Fresh, Local Food for Free: Starting a Produce Cooperative

You all know how much I love free stuff, right? And how much I love food? Well then, in my world it can't get much better than getting free food - especially when it's fresh and local!

That is exactly what's happening in my neighbourhood with the advent of the West Hamilton Produce Cooperative. I got the idea to start this group after Angela Barton shared her experience as a member of the Hillside Produce Cooperative on her blog last year. I was so smitten with the idea that I knew I had to give it a shot in my own area.

Last Saturday, the West Hamilton Produce Cooperative held its first exchange and in my opinion it was a great success. We have over 20 members signed on to the group thus far, and about half a dozen participated in the first exchange (we had a really cold, wet spring so a lot of people's gardens aren't producing much yet).

The offerings included: 

Cilantro, dill, spearmint, peppermint, chives, garlic chives, oregano, lettuce, arugula, two kinds of basil, lovage, parsley, sage, thyme, summer savory, lemon balm, rhubarb and a variety of ornamental plants (echinacea, coral bells, daisy, black eyed susan).

 

I was very impressed with the quality, quantity and variety of items participants contributed to the group. It took me about an hour to sort through everything and distribute the goods evenly amongst the members' bags. When they were all packed up and ready to go, it looked like everyone had just hit up the local farmers' market - but instead, all the food was FREE! It reminded me a lot of picking up my share back when I belonged to a CSA. You never knew exactly what you were going to get, but you knew it would be fresh and local.

 

The co-op really didn't take that much work to get up and running. I'm excited to see what types of offerings we get as the season progresses. It's pretty cool to enjoy another member's lettuce and know someone else is getting to feast on my arugula! Plus, I've enjoyed the opportunity to meet other enthusiastic backyard veggie gardeners in my neighbourhood. Not to mention the fact that I don't have to spend as much money on produce at the grocery store.

 

If you're interested in starting a produce cooperative in your area, Hynden Walch (the founder of the Hillside Produce Cooperative) wrote an article sharing her experience starting her group. 

Weekly Menu Retrospective #41

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!

Breakfasts: rhubarb streusel muffins, granola, bagels, breakfast puffs (a quiche-like topping baked onto an English muffin)

Lunches: bagel sandwiches, tuna melts, leftovers, pizza

Dinners:

Monday: Barbecued chicken, coconut rice, tossed salad

Tuesday: Sausage & cheddar pasta salad, Build a Cucumber & Bean Salad (with chickpeas and feta)

Wednesday: Potato, Bacon & Egg Hash

Thursday: Leftover chicken, sauteed asparagus, honey roasted carrots, garlic and cheddar biscuits, strawberries (the local ones are finally here - hurray!)

Friday: Spaghetti, leftover carrots and biscuits

Saturday: Leftover Buffet

Sunday: Buttermilk & Herb Chicken, hush puppies, tossed salad, butter tart squares

For more great meal ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

Yard Sale Report for June 25th, 2011

Another overcast Saturday..but lots of yard sales to check out! I think everyone's given up on waiting for the perfect Saturday weather-wise and decided to take there chances. There were several street sales in my area so I didn't have to do a lot of riding to check out a lot of merchandise (which I appreciated, as I really haven't gotten enough sleep this week).


Here's what I found on my morning's travels:

At the first street sale I picked up a wicker hamper for 50 cents.It was going cheap due to a broken closure. I might take the lid off and use it as a drawer-style basket, or save it for a future gift basket and use the closure openings for ribbon ties...we'll see :)

At the next street sale, I bought a hardcover nature book/sorting and matching game that's going in my gift cupboard (25 cents) and a book called "Dish" by Marion Kane (a popular Canadian food writer) for 50 cents.

Later in the morning, I found these cute insect tea light holders (perfect for my front porch!) and got both for $1.50; a handmade journal still in the shrink wrap for $1.00 and a belt for my younger son (in a free pile!) 

On my way home, I stumbled on an unadvertised sale and bought a flowering shrub (not sure what kind) for $3.00 and a begonia for 50 cents (I forgot to include them in the photo).

Grand total for the day: $7.25 for 9 items, or 81 cents an item.

Did you find any great bargains this weekend?

