Day 1

So far so good! I got up this morning and had a few plums and a glass of milk (I'd forgotten how good plain ole' cow milk really is!) and then headed down the hill to the farmer's market. I could have walked, but I figured I was going to buy too much to carry the 1/2 mile or so home, and I was right! Here's what I got:

• 1 Pint of Blueberries from McKinleyville - Their season is practically over, but there were still some for sale.
• 5 Peaches from Willow Creek
• 1 5lb Bag of mixed potatoes and about 3lb of devina potatoes from Arcata
• About 4 lb of cranberry (dry) beans from Arcata
  
• 1 dozen eggs from Bayside
• 4 colored bell peppers, 2 Italian sweet peppers , and 2 eggplant from Hoopa
• 2 Walla Walla onions; a bunch each of peppermint, spearmint, and lemonbalm; and 1 bunch of basil all from Orleans.

I also stopped at the co-op and picked up a small tub of organic sour cream (to use as a starter) and some whipping cream from Fortuna. All together I spent about $45.00 and filled up two big bags of groceries. I felt like I needed a cart! Hopefully this will all last me through the week. I can always get local veggies, meat, and dry beans at the co-op if I need to.

When I got home I started the yogurt and sour cream. The sour cream was really easy: I just dumped a half tablespoon of sour cream in a cup of whipping cream, and put it in the over. You're supposed to keep it a about 150 degrees, which is hard cause my oven doesn't want to go that low, so I turned it up to 250 and then off after a few minutes. I figure I can do that all day and keep it around 150. The yogurt was pretty much the same deal, except I had to sterilize the milk first by raising it up to 180 degrees. I made 1 cup of sour cream and 2 quarts of yogurt. Hopefully it all turns out! Right now it's hard for me to believe it!

I also put the peppermint, spearmint, and lemon balm out in the sun to dry on cookie sheets, and I picked some rose hips from the front yard and put them out to dry - they're all for tea. I definitely need something hot to drink in the morning!

For lunch I had a few of the Devina potatoes (they're a super buttery gold variety) with cheddar cheese, butter, a few chives from the front porch, salt, and pepper. Delicious!

So now I've got a fridge full of food, I've got beans soaking for dinner, and I feel like I actually might make it through a month!