Gearing Up for One Local Summer

The summer is beginning to peek its head out–slowly. Indeed, I think we may end up skipping spring entirely and just head straight from winter into summer. The bitter snows of winter blew long and hard this year, and well into the month of May.

I’m thrilled by the prospect of summer. The spring CSA is about to end–and while I’ll miss the boxes, I won’t miss the headache of waiting 5 or 6 hours past the appointed time to retrieve those boxes. The farmers market is about to start–we’re counting down and there’s just 21 days left. And we’re headed down to the garden to start our seeds. We would have started earlier but, due to record snowfall this year, our plot in the community garden wasn’t completely melted until last week. With all that, we’re thrilled to be part of 2008′s One Local Summer Challenge.

The challenge officially starts today with the first round of blog posts scheduled for next week. I may be ahead of myself here, but, then again, I may be out of town this weekend and unable to post.

Yesterday we celebrated the bounty of early season Colorado in combination with the remainder of what we preserved last summer. It was a beautiful, summery meal.

So there it is. Our lovely meal. We dined on the patio and enjoyed the evening despite the overwhelming presence of blood-sucking mosquitoes. I’ve more than a few bumps to worry about now.

One Local Summer: Week 1 Menu

• Grilled Bison Sausages
• Sweet Corn with Parsley
• Simple Slaw with Flaxseed Oil, Honey and Chilies
• Mixed Potato Salad with Mizuna and Sundried Tomatoes
• Sauvingon Blanc

My toddler certainly enjoyed it. The sausages were his favorite–notice how they seem to be missing on his plate?

But let’s take a minute to look at sources for this meal. If you’re in Colorado, you might find them useful on some level.

Animal Foods

• Bison Sausages: High Wire Ranch, Hotchkiss (50 miles)
• Honey: Madhava Honey, Lyons (200 miles)
• Eggs: Parker Pastures, Gunnison (35 miles)

Fresh Vegetables

• Cabbage: Unknown Farm, Montrose (100 miles)
• Onion, Mizuna, Potatoes:   Paonia (45 miles)

Preserved Vegetables

• Sweet Corn: Unknown Farm. Frozen after purchase at last year’s market. Delta. (60 miles)
• Tomatoes:   Sundried after purchase at last year’s market. Paonia (45 miles)
• Chilies: Raincrow Farm. Dried after purchase at last year’s market. Paonia (45 miles)

Beverage

• Sauvignon Blanc: Grande River Vineyards, Palisade. (75 miles)

Not from These Parts

• Flaxseed Oil
• Real Salt
• Sunflower Seed Oil and Grape Seed Oil in Homemade Mayonnaise
• Raw Cider Vinegar
• Parsley