What does a cold wet morning call for? Scones and tea! Scones made with my homemade butter from local cream, the buttermilk left over from making the butter (the first rinse of the butter is buttermilk that can be used in cooking), locally ground flour, and then topped with three-fruit jam. Local fruit too. But the best part, at least on a "Hooray this is local" level, was the tea. Yep, local tea. Local green or white tea grown in the Pacific Northwest.
The tea plants were put in as an experimental crop by a local farm several years ago. This is the first year it was available to purchase.
As soon as I can find some tea plants, I'm putting some in. I actually did plant a tea plant two years ago, but it didn't make it. I think I have a better spot for it now, out of the wind. Tea plants are in the camellia family so I really should be able to get them to grow well. It does take quite a few plants to have a decent crop, only the tips of the plant are harvested for tea.
I've been looking at my food choices and the environmental impact of them some more. I'm pretty happy with the amount of local, organic, bulk foods I eat at home in proportion to not local. The two goals I have are to remember to bring my own containers for bulk items when I go to the co-op and to stop buying nibbles when I am on the go during the week. The nibbles I get are usually from the co-op (healthier choice but wrapped in plastic) or from Starbucks (wrapped in paper, but certainly not healthy, and no I don't get coffee there). I am going to allow myself one nibble a week from the Farmer's market. I just can't give up those yummy baked goods from our local slow-food bakery/cafe completely. I will bake things at home for the week (which I love doing) and I will learn to not eat it all at once! I am going to portion baked good out and freeze them. That's the plan....