For some of us (me) it is a way of life and even in the dark months of
December, I was reminded of just how lucky I am to have so much good
food to eat that really is in fact local. And when I say local, I mean
local, right here in the Mad River Valley, not over the mountain, not
within the 100 miles from here, but right here in The Valley.
As I sat down to enjoy my Christmas dinner I was shocked to look down
at my plate and see the abundance of food I was about to put on my plate
was grown, made or raised right here on my land or on the land just
three to five miles down the road from where I was eating. Without even
thinking about it, without a bunch of hoopla and wow, look at me (until
now), it all just came together. The potatoes, sweet potatoes, delicata
squash, carrots, onions, garlic, sage, parsley, pumpkin, cabbage all
from my own garden.
Many thanks go out to Nancy Barron for taking the time to teach a few of
us how to make our own sauerkraut a few summers back so I had some of
my own to put on my table (goes great with gravy and mashed potatoes).
The turkey was raised three miles down the road from my oven, the
stuffing was made of bread that had been made in my house, the eggs,
three miles down the road again, the milk for the gravy was from a local
farm five miles down the road, the lone item on my plate was the
cranberries that came from somewhere else and only because the ones in
my yard have not yet matured. Wow, how lucky I am!
It is times like this when it really makes me happy that I have all of
this available at my fingertips. It takes a lot of work over the summer
months, but in the winter months when the ground is frozen and all I
have to do is walk downstairs into my basement and pull my dinner from
my freezer or my supply of canned goods it feels pretty good. So I know
from personal experience that it can be done, it just takes some
reconfiguring and, yes, some hard work (or the appreciation of others
that do it for you), and I encourage many of you to look around and take
a good look at the variety of family farms that exist in the Mad River
Valley and to support them as much and as often as you can.
If you don't start doing it now these family farms that have been here
for generations may not be here when you really need them. There is a
wide variety of produce, eggs, milk, cheese, compost, specialty items
such as jams, jellies, pickles, honey and maple syrup right here in our
small little valley, so take advantage of it while you can. Thanks for
your time and thanks for reading!
@BLURB = Quayl Rewinski lives in Warren.