Kickoff to Summer: An Inspirational Link Roundup

As of yesterday, it's officially summer - YAY! My garden is even getting into the act and finally growing up a storm now that we've had some consistently warmer temperatures and not so much rain.

To kick off the start of my favourite season, I thought I'd highlight some of my favourite posts from last summer. I hope you'll bookmark this page so you can refer back to it during these next few warm and (hopefully) sunny months!

To start things off, I'll point you to my musings on my favourite Simple Summer Pleasures.

If you want some motivation to get out there on the yard sale circuit, take a peek inside my gift cupboard.

Need a little inspiration out in the garden? Check out our $75 Deck Makeover (this year I'll be chronicling the overhaul of a major part of our backyard; the first installment will be coming soon!). If you're still struggling with veggie gardening in an urban environment, Incredible Edibles may be just the resource you're looking for. And if, like me, you have way more mint in your garden than you know what to do with, Making the Most of...Mint should give you plenty of new ways to use this proliferative herb!

Summer Eating:

If you missed my earlier roundup of warm weather salads, you'll want to head over and check out this list of some of our favourite summer side dishes.

Some other tried-and-true savoury summer dishes at our house are Stuffed Jalapenos, Pulled Pork Sandwiches, and Thai-Style Peanutty Pasta.

Of course, it wouldn't be summer without a few sweet, fruity treats! Raspberry Cream Cheese Squares and Lemon Blueberry Polenta Cake travel well for potlucks and picnics. Peach Clafouti is an easy-to-throw-together dessert that lends itself to variations with a variety of summer fruit. And if you have that age-old gardener's dilemma of way too much zucchini, Chocolate Zucchini Muffins are a tasty way to use up some of the surplus!

I know I'm looking forward to a couple of months of warm weather, outdoor activity and lots of delicious meals featuring fresh, seasonal produce. I hope you'll stick around and join me in celebrating all the pleasures summer has to offer.

Yard Sale Report for June 18th, 2011

Finally! A clear and sunny Saturday morning. Much to my chagrin, there were not a lot of yard sale listings in my area to go along with the fabulous weather. I think it's rained too many Saturdays in a row and people have all but given up trying to hold a successful yard sale. I did have 5 yard sales on my list to check out; I stumbled on another one during my travels, hitting half a dozen in total. Only two of the sales had anything of interest to me:

I picked up this copy of The Gourmet Cookbook for $3.00 (it's listed for $31.47 on Amazon.ca) at the first yard sale I hit. The yoga pants were $3.00 and the Inukshuk earrings plus the windchimes (below) were another $10.00. That's a bit more than I would usually pay, but the windchimes were new-in-the-box and the earrings are going into my gift cupboard for my niece's birthday, so I sucked it up a bit and paid a little more than my cheapskate self will usually consider :)

Grand total for the day: $16.00 for 4 items, or $4.00 per item (significantly higher than my usual per-item cost, but I figure the retail value of today's purchases to be around $85 before taxes, so I think I still did okay!)

Did you find any great deals this weekend?

RECIPE: Chocolate Peanut Granola

Homemade granola is one of the more popular breakfast items around here. It's such a staple food that I'm usually whipping up a batch once every week or two. Although the basic recipe is quite versatile and lends itself to lots of variations, I felt like trying out something a bit different the last time I needed to replenish the granola jar. This Chocolate Peanut Granola is a decadent twist on our standard granola recipe. Although it's a real kid-pleaser (the milk turns nice and chocolaty just like when I ate my Cocoa Puffs back in the '70s), it doesn't have any more sugar than our usual version. It tastes a lot like those popular no-bake drop cookies (without all the butter).

I'm sure any of the chocoholics in your life would be thrilled to receive some Chocolate Peanut Granola as a gift (the perfect excuse to start the day with a chocolate fix).

Ingredients:

5 cups rolled oats
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, coconut and peanuts. In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, honey, oil and cocoa. Heat gently and stir until thoroughly combined. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour chocolate mixture over oat mixture and stir until oats are evenly coated. Spread on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake at 300F for 30 minutes or until golden, stirring every 10 minutes. Let cool, then transfer to storage container.

Weekly Menu Retrospective #40

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!

