserve energy.  I heard this story on Northwest Public Radio a couple weeks ago.  Washington State University researcher Dr. Jude Capper did a calculation and determined that conventionally farmed and trucked eggs are more energy efficient, on a per carton basis.  However, they did not consider two other options available to us here in Moscow...having a colleague bring eggs in from home or being able to buy farm/backyard eggs at the grocery store.  Typically, I buy my eggs from one of two colleagues at work who have chickens.  When I forget, as I did recently, I buy local eggs at the Moscow Food Co-op.

And they are good eggs.  I love the variety in farm eggs.  Different sizes, different colors.  Just like chickens.  And people.

Country Kitchen

Last year, I began my efforts to consume more locally produced food.  I've expanded my geographic boundaries of "local" a bit, as I'm striving to increasing the proportion of foods we consume that are made & processed in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho (bonus points if the food comes from the Inland Northwest).  I now have a much better idea of foods that are easy to come by locally, and those that are more challenging.   So far, dairy products are the clear winner in terms of year-round availability.  As I've mentioned before, Spokane Family Farm provides our milk, Tillamook County Creamery Association is the primary source of our butter, yogurt, and some cheese.  I buy my eggs from colleagues at work. 

Over the past year, I also learned a bit about price and availability differences of local, organic, and conventional/non-local foods.  During the summer and fall, local fruits and vegetables are both abundant and inexpensive (and when I'm really lucky, only steps away in the garden!).  Local dairy products are less expensive than organic products, sometimes by as much as half, and I know a lot more about how they were produced.  The price of local meat varies, depending on source, type, and quantity.  I've found another issue with local food is that it requires a little more planning.  I have to remember to ask my colleague to bring in the eggs, so it's not something I can get at the last minute.  Last week we had a special treat--one of my husband's friends gave us a dozen eggs in a "variety pack"--it included both duck eggs and chicken eggs.  The shell on a duck egg is a lot sturdier and really had to be whacked to crack (good for toddlers). 

This morning we had a hearty country breakfast waffles with sausage and eggs.  Unfortunately, I didn't notify my friend in time that I needed more eggs, so our eggs were not locally produced.  However, the sausage came from friends of ours, Jim and Celia Boland, who started a sausage company, Hog Heaven Sausage Works.  Jim and Celia were able to get their facility federally (USDA) inspected, giving the Palouse a source of high quality, locally produced meats available for retail. 

The other great part about breakfast this, and every morning, is that we get to enjoy it on the country kitchen table that my husband made last summer.  We have such a small dining area, that is very narrow, but we really wanted a table that could seat six.  So my husband created a table to fit the space.  As a bonus, it matches the pantry shelves he made me two years ago, and I have a delightful little pantry area reminiscent of an old fashioned general store.    

I love our table!

Dry goods, anyone?

We found these great canisters at World Market.

Flour and Sugar!

Winter Market

I made it to Moscow's Winter Market, held in the 1912 building, today.  The Winter Market is held four times over the winter, once each in November, December, January, and February. It is meant to satisfied the farmer's market urge for folks who struggle between the last weekend in October and the first weekend in May, when the Moscow Renaissance Fair marks the beginning of market season.  I love the idea of Winter Market, but winter veggies are hard to find anywhere on the Palouse in January.  Most of the booths are crafts (kudos to the Society Socks booth).   Tonnemaker Hill Farm was represented but their wares were restricted to apples, gourds, and dried fruit.  Fortunately, we still have a stash of dried plums and pears from our trees!

January is just a hard month, especially during  a mini-warm-up such as we've been enjoying.  The days are still painfully short, and feels wasted if you're not skiing.  Here's hoping the temperature drops again and we get some more pristine days on the mountain!

The Joy of Roasting

We received a roasting pan for a wedding gift and I thought, "I am never going to use this."  How wrong I was!  My husband started using the pan a few years ago when he began preparing holiday roasts (on Thanksgiving and Christmas).  He has been perfecting his recipe for several years now.  When he adds his green chili gravy...wonderful.  Unfortunately, I can't share his recipe since he doesn't write it down.  However, this past summer I discovered the joy of roasting chicken and therefore finally got to make use of the pan.  This year, I decided to make a concerted effort to eat more locally produced foods.  As part of this objective, I ordered five chickens (spaced out over several months) from the Zakarison Partnership, a nearby farm.  The Zakarisons are third generation wheat farmers but have recently begun diversifying their farm and now have a certified organic section of their farm, as well as ethically and sustainably raised sheep and pastured poultry.  After my somewhat spontaneous order of chickens, I realized I had to learn to roast them.  Despite the stress and the fevered consulting of my Julia Child cookbook, it's actually so easy I feel guilty when it's my turn to cook.  I simply baste the chicken in olive oil and herbs, place it breast-side down in the roasting pan, add potatoes and carrots to the pan, cover the pan, and put it in the oven at 375 degrees for 1.5-2 hours.  The bird is done when the temperature of the meat in the thickest portion is 180 degrees and the juice runs clear.  Instead of cooking over a hot stove, I just have about 10 minutes of prep and then can relax before dinner (as my husband says, roasting pans are the original crock pot).   Of course you can also make stock from the leftover chicken bits--but that is a post for another day!

Small Business Saturday

Apparently there is a lesser known shopping holiday following Thanksgiving.  While Black Friday is still known for crazy stampedes searching for the latest gadget, Small Business Saturday is a more leisurely day of exploring (and shopping at!) your community's locally owned businesses.  Buying local means that more of your money stays in your community, supporting payrolls and benefits, as well as local tax revenues.  One study  found that three times as many dollars continue to circulate within a community when spent at locally-owned business when compared to corporate retailers.  Personally, I feel that it's much more rewarding to shop at local businesses.  First of all, if they don't have something, they will often order it for you--which certain corporate retailers not-be-named will NOT do--they will just refer you to their website where YOU pay the shipping!  Secondly, the staff at locally owned businesses tend to be more knowledgeable about their products.  I have also found that the owners, especially, have minds like squirrels--they always remember who bought their nuts and can remind you which wine you liked or what part will work with your bike.  Finally, shopping locally is a social activity, where you bump into friends or can stop to have coffee or a scone on your way around town.  So go support your local businesses!