Casual localvore

My entrance into this challenge has been a bit of a slow meander (in comparison to Liz's full sprint). There is an ever constant prompting in the back of my mind to buy/eat local. I'm finding that my motivation is a bit off--especially considering the lack of local produce to choose from at this time of year.

So far I am regularly buying (when I actually buy food) local cheeses and eggs. I also bought local corn tortillas when I made tostadas a week or so ago. And if we are considering buddies (or other free food stuff) as local, then I'm not doing too bad in the produce department either. I have also purchased asparagus from the farmer's market for two weekends in a row and it has been delicious.

So my experience so far has been gradual but good. Any local produce I've had has been spectacular (especially the strawberries from the patch at my community garden!). There's nothing quite like knowing that the fruits or veggies you are about to consume or have just consumed were still growing just a few hours ago. As the summer progresses this challenge is going to be easy as pie. Now for figuring out what to do in the interim.

I've been growing a garden too! I anxiously await the time when I can have my own fresh tomatoes and peppers. Right now my herbs, especially my cilantro, is out of control. So much so that I picked a nice bunch today:There will be no shortage of flavor in my dishes this season!
The rest of the garden is coming along nicely. I should be able to harvest some lettuce in the next couple of weeks and one of my hot banana pepper plants is flowering. I'm impatient right now but I know good things with come to those who wait.

In the meantime, I'll keep chugging along with the challenge. I think I can, I think I can...