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Local Food October

 
Apprentice Rocket Scientist
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Hello, Permies!!

It's harvest season 🤩 anyone ever watched all the abundance pile up and think WOW! This is a lot of food!

Could I eat ONLY what I produce, forage or trade? 🤔   What if I ate like Gert, the permaculture millionaire, with no grocery store? How long could I do it? A day? A week? How long could you do it?

How about a whole month!? Join me this October. Show me meals you eat that are ALL THE WAY LOCAL. I'll post every day to show off the bounty thats all around me.
 
Posts: 67
Location: In the wilds of Montana, Zone 4b microclimate with 5a behaviors
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Rebekah Harmon wrote:Hello, Permies!!

It's harvest season 🤩 anyone ever watched all the abundance pile up and think WOW! This is a lot of food!

Could I eat ONLY what I produce, forage or trade? 🤔   What if I ate like Gert, the permaculture millionaire, with no grocery store? How long could I do it? A day? A week? How long could you do it?

How about a whole month!? Join me this October. Show me meals you eat that are ALL THE WAY LOCAL. I'll post every day to show off the bounty thats all around me.



Well, today we had bacon, potatoes, peppers, and dragon's tongue beans, all from local farmers. The herbs (parsley, oregano, sage, and thyme) were from my garden. The garlic and olive oil weren't local. I honestly don't think I could survive with all local food, but I try my best to buy local when I can. I started with hydroponics, so I should be able to grow more food now.
 
master steward
Posts: 19858
Location: USDA Zone 8a
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I believe it is possible unless a person has food cravings for stuff they do not grow and give in.

Here is some documentation:

https://permies.com/t/179266/Grocery-Stores-Restaurants-Year

https://permies.com/t/273883/Pantry-meal-challenges
 
steward & manure connoisseur
Posts: 5481
Location: South of Capricorn
3537
dog rabbit urban cooking writing homestead ungarbage
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Can't wait to see (and commenting to follow, even though down here it's just a very wet spring and our local produce, other than citrus and leafies, is pretty crap right now).
Between the squash, beans, potatoes, apples etc it makes a great image of abundance.
 
pollinator
Posts: 88
Location: Pierce County WA, Northwest and Sound
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I’m always wild planting and integrating herbs all over our farm.  Seems quaint, like many small wall decorations in the house, but the sinister truth is I don’t like bland food.  Growing up my parents 1 acre garden, sheep, pigs, and chickens fed us for several years, with very little from the store.  Seems like the dream til you try it.  It’s tough to grow, gather, store, cook, and make food taste good.  Cooking is an art and after all that it takes to make food, the art of cooking part gets tough.  I and both siblings agree that we like foods kids will eat.  Aromatic, draw you from where ever you are too the kitchen.  Fresh picked Brussel sprouts roasted lightly salted peppered, basil (I grow pepper).  Salads deep into winter mustards, kales, arugula, dried basil and fresh oregano (seed from Torino, Italy winter can’t kill). Squash, baked potatoes with homemade curries many years, books, and help from 2 chefs to learn those.  Thai food with homemade fish sauce, Cuban cilantro.  Viet pork, and beans my son asks for weekly in December along with spinach Saag.  Pick and cool dry keep on the counter like pictures from old Sunset magazine, French country cabin, herbs make the food.  Good tea, great dinner, nice house:). Cheers
 
Rebekah Harmon
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October first meals:

1. Breakfast was a berry bean bowl, with mallow seeds, flax and elm seeds.

2. Lunch was a salad with duck eggs

3. Amazing chips and salsa for dinner! And refried black beans. 🤩😘👌

I aim for 20g of protein in every meal and a fruit and a veggie, which you'll see in my videos, if you check them out on fb or YouTube.
Screenshot_20261001_194949_Gallery.jpg
Breakfast
Breakfast
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Dinner
Dinner
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Rebekah Harmon
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Good morning, Permies! Yesterday, I made waffles from yellow Dock. I topped them with strawberries (my everbearing patch is on a 2nd kick for the season) and cherry syrup that I make every spring. It was yummy!
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From weed to waffle
From weed to waffle
 
Rebekah Harmon
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Thanks Thereza and Anne! Great ideas 💡 I agree with David, 🌿 are SO NECESSARY for enjoyable food. Bee balm is one of my favorites. I also love garlic, waling onion, and sage.
 
