A different type of WOW!

I'm not actually doing the Eat Local Challenge this month, because I've been so busy. However, I'm trying to eat more local food. Today I did a large shopping at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market. Amazing and chaotic. Recommendation: stop at the information desk and get a map. Next to the names of the farms on the map, I wrote what I bought and how much it cost. Next week I'll have a much easier time finding what I'm looking for.

It's salsa season as both tomatoes and hot peppers are in season. Along with the rest of my food, I bought salsa ingredients (tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, garlic and cilantro). The tomatoes that I bought were dry-farmed Early Girls from Dirty Girl Produce. Absolutely delicious.

I also had lunch at the Slanted Door in the Ferry Building. I had the "Allstar Organics heirloom beans with fresh baby corn and torpedo onions". I was somewhat disappointed that there was almost no spice, but the green heirloom beans were fantastic and the yellow beans were even better. The baby corns (source unknown) where also fabulous. I don't think I've ever had fresh (rather than canned) baby corns. The difference is huge. This wasn't the spicy food that I normally prefer, but its a different type of WOW!

The Slanted Door is too expensive to eat there often, but it's a reminder that the quality of the ingredients really does matter. And next week, if I make it to the farmer's market, I'll be going to the Allstar Organics booth and looking for those wonderful beans.

More busy than green

My busy, green life has been much more busy than green recently. I've been busier at work in the last six weeks than ever before, including some very tight deadlines beyond the control of anyone at our company. As a result, I've gotten behind on everything not work related. This also means that I've been eating at the cafeteria, and therefore not knowing where my food comes from. I also went on a business trip recently, and before the trip a bought some new (not used, not Compacty) clothes for the customer meetings.

This week I finally got back to cooking and also to eating at least some local food. Hopefully, I'll be able to balance work and green living better in the coming months.

Used gifts?

Generally I don't like shopping. Given the pressure to pick something that someone else will like, shopping for gifts is especially stressful. And, if you are trying to avoid buying new things (a la the Compact) as I am, gift giving is especially tough. Two of my co-workers are expecting a baby soon and the shower is this week. Since I work quite closely with both Mom and Dad (one of them reports to me) I wanted to get them something nice. I surfed the web and found several children's consignment stores in San Francisco and selected one of them. Chloe's Closet in Bernal Heights is walking distance from the 24th St. BART station. It's an easy place to shop (well-organized and not too big). I selected 3 items (a shirt, a one-piece and a sweater). They are so little and cute.

I also stopped by a used bookstore near by and bought a book for the big sister-to-be. This is a nice little business district. Besides these stores, I found a grocery store with lots of organic produce and a small shop with local artisanal food.

I'm happy with my purchases, but the dilemma remains. Are used clothes an appropriate gift? I hope so. Do gifts need to be new? I'd like to think that the answer is no. The parents will get more clothes then if I had paid for new ones, and some clothes in apparently like-new condition will get a new home other than a landfill. I think its win-win, but I have this nagging thought that I've committed some grave social sin. In front of me at the cash register was a woman buying consigned clothes as a gift. My thought: oh good, I'm not the only one. Behind me was a woman returning the consigned clothes she had bought because the Mom-to-be to whom they were given didn't want her child wearing "used clothes". My thought: eek, I hope my colleagues don't feel that way.

The farmer's market by bike

I rode my bike to the South San Francisco farmer's market today. Most of the farmers don't have signs so it can take a bit of looking to figure out what's what. Here's what I bought.

from Calderon Farms in Hollister:

• 3 ears of corn
• 2 zucchini (~18 oz)
• 2 broccoli stalks (~19 oz)

from Berry Licious in Gilroy:

• one small box of raspberries

Both of these farms are certified organic.

Here's a quadruple bottom-line.

• Money - $5.50 total ($3.50 for the vegetables, $2 for the raspberries)
• Food miles - ~85 miles for the vegetables, ~70 miles for the raspberries
• Time - ~35 mins (about ~10min bike ride each way, about ~15min at the market
• Taste - excellent (esp. the raspberries which are one of my favorite foods)

One (or the other) every day

There are two daily habits that I would like to get into. One is riding my bike to and from the train station on my way to work. This involves 9 miles of riding between morning and evening and isn't too difficult, except for the last segment in the evening (about 1.5 miles) which is uphill and always against the wind (sometimes a very strong one). The other is bringing a lunch to work rather than eating at the cafeteria. The cafeteria is fairly healthy since I usually have a salad with only balsamic vinegar as dressing, but still. Bringing food from home would be better since I would have more control over it. If I choose to, I can bring in some (hopefully in the future all or mostly) local and organic food. This is what I would like to be eating. Who knows how far the veggies in the salad bar have traveled in pollution spewing trucks and/or airplanes. Either of these changes would also save me money since the cafeteria food is expensive and the alternative to riding my bike is a trip on the local subway system (BART), and they don't have monthly passes.

Since these are new (at least for this year) and require some extra time, I'm going to do one or the other each work day depending on which is more convenient or desirable that day. For tomorrow, packing a lunch is the obvious choice since I have meetings from 11AM-2:30PM with no lunch break. Tonight I cooked some lentils and spices. Since I couldn't find a matching Tupperware top and bottom, I'm going to transport it in a old pickle jar. We have more used glass jars than we can possibly use as canisters, so why not? My co-workers will probably think I'm weird, sort of like their reaction upon learning that I don't own a car.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Seed collecting

The end of spring really is here. My farewell-to-spring is in bloom. This is the last of the major types of annual wildflowers to bloom in my garden. I've been collecting seed from flowers that came and went earlier in the season especially redmaids and meadowfoam. I've collected hundred of seeds. In a few weeks I'll be able to collect from the California poppies. I have a lot of seed pods, but they are still green. Someday, I may start up a little hobby business selling native plants (I'm frustrated by how few stores sell them). In the meantime, most of the plants will probably go into my garden until all the grass is gone and the plants are as dense as I'd like them to be. It's nice to have time on weekends to do things like this.

Unfortunately, the dandelions are everywhere and I'm so behind on pulling them. I'll try to pull a few each morning and evening on my way in and out, but I'd not know if this will be enough to keep up with this obligation.

Food waste, food miles

We had a celebration at work today with free lunch. I packed up a small fraction of the extra food for afternoon snack and lunch or snack tomorrow. Most of the extra food got thrown away. What a waste.

For those concerned about food miles and how much fuel usage and carbon emissions goes into the food you eat, consider this. The most energy efficient food you'll ever eat is what's already in the building and will otherwise be thrown away.