Meal Planning
Planning meals may seem daunting, especially when
you’re trying to buy local. The easiest way I’ve
found to structure meals around locally sourced
food is to start with the veggies. Find out which
veggies are in season for your region, then make
them the stars of your table. In the spring
you’ll probably see rhubarb, asparagus, radishes,
ramps, and cold-hardy greens. In early summer
there will be all kinds of lettuce, strawberries
and peas. Late summer is the time for tomatoes,
peppers, cucumber, eggplant, squash, melons, and
so much more. In autumn we finally see the winter
squash, apples, pears, along with the last of the
summer produce begging to be stored for winter.
During the winter time the long keeping winter
squash and root vegetables hold sway, along with
easily stored fruit like apples; grains, and
beans round out the winter diet.If you’re lucky
enough to live in a community with a greenhouse
you can enjoy all this produce earlier in the
spring and later in the fall or even winter.
Once you know what’s available locally at what
time, you can plan your meals and find creative
ways to use the same item over and over. As one
ingredient goes out of season, a new one is there
to replace it, usually right when you’re getting
a little bored with that particular fruit or
vegetable.
Your steepest learning curve for this style of
meal planning and cooking will be the first year.
After that, you’ll know what comes into season
when, and have a good idea of how your family
enjoys these items best. Of course, there’s
always something new to learn, and as organic
farming becomes more the norm you’ll find more
and more options and varieties of produce in your
area. The main thing is to support your local
organic farmers now, and spread the word to
others.
On the next page you’ll find some of my favorite
recipes. Most are very economical to make, though
I splurge like anybody else now and then. Check
out the
resources page, too,
for a list of my favorite cookbooks and
websites for finding recipes.
Green on a Shoestring:
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