Rural Aspirations

If the weatherperson’s report on the radio or TV is anything to go by, you’d think that the only days worth having are sunny and warm. They apologize when forecasting rain or snow, they rattle on excitedly when it’s going to be clear or unseasonably mild. You don’t have to look far to see that our society seems to consider Summer the best time of year and anything else is just something to be tolerated until it comes around again.

Now, I may have struggled most of my adult life to live in the present and take each day as a gift. But when it comes to the weather I have long been a fan of the four seasons. I honestly enjoy each one, and by the time one is over I am usually tired of it and looking forward to a change. 

Here in southwestern BC (known to our southern neighbours as the Pacific Northwest), winter is relatively mild. It is also very wet. A typical day between October and January is cool, dark with heavy low-lying clouds, and somewhere between about-to-rain, drizzling, and a total downpour that can last for days. For those who are not used to this weather (and for many who have been here for years) it can be hard to take. But I figure since I was born and raised here that might explain why I find it quite bearable and even enjoyable. 

I think alot of it has to do with the fact that I am free to stay indoors when the weather turns “cozy”, and I enjoy an excuse to tidy, organize, bake, and cook. There is something about our grey days that make me feel as though a giant down comforter is covering the city, and it’s time to stay in and be cozy. I love having our gas fireplace bringing a cheerful glow to the living room, and the smell of soup simmering on the stove. I love hot meals with winter vegetables and spicy accents. And while a sunny day is a treat to be savoured with a walk in the woods or a good long run, I also enjoy running in the rain and smelling the forest when it is damp. 

I have an indoor hydroponic system, the AeroGarden, that I used to grow herbs this past spring. I eventually planted them in a box and it’s been sitting empty ever since. A friend mentioned that I could grow salad greens and enjoy salad throughout the winter. And you know what? The idea just doesn’t appeal to me. After spending the spring and summer eating seasonally I came to feel that my body craves the foods that are available (for the most part; I’m enjoying a delicious mandarin orange as I write!). I learned that spring is salad season and we indulged in our home-grown greens several times a week throughout June and July. I’m not craving salads now. I’m wanting squash and chard and potatoes. I’m wanting braised chicken with onions and dried fruits, pork sausages with beans and stewed tomatoes, and hearty soups like borscht and butternut squash bisque. 

And it seemed to me that eating seasonally is just one more aspect of savouring the seasons and enjoying them for what each one brings. So here’s to fall and the approaching winter (skiing, skating, and knitted hats, oh my!). May we see the goodness in each part of Nature’s cycle, and thank the weatherperson for every forecast!

…when we finally have our acreage.

(A pick-me-up post):

1) Not having to put blinds and curtains on all the windows. Being able to watch the sun go down without thinking “oh great, now half the neighbourhood can see right into my living room!”. 

2) Adopting a puppy. Training the puppy. 

3) Spending a rainy afternoon in the barn with my animals. Having animals, for that matter.

4) Not having to listen to the neighbour’s teenagers walking right past my window late on a Saturday night, talking (too loudly) about how drunk they got last weekend.

5) Not hearing the sounds of traffic that gets so loud sometimes you can’t open a window on that side of the house.

6) Having a fire pit.

7) Having a place to park my car, Husband’s truck, and our trailer. All of which will be covered and none of which will be parked on the street.

8 ) Planting a vegetable garden for keeps.

9) Waking up to the sound of birds, and only birds.

10) Going for a run on a quiet country road, instead of being stared at by two lanes of morning commuters and inhaling all their car exhaust as I run along the only flat road in my neighbourhood.

I can’t wait!

I was thrilled to discover last week that one of the vendors at our farmer’s market this year has opened a retail store and cafe right here in my town. The business is Pasture to Plate and they raise beef, lamb, pork, chicken, ducks, geese, and turkey. All their animals are kept on pasture; the fowl are rotated around pastures (reminds me of Joel Salatin’s approach). The pigs and chickens get supplemented with organic split peas, and I think the chickens get some organic feed as well. Otherwise no meds or hormones and a pure grass fed diet. What matters to me (aside from the lack of added chemicals) is that these animals are living a Good life. They are free to roam and do what their species do, enjoy the fresh air*, and get a variety of foods in their diet. Not only do I think this meat is far healthier than any I can buy in the store, but I feel good knowing the animals led a good life. So I headed down there today for the first time to pick up some meat. It was a wonderful place, with lots of organic and wholesome home-style cooking: and they sell their soups etc in Glass Jars!! Returnable even! Isnt’ that great??

But…I have to tell you, this meat ain’t cheap!

I bought 3 packs of pork sausages, 1.4 kg (about 2.5 lbs) and it cost $30. If I just grilled them up it would take the whole lot to feed our family of four. However, I like to make my ethical meat stretch farther and pork sausage makes a fabulous addition to rice and beans. Unfortunately the kids won’t eat that so they get a whole grilled sausage each. Thus, with this amount of sausage I will be able to get: 1 kids meal of grilled sausage (feeds 2 kids) and 2 meals of rice and beans which will feed the adults for two meals each. So, for $30 I got 5 meals. Not bad!

The pork chops were more expensive. Each kid will eat at least one chop, sometimes 1.5. I can eat one or two chops and Husband can easily eat 2. I bought six chops totalling about 1 kg in weight. That will make 1 complete family meal with maybe a small amount leftover, and the cost was $22. 

My meal plan for the month of October calls for two batches of rice and beans (with pork sausage), and two days of leftover rice and beans with sausage (the kids will have their one night of grilled whole sausages. One day of pork chops, ditto with the ethical chicken I bought from another farmer’s market vendor a couple of months ago (that will be our thanksgiving meal with my mother). We are having (another!) thanksgiving dinner with friends (we’re getting our families together to do an “all local” thanksgiving dinner, this time with turkey). We are having one other meat meal this month using up some chicken thighs I had (not ethical, but it’s the last pack and I might as well use it up). And that’s it for meat consumption this month (oh, we will also have 2 or 3 tuna-based meals this month). 

So, I spent $52 today on a month’s worth of pork. The chicken was $25 (and of course there will be leftovers and bones for soup stock), our share of the local mega-turkey will work out to around $30. So that’s basically around $100 for meat this month which, really, for a family of four is not that bad! 

And so while I confess I did suffer a moment of sticker shock at the store today, my shock was based on years of experience buying cheap, crappy food and adopting our cultural expectation that food should be as cheap as possible. Instead, I now feel like I have spent my money wisely, obtained a good quality product that I can stand behind in terms of production, and I have consequently lowered my meat consumption to adjust to the higher price.  

It feels good!

* I was reading a blurb on a “free range chicken” producer’s website that actually claimed putting chickens outdoors was cruel because they would just run around and be frightened. Does one really have to stop and consider that sentence for very long before concluding that our attitudes about food animals are seriously f*cked up?