Breakfasts: chocolate peanut granola (recipe coming this week!), bagels with cream cheese or peanut butter, rhubarb streusel muffins, Breakfast Puffs (a quiche-like topping baked onto English muffins)

Lunches: sandwiches (peanut butter, grilled cheese), leftovers, pizza

Dinners:

Monday: Hummus Hoagies (hummus on a whole wheat hot dog bun with sauteed zucchini and red pepper), pasta salad

Tuesday: Hamburgers, oven fries, tossed salad


Wednesday: Build a Cucumber and Bean Salad (made with black beans, salsa, and southwestern spices), toasted buns, fruit

Thursday: Sausage on a bun, sauteed onions, potato salad, leftover bean salad

Friday: Spaghetti with Creamy Rose Meat Sauce

Saturday: leftover spaghetti (I was on my own for dinner!)

Sunday: Country-Style Turkey Casserole, tossed salad, butterscotch pudding

For more great meal ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

Yard Sale Report for June 11th, 2011

Today's report will be short and not-so-sweet: STRIKEOUT!!

Yup, I came home empty-handed for the first time this season. Of course, that's totally preferable to spending money on a bunch of junk I don't really need and won't use...but it always feels a bit disappointing when I don't come home with a fun find or two (after all, yard sale season is pretty short here in Southern Ontario!)

I'm sure my lack of luck was at least partly due to the weather: last night's forecast indicated a 90% chance of rain this morning so a lot of people decided not to risk it and canceled their yard sales at the last minute. There was supposed to be a street sale in my neighbourhood today but it wasn't running (and ironically, as of 11:20 a.m., it still hasn't rained yet).

I'm hoping Saturdays start having a lot more sunshine in the near future!

How Is Your Garden Growing?

Today it's supposed to get up to 33 degrees Celsius (it's already 25 at 10 a.m.). After the cold, rainy spring we've had, some warmer weather is more than welcome (although today will be a little on the hot side for my taste!)

I'm sure no one is looking forward to the arrival of real summer weather more than the plants in my veggie garden. They've been valiantly struggling along, surviving cool temperatures, high winds, and nearly half a dozen heavy rainstorms in the past couple of weeks. Despite all the adverse conditions Mother Nature has doled out, it looks like just about everything's going to pull through, although harvest dates may be a little later than usual this year.

My strawberries look happy in their new raised bed home. The raspberry patch was encroaching on their former garden space, and since I wanted to encourage further raspberry growth (you can never have too many raspberries, can you?) I got my hubby to build me a raised bed off our patio so the strawberries could have their own special space in the garden.

 The parsley, basil and purple basil all look to be growing well. Behind the herbs are my arugula and spinach, which have been straggling along but are finally looking like I might be able to harvest them someday!

 This bed has oregano, mint and garlic chives, which are all growing robustly. I just transplanted the oregano this spring (it was over by the old strawberry patch getting choked out by the raspberries). It's definitely thriving in its new home. If you look closely, you can see the purple leaves of a few lettuce plants just forming beside the chives.

 These are my pepper plants, which, frankly, don't seem too thrilled about life right now. I'm hoping a few days of heat will perk them up. The plants closer to the bottom of the photo are jalapenos; the ones on top are sweet red peppers, the Gypsy variety that's my favourite. I have more pepper plants in my other raised bed (behind the arugula and spinach), including a yellow sweet banana pepper.

 This is one of my Roma tomato plants in a raised bed (I have 4 Roma plants in there, plus two more seedlings that we're building planters for right now)

 This is one of my cherry tomato plants (Sweet Million variety). It's been growing like gangbusters ever since I brought it home (I swear it practically doubled in size in the 48 hrs after I planted it!) I have 3 of these plants, plus 3 yellow pear tomato plants (my husband's favourite) in various pots and planters in sunny spots on our patio and deck.

My raspberries are starting to flower! All four of us consider raspberries just about the best summer treat going, so I've been thrilled that the 3 raspberry canes I planted about 3 years ago have spread to cover an approximately 12 foot by 4 foot area of my garden. Go raspberries!

