In my previous post, Local or Lifestyle, I hinted at the way my family eats, which is as close to the farm as possible. Although we ourselves are not participating in the August Eat Local Challenge hosted by eatlocalvt.org, at Pizza on Earth we will have one pizza special each week that will fit the bill for those people taking the challenge. Crust will be made from Champlain Valley Mills flour from across the lake, tomatoes, basil, and garlic will be supplied by Dave here at Stony Loam Farm ( where most of our vegetable toppings come from anyway), and cheese from Carlton at Champlain Valley Creamery in Vergennes. It's got to be good.

Finally we have hung our new sign out by the road. Unfortunately my favorite artichoke finial broke off when we were facing the sign post, but I think a little glue might do the trick. The beautiful iron bracket is an original that we picked up at Uncle Don's shop in Athol, Mass. It still had a shipping tag on it, sent from a company in Springfield to my grandfather's plumbing business. No date, but I'm guessing it might be in the 20's or 30's. The family connection makes it even more special.

Shortly after we moved to Vermont in 1991, we marked our first meal totally grown on our own land with a fine bottle of something sparkly. We dined on our own lamb, new potatoes, and lettuce from the field. These days, we hardly even think about how "local" we eat. I served my son a breakfast of our own eggs, our home-made english muffins, and local milk the other day, and even though he hardly acknowledged me, he ate all that was offered with relish. To us, it has become a way of life, not just choosing local products, but actually producing it ourselves. Keeping animals like chickens is not easy work, and requires a commitment of both money and time. On a daily basis, I lug a 5 gallon bucket of water from the greenhouse to the barn, scoop loads of egg producer crumble, and pick up 3 dozen eggs. Every month or so, I pick up 8 bags of feed (50 pounds each) and load them into the tubs in the barn. It is a good substitute for the gym.
Although we rent the vegetable farm to our faithful friend Dave, we still agonize after each torrential downpour and hail storm, and bite our fingernails worrying about the vegetables in the field. We yell at him everyday at 7pm to go home, since he has often been here since 7am. Our own small family garden doesn't seem any work at all compared to his or to what was ours in the past.
The idea of eating locally has become a popular and important message, although sometimes misunderstood. For me, it is about eating from my garden and the field, and from other producers who I know or can actually pass by on my way somewhere. I really don't want to eat tomatoes or asparagus in the winter. I will wait till their season is at hand within driviing distance. The taste and the enjoyment are better.