Local Loco-ness

Last Saturday, a mom friend of mine kicked off a great idea she has been brewing...a community supported farmer's market at her house in NE Portland that provides fresh foods and meats to neighbors and friends. Wendy did the research of finding the goods and she goes out to the farms to fetch them after people make their orders . Ethically treated animals, only organic produce and eggs, raw milk, yogurt, kefir, and kombucha were just some of the things she was ordering for folks. On her store-front porch she had available to buy dried herbs and herbal infusions, wildcrafted Morels, canned jams and fruit, dried fruit and fruit leathers (nothing added), locally roasted coffee, and the best honey Ive ever had in my life (no joke). She also managed to round up some potted plants as well and put those out. The honey and some of the dried fruit came from her mother-in-law that lives in Hood River, which is still pretty close to Portland.

In the future the idea is that it will morph into a larger at home market where friends and neighbors can bring the things they've been making to share and sell to others. This person isnt doing it for profit, she simply wants to create a space for people to build community and get to know their neighbors through the abundance of good food that is grown here.

Jason and I went home with a quart of honey for $12, which we thought was very well priced and (I'll explain this later) a potted comfrey which Wendy was more than happy to see go. When we got home, Sorrel and I tried out the honey by-itself-spoon-style and it was amazing. I eventually had to cut ourselves off, but the rest of the night I found myself sneaking back in the kitchen for more hits of honey. It made me realize that this is what honey is supposed to taste like and Im not so sure anymore about that other honey we've been eating.

The funny thing about the comfrey is that I had actually been looking to acquire some to use herbally. Gardeners know it well as it can be quite a pest when it pops up in the garden and it spreads like crazy in recently tilled garden areas. If you try to dig it up and just a small part of the root gets cut off, up pops another plant. (Dont even think about rotatilling it!) I'm keeping mine in a pot of course and I have lots of ideas for it. The fresh leaves make a potent green salve and the tea is great as a nutritive hair tonic. I'll also tincture the leaves and dry some for teas. This winter during cold season, comfrey will make a great addition to cold care teas as it aids in the healing of tissues damaged from illness. Think of it as an all around awesome tissue healer with a really bad reputation for mayhem. It does serve a purpose in the garden too, the bees love the blossoms and the leaves are mineral rich so you can cover the compost with them. In the picture above, comfrey is looking kind of sad and still adjusting to pot life, but will come back to health in no time.

I'll keep you posted on Wendy and her "Metropolitan Buying Club". It changes month to month and seasonally of course so she let us know that there will be more to come for next month like blueberries, strawberries, and perhaps some raspberries...did I mention berry season is my favorite time to be in the NW?