Locavore In Training

There are some days when I feel like I will never "get it right" with this local food thing. (Please do not talk to me about kohlrabi until at least next Spring.) It can be hard... running to multiple markets, farms, farm pickups, etc.

Well, yesterday was not one of those hard days. The stars aligned for me, I guess.

I left the office a little early because my day ended with a conference call that I could just as easily take from the car. I rolled into the community garden just before 5 to do some much needed watering. Weird transition from work to farm hand... but after a quick 911 call to one of the coordinators to figure out how to turn off the electric fence, I was in business.

Watered two rows - one each zucchini and pattypan squash - 90 seconds for each plant. Watered myself a little too, thanks to the 90+ weather we've been having. (Mother Nature, it would be lovely if you turned down the heat a bit, and gave us some rain. Thanks much.)

I was on the very last plant when a gopher ran out from under the plant - wet and scared. Not sure who was more scared though!! A nice reminder that while I might be alone in terms of other people, you're never fully alone outside!

Then I went in search of the promised pickling cucumbers. I think they meant prickly! Ouch. My goal was to pick 4 lbs for my low sodium pickle chip recipe from canning class. Yum. (Recipe to come.) Turns out, I can't judge weight very well in a field. Ended up with 8 lbs! Also, 3 of the largest zucchinis I've ever seen. I'll post a picture soon, I promise - you have to see these to believe!

Once I got home, I set about pickling those 8 pounds of extremely fresh cucumbers. Thanks to my food processor, the chopping was almost completely eliminated. And by 8:30, 8 beautiful pints of freshly made pickles were sitting on the counter. Horray!

CSA pickup tonight, and they promised NO KOHLRABI.