Rebekah Harmon
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I tried gritts today! Savory breakfasts are hitting the spot right now. Pink gritts, garlic black beans, pickled salsify flowers and fresh strawberries. A Perfectly balanced meal.
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Anne Miller
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Posts: 19858
Location: USDA Zone 8a
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Rebekah Harmon wrote:I tried gritts today! Savory breakfasts are hitting the spot right now. Pink gritts, garlic black beans, pickled salsify flowers and fresh strawberries. A Perfectly balanced meal.



Did you make pink grits from  pink corn?  Was the process hard?
 
Rebekah Harmon
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Anne Miller wrote:

Did you make pink grits from  pink corn?  Was the process hard?



Hey Anne! No, it wasnt hard. The corn was pink. I think a hopi variety? So like regular gritts, but not yellow
 
Rebekah Harmon
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Oh! I forgot to post yesterday's trout salad!

Local greens,
Sunchoke,
Fermented pickles,
Homeade duck egg mayo,
Homeade sourdough bread (made with locally milled flour!) Topped with raspberry peach jam!

Sorry for the blurry pictures. Ive been experimenting with making videos right on social media platforms so I don't have to manage a huge media library. But that means all ive got to share here are screenshot. To see the full video, find me on Instagram or facebook.
Screenshot_20261004_212130_Instagram.jpg
Ingredients being assembled
Ingredients being assembled
Screenshot_20261004_212147_Instagram.jpg
Homeade duck egg mayo. Even the spices were local
Homeade duck egg mayo. Even the spices were local
Screenshot_20261004_212156_Instagram.jpg
Yimmy bread / jam too!
Yummy bread / jam too!
 
Rebekah Harmon
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Today I remembered to take a picture to share with you! 😘 I foraged for this little black tomatillo. I put it in a porridge bowl of black barley, which I grew for the first time this year! My first successful grain! 🙌

I also added blackberries for a deep purple yum! Topping it with a dallop of honeycomb from my 🐝 🐝.

Any of you ever eaten this fruit before?
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American Nightshade
American Nightshade
 
Rebekah Harmon
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Yesterday was a topsy turvy day for me. I had nightshade leftovers for breakfast. Then the rest of the plans went sideways. My community experienced an accident. Some of my kids witnessed it. Others were friends of kids involved. A lot of tears and hugs.

I ended up sneaking a garden cucumber into comfort sushi later that day. Sometimes ya gotta pivot!
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Cucumbers-goong into sushi
Cucumbers-goong into sushi
 
Rebekah Harmon
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Yeaterday's local food spotlight may not be super popular in Permies. But I grew black soybeans this year and was excited to see if it would make black soymilk!? (I have several kids who are sensitive to dairy milk)

If you're interrested to see the reveal: black soymilk!? Check it out at:
https://youtube.com/shorts/glB1Pmi6HyI?is=fOxOKYQNQg3hz6Kh
Screenshot_20261008_100324_Gallery.jpg
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Tereza Okava
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Rebekah Harmon wrote: black soybeans


They are a heritage food here in the Japanese community, and they make fabulous natto, among other things. I wish I could swap you some jam for some seeds!!

(another super funky looking 'alt-milk' we used to make in my house for my no-dairy kid was black sesame, highly recommended and very tasty. Might not grow where you're at, but definitely worth trying to make if you have access)
 
Rebekah Harmon
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Tereza, I have some black sesame seeds right now! 😮 I gotta try that! Ive never made sesame milk before.
 
Rebekah Harmon
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Today's spotlight local food is greens! I made a greens powder from backyard "superfoods."