I also planted some zucchini in the same bed as the strawberries - it hasn't germinated yet, thus no photo. I haven't planted my green beans yet, either. I'm determined to get to it in the next day or two - fresh-from-the-garden green beans are my favourite summer vegetable.

What's growing in your garden?

Weekly Menu Retrospective #39

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!
 

Breakfasts: chocolate zucchini muffins, bagels with peanut butter or cream cheese, granola, waffles

Lunches: sandwiches (turkey salad, peanut butter, tuna), leftovers, pizza

Dinners: 

Monday: Leftover Buffet

Tuesday: Barbecued pork chops, potato salad, roasted asparagus

Wednesday: Pork fried rice (yup, pork two nights in a row - the first package labelled "pork chops" that I thawed was actually pork chunks, and since I thawed it I had to cook it!)

Thursday: Macaroni and cheese, peas and carrots

Friday: Italian meatball subs, tossed salad

Saturday: Spicy Peanut & Tomato Soup, cornbread

Sunday: Lemon Garlic Chicken, coconut rice, sauteed asparagus

For more great meal ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

Yard Sale Report for June 4th, 2011

Today was a very disappointing day in yard sale world. There were two really big sales going on in my area - a fundraiser for a church in a grocery store parking lot in my neighbourhood, and a huge street sale that's an annual event at which I always find a few great deals. I was so looking forward to a morning of rummaging through boxes looking for treasure, and the weather ruined it all - a severe thunderstorm swept in and rained everyone out. The real bummer of it all is that the weather was gorgeous yesterday and it's supposed to be sunny and clear tomorrow as well!

I did manage to find a couple of things before I got soaked in the rain: a T-shirt for my husband ($1.50), a pair of cargo shorts that I thought would fit my husband but were a bit too tight, so now they'll go in the pile of stuff for next year for one of my boys ($1.50), and a pair of earrings that are so delicate it's pointless for me to even try to photograph them ($1.00).

Grand total for the day: $4.00 for 3 items, or $1.33 an item.

Here's to better luck (and weather) next weekend!

RECIPE ROUNDUP: Rhubarb

Rhubarb belongs to one of the frugalista's favourite categories of food: hard-to-kill perennial. That means that once you've planted it, you'll probably have some forevermore. No matter what you do to it, it just keeps coming back, year after year. Even if you don't have your own rhubarb patch, chances are someone close to you does - and is eager to get rid of some of their surplus. I planted rhubarb in my garden a couple of years ago, so it's still getting itself established. Luckily for me, my neighbour has a well-established patch that produces a bounteous crop every year (even during the exceptionally cold, wet spring we just experienced). So, yesterday afternoon, I had this much rhubarb to wrestle with:

Fortunately, rhubarb freezes exceptionally well, so my younger son and I got to work washing, chopping and bagging this mountain of free food.

Of course, that led me to start thinking about all the things I could do with that much rhubarb. I think it's an extremely undervalued food and lots of people don't really know what to do with it. Since it's one of the foods you're most likely to receive an armload of for free, I thought it must be time to do a roundup of some good rhubarb recipes!

Rhubarb Streusel Muffins are a staple food at our house.

I made this Rhubarb and Raspberry Crostata for my birthday dinner last weekend (I still had some of last year's rhubarb left in the freezer). It was a big hit and I think you could come up with a lot of variations from this basic recipe. The filling would be delicious served over ice cream or sponge cake instead of baking it in the crostata crust (for days when it's too hot to turn on the oven!)

I'm extremely fond of the classic strawberry-rhubarb combo, so I'm going to give this Strawberry Rhubarb Compote a try.

I came across a recipe for Roasted Rhubarb and was fascinated - it has never occurred to me to try roasting rhubarb. I saved a few juicy looking stalks to use in this recipe.

Rhubarb can even be used to make some tasty beverages - as soon as our local strawberries are available (in about 3 weeks or so) I'm going to be brewing up a batch of this Strawberry-Rhubarb Lemonade (scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the recipe).

I have yet to find a recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Jam that I'm happy with, so if you happen to have a tried-and-true one, I would be thrilled if you would pass it along (I'm looking for a cooked jam that can be canned, not a freezer jam).

Do you have a favourite rhubarb recipe? If so, please share it with us below!