Sugar Time

Hello-
February is almost over, but in order to keep us from getting too complacent, a substantial winter storm hit Central New York and dumped at least two feet of snow on us. It's quite pretty until you have to shovel any of it, and then you realize it's been snowing soggy mashed-potatoes that weigh a ton. Ah well, it's good exercise.

It's almost time to start some of the early seeds for Lucky Moon, and tomorrow, I'm headed over there to see how to tap sugar maple trees. One of Lucky Moon's special products is Maple Syrup, and they offer it for sale almost all year (except perhaps in late winter when the year's supply has run out). I've never had a chance to tap trees before, so I'm very excited to see how it's done, as well as the lengthy boiling process. Depending on the type of tree and the age, I think it takes about 32 gallons of sap to produce 1 gallon of syrup! With that in mind, the price for maple syrup is a little easier to understand. And it tastes so incredible.

Every year, I've decided to try and grow more and more of our own food and learn how to preserve it. This year I've had great onions, potatoes, garlic, peppers and jams that I "put away" and have happily used all winter. However, now that it's the end of February, my planning is falling a bit short and I've only got a few cloves of garlic left, potatoes that have some truly impressive eyes (sprouts) growing on them, and the onions are sending up healthy green shoots. They're all still usable, but not really in their prime anymore. So when I heard about the farmer's market in Cazenovia this morning, I hurriedly shoveled the fresh three inches of snow that fell last night and drove out to the market. I picked up some fresh garlic and eggs and found some new sources of locally grown mushrooms, herb mixes, sheep yoghurt and cheeses and meat (beef, pork, lamb, chicken and turkey). I've been eating as little meat as possible (i.e. unless someone serves it to me in their home) not because I necessarily have a problem with eating meat, but I do disagree with how meat is produced industrially. So having sources for local, 100% grass-fed, humanely-treated animals raised for meat is a great thing. I'm not planning on ever eating as much meat as I used too; I've decided that I really do like tofu, and honestly, there are so many vegetables I love to eat, I hardly ever miss meat, but for those few occasions, I want to support the kind of meat-production I can stomach (sorry for the weak pun).

I don't know if anyone who reads this lives here in Central New York, but if you do, you should really hear about the restaurant in Caz where the market was held today. Circa restaurant offers truly wonderful food that comes in a large part from local growers and producers. Alicyn and her husband Eric run the place, and they are always trying to find local sources for the great dishes they serve at Circa. I really recommend it- they're doing what most restaurants write off as too expensive or time consuming, and the result is excellent food that you can really feel good about.

Eat Local! By supporting your friends and neighbors, you get to see exactly where your food comes from and exactly what happens to it before it ends up in your shopping cart or on your plate. It's the rare and elusive win-win situation. As one of the pamphlets from the market said today, "Know your farmer. Know your food. Know your food's food." I thought that was pretty succinct.

Be happy, be healthy.