Oh my goodness what have I done? I have just agreed to drag my poor long suffering family through yet another mad capped project. But its ok it’s for a competition. No actually that doesn’t make things any better. Let’s try that again: It’s ok it’s only for the 30 days of April.
For the month of April we will be joining the Happyzine Eat Local Challenge. The gist of this challenge is we are only to eat food from a 200km radius of our house. There are a few things to make it easy, like we can have one nominated food item to help with a staple and 5% to account for salt and pepper etc.
This fits in nicely with our New Year’s resolution plan. You may be wondering what happened to that. International travel kind of blew that out of the water a little, air miles and carbon footprint and all of that. Then our efforts to avoid the drier to reduce electricity have been thwarted by monarch caterpillars using the drying rack to hang their chrysalis’s. But that could be considered saving the planet in a different way as the monarch butterfly numbers are in decline so if I’m forced to find another way to dry my clothes then so be it and stuff the costs! Think of the butterflies!
We are also doing well with our grocery shopping and recycle bags because, well… we have been so busy lately that we haven’t had time to shop. We have been relying on what is already in the cupboard and garden and if there was an essential item needed then we would race in to the store and come out with a few items clutched in our arms. It also seems to be a quite effective cost saving method, although not sustainable long term as eventually we will run out of things.
But this bare cupboard situation will set us up perfectly for the challenge ahead as we won’t be tempted by all that foreign food from Wellington and beyond. And of course I will bring you with me as not only is the challenge about the food, but also about the public documentation. Feel free to join in and challenge yourself or if you too are a kiwi local, then consider entering too, it’s not too late.
Meanwhile leading up to this incredible opportunity we have just had to finish off the delicious Monteith’s raspberry and vanilla cider from Greymouth and that lovely Merlot from Australia. All for the cause, all for the cause!
Come again soon – see just what bountiful food our neck of the woods can provide.
Sarah the Gardener : o )
What a great challenge! I’m curious to follow your journey and see how it goes.
Hi there. It is going to be interesting to see how we go. It isn’t as straight forward as it would seem. Thanks for your support. Cheers Sarah : o )
I think when things are in season here, I might just have a go at uber-local.
Hi there. It is quite an interesting challenge. It is much easier if you eat whole food and cook from scratch, All the best with going uber-local. Cheers Sarah : o )
Itis Lways good to have a six months supply of cood on hand. That has save us several times.
http://idahobluebird50.wordpress.com
Hi Betty. I think many people cut it fine, living from one pay cheque to the next. For me one of the good things about gardening is storing it away for winter. Cheers Sarah : o )
I never had much success in the vegetable garden. But flowers I could grow. Now I need to watch other gardeners
What a fun challenge! I look forward to reading about how it goes for you. 🙂
Hi Virginia. Thanks for your support, it will be interesting to say the least. Cheers Sarah : o )
Nothing like a good challenge. Best of luck with it! I rather like the look of that cider too 🙂
Hi Julie. Thanks for your support. The cider is delicious and there are other great flavours in the range. You should try it. Cheers Sarah : o )
Lovely post and challenge look forward to following the journey
Hi Linda. Thanks for your support. Cheers Sarah : o )
I’m so impressed! I’m also so behind and have missed reading all your posts. 🙂
Hi Alys. I am a little behind on my reading too. It has been such a busy time, I struggle to find the time sometimes. I shall catch up soon enough as the garden dies down. Cheers Sarah : o )