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Holy smokes! I’ve been a busy little bee.

Come to think of it, when am I not a busy little bee? Let’s be honest: for me, busy is normal. I thrive in the midst of the hustle and bustle. I wouldn’t have it any other way. So, when I say that I’m a “busy little bee” – I’m not complaining. Rather, I’m commenting on my own amazement at how full (and wonderful) my life is.

There’s just so much goodness happening, and so little time to share about it all! But I’ll do my best to tell you about some of it, especially as it pertains to this blog (i.e. the food related stuffs). As a person who loves to cook – and who cares about what type of food I eat, where my food is grown/raised, etc – I’m really excited to share about some of these things. So, then, here’s what I’ve been up to:

1. I joined the Food Buying Club through the Montavilla Food Co-Op. The club allows members to join in on bulk orders of local produce, grains, coconut oil, frozen berries, meat, butter, etc. For example, Chris from Lost Arts Kitchen did a bulk butter order from a local creamery earlier this month. She sent out an email to the food buying club: we then each ordered (& prepaid for) however much butter we wanted, and then picked up the butter at a specified drop point. Easy as cake. Since then I’ve also ordered local grassfed ground beef (for $3/lb) and free range corn-free eggs (for $3.50/doz). I absolutely love this system of buying food! It feels like so “old world”; like a long-forgotten way of doing business. I personally think it is a fantastic way to support local farms and businesses, while connecting with my community.

2. It’s finally garden time! Now that I live in a place with a quaint little yard, I can finally have a real garden. Nich and I have our own private side yard and share a big back yard with our next door neighbor, Rowan. Rowan is quite the gardener and has grandiose plans for our backyard (and I am going to soak up her knowledge!), and so this weekend we set about planting our spring garden. It is a bit early to plant warm weather crops (tomatoes, zucchini, etc) but in Oregon you can plant winter greens and peas around this time (“Peas in by President’s Day!”). I am just so excited about my garden, as I think that gardening is one of the most simple and cost effective ways to eat whole foods. I’ve not had the luxury of having much of a yard in the past, and so I am overjoyed at the prospect of having a real garden this year. This is a cook’s dream! (And here’s to hoping I don’t kill all my lovely plants!)

3. I am the proud godmother to 3 wonderful chickens: Jackie O., Amy Grant, and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (SCJRB). Godmother, you ask? Let me explain. A while back, my friend Beyth mentioned that she was considering getting chickens. I was envious, as we can’t have chickens at our place. But how I wished I could have chickens! Alas, Beyth and I hatched a plan for communally raising chickens. I would help pay for chicken feed and take care of the chickens whenever Beyth was out of town. In exchange, I would get paid in eggs. Beyth got the chicks this past August, and we were told that we could expect them to start laying eggs in late spring (of 2011). But, to our surprise, the little chicks grew up fast and they started laying in January! Each chicken is consistently laying one egg per day. Even though I get just a share of the eggs (as Beyth and her husband Joe really do all the work caring for the chickens), the chickens are laying a lot and I’m really quite pleased with how many eggs I’m getting! Having access to fresh eggs from chickens I know (and love) is the best feeling. Seriously. If you’re like me and you don’t have the ability to raise chickens of your own, I strongly encourage you to try out a system of communal chicken raising. So far, things are going splendidly! I owe a huge thanks to Beyth and Joe for allowing me to be part of their chicken’s lives. 🙂

Pictured below: Jackie O. (Photo by Joe Greenetz)

4. And, lastly, I have started volunteering for my local farmer’s market: The Montavilla Farmer’s Market. I really love this little market and am so thrilled to be part of their marketing and outreach team. I haven’t done much for them yet (as this is the quiet season for the market) but I did just write a new blog post for the market blog (which is called Seasonal Abundance). After shopping at the last winter stock up market, I was inspired to cook a Root Vegetable Soup. See below for a photo and a link to the recipe!

Pictured below: Winter Market Root Vegetable Soup. For full recipe, see my blog at the Montavilla Farmer’s Market site!