Oh hello! It looks like April has now passed, like rain on the mountain. Here are some things I got up to this past month.
More Running
I'm now up to running 3 times a week, which feels good! I'm mostly running in the woods, doing 2-3 miles at a time for now. I like to ease into things slowly so I don't scare myself off.
Rutland Farmer's Market
I'm continuing on my mission to learn more about local farms and food systems. One Saturday in April I made a round trip to Rutland to visit the Vermont Farmer's Food Center, which I had heard about at the NOFA-VT conference I attended in February. It's an organization that is refurbishing an old industrial site to be a food hub, commercial kitchen, and farmer's market. Their winter farmer's market is in a big hall and full of vendors of all kinds of interesting and delicious produce, meats, and prepared foods.
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| My haul includes spinach, apples, chicken, chevre, and Scottish shortbread. |
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| An old train car on the site |
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| Open flag flying! |
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| Part of the complex... with sculpture |
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| From a corner of the big, bustling hall |
Greens CSA
Another thing I'm doing to support our local food system and local farmers is taking part in Community Supported Agriculture (where you purchase a share of produce in advance, then make weekly pick-ups for a set period). This is a Greens CSA with lots of goodies from the greenhouse, as well as roots and squash left from last season. It is VERY exciting to go each week and see what my selection will be. I get to pick 7-8 items each week, and they vary slightly each time. So far the selection have included beets, carrots, Tetsukabuto squash, kale raab, regular kale, collards, parsley, spinach, mustard greens, and Claytonia (see below). I am loving the influx of farm-fresh surprises.
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| Each item says what it is and how many to take |
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| There are 7-8 bins to choose items from |
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| Noisy goats |
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| This is claytonia, a succulent salad green that's great with a light dressing |
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| Some Claytonia leaves have little flowers in the center |
Other April Photos
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| This is garlic cream pasta with chicken & spinach |
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| First creemee of the season! |
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| Blood root in bloom |
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| Crocus blossoms & snowdrops early in the month |
