Local Food

O.k., so I think I am over my grouchiness of yesterday. Sorry about that. You have all been there, done that, so I know you understand (and I really appreciate it!).

Yesterday wasn't a total write-off. Actually, it ended up being a fairly nice day. One of my favourite parts of the day was going to get asparagus.

As you probably know, I am a transplanted city girl. I grew up in a large city (and IN the city, not a surrounding suburb) and while I was there, I loved it. There are still parts of life in the city that I love but I have to admit, I did get tired of the frenzy, the competition and the need to try and keep up. And the pretentiousness of some areas, well, that is something I could happily leave behind.

One thing about being a "city girl" is that being out of the city held a lot of fascination for me that would bore someone to tears who had grown up in a smaller place. I love the quaintness of a small town, the innocence of certain aspects of life and the slower pace. I don't mind that everyone knows everyone else (in fact, I kind of like it). If I am totally honest, I can't say that we are "truly" having the small-town experience - while we live in a town of 4 000 and it is a self-contained town instead of an extension of a larger place, we are 10 minutes drive to a town of 70 000 (but at least we have farmland between there and here, not just urban sprawl) and an hour into a city of somewhere in the area of 4 000 000 so it isn't like we are living in isolation or anything. To me, it's the best of both worlds.

One thing I do love about living out here is being so close to the food that we eat. There are lots of farms within a 15 minute walk from home and once spring arrives, we often buy things locally. I know spring is here because the first signs for local produce are up - right now, it's asparagus (one of my favourites, although dh can't stand it). I decided to go and pick some up late yesterday afternoon. It was almost five and I assumed that I might be too late but then, I forgot how these things are done.

I pulled up to the farm and there were three other cars pulling up ahead of me. There was no sign of a farmer or a stand, just a big sign saying that the "produce was on the porch". Up we all trekked to see another sign telling us to "help ourselves" to the produce in the fridge". The fridge was full of bags of rhubarb and asparagus and there was a bowl of cash for us to leave our payment in. There must have been at least $50 there. I loved this! It is just such a simple act of trust. I know that we aren't talking about thousands of dollars and that in the city, most people are fairly honest, too, I just really like the old fashioned honour system that goes on in places like this (one benefit to "everybody knowing everybody" is that you don't get away with much!). I drove away feeling like humanity had been redeemed in my eyes for a few hours (and hey, nobody had touched my belly or made a comment!).

I will also say, the asparagus was amazing. I tried a new recipe from Life As Mom. Yum!