Initially, I was going to save the world from yet another variation on the same T.S. Eliot reference, but I just can’t help thinking of this cruelest month every morning as I wash the blanket of pollen off my windshield so that I may drive to work safely. I see my neighbors’ similar attempts, thinking how our efforts are in vain, yet we go through the motions year after year creating a mild reminder of the hopeless futility that Eliot was referring to in his poem.
Yet, despite all this…maybe April isn’t the cruelest month after all.
I say this because my husband and I moved back to the Triangle in November and I’ve been engaging in a concerted attempt to truly invest in our community and farmer’s markets through adopting a locavore lifestyle. We’ve been transitioning slowly, but the goal is to purchase a full 80% of our total grocery expenditures on local produced foodstuffs (from plow to plate, as it were). However, starting a project like this is not the best idea in November, and, while I don’t consider it a failure, it was a learning experience.
So, if you ask my husband, he will tell you February has been the cruelest month this year. Those were the darkest days of endless collards, turnips, sweet potatoes, and frozen meat. There was some really fabulous cheese too, but my husband was not to be assuaged.
We had to revert back to the grocery store.
So, this summer we continue with my project and I’m going to log this journey here. I’ll be covering our progress, including food tips and recipes (including food preservation for the winter –wish me luck), and anything else interesting to being a locavore in the Triangle.
Farmer’s Market Purchases this week: spring onions, cabbage, pork butt, bread, breakfast sausage. I bought a lot at the Durham Farmer’s Market last week in preparation for Easter and had a ton leftover for this week.
Farmer’s Market Dinner: Sausage and Spring Onion Quiche
Hi Jenna,
I am the education coordinator for the new Western Wake Farmer’s Market, and we are difinitely interested in having you
come and be in our education tent! IS there any possibility that you might be able to do something this Saturday? We could work out what that might be. Otherwise, we could look at a date in October as well.
Meanwhile, you can e-mail me back a reply or better yet even, call me at and we could actually talk voice to voice.
Bravo for all that you are doing and keep up the great work!
all blessings, Pali