February 2008
February beckons us briefly out of our winter hibernation with the need to start planting seeds. On Groundhog's Day I started my earliest tomatoes with plans of putting some in the greenhouse and others in Water Walls so we can savor our first tomatoes come mid-June. Stupice, Sungold and Yellow Pear are the varieties that you see peeking their heads out of the soil. 
Next on my list to start are onions from seed, broccoli and snapdragons. The lettuces and peas I planted in the greenhouse in January are poking out from the ground but are endangered by the abundant crop of chickweed around them. The next warm day I plan to do battle with the greenhouse weeds and find other corners to start more lettuce varieties.
Writing for One Forkful at a Time: Getting started with local foods continues and has stretched our brains beyond what we imagined as we uncover many interesting (and scary!) articles about our world's food supply. One article that really impacted me was a report from Haiti where food prices are also rising due to fuel costs and the demand for biodiesel. The poorest can no longer afford their staples of rice and beans and have started eating "cookies" made of yellow clay mixed with shortening and salt. I'm hoping and praying our writing will inspire folks to start eating and growing more food locally which can have an positive impact globally. In the name of "research" we ate lunch at the South Market Bistro in Wooster, an eatery serving many local foods, and have a few more field trips planned to places specializing in local and artisan foods. It has been very encouraging hearing stories from real people about how they are trying to eat closer to home and their visions for the future of local foods.
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