It was fun while it lasted, but we've finally come to the end of our book. The final chapters of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle centered on the winter months of Barbara Kingsolver's local food experiment ... the hungry months.
Kingsolver's family wasn't hungry though -- she'd canned and frozen enough produce to feed a small army. We felt what she was saying, as we'd spent the morning picking through the winter offerings at our local market. We've never frozen or canned anything. That's when we read this:
If you're reading this in midwinter and that [limited access to local produce] is your situation, put the thought away. Just never mind, come back in six months. Eating locally in winter is easy. But the time to think about that would be August.
Thanks to this book, I am quite tempted to start planning for next winter NOW by making a list of what I want to get from the farmer's market ahead of time, buying books on canning ... etc. I don't think my Italian boyfriend would be too upset about having 30 homemade jars of pasta sauce in the cabinet. :)
The book, overall, had an encouraging tone which helped to really push me over the edge as far as getting started in creating my own garden/local eating plan. There were times were you just couldn't avoid the depressing situation that our food system is in both as a nation and as a planet. Barbara's husbands' mini-essays were most enjoyable and the book would not have been the same without her older daughter writing the final sections of the chapter.
view Victoria E's profile
I really liked this tone as well - I started looking up determinate heirloom tomato seeds to grow in containers next to a window. I also focused a little more closely on local stuff when shopping at the co-op and it really cinched my resolve to recommit to the CSA.
I ended up trying cabbage soup (veganized version of this):
http://www.recipezaar.com/17608
And tried to fool around with some rutabagas as well (NOT the same thing as rhubarb, to my chagrin).
I also plan to can some marinara sauce over the summer - I figure that is an easy way to start and will probably fill half the jars I have. I might try to pickle as well.
I also really liked her idea of blanching/freezing vegetables but I don't really have that much freezer space (I raw feed my pets so it is usually completely full with dead crap). I considered getting a small freezer chest but I don't think I have the room and really don't want to spend the extra $$ on electricity.
view jesse@humanerecipe's profile
If nothing else, this book made me appreciate the incredible bounty that SoCal farmer's markets offer, even in the dead of winter. I can't shove pomegranates, baby Yukon Gold potatoes or caramelized onions down my gullet fast enough.
view mmadden's profile
I was inspired to can some peaches for the first time last fall, and it was pretty easy. After reading this book, I now have a long list of what I plan to can next summer/fall, so that I can enjoy summer fruit in the dead of winter. I am also planning a garden to grow a few of my favorite veggies and my husband and I are signing up for a new CSA. We did a CSA a few years ago that relied a little too heavily on zucchini, which as we know from the book is hard to give away!
The bit about turkeys (and other animals) forgetting how to procreate was particularly disturbing. I was especially happy to learn that the turkeys finally figured out the birds and the bees, and how to raise their own young.
view Green Me's profile
I appreciate the practicality of this, but it did bother me how much energy the Kingsolver family was using to freeze huge amounts of local tomatoes etc. Is this really more efficient in the long term? Canning and drying are great, but freezing doesn't seem like the greenest option.
view mgood's profile