Sunday 16 September 2007

Eat Local, Shop Local....Win Local???

I was hoping to get time to make something crafty to give away but, with our garden harvest in full swing, that just isn't going to happen. So here is what I came up with for my part of the contest. My family has been making an effort to keep as much of our food as local as possible (preferably out of our own yard) and to support local businesses with our shopping that we do need to do. So, with that theme in mind, my prize will be either something from here or something from here.
( this is my own "cupboard under the stairs" and I think it is rather nicer than the one Harry had to endure. In a few more weeks it will be full to bursting and I quite like the Little House in the Big Woods feeling that it gives me)

And here is the catch...to enter you also have to be local. I will deliver to anyone in this city or if you know me, or someone I know, then we could probably try to make arrangements to get it to you if you live nearby. (say if you are part of the group of homelearners that lives north of us) So if you are interested then leave a comment saying what you love about where we live or what you have been doing to make your diet more local.

And c'mon, did you really think I would be willing to part with any of my chocolate?

12 comments:

ipsa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ipsa said...

OMG. I think my whole family would be happy living in your cupboard under the stairs.

Did I ever tell you about the time my sister mailed me a jar of her famous hot pickled beans/carrots AND a jar of beet pickles AND a jar of homemade dills?

;)

In other words, I could pretend to be local. But, sigh, I guess that wouldn't be the point of the whole thing.

Heather said...

Well if you were willing to come and visit and claim your prize in person then you could be included. ;-) How is that for another enticement? I do make pretty fantastic garlic dills, if I do say so myself, they are an old family recipe. :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi Heather: I hope Winfield qualifies as local.... even though it means crossing the dreaded bridge :-). I have been having such fun eating locally this summer. The farmers market here has supplied me with most of my food. I am hoping I can keep it up over the winter - it might mean a couple of trips to your cupboard under the stairs or something.... or wait maybe I could just win this contest... hint, hint, wink, wink.

Amanda

Anonymous said...

Heather, Wow I wish my under the stairs looked like that! Instead mine is a freezer full of frozen fruit from our farmer's market as well as a farmer who lived up the road from our old house. They have the best peaches going!As a family our move signified changes for us we quickly put in a few ok tons of tomatoes plants onions and peppers to make our own salsa and spahetti sauce. I can't wait till next year when we are not moving on June 15th to have a bigger and better garden. We planted strawberries and raspberries this summer. We also have been riding our bikes to a local farm near our new house to get things for dinner when we are out rather than driving into town. These are a few of the things that pop into my head when I ask how am I making our diet more local rather than from another country!

Anonymous said...

What I love about the Okanagan...Where to begin? I love the lake where I can cool down on a hot summer day. I love the snowy ski days where the sun still shines up high. I love the magnolia trees on Abbott in the spring when I roller blade past. I love that I grew up here so I know the area well and met my husband here and had my boys here. I love that I can freely homeschool my kids here. I love the sense of community here. I love camping in the rough with a tent and getting to live a bit wild for a weekend:) I love the birds who eat at my feeder but especially the califoria quail. And I love to eat all the wonderful goodies that grow here, especially from my neighbors yard as they are uber fresh and free to boot:)

Anonymous said...

Ohhhhh, maybe one day I will have a pantry full of canned fruit and veggies! We had a good little garden going this year and it was all I could do to keep up with picking what was ripe and using it as quickly as I could. We gave away a lot of it! I could certainly use some canned goods for winter. I'll wait with my fingers crossed!
xojacqueline

Mary-Sue said...

WOW! One of my favourite things to do is walk into my pantry and grin... I can't imagine the satisfaction you get from looking into your full larder! wow. Good for you. I love that you think outside the box when it comes to "growing your own", more than anyone else I know. Like making your own calendula balm and chamomile ointments and soaps and dyes and on and on it goes. I really think you should consider putting it all together in a book sometime. what a great homelearning project that would be! Thanks for sharing yourself on here. You're more of an inspiration than you could realize...

Mary-Sue said...

What do I love about living here in the Okanagan? I LOVE the cedar trees, the lakes, the long colourful autumn without the fear of it turning into winter on day 2 (like it too often did in Alberta). I love that I can grow anything I'm willing to water and be a little bit self-sustainable without hardly trying, when it comes to our own food. I love that there are so many adventurous, earth-dedicated people who live here. I love the sunshine, the hot days when we can't breathe right unless we're IN the lake, the hot nights when we jump into the lake RIGHT before bed so we can sleep... I love that my kids can play outside nearly every single day of the year. And do. And I mostly love that we can freely learn at home with a huge network of like-spirited friends.

Anonymous said...

I love living in the Okanagan because my children can play outside almost every day of the year, because we can go and hang out at the lake all summer and camp every week-end.

I love the idea of eating local...I'm currently reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and I am getting so inspired...oops guess that's for another post ;)

Anonymous said...

Let me try this again... apparently my last comment is lost in cyber-space.
Anyway, I have lived in the Okanagan since I was 9 months old, and I love the Okanagan of my childhood. I thought "that" Okanagan was gone, but I see it here in your blog. The Okanagan I live in is very different than your Okanagan, and I am working to change that. Your Okanagan life is wonderful... can I come & live with you for awhile???
You are an inspiration...
Keep up the great work,
Rebecca :)

Amy said...

so sad that i am not local...that cupboard is amazing!!!!