1 ~ Beginning

Greetings, and welcome to the first post of this blog. New ground for me, and I hope, dear reader, that along the way we might uncover some new ground together.

 I live on 800 mostly wooded acres in the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin (for those for whom the Driftless Area is something new, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driftless_Area).  About a month ago, in early January, I returned from Christmas holidays in Europe. In the depth of the Wisconsin winter, as I approached home (and my canning shelves) it occurred to me to wonder how long I could go without a trip to a grocery store.  And thus was born this blog, and its initial topic.

In season I have large organic vegetable gardens (which I’m still learning to court and coax), some berry canes, a few fruit trees, “three French hens” times two (beauties of a heritage breed known as Dominique), access to a pond and nearby trout streams, and to some of the land for deer hunting, morel foraging, and maple sugaring.  I also have some wonderful neighbors within a few miles, who also live to various degrees on gifts from the Driftless land – earthy hand-to-mouthers, like me.

It was a good garden harvest this past year, my best ever (which itself is not saying much-!), and thus my canning shelf and freezer are relatively full.  I’ll see how long I can continue to go just eating down through what the Earth already provided, supplemented by what I can figure out, find or barter along the way.  And maybe helped by suggestions from some of you.  I hope this will be a conversation. 

It’s already been more than a month since I returned home to Wisconsin, and I last went grocery shopping in late December in Switzerland.  I’ve made no preparatory, stockpiling shopping trip to prepare for this– with one exception, the purchase of some popping corn! (a winter evening fireside essential for me).  I see some challenges ahead, some staples that loom as limiting factors, such as fats (oil and/or butter), dairy (for baking), stock (for soups), salt, coffee and tea (and chocolate).  But I’ll see what I can figure out, and what the world provides.

Some ground rules and full disclosures:  I still sometimes stop for a cuppa or a meal at a favorite café or restaurant, but no more than I did before.  No fundamentalist, deprivation monkhood here.  It’s only grocery stores I’ve given up for Lent (and Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day).  I might also continue to visit and patronize a few nearby, single product producers – such as Cress Spring Bakery on Fridays, their baking day (best bread in the world, at least in my world).  But I’ll let you know if I do.  

Note that I have no arrangement for kickbacks from any local producers I might mention and give a shout-out to in these pages.

Instead of an exercise in deprivation, this will be an exploration of abundance, of enough (and also in how far I can lower the carbon footprint of my food).  Nor is it an attempt at radical self-sufficiency or fierce independence.  The opposite, in fact – it’s an exploration of rich interdependence, in and with the world.

Alright, here we go, and let’s see what we can do and learn… (without getting too skinny). 

In my next post I’ll share an inventory of my larder - the starting point in my mason jars and freezer.  Until then, may abundance touch you.