Dandelion greens are rich in Vitamins A and K,
Common mallow greens are loaded with Vitamins B1, B2, B3.
Wheatgrass provides Vitamin B6, B12 and Vitamin E,
Mulberry leaves give us folate and zinc.
Rounding it off with calcium, magnesium and iron in Nettles.

All of its free!

What other vegetable or herb have you used for nutrition?
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Rebekah Harmon
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The last few days I've eaten like a queen! Fresh mushrooms, strawberries, and rhe best catch of fish EVER! (That's a cute story, check it out here: https://youtube.com/shorts/dxitVesNGl8?is=TlrGiyPP5PhtKbBr )

My sons and I also separated the wheat berries from the chaff. A big step towards their local PIZZA they wanted to grow.
20261008_173705.jpg
Wheat chaff gone everywhere!
Wheat chaff gone everywhere!
Screenshot_20261012_215144_Gallery.jpg
The best catch EVER!
The best catch EVER!
Plantum_1791478275097.jpg
Local mushrooms
Local mushrooms
 
Tereza Okava
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Location: South of Capricorn
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dog rabbit urban cooking writing homestead ungarbage
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Right now work is busy and I barely have time to cook. It's spring and I haven't planted my seeds yet (the weather is so weird I am holding off, the ground is saturated and anything I plant is just going to rot).
The one thing that is saving me, like we are eating every single day, is dandelions. I plant several types (french, red, and a local version called 'catalonia') and these are left over from last spring. The unseasonably cold and wet spring doesn't bother them at all, and in fact has probably stopped them from bolting. I have a few plants I've kept for over a year by removing the flower spike and they're very happy in this weather.

This week's food has been one-pot deals and casseroles, and everything has a dandelion salad with it. The thing that takes the most time is the soaking (to get rid of snails and their mess, which carries parasites), and lucky for me, everyone here loves slightly bitter greens (and even turns up their nose at lettuce, 'how boring').
 
Rebekah Harmon
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Hello, my permies friends!

This week has been beautifully busy, with the forst frost of the season. I've been harvesting many lovely things from the garden, preserving it as quickly as I can. Kaylee plays with the extras!

My boys grew a PIZZA GARDEN! this year. Here they are by their wheat field before we harvested it. We windowed and ground and made pizza with the flour. Check out my social media platforms to see more:
https://youtube.com/shorts/ODsrqyYq4_k?is=u_WMGBwXHe4nhedu

I am literally surrounded by local, organic food! No plastic wrappers, no diesel to truck it to me, no chemical used to grow it or deter pests. Its the best food on the planet and I am so grateful!
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Giant harvest
Giant harvest
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My tomato artist
My tomato artist
20260813_095209(1).jpg
The pizza garden
The pizza garden
 
Rebekah Harmon
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683
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I am getting close to publishing my book! I've gotten all the pictures I wanted to use ready now. This one, out of all 32, was the most difficult for me to produce. Betcha can't guess why!
20261017_122433.jpg
Making yarn
Making yarn
 
Rebekah Harmon
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This week, I harvested honey from my bees, omega fatty acids from primrose and flaxseed, and elderberries.

I made elderberry syrup and freeze dried tomatoes.

AND I finished my book manuscript. I submitted it to my publisher today! 😃 my family and I celebrated by eating homeade crepes.
20261017_165332.jpg
Bee frames being harvested
Bee frames being harvested
20261020_193522.jpg
Goat milk, duck egg, homegrown wheat crepes
Goat milk, duck egg, homegrown wheat crepes
 
Posts: 78
Location: Central Kansas. Zone: 6b
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Good luck on getting your book published!  Although it sounds like you already have a publisher?  My husband has been trying to get published for years, and besides a few shorts in anthologies... No luck.  Of course, genre fiction is different than the realism you're pursuing.

Also, the crepe looks yummy!

Also also, I'm not sure why the picture in the post two up was the hardest?  I've never tried to spin before but I imagine it's not easy?  Or is it trying to get such a thin thread to show up clearly in a photograph?

Edit: Also x 3... How much wheat did you guys plant?  That's inspiring that you got a harvest you could use.
 
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