Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Part 2

Welcome back to our discussion of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. If you haven't read the first discussion, you can find it here. Our discussions are pretty loose--I'll start the discussion with my thoughts on the chapters that we are reading--in this case Chapters 6-10--and then we'll continue the discussion in the comments. Last time we had some really good discussions. I think the direction will be slightly different this time because these chapters aren't as 'technical'. The first 3 chapters or so were full of great information on how our country eats and I had a lot of thoughts on that!

But the last few chapters that we've been reading have more to do with the actual eating locally and seasonally which leads to a different kind of discussion, in my opinion. I'm not so concerned with what foods to avoid (because if we're eating seasonally and locally then we eat what we find that's in season!) which we discussed last time, but rather how to source them and how to cook them! What do I mean about cooking them? The one thing that is hard for me to do is to experiment with food without a recipe. And recipes sometimes brings about spending more money on ingredients that I don't have on hand. So it's hard to be creative when you have seasonal produce and a meat. Or at least for me. So this is one area I need to get better at--experimenting with different seasonal recipes or finding substitutes for the more specialized ingredients. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like to cook and to experiment, but coming up with a recipe with things that are in front of me is not my area of expertise. Or coming up with a substitute for an ingredient.

But more about the book. I liked that these few chapters dealt more with the actual eating and raising of food versus the first few chapters that dealt with why we should eat seasonally and locally. How do you feel about raising your own meat? We've raised meat birds before and they are messy! I would do it again but I want to be able to butcher them myself. We normally take them to a butcher who only charges something like $3-$4 per bird, but still. I think part of homesteading, for me, is to be able to be as self-sufficient as possible. Does this mean I do everything right 100% of the time? Nope. In fact, the Mister and I just had this discussion yesterday. I tend to get lazy and not plan ahead and then I'm starving! So I go for the quick grab items. Or go to the grocery store in town (which is NOT a good grocery store at all). So he and I were discussing that I need to come up with a plan for the week and purchase all that I need, hopefully at a farm market, and then it's set for the week. No more running to town to the grocery store. If it isn't on the meal plan for the week, oh well. I like this. I feel inspired by this.

I did have a couple of questions though and wanted to get your thoughts. First, what do you do, if you are eating seasonally and locally, when you go out to eat or go to someone's house. According to the chapters we read, Kingsolver and her family were fortunate enough to have a chef as a personal friend and when they threw the birthday party, everything was seasonal and local. We're not all that fortunate. I guess for me, I wouldn't adhere to it that strictly. Of course if I was writing a book I probably wouldn't go out to eat at all!! HAHA. But since I can't afford a personal chef nor am I writing a book, I would be a little more loose on that end.

My second question comes in the form of the greenhouse grown tomatoes. I know technically they're grown by a farmer but they're greenhouse grown. Which I guess you do if you don't have a long growing season. But then that begs the question, should you grow things that aren't viable in your growing zone? But then I wouldn't be able to grow my figs! Or think about a lemon tree! How about herbs grown inside! I think I'm just totally overthinking things now. But when I read the part about the tomatoes in the greenhouse, it just seemed weird to me how much of the tomatoes were grown inside versus outside (the farm was farther up North from me, but we can usually get a good growing season for tomatoes).

And the other thought or question that I had was about shopping locally. That's great if you have the resources, and the businesses, to support it. But I don't. Prices in my town are higher than average. And it's the same stuff I can get at a big box retailer, or Amazon, but the prices are better. I wish I could support local stores more but either they're not that great (see comment on grocery store above). Or they're overpriced. OR they don't have what I need anyway. Or they're not open when I need something. Most stores are closed on Sundays here. Need a car battery? Not happening on Sunday. Need a table saw? We can order you one. Oh, you need it today? Well, I guess you're driving 45 minutes to the closest Home Depot. Don't get me wrong. I like our little town. It's just not always conducive to the idea of only shopping locally. I do try to support it as much as possible, but it's not always possible.

Oh! And what about that diner in Vermont? Swoon! If only that could be a possibility or reality for every small town. We are fortunate to be surrounded with a lot of farmers. I get my (raw) milk from a local dairy. We have a least 2 cheesemongers (is that what they're called? They make their own cheeses and sell them locally). There are at least 2 ice cream stands locally that make their own ice cream. Well, one makes ice cream, milk, cream, etc. The other is an actual ice cream stand. Their ice cream sandwiches are to die for! Homemade ice cream sandwiched between two homemade chocolate chip cookies! Yum!

Kingsolver brings up a lot of good 'food for thought' in these few chapters. Raw milk. Making your own cheese. I teach a class on making cheese. I love it! But I get too lazy sometimes and don't do it. I need to change that. She's right. With only a few tools and a little bit of time, you can make most of the dairy products we use on the regular--cottage cheese, sour cream, ricotta, mozzarella, even buttermilk! Keeping a flock of egg layers is fairly easy. We mentioned meat birds above. Most of us grow some, if not all, of our own veg. We're normally pretty crafty people too, in some form or other. So making our own food isn't that big of a stretch for us.

And finally, if you recall from the last discussion, I only made it through Chapter 3 before discussing. So this time I finished all the way through Chapter 10! But I also had a couple of thoughts on the chapters I didn't read from last time. Mostly about the mushrooms. I haven't ever foraged for mushrooms, mostly because I am not an expert with them. And that can be a deadly game! But after reading about the morels, I did some research. I'm happy to report that we will be foraging for morels this spring. We should have plenty around as our area is prime for their growing conditions! I'm excited to add this to the list.

And I wanted to say sorry about all the pictures. The morning light was just too good when I took the pictures and I just couldn't cull them down any! So lots of pictures this post! Okay. It's your turn. Tell me all about your thoughts and ideas on these chapters. And don't forget, here's the rest of the reading/discussion schedule:
February 4, 2020: chapters 11-15
February 18, 2020: chapters 16-20 and wrap up